Haunted Hayrides of Greater Rochester is open again after a five-year hiatus. This fan favorite hayride was a staple haunt among central New Yorkers prior to 2020, and it’s easy to see why. Good food, great actors, and Halloween fun are all present. Guests will enjoy interactive characters both on the midway and in the attractions.
First up is the hayride that tells the tale of William Fee, a suspected murderer in the 1800s. Next is The Manor, a Victorian-era estate that is clearly haunted by its previous residents. In the midway, customers can play a game of cornhole inside a large barn while enjoying food, drink, and fried sweets.
On the hayride, there are what I would consider to be enough actors. That is, there are not any scenes without at least one person. Most scenes actually feature at least two actors, with the lab sporting four or five that I could count. The cult scene is an example of a set with one actor, although it would be much more effective with more actors. On the other hand, the manor could use more bodies. I encountered four actors at most, and they were quite spread out. Passing by some hiding spots with nobody jumping out of them, it felt a little empty.
Interactivity is surprisingly well done for a hayride. As an adult male, I tend to get ignored in these sorts of situations. That is not the case here. I was pleasantly surprised to receive plenty of attention and scares from actors who boarded the wagon, which was nearly all of them. In an early scene, one actor got right up into my face, demanding to know where “he” was. I’m not sure who she was talking about, so I offered the narrator as a sacrifice. My offer was not accepted. Inside the manor, the interactivity is kept up mostly with dialogue. But with so few actors in this attraction, it came down to two actors who really understood the assignment. The first occurred as a woman in a dress ran up telling me she needed a knife and a shovel for the garden, and I said I’d go find them. Entering the morgue, there is an actor in a bloodied lab coat holding a large chef’s knife. I said the lady in the previous scene needed that, and without saying a word, he started a staring contest with me whilst holding the knife prop up to my neck. Unfortunately, I blinked first and went on my way. You win this time, knife man.
Makeup seems to be the majority for actors in both attractions, though masks are not totally missing. On the hayride, the lab scene features actors in welding masks, a rather large rabbit head in another, and an animal skull mask in the finale. For the actors wearing makeup, it is often hard to see from the wagon, primarily because some scenes are quite dark, and they’re just a little too far to see any real detail. In the manor, it is exclusively makeup, and this makes sense. Since we’re heading into a Victorian manor, we would expect to see Victorian-esque characters.
The star of the show, in my opinion, is the large fae that boards the wagon. This actor is wearing a complete costume that is very well textured and detailed, along with a full head mask that features blank white eyes, leading me to wonder how they can see out of it. This is followed closely by the actor in the hayride finale with the animal skull mask; the costume portion is a regal outfit that looks to be made from fur and feathers. This is opposed by the rabbit-headed character that wore a flannel shirt, and not much of a themed outfit besides the mask. The other characters we meet along the hayride stay within the theme of their respective scenes, and don’t seem out of place at all.
The website contains all of the information we might need before heading out. Links to buy tickets, a calendar with hours, and an FAQ section that covers pertinent information. As this is a predominantly outdoor haunt, they address weather-related concerns and urge customers to check social media for any updates if severe weather is a possibility. ADA information is also covered to let us know that wheelchairs may be accommodated on the hayride, but not inside The Manor. Overall, this is an efficient website that sticks to the necessary parts.
On site, everything is very clearly labeled, and there are plenty of easily identifiable staff members around to make things run smoothly. Getting into the parking lot could be done a little easier with two lanes, as there is traffic coming from both directions on the road, and there is a lot of traffic coming in. The staff members I interacted with were also extremely friendly and answered any questions I had quickly and confidently. One nice thing about travelling solo is that I was able to get bumped onto an earlier wagon than other people arriving at the same time. Heading down into the midway, I asked the line attendant which wagons were boarding, and I got an answer with a smile. The only staff member who seemed to not be overly friendly was the attendant at The Manor. I don’t know if it was the character she was playing, but she seemed bored. At the very least, she wasn’t un-friendly.
Something I really liked is the virtual queue that’s being implemented. When guests head to the box office to get their tickets, they are given a boarding group number. On the midway, an announcement is made for each boarding group, allowing the line to stay short, and guests to enjoy the festivities before getting in line.
On the hayride, we are led into a story about a man named William Fee who was a primary suspect in a string of murders, and allegedly the only person ever executed in Wayne County, NY.
The scenes we come across loosely fit into the story, and this is helped along by the narrator on board.
The dead space between scenes lessens the immersion, as the sets are spaced out, with nothing really happening between them. The scenes where we encounter actors are built up as shacks and small houses in most cases and there are also two fully covered scenes that are much more theatrical and immersive.
The exit of the hayride flows right into the queue for The Manor, where we enter a much more immersive space. The sets are that of a decaying and moldy Victorian manor, and the decoration is actually really well placed. The bathroom scene is clearly the scene of a cult murder as the sink area is covered in photos that are very conspiracy-esque. The story here logically follows the idea that this might be William Fee’s house, or something connected to the main story, but there’s not much to tie the two together.
The stars of the show in terms of special effects are the lab and cult scenes on the hayride. They are both well-designed and executed. While both of them feature extensive lighting effects and a pre-recorded audio track that includes dialogue, the lab is the more impressive of the two in my opinion. When the power starts to surge into the corpse, there are rope lights that go into a chasing pattern, while the main show lights strobe, and loud music plays. The cult scene finishes off with flashing lights and some pneumatically controlled animatronics that bob up and down, but these would be far more effective as live actors.
The other scenes on the hayride feature some lighting and sound effects, but are otherwise fairly light in this department. In terms of set and scene design, the point is made well enough that I’m not left wondering what the scene is supposed to be, but some of the sets are a little plain in terms of decoration or effects.
The Manor is consistently well-detailed throughout, with mold and decay being depicted on the walls as soon as the attraction begins. Effects here are limited mostly to light, sound, and air cannons. There is one scene where guests must walk across a wooden bridge that reminded me of the type you’d find on a playground. The bridge didn’t really seem to fit in with the theme other than the fact that it was in the greenhouse or garden area, and bridges are typically found outdoors. It did help to spice things up a bit, and possibly take some people by surprise.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 6.25
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 7.25
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 7.25
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 7
The overall answer to “how scary is it?” boils down to the answer of “somewhat”. The barn scenes on the hayride build tension really well and are professionally produced. There’s also a double fence drop scare that got some screams. The narrator on our wagon told everyone to look up as we approached this scene, which I think was intended to be a distraction, but it didn’t really work, as I looked around and nobody was looking up.
Almost every actor on the hayride boarded the wagon to perform some personalized jump scares and intimidation scares for the guests on board. Hayrides, by nature, tend to limit the types of scares that are possible, but I did get to see a nice variety of them.
Heading into The Manor, the scare factor ramps up a bit. Actors can hide more easily, perform a wider range of scares, and generally provide a creepier atmosphere. It really helps that group sizes are trimmed down to about four or five, which increases the chance that every customer will personally experience a scare. Most of what took me by surprise were the air cannon blasts and special effect scares that are triggered by sensors. The best actor scare in The Manor is the knife man in the morgue, who didn’t say a word, but was very threatening with his knife prop as we locked eyes and he attempted to take my soul through them.
The hayride finale could have been the cult scene, but immediately after, there was the traditional onslaught of chainsaws. They’re loud, and the actors hold the saws up to the wagon to give you a little rumble, though I suppose enough people find chainsaws to be so scary that it’s become a stereotypical finale. The Manor finale sent me past an actor who screamed very loudly, but the actor wasn’t hidden as I approached, and that lessened the effectiveness for me.
I spent approximately 25 minutes combined inside both attractions, and a GA ticket costs $33 if it’s purchased at the box office. That gives us an MPD of 0.76. Aside from the two main attractions, guests will have access to a midway with several food and drink vendors, a beer garden, photo opportunities, and a roped-off area to play cornhole. Surprisingly, there is not a gift shop that I could find anywhere on-site. VIP tickets will cost more, and they are not traditional “skip the line” tickets. The VIP option allows guests to purchase tickets for a specific time slot, and that time slot will be called as its own group on site.
The GA price is a fair deal for the entertainment provided. As I wandered the midway, I saw many families with children, teenagers, couples, and even some solo haunt enthusiasts milling about. Haunted Hayrides of Greater Rochester is a great way to spend an October evening for a date night or family outing. 2025 may have been the year of their resurrection, but I foresee this fan favorite quickly regaining their position as a top hayride in upstate New York.
3329 Eddy Road, Williamson, New York 14589