The Haunted Amusement Park — Local services in Lakeside

(The flash pass saved us 30 minutes of waiting, this is also not a consent form place they can’t touch you) I came October 17, 2021 with my friend both of us have been to horror mazes/ haunted houses all over the country. We really liked this one, it wasn’t mind blowing but it was incredibly enjoyable for some 23 year olds who watch so much horror they really don’t feel anything. The maze is about a 1 mile walk through ALL of the buildings and rides of the park so it’s one long maze but it goes into everything. Which was amazing because the long sections between enclosed spaces where people might scare you built suspense, you never know if someone’s in the field or behind a tree waiting to run up on you. It’s also incredibly dark outside with little to no light so you’re just feeling your way around to the next destination with the light from the sky. Due to the length I’m sure the budget was massive I think there were hundreds of actors we ran into and they’re all paid. They weren’t all awesome some broke character one fell trying to scare us, nobody really stood out in my mind. Costume design was really enjoyable, not exactly super realistic but still good. Acting was nice a lot of people were reallly good at interacting in a scary way or conversing with you in a scary way just to have someone else run up on you. One thing I really disliked is because this is maze is a mile long you eventually catch up with other groups or they catch up with you which can be annoying because of spoiling surprises. When I came there was some weird camera crew running around inside with big cameras with big lights. I just waited for them to get far away. Quite honestly this ones the best one in the area, I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it, I was just visiting family and stopped by, I wouldn’t go again but if a friend asks me about good horror locations in San Diego I would only recommend this one. The bar is really low for San...

This one is fun,a lot of effort is put into this exhibition it's definitely worth it if you have not been. Sadly it has gotten too crowded. Saturday 10-26-24 opted no fast pass and purchased online ahead of time, 3 general admission tickets for 7-8pm $96. We arrived at 6:45, the parking was almost at capacity about 20 minutes after entering the gate we were ushered into a spot in their back lot. We walked back up to the entrance through clouds of powdery dirt kicked up by cars. The line to enter took about an hour and was also dusty. The general mood was energized and fun many people were in costume. The atmosphere was nostalgic with a black and white horror movie playing and smell of the donuts and popcorn concession. The "trail" of haunted exhibits and actors are amazing as far as ambiance, creative sets and costumes. If we were to walk through this place alone or in a small quiet group in the dark this would be super creepy. But you are basically herded single file no chance to linger more than a moment as you pass through each exhibit hence 99% of the "scares" although super cool were not a surprise. It seems to scare groups of screeching girls the most lol. We got through everything in about 45 minutes. I was truly sneaked up on about 3 times. Definitely heed the warning about closed toe shoes it's uneven dirt paths and ramps in the dark and there are occasional loud noises like an air horn and chain saw and lots of ear...

Awesome haunt! Very creative re-use of theme park spaces— other mazes spend effort making these kind of scenes from scratch but these are real! Really get your money worth here. Disgusting smells in the “bathroom” areas and weird damp and hot sections made this so much more immersive and scary…! I enjoyed how chaotic the layout is as well, you really feel lost!! So soon after you walk in you lose complete sense of which way you are going and I love how it’s a good blend of tight mazes and scary open spaces. Long line to get in could be improved— very dusty (lay down wood chips?) and love the idea from balboa park with bed sheet and projecting scary movie while you wait for example (Would need to protect projector from the dust!). Definitely worth the drive...