Vote of the week: Who does the best Halloween event?

From Barbara Boyer on October 26, 2007 at 5:37 AM
Year after year Busch continues to provide quality entertainment and atmosphere. The park is beautiful all the time, and the Halloween theme does not mar the beauty, but incorporates it into the settings. Busch seems to have a knack for hiring excellent people, as well. We will keep going back several times as long as they continue to do what they do!

From Anthony Murphy on October 26, 2007 at 6:16 AM
No Disney :(

Anyway, Fright Fest was nothing compared to HHN or anything else. By the way, do you have to pay to get into the houses at HHN? You do at Six Flags!

From Mostly Anonymous on October 26, 2007 at 2:57 PM
The results surprised me - I kind of wonder if there's an east coast / west coast split in the voting. Growing up on the west coast, I had no idea that "Halloween Horror Nights" had a good reputation. In fact, I'm not sure I'd even heard about it until I started reading theme park websites.

For me, the idea of "ultimate Halloween event" has always been associated with the words "The Haunt". I haven't been to any of the non-Knott's Cedar Fair events, but if you're just asking for brand name power - I'm kind of surprised the Haunt is doing poorly in the voting. But perhaps there are a lot of east coast votes!

From Robert Niles on October 27, 2007 at 1:46 PM
I see the Knott's ballot-stuffing has begun. Welcome to TPI, Halloween Haunt fans! ;-)

From Derek Potter on October 27, 2007 at 3:23 PM
Well I guess we've already had the Universal ballot stuffing, so naturally it's Cedar Point/Knotts turn.

Seriously though...Cedar Fair's Halloween events (at least in Ohio) have gotten a lot better over the years. The only drawback to them now is that they are a heck of a lot more crowded than they used to be. Cedar Fair also inherits Kings Island's old Fearfest event, which was a good one to begin with. Seems they are a little edgier these days as well.

From Stephen Tuday on October 28, 2007 at 4:42 PM
I may live in a small world, but I have always enjoyed the Halloween season at Wild Adventures (A.K.A. PHOBIA). Even though this park chain is not on the ballot, I think they do a great 'haunted park'. There's an irony, though: Wild Adventures is now part of the Herschend Family Parks, which is not known for doing anything along the lines of 'haunted park', opting for more family-oriented autumn festival and arts/crafts at their chain of parks instead. There is much speculation on whether this will be the last season for a Halloween celebration at WA, but in the end, I hope they realize how popular this event is and not pull the plug on it.

From Bradley Robertson on October 30, 2007 at 9:24 AM
I can't even believe Halloween Haunt is in the running. I like my local HH a lot, but it isn't as good as HOS or HHN I have been to all 4 in the last 12 months. I had the best experience at Howl-O-Scream and the theming at HHN in the houses was pretty good. Fright Fest should be a distant 4th as it is truly abysmal compared to the other 3.