InPark Magazine: Halloween events have evolved into a crucial part of the seasonal calendar for many theme parks, and Dark Nights at Hersheypark Halloween is no exception. As more parks expand their seasonal offerings, Hersheypark’s approach stands out by providing a mix of family-friendly fun and high-quality, immersive scares, all included with general admission.
10 comments:
This Halloween event sounds so cool! I love how they have incorporated elements of immersive theatre into their haunted houses by giving them storylines. I think a really cool haunted house or maze concept would be a murder mystery; as guests went through the haunted house or maze, they would be presented with clues to the mystery and have the option to try and solve it. I also very much agree with the author’s point about the point of Halloween events being to entertain guests, not necessarily scare them. For some people, the terror is entertaining, but it’s awesome how this amusement park has incorporated non-frightening options for those who don’t find fright entertaining. In addition, it’s cool that the events are included in the price of admission instead of being the additional-purchase model that many amusement parks have adopted. I will definitely be checking out the Dark Nights at Hersheypark!
I’ve heard of other theme parks having Halloween events, but never Hershey. After reading about these, all these scare zones and haunted housing seem super creative, interactive, and really fun. Throughout all their five haunted houses, there is definitely something for everyone, even if you’re not as into scary stuff. The themes of the scare zones are also super cool, and the green haze that is used, per the article, seem to make this experience as immersive as possible. There is also 13 candy stops which is where you will find me. So much candy, and it is all included in one general admission ticket. After you do all of this, there are limited rides just for halloween, and special tastings of five seasonal snacks, desserts, and drinks. From CMU, it’s around a three hour drive, which is far but could be a really fun weekend excursion. I would definitely go to this.
I was, and still am, a person who is highly excited by the aesthetic of the Halloween season. Being from Massachusetts, I grew up around very interactive and detailed Halloween decorations and attractions. There is something that I love about the small town, old, creepy houses vibe– however with the current capitalization of Halloween it is hard to enjoy this charm now due to extreme tourism (for example– Salem, MA). This is where amusement parks step up to attempt to cultivate that same experience in a direct and safe way. The Hersheypark Halloween experience sounds very immersive and the in-depth descriptions of the attractions in the article and the variety of subjects appeals to me. I also like how they made the experience inclusive for all ages and sensory differences. I definitely want to visit Hershey, PA sometime, and with this article, I will definitely try to make my visit during the Halloween season!
I love the variety that Hersheypark seems to be offering for the Halloween events; it’s cool that they have the scary things as well as family-friendly things as well as things more aimed at adults like cocktails and special bars. On one hand is feels very commercial, but on the other hand their aim is to make money by providing a cool experience that people are willing to pay for, so being able to cater to all ages is important. It’s also nice that their Halloween stuff is all included in general admission rather than making it super expensive as many places seem to do when they are able to block off an area behind an additional paywall. I also like to think about all the people that go into this type of experience “behind the scenes” – designing for theme parks seems super fun and like it would bring a whole slew of new challenges and experiences.
As I was reading I definitely thought that it would be such a cool experience, I don’t personally like the high intensity thrills of most haunted houses or such areas, so I was really pleased to see that there is a good amount of spaces and events, it feels like they put thought and effort into that side of things, which I haven’t seen much of. Luckily they have put in a lot of effort into the more high thrill sections as was seen in the video. Along with helping the thrill sections by reducing downtime in between events making a more immersive environment, the clustering also helps people who don’t want to be part of the scares avoid the area entirely. A lot of what I saw in the video and the description of the places and format reminded me of the Cox Pumpkin Patch where they hosted Fields of Fear where they hired high school students and professionals alike to work and be scare actors. The format is similar in that there was a dedicated section for the high intensity thrills and the rest of the area had food and was more of a fall festival area.
Halloween has always been my favorite holliday, and a part of that is all of the fun events surrounding it. The wide array of different spooky activities is a clever way to be inclusive of all people no matter their jumpiness at frights. The combination of frights, fun, and rides paint a picture of an awesome event that I sorely want to see in person. The fact that the event doesn’t cost more than a general admission ticket does is one more factor in making this experience accessible and available for as many people as posible. I especially want to see the “Fallout Zone”, the spooky fun being brought into a post apocalyptic setting is something I haven’t seen before and as a lover of sifi I am thrilled more genres are being spookified. “The Descent: Catacombs of Decay” haunted house also sound like a fun cross genre experience reminiscent of every halloween dnd oneshot.
Sometimes I forget when people ask me what I want to do specifically when I get out of college and just say “whatever hires me.” But o h m y g o d I think my dream job is to be a designer or technical director of haunted house operations in theme parks. I like Hershey Park’s accessibility features so that you can lure people in from a young age into halloween activities so they come back as older people ready to do everything. Having kid activities as well as the expected gory intense thrillers also enables incentives for the whole family to go without having to find a babysitter because then everyone can split and have a good time. I think haunted houses are the only form of immersive theatre I ever participate in because usually I hate being in the middle of a theatrical performance but I like being surrounded by oddly built pathways, eerie lighting, and crazy gory scenery as god intended.
My sister actually was just working at Hershey so I've been to dark nights before so this article really stood out to me because it struck the perfect blend between severe scares and family-friendly excitement, which I feel like is kind of hard to find in certain places that might do a “fright fest” I really liked how even though similar to a lot of parks they had haunted houses with like different scare levels which I thought was really cool. Also the new Estate of Evil sounds very intriguing as well. I also really liked reading about how everything is included with regular admission, as opposed to other Halloween events, such as Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, which may be expensive with additional fees. Or at Six flags where you have to pay separately for haunted houses.
I also think the fear zones and live entertainment, particularly the Decay Brigade sliders, filled the energy for Hershey's events. The fact that there are parts like Avenue of the Afterlife where I can enjoy the atmosphere without being scared all the time is a nice touch for guests who don't want an intensive horror experience.
Dark Nights at Hershey Park Halloween is a seasonal theatrical exhibition with haunted houses, scare zones, and more live entertainment. They tow the line between bold scares and inclusivity of the younger audience. I was able to glimpse through the video included in the article, and each of the five haunted houses brings something fun and exciting to the table, while also providing options for the less fear-inclined folks. I particularly liked the unique, eerie lighting in each of the houses - it really helped to set the mood, and I’m sure it helps the actors in their performance (and jumpscare practicalities) and helps the audience be in the mood for a fright. Their new Estate of Evil is an eccentric and ornate example of a ‘historic’ haunted mansion at its most ghoulish - as the story goes, the previous owners met quite a grim fate. I really enjoy the suspension of disbelief that the spooky season invites and that Dark Nights at Hershey Park Halloween clearly brings to the table.
As a theme park enthusiast and halloween fan this post caught my attention. I am not the biggest horror fan so I was excited to see that there are options for those who like jump scares and people like me who are not the biggest fan> As a manager with a focus in immersive theater I found it interesting to read about these haunted houses and what goes into them. I admire Hershey's decision to make the haunted houses and scare zones close together. I feel that that is optimal both for guests and productions. often people forget how involved and theatrical theme parks can be but these halloween shows and experiences are great reminders of how our would interacts with theme parks both seasonally and year round. Although I am not able to visit Hershey park this year I am intrigued by how they are bringing this spooky season to life,
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