Please note: this review is for the 2018 season rather than the current season.

The Dark Side Haunted Adventure

by fallguy24 after attending on Friday, September 28, 2018 at about 7:30 p.m.

Fun Factor: Low Fear Factor: Medium

Review

Ahhh, the Dark Side, I have had such a love/ hate relationship with this place through the years. Some years it's great, other years its bad. I go to easily 8-10 haunts a year and brought along 3 people who have never been there before, so let's get to it.

So they advertise 7 attractions now, it's a little misleading as the newest attraction is still broke down from last year when it was down. The ticket booth even said it was operational, this should've been a warning to the night that follows. Started out with the The Descent, a haunt that resembles a mine shaft, it's a short little fun haunt with a variety of scares and interactions.

Next was the hayride part of the journey, I have always told people that this was the main attraction of this place and the main reason to visit this haunt. This is where things got interesting, they cue their hayride to a soundtrack, that wasn't working at all. We probably drove a good 5 minutes with absolutely nothing to look at. Then we got stuck in the mud. The driver ran off and did not say a word to anybody, 30 minutes later he came back and told us another wagon was coming. 15 minutes go by and we finally see the new wagon come. I understand that things happen, but when their is no communication with your guests for 30 minutes stuck on a 40 degree night outside, that is poor customer service. A lady seated behind me even called their phone while we were stuck and the guy that answered had no idea they were even open that night. So we finally get going again and they had only 3 set pieces up this year (usually at least 7 or so from years past), and all of the special effects were not working. Very disappointing.

The next part was a haunted trail which was easily the best part, really an improvement over years past. Actors did a great job and it was quite long.

This little maze area was next, it was basically walking through doors until you found the one that went to the next area. Hardly can consider this an attraction.

The corn maze was next. Wasn't set up as a maze this year, more of a guided path through a cornfield with 2 actors in it.

The final part was the greenhouse haunted house, they should just redo this whole part, it's very lame, very short, and there was 1 actor inside. You basically look at plants as you go through. It has always been the weakest part of this haunt, and is a downer to end this huge scream park with.

Summary

The good- Actors did a great job, the haunted trail, we got a refund for being stranded.

The bad- The greenhouse, the maze, hayride(even without the mud incident), poor customer communication, train still isn't working after a year, yet they advertise it.

Overall it was a big letdown this year and I will probably take this off my rotation in the future until I hear better things again. Don't go if there is any rain at all during the week.

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April 20th, 2024 2:23 a.m. CDT 24.01