In this conversation, Sydoney Banks reviews Apocalypse Rawhide, a new interactive haunted attraction in Chandler, Arizona. The attraction offers a unique experience where participants use shotguns to shoot at zombies in a realistic old western town setting. Banks discusses the immersive nature of the event, the importance of safety and respectful behavior towards actors, and provides recommendations for potential visitors, especially families. The review emphasizes the fun and originality of the attraction, making it a must-visit for the Halloween season. apocalypserawhide.com https://qrco.de/beJjEa
takeaways
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Apocalypse Rawhide
02:58 Unique Interactive Experience
05:47 Safety and Customer Behavior
12:13 Immersive Gameplay Mechanics
18:04 Attraction Overview and Recommendations
usahauntsearch.com
hallozona.com
https://qrco.de/beJjEa
Sponsors
united-zombies-of-america.com
synystersyn.com
uzahorrorgraphy.com
myscreation.com
hauntingwithheart.com
sydoneybanks.com
glowingpumpkins.com
apocalypserawhide.com
Beneficiary
oddity13.org
Sydoney Banks (00:01.026)
Alright, and hello everybody. It's been a while. Been quite busy with a lot of interesting things going on. Of course it's spooky season so things get a little hectic and busy during this time.
But we do try to put out as much as we can, review-wise, written form and blog, written, whatever you want to call it, website, as well as podcast. So today, review is going to be, or I guess I'd say review, talk about Apocalypse Rawhide. Now Apocalypse Rawhide is a new attraction that has come to Arizona in the Chandler area.
and it is at the Rawhide Old Western Town. It's not at the original, course, because they moved, but it is in Chandler, Arizona, and this is its first year. And it is... I wouldn't say it's a haunted attraction. I mean, it is a haunted attraction, but I wouldn't say, like, it's your average haunted house. It's more of a interactive...
kind of game-like situation. You're given these guns, shotguns, and you're thrown into an old western town, infested with zombies, the walking dead, the living dead, you know, whatever you want to call them, walkers. And of course they're starving, they're hungry, they're the town folk of Rawhide, you know. You have your bartenders, your escape convicts, your gunsmiths,
slingers, know, your women of the night, your, you know, all the people that are in the town including like, you know, the store guy and the banker and the...
Sydoney Banks (01:59.02)
you know, hairdresser, the barber, all that stuff, you know, the blacksmith. You have all these town folks that have somehow turned into zombies and they are infested with some kind of virus or something, but they're all over the town and your job is to go through with your group or your team and shoot them. So, like I said, it's a different kind of...
Attractions and just your average walk through Jump scare boo, you know, you're actually kind of a part of the story as you're walking through with your gun Shooting at the monsters, you know hoping that you get them while you move through this infested town and I will say it is quite unique and it's quite fun and it seems that a lot of people who've been going through it and who have You know attended it really like it. They say that it's one of a
kind event. They like the fact that it's different and that they actually get to go hunting for zombies. And the zombies are really realistic with their makeup and their acting and their costumes and their sounds. And you know, it being at Rawhide in the actual, you know, western town part makes it feel more realistic. So you have your shotgun and you're walking through Rawhide technically and these monsters are coming out of the shadows.
or maybe you might even see them and you're shooting at them and they act like real live zombies and then you shoot them and they die like real live zombies. Now they're not supposed to necessarily fall on the ground because you know let's say you have thousands of people come through a night or even hundreds falling that many times over time can hurt. Also you don't know what's out there with the creepy-crawlies and the
dirt and stuff it's just better not to have them fall of course not all the zombies follow that direction but they're supposed to just kind of die or kind of back away when they're shot because of you know we don't they don't want to hurt their actors now that being said the actors are on point
Sydoney Banks (04:18.038)
great acting, great sounds. The only downside I could say is they do get a little bit close sometimes where they run and running zombies I don't think are always the scariest because once they get to you and let's say you don't shoot them then it's like now what? Other than that though, it's a great experience. It's a lot of fun. I would highly recommend like, you know, maybe 12 or older because the guns are quite heavy and it can be a little bit scary for younger.
people, you know, the little guys, the little children. And they have a different imagination than we do, so it may not be scared us and we can know it's fake, but littler ones, their mindsets are completely different and their imaginations are completely different. So some kids go through, no problem. There's others that have went through and poor things are, you know, you can tell they're going to be traumatized and that's really, really sad and not
something that I would say is something that anybody really wants to do because they could be future customers. We talked about this in previous episodes, you know, we- I don't believe in scaring children because I was a product of that and I probably could have found haunts a lot sooner if I wasn't traumatized, as well as their future customers. So if you scare them to the point they're never coming back, you just lost a customer. So that's just my opinion. Other people are like, scare the
children also it's not a hard scare anybody can scare a kid scare a grown adult that's more impressive scare somebody who's not gonna be as easy is more impressive than scaring a kid I have worked as people and they come to me and they're like so proud that they scared a kid and I'm like okay well I'm not gonna say good job because it's a kid again their minds are different
than adults. They cannot necessarily take, you know, what we see and understand and completely understand. Even if you go over and tell them, it still takes a while for a kid to actually break down mentally what is real and what isn't. So that's just my opinion and what I say. But yeah, Apocalypse Rawhide, and it is quite a big attraction too. It is not like a little five minute walk through. It is
Sydoney Banks (06:47.689)
a very decent size attraction I would say it's quite big it can take up to like
30 to 45 minutes depending on how fast your group is. Now if you're running through it, it could take five. So it depends on how fast your group and you are. Now that being said to you, don't want to linger because then you're going to meet up with other groups and you ruin the scares for others as well as you're supposed to shoot the zombies and keep going forward. Do not stay and do not keep shooting the same zombie eight times. Shoot them, move on.
You know, it's that's kind of the game, you know, you shoot them you move on to the next experience, you know, kind of take your time but don't linger too long in an area because then groups behind you are going to catch up and then you are just one big mob and that kind of ruins this, you know, the experience for you as well as the people that are joining your group. So just try to keep that in mind as being a good customer and also to get
the best for your buck. You know, make sure you're, you know, listening to the instructions in the beginning. There is a cowboy sheriff that goes into how to use the guns and tells you kind of the rules, you know, you don't want to get close to the zombies and why would you want to? Because if anybody watches any of the horror movies, do you ever really want to get arm, you know, arm's reach of a monster? No! Especially zombies.
If you get scratched, bit, any of that, what happens? You get sick, you die. There's no need for you to go up to the zombies with your gun in their face and shoot them. You have a gun.
Sydoney Banks (08:46.176)
You don't need to get close to them. I don't understand why the customers have been doing that. It makes, again, no sense to me. It's like, if this was a real life situation, a lot of you are going to not make it because you get so close that literally we can, we could bite you or grab you. That being said, apocalypse is a no touch attraction. You don't touch them. They don't touch you.
you again you shouldn't even be close enough to be at arm's reach of them you have a gun which in an apocalypse is a great weapon because you usually want to try to stay away from the monsters as much as possible watch the walking dead watch night of the living dead watch any of the zombie movies do not get close to the zombies common sense come on people
I don't understand it. They get right up on them and there's even been cases where we just recently had one of the zombies
Got hit in the face with a gun. And it was not the zombies fault. The zombie was where they usually are and the customer came up to the zombie and hit them with the gun. Remember, these are actors and actresses. They're just regular people like you and me. They do this because they love doing it and obviously you're going through because you like going through or your friends made you go through whatever, it doesn't matter. You do not hit people in the face.
You do not kick people in the face if you're if you're a fight or flight person and you know you hit or punch people Don't go through a haunted attraction It's that simple You do not want to hurt people you actually could get charged with battery or assault depending on the attraction
Sydoney Banks (10:47.446)
I've seen it happen in other attractions before. Keep your hands to yourself. If you can't do that, do not go through an attraction. Do not go through a haunt. That's- it's that simple. It's black and white. It's pretty simple. If you're going to hit, kick, punch, step, trample, any of that, then you should not go through. I used to be a hitter growing up. I did not go through haunts.
When I started hitting and kicking people, I did not go through because I did not want to hurt people. If that's you, you might want to not go through or you need to learn or find a way, go to a therapist or something to try to avoid that so you're not hurting people. Wear a straight jacket going through, I don't know. But do not hit or kick actors and actresses. That's not cool.
If you don't like haunted attractions, then don't go through them. If your friends or family are forcing you, don't go through them. It's that simple. I had friends all the time, they're like, let's go, let's go, and I was like, I can't because I hit people, I kick people. I don't want to hurt somebody because I'm a decent human being and I have feelings and I would feel bad for hurting somebody. So please, please, please, please.
Do not get close enough in Apocalypse Raw Height to be able to touch the zombies with your gun or with your hands. You have a gun. Again, you have a gun. You don't need to get close. If your shot is that bad, well, I hate to tell you, you probably aren't going to survive the apocalypse. I mean, it's just a game for fun.
You don't need to be rude or vulgar. That's another thing that I've heard is, you know, especially children or young age adults calling zombies inappropriate names or saying cuss words and stuff. Again, actors and actresses. And if you're a parent or an adult letting your kids do that, what happened to parenting? Seriously? When was that ever okay? That's not okay. Again, they're just people like you and me. It's their job.
Sydoney Banks (13:12.396)
That's just disrespectful and rude in so many ways. Like, I've worked at many attractions and stuff and I've never seen such hateful or rude people in my life. It's ridiculous. You give people a fake gun and they turn into complete jerks.
And I mean if you're a parent and you're letting your kids call people the b-word or be that vulgar or that hateful, that's a little concerning. Just saying. Please, please parent your kids. Please before going into the attraction, explain to your kids that these are actors and actresses and they should be on their best behavior. Yes, we want you to have fun. We want you to get into it. We want you to be tactical. But we don't want you to be rude. We don't want you to be vulgar.
We don't want you to be hateful. We don't want you to get close enough or again touch or hurt anybody because that is not cool The person who got hit in the face the other night is a really really nice person and it's really sad that that happened and now their tooth is chipped and They didn't want to stop because they love what they're doing, but I mean don't be hitting people come on
OI Anyways Back to the review Sorry for that but I just I can't I personally can't believe it I mean Seriously what happened to humanity? It's just an attraction It's about having fun you know?
Going through with friends and family, laughing, know, not being aggressive or mean. Just having a good time. It's ridiculous. It's like, how would you like it if it was the other way around?
Sydoney Banks (15:05.122)
probably wouldn't like it so much or how would you like it if it was your kid or how would you like it if it your friend or your cousin that got hit in the face or was called this or that and then it's yeah words whatever but still you shouldn't have you shouldn't be going through doing that as an adult or as a kid or as a parent letting your kid do that it's just it shows lack of like intelligence as well as just being a decent person
So, that being said, again, go back to the review, I'm sorry, probably shouldn't go off, but seriously, I just can't believe it. But yeah, Apocalypse Row Hide is a very, very different event that has come to Arizona that is very hands-on, very fun, and very original. Again, since we are the Wild West, in a way it's really cool that you get to go through as a gunslinger yourself.
in the Wild West kind of settings.
kind of like going back to our history and you kind of getting to play off if there was an apocalypse and you and your group are going through again being nice and having fun trying to survive the apocalypse. Don't get close to the monsters or you become one. That's what I say. So have fun, invite friends, invite family, go through again, depending on your kid. I would really highly suggest probably like 12 or older though, because again, the guns
are heavy it is a little bit scary and well I would say actually it is quite very scary because I mean we square it we scare they scare adults so yeah but yeah apocalypse rawhide is different it's a lot of fun
Sydoney Banks (16:53.236)
It's very cool. you don't really understand, it's kind of like a laser tag in a way. So the zombies have either a headband and they either wear it on their head somewhere around their neck. Sometimes some of them can wear it around their waist. I couldn't do that. I'm a little bit thicker than that. And what you do is you go and you shoot them with the gun, not hit them, not kick them. You don't need to be close. You shoot them with the gun. And when you shoot the zombie, it blinks red and makes a noise. And then the zombie hears the noise and knows
I've been shot and then they die. Now sometimes the groups linger so long they come back and get shot at least twice.
We don't really want them to die more than that because again the groups kind of should be going on. So again if you do go through remember you know to be polite as well as keep moving forward. Shoot, move forward. Again why would you want to linger where there's zombies? You'd want to shoot them, get out of the area, go to the next place. Again watch some of the zombie movies before I guess going to apocalypse. I guess watch some movies to know. don't I don't I
know a lot about zombies and really for us it's like great because all these people get close enough and stuff and it's like man if this was a real apocalypse the zombies are going to win because the people get so close literally i all i have to do is like jump out and bite you and you're a zombie it's like come on people but yeah so apocalypse is a completely immersive game in a way so again you got these guns you're shooting for the
The headband, once you got it, it blinks, you move on. It's so much fun though. Me, myself, I can't shoot zombies because I love zombies, so for me it's hard, but other people really do like it. They like going in, they like being a part of the story, they like, they love the guns. The guns are, like I said, very realistic and...
Sydoney Banks (18:57.166)
The most problems we have usually is that people don't pay attention to the speech and know how to work the guns. So again, my best advice is please listen to the whole entire speech when they're telling you how to work the guns. Make sure that you completely understand before leaving that you know how to shoot your gun because that's another thing is a lot of times people don't know how to use them because either they're too excited, they're not paying attention or whatever the situation is but they didn't get it.
they go through and they don't even know how to work their guns. So just make sure that you pay attention to those things because again if it was a real apocalypse and you don't know how to shoot your gun I don't know what to tell you but you probably ain't gonna survive.
So yeah, but it's a great crew. The actors are amazing. Like I said, acting is phenomenal and you wouldn't know it, but they have a skeleton crew, but they do such a great job. You wouldn't even know it. That's how awesome their zombies are. And it's just, it's, it is a great experience. Like I said, I for sure would recommend Apocalypse because it is different. It's new to, you know, the Chandler, Arizona area. It has been at two
on Slaughterhouse, they do Apocalypse there. So I wouldn't say it's completely new to Arizona, but it is new to the Phoenix Chandler area since Tucson's a little bit more far away from the Phoenix area, so it is a little bit closer. So it's new, it's exciting, it's fun, it's different. Like I said, it's actually quite a long...
attraction unless you run through it very fast but it is well worth the money and the time and on top of that
Sydoney Banks (20:47.286)
You just go a little bit next door-ish or I guess you could just say just like a walk across and there's glowing pumpkins. So you could do two events in one night. You could go check out glowing pumpkins with the family and friends and then you know the kids could hang out and you know do the jumpy things and the different events that they have over there and then the adults could go and have fun at Apocalypse Rawhide or if you have some kids like I said that are a little
bit more mature and whatnot, they could do it. But if you don't, you could still have like a family's night out, go to going pumpkins, have, you know, a time where the adults go and do apocalypse and make a night of it. So you're doing something with the whole family and then doing something that's more, like I said, more adult themed, with the scares and the weapons and all that. So make a night of it. Check out apocalypse rawhide.
for sure a must see for the season. And I already did a review before about glowing pumpkins. I think it's the podcast before this one if I'm not mistaken. So make sure too to check out glowing pumpkins. It's also a very very cool attraction and it is a family friendly art display of pumpkins of all sorts. If you like pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, Halloween, that stuff, it's right up your alley. It's a lot of fun. It's great for kids. It's great
photo and video opportunities and making memories that will last forever. check out Apocalypse Rawhide and Glowing Pumpkins. But for sure Apocalypse Rawhide, I would not miss this year. Like I said, it's their first year. They're doing great. It's amazing. Highly recommend going. You don't want to miss it. Take your friends, take your family. It's not your average haunt. It's not just going to be a walkthrough. Like I said, you're a part of the action. You have a gun. You get to survive.
The Old West Apocalypse. So Apocalypse Rawhide gets you tickets and the website is ApocalypseRawhide.com and Glowing Pumpkins is GlowingPumpkins.com. Thanks for listening to this review for 2014, er, 14. Wow. That's when you know you're tired and there's a lot going on. 2024 review of Rawhide Apocalypse first year. Awesome. Thank you. Until next time, remember
Sydoney Banks (23:16.98)
every day is Halloween and we'll talk again soon.