Haunted Attractions & Horror Galore Podcast (HAHGP)

Podcast E8 Fear Farm & 13th Floor AZ Review 2023

Episode Summary

Haunted Attraction Review of Fear Farm and 13th Floor in Arizona 2023. Special Guest David Reeve. We go through each attraction and do Pluses and Deltas for each part and if this is a hit-or-miss haunted attraction this year. People share the pluses from the event—what went well and should be continued or taken further going forward—and the deltas, or what they would recommend changing for future events. https://fearfarm.com/ https://13thflooraz.com/ usahauntsearch.com hallozona.com https://qrco.de/beJjEa

Episode Notes

https://fearfarm.com/

https://13thflooraz.com/

usahauntsearch.com

hallozona.com

https://qrco.de/beJjEa

Episode Transcription

Syd (00:02.487)

And hello and welcome to haunted attractions and horglor podcast and today we're going to review a couple of haunted attractions, tell you which ones to avoid and which ones to go to so you don't have to spend your money or your time on something that is not worth it. So we have about like six of them that we're reviewing five or six around there and what

Syd (00:32.583)

pretty much means things that they did really well or things that were good and then things that need to be improved on or things that were not as good. But it's more positive than that. That's why it's called pluses and deltas. So it's like that kind of similar to roses and thorns. If you're a theater kid, that's also what it was called as things that they did good and then things that they need to improve on. Plus, you know, roses and thorns, pluses and deltas.

So that's what we're going to do. We're going to do it by haunt, and then we're going to do it by sections, like the attractions themselves, the midway, parking or whatever, everything. So you kind of get an inside of all the attractions. But also we're going to do it so we're not giving too much away. So the first one that we went to this year was Fear Farm. That was the kick of our tour.

And we'll go ahead and talk about the midway and the parking first, and then we'll go to the actual attractions. So the midway and the parking. So we'll go ahead and do parking because that's the first thing that you come up upon. And then we'll go ahead and do the midway. So we'll do deltas on parking, which is things that they need to improve on and work on.

And then we'll do pluses, which things that were good and all that. So we'll go ahead and start with the positives and then we'll go to the negative. So for the parking, I'm trying to think of the positives.

Syd (02:14.055)

They had some lighting. I mean, I don't know. Do you have any pluses David?

David (02:23.198)

Let's see... The process for the parking was at least well organized by the employees on them directing you.

Syd (02:38.119)

That's true. And also David's joining us too again for this review. Uh, they also had the employees also had, um, those light sticks and they also had a safety vest on, which is good. You could see them in the dark.

Yeah, there was a little bit of organization this year with How they had the kind of like a drop-off area and then you could go and park and all that so that wasn't too bad But yeah, I don't know there wasn't a whole lot of pluses in parking So I would say do you have any others or is that pretty much it?

David (03:19.51)

I would say that's pretty much it.

Syd (03:21.527)

Yeah, so we'll go ahead and move on to Delta. So They needed more lighting And in specific areas, it was very dark and very dangerous They also did not mow the lawn or the grass this year Which was I thought was really odd because I know last year they did This year they did not so there was tall grass so that also Made it so you couldn't see the path very well. So there was tripping hazards

And a lot of people who go to haunted houses usually wear all black. So when you're trying to park or even when you're trying to leave with the lack of lighting, people kind of blend into. The environment, so there's a lot of safety issues in a way in the parking. Because it's not very well lit and they did not.

Make sure the floor was leveled and cleared of grass. You have anything to add on?

David (04:25.606)

Yeah, it was definitely darker than what it needed to be, that's for sure.

Syd (04:32.195)

It was very dark.

David (04:33.914)

I mean you could get mugged in that place for how expansive it was like a pretty much parking maybe on like maybe 150 200 yards worth of land and there's only

Syd (04:36.478)

Oh, very easily.

David (04:53.166)

Two lights for the entire area.

Syd (04:57.091)

It was the lighting was horrible and where they put it too because when you're trying to leave Where the lighting is where they have their big lights it hits you so it's even harder to see when you're trying to exit They did have exit signs, but it was really hard to see them because they were they were black with orange But the arrows were on the bottom and the grass was so Like high up you couldn't see the arrows so you saw exit

But you didn't know where to exit because you couldn't see the arrows in the grass. But yeah, it was super dark and where they put the lighting, like we said, it didn't really make sense. And it would hit you directly straight on so you couldn't see very well. So if someone was drunk or not paying attention or just not a very great driver, which we have a ton of those right now, you could very easily hit somebody or bump into somebody and do some pretty

pretty bad damage, as well as if you have cars that aren't paying attention, they could bump into each other as well. But yeah, it's not a safe environment. It's very easily you could get mugged or kids could get kidnapped or a drug deal, stuff like that, because the parking lot is so not, it's not very lit. And yes, they did have staff, but I wish the staff was more spread out so they could actually

Also helped because a lot of them were more towards the back area. But yeah, so parking, they have a lot of stuff that they need to work on, especially safety wise and safety. If you know anything about us, safety is like our number one thing and haunted houses because you don't want your customers or anyone getting hurt and having lawsuits or anything like that. You want your customers to continue to come back.

David (06:46.41)

Yeah.

Syd (06:50.595)

And if they have that bad of an experience by getting run over or hit or mugged, they're probably not going to want to come back. Just saying. Anything else you want to add about the parking before we move on?

David (06:59.952)

That's for sure. Nope, that pretty much covers it.

Syd (07:05.943)

Yeah, parking was... the line two in the front wasn't too bad, but again it was kind of... There was a lot of tall grass. It was really weird. Like I didn't like it, like you could not see the floor very well how they had it this year. But at least they actually had somebody up front kind of telling you where the line was at to get in and they actually did it where if you were a...

Fastpass holder or skip the line holder you could didn't have to wait in The normal general admission line which was nice because they didn't do that the previous year we went Everybody was in the same line. So it's kind of like what the hell what the heck's the point of Getting a fast pass or skip the line if you're also gonna have to wait in line outside So I'm glad that they did that was nice but yeah Yeah, whatever and they had carnival rides too

David (07:55.04)

Yeah.

Syd (08:02.499)

In their parking area, it was kind of in the same area in a way. But they. Yeah, no, they had what it was like four of them, they had like. A little tiny Ferris wheel, like in a cup, the spinning one, and I don't remember what the other ones were, but yeah, they had four kind of small. Amusement rides in there, I guess in their parking midway area.

David (08:07.262)

Not even the popular carnival rides either.

Syd (08:29.707)

And that was an extra add-on. I don't know exactly how much it was, but you had to pay more if you wanted to ride the rides. But they were kind of like the kiddie rides in a way. They weren't really scary or... like the big ones that you see. So in a way it was kind of like more for- I felt like for children, which is kind of weird, but... Yeah, they did have some carnival rides. Do you have anything on that?

David (08:56.751)

No, pluses for that. The only thing I think they could work on is if they had a themed merry-go-round suited for all ages, that would have been a whole lot better.

Syd (09:10.455)

Yeah. Or even if their rides were themed a little bit more, that would be kind of cool. But I think really they just rely on the rides for like, oh look, there's something going on there with the lights and stuff. I think it's more of an intention getter than anything. Because even when we were there, it didn't look like there was a whole lot of people riding anything. There wasn't a whole lot of movement coming from there. So to me, it's kind of more of like, oh look, we're here kind of a thing. But I don't know.

David (09:25.396)

Yeah.

Syd (09:39.127)

If you're going to do Carnival and they had a lot more room, they could have added more rides or even added more rides that are more like, uh I want to say adult themed but more thriller or I don't know how you'd call that but like just rides that would be more appealing to older audiences since fear farms Supposedly supposed to be really scary and terrifying. So it's there. It's supposed to be towards more older people than little children

but that's kind of what it felt like.

David (10:09.249)

Yeah, and we'll mention more about that later in the as we go on

Syd (10:13.579)

Yeah Yeah, so yeah, that's pretty much the parking lot in the little carnival area So we'll go ahead and talk about the Midway and then we'll go from house. So the Midway pluses and Delta So pluses was It was pretty well lit which is nice They had a couple of things There that you could look at or take photos with they had a couple of giant skeletons and some animatronics and some dummies and stuff that you could go

and take photos with. They had a couple of like little sets and stuff. So you could actually go and take photos, which was nice. So they did have photo opportunities and they were free, which is also a good thing. So you could go with your phone and take photos in the midway. They had a couple of actors and actresses or characters, if you want to call them in the midway. I know there was like a monkey with symbols. The mascot.

David (11:10.882)

It wasn't exactly a monkey with symbols, it was more of a clown with symbols.

Syd (11:18.755)

Yeah, it was it was something with symbols. I'm not exactly sure but they had that and then they had the Mascot for fear farm, which is like the scarecrow guy and then they had a pumpkin guy and a couple of bugged Character things and then there was two clowns or three clowns that walked around and they didn't do anything. They just walked around and then there was I Thought there was a guy with the chainsaw or something, but yeah, they had a couple of midway characters

They were okay. There was a couple of them that were better than others. Like the monkey clown thing at least acknowledged our existence, which was nice. He, you know, he would look at us or kind of interact, which was a good thing. And then the mascot guy was really good too, because when we are waiting in line for the clowns, he was actually communicating and engaging with my dad and me.

Which was really good and he was in character and stuff again. He wasn't really scary, but He did stay in character and he did really good there But yeah the other ones They kind of ignored you or walked past you like the pumpkin dude. I really wanted to see More of his costume because I love pumpkins if you know me But I wanted to really look or I was even interested in getting a photo with him But anytime we saw him he would just walk right by And kind of not even like give you the time of day, which was kind of sad

Cause your midway people should interact with everybody, whether they're afraid or not. They should be entertaining everybody in line, not just the ones that are already scared. Which that's kind of something I've noticed that 13th floor and Fear Farm do as a target. A certain demographic are the people who are already scared or young girls and stuff. The easy targets.

David (12:55.905)

Yeah.

Syd (13:09.179)

Which is really in a way sad. It's like, you don't have to scare everybody, but you should at least attempt to acknowledge and entertain everybody. And that's an opportunity that they're missing, is that. But yeah, the Midway, eh, it was all right. They also had a little shop area, which was like a shipping container, and they had a couple of shirts and stuff. They had more, I would say, than like other people's stuff than their own.

Like they had a L virus shirt and a Vincent Price shirt and stuff. They had some stuff like that and they didn't have as many, I would say like actual theme shirts of theirs. And the ones they did have were like eh.

But yeah, the Midway, I don't know what do you have to say about the Midway.

David (14:00.72)

I say, um, the Mindaway was alright. They, um, are honestly.

a few steps away from Slaughterhouse when it comes to the Midway.

David (14:22.146)

They had a place to eat. They had some people selling some wares in the middle. And some good amount of entertainment at the rides and everything like that. And plenty of stadium seating areas.

Syd (14:42.351)

Yeah, that's nice. I do have seating.

They do have seating, they do have restrooms.

David (14:49.938)

They do definitely give that old country fare, you know, like when you go to like a small town out in the country, kind of fair fields.

Syd (15:01.667)

Yeah. And they did, they had quite a few food vendors, at least four, four to five. And then they also, I believe they also had axe throwing. Yeah. They had one of those trailers of axe throwing. So they did, the Midway wasn't horrible. I mean, like I said, their icons obviously need to learn more to be interactive with everybody and not just the target audience, but yeah, they're more, they were way more approachable than 13 floor.

And I mean, at least two of them actually paid you the time of day, which was nice. And they stayed in character pretty well. And yeah, the clown with the symbols or the monkey clown with the symbols is, was pretty interesting. The simple part was cool. It's like, okay, yeah, that makes loud noise. That's, that's pretty cool. And the costumes weren't horrible. They were pretty, they were pretty good.

David (15:38.549)

They had character.

Syd (15:57.555)

But yeah, the Midway, it was alright. I mean, I'm glad they had photo opportunities that they did not charge and that they did have quite a few characters, which was nice. So I mean, they did good in the Midway, I would say. It was pretty good. It wasn't horrible. So yeah, now we'll go ahead and go, unless you have anything else, David, do you have anything else about the Midway? Alright, we'll go ahead and go into the haunts.

David (16:22.125)

Nope.

Syd (16:25.891)

And I'm gonna actually have to look them up because I do not remember the names and all that. And the names are wrong on the signs too. Because they have little signs that say like fast pass or general admission or whatever and it tells you what the haunt name is. And the names were the same as last year. So even like remembering that the names were not the same. Like I know that the attraction that was-

The zombie one last year was called, it was called, what was it called? Nuketown. And then this year it's called Infestation. But it didn't say that on the sign, so yeah, it was kind of confusing because it had last year's names. So that was a little bit, not that great. So the first one we went to.

Again, I think last year was like the slaughterhouse or something like that. This year it's called the rot shop. And the character that they have is like a skeleton monster thing with a chainsaw for both hands and something else. We did not see him at all. I didn't see that character at all, which again is kind of false advertising and lying, so go ahead and talk about the things that.

David (17:30.147)

Yeah.

David (17:43.495)

Disappointing.

Syd (17:48.955)

They did well in that one first, and then we'll go to the things that they didn't do really good. So the things that they did not, or the things that they did well was the characters really did stay in character, which was really good. They kept the accents and they kept the accents and the talking.

So they did really stay in character. There was maybe like a couple that were not that good because there was a couple that we saw and it was like, okay. But overall that I would say the Rott House, they did really good staying in character and staying in theme and they did interact with you. Even if they didn't scare you, at least they interacted with you or tried to entertain you in a way, which was really good. I would say the sets, they were decent. They were all right.

But yeah, the characters did really well. They added a hotel or a motel to it this year, but a lot of it was the same as the year that we went before. So they added a couple of things here and there, but overall it was a lot the same. But yeah, what else? The lighting was okay. What else did they do good on David?

David (19:08.91)

Oh, like you said, the acting was good, the interactions with the groups was alright. I will mention that the masks were pretty good, and the makeup was spot on and cohesive throughout the entire thing.

Syd (19:36.323)

Yeah, yeah, that's true. The makeup and the costumes were really good. And like I said, they were actually really trying. They- again, it wasn't really scary, but they were trying and they were staying in character. Which, I mean, that's pretty much really good of a haunted attraction. If you can't scare him, at least entertain him. And they did- like I said, overall there was maybe like two actors that were like, I don't even know what- like there was one in the beginning and he just made a noise and then he went back to his spot.

It was like, okay, that's odd. But yeah, overall that one was pretty good with theming and lighting. The sets were okay. There was a couple of things in there that did make sense, but overall it was okay. But yeah, things that they need to work on. Like I said, they need to do better training for scares because it wasn't scary.

It was entertaining and you know, they were in character, but it wasn't scary. There wasn't really any major jump scares or anything like that. There was a lot of missed opportunities. Like there are certain areas you could tell that there were supposed to be actors there and there wasn't. So in a way there was a lot of missed opportunities with that, which was kind of disappointing. Yeah. It wasn't, it wasn't scary. Like.

David (20:53.858)

Yeah. But not scary. Creepy and unsettling, yes, but just not like where you'd want to back up, you know, closing on yourself kind of, oh no, scare.

Syd (21:03.233)

Yeah

Syd (21:11.479)

Yeah, it wasn't. And again, there wasn't like a whole lot of new stuff. They just added the motel mainly, and I think they added like a truck or a truck that you walk through. There was a bus there and like David and Ray, my dad also said, was like, that didn't really make sense. And you walk through the bus.

David (21:30.064)

And it was an older bus which the older buses the last step is always deeper than the first. You have to really watch out because you could really hurt yourself going through it especially if you were the type to get scared and you're trying to rush out you could totally fall and hit your face.

Syd (21:38.375)

Yeah.

Syd (21:48.963)

Yeah, that's true. So yeah, you have to be very careful. The ground is a little bit more level than it was when we went, which was nice. There wasn't a whole lot of like, because I remember the one year we went, there was like parts of the ground where that were unleveled and unsafe. So this year they actually at least tried to level it out, which was nice. But yeah, there, I would say there was a lot of miss opportunities in this in this haunt because there's a lot of spots where there's no one like there is quite a bit of corn in this maze and

You could see the indents, but there was no people. So it was like, yeah. So you'd walk through and you're like, oh, there's nobody. So there was some missed opportunity there. Also, they have like an inside area and they have a staircase that does something. I'm not gonna say what it does, but it didn't work. Or there wasn't an actor in it and it didn't work. And it was like, I was like excited for that because I wanted to show David and nothing happened. We were just standing there.

You have to watch this. We just stood there and nothing happened. So David's probably like, are you crazy? Like, we're just staring at this. I know, but it was just weird because I was like, you have to see this. We're just like standing there for a couple of minutes and nothing happened. So I'm sure it's like, okay, we're just staring at this staircase. It's not doing anything. It's so funny. But yeah, that was kind of disappointing. And there was a couple of things in there that I noticed that either weren't on or not working.

David (22:54.977)

It was fun to watch nothing happen

Syd (23:18.843)

But overall it was okay, the actors tried. Again, at the end there's like a chainsaw and stuff. So it was okay, it was a decent one, it wasn't horrible. So that one wasn't too bad. Do you have anything else to add about that one?

David (23:36.381)

Nope.

Syd (23:38.403)

Alright, so after that it was the depths of darkness which is their Water themed one with kasulu and all that one So the things that they did good on that one So we'll do pluses first so the good things for that was like David said with the other one the makeup was pretty Spot-on they all look the same it wasn't like outstanding great makeup, but it was cohesive to

Everybody else looked like they came from the same place, which is good But yeah, it wasn't anything like oh my god that makeup's awesome, but also like with this haunt There are places that are dark that you can't even always see the makeup, but we'll get into that when we do deltas But yeah pluses they did that very well the makeup was pretty good. There was some parts that had some decent lighting

David (24:33.134)

Yeah, well I also know the person that's the makeup manager there and she did a spectacular job on making sure that the makeup was all cohesive, very similar, and just all good quality throughout the entire thing.

Syd (24:55.107)

Yeah, and that's not easy trying to do, especially if you have like five or four or even six different makeup artists, they always all have their own style, which I mean, I would say there's still their own style there, but they all look like they came from the same universe, which is good. So that was, yeah, the makeup was really good. There was some good lighting parts and some of the sets were...

Not horrible, they were interesting. Again, there was a lot of like the same thing that it was. In previous years, they added a lighthouse and a ship. The lighthouse was okay. It was a little disappointing how they utilized it, but it, I mean, the set overall was all right. The late, the little dock area was all right. But.

David (25:36.67)

Yeah, I wasn't really happy with the lighthouse. I mean, it was kind of cool that there was an actor up there, but that was more entertainment value and oh look, monster versus like a pop out scare or anything like that. Like there was something scary about it.

Syd (25:57.879)

Yeah, yeah, and there was a sea creature towards the beginning and he did really good his sound effects are really good And his costume and his mask was really good and anyone that wears masks like that I give kudos because I know that they're hot and You sweat a lot in them. So he but he did really well with that There was a couple of actors that were in there that were pretty good Like I know the old guy who was like, what are you drinking at the bar and stuff? He was really good

Again, he wasn't necessarily scary, but he was in character and was interactive, which was a good thing. But yeah, they had a couple of actors and actresses in there that weren't bad. They weren't horrible. They did pretty good. Do you have any other pluses for them?

David (26:38.018)

Yeah.

David (26:43.074)

For that one, no. No plastic.

Syd (26:45.771)

Yeah. So yeah, we'll go ahead and move on to Delta. So things that they need to improve on. Again, some of the sets I wish they went more in depth.

David (26:52.95)

There were definitely some of the actors there that would just stand there and stare at you.

Syd (27:00.155)

Well, there was the one guy who was just standing there and smiling. It was like, it wasn't a creepy smile either. It was just like, okay. It was, and it kind of, it kind of ruined the, I want to say like the atmosphere for the rest of the scares. Because I didn't even really pay attention to the other actors or actresses in there because I was just looking at him like, what the heck is this? Like, it was just weird. But yeah, I would say there's some opportunities that they could do even better lighting.

lighting effects the dock area or their little ocean swamp thing whatever you could see that it was just a tarp with some water in it and the water wasn't even it was like maybe an inch or two and there was some dry patches so the water area was kind of disappointing it's like if you're gonna do a water themed especially in Arizona do it right and they missed opportunities on that like it took away from the

the whole feel of the haunt when you look into the water and you see it's only like an inch and then you see dry patches and you can obviously tell it's a frickin' tarp with some water. It was pretty disappointing and they still had the tentacles, the blow up tentacles in it and whatever. Like, me and David were talking it would have been cool if they added a swamp effect with it and had like the swamp laser lights with the fog and it still kept the water.

That would have been cool. I mean, like, again, they could have done more to make that really feel like you are on a dock. And they could have, I mean, they're supposed to be world famous 13 floor, yada, yada fear farm. So you would think that they would push the limits and make their sets like really good and like things that you would remember and be like, Hey, David, you remember when we went to whatever and you saw the water and yeah, but it was again.

David (28:47.302)

I will say this much for that area. When you first approach it, I had to do, I had to look at it for a second because when I walked up to him, I'm like, how deep is this thing? Because just the lighting and everything like that, when you first approach it, made it look good. But when you walked around it and then like, oh, that's a tarp and it's very shallow. That's disappointing.

Syd (28:57.49)

Yeah.

Syd (29:03.1)

Yeah.

Syd (29:06.903)

It looked bad. Yeah, when the first glance you're like, oh, that's yeah, that's interesting But yeah, like David said and you walk around it quite a bit because it kind of the haunt weaves and weaves in and out around it Yeah, so you see it a lot and you see it from different angles and like it just It didn't it didn't look real or it didn't look good Like you could like I told like me and him were talking. It's like it's obvious that There was only like an inch or two of water

David (29:19.05)

It circles it.

Syd (29:36.579)

And there was quite a few dry patches. So it's like, if this is supposed to be a lagoon or a lake or ocean or whatever it is, it should be deeper than that. Especially if you have boats in it. There's ways that they could have made it look deeper. Like we said, if they added lights and stuff, then you couldn't really see if they added the laser swamps and stuff. You wouldn't be able to see that deep and you'd be paying more attention to how the fog.

plays on the laser. So again, just missed opportunities there. It was sad.

David (30:11.702)

Not to mention, I don't think there was any fog. Effects.

Syd (30:17.443)

Yeah, I think you're right throughout the whole thing, huh? Yeah. I don't think Fear Farm had any fog. That's a good point, too. Again, how could you have a haunted attraction and not use any fog? That's just, that's weird.

David (30:20.076)

Yeah.

David (30:30.894)

I mean, I know some fog machines will dissipate really well, but there is a way of doing the fog things with like a little vibrating machine and some water that keeps the fog laying low, kind of like dry ice does.

Syd (30:42.551)

Yeah. Yeah, even if they had a little bit of fog in that area would have even added to that or made it a little more difficult to see that oh it's only an inch of water with some tarp. I mean come on it's not that hard.

David (30:57.326)

I mean, I know we live in Arizona, and we want to conserve water and all, but if you're gonna do a water effect, do a water effect.

Syd (31:04.055)

Yeah, if you're gonna do water, do it right. Especially in Arizona, because people will be like, wow, that was really cool. Because again, we're not used to seeing that kind of stuff. So I mean, again, with this haunt, they could really push the boundaries and make it really, really cool. But there was a lot of missed opportunity. And again, also you could tell that they were missing actors. There were spots that didn't have anything. And there was a couple of decent actors in there, but overall it was kind of lame.

Lamish and they kind of just kind of all said the same thing. They're like, oh, whatever Cthulhu and whatever and I get they Were trying to tell a story but It was kind of just hearing the same thing over and over so it's like, okay It's kind of Hey, go ahead

David (31:48.887)

Yeah, well, here's the thing too. I looked it up and it was one, I think, mainly the name of the mask that you can buy off of one of the, you know, good, you know, mask sites or whatnot, where the mask was named Cthulhu.

Syd (32:13.495)

Yeah, but I mean that's all you heard they just and I mean, okay, they stick with the storyline Well, but I just was hoping again that they would have been a little bit more creative and a lot of it was like

David (32:17.102)

So.

David (32:23.774)

Yeah, because using the name of the mask as a thing, it's like, well, you could have come up with a different name than what someone else named the mask.

Syd (32:30.739)

I don't know, it was just, to me it was, there was just a lot of oh Cthulhu's waiting for you and whatever and it was like okay. And it's like you hear about this monster the whole time and then you only see him once at the end. So it was kind of like okay and the monster at the end is just an animatronic. I mean at least it works and it's a decent animatronic but it's like if that's what you're going to see him your whole attraction about you should have him there more than once kind of like uh.

Universal Studios does, like, if you go through a Chucky haunt there, you're gonna see Chucky multiple times, not just at the end.

David (33:05.795)

Well, it's also one of those things too where a guy with a nice, you know, mask with the tentacle face, he popped out at the beginning.

and at the end with the animatronic. But the whole thing was as you were going through a buildup, a buildup, a buildup towards the finale. And then when you get to the end, a huge fizzle.

Syd (33:28.259)

Yeah, it's kind of a letdown. It's like, oh, okay Because I mean like they didn't even really make like an awesome set for the animatronic. It's kind of just out in the open in a way There wasn't anything like oh, wow, that is so cool or again not like really any Major lighting effects or anything cool like that to reveal this thing that you're hearing about it was kind of like, oh, okay It's there. It's like it's like whatever But yeah, I would say this This attraction needed a lot of help

because it just, the sets were, they're decent, the actors were, there was like maybe, like we said, there's like maybe three or four really good ones, but the rest of them were kind of just there. And there was, again, there was a lot of screaming and just being loud and that doesn't work. Plus you can't always understand what they're saying. So you just hear, blah, at you and you're like, okay, whatever. And then I also noticed there was an actor that kept,

Like, he was on the floor and he was like walking backwards on the floor and I was really worried that he was gonna get stepped on. And I almost did step on him.

David (34:33.59)

Because it was on a bridge. It was on a narrow bridge.

Syd (34:38.051)

Yeah, and I was like dude, you know, that's cool and all but you're gonna get hurt especially let's say if he really did scare somebody You can get trampled on and stuff. It's like I don't know who does the training there or even does any safety training or anything like that, but they really need training on vocal as well as physical and also just safety training because That guy is going to get really hurt. I mean if you're you can do floor acting

But you have to be very smart and careful about it because it's easier to get kicked. It's easier to get trampled on. It's easier to get hurt. And I was so worried about his safety the whole time, because I was just like, dude, cause we saw multiple times throughout the thing, throughout the attraction. But he was doing a lot of that. And I'm just like, and then, cause I mean, I almost stepped on him at least twice and I was trying not to.

And I wasn't scared or anything, but I was only imagining. I was like, dude, if someone was really afraid or any, or let's just say anything were to happen, he's going to get trampled on and kicked. That's not, I mean, putting yourself at risk like that is not a good thing. I mean, again, he could learn how to do floor scaring, but do it in a safe way. Cause and I know I kept telling David, I was like, man, this is. I.

David (36:00.086)

It took you away from the rest of the hunt because you were just worried about that one particular thing so much.

Syd (36:05.411)

Yeah, like I didn't enjoy it because I was worried about his safety because again, that's what I look at I look at more than just But I was just like man. This is super dangerous and he's gonna he's gonna end up getting really hurt and it's gonna be sad Because again that company doesn't necessarily care so much and they'll just be like, oh whatever But I mean they really they need safety training for their actors. They really do. They also need vocal training really bad Again, it's not necessarily the actors and actresses fault

This all pretty much rely is the haunts fault because they're not training their staff, how to be safe and how to do vocals and stuff. There's like I said, they rely a lot on just screaming. And you could tell that a lot of them were losing their voices or they were getting, they had that horse sound because it was just a lot of screaming with the throat and not the diaphragm. So they really need some vocal training and some safety training.

But yeah, that haunt, again, when you hear water and stuff, you're really excited. But again, it's kind of just a big let down, especially when they don't really make the, I mean, like they didn't even really have any moving water or anything like a fountain or anything. Like I wish they could have done more with the whole water aspect. That would have been cool.

Anything else you want to add David about that one?

David (37:34.957)

Nope.

Syd (37:36.099)

Yeah, so that was pretty much that in a nutshell. Eh. So the next one is, let me see, because I don't know what the names are. The next one we went through was the Clown Haunt. And this year, it's Hollow's House. And again, the clown that they have the picture of, I did not see him at all in that attraction. So yeah, Hollow's House is their clown, circus-y, whatever theme.

And again, Fear Farm was known for their clowns. And they're always going to be, even though it's owned by a different company, because that's what they were known for was their clowns. So a lot of people look forward to this haunt, and you expect it to be really good. Well, this one was probably the biggest letdown out of all of them. But we'll do pluses first. So things that I liked about this haunt, again, was the Midway when we were waiting in line, the Scarecrow Fear Farm mascot.

was talking to us and stuff that was pretty cool. He wasn't necessarily a part of the haunt but he was because he was there. The other positive is oh one of the first things you come across is like I think it's supposed to be a train cart or something and there's a bearded woman in there and she was a fortune teller and she's like she wasn't scary but her character was spot on.

She was like, oh, I tell fortunes or whatever, and you're not going to like the fortune I'm telling you If you don't like it because it's bad or whatever. It's not my fault. It's your fortune She I don't exactly remember what she said, but she was really good. She stayed in character. Her character was believable and I don't know. I just I like that part. That part was really cool Uh, what else they had they had a couple of parts that were interesting or some sets that weren't too bad

The funhouse itself was okay, it was decent.

Syd (39:34.459)

Some of the masks were really good. Some of the makeup was pretty okay. The costumes weren't too horrible. I'm trying to think of what else was the positive and then do you have anything?

David (39:48.677)

Oh.

Oh no, the fun house was actually high energy and what you expected of a circus or what not or carnival. But definitely was needing more.

Syd (40:13.699)

Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to think of the positives. That's pretty much it. It was like Yeah, they had some good masks. They had some good makeup Some of the sets were okay. The fun house was all right. And I know that was new again They didn't really change a whole lot from last year, but that was new But yeah, we'll go ahead and move to delta deltas because there was a bunch like I said, this was probably the biggest letdown of them all because The the clowns

Again, there was a lot of screaming. You couldn't understand anything that they were saying. So if they were telling you a story or had a storyline, you didn't understand it because they were just screaming at you. The energy, even though like, yeah, they were screaming and stuff, there could have been more energy or more of that playful kind of scary characters. There was maybe one or two clowns that kind of did that, but a lot of it was just screaming and

Like, there was one clown who was saying a lot, and I was trying to understand what he was saying because I thought he was like giving a dialogue or something, but I couldn't understand one word because you could tell he was yelling all night and his voice started to go like that. So you couldn't hear what he was saying. So again, they really need vocal training and they need to hit their consonants when they're talking so you can understand what they're saying.

David (41:39.49)

They need to enunciate a lot better.

Syd (41:41.047)

Yes, they did not do that. And they also need to learn that you don't have to scream every damn thing There was a lot of relying on yelling and screaming throughout the whole entire Fear farm, but for sure for this one too. There was a lot of just yelling And it was just again. It's not scary. It's just more irritating or It's just It's not scary. It just it takes away when everybody's doing the same thing and they were all just

It's like whatever. But yeah, there was there was a couple of cages and stuff and there was again you could tell that they didn't have a full cast because there was a lot of miss opportunity again. There was a couple there was a lot of cages. There was a lot. Okay, there was quite a few cages and there was a lot of actors outside of the cages. There's maybe a couple in but you know you were hoping that they'd utilize that a little bit more. But yeah, it was just it was bad. It was.

David (42:38.964)

Yeah.

Syd (42:40.423)

Do you want to talk a little bit about the deltas for the clowns?

David (42:47.314)

Like I said, high energy, definitely, you know, funhouse worthy and whatnot. Again, makeup was spot on for what you could see at least with the lighting.

Syd (43:00.637)

Yeah.

David (43:03.694)

But that's pretty much it. I'm thinking of that clown one.

Syd (43:08.907)

Yeah, the sets were horrible. Like I want to say what probably a good 90% of the sets were fencing. And it was like the brown kind of like, uh, like a fence that you would use to put in your backyard kind of offense. It was tall and it was just brown fencing that, and that was like a good 90% of the maze, it felt like you were just walking in this fricking fencing.

And they didn't bother to like paint it or add blood splatter or banners, anything like that. There was just a lot of that. And again, there was no actors or anything in this area. So it was just a lot of blank missed opportunity. And again, that kind of took away from the whole entire theme and the Atlasphere because you were just like, oh, wow, more fencing. Oh, wow. More fencing. It was just, I mean, they could have.

I understand if they're going through like, oh, you know, it's a traveling circus and whatever because yeah, there would be some fencing, but they relied so much on it. And again, they didn't have any like details. They could have added blood or they could have added like the old school banners where it's like, Oh, come see the bearded woman. They had some of that in the very beginning for their little facade thing, but it just

It really, it was really disappointing. There was a whole lot of fencing and it just, it just, and like I said, yeah, the fun house was okay, but again, for like 13 four owns fear farm and for 13 four entertainment group, it was certainly very lame. They could have added more.

David (44:58.382)

I will say this much, alright? If, uh, as kind of a positive, if you're looking for, you know, haunted houses that are the same year by year, so you know what to someone expect if you're one of those who can't handle the changes when it comes to your fear and stuff like that,

And you're like, oh, at least I know this and all I have to worry about is people jumping out at me, you know? Yeah, I can handle it. You know, then you want to go with anything, uh, you know, with the 13th Floor Entertainment group or whatnot, because they, unlike other haunts, will keep the same sets year by year, because they just pull them out for, yeah, they just pull them out for like one month of the year or so, as were a lot of

Syd (45:47.567)

Yeah, they don't do much changes.

David (45:56.082)

Other companies, mom and pop ones or whatnot, will start working on their next haunted house right after the season.

Syd (45:57.715)

We'll change areas.

Syd (46:04.891)

Yeah, it's again for being a world famous this and that and all that they don't do a whole lot There's not a whole lot of changes in any of their attractions, especially in Arizona that I know they like Like I said in each attraction i'd say this year they added like some little things like I said They added the motel they added the lighthouse and the little the boat that had the accident But they don't like change a majority of it or really add on a whole lot. So it's very again

When you're going every year, and like David said, if that's something you want to do, yeah, that's perfect. If you want to see the same thing every year, they're great. But if you actually like want to see something new and experience something new, they're not a good attraction to go to because they don't do a whole lot of upkeep or changes. And yeah, the clown haunt, I'm just going to say this, it was just a lot of screaming and it wasn't scary. It wasn't even really entertaining in a lot of ways. There's just

It was kind of like, it was just there. It's like, oh, okay. And there was, I mean, and I noticed when we were leaving, there was a lot of people who were kind of like, disappointed in it because it was just, it was, it was, eh, it wasn't that good. Like, you could skip that one and you wouldn't miss anything. And even when you enter the fun house, there was a female clown and all she did was yell. And it was loud and I was just like.

I was already, I was already irritated and I want to say that she was probably the loudest screamer out of all of them. And that's what welcomes you into the fun house. And you're just kind of like, again, you're like, oh yeah. And since you're entering into an area, it, you're the space is less. So you're closer to her. So you have to get, unfortunately have to get that screaming right at your face. It's like, so yeah, they

David (47:54.949)

Thank you for that.

Syd (47:55.567)

That one has a lot to improve on and they really, again, they need vocal training, they need safety training and they just need training. They need to bring the clowns back and actually train these clowns how to be clowns because it's just, it was, it was sad. It was not good. Anything else you want to add before we move on to the next one? Yeah, that one was just, I'm not a fan.

David (48:14.023)

Yeah. Nope.

Syd (48:22.863)

And I was, I even told David I was excited for that one. I was hoping that they added more cause I like clams and circuses and stuff, but it was just, I mean, it's just little details that really could even make a huge difference.

So the next one we saved for last on purpose because the last one we went to last year was the best one. We're like, wow, that one had high energy. The actors were good. It was a good haunt. And so we saved this one for last because I was expecting the same thing. I would say this one was probably, I wouldn't say the worst, but it was pretty, it was like, it was with the clown haunt. It was pretty damn bad. It was very, very sad. And this one,

Like I said last year was called Nuketown and this year was Infant Station? Infant, yes, I can't say it right now. Yes, that word. So it's more, I think it was more about like bugs and stuff than it was zombies or whatever. But yeah, that one was... Oh, that was so disappointing. So I will do pluses first. I don't really know if they're...

David (49:12.056)

Infestation.

Thanks for watching!

Syd (49:34.583)

was a whole lot. I mean there was one actor who did really good who got in David's face and he was kind of up on top of something. He was like kind of climbed and he kind of came down and looked at David. That's pretty cool. But yeah, the sets, they were because it's kind of like almost like a junkyard kind of a feel. I'm not exactly sure what they were going for, but it's kind of like a junkyard-y.

area-ish.

David (50:05.015)

Yeah.

Syd (50:06.619)

But yeah, the lighting, there wasn't a whole lot of positives in this one. Do you have any? Cause like, to be honest with you, I don't really have a lot of pluses.

Syd (50:18.395)

So yeah, if you have any places.

David (50:19.114)

Nope. This one was definitely one that was not well experienced by far.

I will definitely say it was more of the person doing the tickets and putting people through that was the cause of it. But it was definitely more...

Syd (50:40.604)

Yeah.

David (50:47.958)

You know, people in front of you, people behind you, not allowing the actors to get into any kind of position for a pop scare or anything like that because they had to constantly stay on the move to try and get some sort of scare.

Syd (51:02.651)

Yeah, it was, it was, like I said, there wasn't a whole lot of pluses in this one because the sets are pretty much the same as last year. And again, it's kind of like a, like a facility-ish, where, housey, junkyard kind of a feel. But yeah, like the lighting was horrible. There were parts where there were actors and actresses that had masks, like.

really cool mass or makeup and you couldn't see it because it was so dark in those areas. And that was kind of a thing that was throughout the whole entire haunt and this one is there was a lot of lack of lighting. But yeah, like David said, it was a conga line. So there were people in front of you, there were people behind you. So there was no way to get scared in this one because there was just constant flow of people and even you could tell the characters didn't even know exactly what to do because there was a lot of just standing there.

And I mean, some of them did kind of try, but it was just, it was, there was no way to really do that. And that's one thing 13th floor and fear farmer known for is like, they push people through. And to me, that's a waste of money. And again, it's a lot of wasted opportunity because you're just going through. You know, this attraction and there's just people everywhere.

There are parts of it, and my dad was really mad, because there are parts of it where there was zigzag lines. And all you did was see the people that were in front and behind you. And there was an actress there who was spraying people with water or whatever and saying something about, oh, the bugs or whatever they were saying. But again, she couldn't even really do anything because it was just a constant flow. So if anything, I actually feel really bad for the actors and actresses of this haunt because...

When you have a flow like that, it's really hard to scare or set up for a scare or do anything because it's constant people. So in a lot of ways, by them doing that is like overworking their characters and really screwing their actors and actresses over. And I mean, I felt bad for them, but there was not one thing that was scary in this haunt or really entertaining, except for the one guy who got kind of got in David's face. But other than that, it was just like we could have totally skipped this one and we wouldn't have missed anything.

Syd (53:24.887)

It was just, it was that bad. It was the lighting was bad. The actors, a lot of them kind of gave up. You could tell they were kind of just there. They were standing there. Some of them did try, but again, it's, it's really hard to do anything in an environment like that. It, I mean that one. And I was so disappointed because I was like, I even told David, I was like, this one was better, this one was like the best one last year. They had high energy. The monsters are really good. They even scared a couple of my team members and stuff. So I was like.

David (53:40.248)

Yeah.

Syd (53:54.123)

I was extremely looking forward to this one and that's why we saved it for last. And it was probably the biggest disappointment, even more so than the clowns. Like it was... it was so... it was bad. It was really bad. And again, they had, like I said, they had really cool insect masks and stuff, but you couldn't see them. So why even have them? What was the point of that? It made no sense to me. Do you have anything else to add?

David (54:06.167)

Yeah.

David (54:24.921)

That was very underwhelming. Like I said, given the circumstances of the entire thing, if you're looking for like a small country feel of a hunt or whatnot, like a real something like, you know, low production value, that's the hunt to go to.

Syd (54:44.383)

Yeah, I was, that last one was just sad. I mean, there wasn't anything like, I mean, okay, the mass would have stood out if you could actually see them. But it was just, I don't know. It was just, it felt like you're walking through a junkyard with a bunch of other people, that's pretty much what it felt like. And I don't think they added anything new to that one. And there are even spots in this one where there's fencing and things and you could see on the other side and you could see like the owner's truck.

David (54:48.087)

but.

David (54:54.798)

Mm-hmm.

Syd (55:13.759)

or the people that were working on it and stuff, there were parts where you could see, I wanna say backstage, but it even isn't really backstage. And that kind of, again, that ruined it as well, because it's like, oh wow, look at that really pretty white clean truck that's on the other side. Like I even pointed that out to David, I was like, what the fuck? Like, that's not scary.

David (55:35.462)

And it was more took away from the immersion.

Syd (55:38.435)

Yeah, it was just... It was really sad. I wouldn't... So yeah, I would say Fear Farm overall, it's like...

David (55:48.114)

And that was just the four main haunts. For another $10, you could do the corn maze.

Syd (55:54.883)

Which we did do. And let me see what that one was called, because I even know that one was themed. Let me see. Do, do, do. See, and I have to look up the seams, because it wasn't even like, oh, yeah, you really know what the seams are, because it was really, oh, scarecrow mayhem. And I think the whole thing, there was only one scarecrow that we saw, and he was at the end. He was probably the best part of the whole corn maze. But.

Again, there was only like maybe four actors throughout this whole entire corn maze and they were all on one side of the corn maze. They did not spread out or anything like that. They were all heavy on one side. So you were on one side of the corn maze. And yeah, but I'll, we'll go through the positives. So the positives this year was it actually was a maze. They had an ending and a beginning. It wasn't the same place. So

They listened to that feedback, I hope, last year. So thank you for doing that, because it was actually a maze. And the corn was actually a decent size this year. It's pretty high. So you couldn't see everything like you did last year, because it was too short. So that was a good thing. The ground was still not really leveled 100%, but they did actually make it a maze, which was really nice. So thank you for doing that. Another positive is, yes, they did have

at least four actors in there and they were okay. They weren't horrible. There's no lighting in the corn maze because they're relying on the dark creepy factor and I mean there is even though there's no lighting there is lighting because of the bleed over from the haunt as well as the businesses around like the golf thing and I think there's like the mall and stuff on the other side of the highway so you get kind of that light bleed through so it's not completely dark

nice in a way because that can lead to a lot of issues. But yeah, so at least that was a positive with the maze. They did have the ending and exit was not the same. So that was a good thing. Do you have any pluses for that?

David (58:08.07)

No pluses really. Uh, going through a core maze like that. Well, like I said, one of the scarecrows for a plus side, as actually doing a splendid job, uh, the way that he handled it was he was scaring people away from the exit, keeping them in the maze longer.

Syd (58:29.923)

Yeah, yeah, no, and he actually, he stayed in character. He was really good. He was probably the highlight of the whole entire farm was the scarecrow character.

David (58:39.334)

and he utilized the corn. The only actor I saw in the entire thing in all of Hauntz where there was corn, who actually utilized the corn where he came popping out of it.

Syd (58:52.163)

Yeah, yeah, he did really good. So yeah, that was, there wasn't a whole lot of pluses for this one, except that it was actually a maze and the corn was actually a lot taller. So now we'll go into Delta. So like I said, there was only four actors and they all were on one side. They were more on the left side when you enter. So they were all over there. There was hardly any actors on the other side. So we were walking over there because that's where we started.

We were over there for a good while and we didn't see anything. Like you didn't see any actors, nothing like that. There wasn't really any, uh, any sets or anything like that. It was pretty just the corn, which I mean, it was okay. It sets the tone in a way. And you could tell that they also had some recording of crickets and stuff in there. And then when we finally got to the other side, then that's when you started seeing some of the characters, cause they had

A zombie and the zombie almost ran into David. He was just walking and like pushed David out of the way, which was kind of rude. I thought he wasn't scary or anything. He was just there. I don't know what he was doing, but there was like a zombie character. And then there was Lala Rona, which didn't make any sense at all. Cause she hangs around water. Why the hell is she in a corn maze? And the character, I mean, the actor was okay. Eh, it could have been better if you're going to do all the wrong. I mean, come on, do a lot.

That's one of my favorites. So that kind of was like, that kind of ruined the experience because you were like, what the heck? Because it was like, if you were shopping for apples and there was an orange there kind of a thing, it was like, it did not belong. It was like, what? It was like, it didn't make any sense. And then I think we didn't really see what the other character was, but we heard them. So I don't know exactly what they were, but I know there was at least four people in the maze. And I mean,

David (01:00:31.198)

Yeah.

Syd (01:00:46.083)

Again, they weren't us. I mean, the scarecrow guy was, I wouldn't say scary, but he was actually trying and did really good. The other ones were just kind of like, almost like you felt like a placeholders. It wasn't really anything like, Oh wow, that was spectacular. And there was like a lot of, uh, corn stocks where, you know, the, the scarecrows would be on, there was a lot of empty ones. So we walked around and you saw all these like empty.

stocks where there should be scarecrows. So again, there was a lot of miss opportunity. They could have even put some more dummies and stuff on there, at least to make it look like there might be somebody there. It was just, I don't know. Again, for them being fear form and being known for their clowns and their corn maze, it was lacking. What do you have, David, to say about that?

David (01:01:37.598)

very much.

David (01:01:43.286)

Well, it's one of those things too where I can understand not having enough actors or anything like that, but don't have them bunched up near the entrance and exit. Have them spread out a bit more. Give them more of an area to play with and scare. Because, you know, you're not ruining any other scares, you know.

Syd (01:02:03.323)

Yeah, they should have spread them out more.

David (01:02:10.69)

area or anything like that, you know, I mean But it's like a lot of the times too I just saw him walking by as we were walking around too. So I was like, okay Supposed to be scaring me but sure don't

Syd (01:02:19.128)

Yeah.

Syd (01:02:25.027)

Again, they really, they need training. They need a lot of training. It was, yeah, it was under, again, it was just, so I would say like in all Fear Farm was like, it was okay, but it wasn't anything like, you know, if you don't go this year, you're gonna miss something kind of a feel. So it's like, yeah, whatever. And again, if.

If you look at the demographic, like when we were standing in line and stuff, I was telling David, I was like, I want you just to look around and look at the ages, we were probably like some of the oldest people there. There was a lot of like high school, middle school, maybe even some college age kids, but it was a lot of that. It was a lot of. Yeah.

David (01:03:10.199)

There were a lot of families there too because of all the kids.

Syd (01:03:14.799)

Which I could understand because it ain't scary. I wouldn't say please take your kids, it'd really depend on your kids, but it's not scary at all. It really isn't.

It was, eh, it was okay. It wasn't horrible. I would say it was a step up from last year, which was nice, but yeah, it's. Oh, hell no. Way overpriced, way overpriced. Go.

David (01:03:34.658)

but not worth its price and tickets.

David (01:03:43.022)

for... and I broke this down especially since, you know, doing the skip the line or whatnot which at regular price if you don't get it discounted is around 70 bucks. For four attractions, that's about 15, 17 dollars an attraction.

Syd (01:04:08.532)

And it is not worth that.

David (01:04:11.222)

Plus you have the, you know, whatever they're selling, you know, for their merch and dice. I don't know how much the food was because I wasn't hungry at the time, but I hear that was kind of high priced as well. And then you have the $10 for the corn maze, which makes it an $80 thing. And if you do the rides.

it's another on top of that so you're looking to spend maybe just for one person doing all that over a hundred dollars.

Syd (01:04:49.059)

Yeah, that's ridiculous. That's way too much. So yeah, Fear Farm in a whole, it's, I would say it's not an attraction you must see. It's, it's okay. But for me, it would be on my skip list if I didn't review haunts, cause it's just, it's not worth it. They didn't change a whole lot from the previous years. So anything else you'd like to say about Fear Farm before we go to the next haunt?

David (01:05:16.426)

Nope.

Syd (01:05:17.103)

All right, so our next one is 13th floor and they actually even pushed their opening dates back because they weren't ready. I don't know why, because I really don't know what they really added.

David (01:05:29.07)

And for those who aren't aware that I live here in Arizona with 13th floor, they actually ended up moving locations because they were no longer allowed to have their lease for the building that they were using to continue, so they had to move out. And they dragged their feet on

Syd (01:05:52.412)

Yeah.

David (01:05:58.382)

getting to a new location which is still within the same shopping center right next to Illusion's escape room and took their time building it and what not but all in all having to push back their dates because they weren't ready was 100% unnecessary for the company.

Syd (01:06:24.111)

and unprofessional. I know a lot of people are like, oh, it's not a big deal. You can just, it's like, if you have a schedule and a plan and you planned everything out, yeah, it is a big deal. Because.

David (01:06:34.918)

Oh, and speaking of which, I've heard a lot of feedback from some people that because of that, a lot of people that came to see 13th floor that were out of state, spending, you know, the 50, 60, whatever, you know, dollars. There was one guy that, you know, I talked to and he spent over a couple hundred dollars because he purchased a ton of tickets for his family.

They were only going to be there for that particular weekend and they ended up pushing back the opening date and that family wasn't going to be here at that time, but there are no refunds.

Syd (01:07:19.671)

Yeah, they do a lot of that. Yeah. The pushback was just, and again, that set the whole entire tone for the season. Cause anytime you do something like that, that pretty much sets the tone. So you already knew that it was like, okay, this is going to be a crap show in a lot of ways, because again, for them being world famous and they have haunts throughout the United States, they should have this down to a science. They should have it down to, they know how long it takes to set one up. They know they should know this stuff.

Because, and they, again, they are the ones that claim to be world famous and the best in the whole entire world. And this is all their stuff that they call themselves. So if, if you're going to do that, then prove it because y'all don't.

David (01:08:05.993)

Like I said, if you're looking for a place to go do a haunt that doesn't change their sets or anything like that, go with anything that is run by 13th Floor Entertainment because

One thing they don't do as a corporation is utilize the money that they are making to constantly change up their haunts so it's something brand new, you know, spectacular, amazing every single year versus just using the same sets, you know, until they're like, well, I've been there, I've seen it, the actors are always the same.

Ehh, it's not worth it.

Syd (01:08:57.915)

Yes. And again, I'll be honest, I was a little excited for this year because the fact that they had to move in my head, I was like, wow, they actually might start fresh and they might bring something completely new that 100% they made because a lot of the sets that they have, they did not make. So I was like, okay, cool. So I was actually a little bit excited. I'll be honest because I was like, wow, they're actually, they're going to start from scratch. They're going to bring something different.

will actually finally get to see, at least in Arizona, what 13th floor actually is. So, and I mean, I know it was gonna be disappointing because I know them, I know how they work, I know that they're lame and all the stuff that they do. But I was a little excited because I was like, well, this gives them the opportunity to grow and try something different because they're gonna be in a whole new location. That means whole new sets, all this stuff. And I mean, there are sets that they bought from when it was the Haunting in Rocky Point that they have never even utilized. So I was like,

Maybe we'll actually get to see some of those. I was totally wrong. And it was, yeah. So we'll go ahead and do pluses first for 13th floor. This is not gonna take that long. Pluses, let me think.

Syd (01:10:12.839)

Well, okay. I do have some pluses. I can say the sets that were the coolest that they had were Rocky Point and the hauntings Which if you don't know what that is, there's a podcast on the haunting and I'm gonna do one on- I mean, there's a podcast on Rocky Point and I'm gonna do one on the haunting But it was a haunted house before it was 13th floor That's what it was the haunting and then the haunting bought sets from Rocky Point, which is a legendary haunt Those were the best parts

of what they have where the Rocky Point sets and that was the graveyard, the front of the asylum, the pirates, and some of the boiler room. Those sets again, and for how long they've, because I mean, Rocky Point's been closed for 25 plus years. So those sets are anywhere from like 30 plus years old and they're still, still rocking it. I mean, that's when you know a haunted house makes things correctly in the right way is when

They're still around and they still look awesome, except for the parts that they've ruined by taking the Haunted Mansion placards off, or they completely destroyed a lot of the graveyard, which is really emotionally sad for me. It was hard to walk through and not cry, I'll be honest. But the Rocky Point sets that we're holding up, like the mansion and stuff, I mean, the mansion still pretty much looks pretty dang good, except for the stuff that they took off that was Disney. But I mean, I'm just like...

Those sets are still holding up and there is even some costumes that were from Rocky Point and The Haunting and I was like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe they still look as good as they do. But again, that just shows you that what Sydney Neal was doing with Rocky Point, she was doing it right. She made that stuff to last forever because they still are. So for me, that was a positive and getting to see at least some of the parts of the sets. I mean, again, it was hard for me too because they destroyed a lot of it. So there was a little bit of crying and sadness.

But it was cool seeing what they did have and like seeing that Rocky Point is still there in a way. That was cool. That was my positive at least. I don't really- can't say anything else. Do you have any David?

David (01:12:27.548)

For positives.

David (01:12:35.798)

Mm-hmm not much. I mean they at least were doing the nice thing to where

David (01:12:45.802)

you know, they gave you an opportunity to get a photo done that you can purchase from them later, which is very corporate, but you know, there's that. At least I'll have some sort of memento.

Syd (01:13:02.243)

Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of positives for this one, I'll be honest. Because I don't really have.

David (01:13:08.302)

Hmm. Honestly, that is definitely for all I have for that. I don't really have any positives for 13th floor.

Syd (01:13:15.627)

Yeah, that was- it was really sad. Like I said, and the positives they do have isn't necessarily them again. That goes back to Sidney Neal and Jess Anchorage who had the haunting in Rocky Point, so... That's not even really a positive on their half. And actually, if anything, they destroyed those sets more, and they don't even advertise that they have those sets, which is even more stupid because people would travel from all over to see Rocky Point. Stupid idiots.

David (01:13:40.586)

Well it's also one of those things too where they're the kind of company that, at least about I'm not, and that's not just me being biased or whatever, but when they go and they buy a haunt, they try to keep its name and they try to advertise that they've owned the haunt since it's opened.

Syd (01:14:03.119)

Yep. Really bad.

David (01:14:05.89)

So I've noticed that when I've done a lot of my research through the haunts that they've purchased.

Syd (01:14:11.159)

Yeah, it's sad. So we'll go ahead and move on to the deltas, which are things that they can improve on and what they need. So I'll just say this. So the first thing that I came across, so me and David came separately, and I was waiting for him because I was like, oh, hey, where you at or whatever. And he was in front of the escape room. I didn't know that. So I went to the front of the line where you begin to enter before you go through the metal detector thing.

So I walked to whatever and the first thing I smell is piss and shit. Sorry, I'm cussing. But literally that that's the first thing that welcomed me. Yeah, that's the first thing that welcomed me to their haunt was the smell of shit and piss. I was like because the porta potties are right there when you first walk in and they've only been open for three days. So it's like, holy crap. Seriously.

David (01:14:52.415)

Horti-Potti Extreme.

Syd (01:15:08.711)

That's only been three days. Could you imagine it being there longer? What it's gonna smell like? It's like, but that's the thing that I was welcomed in. They should have put those somewhere else that was stupid where they placed them. Because literally when you first walk in that is the first thing that you come in contact with is the aroma of shit and piss. And that pretty much summons up the whole experience of 13 floor. Seriously, but yeah, so that's the first thing and then David came or whatever we went through the metal detector and

The guy that worked there was really nice. That's, oh, I forgot. That's another positive about Fear Farm is all the orange shirt staff guys were really nice. I forgot to say that they were really good. The Fear Farm staff was really good. Anyways, going back to 13th floor though. So yeah, that was the first thing that welcomes you is that lovely smell of shit and piss. And then you go through the metal detector and I think they had like a food vendor there and they had the porta potties right there in the front.

David (01:16:06.329)

Oh.

That is another negative I noticed about the metal detectors.

Syd (01:16:12.08)

What?

David (01:16:13.49)

Well, especially when it came to... Fear Farm and 13th Floor do have metal detectors. I have... I wear things that have metal in them, or like I'll put something that's metal to actually trigger off the detectors. And when they do trigger, they just wave you through anyways. They don't pull you aside, oh let me see what you got, in case someone has a knife or anything dangerous.

Syd (01:16:34.809)

Yeah, I've noticed that.

David (01:16:43.086)

or anything like that. So it's false security because they don't even utilize anything, pull you aside or anything like that.

Syd (01:16:53.747)

I was gonna say that too, I said I think it's more for show than actually security, because I've worked for security companies before, and when anything goes off you're supposed to check it, but also when they go through they're supposed to put all their stuff in a little bin, so you can actually look at it and make sure it's not a knife or anything like that. No, they just have you hold your cell phone up and whatever on top of your head or some crap, and it's like, it's just, yeah, it's... Yeah, it's just, it's false.

David (01:17:18.926)

Or they give you a shoebox and say your entire group has put their stuff in that shoebox.

Syd (01:17:24.515)

Yeah, it was, yeah, it's really bad. Yeah. So they're, they're security is, I think just more of like a facade, like, Oh, look, we're checking your pockets and stuff. But in reality, they're not, I don't think it's, I think it's just more for, Oh, so you feel safe, but it's not really an actual you're safe thing. But yeah. So then you go through the metal detector and you see on the other side, there's like a food thing there and then there's.

All on the other side of the line and the line goes all the way on your like your right side when you're entering. So you have to go all the way. You have to find which line to go into. Cause of course they have their VIP and all that crap. So you find whatever it is. Then you go to that line and they had music and stuff, but as you enter the line, you're getting farther away from the music and stuff. So they don't even really have line entertainment. Like the music isn't actually for the line. It's just for, I guess, when you entered.

to the shit and piss smell. I don't know. Like they, I don't know why they have music really. I guess it's maybe for the people who are eating, but you would think that you would have something for the line, especially when you're there for quite a while standing in line. So yeah, we get in the line.

David (01:18:38.154)

And we don't even need people eating them because you have like Zan-Teezy's brother there.

Syd (01:18:41.679)

Yeah, you don't really need food vendors. They do have food there, but whatever. So, and again, that just takes up more space that they can actually do something else with. There was no photo opportunities in their midway. There was not really anything but shit and piss smell, the food and the line. And some music.

David (01:19:00.702)

and the icons weren't iconic at all.

Syd (01:19:05.703)

Their icons were horrible. Were just horrible. And again, it might not be their fault. It might be lack of training, but for icons, I would not put those people outside my front of my heart because that is the first thing your customers see. The first thing we smelt was shit and piss. The first thing we see is your crappy icon characters, which were horrible. They were not entertaining.

They were not meant like fun to watch. They weren't really scaring anybody. I don't think they really scared anybody when we were there. We were there for what, like a good 30, 40 minutes waiting in line.

David (01:19:42.542)

and that's another thing itself, but no, I can guarantee you that I watched the interactions with the groups and whatnot and there's maybe one guy that was at least trying, but basically they were people in costumes, not characters.

Syd (01:20:03.351)

Mm-hmm, and they were very standoffish to which I'm glad David brought this up after the fact he's like they were very unapproachable and I'm when he said that it really I kind of thought about it was like actually he was right because they were kind of like It almost kind of felt like you were in high school like they're the cool kids or whatever and you couldn't go up to him I talked to him. It kind of felt like that so they

David (01:20:24.182)

Like, they were just there to intimidate you and, you know, be, you know, security or whatever, or whatnot, but it's like, because I don't mind getting my picture taken with anyone in a costume as long as I think the costume's nice, the interaction's great or whatnot, yeah, I'll snap a picture, that's a great memory, you know, that's great advertising. But, you know, there are a lot more approachable, uh...

Syd (01:20:28.218)

Yeah.

Syd (01:20:46.828)

Mm-hmm.

David (01:20:53.018)

Yeah, icons at their fear farm and all the ones here just weren't there is this guy in a mask that I don't know if he was supposed to be like a zombie an old man or whatnot, but He talked to you like he wasn't even wearing anything or any character But have you and so it's just like this is it I mean, this is not really entertaining art

even what you're supposed to be trained to do as a hunt.

Syd (01:21:27.095)

It was bad. It was their mid-week. I mean, and that's the thing is like, you didn't even feel like you could really approach them for photos because they weren't really interactive or really doing anything that was like, oh, wow, I really want to get my picture taken with them because it was just, and I mean, again, the costumes, cause they mainly had pirate themed out there, whereas the costumes for Rocky points. I was like, oh my God, I can't believe that they still look as good as they do. Of course the mass and everything were new.

Cause they had like what, four or five characters? Cause they had like a snake guy, a zombie old man thing. We don't exactly know what it was. And then there was the voodoo weird pirate guy. And then there was, later there was a girl that came out who was like a voodoo-y pirate-y thing. But I mean, it was just, they relied on just staring at you a lot. And it wasn't even like a creepy stare or anything. They were just there staring at you or just kind of like, okay. All right.

Like it wasn't, it wasn't scary. It wasn't, it was just, it wasn't entertaining. It wasn't, I mean, like we were watching them because of course you're standing in line for 30 to 40 minutes, so you're like trying to, and again, you couldn't really hear the music or anything, so you're kind of trying to pass the time. And you would think that, you know, they would interact with you or do anything.

They didn't even, they didn't really, they, and like at one point they all kind of bunched up together and were like, oh, maybe they're going to do something, a skit or something. No, they just were talking to each other. So it was, it was again, that's the first thing that your, your customers come in contact with is your icons. And again, this sets the whole tone for your haunt. So right there, you could already tell like me and David are like, what, what is inside going to be like, cause this is already disappointing. It was bad. It was really bad.

And one of them even got like was going up to David and got in his face. It was the old man zombie. I don't know if he was old man or a zombie or if he was old man zombie. I don't know what the hell he, what the character was again. The acting was so bad. You couldn't tell what the characters were really. But he got up in David's face and he was standing there for quite a while, like just staring at him or whatever. And then he comes up to me and he was like, and again, not really in character voice or anything. And if he was a zombie, zombies don't talk. And he was like,

Syd (01:23:48.431)

is this guy with you?" and I was like, yeah, and he's like, I'm sorry. And I was just like, what?

David (01:23:53.15)

Well, the whole thing for that one, the guy came up to me or whatnot, one, he smelled bad, and I didn't want my nose anywhere near that, so I was facing away from the guy, pretty much just ignoring him, like, okay, I'm waiting in line, I don't want to really interact with this guy because he's unapproachable, and, you know, I know we're there to evaluate and whatnot, see how they are, but he just stood there, right next to me.

Syd (01:24:03.48)

Oh, he smoked really bad.

David (01:24:20.802)

didn't try and get my attention or anything like that like he should have. You know, try to interact with me, even with me, not looking at him, you know, because that's the only thing you want to grab your customer's attention, interact with them, you know, have fun. But you know, he just stood there. And then he walked off and went to Sid and was like, are you with you? Yeah. Sorry about that. And walked off. I was like, huh?

Syd (01:24:45.655)

Yeah, it was really... And I really wanted to say back to him, well, at least David knows how to wear deodorant and takes a shower, because I mean, this guy, again, so the first thing I come across is shit and piss, and now I'm smelling VO. So it's like, it was just one thing after another. It's just like, it just kept building on itself of how bad the night was gonna be. It's like, oh my gosh, this is horrible. But yeah, the icons were just... They were not good.

It was quite disappointing and very sad. And again, that's the first thing you come in contact with is the icon characters.

David (01:25:14.929)

Yeah.