Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Hundred Acres Manor
Website: www.hundredacresmanor.com
Location of Attraction: Bethel Park, PA
Date of Review: 9/11/2021
Total Number of Attractions Available: One - 5 Themes
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 8.5/10
Entertainment & Food Rating: 7.5/10
Atmosphere Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Costume & Makeup Rating: 9/10
Overall Cast & Crew Rating: 8/10
Overall Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 9.5/10
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 7/10
Overall Feedback: After unfortunately being closed during the 2020 season, Hundred Acres Manor is BACK in 2021, prepared to provide an exhilarating and spine-chilling experience! Located in Bethel Park PA, about 20 minutes south of Pittsburgh, is Hundred Acres Manor, one of the Pittsburgh area's largest and scariest haunted attractions! The main attraction here is the infamous “Manor” which usually possesses SIX different themed sections. Guests can also partake in a “burial simulator”, a black wall insanity maze (“The Maze”), and the beer lounge! A small souvenir shop, concession stand, and several photo-op booths are also available for your enjoyment.
We arrived on site around 6:30pm, shortly before their slotted ticket booth opening time. It’s worth noting that the attractions do not officially open until dusk. We snagged our general admission tickets ($27) and hopped into line. By 7:30pm, darkness was beginning to creep in and haunt goers were rapidly filling up the queue lines! It’s not uncommon for Hundred Acres Manor to pack in a large crowd, so upgrading to VIP/Fast Passes ($40) may be warranted during “peak” times of the season (Friday’s & Saturday’s). In years past Hundred Acres Manor always had top notch queue line entertainers, but none were encountered during our recent visit. Instead, electrifying music was pumped into the air creating a lively atmosphere while the rules of the attraction were displayed on several TV’s spread out across the queue lines. As 8pm rolled around, the manor doors were finally opened, and guests were admitted into the Manor.
For 2021 Hundred Acres Manor possesses FIVE different themed sections: The Host, Breach 2.0, Folklore, Vodoh: The Spell, & Hallows’ Eve. Once admitted into the manor you’ll experience all five attractions/themes in back to back fashion, creating a solid 30-35 minute nightmarish adventure! The Host, a turn of the century themed attraction, brings your worst nightmares to life, as you’ll come face-to-face with all sorts of sinister creatures. We couldn’t help but gaze in awe at the larger than life & realistic scenes, especially the cemetery scene featuring massive tombs & numerous spookified animatronics! Breach 2.0 takes place in a space-bound research facility that’s been overrun by all sorts of freakish and formidable creatures! Extreme attention to detail was utilized throughout Breach 2.0 to make for an immersive & intense experience. New for 2021 is Folklore, a journey through the Seven Valley Springs mountains! Folklore was easily one of our squads favorite sections of the evening. Again, the pure attention to detail was quite mesmerizing. Who knew such detailed set design could truly make an attraction feel colder without actually pumping cold air into the attraction! One of the smallest, but coolest features of the night was the Yeti hand grabbing you from underneath the “Seven Valley Springs Resort” sign, such a small but experience-changing effect! Kudos to the numerous Yeti’s we encountered on our journey through Folklore, as they were relentless in their attack and delivered numerous spine-tingling startles! Vodoh: The Spell is another new/expanded attraction for 2021, which wound up being another one of our squads favorite sections of the evening! We’ve always thoroughly enjoyed the use of water features throughout this attraction! You can’t help but be visually stunned by the bayou scene! As you traverse across the piers, beware the various swamp creatures lurking in the murky water, they’ll strike on a moments notice leaving you running in terror! Be sure to move swiftly through Vodoh before the deranged spooks execute their voodoo and cast an irreversible spell on you. As you venture through Hallows’ Eve be prepared to encounter all sorts of Halloween monsters like vampires, mummies, werewolves, ghosts, and more!
When it comes to the overall set design and usage of special effects, Hundred Acres Manor is nothing short of excellent! The attention to detail throughout the scenes is jaw-dropping, truly movie quality stuff! From start to finish the set design keeps you fully immersed in the various themes, helping to heighten the thrill and create an unnerving atmosphere. Various special effects, animatronics, drop panels, and more were utilized brilliantly to create countless quick startle scares.
The most notable downfall of the evening was the obvious lack of scare actors throughout the attractions. Many areas possessed short sections of dead space due to this actor shortage. Fortunately the remarkable set design and exceptional use of special effects helped to fill up the dead space with eye-candy galore! After speaking with Spencer, actor manager for Hundred Acres Manor, we learned that they had ⅓ of the scare actor applicants for 2021 compared to years prior. They were upfront about the cast shortage and expressed they’re capitalizing on the spooks they do have by creating scare zones where one actor can access several different spots to interact and frighten patrons. Kudos to the cast & crew who were energized and clearly eager to provide blood-curdling startles! Special shout-outs to a few stand-out spooks: Yeti’s in Folklore, swamp lady in Vodoh, Ghillie suit dude, jester clown, & the sheet-covered ghost effectively utilizing “Boo” to startle our squad members!
Hundred Acres Manor consistently provides an innovative, immersive, & spooky fun experience, action-packed with nightmarish scares, aesthetically pleasing set design, and relentless & deranged spooks. 2021 was our third season visiting Hundred Acres Manor and we’ll certainly be back for many more years to come! Our squad members traveled 4-6 hours to visit Hundred Acres Manor, and we all felt it was WELL worth the trip. Feel free to visit another nearby haunted house if you’re looking for a full evenings worth of spooky fun; Demon House, Castle Blood, ScareHouse, or Haunted Hills Hayride would all pair nicely with a visit to Hundred Acres Manor! Despite functioning with a smaller than ideal cast & crew, the Hundred Acres Manor team didn’t disappoint and once again delivered that frightfully fun experience we’ve come to know and love from them! Be sure to visit them this fall, you won’t be disappointed!
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