Last weekend we were invited out to the all new and improved Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. While we've always managed to have fun at this event, a few years it was kind of hit-and-miss. This year it's definitely all hit, well at least the event itself is. 

​Let's go have a roll in the hay!! 

Welcome to the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride! 

Before we head into the town of Midnight Falls, we do have to bring up the elephant in the zoo, err, room. And that's the logistics of actually getting into the event. Once you're in everything seems to be running spectacularly.

Unfortunately trying to park was the biggest nightmare of the night. It didn't seem like there was a lot of communication going on between the staff in the different parking sections, nobody knew who was supposed to park where, there was no alternative parking area's that we saw and we even saw one parking attendant who didn't know where handicapped parking was.

The line for security was also the longest we saw all night. Obviously security is something we have to deal with in this day and age, but it was really long.

Hopefully they'll work on those logistics with the companies that are doing the security and parking, because we aren't sure if that's a Haunted Hayride thing, or an outside company thing. Train your people the right way and this has less a chance of happening (says the guy who's been a corporate trainer for 15 years).

Alright, enough of the one negative, let's get to the good stuff!!

Welcome to Midnight Falls!!

Cool arch heading into the event this year 

Sign leading you every direction

The Scary-Go-Round is back

Some fun shows going on here all night

The inhabitants of Midnight Falls were a lot of fun

Let's head in and do the Hayride! 

This looks familiar (as seen at Midsummer Scream) 

The waiting area is a container instead of the cages used in previous years 

We're ready!! 

Unlike previous years there are no stops on the Hayride, which we think actually works better than the show stops. It helps everything to flow much better. 

The Hayride features some tried and true Hayride scares, and some new ones that were a lot of fun. 

No fishing at night

Itsy Bitsy spider 

Who decided to make a Hayride near the Cemetery? 

The Hayride also features a few mazes, which were a lot of fun. The first was Midnight Mortuary. 

The talent in the mazes was spectacular. 

Next up was Trick or Treat 

The doorbells are back, but no candy this year. But the maze was super fun. 

Friend!! 

Cute baby!! 

Cheers!! 

1,000,000 internet points if you know what makes this so great!! 

The merchandise was also pretty amazing this year. 

We still have our free tickets from Midsummer Scream so are planning on going back at least one night this season. 

We also decided to stop at one of our favorite eateries after, the Dog Haus. And you can see why. 

Make sure you head out for this years Hayride. It's super good and we definitely recommend it this year. 

You can find out more information and get tickets for the Hayride at the link here. 

Halloween Horror Nights Orlando 

Are you ready for Halloween yet? I mean, if we can have Christmas in July and all the Hallmark Holiday Movies that come with it, then why not Halloween as well!!

This past weekend was the unofficial kick-off (well, official for many of us) of the Halloween Season. And it came just when we needed it most!! We have SO much to get to from this years event, which was bigger and better than ever. So big in fact that there were about 10-15 things on our "must see" list that we totally didn't get to see. 

But as you can see below, what we did see was all kinds of amazing. Let's head into the fog!! 

Welcome to Midsummer Scream

Before we get too deep into the in's and out's of panels and more I want to share something I posted on our social media the other day. A few thoughts on the experience of the weekend.

More than amazing panels, or fog, or mazes or aisles upon aisles of amazing things to spend all your money on, what I take most out of this past weekend is love.

People who have never been to any Halloween event or MSS are missing out. Halloween brought all of these people together. Some were there to see Theme Park panels. Others to see YouTube stars or just to shop. But all were there because we love Halloween and all things that go bump in the night.

Not once the entire weekend did I see anybody acting out, everybody was polite, considerate and amazing. And it was CROWDED. We talked with people we know, and met so many new people just standing around waiting in line.

None of the actual horrors that exist out in the world made it's way into Midsummer Scream. I know it may sound hard to separate the two, but it's not. It's all about a shared love of horror and Halloween.
​
And it comes down to the people in charge. They've helped to create a culture of love and acceptance that is at the core of the Haunt Community. And it's so amazing

​With that said, let's first head into the Hall of Shadows 

The Tiki's have invaded Midsummer Scream, and were an amazing entry to the area. 

Tiki Tiki Tiki!!! How about some video of the Hall of Shadows featuring some of our favorite maze walk-throughs that you all need to visit this Halloween season. 

One of our absolute favorite Haunts

We kind of split up our coverage this year, DSLR on Saturday and Hand-Held Gimble on Sunday. We wanted to make sure we captured all we could. 

Some amazing displays were on, well, display. =) 

Most of the Haunts were very short and gave a nice tease of what's to come. Some were longer and made you wonder how they got so much in a small space. 

Our weekend consisted of a LOT of panels. I think two major ones on Saturday (and a Podcast) and three on Sunday. 

​Our panels started off with the AMAZING 50 years of The Haunted Mansion panel. And it was standing room only. 

Our view for much of the weekend 

The Midsummer Scream Dream Team 

We were going to live-stream this but service was spotty at best. In hindsight I wish we would have recorded and edited everything together. Lesson learned. 

Here is the full panel in three parts. It's truly amazing to listen to his talented group of people talk about an attraction they love so much. 

Part One: Bob Gurr and Tony Baxter talk about their experiences with The Haunted Mansion and proof that the Hatbox Ghost was indeed there at the beginning. 

Part Two features Don Hahn talking a bit about the Haunted Mansion movie (I really would love to get more in-depth with this some day) and Tom Morris discussing some of the in's and out's of the attractions construction. 

Tom also had a panel on Sunday that went deeper into this that we sadly had to miss. 

The last segment features Tania Norris in her first live-panel anywhere talking about her experiences with The Haunted Mansion and Walt Disney. It was truly a treat. 

We could have listened to his panel for hours upon hours. And I know we weren't alone. 

Later that day we attended the Halloween Horror Nights Panel where they announced Creepshow. It was ana amazing panel that we were able to Live-Stream. 

Sadly the quality probably isn't up to our normal standards but here it is in it's entirety nonetheless. 

Slideshow of all of the images from the presentation including Creepshow, Holidayz in Hell and the Scare Zones. 

Bright and early Sunday it was time to spend more time in the Hall of Shadows prior to the Haunted Hayride panel. 

They had an awesome display at the entrance of the show floor. 

During the panel they announced Midnight Falls. We are seriously excited for the event this year. 

The full panel featuring all of the info on Midnight Falls, some chat about the history of the event and a great Q&A session. 

It sounds like they may have a few surprises in store for us that they didn't announce. 

Immediately after was the panel for Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. But first we had to run downstairs and get a picture with some old friends. 

Last and absolutely not least was the last panel of the weekend for Knott's Scary Farm. 

The event that started it all did not disappoint and there are some treats in store for fans this year. 

Dates for this years event, we'll see you there on opening and closing night for sure!! And a whole bunch in-between. Knott's Scary Farm passes FTW!! 

Video of our live stream of the panel, this one seemed to turn out WAY better than the HHN panel. 

No new mazes announced at Midsummer Scream (they'll do that on August 29th, and we will of course be there) but they did announce some new surprises for returning mazes. 

One of our personal favorites, Dark Ride, will be getting two new rooms this year. 

​First up the Surveillance Room which is replacing the Air Duct Room in the maze. 

And lastly, what's a Dark Ride that doesn't exit through the Gift Shop!?!?! 

Two new characters are coming as well. 

Any chances of getting those Castle of Chaos shirts for sale? 

One of the coolest announcements of the entire weekend, that I think may be getting overlooked ... 

Knott's will now be selling "graveyard pins" for retiring mazes. So at least one that will be available is for Infected, who's last year will be this year. 

They will also be selling a "graveyard" that you can put your pins on. 

REALLY hope they are going to release pins for some other retired mazes. What an awesome way to remember some of our favorites. 

Just because Infected is going away doesn't mean it's not getting a couple of enhancements for 2019. 

And that's a wrap!! 

Never too early to start making plans for Midsummer Scream 2020. 

​We'll be there for sure!!