Author: admin

Adventureland asks…

The new owners of Adventureland (Parques Reunidos/Palace Entertainment) have posted a survey to ask folks why they didn’t go to Phantom Fall Fest.

Questions included:

  1. Gender
  2. Age
  3. Job industry
  4. Zip code
  5. Salary range
  6. Which haunts did you experience this season:
    • Scare DSM Haunted House
    • Sleepy Hollow Scream Park
    • Slaughterhouse
    • Linn’s Haunted House
    • Halloween Haunt at Worlds of Fun
    • Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America
    • Tricks & Treats at Valleyfair
    • Phantom Fall Fest at Adventureland
    • Or none.
  7. Why wouldn’t you visit Adventureland? Choices included:
    • Covid-19
    • childish
    • personal problems
    • wasn’t aware
    • prefer to go to other amusement parks
    • not interested in amusement parks
    • head negative comments / not recommended
    • too thrilling
    • prefer other activities
    • too expensive
    • not interested in Halloween
    • too far away
    • other

Hopefully other haunts will do similar surveys to help them improve their offerings for future seasons.

2022 vs 2021: 41% increase at DMHH

The haunted house scene in the area came crashing down in 2020, with most not operating, and some closing permanently. 2021 had far fewer haunts operating than earlier years, though it did see the addition of Scare DSM. This year saw the addition of Adventureland’s new Halloween themed event. Even with all of this, the market is still way down compared to “the before times.”

That said, with fewer choices, and an audience returning to wanting to do these things, that should mean that the remaining haunts get a larger slice of the haunt visitor pie. Without having access to business records of the various haunts, all we can really say is several did report nights when they operated at capacity (though we don’t know if they are operating a full pre-pandemic capacity, or still at some reduced level).

As far as this website, it saw a 41% increase in visitors in 2022 compared to 2021. With the trajectory is headed back up, so let’s hope for an even better next year.

Maybe I’ll even resume doing video interviews, though the landscape in 2023 is very different than what it was like when I first started this site. I think posting 15 second TikTok videos or someone screaming when they see a clown might get a larger audience than interview videos 😉

Happy thanksgiving!

Processing Fees for buying online.

When you buy tickets online, you usually do so either to guarantee entry (for places that sell out), or to get a discount. Most online ticket sales have extra fees added. Here is a rundown of the area haunts and their fees, from most expensive to least:

  • Adventureland Park – $4 Processing Fee (per item, but no fee for $5 mAlice add-on)
  • Scare DSM – $2.50 Fee (per ticket)
  • Slaughterhouse – $2.48 Processing and Service Fee (per ticket)
  • Sleepy Hollow Sports Park – $1.50 Service Fee (per item)

Parking is also extra at Adventureland ($20, or $15 online) and Sleepy Hollow Sports Park ($5?). Some have had to pay after buying a ticket online, and others have said buying a ticket online includes parking. Always check with the haunt to make sure.

Also, Adventureland is cashless as of 2022, so you have to have a credit card to pay for parking. Other places may be cash only to buy tickets or pay for parking at the event.

In the future, I’ll be adding these items as categories to the listing.

Haunted Woods in Carlisle?

Over in the Haunted Houses around Des Moines Facebook group, Kailey S. shared a photo of a handout for a haunted walk near Carlisle. We’d only just heard about this when someone asked about one in that area.

I have not been able to locate a website yet, but I did find a Facebook Event for it:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1518042198624239

Here is the text from the flyer shared by Kailey:

HAUNTED WOODS!

1478 E. County Line Rd.
Carlisle lowa
Take Exit 72 To Carlisle Follow Signs
515-250-4447

7:00pm – 11:00pm
September – Friday – Sunday
October – Wednesday – Sunday
Admission – $20.00
Express Tickets – $35.00
Cash Only

Closed If Bad Weather

*Not Advised For Small Children

text from flyer picture posted by Kailey S.

Please comment if you have more details we can share. Thanks!

Harry Potter meets PirateS?

The Harry Potter House is back for 2022. Located at 3720 Brook Ridge Ct in Des Moines, this house gets quite the themed overlay this time of year. Drive by and check out the large-size Hogwarts Express train poking out from the building, and see skeleton versions of your favorite Harry Potter characters in the yard. It’s quite the display!

News coverage:

https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-des-moines-pirate-potter-house-is-a-free-haunted-house-for-all-ages/41521562#

Ames Haunted Forest this weekend

Haunted house season officially began last weekend with Adventureland, Linn’s Haunted House, Scare DSM, Slaughterhouse, Sleepy Hollow Sports Park, and Tormented Souls Haunt beginning their season.

This weekend, the Ames Haunted Forest will join them. It will open at 7pm this Friday and Saturday night.

Meanwhile, a few online comments have started to show up about opening weekend. If you enjoyed the haunt, be sure to leave a review on Google or their Facebook page. Likewise, if you do not think the haunt was worth the money, be sure to leave a review and let others know.

For those new here… EVERY HAUNT will have fans who think it’s the best thing ever. And EVERY HAUNT will have folks saying it’s the worst one they’ve ever been do. Don’t let reviews sway you unless they are overwhelmingly negative or overwhelmingly positive.