[Haunts] Dorney Park Unveils Two New Mazes and the Rest of 2015's Halloween Haunt Line Up!

This past weekend Dorney Park unveiled their full plans for 2015's Halloween Haunt and this year looks to be rather interesting as there's a good bit changing for the coming season compared to last year. That said, we had a blast on our visit during Haunt Tour 2014 and the park even managed to snag Best Theme Park Haunt from us as well. Definitely going to be keeping an eye out to see if this year holds more of the same for them.

2015 will feature 8 mazes and 3 scare zones from what I can tell. Last year they had four scare zones so I'm a little confused on whether or not they're trimming that down in favor of other things. It's hard to say right now, but maybe they're considering Gravewalkers to be some kind of hybrid? It is a weird thing that one. The info is a little hard to follow, but I'm gonna do my best to break it down for ya.

First up, the new mazes for this year!

Well this is a nice surprise to see. Trick or Treat has been at Knott's Scary Farm out in California for a while now and it looks like it's finally coming to a new home as well. For those curious, this is going in an all new building that's been under construction on the property for a while now.

No one is really sure how similar this could be to the attraction at Knott's Berry Farm, but there's a good chance that it'll be really, really close. Here's the description, identical to Knott's;

"Trick or treat, which will it be? Step forward and ring the witch’s doorbell. Oh, she is home, but where? You are not quite sure. Don’t be afraid, her minions will guide you. You can come away with a treat, but is it worth it?"
 
Sounds like it and it's good to see that the Green Witch just might be making the rounds these days.

Trick or Treat will also feature one of the all new Skeleton Key rooms as well, for those that buy the upgrade. We had a ton of fun with them last year, and can't wait to see what they do with them this time around.

The fact that Dorney is building a dedicated structure for this is also pretty cool news as well. That's never really been done at the park and shows that they're getting more serious about their Halloween event. I'll never say that's a bad thing, ever.


Next up on the list, the return of an old favorite but with a very new twist.

Ah yes, CornStalkers. One of the chain wide haunts that really seemed to work for us during our visit last year. This time around? It's getting a very large make over. Not only is it moving locations to over by the go kart area of the park, it's getting some very new features as well. Hence the new title of CornStalkers - Barn Bred & Blood Fed. I'm not sure if the new editions will take away from the corn maze part, time will tell on that one.

From the image there, you can see that things are a bit different than last year. Now, instead of the old corn field entrance, there's a whole building the way of things. That's because there's two new elements to the maze this year.

Yes, the cornfield is still there, but to get there you'll have to first survive Mama's House and to get back out again? Well, there's another new element there too, The Barn. Okay, so that last one is a bit generic sounding. However, I think this is going to make things a bit more well rounded for the whole experience too.

Just corn all the time can get boring and it's good to see the folks at Dorney Park shaking things up a little on this one. Sure, it's always been a favorite and tons of fun, but why not add to the experience to make it new and fresh? I can't see any reason why not.

Speaking of the layout, the good folks at Dorney have decided to give us just that. As you can see there definitely is a bit of a reduction with the corn maze part. That's a little sad to see, but I'm gonna remain hopeful on this one. Especially since Blood Shed is out for 2015. Maybe some of those elements will get drawn into the new CornStalkers? Who knows but I'll be on the look out.

Also joining the mix will be a new Skeleton Key room for 2015 within the maze as well. Always a ton of fun those things.

That pretty much wraps things up on the new front. Well, almost. There's a few new things coming to this year's event in the way of all new Skeleton Key rooms. I've already mentioned that both mazes above will have them, but that leaves five other mazes to go.

Now for the returning line up for this year's Halloween Haunt and all the new Skeleton Key rooms for 2015!

Well, a few of these shouldn't be too big a surprise to see coming back. Chamber of Horror is a bit too new to give the axe so early in it's life and was pretty well received last year from what I could tell.

Mansion House Hotel, that's a no brainer as they're also bringing back the whole Mansion House Meal Experience too. That's something that should definitely stay and the maze itself really wasn't that bad either as it gave the cast quite a bit of room to play with inside of it.

Gotta have some crazy contamination happening these days and Desolation will certainly fill that need. The Skeleton Key room in here last year was pretty nuts and I think we confused the scare actor inside by how fast we managed it.

And last, but not least, what's a haunt event these days without an asylum of some sorts? Good thing The Asylum is making it's way back for 2015 as well then! Wonder what weirdness the Skeleton Key room will have this time.

Mansion House Hotel, The Aslyum, and Desolation will feature new, never before seen, Skeleton Key rooms too. That leaves us with 5 in total so far, but there's 7 right? Well, we'll get to that in a minute. As those who did the whole Skeleton Key option last year, know it came with Fright Lane and that also meant that you got access to another maze, Blackout. Well, you'll be happy to know it's coming back as well for this year.

I do hope they fixed a few of the issues that they had with it last year, but I'm sure we'll get the chance to see what's going on with things when we visit during Haunt Tour 2015. Anyway, time to get onto the outside experiences.

No surprise at all to see CarnEvil kicking things off with the scare zones. Last year they were having way too much fun with things and the energy was pretty much spot on. I always say it, I don't like the clown thing due to it's over use, but Dorney did it right. So there's that.

Also back for 2015 is Cut Throat Cove and the murderous band of pirates that inhabit it. Personally, I thought this one fell a bit flat and more "party zone" than scare zone but it could've just been an off moment when we went through.

For all you fans of medieval torture and death, Age of Darkness makes it way back for this year too. Last year we saw all kinds of insanity happening in here from sword fights to hangings and all manner of things.

Finally, Gravewalkers. I really have no idea what to classify this as. Is it a maze? A scare zone? All I know is that I loved it and Skeleton Key room that was here was easily one of our favorites. Gonna be interesting to see how they top that.

Now, as I mentioned before, there's another Skeleton Key room that hasn't been talked about yet. That's because this year, Age of Darkness is going to have the first ever outdoor one of these. Sure, Gravewalkers kind of did last year, so I'm curious what makes this one much different. All I know is, they have a lot to live up to with that and I'm really looking forward to seeing just what they've come up with for it.

Next up on the whirlwind tour? The shows! What would Halloween Haunt be without them, right? Well, a little less empty but we're glad their here anyway.

Back once again are the bad boys of percussion, Blood Drums. We only caught a little bit of show last year, but definitely was a fun one and they're pretty innovative. It's kinda like Stomp but on a mechanical fueled trip of insanity. Yeah, that's really the only way I can think to describe that one.

Also joining the 2015 line up is Skeleton Crew. We didn't get a chance to drop in on this one, but maybe this year we'll be able to find the time. There's a ton to see with everything else, so we'll see what happens.

Also back again for 2015, are the Mansion House Meal experience, which again...you gotta do it if you get the chance to. It's only offered on Friday and Saturday nights with very limited seating at that. But, the 24 lucky people who get to do it each night? You won't soon forget it at all!

This year sees the return of Fright Feast as well, which we haven't experienced but have heard some good things on too. So, either way, a couple of interesting options there in the food department. 

There ya have it, this year's Halloween Haunt at Dorney Park runs on select nights from September 18th thru October 31st, mostly Fridays and Saturdays. I'd point you to the website for ticket info and all that right about now, but it's not live yet. Not sure when it'll be going up but once it does I'll make an update to things here.

Update: Dorney Park's Halloween Haunt site is live, check it out right here and check out our very own survival guide!

Stay tuned for more news from haunted attractions all over the world as we're just getting into the thick of things and be on the look out for our review of Halloween Haunt during Haunt Tour 2015!