The Haunted Hydro Review (2017)

The Haunted Hydro has a huge cast of actors, many of whom are quite interactive. The ‘river rebel’ who greeted us at the entrance of The Woods: Infestation offered the youngest of our group one last opportunity to chicken out, saying she could stay in one of the dog cages he had set up at the entrance. She declined the offer. Inside, ravenous hillbillies crept up on us from every angle, and one especially hungry infected jumped and rolled towards us before climbing a fence to try and get a taste of our delicious brains. When he didn’t succeed, he whined and looked at us so despairingly, we ALMOST wanted to give him another try.

The Hydro’s main attraction, Quarantine, carried on the theme of the first one we visited. Crazy Bob greeted us at the entrance, explaining that the Hydro has been transformed into a fort, protecting those who have (probably) not been infected by the mysterious outbreak. We however, weren’t warned of the terrifying hijinks the denizens of the Hydro were up to within the Quarantine. Twisted nuns, cannibal lunatics and even a masochistic gimp all wanted to greet our party- and they were VERY enthusiastic about the opportunity.

We did not see any billboard advertisements, or hear any radio ads for the Hydro on our way to the attraction, but our GPS took us straight to their front door. They are located in the middle of a vast farming area, so when we saw the giant skull fa������������������ade lit up like a beacon, we knew immediately that we had come to the right place. Their parking lot crew handed us a coupon flyer for their local sponsors and directed us immediately into a spot. They even let me know that one of the backup lights on my car was out. The ticket staff was very friendly and helpful in assisting us with organizing our wristbands and telling us where to go. When we got to the courtyard, we were greeted by Mama Jen, a security staff member who gave us suggestions on which attractions to go through first, and even found some interesting places for our hesitant boy to pass time while the rest of us took our tour. Actors in the haunt knew exactly when to back off the younger members of our group and took care not to cause any REAL trauma. Francesca spoke very knowledgeably on the history of the Haunted Hydro in their little museum trailer and invited us to pick our favorite photos from the many photo shoots hosted there for an art contest they are having. Overall, we were so very impressed with the Hydro’s customer service. Their support staff is every bit as passionate about the work they do as the actors are and they made our visit such an enjoyable experience.

From the haunt’s website: “HAUNT-O-POCALYPSE 2 ‘ We are continuing the storyline we rose from the DEAD last year’ WHY’ because it was absolutely amazing, patrons requested it and the cast and crew demanded it’.!”

The Hydro stuck pretty well to its contamination theme through both main attractions. Contamination is a theme we’ve seen done many times- it is a straightforward classic. The haunt building itself looks as if it could be made into a fortress and was very fitting with their backstory for this season. There were a few scenes though that maybe didn’t fit in. They were well done, but we didn’t understand where clowns fit into the theme. What is a haunt without clowns, though?

The Hydro doesn’t really go for all-out terror. If you meet the owner, Crazy Bob Turner, who was working the entrance to the Hydro side of the haunt, you’d understand. He has a passion for the more fun-loving and spooky side of Halloween. With that being said though, they do manage to garner screams from their patrons. They do a pretty good job of not just focusing on one or two members of the group and have tactics for visitors of all ages. The Hydro crew also has distractions down to an art form. If there isn’t a prop being used as a distraction, then the actors play as distractions for each other.

Our trip through both attractions took us about 25 minutes but, that really depends on how long the actors want to ‘play’ with you inside each attraction. With a general admission ticket price of $20, which includes both attractions, that puts their Minutes Per Dollar value at 1.25, which is just under the average of 1.5. However, with the additional entertainment provided in the central courtyard such as: roaming actors, photo ops and their gallery, we feel that you definitely get your money’s worth. They have done a great job of using the spaces available to them and we would highly recommend this for a family visit.

Pricing:
General Admission: $20
VIP/Fast Pass: $10 additional
Combo: $25
Escape Rooms: $5/per person