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: 8.4
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 8.39
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 8.4
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 9
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 8.75
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 8
(5% of Final Score) Theme:
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 8.15
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 8.38
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Summary:
Scandia Family Fun Center in Sacramento offers guests of all ages an arcade, miniature golf, go-karts, batting cages, and a few carnival rides. In the month of October, something a little more creepy makes its presence known. The Wussmaker is Scandia’s annual haunted house, a single haunt located between the batting cages and arcade. What makes this haunt ‘The Wussmaker’ is the various ‘Wuss Doors’ located throughout the haunt. Every season, somewhere between 600 and 800 guests ‘wuss out’ of one of the Wuss Doors without fully completing the haunt. Haunt policy is no refunds for wussing out. For those brave souls who are able to reach the end, a complementary ‘Sacramento Scandia No Wuss Here’ button is given to be worn proudly. Only a maximum of two guests at a time can enter, because the twists and turns are very tight. This year, instead of the simple black walls, they’ve added several decorated scenes.
Cast: 8.39
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 8.75
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 8.5
(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 8.25
(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 7.5
(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 8.75
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Last year, The Wussmaker’s actors were very intense in their approach to scaring guests. This year, with the added scenery elements, it’s changed their performance to be more engaged with their scenery and respective themes. The beginning had a clown run and knee slide right by us, while making sparks on the ground with his glove. The butcher stopped to growl at us when he was cutting us a dead body. There were two goth girls playing with their creepy dolls who did glare at us intensely. The clowns in the black and white strobe light room were startling us from various corners, and some would grab at an ankle. There was a nice homage to the movie, The Ring, as we saw a well and Samara climb out of it and crawl towards us, just like she does in the film. The skull-face ghoul was able to startle us in the fog-filled white-out room.
Outside of the haunt, there were several line actors who were interacting with both guests waiting to attend the haunt and guests just taking part in Scandia’s other attractions. One of them was dressed as Michael Myers, and played the part like the Halloween movies. The actors do not speak, because this place is a startle driven haunt. There is a good variety of characters, a whole array of beings from the horror genre.
Costuming: 8.4
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?: 8.75
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 8.5
(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
(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 8.5
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The costumes worn at The Wussmaker were complete and finished. They were detailed accordingly, especially the line actors outside the haunt. The girl with the gothic white-face and the word ‘Help’ across her forehead looked very impressive. She had the most memorable makeup job we saw. The majority of the actors wore masks, which did make them scarier and intimidating. Michael Myers looked just like his movie counterpart, and the same goes with Samara, with her tattered clothes and long black hair hanging in front of her face. The actors wore appropriate attire for their respective scenes and themes.
Customer Service: 9
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?: 9
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 9
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 9
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Scandia The Wussmaker is very easy to find, as it’s located on Hillsdale Boulevard, which is next to Interstate 80 in Sacramento. As soon as you see the Sky Screamer carnival ride protruding in the horizon, multiple stories taller than any other building in a 12-block radius with neon lights, you have your landmark. Parking is free, and it wasn’t too hard to find a parking space, considering they had a busy night, that night.
Scandia is a large place, and the haunt sits between the arcade and batting cages. This year, there were no staff at the ticket booth. Instead of tickets, guests had to put money on a Scandia Fun Card, which had to be obtained in the arcade, and have it swiped by a staff member to attend the haunt.
The Wussmaker is handicap accessible, and we found it to be very safe. Those Wuss Doors also double as emergency exits. We found the staff to be very professional, helpful, and friendly, and they treated us with respect. The non-acting staff were easy to find, because they had Scandia The Wussmaker black T-shirts. Information for this haunt is easy to find as they have an official website and a presence on various social media.
Atmosphere: 8.75
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?: 8.75
(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 8.75
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The Wussmaker is only a small part of Scandia, so they make their presence known with a two-story banner with the haunt’s name, and various line actors walk and interact with guests. Once you find The Wussmaker, it’s obvious that it’s a haunted house. The line actors all give the place excitement and energy. It can be said that the atmosphere does prepare you for what’s inside, because the hodgepodge of line actors does reflect the hodgepodge of scenes experienced inside.
Special Effects: 8
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 8
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 8
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 8
(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 Wussmaker has made an effort this year to create small vignette scenes throughout the haunt. Despite the cramped quarters, the scenes do have enough sets, props, and details to convey the individual themes.
As with the homage to The Ring, there’s homages to Silent Hill and the sewer from It. There’s also a few standard haunt themes, such as the butcher room, asylum, children’s doll room, and clown room. The final room was the most unique, whereas, many haunts will have a blackout room, Wussmaker sends you from a blackout room to a whiteout room. Filled with fog and bright lights, all we could see was a white cloud completely surrounding us as the final actor would startle us. Switching from darkness to light really played with the adjustments with our eyes. It’s a reminder of how you should never turn on your high beams while driving in heavy fog.
The sound effects were subtle, but most notably, the children’s room had a haunted music box song with distorted children’s voices singing. It fit really well with the gothic children and their gothic dolls. The special effects were effective in providing scares and entertainment, and added to the haunt experience.
Theme: N/A
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?:
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?:
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?:
This score is left “N/A” when we believe the haunt is trying to target a random variety of themes or phobias, rather than a single overarching “Theme” or “storyline.”
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The Wussmaker has no unifying theme, as each room stands as its own independent scene.
Scare Factor: 8.15
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
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 8.5
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 8.5
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The Wussmaker was scary, but we did miss the aggressive approach from last year’s haunt. The clowns in their zone were aggressive, but Samara’s creepy four-limbed crawl was in line with the movie. The children were more into intimidating stares, and the skull-faced actor in the whiteout room only startled us intermittently. Similar to last year, they did grab at our ankles. As a result of the different scenes in the haunt, the scares did become more diverse and less ‘attack, attack, attack’.
The finale was interesting with the whiteout room, because we haven’t seen any other haunt in our part of the country do it. In a similar vein as a blackout room, the effect is more psychological because you know there’s something in the fog, but you just don’t know when or where it will attack.
Entertainment & Value: 8.38
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
(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
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 8.75
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 9
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We were satisfied with The Wussmaker, as it is a short but sweet haunt (7 minutes). We also enjoyed the entertainment outside the main haunt, because this attraction has several line actors who interact with guests and make themselves available for photo ops. In fact, this haunt tends to have more line actors than most large multiple haunted attraction parks. The ticket price is a nice deal For $18, you get the haunt and a carnival ride. The Wussmaker does use their available space effectively, and there are no ‘dead zones’.
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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