Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Halloween Park
Location of Attraction: Strinestown PA
Website: www.halloweenpark.com
Date of Review: 10/9/2016
Total Number of Attractions Available: 5
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 7
Entertainment and Food Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Makeup and Costume Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Props Rating (scale of 1-10): 7
Overall Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Overall Feedback: Halloween Park is located just minutes away from the 83 Strinestown exit. A lot of haunts located just moments away from highly traveled roadways often don’t provide an eerie experience during the drive to the haunt but this is something that Halloween Park easily provides just moments after getting off the highway. By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Halloween Park, our group members were already fully indulged into the atmosphere that Halloween Park has created. Something unique that Halloween Park offers is a pretty low cost ticket price and a “Bottomless ticket”. For just $33 you receive unlimited access to all five attractions that Halloween Park has to offer. Yes, this means you can go through your favorite attractions two, three, or even four times in one night. A truly unique touch that Halloween Park offers is the fact that the mill is truly haunted and has received state issued documentation of paranormal activity!! Something that we learned from our experience at Halloween Park is that they may not be the scariest or most highly attended haunted attraction in the area but they do provide a great mixture of scares and laughs that are appropriate for the entire family. The lack of long lines helped all of our group stay in the spooky atmosphere that Halloween Park has provided. Across the board at Halloween Park it was clearly obvious that they were busy during the off-season. Tons of changes and improvements have been made to ultimately better the customer experience. A lot of the scenes throughout Halloween Park featured detailed and handcrafted props. Our group feels that across the board the biggest downfall of the night was the lack of live actors in each of the attractions. The lack of actors lead to multiple times of dead space in multiple of the attractions. However, this has been a reoccurring theme at many attractions that we’ve attended this season. Something that Halloween Park captures very well is the friendly, fun, and family atmosphere. This ultimately lead to a great experience for all of our group members. During your time in between attractions make sure you grab a light refreshment from the snack shack and then kick back and relax while you watch the house band (the skeleton performers). Besides the five main attractions that Halloween Park offers they also have a Shoot the Spook attraction where you get to try and shoot a ghoul with a paintball gun. Another thing Halloween Park offers is an interactive app called “Dare to Scare” which can be downloaded on any IPhone or Android device. This allows you to become the actor and gives you control of two interactive scares located at the haunt. On a side note, check out Halloween Park’s website and facebook page for information on their Terror in the Park event located at the abandoned Williams Grove Amusement Park. Halloween Park also does a great job at offering different Halloween related events throughout the entire year. Twice already this year Halloween Park has hosted the Zombie Apocalypse Live event (a tactical live action zombie experience).They have also done a Christmas and Valentine’s Day themed haunt in years past. Be on the lookout for these special events as you definitely don’t want to miss out on the fun!! All in all, Halloween Park has definitely made lots of improvements which made for a more enjoyable experience. We may not have left Halloween Park trembling in fear but we definitely left with a fair share of screams and laughs. We encourage you to check out Halloween Park’s website and facebook page to learn more about their haunt. We can safely say that Halloween Park is suitable for the entire family! When you visit Halloween Park make sure you let them know that York Fright Review Squad sent you their way!!
Individual Attraction Review:
Attraction Name: Creekside Manor
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 6
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 7
Likes: Creekside Manor was by far the group favorite of the night. Creekside Manor takes place inside the 160+ year old mill that was most recently used as a feed mill. This attraction definitely has the room to grow and really blossom into one of the best walk through haunts in the area! Creekside Manor houses Dr.Stampfl’s deranged patients, all of which were tormented by being locked up with their biggest fears and phobias. A major change to this haunt was quickly identified as Halloween Park relocated their popular Electric Chair attraction to the beginning of this attraction. This provides some shocking entertainment while you wait to enter the mill. Creekside Manor definitely featured many different scenes throughout the haunt however we didn’t necessarily always figure out what the phobia was in each scene. However, the detail put into some of the scenes was truly mind blowing. The props across the board were very detailed and clearly hand built. Most of the actors that we encountered in this attraction stayed in character and interacted with our group. Dr.Stampfl was by far one of the best actors that we have seen anywhere thus far this season! We definitely enjoyed ourselves on our journey through this attraction.
Dislikes: As mentioned above, our group struggled at times to figure out what the phobia was in each room. Some of the rooms were easily identified (clowns, spiders, rats, etc.) but others were not quite so easy. Some of the actors we encountered also made it tougher to identify what the phobia was as they were acting out a skit completely unrelated to the scene. We’d really like to see Halloween Park nail down what the phobia is in each room and then have the actors skit fully relate to the phobia! This change would definitely increase the overall atmosphere and scare factor in Creekside Manor. Creekside Manor did also seem to lack some actors as there were multiple empty rooms. This was unfortunate to see as the scenes are well put together but require an actor to fully bring the scene to life.
Attraction Name: Insanity Island
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 6
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 6
Likes: Our group went through Insanity Island after the completion of Creekside Manor. The walking paths through Insanity Island are claimed to be the same ones the Creekside Manor patients used to try to escape. The first scene on the island was easily the best scene in this entire attraction. The actor we encountered did a spookingly good job setting the eerie atmosphere for the attraction. And we can’t forget to mention the mass overload of changes that have taken place in this attraction! Insanity Island seemed completely different and there were definitely twice as many scenes and props utilized than in years before. Insanity Island truly takes place on an island and there is nothing more eerie and creepy than walking through the dark woods and hearing the water flowing through the creek.
Dislikes: Insanity Island seemed to lack patients as their was a lot of dead space. Now, dead space isn’t always a bad thing when you have such an eerie island like Halloween Park but we easily walked through two or three scenes that had no actors. We’d like to see more patients utilized to help fill out the haunt. We encourage Halloween Park to utilize the darkness they have and add some actors or unique pop scares to those areas to ultimately up the scare factor of this haunt!
Attraction Name: The 7 Gates
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Likes: The 7 Gates is based off the urban legend that takes place in York PA. A lot of changes and improvements were made in this attraction during the off season! Each gate/scene had more additional props which helped the attraction feel fuller and not quite as bare prop wise. The 7 Gates takes place on the same island as Insanity Island therefore the same eerie and creepy atmosphere is carried through this attraction. Halloween Park does provide you a flashlight for this attraction however our group choose not to utilize the flashlight which ultimately made the walk through the dark woods even darker and creepier.
Dislikes: This attraction lacked actors which really lead to a lot of dead space in this haunt. According to the urban legend regarding the seven gates, as you approach each gate the intensity should be amped up. This was something that we did not get out of this attraction. The 7 Gates definitely has the pieces to be a good walking trail but there needs to be more actors to help fill out the haunt. We’d also like to see the actors up the intensity to provide a more eerie and terrifying experience.
Attraction Name: The Catacombs
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 7
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 5
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 7
Likes: The Catacombs is a quick walk through a 19th century dig site where you encounter coal miners who will do anything to protect their coal. This attraction seemed to change a bit as well from last year. The props and scenes were spot on and were truly unique. There isn’t an attraction like this one anywhere else that we know of. After your journey through the coal mines you go through more twists and turns and end up being put into a coffin for your end of life burial. This part of the attraction was really unique and provided a one of a kind touch. All of the actors that we encountered in this attraction stayed in character and did a frighteningly good job. Overall, The Catacombs isn’t a long attraction by any means but it was unique and very enjoyable.
Dislikes: There really wasn’t anything that we disliked about this attraction. Although there are a few things that we think could better the overall experience of this attraction. In the coal mine portion of the attraction there was what seemed to be an elevator. We’d love to see the actors lock you into the elevator and provide some sort of skit while inside the elevator. In the burial portion of the attraction the use of air cannons or brief moments of mist could provide more of a scare factor to this portion of the haunt. In years past we remember getting blasted with air/mist at certain points during our burial which made for a more interactive and scary experience.
Attraction Name: Terror Behind the Doors
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 6
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 6
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 4
Likes: Terror Behind the Doors has completely changed from its original design in years past. The same concept of 8 or 10 doors leading to different paths that wind you all throughout the attraction was utilized but the design and pathways have completely changed. You could probably send 6-10 customers in this attraction at a time without any actors and each person would still enjoy the attraction. The darkness and fear of what might be lying around the next corner is plenty enough to make this haunt scary and intimidating. There were multiple moments where our group members ran into one another and total scared each other. Nothing more frustrating and enjoyable at the same time than seeing what seems to be the same pathways over and over again and not being able to find the way out.
Dislikes: Our group only recalls encountering one actor in this attraction. The actor that we encountered provided what seemed to be little impact to the attraction. Each time we’d end up at the room of doors the actor just simply pointed us towards another direction. We’d really like to see Terror Behind the Doors flooded with deranged actors anxiously waiting for customers to come around each corner. There were so many spots where an actor could easily just be stationed and then when a customer comes by they could provide a quick but frightening pop scare. Air cannons/horns could also up the scare factor and ultimately provide a more frighteningly experience.