Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Waldorf Estate of Fear
Website: www.waldorfestateoffear.com
Location of Attraction: Lehighton PA
Date of Review: Saturday October 6th 2018
Total Number of Attractions Available: Three Attractions + Zombie Escape Rooms
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 7
Entertainment and Food Rating: 5
Atmosphere Rating: 7
Overall Costume and Make Up Rating: 7
Overall Cast and Crew Rating: 8
Overall Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 7.5
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 6.5
Overall Feedback: On Saturday October 6th our squad paid a visit to Waldorf Estate of Fear in Lehighton PA. On this same evening we visited Halls of Horror which is a mere 10-15 minutes from Waldorf Estate of Fear. This was our first ever visit to Waldorf Estate of Fear and boy were we eager to check them out. Waldorf Estate of Fear is well known for being the recording location for the movie Hell House LLC. More specifically, the recording took place in the Abaddon Hotel, also known as the Waldorf Hotel. Our squad members watched the movie Hell House LLC and boy is it freaky! For those you who never heard of the movie Hell House LLC here is a brief backstory of the film, “Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.” If you’ve never watched this movie we strongly urge you to do so. It is a must to watch Hell House LLC prior to visiting Waldorf Estate of Fear! But anywho, we arrived at Waldorf Estate of Fear shortly after 8pm. It was a cool and dreary evening with a steady mist falling from the sky all evening. This haunt features three attractions; Infection, Terror in the Cornfield Haunted Hayride and of course The Haunting At The… Waldorf Hotel. They also offer two different zombie escape room experiences. Unfortunately our squad did not have the time to be able to participate in an escape room experience; but we heard nothing but good feedback from other guests who participated in the escape rooms. Waldorf Estate of Fear has a small midway area that features a food vendor, merchandise stand, fire pit and a few midway/roaming actors. The lone food stand had a variety of options but boy were they pricey… nothing like shelling out $12 for chicken tenders and fries! The two main midway actors were very engaged with guests. These two actors were costumed as clowns and boy did they ever do a phenomenal job at providing scares and laughs. We began our evening with Infection, one of the three attractions. Prior to getting in line guests are given a flag football belt with three flags. Each of the 3 flags represents one of your vital organs. Your goal is to make it out with at least one flag/organ remaining or you risk becoming infected. We’ve participated in these kind of zombie run experiences in the past but this particular experience was by far the best one yet! The introductory actor informs the guests of what is going on, explaining that an infection has been spreading throughout the area infecting and turning people into flesh eating zombies. Our goal was to make it to the town of Abaddon with all our vital organs intact. Once this actor sent us off on our journey all hell broke loose. Zombies began coming out from literally thin air and boy were they hungry! The ground was extremely soft and slick which made escaping the zombies a bit challenging and sometimes muddy for those of us who wiped out. The vicious zombies were relentless in their attack and provided a thrilling experience from start to end. The set design was basic but it was effective! The maze like paths provided many good hiding spots for the actors, making it easy to catch us off guard. Depending on your pace through Infection it will take most groups about 5-10 minutes to complete. Once finishing our journey through Infection the first word we used to describe the attraction was thrilling! Next up we elected to head for the haunted hayride. The hayride at Waldorf Estate of Fear is well known for featuring fan favorite horror characters and films. Once aboard the hay wagon we immediately strolled through a smoke filled structure. The hay wagon stopped abruptly once exiting the structure and guests were directed to look at the top of the structure. The “Pumpkin King” greeted his guests and informed us of his rules and warned us about the spooks we would encounter. This was a nice touch utilized to the set the tone for the guests. As you strolled through the cornfield you truly felt as if you were watching mini clips of your favorite horror films! The Nun, The Purge, The Walking Dead, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Slenderman and Pennywise are just some of the characters/films that you will encounter. We felt the actors did a great job acting out their skit and really made you feel as if you were watching that particular horror film. The set designs were a realistic resemblance of the movie it was portraying but they were a bit bland and just didn’t have that “wow” factor. The set designs didn’t feature anything to engage the guests but this is where the actors came in. Each scene featured passionate actors who did their best to bring their scene to life. For example, the It scene featuring Pennywise and Georgie was executed perfectly; the actors utilized quotes from the movie like “you’ll float too” which added a unique element and made the scene more realistic. For the most part there wasn’t much of a scare/thrill factor throughout the hayride. We’d definitely consider this hayride suitable for the entire family. Once completing the 20 minute venture through the cornfield we felt as if we sped watched a horror film marathon. We definitely felt the hayride provided a unique experience but for us it was just a bit bland. Utilizing more engaging props/animatronics along with more “gotcha” moments provided by the actors would definitely boost the hayrides scare/thrill factor and overall ratings. To round out our evening we saved The Haunting At The… Waldorf Hotel for our final experience. To be honest, for those of us who watched Hell House LLC we felt a worried/creepy vibe set upon us while waiting in line. You can’t help but think about the movie and worry about what lies ahead on your journey. Groups of about 4-8 guests were being checked into the Waldorf Hotel every few minutes. We were glad to see the large spacing being provided between groups. As our group walked through the doors of the Waldorf Hotel we were greeted by the front desk staff who was eagerly awaiting to check us in. We were for warned about the experience we were about to endure and were given one last chance to run back out the Hotel doors. We disregarded this warning and marched forth into the attraction. If you’ve watched Hell House LLC you will instantly have flashbacks to certain scenes from the movie. You’ll venture through the kitchen, walk-in freeze, bar, dining room, bathroom, living quarters and more. Waldorf Estate of Fear did a great job utilizing scare elements from the movie Hell House LLC and incorporating them into the attraction. For example, the clown mannequin/prop that was often found moving around by itself in the movie was encountered on our journey as were several of the mysterious figures in black cloaks. As we rounded corners we would encounter one of these said figures in a black cloak and boy did they creep us out. We might’ve literally crapped our pants if one of the several figures in black cloaks began following us. Like the other two attractions at Waldorf Estate of Fear the Hotel featured a basic set design but Waldorf Hotel had a bit more “wow” factor compared to the others. The game changer in the Waldorf Hotel was definitely the actors! The actors we encountered were phenomenal and delivered great performances. Some of these actors were downright terrifying, especially the one actor who was contorting her body and making some horrific sounds in the living quarters area. As we exited the Hotel doors we were sent running into the midway area as a crazed chainsaw wielding actor chased down our group. The Waldorf Hotel was by far our squads favorite attraction of the evening, they really nailed their performance! Actor costuming and makeup for the most part was decent and believable, no complaints there. As a squad we felt Waldorf Estate of Fear definitely has great potential to flourish into something special. Although we don’t necessarily feel it’s worth more than traveling an hour to visit Waldorf Estate of Fear at this time. There are several other haunted attractions around Waldorf Estate of Fear so we suggest bundling two of these haunts (Waldorf Estate of Fear and either Halls of Horror or Hotel of Horror) together to form one spooky fun evening. For year 13 of operation Waldorf Estate of Fear definitely provided a fun evening for our squad. All three of their attractions provide a different experience/show; they definitely have something for every haunt goer. We were pleased with our experience and we’re eager to visit Waldorf Estate of Fear in years to come so we can continue to watch them grow. If you’ve never paid Waldorf Estate of Fear a visit and you’re near their neck of the woods we definitely urge you to pay them a visit; you won’t be disappointed!
Individual Attraction Review:
Attraction Name: Infection
Overall Attraction Rating: 8
Cast and Crew Rating: 8
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 7
Attraction Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 8
Attraction Name: Terror in the Corn Haunted Hayride
Overall Attraction Rating: 6
Cast and Crew Rating: 7
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 7
Attraction Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 4
Attraction Name: The Haunting At The… Waldorf Hotel
Overall Attraction Rating: 8
Cast and Crew Rating: 9
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 8
Attraction Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 8