Springboro Haunted Hayride-“Fall Fun For Everyone”
Haunted Hayrides have a major problem when it comes to opening. Everything is dependent on mother nature. If it rains too hard or the trail is too muddy, the haunt may not open. And if this happens for a couple weekends the entire season is a waste. The night we visited the weather wasn’t looking too good. The clouds were very dark and menacing and we knew it was eventually going to be a down poor sometime that night. Thankfully it didn’t rain during our trip on Springboro Haunted Hayride.
Length-9: Your journey through the dark, bone chilling woods and frightening fields will take around 30 minutes to finish. Unfortunately there are some brief moments where there is only darkness without anything happening. Many of the scenes are full of action packed moments, but it’s not consistent from scene to scene.
Design-6: Years ago Springboro Haunted Hayride was much more creative in the rooms you would go through, but this year everything seems like it was put together at the last minute. There is no longer an outdoor carnival tent full of clowns and demented circus freaks. The barn you enter that has characters covered with glow in the dark paint is much shorter and less detailed since it’s only using a cheap glow in the dark backdrop with very few decorations inside the scene. The area of the woods that once had a projector screen with a horror movie showing has been eliminated as well as the hearse chase that people have come to expect. Old scenes have been replaced with inferior rooms.
A new addition for 2009 is a beautiful barn that resembles a church. Little happens except for a costumed character saying “welcome”. Much more could be done with this large building such as recreating a haunted church or having a funeral service. Another addition is the brand new gas station infested with twisted feins. It resembles a real gas station, but I was expecting fire to be in use as I’ve seen with other hayrides such as Bates Motel in Pennsylvania. It was clever how they changed Shell Station to Hell Station though. Returning scenes include the intense combine chase, police car chase out and of course the galloping headless horseman that grabs at people on the wagon. More effort needs to be put into scenes since for the last couple years it just hasn’t felt like the same hayride people have come to love.
Props/Animatronics-7: Springboro Haunted Hayride utilizes much of its farm equipment to its full potential, but some new enhancements would help the props be more effective. A light up pumpkin attached to the horse rider would make the actor look more like the headless horseman while a large horn installed on the combine would make the vehicle more menacing. The actors who drive the other vehicles also would benefit from wearing some type of mask since people are able to see an unmasked person driving the vehicle.
There weren’t as many vehicles used this year since a few seemed to be parked throughout the haunt. There haven’t been many new impressive props added to the hayride except for a few. You will notice right away that many of the static figures along the trail now have LED light up eyes. It adds a creepy effect except for the scarecrows that have 4 light up eyes near the beginning of the haunt. That just doesn’t make too much sense. The rest of the decorations go great with the scenes they decorate, but isn’t anything that will make your jaw drop.
Acting-6: Many of the actors you’ll see at this hayride don’t have many lines of dialogue, but are very intense. They will hop on the hay wagon and pick out the most vulnerable people they see. This is when they go for the kill and scare the living daylights out of them. There aren’t many stand out characters you’ll encounter, but the majority of the cast is effective for what they are trying to do. This involves actors going after customers with gas powered chainsaws or the headless horseman reaching out for his next victim. It’s an intense haunt in some areas, but needs some improvement when it comes to acting.
Scare Effect-7: It’s always fun being able to see other people’s reactions on a hayride. You might not be afraid, but the person next to you might and that’s the very exact thing that happened to us the night we visited. There was a rather tough looking guy next to me, but whenever something scary was about to happen He would cower in fear or his sister would cover his eyes. The toughest guys can be brought to their knees in fear at haunts. If the person next to you is having a blast you will more than likely have a great time also. Springboro may not be the scariest haunt you’ll experience this year, but is one of the spookiest for sure. There’s nothing like being on hay wagon as you are transported into the deep dark woods. You never know what to expect when you are alone.
Fright Value: $12 seems to be the standard rate for haunted hayrides these days. Please make sure and purchase a $16 combo ticket so you can experience both the haunted hayride and Black Bog for a killer price. You’ll be saving $4. You would be a fool to not take advantage of that deal.
Customer Service: The people at Springboro Haunted Hayride are very friendly and are willing to help in anyway they can. Once you are done with the hayride you can go inside their barn that’s full of snacks, hot food and refreshments for sale. You may even want to pick up a Springboro Haunted Hayride shirt for yourself. The parking is very organized and only $2 per car. This seems to be the standard price for parking at haunts. For the most part the customer service is very good and very professional.
Final Stab-7.0: Springboro Haunted Hayride is a very traditional hayride. You’ll see a galloping headless horseman, crazy clowns and be chased by tons of farm equipment. This is a fun haunt, but more could be done to improve it. If you are in the Springboro area or near by make sure and make a trip out to the Springboro Haunted Hayride.