Halloween Haunt Productions Steal Spooky Spotlight
Worlds of Fun’s Halloween Haunt is back for screams. After the Friday the 13th opening night went so well, we decided to go back to see what we had missed. We discovered that there are multiple Haunt shows and productions happening every hour.
People often miss the shows, don’t know of them, walk past them or stop for a minute or two. But it is so worth stopping to check them out. Along with a few other scare zones and attractions, I wanted to review the best, underrated activities Haunt has to offer. Some suggested by press and area managers of Worlds of Fun.
Introduced this season, “Shadowmoor Cemetery” got plenty of good reviews as a new scare zone. During a daytime tour, I walked through the area as they set up the lighting and decorations.
To celebrate 20 years for “Lore of the Vampire,” “Shadowmoor Cemetery” had specific screamsters to go along with the theme. There were “gravediggers” with shovels, scraping at my feet. The loud noises were enough to scare me, but the special effects and makeup took it to a whole new level.
The Moulin Rouge theater located in the “Europa” area of the park, is back open for interactive productions of “Haunted Homecoming.” Conveniently coordinated with their haunted house “Zombie High,” the show takes place in the same high school and storyline.
It consists of specialized zombie high schoolers singing popular spooky songs with choreographed dance numbers. They even bring people from the audience on stage to dance/sing/goof around with them. Everyone who participated received a bag of Halloween candy on their way off the stage.
Although you cannot film inside any theaters or photograph performers, we were able to grab photos of the Moulin Rouge all decorated for the show and get photos of some decor in “Zombie High” that inspired the show.
Overall, “Haunted Homecoming” is a fun filled, kid-friendly, and interactive show to visit while wandering the area. Stop by for a zombie dance party and well-known music. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. and are put on every hour until the last show at 10:30 p.m.
If you’re into creepy demented clowns, this next production is for you. “The Ring Master’s Last Laff” (New in 2023) is a musical, circus event based on the “Ring Master” and his clown posse. A gang of specialized clowns, each one is fit to bring spooky features to childhood clowns we all know and love. Tickles, Bubbles, Candie and more are all included in the main speaking roles of the show. There are many more clowns dressed like clown dolls, circus popcorn, cotton candy and balloon makers.
A dance team performs on the lower main stage while the “Ring Master” and his main psycho clowns speak and control the dance team from the top. Even audience members get selected as participants in magic tricks and games.
While the clowns are being forced to perform for the audience, they grow agitated with the control the “Ring Master” has over them. The aspect of the show really comes together in the end when all his demented clowns band together against their leader. With intense choreography, the show progresses and gets the audience on their your feet.
The stage perfectly resembles a circus tent, and the acting is out of this world. Although this was a new show last year and still fresh to “Halloween Haunt,” the crowds were huge every show, and visitors couldn’t help but stop by to watch. This show happens later at night between 8 p.m.-10 p.m.– each show starting at the top of every hour. Head over by the Tivoli Music Hall to get the full haunted circus experience.
Unfortunately this year, the iconic two witches from the “Overlord’s Awakening” event are not a part of that set anymore. But don’t worry, they are back for the 2024 season with “HEXED”! This is another production that takes place in the front area of the park where the “Overlord” first makes his entrance. With musical, theme-based songs and comedic conversation “HEXED” definitely brings back that witchy vibe we all missed during the parade and first production of the night.
“HEXED” happens every night before the “Conjure the Night” show starting at 8:15 p.m., until 10:15 pm. Located in the Gateway Gardens of Worlds of Fun, they perform on the same stage as the show after, so get there early to squeeze in both of these fantastic shows.
Lastly, an event not well known is the “Mad Hatter’s Dance Party.” Taking place in the Europa midway, the ‘Mad Hatter’ poses as a crazed, pumped DJ. He plays popular music loud and proud as other “Malice in Wonderland” characters dance around the floor.
You may see “Tweedle Dee” and “Dum” or even spot Alice herself. These dance parties start at 7:30 p.m. and also occur every hour until the last dance party at 11:30 p.m., before the night is over.
Decorations are all over the midway, giving specialties of the Wonderland theme. The interactive experience is fun for kids as it is a more light and friendly area with bright colors and upbeat energy. I actually couldn’t help myself and ended up staying 20 minutes dancing with the characters and interacting with the Mad Hatter DJ. Definitely visit one of these dance parties for a nice fun break from the spooky vibe elsewhere in the park. Still giving the Halloween aspect, it is a place and event where visitors can hang out with the actors and enjoy the themes of the area.
I had so much fun watching and exploring these underrated attractions. Worlds of Fun has so much to offer this year for “Halloween Haunt.” They keep making it bigger and better each year. I personally can’t wait to see what they bring to the park each year, as these events are so personalized and dedicated.
Worlds of Fun opened for “Halloween Haunt” on Sundays beginning of October. Two Thursdays of the month will also be open which are available to view on the Haunt calendar found at worldsoffun.com. Don’t forget, the park will be open as a one-gate event, and Haunt starts at 6 p.m.
Colin Prouse, Creative Services Manager
Q: What was the most popular house based on opening weekend’s statistics?
A: “Blood on the Bayou is definitely one of our most popular attractions, same with Cornstalkers. They always have decently long lines.”
Q: Did the popularity of any rides change while Haunt was occurring?
A: “Our park’s packed during Haunt, everythings open with the exception of our water rides. I’d say some of our longest lines for our rides happen during Haunt.”
Q: What is your personal favorite house attraction?
A: “I would say Blood on the Bayou is ‘eye candy’ and people just love the look and feel of that as a decorative house. Lore of the Vampire is our longest house, it’s two floors. When you enter the basement it’s always fun to see people pause before going down the stairs thinking, ‘I don’t want to go down there’ and I’d also say Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater is really cool. It’s a little quieter but it’s also scary being on the trail alone where it’s so dark, and it’s really not to be underestimated. It’s for sure a scary one.”
Q: Were there any complications getting everything ready for the opening Friday?
A: “We put an entire year of planning to get the event up and we start planning right when we start opening the event. So as of now, we’re already starting to plan for next year so that we can make sure everything happens on time and to satisfy our guests.”
Q: What was the idea of the ‘ghost train’?
A: “It’s a new scare zone of ours. Over on the ‘Heart of America Boulevard’, the train is parked over there and it’s lit really cool and we have a creepy train conductor that walks around the area interacting with guests which is fun.”
Q: Did ‘Shadowmore Cemetery’ get good publicity as a new attraction?
A: “I think so, yeah. It’s new to us so there’s a little bit more of a learning aspect to it and how we will make it work but we thought it went great, it’s our great 20th celebration of Lore of the Vampire.”
Brian McGannon, World’s of Fun Communications Manager
Q: What was the most popular house based on opening weekend’s statistics?
A: “When I was walking around on Friday night Blood on the Bayou, Ripper Alley, and Lore of the Vampire were the longest and busiest lines. Normally Lore of the Vampire is the one so populated because it’s the closest to the front of the entrance.”
Q: Were there any complications getting everything ready for the opening Friday?
A: “It’s always a sprint in the last week so that’s really what it comes down to. Fortunately we have a really great staff who works around the clock, our creative services team was here 24 hours a day the last three days before Friday. When you launch it, you’re definitely going to feel the opening night headaches but for the most part it launched pretty smoothly. We have a preview day on Thursday that’s usually just for friends and family of the park staff. Sometimes we will open it up to VIPs, so we have a nice ‘dress rehearsal’ or a soft opening the day before just to make sure we have enough time to make sure everything’s running and if not, we have time to address it.”
Q: Did Worlds of Fun get a lot of press opening weekend?
A: “We did. We had two news stations come opening night we had KMBC and KCTV5 and that was great, they did great coverage of the park event.”
Q: Did the popularity of any rides change while Haunt was occurring?
A: “Prowler is our most popular ride during Haunt, typically because it’s so dark over in that corner area at night, Mamba is also very popular. People love being 250ft above the ground and look out to see the city at night. Timberwolf is another popular one. But Prowler and Mamba are the ones that look almost entirely different at night and they get crowds just for that aspect of it.”
Q: Was the ‘haunted train ride’ a success? Was it new? Was it popular?
A: “It’s more of a midway activation, where we will have actors/screamsters out on the midway dressed as haunted train conductors. It’s a new introduction, so what we will do when we introduce a new attraction is we start as a ‘bare-bones’ thing like last year we did the “Ring Master’s Last Laugh’ which was a production with the demented circus clown and the Ring Master but for the most part that got a lot of attention so we expanded the stage and gave it more of a platform to grow off of and a bigger footprint over by the entrance of the park.”
Q: How many Haunt shows/productions did you have a night? Were they popular?
A: “‘Haunted Homecoming’ and Moulin Rouge are packed every single show and that is every hour after we open. ‘Haunted Homecoming’ is easily our most popular show, we have ‘Conjure the Night’, ‘Hexed’, and of course ‘Ring Master’s Last Laugh’ so that’s four live shows every night. The Moulin Rouge is called a ‘house show’ so they have their own casting and their own people for that but the outdoor shows all have their own separate cast from that.”
Q: Were crowds/overcrowding at all an issue? Did they affect entering the park?
A: “Obviously if you get here at 6pm it’s going to take a while to get into the park, parking is going to be an issue as well. We often have to open the lawns up for cars to park on the grass when we are super busy. There are some nights when we have over 20,000 people in the park and it’s crazy, some lines spill out into the midway but the park is built to withstand crowds of that size and the architecture has provided us with good areas for the lines to stay in and not cause traffic within the park. You’ll have to wait in line for a little while, but your overall experience is not affected and you’ll get what you paid for when you finally get in and out of the houses and rides. As we get bigger and bigger crowds each year our staff continues to grow, our guest services team increases, our security team increases. If you like the crowded feel, if you hate waiting in line, Saturdays are the best for you. Scarers are in top form, the park is packed, and overall the park is very lively. Sundays are our best days for Haunt when we start opening up those days, if you’re not a big chiefs fan come during a chiefs game. The park will be empty and you’ll be able to walk right onto or in any attraction here. Sundays open in October.”
Q: What time did the parade start? When did scarers come out?
A: “Parade starts around 6:45, that’s when the bell starts tolling for Overlord. I would recommend being in the park by 6:30, so you can get a good spot and view of the Overlord’s Awakening. And at 7pm is when the screamsters come out.”
Q: Did ‘Shadowmore Cemetery’ get good publicity as a new attraction?
A: “I think people really liked it, it’s super immersive, right along the midway. It has a great lighting setup since it gets so dark over in that area, so people really like that. I think having good mood lighting will be a cool added feature to up it.”
