Des Moines Haunted Houses

Yesterday, Adventureland made another modification to its Phantom Fall Fest chaperone policy. Previously, the policy required an adults (parent or guardian, age 21+) to be with anyone under 18 after 6 p.m. The new policy is that a guardian must be present “at ALL times” (uppercase emphasis theirs via a Facebook post).

Hopefully we will see further clarification on what “all” times mean. Can a 17 year old go through haunted houses by themselves, or does Mom have to be with them? That would be a real buzzkill for some families 😉

Sleepy Hollow Sports Park offers (or at least used to) a special chaperone pass at a discount, allowing a parent to be in the park keeping an eye on their kids, but not paying to go through the actual haunts. Perhaps we’ll see Adventureland implement something like that, at some point. But, if their “at ALL times” statement really means a guardian has to be with the kids even while going through a haunted house, I guess that wouldn’t work.

If you catch any other updates I’ve missed, please comment.

Updates:

• 9/29/2002 – Chaperone policy updated. No one under 18 allowed without a parent/guardian with them at all times. (Previously was just after 6 p.m.)

DMHH contributed an article about Adventureland’s Phantom Fall Fest over on Des Moines Parent:

https://desmoinesparent.com/phantom-fall-fest-adventureland/

It tries to combine as much information as possible in one place. Here are a few more things that didn’t make it in to the article.

• No costumes allowed. Guests are not allowed to wear costumes, masks, etc. (other than approved Covid face coverings).
• Under 18 must have an adult with them at ALL times. Adventureland is now displaying a large banner at the top of the website that reads: “Guests 17 and younger must be accompanied by an adult 21 years of age or older at ALL times.” This means parents who bring their kids can’t just hang out at the Bier Garten while the kids go have fun. A guardian will have to be with the kids at all times. If you are bringing more than four kids, you must check in at a Chaperone Check In tent.
• Only small bags allowed. While you can bring in large purses, bags and backpacks on a normal day at Adventureland, for this event they may not let large backs be brought in during this event.

DMHH advice

Although Palace Entertainment (the new owners of Adventureland) have been doing haunted events like this for years (the one at Kennywood in Pennsylvania is even called Phantom Fall Fest), it will be the first time for the staff working these events. While some may have worked other haunted houses before, none have worked these haunted houses before.

The first few nights may be rough as the workers get in to the groove of things. In general, while we want you to go out and support these attractions, be aware that the experience you have opening weekend may be substandard compared to later weekends as the works get more experienced.

Visiting opening weekend PROs:

• Effects, props, etc. should be in great shape. Often, things break during the season and never get fixed, so by the final big weekend, you may miss out on stuff that’s just not working any more.
• Haunts are generally poorly attended at the start of the season, so lines can be much shorter.
• The deepest discounts are generally at the start of the season. Linn’s Supermarket, Ames Haunted Forest, Sleepy Hollow and others often have discounts that only apply to the first (or first two) weekends of operation. Going early is a good way to save money.

Visiting opening weekend CONs:

• The staff may not know what they are doing yet, and their scares may not be perfected.
• Some effects, props, etc. may not be operational yet. Guests who visit later might see more things than you got to see.
• You get to be the beta tester. Some haunts will redo entire scenes between weekends if they realized one is just not working. (Example: Two years ago, Ankeny Haunted Barn started out with a room based on Scream, but it was changed to the creepy girls from The Shining for the rest of the run.)

As you can see, there are PROs and CONs to visiting early. You can choose which is important to you and decide based on that.

And, who knows, maybe this is the year that all the haunts have every 100% working, and staff 100% in the zone for opening night. (Though I’ve never, ever seen that happen… Not even at mega parks like Universal Studios.)

More updates to follow…