After weeks of spirited voting, Kings Island’s Halloween Haunt has been named the Best Theme Park Halloween Event in the country.  The USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award was officially announced Friday (today) at noon. 

The park would like to thank everyone who voted for Kings Island and remind them that there are only three weekends left to experience the annual event this year.

 For a complete list of winners and more information on the contest, visit:

http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-theme-park-halloween-event/

While I never been before but Halloween Horror Nights is 10th?  Seems like that should be the 1st one from the review I read.

^Halloween Horror Nights should definitely be at the top. The houses are incredible quality, incorporate amazing original stories and great IP's, and are completely brand new every year. Meanwhile, Kings Island finally retired a 17-year-old house this year.

Like good job to Kings Island having its fans vote for Haunt, but by no means is it actually a measure of how it compares to other events on that list.

2 hours ago, flightoffear1996 said:

While I never been before but Halloween Horror Nights is 10th?  Seems like that should be the 1st one from the review I read.

That may be true, but keep in mind this is a poll people voted in. 

Lol Halloween Horror Nights is by far 100x’s better. KI is amateur hour. The costumes are basic and it's just a bunch of High School teens jumping out and yelling noises. Plus, Universal has the Golden Ticket Award for Halloween Horror Nights 10 years running. When you think about it though, the amount of people that go to KI is probably more because it's cheaper. A lot of people can't afford the $100+ price for HHN. Been going to HHN for 10 years and KI isn't even in the same universe.

2 hours ago, JubJester said:

That may be true, but keep in mind this is a poll people voted in. 

Yeah, I think that's the think. People are going to likely flood the polls for their home haunts. 

And really, is it fair to put HHN on the list? They have greater resources to pull off a professional, immersive haunt in a way regional parks can't. They literally have a film studio behind them. 

I'm glad they're low on the list because, honestly, I appreciate the do-it-yourself aesthetic of a regional haunt more than the "sure thing" that comes from a park with nearly unlimited resources and the assistance of Hollywood professionals. 

Also don't forget that there was about two weeks of voting before Haunt opened for the season this year too.

Congrats to all involved, none the less.

7 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Also don't forget that there was about two weeks of voting before Haunt opened for the season this year too.

Congrats to all involved, none the less.

We were ranked like 14th in the voting when haunt started.  We came a very long way since then. 

 

52 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

We were ranked like 14th in the voting when haunt started.  We came a very long way since then. 

 

Yep. It’s very exciting for them to be recognized by a nation wide paper. Definitely very cool!

So now the Cincinnati area can now lay claim to not only the best theme park haunt, but a newscaster who has won the Buckeye Newshawk Award 5 times and a Silver Sow Award!

(Look it up kids!)

21 hours ago, flightoffear1996 said:

While I never been before but Halloween Horror Nights is 10th?  Seems like that should be the 1st one from the review I read.

If they are weighing cost and content, HHN is by far the best or second to Hallowscreams in Tampa for content and scares (cost is wayyyyyy too much for HHN at $189 for one night FOL pass and extras. Attractions aren’t rehashed year after year).

KI could be best for cost. If not for Gold Pass admission, I think Haunt would drop a few points. Plus the attractions... well let’s just say, I come for the new stuff and leave. No need to revisit something I’ve seen a hundred times in the past. 

Cost/location is the primary thing I could figure. Kings Island probably gets more people than some others and is much more affordable than others like Halloween Horror Nights as stated. So possibly the bang for your buck is viewed better. Plus Kings Island has pretty much all of their rides open and going so you get about a dozen coasters and a mix of other flat/family rides, on top of multiple shows and 9-10 mazes. The quality, while not bad, is definitely lacking compared to some others.

Haven't been to HHN yet (plan to in a few years), but went to Howl-O-Scream in Tampa and it was fantastic. The mazes were very well designed and built with good costumes and scenery. The actors are also well hidden. Makes KI look much lower in quality. However there were only 6 mazes and 6-7 coaters plus bumper cars, so much less to do compared to KI's offering. So could also play a big part of quality versus quantity. Though I am shocked that Tampa's Howl-O-Scream wasn't on the list at all.

Polls are generally not a good indicator when they can be loaded with multiple votes or swayed in a particular direction.

On October 13, 2018 at 1:26 PM, upstop said:

Polls are generally not a good indicator when they can be loaded with multiple votes or swayed in a particular direction.

You were allowed to vote for the same choice once a day for this poll. So for the most part, it was flawed. *shrug* I learned first hand on a poll that featured Bar (er Dark) Harbor at Queen Mary, haha! (There were a couple different polls in this, DH shared theirs with Land of Illusion, while KI was listed with Knott's and Uni)

faeriewench, to be found at KSF tomorrow. 

Congratulations to Kings Island, it really does surprise me yes, and I agree Universal Studios should have been higher on the list but still I’m always rooting for my home park Kings Island!