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I'm not a haunted house aficionado, so I don't have a lot of experience to base this review on. I was up at Mohican park for the weekend and we added the spook out at the old Mansfield prison as a side trip. I have read a little about haunted house attractions, so I knew in theory what to expect.
The good: The environment is unbeatable. Standing in the long line outside (and you will do lots of standing), the architecture of the old reformatory is fantastic, and the general mood of anticipation as you listen to the screams coming from inside. The glimpses you have of the old 5 tier cell blocks, and the interior of cells as you pass, are fascinating.
The haunted house is run very professionally. You see the normal high school kids dressed up and spooking people throughout, but there are lots of managers who are dressed in neat black uniform throughout the tour, and they are keeping track of the experience. I felt like they would have been ready to step in almost anywhere and sort out any difficulty, no matter if it was a cast member who was crossing the line, or a guest who was freelancing and needed brought down..
The bad: From the hype on their website, and the reviews I had read, I was expecting more. Maybe some unique creatures, or special effects that had never been seen before. Instead they just hit the checklist. Mechanical creatures that popped off the walls? Check. Guys running from the shadows to scream at us? Check. Blacklight, strobes, dark rooms. Nothing new. Two chainsaw guys? Boring.
I liked the airbag room, two large airbags that required you to force your way between them, completely dark and closed off until you popped out the end.
Two parts were beyond irritating. The air jets blew at you with such a loud bang that I worried about my eardrums. And the strobe lights on a section of metal steps seemed like they were set at that Pokemon-strobe frequency that could have guests seizuring their way to the bottom.
Mostly I wanted to slow down and check out the view of the old prison. Given the crowds that need to be send through in one night, I can understand the “hustle along†to clear out for the next group. We left at 9 PM, and the lines outside were still long, there was even cars backed up on SR 30.
If you are thinking of taking the drive up, I would plan on getting there at 6:30 (on weekends). Maybe the lines are better on Thursday, or a weekend at the start of the month. Expect hours in line if you arrive at peak hours. You have to wonder, why can't they do this like the fastpass system at Disney? Print a time for admission on the ticket, then you can sit in the grass or your car until your appointed tour time arrives.
I can't say the experience was worth the time and money, but I did think the prison was interesting. Maybe we will try one of the tours they give during daylight, and take a more leisurely stroll through the prison.
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