How Do We Get These Scores?
Our Rating System
UPDATE FOR 2022: Our former “Atmosphere” and “Theme” categories have now been combined and renamed “Immersion.” Our intent with this is to give more appropriate credit to attractions that have shown a clear focus on achieving and maintaining better customer experiences (both inside and outside the attractions) and developing creative storylines.
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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Final Score: 8.18
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 8.78
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 8.13
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 9.55
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 8
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 7.4
(5% of Final Score) Theme: 7.25
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 7.83
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 8.28
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Summary:
Scandia Family Fun Center is a chain of entertainment centers featuring arcades, miniature golf, and go-carts. During the month of October, their Sacramento location opens a haunted house, dubbed ‘The Wuss Maker.’ If any guest is too scared to finish the haunt, there are several ‘Wuss Doors’ for them to exit. By leaving early, that guest will be remembered as a ‘Wuss.’ Scandia keeps a running tally on how many wusses they’ve scared away. They average about 600 a season.
The Wuss Maker is a one single haunt and, though it is small, it packs a big punch because their actors come after guests in full force. An interesting note is that they only allow up to 2 guests per entry at a time.
Cast: 8.78
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 9
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 9
(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 9
(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 7.5
(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 9
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The Wuss Maker has plenty of actors and there are no dead spots. Their cast comes full bore, making them some of the most aggressive performers we’ve ever seen. They all stayed in character and created an intense environment. They made some interactive moves with us by throwing an aluminum can across the floor in front of us and scaring from the opposite side. Also, an actress stopped us as she was climbing on the walls.
There wasn’t much dialogue; however, there were several characters that wouldn’t use dialogue, like Michael Myers and the psycho clowns. There were a variety of characters and, while most would ‘roar’ at us, others were silent. They tend to use pop scares the most, but they would also grab at your lower leg area, which really added to the experience.
Costuming: 8.13
How Did We Get This Score?
Costuming Scores (15% of Final Score):
(15% of Costuming Score) How complete / finished did the costumes appear to be?: 8
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 8
(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 8
(15% of Costuming Score) How effectively did they use masks (if used)?: 8
(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 8.5
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The actors were all dressed in complete costumes. Nothing truly elaborate or extravagant, but the line actors were better dressed than the scare actors. The makeup was applied skillfully and used subtly. There were several masks worn, many from notable movie franchises like Halloween, Saw, Hellraiser, and The Purge. These costumes were appropriate for their scenes and themes.
Customer Service: 9.55
How Did We Get This Score?
Customer Service Scores (10% of Final Score):
(25% of CS Score) How easy was it to locate the attraction, park, and navigate the premises?: 9
(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 10
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 10
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 9
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Scandia Family Fun Center is easy to spot from the freeway, and they have enough signage to find parking, the ticket booth, and entry to the haunt. We found the haunt to be very safe with no trip hazards, and staff was available for emergencies. The staff were also very friendly and respectful. They do have a Wuss Maker website that is separate from the standard Scandia site that provides information, and their most notable social media presence is on Facebook, but are also on Instagram and Twitter.
Atmosphere: 8
How Did We Get This Score?
Atmosphere Scores (10% of Final Score):
(60% of Atmosphere Score) How obvious was it that you were at a haunted house before entering?: 8
(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 8
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It was quite obvious that Scandia Family Fun Center has a haunted house. Not only were there large banners, but there were also costumed line actors interacting with the guests. These were some of the best line actors we’ve seen because their enthusiasm was a great indicator to how intense the inside of the haunt would be.
Special Effects: 7.4
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 7
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 7
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 7
(25% of SFX Score) How well did they achieve & maintain the suspension of disbelief?: 8
(15% of SFX Score) How effective were the SFX at providing scares / entertainment?: 8
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The Wuss Maker had a low-volume soundtrack that was suspenseful. There wasn’t much detail, in terms of scenery. The haunt consisted of mostly black walls, with limited pools of light to lead the way, but there were sporadic scenes throughout. The clown room was the most decorated, lined with mirrors with black and white trim. At another part of the haunt, an actor stood behind a steel fence and created sparks by rubbing his glove across the steel rods. This was the most memorable special effect in the haunt. Everything worked well together to make a scary and entertaining experience.
Theme: 7.25
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?: 7.5
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?: 8
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?: 5
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The theme of the haunt is ‘Movie Monsters and Classic Scares,’ but they did have original characters as well. There isn’t much investment in extensive scenery, because it’s all about monsters emerging from the darkness. This is an actor-driven haunt, and one that makes no apologies for it.
Scare Factor: 7.83
How Did We Get This Score?
Scare Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of Scare Factor Score) How scary was it?: 8
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide scares to the entire group?: 8
(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 8.5
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 7
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 7
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The Wuss Maker scared us multiple times as we traveled through the haunt. The actors were high-octane intense and they were determined to send us out a Wuss Door, but we made it to the end. Since there were only the two of us in our group, they did tend to focus on the easier target (Debbie). They had perfect timing and were very unpredictable. The ending was strong, but the whole experience was strong.
Entertainment & Value: 8.28
How Did We Get This Score?
Entertainment & Value Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment received during the main attraction/s?: 8.5
(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 8.5
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 8
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 8
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We were very satisfied with our experience at The Wuss Maker. It’s a small haunt that took us about 7-1/2 minutes to walk through, but even at $18 and 0.44 MPD (minutes of entertainment per dollar spent), it’s still worth the price.
The queue entertainment was the line actors and they kept the crowd entertained. From sliding on their knees and creating sparks, to chasing guests in the parking lot, we had one of the best pre-haunt experiences watching them.
The Wuss Maker uses its available space very well and there are no dead zones. In fact, there are some of the narrowest corridors we’ve ever seen in a haunted house. That would explain why only two guests at a time are allowed to enter.
How Did We Get These Scores
Our Rating System
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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