Ooof...where to begin. I will begin by saying that my husband (62) & I (58) booked a 3 hour…read moreparanormal ~ 48 hours ahead of time...kind of a spur of the moment thing. Paid our money & tickets downloaded to the trusty Apple wallet. Almost exactly 24 hours ahead, I received this text (spelling/grammar mistakes are not mine): "Hi Lisa - this is Rolling Hills Asylum. Apoligizes for texting so late. I had an issue printing tomorrows guest list - can you please confirm the number of tickets you purchased and for which option (6hr or 3hr). Thank you!" I responded with "2 tickets for the 3 hour". I received a response asking me to have each of us fill out our own registration form (with our own different emails/cell phone numbers), which we did. We both fully read the registration form - full of really vague rules - but we completed it. No other communication from anyone at Rolling Hills came to either of our email accounts.
We arrived exactly 30 minutes before our scheduled check-in time. We waited in a short line and met another group (of 3) who had a similar texting experience as us the night before. The staff came out exactly 15 minutes before entry time...and this woman (who we would later learn is the owner Sharon) walks up to me...yelling and pointing her finger at me, saying "you can't bring that backpack in...I sent emails". I checked the website beforehand, which states that all bags will be searched, but never states that bags are not allowed. I never received any email, but I put my backpack back in the car just to keep the peace.
My husband loves his video camera & "techy" stuff, so he double-checked that he could video inside, even though their website states that video cameras are allowed. Sharon responded "yes", so he headed back to the car to grab his gear. We got back in line, only to have Sharon tell us to move to the back of the line, as she "needed to speak to us". She told us that our video camera "looked like a professional setup" and that if we wanted to use it, we would have to book a PRIVATE tour. The video camera in question is one that our uses regularly...yes, he has an infrared 'thing' that he puts on the top of it so he can film our ghost hunts...and yes, he has a chest harness for it since he has a bad back and carrying it for multiple hours hurts his back. I will be honest...as my husband walked the video camera back to the car, I questioned Sharon. The website says we can video. She told us we could video. Apparently, since our video camera is nicer than hers, we couldn't video. I pushed her & stated that we had agreed (per her multiple release forms) not to post anything on any of the big social media sites. She countered with "the camera looks like those that the You-Tubers use"...our camera does not have livestreaming capabilities, and I offered to show her.
She did offer us a refund, but I figured that we had driven almost 5 hours & paid for a hotel room...I said we wanted the ghost hunt they advertised on their website.
Hubby came back from dropping the camera back at the car, and she asked him to empty his pockets. She literally made him pat down all of his pockets..."I think there's something in your front pocket"...truly made me want to be inappropriate, but I did refrain. (SHOCK: When he pulled the fabric liner out of his pockets, they were empty). She was not to be deterred...she then took his flashlight. Yup, a flashlight. She said it was "too bright"...but nothing on the website about handheld flashlights...just headlamps, which we did not have. We watched her take prescription inhalers & ChapStick from another guest...the paranoid control was crazy.
We met several groups during our tour that had the same flashlight (right down to the same brand) as my husband. When we asked how they "snuck" it in, they were really quick to say they were frequent returning guests and they get special "perks or consideration".
Our tour was scheduled from 8-11pm. We left at 10:15pm...no video camera...no flashlights...no ability to record/verify what we were seeing and experiencing...time to leave.
My husband & I have been very blessed to have been able to have many paranormal adventures for almost a decade...we live close to Gettysburg, PA, and having so much history & "active" places to check out within a few hours/overnight drive, we have had so many amazing & welcoming experiences. Unfortunately, this was not anything close to those. We will never return to this place, and I will continue to tell anyone I meet to give this place a HARD PASS.