The Haunted Pyramids *Official* Reviews 2010

[Slappy]

Submitted by: packbacker
Date visited: 10/21/10

Scare Factor 3/5:
I found the majority of the attractions at the Haunted Pyramids to be more gleeful Halloween fun rather than scary. The opportunities, though, exist to make this a downright frightening attraction. I did jump twice during my visit with one awesome scare inside the pyramids. The biggest frightening areas are some **pitch** black curving areas
with floors that slope downwards. Freaky! I think the scares could jump a large amount if the actors seemed more into it and went further than a pop scare. Also, it takes away from it when you see the actors smoking outside, buying food at the concessions stand, etc.

Actors 2/5:
This was definitely the weak spot of the haunt. I'm assuming 95% are teenagers and volunteers so that has to factor into consideration. We also attended on a Thursday night so I'm not sure we got the full "A game" from anyone. That being said, we had multiple let down moments. The most glaring was at the end of the Haunted Pyramids. We entered
into a room to find three actors, masks off, spitting tobacco into bottles. The one looked at us and said, "Guess you caught us with our pants down...", while one ran off to grab his chainsaw. That wasn't the best finale to the evening. In other spots we had actors who would jump and scream...but that was it. No pursuit or further heightening of a scare. One spot in the asylum was a kid standing in a corner in a plaid shirt, jeans, and a cheap mask. We walked by and it was just a 5 second scream- no movement, no attempt to hide, etc. There were two actors that need to be commended, though. One "patient" in the asylum was into things. Bedecked in a straight-jacket he screamed and ran full force
into a wall (not padded!). The other was a Jason Voorhees character who did stalk my friend with a little coaxing by myself.

Set Design/Props/FX 4/5:
This is the selling point of the haunt. I was pleasantly surprised at the sets. The asylum is the least jazzed up attraction, but is effective for what it was supposed to be. I loved the projector set up on the outside. Clown town, while short, looked fantastic in 3D - especially the vortex. The clown paraphernalia was creepy and well placed. Monster Manor upped the ante with bigger props, some animatronics and a darker vibe. The most effective part was still the dark winding passageways with sloping floors. The haunted pyramid is the star attraction. Here the sets/props were even more expansive. My favorite part was the first room with the red light and voice. There was a scare here that truly got me. Later we get several flying props and some animatronics. One room had a fog machine on high that was spectacular looking.

Length 5/5:
You get your money's worth here with four separate haunted attractions, a gift shop, concessions area, and a haunt that has almost a county fair midway type of feel. It took us about 2 hours to complete things on an off night. The asylum and clown town are short but they stick to their themes well. The other two attractions are definitely longer and scarier.

Other:
This haunt is in the middle of nowhere! That's cool but make sure you have gas as nothing was open for about 20 miles around it while we were there. The drive in was a bit deceptive. There was no sign off of Toney Rd. and only a thin strip of lights outside a mobile home....I was a bit skeptical of the whole thing. We drove down a gravel road and
then saw the huge attraction area and fields for parking....and I burst into a grin.
This being our first time at the haunt we didn't really know the layout and got into line for the pyramid. After a 15 minute wait we were turned away at the door being told to do this attraction last. A sign at the queue line would be a good idea. In the end everything was fine but that left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths to open the evening. The staff was otherwise very pleasant and sincerely interested in feedback, both positive and negative, about our experience. The other fantastic thing is that they space groups out such that you don't pile up on anyone....we never ever saw another customer outside of the queue lines and were even allowed to go through as a group of two at each attraction.

Overall 3.5/5:
Looking back over the review I note that I pointed out a lot of negatives but rest assured I had a great time. It was worth the crazy drive (on a school night no less!). I think if I had felt the actors were more into it then I would have loved the place. Regardless it was a very fun evening and I encourage Frightseekers to check them out!

[Slappy]

Submitted by: mjones
Date Attended: 10/21/2010

Scare Factor: 2.5/5 - There simply weren't enough of them.  The Haunted Pyramids are four separate areas, of which only two seemed to be trying and only one was effective.  Good news is that one was pretty cool!  It had one of the coolest things I've ever seen at a haunt.  You walk in and find a blinding red laser in a pitch black room of unknown size with some dude and a vocal transformer.  Let your imagination run wild.  Otherwise, there was a nice maze in the dark and some good atmospherics.  But taken as a whole, the entire haunt was disappointing in the scare department.  It goes for more of a festival feel, so it skews well to younger visitors.

Actors: 1/5 - Not just poorly placed, simply a poor effort.  Every actor seemed to be a kid and none of them seemed to care.  To walk by and see the same disinterested kid smoking with his mask on his head three times is simply disheartening.  Funny and kinda sad story: so we walk through a well-dressed room and wait for the scare but nothing happens.  On entering the next room we find four guys sitting in lawn chairs dipping tobacco.  One of them runs away immediately but the others stay.  After staring at us blankly for a moment, one guys says, "Well, I guess you guys caught us with our pants down that time, fellas!"  Best laugh I've had in ages.  Poor scares, though.

Set Design/Props/FX: 3.5/5 - The Haunted Pyramid is so named because way back in the 70's it was Pyramid Recording Studios, and the old offices comprise the centerpiece of the haunt.  There's some neat old weird building stuff all over the trail, and it's to its benefit.  It's also well-designed in how you lose your bearing as you venture in and out of the building.  Good use of the space.  Everything looks really good and has nice detail, and two of the four are in 3-D, which is extremely disorienting and helped make up for the weak work being done by the actors.

Length: 5/5 - Four trails and one hell of a drive makes for a full evening in my book!  Definitely felt like I got my money's worth.

Other: I need to take a moment to talk about the space itself.  This thing is in the absolute center of nowhere, and after leaving more and more of civilization behind us, we finally turned into the unpaved driveway of a double wide decorated with one sad string of orange lights.  But as you round the trailer you dip down into an expansive tiered valley with ample parking and bumping music.  The reveal of seeing the venue and exploring just how much was there was really exciting.  It's worth going just to see the place, honest.  One note: if you go, you must do the Pyramid last.  We waited 15 minutes in line only to told we couldn't do it first, then waited in line again 20 minutes to do it later.  That shouldn't have happened.

Overall: 3/5 - I enjoyed myself and there was real effort put into this trail, but the lackluster performance of the actors and some underwhelming scares keep me from saying I loved it.  Probably best for kids and younger groups.

[Slappy]

Submitted by: k2quiere
Date Attended: October 30, 2010

Scare Factor 4.5/5: The feeling is much darker this year; in fact, everything is much darker.  There were pitch-black mazes everywhere we turned.  Uneven ground and 3-D glasses kept you constantly on your toes.  All of the actors we encountered were into their roles and seemed to enjoy what they were doing, which was scaring you.  I am always freaked out by Pinhead who seems larger than life in 3-D.

Actors 4.5/5: Thankfully this year, we didn’t have any real issues with out of character actors.  I only saw three at the concession stand getting a drink and smoking, but even then two of them stayed in character, acting like the clowns they were dressed to be.  The actor who played Betelgeuse was a lot of fun inside and outside of Clown Town.  I also have to shout out this crazy little girl inside the Pyramid.  I don’t usually think that children are very effective inside a haunt, but she was in this narrow hallway with a strong strobe light beating a club back and forth in front of my face; that was after she crawled herself up off of the floor…very eerie! 

Set Design/Props/FX 5/5: There is a little of everything here at the Haunted Pyramids.  The fact that they have 4 separate attractions allows them to incorporate a little of everything.  They have a couple of flame throwers here that are placed very effectively to blind you before you proceed to the next section of the house. 

Length 5/5: I can’t really complain about the length as we spent two hours there and went through four attractions.  I wish there were a way to even out the lines, though, so that you don’t have to spend an hour in the line for the pyramids when you didn’t have to wait at all for the other attractions.  I will also say that the layout made each of the attractions feel longer this year.  Just when we though it was over, there was still more to come.

Overall 4.5/5: We have a good time here.  There is a lot to see for one price, and when you can get the tickets online for half-price, it’s a phenomenal deal.  You can really make the Haunted Pyramids a whole night adventure or you can combine it with one or two other haunts in the area, especially if you have a long drive.