DTH316

My thing is, I'd definitely go for that price if there were 2-3 more mazes. Even if I didn't like the videos, I'd still be interested. That or the price drops to 40-50, but I'd prefer more mazes. I would maybe even go this year for this price if they had at least double the amount of actors. Pricepoint is such a major thing and a Haunt can live or die by it. I can't convince 10 friends to go to WB if they only have 3 mazes and reviews saying there's low actors or scares for $80. But they will go to HHN to do the same old thing for the 10th year in a row, no matter how bored of it they've become (maybe only one or two of them) simply because the quality, quantity, and stuff to do quotient matches the pricepoint. We're all busy and broke 20-35 year olds, we have no desire to waste our little time and money.

I wouldn't say HHN times are accurate either, but traditionally I feel like they overestimate, which is a lesser of the sins. If I get in a line that says 60 minutes and it's only 30, it's a pleasant surprise. Posted as 30 and I wait 85 minutes, this is just cruel. 35 to 50, okay, this is getting annoying. Saying 60 but really a walk on is just poor and lazy to not even try, completely misguiding people into other directions, thus wasting even more time. At this point, I just find it egregious in both directions in overestimation and underestimation. Universal will overestimate 25%, rarely underestimate 15%, and the other 60% be spot on -- I think that's a pretty good track record. I feel like being spot on is very important for game planning your next move. Disney is oddly 90% accurate with their wait times... [Except for the last hour at Universal and Disney... this I make an exception for because it's harder to determine]... so I literally know my next 3 moves and if anything changes, I can make an audible and come up with a different next 3 moves. I definitely would say it's a good haunt year, or at least I had a pretty good run through for me, the talent was consistent and on fire most of the night. I've heard the exact opposite from people who went that same exact day, which is the nature of KSF and why I've always been somewhat negative towards it. I'm just glad and feel lucky that for ONCE in literally maybe a decade that a majority of the mazes I was targeted aside from 1 (Dark Entities because it was low on staff and they seemed bored in general, and Dark Ride just because they seemed low on staff). Downside is I just had to suffer through poor operations to get it. I'm not completely turned off from KSF yet and I imagine I'll be back in 2 years, but if THAT year goes bad again, I might not be going for 5-10 years between visits. Operations can not get lazy, that's my number one thing! I'm spoiled by Disney, clearly. But even SeaWorld and LegoLand are pretty decent with this kind of thing, so I don't know. And I actually thought about getting you a map, but nothing stays anywhere near good condition once going through my pockets and my girlfriend didn't have a decent sized purse with her either, so even I have a cruddy map folded down into 4 with wrinkles everywhere.

Mini Review on my Trip... 10/14 AKA Why I F#%!ng Hate KSF With a Passion Okay, I don't hate it that much, and it's not even so much a Haunt thing, and more of an operations thing. TBH, I had really great run throughs on most of the mazes, which is a first when more than half usually are dead or lame. Also note: I specifically skipped Red Barn. I walked passed it maybe twice with a walk-on with plenty of time to spare (at those points in the night) and didn't even bother. So I got there around 7:45 and parking was oddly packed. I had a feeling I was up for some trouble already as I expected it to be dead (hence why I wasn't in a rush to get there). I've done this before, shown up around even 9 and finished everything, but I gave myself an extra hour because I wanted to hit some rides. I wasn't in a big group or anything, so I figured I could get around pretty quickly, which I was looking forward to. Well, let's just see how Knotts can mess up my plans like always, shall we?! I'm bitter and petty, so I feel like ranting. Hit Dark Ride first. I had a better run through than I did last year. If I recall, nobody tried to scare me last year, even semi-staffed. Tonight, it was minimally staffed, but I was more of a target. I liked it more than last year, but I still don't think all that highly of this maze. And I love dark rides in general, I feel like this maze should basically be my thing. The only way to flick my nerd geewiz-spot even harder is if this was a dark ride themed to Universal Monsters. I think it just comes down to the set and lighting... just doesn't look realistic to me, even during the backstage segments. RANK: Average I wanted to hit HangTime early in the night since I've never done it. Boy was that a friggin mistake. App said 35 minutes. Sign out front said 35 minutes. It was running 2 trains. I figured what's the worst that could happen? Brand new ride with this short of a wait?! Apparently they were letting in FOL people without a single bit of mercy. If there was even one person in that line, they went first without any delegation or deliberation. There was often 2 or 3 seats not filled, and they weren't calling for groups of 1, 2 or 3, just sent the train running. I got to the stairs to get on after an hour and 5 minutes of waiting. Double the wait. Alright, pretty bad, I'm pretty peeved but my night isn't ruined. Then the ride breaks down for 20 minutes right as I'm going up the steps. It's nearly 10 PM and all I've done is one maze. I waited it out even longer because I figured it's already been this long. The ride was just only okay, too... I'd rather have Boomerang, but that's just me. Walked over to Shadowlands and it said 30 minutes but it looked pretty long, maybe even longer. WHAT?! Yeah right, I'm out of here, no way I'm waiting for that. I then figured I had very little time and I need to only hit the essentials because tonight is oddly packed. So I ran over to Pumpkin Eater. 30 miunute wait on the sign, but it looked way shorter -- was only a 14 minute wait. I'm already sensing these new signs are worthless, and line ops aren't being given info majority of the time. Anyway, best maze of the night for me. It was also my favorite last year. The overall tone and design is just creepy, with some great hiding spots, plus it was filled with talent all giving their best. RANK: Great Headed over to the Ghost Town backlot to hit The Depths. Advertised as a 30 minute line... was 50 minutes. What's even more infuriating is while I was stopped in line for a solid 10 minutes without moving a single inch, I was watching droves of people walk on to Trick or Treat as a WALK ON when that maze was advertised as an hour wait. W... T... F?!?!?! I figure okay... MUST hit that next while nobody is there because usually that thing is slammed. Fast forward to 20 minutes later and it's a 20 minute wait all of a sudden. Then... as I walk out of that maze... it's a WALK ON again. I have the WORST luck at Knotts. I am so done with this place it's not even funny. Anyway... back to the maze... I liked it, didn't love it. It was FILLED with talent, which was a plus. I thought the best part was the giant shark, I wish I could've got a Jaws-esque photo-op with that thing. I feel like this maze truly utilized all of their available elements and scare tactics, plus new ones... I think the only thing missing would be a swirling vortex tunnel and a bungee man. RANK: Above Average For anyone who doesn't know, Dark Entities is hiding in the back corner of the event and it's not after Paranormal like that maze spot used to do. It was sporting a 5 minute wait but luckily was a walk on. Man, it was dead in here. Entire minutes walking through and not seeing anyone. Which sucks, because I was most excited to see this maze. I still love the set, I still think all the potential in the world is there. Bungee/cable cord scare was completely missing also. Having no line, hidden in the back corner, with no monsters in this maze, it already feels old and worn out, sadly. Like Knotts has given up on it, that we'll see a small re-theme next year that'll also fail and the year after that, it'll already be gone. It's a shame, the video I saw before was great, but from the reviews I've seen, it's never been consistent to live up to it's potential. RANK: Below Average I already said what happened about the line to Trick or Treat, so let's get to the maze itself. Man, this maze is so old, it blows my mind. I still kinda love it, and the flashlight gimmick is cool in some regard, but please replace this maze. Monsters were pretty great and were pretty consistent with revealing themselves in the light. I also was pointing the light every where to see if anything would react and I got some stuff to move, which is almost too subtle and would be scary if I was in there absolutely alone, but oh well, at least they're trying. I like the black light segment and when the light started flickering at the end, but it almost came too late. Plus it vibrated only twice, one of which was corresponding to a good Witch scare. I think there's so much they could do with this gimmick, but I also wonder what it'd be like to go in there completely in the dark and practically alone. Anyone ever try it? RANK: Above Average By this point, I only had an hour left. I figure I see Paranormal since it was right there. I was also noticing the park thin out a bit in crowd at this point, so that was nice, just too late. It said 45 minutes, was really only 20. At this point, everything prior felt like hell, so I was glad to catch a break with the lines. As everyone has said, opening video makes no friggin sense anymore. Is it me or does the maze in general feel shorter? I went through this without anyone behind me, which was really unnerving. I was on the left side and didn't notice a merge point either, so I felt like I was just heading through the abyss on my own here. Best scare is the electricity box scare, still, after all these years. Something primal in that one just makes you jump. There weren't any nurses in the new scene. The ending scrim effect was very cool though, probably some of the best scrim work I've seen. RANK: Above Average With little time left and after hitting all the main goodies, I decided to give Log Ride a quick ride. Luckily it was only a 13ish minute wait. I really do love this ride, my favorite flume. The Halloween decorations just make it even better. Although I do miss the monsters, I found myself thinking this was a highlight regardless. It's just a great atmosphere. Ran over to Shadowlands to see how it was now... said 15. Was a walk on. I had limited time left, so this was a lifesaver. Truly, I wish I could've done Supreme Scream, Xcelerator, Mine Ride, Jaguar, Montezumas, Silver Bullet, and maybe even Ghost Rider like I intended, but oh well -- HangTime had to screw me over. Not like I would've done all of those with a real 35 min wait it said, but I could've done half because they were mostly walk ons aside from Xcelerator (20) and Silver Bullet (15) and obvi Ghost Rider (2 hours). Anyway, this is probably the best I've seen this maze, personally. The set seems to be wearing thin, but the monsters were relentless. It seemed jammed packed with someone, sometimes even 2 or 3 people, around every single corner and they were all targeting us the whole way through. Giant creepy girl scared me good at the end too because I almost walked into it thinking it was the way out. Each year this maze has done great, but I always expect it to go or think that it should. Maybe it has one year left in it if talent is always this strong... RANK: Above Average Ran over to Special Ops for the last treat of the night. It is what it is. Hasn't changed much. I still love it, but they really need to give it something new to give more appeal. RANK: Average Now, I had some GREAT run throughs tonight, like truly extraordinary ones. Haven't had that many scares at KSF in yeaaaaars and I'll fully admit -- more scares than HHN by a large margin. Operations drove me crazy-bananas-bonkers, but I got my scaresworth for the money I paid. Only ran into two mazes low on people, which I think is a huge improvement from what I'm used to. Regardless... I still love HHN more. Even with less scares. Scenic, lighting, total immersion just sells me more. I know not everyone agrees with that, some will just yell black walls, but I remember virtually nothing about most KSF mazes. It all meshes. I can hardly tell you which scare I got from which maze. Or even if I got scared in that maze in general, sometimes. There's a certain scene-by-scene distinctiveness missing. And I feel like all of it is just one long maze. KSF truly might as well be entirely black walls. I want to give props to certain scares or point out rooms, but half the time I can't because who knows when tf or where that happened or by what monster. It comes down to design and this aesthetic just isn't for me. On top of that, I'm starting to hate Knotts like I hate Six Flags (not the haunts, just in general). I feel like I barely hit all the mazes (sans one that I purposely avoided), but it shouldn't have been that way. I can plan my night great if they just GAVE ME ACCURATE WAIT TIMES. And put them on the dang app. It's not that freakin' hard. And it's a major time waster to go back and forth physically if something isn't a wait time you don't like. Or to check a line board that says 60 minutes but is actually A WALK ON. They have the technology and they have enough employees to make it work. I felt like every employee had another employee hanging by them doing nothing. Like what, they need a spotter to do their job or something? They're all just talking, gossiping, cussing up a storm and not being helpful anyway, go order them to deliver out wait time cards or something. Man, this place is gonna end up on my no-fly list at some point... it'll go from "every other year" to "once a decade" and I don't want it to be this way... KSF was one of my first loves... they just need to get with the freakin' technology to make operations SMOOTHER for guests to have a more seamless experience. Anyway... I had a great time in the mazes but a horrible time with the theme parks operations. But I can't wait to get back to HHN. That's my takeaway from this trip. That maybe I am just a bias HHN Fanboy. And I'll gladly wait in their 90 minute lines... because at least I know going into it, it's going to actually be 90 minutes.

Oh man, I make sure to do the secret VIP mazes every year, didn't know we could talk about them here Alright everyone, be on the lookout for the secret mazes. There's 3-5 of them most years and only for those willing to seek them out. You gotta 1) find them 2) know the secret password. The Canoe maze, the Yeti maze, and the Pirate maze are the longest running "VIP mazes." You won't see them on Youtube. Granted they are short, but probably the scariest 2 or 3 rooms you'll go through at KSF. Let us know if you find them!

Oh wow, just realized nobody posted in here. Sorry that y'all were left hanging. Here's my non-spoiler thoughts I left in another forum: Decided to give the videos a watch since I'm not going this year, will only comment on the new things. Again, these are on the videos and not based on actually being there: - The Depths looks like your typical KSF maze. The set design is elaborate and detailed BUT doesn't look realistic. Has all those round edges like you're walking through a cartoon instead of a real place. I don't know what that's called, as I'm not an artist, but this is the one thing that takes me out of the element in every KSF maze. [Disney does these on purpose in something like ToonTown, but can also provide a realism aesthetic for their more grown up fare, while Universal mostly employs this, even on stuff like the Despicable Me zone.] Also, it seems low on scares, but provides a great environment and mood. I guess that's the shame, for me, is they have all this dread and dark tone to work with and it's simply just people shouting in corners or in very noticeable hiding spots slamming their hands against the wall. A couple cool puppets but again, like every KSF maze, gets super random and far beyond unrealistic by the time you reach the climax of the maze. I just feel like the creators have no restraint, which is a good thing or a bad thing, depending how far they go. B- - Dark Entities looks AMAZING, definitely one of the absolute best mazes they've ever done, probably in the top 5 for me, I just love aliens and stuff like that. The sets look far more in the tone of realism and there's freakin' robots, man, what's not to love? The lighting in this house is bar none the best work they've ever done, that's for sure, and fully immerses you into the scare. The monsters look a little stupid, but oh well, what are ya gonna do, at least they finally got some realistic dead mannequins. Also looks like there's a lot of interactive elements that play on your senses and some creative scares. Everyone in the maze seems to be providing something towards the story and the finale doesn't go too overboard. However, I do wish the finale room and climax had a bigger "oh crap" moment. I gotta say I'm very impressed with that one and can't wait to go through it next year. A+ - Paranormal Inc's new ending looks like it starts off promising but then it does nothing with that premise at all and just resorts to the ending it always had. I think I prefer the old ending from a scary standpoint, BUT I do like this one more from a storytelling standpoint. It's a toss up. I do want to comment that this maze is still rocking after all these years and I find that to be pretty amazing. Usually there's a lot of stuff broken or getting lazy with by now, but they're still all playing their part to make this a great maze. Maybe they could be more aggressive, it also was the first night, so who knows, but this is still way better at this many years in than it has any right to be! I think this has one more year left in it. A- - Shadowlands' new opening scene is preferable, in my opinion. I never thought the pre-shows worked and I'd rather it just get started and I think the new room is pretty beautiful. The rest of the maze still looks in top form, although I think this should probably be it's last year as something about it seems a bit more tired than usual. It's not something they could easily rebrand, like Paranormal Inc could easily be something different, but this will always be Shadowlands. B - The Red Barn... *sigh*, ya know I do like the new barker out front, good idea. It doesn't add much, but at least it's something. The rest... WHY OH WHY is this still around? It was garbage the first year and still is. Didn't see much that was new. Heard a few reports saying it looked unfinished... uh, no, this is how this maze has always been, just pure junk. Boring, bland, derivative, unscary and tiresome with an annoying soundtrack and annoying characters. Nobody has liked this maze, ever. So how has it even lasted 3 years? They should've buried it deep after year one and pretended it never happened like a few other KSF mazes. It's so sad that they keep this up, too, each year trying to give it new life of some sort. JUST STOP! F - Special Ops' new ending is pretty underwhelming. There isn't much to get excited about, unfortunately. However, the experience as a whole is still pretty cool and novel. I still say this is the most fun you'll probably ever have at a Haunt. And it looks like there's more zombies than ever. This needs to be rebranded completely. I definitely want the idea to stay, but the maze needs to go next year. B+ - Trick or Treat was supposed to have new scares triggered by the light? Didn't see any. Look, I loved this maze when it debuted so many years ago, but this is now ridiculous. It's the same maze, and the flashlight gimmick is fun and all, but just end it. I feel like every year it just gets further and further away from it's original point of the whole Green Witch and Tricksters stuff also. I'll be sad to see it go, but it's time. C From what I can tell, they have better maze signs this year to tell you where the line starts AND how long the line is. How accurate that is is probably a whole different story but I'm glad to see they're trying. Overall, I'm not too sad not to go this year. Looks like the same thing. One really good new maze, one super overrated new maze, last year's new mazes still good but not quite as good as before, some great classics, some old classics dwindling into sadness, and some old crappy mazes that just keep coming back -- this is the same thing year after year. For $42, you'll definitely get your money's worth especially if you hit some rides, but man, KSF sure needs to change things up."

I have friends that do it specifically because it relaxes them and makes it less scary for them. That's been the case for both types. But ofcourse, everyone is different. Taking like 3-5 shots of alcohol should loosen you up though, and not see things coming. Just don't drink too much or you'll feel sick, not take in the details, etc..

I work at a college, so I'm usually up to date with a lot of references, but usually I hear about them a week or two after they happened. Like Yodel Kid, I was like... wtf do you mean there's just a kid who yodels in Walmart? That's just a thing?! And now he's famous?! I think it also has to do with where these viral things are found, website-wise, are just places kids are going and I don't know about anymore. Like maybe tumblr or something, or whatever they're using these days.

I just YouTube the Hanging now. I used to love it when I first started going, but now that I'm older, my feet and back hurt way too much to stand there for 30-60 minutes. If anything, I'm constantly looking for places to sit lol and since the concept of a hanging is to have spectators stand and watch, I can't necessarily wish they provide seating either as that defeats theming (also practicality, for that area). Now that I think about it, I keep forgetting they moved the stage and that vantage point just doesn't feel like The Hanging to me anymore, which probably doesn't help my desire to see it anymore either

I remember a time there was a scarezone there already, called The Swamp, so that entices me none. 2 mazes for KSF is as exciting as one HHN maze, for me. I don't really watch the shows. I liked Hacks back in the day, but that definitely won't get me in the park. They've always had a DJ in Fiesta Village. At least every night I've ever gone, kiisFM or some radio station has been there. I do really want to ride Hangtime, still need to do that. Silver Bullet was operating last year, to my knowledge? I think it was Xcelerator that was out and had me sad. Silver Bullet is just okay to me, just makes me want to go on Batman. And definitely won't be doing the VR. Great thing about Knotts is everything touted as new this year will still be there next year. And all the old, boring stuff will be replaced by something even newer. Next year, I'm hoping ToT, Red Barn, Hootenany, and Shadowlands are replaced, and either Special Ops or Paranormal Inc need to go or be given a new gimmick. Which should be loooooads of new content. I just can't bring myself to go through their older and getting more and more tired mazes again. Last year, some of the older ones were wearing thin and it was a drag to go through them (Tooth Fairy), including a newer one (Red Barn, uggggh) and their newest, hottest attraction was just meh to me (Dark Ride). I'd only really be there for Dark Entities, Depths, and Pumpkineater. I don't want to see the slow death of old favorites like Shadowlands, Paranormal Inc, or Special Ops. It's just depressing the way Knotts treats their mazes older than 2 years old sometimes.

Definitely skipping this year. Just not enough new content.

The way I portion it out is like this: - $42 ticket (I always go on an early October Thursday and that's just about as much I'm willing to pay to go to KSF these days) - $10 meet and greet (I feel like this is a weird thing to put a price on... meeting someone... how much of their time do I get? Is it quality time? Will they be bombarded by others with questions? How's it work anyway? I wouldn't pay to hang out with a celebrity -- or maybe I would. I don't know) - $15 backstage tour (add an extra $8 for each maze after that, if there's more than one) - $20 Boo-fet - $5 Early Entry (fairly unnecessary, even on crowded nights) - $10 unlimited FOL (just not a necessity on Thursdays too) - $8 unlimited rides (not what I'm there for, and this ain't too bad other than GR also) - $5 piece of mind knowing I don't have to worry about much That's what... $115 value? That's FOR ME, at least.

I always think about doing these, but I always feel like they're about 20-30ish over what I'm willing to pay haha

Paranormal Inc officially on the website. And what if... just what if... they stopped the Hanging and did another show instead? The outcry from fans, myself included, would be insane... but I'm an agent of chaos and would just want to see it.

I'm the type that only drinks if it means to get DRUNK. And considering it's LA, I'm sure those prices will be steep for drinks. I'll at most stroll through the arcade, reminisce about an old game for 5 seconds and then keep going. And live-entertainment usually has little interest to me unless it's a full on show with a plot. There could be a man playing the banjo with his arms on fire and I'd probably just walk by and go on with my day.

My game plan as of now is... Arrive SUPER EARLY Hit Arkham Asylum to be first in line (10 minutes) Run to Conjuring (50 minutes?) Studio Tour - if it's dark by than (not sure how this will be ran, 30 minute wait with 30 minutes to do?) IT (if not dark already, swap with Studio Tour - 70 minute wait, maybe) Eat Tim Burton exhibit Exorcist 4D (at most, will wait 30 minutes) Drop Tower (at most, will wait 40 minutes) Arkham again (at most, will wait 60 minutes for hitting a repeat) Conjuring, It, or Studio Tour repeat for whichever of those I like most