Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Bates Motel & Haunted Hayride
Website: www.thebatesmotel.com
Location of Attraction: Glen Mills Pennsylvania
Date of Review: September 24th 2017
Total Number of Attractions Available: THREE
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 8.5
Entertainment and Food Rating (scale of 1-10): 9
Overall Makeup and Costume Rating (scale of 1-10): 9
Overall Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Overall Props/Animatronics Rating (scale of 1-10): 9
Overall Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Overall Feedback: We arrived at the nationally known Bates Motel & Haunted Hayride around 7pm on a Sunday evening. It was just the third night of operation for this haunt and boy did they have a decently large crowd on hand. We definitely suggest to attend this haunt on a Sunday or sometime during the week as the crowd becomes very large on Friday’s and Saturday’s! There definitely was an upbeat energy in the air which is so good to feel so early in the season! Before we began the evening we kicked back and grabbed some munchies to just take in the haunt and its surroundings. We enjoyed watching customers run in fear from the exit of the Corn Maze, participate in the mini escape rooms and coffin rides as well as watching customers be stalked and then scared by the multiple actors roaming about the midway area. Definitely a lot to do during your down time here at Bates Motel. We kicked the night off with the Bates Motel attraction. This attraction features a lot of pop scares which lead to the ever wonderful “gotcha” moments! For the most part the actors didn’t seem to have much of a skit/act which was a downfall in our eyes. We like to see the actors interacting with the customers and feeding off the customers fear but that’s just our personal preference. Some haunt goers really like the pop out and then reset scares by the actors so a better combination of the two would provide a more enjoyable experience for all haunt lovers! But all in all the Bates Motel provides a solid 10 minute action packed experience. Next up we headed over to the Corn Maze! A few years back we were a bit disappointed with this attraction and its lack of scare factor. For 2017 the Bates Motel crew did a much better job using the darkness of the moonlit paths and the typical fears/phobias that customers possess to provide a more frightening experience. They utilized the moonlit paths to build suspense leading up to the different scenes throughout the corn maze! We ended our evening with the ALWAYS BRILLIANT Haunted Hayride! We waited well over 30 minutes to board the hay wagon and that was on a quieter night at this haunt! Once aboard we weren’t disappointed. The hay wagon approached elaborate scenes, one after another! Each scene featuring such high quality props/animatronics and perfectly placed pyrotechnics! The Haunted Hayride is by far our favorite attraction at this haunt! Overall Bates Motel provides a consistent performance each and every year. The actors do a good job staying in character and we can’t forget the very believable makeup and costumes the actors possess. This haunt utilizes a lot of props and animatronics to help bring the attractions to life and ultimately up the scare factor. Many of the props and sets had us questioning what was real and what was fake; so kuddos to the build team for creating such awesome and lifelike sets and props! Everyone’s biggest question regarding a haunted attraction is “how scary is it?”. Although we don’t see Bates Motel as the scariest haunted attraction in the area we can definitely say that they’ll provide some “gotcha” moments for the typical haunt lovers out there. This haunt is definitely suitable for a wide range audience and ultimately provides a SPOOKY FUN time for all who attend! If you’ve never been to The Bates Motel & Haunted Hayride then we definitely encourage you to pay them a visit as we know for sure that you won’t be disappointed!
Individual Attraction Review:
Attraction Name: The Bates Motel
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 7
Props/Animatronics Rating (scale of 1-10): 9
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 7
Feedback: The Bates Motel attraction kicked off our evening. It seemed like they were allowing around 6 individuals into the attraction about every 90 seconds or so. This gave us hope that we’d be in our small group throughout the entire attraction. Unfortunately this was not the case as we caught up to other groups a few rooms in. Some haunt lovers don’t mind this but for us it takes away the scare factor and ultimately the ability to experience each scene for yourself. There were definitely a lot of unique scenes, props and animatronics to be found. The library room and greenhouse areas were some of our favorite scenes! The actors seemed to be more of the pop out and reset type. There didn’t seem to be much actor/guest interaction which was disappointing to our squad.. A lot of drop panels, distraction techniques, etc. were used to provide a lot of “gotcha moments” for customers in this attraction. A little bit of everything can be found in the Bates Motel attraction which is a plus. To up the overall experience in this attraction we would like to see better spacing of groups and more actor/guest interaction!
Attraction Name: Corn Maze
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8.5
Props/Animatronics Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 7.5
Feedback: The Corn Maze attraction was second on our hit list. When we visited a few years back the corn itself was about shoulder high which allowed us to see what awaited ahead. This year the corn towered above everyone leaving only moonlit paths throughout the corn field. Throughout your walk through the dark and eerie paths you’ll stumble upon various scenes/sets. You truly find a bit of everything in this corn maze… crazed scarecrows, clowns, hillbillies, spiders, butchers and so much more! They do a great job of keeping you guessing of what comes next throughout this attraction! We were happy to see more “skits/acts” in this attraction which featured the actor/guest interaction we were looking for. By far one of our favorite scenes is the swamp area where an older lady is sitting on the porch of her little shack throwing some pretty darn hysterical jokes at the customers passing by. Another great set is the spider/bee scene! The actor did a phenomenal job bringing the scene to life and really giving us the heebie jeebies. The sound effects alone in this scene is enough to make you itch! Spacing between groups was much better in this attraction which allowed for our squad to have a more personal experience.
Attraction Name: The Haunted Hayride
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 9
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8.5
Props/Animatronics Rating (scale of 1-10): 10
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8.5
Feedback: Our last stop of the evening was the well known Haunted Hayride at Bates Motel. The Haunted Hayride is by far our favorite attraction at this haunt! Once aboard the hay wagon be prepared for a good 20-25 minute long ride through the dark woods. You’ll encounter an asylum with crazed patients, hillbillies, coal mines, a cemetery, dinosaurs, butcher barn, and much more. Lots of top of the line props/animatronics and pyrotechnics help bring the scenes on this hayride to life. The actors encountered were very upbeat and did a great job with providing an in your face experience. We really have nothing bad to say about this attraction other than its very difficult to decide which scene is our favorite because all of them are just as amazing as the others! Overall, kuddos to the hayride gang on providing a great show from start to finish!