Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Jason’s Woods
Website: www.jasonswoods.com
Location of Attraction: Lancaster, PA
Date of Review: Friday September 20th, 2019
Total Number of Attractions Available: FIVE
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 3.5/10
Entertainment and Food Rating: 5/10
Atmosphere Rating: 3/10
Overall Costume and Make Up Rating: 4/10
Overall Cast and Crew Rating: 3/10
Overall Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 4/10
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 3/10
Overall Feedback: It’s now officially week three of our 2019 review season and we are in full swing. With a long trip planned for the following night we elected to find a haunt close to home and Jason’s Woods fit that description. We last visited this haunt in 2016 and had a less than impressive experience. After our experience in 2016 we decided it was probably best to give Jason’s Woods a few years to get their act together. During our visit in 2016 we were simply disappointed in the overall lack of passion that the Jason’s Woods team possessed. Coming into our review of Jason’s Woods this season we had our fingers crossed that they hopefully rediscovered their passion for the Halloween season. Unfortunately, little did we know, we’d once again be disappointed with our experience. We hate to say it but Jason’s Woods 2019 definitely takes the cake for the most lackluster experience we’ve encountered at a haunt. We arrived at Jason’s Woods shortly after 7:30 and they already had a decent crowd on hand for it being opening night. The midway area seemed to be rearranged slightly since our last visit but still possessed a good deal of things for guests to do when outside of the attractions. As we waited for our group of 10 to arrive we couldn’t help but notice the funeral type vibe that was in the air. There was very little to no energy in the atmosphere and we certainly weren’t the only ones to notice it. Many other guests just seemed to plod along like zombies with simply no thrill or excitement for what was in store. We kicked the evening off with the three mini carnival style side attractions; Clown House, Lost in Oz & The Black Hole. Little did we know at the time that these three side attractions would be more exhilarating than the five main attractions themselves. By this point in the evening our entire squad had arrived and we were ready to check out the main attractions. In order to keep this as short and simple as possible we’re just going to provide a general overview of the five attractions: Zombie Apocalypse, Chamber of Horrors, Carnival of Fear, Horrifying Hayride and Lost in Jason’s Woods. ALL five attractions were quite simply disappointing and borderline depressing to experience. Jason’s Woods was once known, many years ago, for some really unique and impressive set design. Unfortunately that unique touch has vanished over the past several years now leaving outdated, unimpressive and in some areas malfunctioning props and overall unremarkable set design. We will give the hayride credit for possessing a few quality animatronics that our squad enjoyed, but these were way to few and far between. The scare actors quite simply provided extremely lackadaisical performances. It’s opening night, these actors should’ve been fired up and ready to put on a good show, yet they acted like they were punished and forced to be there. The few scare actors we did encounter that possessed high energy simply had no training and guidance. We couldn’t even count how many times we heard the classic lines “get out”, “what are you doing here”, “do you want to play with me” and several others. Not to mention the scare actors had zero improv skills. Shout out to one of the only memorable scare actors who was in a cage up in the trees on the hayride; he provided a spooktacular performance. With the unimpressive set design we were really hoping the scare actors would try their best to create some form of thrill for the guests but yet again we were left disappointed. Many of the scare actors featured sloppy makeup work and Spirit Halloween type costumes that gave off a rather childish vibe. Throughout the five attractions we give the air and noise cannons credit for providing our only glimpse at any type of thrill/scare factor. After finishing off the five attractions our squad congregated back in the midway area. As we tried to decipher what we just experienced we overheard several other groups speak about their disappointment in the experience as well. Several of our members had been to Jason’s Woods 10+ years ago and they spoke highly of the experience they had back then. These same members were quite puzzled on how a haunt could simply tank that fast, going from top notch to not even mediocre on a good night. From the ticket takers to the scare actors almost the entire Jason’s Woods team just seemed lifeless. Our advice to fellow haunt enthusiasts would be to steer clear of Jason’s Woods for the foreseeable future. Hopefully they someday rediscover the passion that once had them among the best in the business. But for now, we will try to forget our depressing experience at Jason’s Woods and wish them well with their 2019 season.