The scare zones weren't very scary, some of the scar actors kind of looked unsure of themselves. They didn't do the very effective slide scares like at Knott's. They lack Knott's Ghost Town, which is an AMAZING venue for this, but the rest of Knott's was done fantastic as well. Seaworld just felt...weak.
We were fortunate to be able to experience Knotts only once, the year they had their version of ‘tooth fairy’. They had a great hotel package, dinner with scareactors, special key rooms, all for a much lower price than normal haunts.
TBH we were blown away! I mean this in a good way, Knotts was much more ‘raw’. Let’s just say the crowd was really into it.
The foreboding atmosphere really had me uneasy…in a very good way. combo of it being an unfamiliar park to us & relatively compact with so many dark nooks & crannies perhaps, all perfect elements for staging a creepy event. I never experienced the slide scares beforehand, awesome.
It truly was a totally different vibe from the USH HHN & the
MNSSHP we experienced during the same trip…which we followed up with a stop at the Orlando haunts on the way home on that bucket list trip
.
One thing i do believe that sets the CA haunts apart is the large pool of professionally trained actors my assumption is many of them eagerly line up for the gigs each years, their skill set truly elevated the final result VS many of the same houses set in USO.
That said, going early in the season to most haunts, even the professionally produced ones…you can easily find yourself in a bit of a dress rehearsal mode. Seems the later you go, the better everyone settles into their roles.
have seen things get visibly tweaked during our trips as to what works & doesn’t in the houses. at U they have the “a” & “b” teams. often, one is visibly stronger than the others.
in the past HHN had an internal competition for bragging rights as to the ‘best’ scariest house. many of the scareactors were long-time participants in the event (Chain Saw Wolves!)
IMO, it’s a real labor of love for those who work the events. I appreciate all their efforts, even if they don’t always stick the mark. It’s all about setting one’s expectations realistically. I don’t expect to be blown away the first year of the this new event, however, I sure do look forward to being at the event next Sunday!