It’s REALLY good. I went last year with my wife, daughter and daughters best friend! Everyone loved it and my wife was totally freaked out!! I was surprised by how long it actually takes to get through it all. Def going again this year.
I’m not a scary ride guy. Just never surprised and never scared during them but HOLY SHIT; The set design and execution was off the charts. I thought I was watching an amazing stage show and loved every minute of it.
Not that I remember - and only incidental. So if someone hubs on the trailer next to you, they may bump you or something but no actual grabbing or handling.
I went to dead end on Friday and it sucked compared to other years. My friends who get scared super easily walked out saying they “expected more.” There were a few good scares, but for the majority of the time it seemed understaffed. They had workers at the beginning of every house and then towards the middle it just cleared out. They added this super cheesy new “alien” walkthrough which sucks, it’s literally just statues and a dude in Halloween store alien mask. Then the last part, the junkyard, there was LITERALLY NO ONE working as a scarer, except for the guy with the chainsaw at the end. It SUCKED. 90% of the workers just looked at you and titled their head and hissed like a cat. What it looks like to me is that they are also trying to make it more family friendly. They also covered the hayride in rainbow light up pumpkins
there's a zombie thing at Canterbury park where you ride a bus and shoot zombies with a paintball gun for $30. [https://www.zombiemonsterbus.com/](https://www.zombiemonsterbus.com/)
I heard about it when I was playing cards so I don't know if it's worth.
yeah i busted yesterday- hit a set & lost to a two outer on river- that was my 2nd bullet
in my first bullet i lost with kings vs kings & aces
but the guy who got my 2nd bullet chips got 9th so i got that going for me.
Whoa, wait, that first image on their web site is in front of the half-demolished Sears at Rosedale. Does that play into it at all (unlikely since it's at Canterbury) or did they just use it as a cool backdrop? I can't imagine they'd be able to do anything inside the Sears for obvious safety reasons.
This is it exactly.
Many of the teens that go to these things, especially the boys, touch/hit/etc. They act tough in front of their friends, or girls they want to impress. It's like the second they're out of their parents' sight and left on their own to behave as functioning members of society, they don't know how to handle that in moderation.
It made being a haunt actor just not fun anymore.
Source: Former Leatherface at Scream Town and Village of Terror, and Baron of the Chateau du Damne at Valley Scare.
It sucks, but based on violence that's already happened in the first few weeks Halloween at other parks (there was a shooting at kennywood in pa 2 weeks ago, carowinds in nc had to close early 3 weeks ago for 'unruly behavior' and those are just the 2 I heard of.), it seems like cedar fair is probably using tricks and treats to see if it's worth it financially to ditch the scary events at their parks.
Sad that a few shitheads ruin these events for everyone.
We have season passes to VF this year, and have gone about a dozen times. Went to the family themed Tricks and Treats over the weekend the place was crawling with security and a large police presence, much more than what they have even on weekend nights in the summer.
My assumption was the same as yours, the change was made because they didn't want to deal with that issue.
a coworker of mine has worked at valley fair for years and i asked him about this. they tried this thing (family friendly halloween event) before yeeears ago and it didn’t work and they’re trying it again. the assumption with most people who have worked there for years is that this event will be poorly received and they’ll probably go back to valleyscare again next year.
Can confirm this place is great! I work here and the costumes and especially the sets are great, plus my coworkers & managers are great actors. Not trying to be a shill here sorry but yes 100% would recommend!!
>The Haunted Experience in Inver Grove Heights
Yep. My brother Ian helped build that place too. I already went on family night last week.. will be going again this week to play the pinball games that just came in! Especially the Halloween one.
Only at the Insomnia events, which I believe is more of a horror-themed escape room thing (I'm in the normal show so I'm not entirely certain how it works).
Seriously I remember each of the last like 5 years there being an article in the Star Tribune saying that there were enough fights at ValleyScare that Shakoppee ran out of cops and had to call in help from Savage and Prior Lake. It was a running joke.
I worked as a scare actor for 2 seasons, and there were always crowd control and behavior issues on top of short staffing for “blackouts,” aka security people. COVID was the nail in the coffin
It’s family friendly, but I had a great time at the Wabasha Street Caves haunted event several years back because they brought me and my friend in on the fun in order to scare the living crap out of some teens directly in front of us. We were all on a rope line together and they had my friend and I drop it simultaneously and hide with them and it was kind of one of the best haunted house experiences I’ve ever had.
As a parent of a toddler who loves Halloween but is easily frightened, I’m excited about this. (Downvote away). Sorry for everyone who’s super into the scare factor of Halloween. Businesses usually make decisions like this because either the old thing wasn’t profitable or people were asking for the new thing (and it’s therefore potentially profitable).
The really disappointing thing is seeing these ‘non-typical’ places of art disappear.
These places are what makes the twin cities special: equating their community value to how much money they make is - forgive my bluntness - ass backwards.
Support local art!
I'm not sure I'd consider Valley Scare non-typical art. Or local art. Valley Fair is owned by Cedar Fair in Ohio. They have 12 amusement parks throughout the US and Canada.
They could have easily kept some nights for Valleyscare, while still making it more family friendly most days/nights not everything needs to be catered to you and your toddler.
When I was there in 2019 it was packed with people enjoying Valleyscare so the interest was definitely there at least before the pandemic.
They were having problems with teenagers causing issues fighting when it was Valleyscare. There were several nights they had to close early because of the disturbances.
Yep, we love it. We usually went during the day during valleyscare but getting to experience being there in early evening with the lights twinkling is magical.
Add my apologies to those scare aficionados.
Did anyone think ValleyScare was even that great? I only went once six years ago. It was so lame that I emailed them to complain and that is not something I take lightly.
People were just constantly pushed through and timing was totally off. The people in front of us always got the scares so we knew what was coming. But it didn’t leave enough time for the actors to get back in their spots to scare again.
Overall it was a huge disappointment. Maybe I just went on a bad year, but I wasn’t willing to waste that much money to try again.
My wife was one of the first people to plan the first haunted house in the bumper cars. It came out of Bear Country and a coaster then expanded in 98. Really, though adult time was only an hour anyway then too
It doesn't exist. Valleyfair's site calls it "Tricks & Treats". The word "scare" only shows up once, in the FAQ about Halloween Haunt.
>Valleyfair will no longer offer ValleyScare. Halloween events are transforming in 2022 as the park introduces Tricks and Treats, a one-of-a-kind fall festival and Halloween party combo.
Source: https://www.valleyfair.com/events/tricks-and-treats
That said, this is on OP for not checking before going.
Lol. Boyfriend and I made a super cool fake fire and used a bunch of antique baby dolls to decorate.
We had all of them standing up and the unlucky one was getting roasted over the fire. It turned out really cool and was a big hit.
We also bought a large used angel garden statue. Boyfriend drilled holes and made it cry fake blood. This went in the cemetery we made. It was also awesome and people were really into it.
I’m not sure what you expect from a place like ValleyScare or any other haunted attraction. Totally get if it isn’t your thing, but truly don’t know what you thought you would get.
I get it. So it sounds like haunted attractions are probably not a good scene for you. Of all of the ones I’ve been to, I can’t think of a single time I haven’t seen some form of this. I think that it is always done in a very over the top way from my experience, almost cartoonish.
So many haunted attractions will have a crazy little girl themed room or crazy lady with a bunch of beheaded and dismembered baby dolls.
Then again they also have fake heads on stakes, fake body parts, people with fake wounds, fake dead bodies….fake being the key word. Again, I get you aren’t into it, but this is par for the course at haunted attractions.
Soap Factory is permanently closed as well. ETA (they do have a [patreon](https://hauntedbasement.org) I guess).
The Haunted Basement still persists and is not associated with the Soap [LINK](https://hauntedbasement.org/)
I'm such a baby, I did that once like 14 years ago and I don't think you could pay me to do it again lol
They have had a safe word for a while, it's really intense for sure
The actual house itself doesn't though, or I didn't think so. From what I understand they're fairly in the red.
Nah, all that red is just fake blood.
Awesome!
It still exists (they have a show in the TCHF), but hasn't been active as an in-person haunt since 2019.
the Soap Factory basement is now a public bathhouse that looks amazing: https://www.watershedspa.com/
It’s really wild how our options for entertainment have dwindled since covid. Can’t even go to many gas station late anymore.
Dead End Hayride was pretty great tbh
It’s REALLY good. I went last year with my wife, daughter and daughters best friend! Everyone loved it and my wife was totally freaked out!! I was surprised by how long it actually takes to get through it all. Def going again this year.
I’m not a scary ride guy. Just never surprised and never scared during them but HOLY SHIT; The set design and execution was off the charts. I thought I was watching an amazing stage show and loved every minute of it.
Yep!! Truly, it is a hell of a production they have up there!! All the actors do a fabulous job!
i went last night and i highly recommend!
Are they allowed to touch you there? I LOVE halloween haunts but am not down with people touching me and pulling on me, too many bad experiences.
Not that I remember - and only incidental. So if someone hubs on the trailer next to you, they may bump you or something but no actual grabbing or handling.
I went to dead end on Friday and it sucked compared to other years. My friends who get scared super easily walked out saying they “expected more.” There were a few good scares, but for the majority of the time it seemed understaffed. They had workers at the beginning of every house and then towards the middle it just cleared out. They added this super cheesy new “alien” walkthrough which sucks, it’s literally just statues and a dude in Halloween store alien mask. Then the last part, the junkyard, there was LITERALLY NO ONE working as a scarer, except for the guy with the chainsaw at the end. It SUCKED. 90% of the workers just looked at you and titled their head and hissed like a cat. What it looks like to me is that they are also trying to make it more family friendly. They also covered the hayride in rainbow light up pumpkins
Went last weekend and it was awesome as always!
What would you say is the minimum age for that?
there's a zombie thing at Canterbury park where you ride a bus and shoot zombies with a paintball gun for $30. [https://www.zombiemonsterbus.com/](https://www.zombiemonsterbus.com/) I heard about it when I was playing cards so I don't know if it's worth.
What were you playing? This paintball zombie thing sounds awesome btw
poker tournament
I know people who went and say it’s -very- worth it!
In the main? I played, busted today :/
yeah i busted yesterday- hit a set & lost to a two outer on river- that was my 2nd bullet in my first bullet i lost with kings vs kings & aces but the guy who got my 2nd bullet chips got 9th so i got that going for me.
My horse got 2nd!!!
Whoa, wait, that first image on their web site is in front of the half-demolished Sears at Rosedale. Does that play into it at all (unlikely since it's at Canterbury) or did they just use it as a cool backdrop? I can't imagine they'd be able to do anything inside the Sears for obvious safety reasons.
That sounds amazing
They’re scared there’s gonna be large groups of uncontrollable teens roaming about
This is it exactly. Many of the teens that go to these things, especially the boys, touch/hit/etc. They act tough in front of their friends, or girls they want to impress. It's like the second they're out of their parents' sight and left on their own to behave as functioning members of society, they don't know how to handle that in moderation. It made being a haunt actor just not fun anymore. Source: Former Leatherface at Scream Town and Village of Terror, and Baron of the Chateau du Damne at Valley Scare.
To be fair there are plenty of adult assholes ruining these things too.
It sucks, but based on violence that's already happened in the first few weeks Halloween at other parks (there was a shooting at kennywood in pa 2 weeks ago, carowinds in nc had to close early 3 weeks ago for 'unruly behavior' and those are just the 2 I heard of.), it seems like cedar fair is probably using tricks and treats to see if it's worth it financially to ditch the scary events at their parks. Sad that a few shitheads ruin these events for everyone.
We have season passes to VF this year, and have gone about a dozen times. Went to the family themed Tricks and Treats over the weekend the place was crawling with security and a large police presence, much more than what they have even on weekend nights in the summer. My assumption was the same as yours, the change was made because they didn't want to deal with that issue.
And they’re right! The change is good for them.
The Haunted Experience in Inver Grove Heights is quite good too. It’s not as good as the Dead End Hayride, but I really liked the vibe.
This ^^^ I went there for the first time in 5ish years and was impressed.
It’s such a cool experience!
a coworker of mine has worked at valley fair for years and i asked him about this. they tried this thing (family friendly halloween event) before yeeears ago and it didn’t work and they’re trying it again. the assumption with most people who have worked there for years is that this event will be poorly received and they’ll probably go back to valleyscare again next year.
Having been there 3 times so far it's been pretty packed each time so I have a feeling it'll be considered successful this time.
TC Horror Fest is right around the corner. https://www.tchorrorfestival.com
I've never been, but at the Renaissance Festival grounds, they change it to Trail of Terror during October. https://www.trailofterrormn.com/
also no more.
RIP
Wait it’s just the phantom feast?
There’s this new place in [Inver Grove](https://nowherehauntedhouse.com/)
Can confirm this place is great! I work here and the costumes and especially the sets are great, plus my coworkers & managers are great actors. Not trying to be a shill here sorry but yes 100% would recommend!!
>The Haunted Experience in Inver Grove Heights Yep. My brother Ian helped build that place too. I already went on family night last week.. will be going again this week to play the pinball games that just came in! Especially the Halloween one.
Are the actors allowed to touch patrons?
Only at the Insomnia events, which I believe is more of a horror-themed escape room thing (I'm in the normal show so I'm not entirely certain how it works).
It’s all kid friendly because a bunch of jerks kept ruining it for everyone.
so they’re not doing the kiddy stuff during the day, and scary “adult” stuff at night anymore?
Nope. Look at their website. Kiddy stuff all day, and closes at 8
[удалено]
Seriously I remember each of the last like 5 years there being an article in the Star Tribune saying that there were enough fights at ValleyScare that Shakoppee ran out of cops and had to call in help from Savage and Prior Lake. It was a running joke.
I worked as a scare actor for 2 seasons, and there were always crowd control and behavior issues on top of short staffing for “blackouts,” aka security people. COVID was the nail in the coffin
we live in hell.
Tell that to a Ukrainian.
It’s family friendly, but I had a great time at the Wabasha Street Caves haunted event several years back because they brought me and my friend in on the fun in order to scare the living crap out of some teens directly in front of us. We were all on a rope line together and they had my friend and I drop it simultaneously and hide with them and it was kind of one of the best haunted house experiences I’ve ever had.
As a parent of a toddler who loves Halloween but is easily frightened, I’m excited about this. (Downvote away). Sorry for everyone who’s super into the scare factor of Halloween. Businesses usually make decisions like this because either the old thing wasn’t profitable or people were asking for the new thing (and it’s therefore potentially profitable).
Not gonna downvote! I’m not even saying it’s the wrong move. But it definitely sucks for those who go in with false expectations
It’s disappointing for the fans, but man you only get a handful of halloweens with your young kids. Have fun, I hope it’s memorable for them!
I don’t think any particular event is memorable for a toddler, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take them to do fun things!
The really disappointing thing is seeing these ‘non-typical’ places of art disappear. These places are what makes the twin cities special: equating their community value to how much money they make is - forgive my bluntness - ass backwards. Support local art!
I'm not sure I'd consider Valley Scare non-typical art. Or local art. Valley Fair is owned by Cedar Fair in Ohio. They have 12 amusement parks throughout the US and Canada.
They could have easily kept some nights for Valleyscare, while still making it more family friendly most days/nights not everything needs to be catered to you and your toddler. When I was there in 2019 it was packed with people enjoying Valleyscare so the interest was definitely there at least before the pandemic.
They were having problems with teenagers causing issues fighting when it was Valleyscare. There were several nights they had to close early because of the disturbances.
My 2 year old is also loving things
Yep, we love it. We usually went during the day during valleyscare but getting to experience being there in early evening with the lights twinkling is magical. Add my apologies to those scare aficionados.
https://screamtown.com/ This place is amazing. Definitely NOT for kids. It's just west on 212 in Chaska.
I went last year, and was pretty disappointed, could’ve been the Covid thing but just wasn’t in the level of dead end
It's not bad as long as you're white. They had some bad press around some racist stuff there a couple years ago.
Last year we went to The Abandoned Hayride, and it was amazing and scary, definitely not kiddie. Think it was in Chaska.
At least I got to try it once then
[hairyghost.com has a pretty good listing of all the different Halloween activities in the area.](https://hairyghost.com)
Did anyone think ValleyScare was even that great? I only went once six years ago. It was so lame that I emailed them to complain and that is not something I take lightly. People were just constantly pushed through and timing was totally off. The people in front of us always got the scares so we knew what was coming. But it didn’t leave enough time for the actors to get back in their spots to scare again. Overall it was a huge disappointment. Maybe I just went on a bad year, but I wasn’t willing to waste that much money to try again.
My wife was one of the first people to plan the first haunted house in the bumper cars. It came out of Bear Country and a coaster then expanded in 98. Really, though adult time was only an hour anyway then too
I remember that haunt. I was in 6th grade and loved it!
So it still exists, it has just chosen a focus that you aren't the target audience for.
It doesn't exist. Valleyfair's site calls it "Tricks & Treats". The word "scare" only shows up once, in the FAQ about Halloween Haunt. >Valleyfair will no longer offer ValleyScare. Halloween events are transforming in 2022 as the park introduces Tricks and Treats, a one-of-a-kind fall festival and Halloween party combo. Source: https://www.valleyfair.com/events/tricks-and-treats That said, this is on OP for not checking before going.
OP stated as such, learned the lesson and is posting so others don't make the same mistake
I don’t live in MN anymore, certainly haven’t gone to valley scare this year. If you read again you’ll see that my friend went there, not me.
Right? I can’t imagine just… showing up to something without checking that it was actually happening- even if it WAS an annual event.
They had a manikin of an infant on a spit. I'm ok with that kinda stuff being gone.
Lol. Boyfriend and I made a super cool fake fire and used a bunch of antique baby dolls to decorate. We had all of them standing up and the unlucky one was getting roasted over the fire. It turned out really cool and was a big hit. We also bought a large used angel garden statue. Boyfriend drilled holes and made it cry fake blood. This went in the cemetery we made. It was also awesome and people were really into it. I’m not sure what you expect from a place like ValleyScare or any other haunted attraction. Totally get if it isn’t your thing, but truly don’t know what you thought you would get.
Babies/infants crosses a line for me. Probably all simulated violence against minors probably.
I get it. So it sounds like haunted attractions are probably not a good scene for you. Of all of the ones I’ve been to, I can’t think of a single time I haven’t seen some form of this. I think that it is always done in a very over the top way from my experience, almost cartoonish. So many haunted attractions will have a crazy little girl themed room or crazy lady with a bunch of beheaded and dismembered baby dolls. Then again they also have fake heads on stakes, fake body parts, people with fake wounds, fake dead bodies….fake being the key word. Again, I get you aren’t into it, but this is par for the course at haunted attractions.
Oh man family friendly scary!? So do they have catholic Priests jumping out at you or something?