The Good
* Trick or Treat: Lights Out
I highly recommend going on this maze first. Because of the way attendants let people inside and the dark atmosphere, it takes a very long time to get inside even for the Fright Lane. I made the mistake of going later in the day the first time and waited in line for over an hour, something that's never happened before. The maze itself is so innovative and fun with many improvements over last year. Each person (or each party if it's too crowded) is given a flashlight to go through the maze. Everything is in low light and each room gets me into the Halloween spirit: a staircase lined with jack-o-lanterns, monsters under the bed, an eerie dinner with ghostly figures, and a witch's lair. The lair was my favorite because the flashlight changed to blacklight to illuminate the neon symbols and writings on the wall. The end hallway is in the dark, but because it's not completely enclosed, the effect is lessened. There's room for improvement, but this is one of the best mazes at the park, guaranteed to get you in the Halloween spirit.
* The Depths
The Depths is a brand new nautical themed maze that has Lovecraftian supernatural elements. This was my favorite maze by far. It has a much different feel and theme to the rest and has some of the best effects I've seen. Right of the bat, an old man animatronic tells you big fish stories outside to amuse those in line. The first impressive room is a bright light filtering through wooden slats, creating a blinding, otherwordly effect. The second is a room full of mist with laser lights over the top to create a water effect, also seen in Dark Harbor's Intrepid. It's done just as well here with fish humanoids hiding in the mist. A giant octopus emerges from all corners of one room. Another room rocks back and forth like a ship, which I've never seen before. It all ends with an impressive giant shark attack. The only drawbacks were the mermaid room (which I didn't really get until the third time) and the actors with shark heads, which looked super cheesy. Everything else was so amazing that these issues didn't bother me.
* Paranormal Inc.
Paranormal Inc. has repeated for a few years, but it's always one of my favorites. I was a little disappointed that the beginning story is cut short. It makes the story less clear, but loads people into the maze faster. Most of the maze is the same as previous years, an interesting amalgamation of ghosts, a creepy abandoned mental asylum, and a passage to hell. I love the use of actors on bungee cords bouncing in and out of unexpected places. The ending of previous years was lengthy and awesome with glow in the dark blues, an alien hellscape, and gigantic monstrous creatures. The new ending merges that hellscape with the asylum in its hayday. It seems idyllic and quaintly 50's until the lighting changes, revealing that hellscape beyond the walls of the corridor. This effect is absolutely amazing, unlike any other maze I've seen.
* Pumpkin Eater
Pumpkin Eater is a fun maze that's a twisted take on the nursery rhyme. The talking jack o'lantern set the mood well and delighted me. Going inside a giant jack o' lantern looked realistic with pumpkin guts dripping from the ceiling, some of them wet for that extra realism. The dead are encased in pumpkins and other dead bodies are strewn about with pumpkin-headed people and giant bugs on the attack. The ending with the vibrating metal floor is a bit of a surprise and another unique, fun effect. The meat grinder seemed a little out of place, perhaps finding a more thematic home in the Red Barn maze.
* Special Ops: Infected
Special Ops: Infected has the viewers killing zombies and destroying their source with guns in order to save the world. Military people stop you at the end of each area to debrief you on what to do and remind you about your mission. Different varieties of zombies attack you throughout. Some wear collars with lights on them that go off with the laser gun. Unfortunately, some rooms can have few of these collared zombies, making your shots not count towards your score. Overall, the maze is fun and with dynamic areas, but more collars if that's what we need to shoot at. I would personally like to see Forevermore come back, which was in the same location years ago, or have some changes made to the maze in the future.
* Red Barn
Red Barn is in its third year at the park. Each year, it gets a little better with added details and expansion of the lore. A deranged family sees people as cattle for food, very similar to the Sawyer family from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Right from the entrance, the music is loud and oppressive, setting the mood. There are fun pieces of lore on the walls in addition to some impressive gore effects. The rooms with tortured people are the creepiest and the pig masks go a long way. However, the ending has a guy with a chainsaw who just stood there. If there is a chainsaw, I fully expect to be chased out of the maze with it.
* Rides
The old and new rides are all worth the Fright and Fast Lane passes. Ghostrider felt a little less harsh on my back due to more cushy seats. It's a wooden rollercoaster and feels like a very long ride, but it's not so bumpy as to be painful anymore. Silver Bullet and Xcelerator are two of my favorites, but the latter takes a long time to get on even with the pass. This was the first year I ever rode Supreme Scream and it's a definite rush. New rollercoasters like Hang Ten and Sierra Sidewinder are wonderful additions. I took so long riding rides the first time I went that I didn't get to do everything I wanted. There were just too many good ones. The best ride changed by Halloween is the Log Ride. It has a delightful Halloween Hootenanny complete with all sorts of monsters coming together for music and a good time.
The Bad
* Dark Ride
Dark Ride is basically an old carnival ride complete with rats, bugs, and evil carnies. I find the idea underdeveloped and underwhelming to walk through. The ride is intentionally shoddily made with falling apart props and animatronics. The clowns are fine, but mostly relegated to one room. It feels incomplete in some way and that there were very little changes from last year.
* The Shadowlands
Ugh. This one is the most frustrating. Shadowlands is an attempt at making a Japanese themed maze. The product has a few interesting props and one good scare with caricatures of the culture and the actors in essentially "yellow face." It's not scary or edgy; it's just annoying and infuriating. Bring back a quality maze that doesn't have to take on harmful stereotypes to function. The "sexy geishas" are particularly egregious. It's simply not needed and mars the rest of the event.
Overall, Knott's Halloween Haunt is improving by leaps and bounds. The sound design and lighting of each maze improve every single year plus there are always small details that enhance the experience. I love this event, but there are still flaws. I hope next year holds even more improvements.
No comments:
Post a Comment