25 Sep Ghosts, Zombies and Monsters: The Halloween Haunt at ValleySCARE
Every year as autumn sets in, the zombies come out and the haunt begins at ValleySCARE. The lights go down, fog and screams fill the air, and monsters lurk around every corner. Mazes of horror appear, rides are roaring, and Valleyfair is transformed into a world where your deepest fears live.
Valleyfair is a theme park located in Shakopee, Minnesota, and it is open all summer long. During the summer months, you can find a water park, roller coasters, shows and more. But come mid-September, the park gets into the Halloween spirit and the Halloween Haunt at ValleySCARE comes alive. We always love thrill rides and Halloween themed activities, so ValleySCARE is right up our alley and it’s one of our favorite fall adventures in Minnesota!
During the Halloween Haunt, you can make your way through six haunted mazes and three outdoor scare zones. Each maze and scare zone has a different theme—the scare zones are areas set up in various walkways throughout the park and you walk through them when you are making your way between attractions. The mazes are essentially haunted houses, and to access them you need to hop in line so your group can make your way through the maze on your own.
To start off your haunted evening, attend the Awakening at 6:50 p.m. Watch as the monsters are released into the park for the haunting to officially begin. But be careful because you might get scared every which way you turn!
During our visit this year, we made it through all of the haunted mazes and on a few roller coasters. A couple of our favorites mazes were Berserkers Unleashed (an ancient Viking ruin), The Chateau (a Renaissance Castle), and Dark Harvest (a haunted corn maze). Even though those were our favorites, the other three were really cool, too—we loved the details that went into the maze designs, and the monsters did a great job of scaring us around almost every corner! The other mazes were Mr. Cleaver’s Bloodshed (a meatpacking plant), Zombie High (a zombie filled high school), and Human[e] Habitat (a science lab in the middle of the forest).
In the scare zones, you will find creepy clowns at Carnevil: Ringmasters Revenge, ghosts in the Blood Creek Cemetery, and deadly pioneers in the old west of Trails End. The scare zones are located in the park walkways, so it makes getting from attraction to attraction quite interesting. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times we turned around only to find a monster breathing down our necks!
There are five shows each evening at ValleySCARE: Awakening, DJ Tek, Demon Corps, Hacks Live, and Sinister Circus. These shows entertain guests with everything from comedy, to music, to crazy acrobatics. We watched the Awakening and part of Sinister Circus, but didn’t have a chance to make it to any of the others. The rides and haunted houses were calling our names, so they were our main focus for the evening!
If you are hungry or thirsty, the Blood Suckers Brew Bar or the Blood Suckers Buffet are both special experiences set up for the Halloween event. Plenty of the regular food and drink options are available, as well, so you don’t have to worry about going hungry if you feel like dinner or a snack!
Another experience set up in the park is the Pumpkin Promenade. It is a cute walkway filled with pumpkins and festive lights, and it’s a great spot to stop for a few photos day or night!
In addition to the haunted happenings of ValleySCARE, you will also find plenty of thrill rides to give you an additional scare. No visit to Valleyfair is complete without a few spins on a roller coaster, and let me tell you…I’m a sucker for crazy rides! A few of our favorite roller coasters are Wild Thing (which has a 200 foot drop!), Renegade, and Corkscrew. I might have to go as far as saying that Renegade is one of our favorite roller coasters of all time—it’s intense! Over the years, we’ve been on all the rides throughout the park more times than we can count, and some other great options are Power Tower with a 275 foot free fall drop, Xtreme Swing, and Steel Venom. All of these rides are sure to make your stomach drop to the floor!
If you don’t want to wait in line during your visit, you can purchase a Fright & Fast Lane Pass which allows you to skip the lines to the haunted houses and the rides! Also available with the Fright & Fast Lane Pass is the Skeleton Key, which gives you access to special scare zones with tight spaces and extreme situations.
The Halloween Haunt is recommended for guests over the age of 13 because of its scare factor. If you would prefer a scare free evening, you can purchase a “No Boo” necklace which is acknowledged in the walkways throughout the park, but not the mazes so steer clear of those. Alternatively, you can visit Valleyfair during the day for The Great Pumpkin Fest, which is geared towards the entire family. The daytime event is filled with events such as a hay bale maze, trick or treat street, the Great Pumpkin Parade, and even story time.
ValleySCARE is open weekends from mid-September through the end of October every year. So, if you are up for a scary adventure, make your way out to Valleyfair for some haunted Halloween fun!
Have you ever been to ValleySCARE? What are your favorite Halloween activities?
Special thanks to ValleySCARE for inviting us to and hosting us at a media preview of the Halloween Haunt event. As always, all opinions are our own.
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