Let me preface this by saying I have been to all the local haunts and actually participated in haunts myself for a couple years. I say this to underscore that this is not the first haunted experience I have been to, but this is the very first one I have left upset and dissatisfied. We drove from two hours away specifically for this experience and were very disappointed.
The maze started off quite fun, even though the zombies are a bit too persistent. The safety video says that you can misdirect or sidestep and zombies, and that they will only take out one in your group. Not true--they will take both of you out and pin you back against a wall where you can't pass or move. There wasn't a single squeaky toy anywhere in the entire maze to distract them, and no extra lives. We each lost all three of our lives within a couple minutes of entering. That's when it actually became less fun because the zombies don't care about you anymore once you have no lives left. So it was just about getting to the exit.
Therein lies the problem-- getting out is impossible and annoying. This was supposed to be a 10 minute maze but we were in there for about 40 minutes. You are told to look for the green light--only there are many green lights, and the lights would also shift colors too. You end up going in circles and going through the same areas again and again and seeing the same zombies. We asked the cast members for directions, and this is where we started getting upset--they kept deliberately leading us the wrong way. On a couple occasions the cast members would point one way and then the next time we encountered them they would point the other way.
Other customers were experiencing the same frustration we were--we kept running into the same people because no one could find the way out, and we could tell their frustration was mounting as well.
I also was not anticipating having to get on my stomach and crawl on my elbows through a tiny tunnel. I'm fairly young but have bad knees from a surgery years ago, and it was brutal on my knees. My pants also caught on a piece of plastic that was sticking out and ripped.
After crawling through the same tunnel for the fifth time, I was done. My fiance went on through but I told him I wasn't going through that again and I'd find another way and see him at the exit. I told the next few cast members that I was done and to please show me the exit. You are told before that if you ever want to leave at any point, you make a cross motion with your hands and say "Mercy" and they'll show you to the nearest exit. Much to my surprise, that was not the case, as they still wouldn't point me to the correct exit. I'm sure they could tell I was upset too. I just kept saying I wanted to get out of here. I was sweaty, exhausted, and had stopped having fun about 30 minutes before. Finally someone did point me the correct direction and I got out. My fiance came out a few minutes after me, saying the zombies had still kept leading him the wrong direction and that one had commented on how pissed I seemed. One zombie did realize my fiance was upset and pointed him the right way out as well.
We emerged covered in sweat, fake spiderwebs, with ripped pants, and highly irritated. We love haunted houses and look forward to them every year, and couldn't believe the etiquette of the cast. If the cast is going to intentionally lead you astray, then that should be stated in the beginning. That lovely waiver they have you sign states, in pertinent part.... "It is the Releasing Party's right and responsibility to cease participation in the Experience... the SAFE WORD, "MERCY", which may be said AT ANY TIME if Releasing Party would like to cease his or her participation in the Experience." As a paralegal, it's always funny to see companies not abiding by their own legally binding documents.
If you're looking for a better haunted experience, try Coffin Creek which is 20 minutes away. That's one of the best ones we've ever been to and you get five experiences for $50. read more