Demon Acres (Hannibal, NY): We were still doing ok on time when we finally made it here. After the last terrible attraction I really needed something to rejuvenate my spirits. But I observed the dismal sight just ahead of cars lining the highway just outside the Demon Acres parking lot. This could only mean one thing. Lines. It was going on 10 at this point (they were open til 11) so we were still good. But I had a feeling of dread as a parking attendant had me park awkwardly perpendicular to the entrance. Lines can be a terrible thing. And Ive been lucky this season. Until now that is... We ran outta parking hours ago, exclaimed the guy as I got out of the car. Blindly we fumbled around through a quarter mile stretch of blackness. Up ahead I could see a pair of glowing red clown eyes so we just kept moving i tha direction. The icy northern temperatures were dipping into the 30 s by this point so there was little warmth to be found in these parts. We located the ticket area next to the clown face entrance (which was the hayride entrance as it turns out) and procured our Demon Acres tickets for the evening. From what I recall, they were like $18 for the house/hayride combo. Not a bad deal... I still didnt really see where all these people were. We headed over to signs leading up to the house attraction. And thats when I saw it. The line. A very bad feeling descended upon me. I knew the last place I wanted to hit was open til 12 but they were now 45 minutes back the way I had come. Things suddenly didnt look so promising. We moped over to the back of the house line and stood around for like 10 minutes. The line didnt even move. Some other people came over and said the hayride line was really small. So we jumped out of that line and headed back to the hayride entrance. Bad mistake. The hayride line was concealed behind the clown face. We waited a good 20 minutes to get on the hayride at that point. Thankfully, it was a great hayride. Great location, atmosphere, the works... Interestingly, this particular hayride was one with no sides. Everyone just kind of sat on a sort of central bench - like seating arrangement. Things got started with a zombie scarecrow dude that looked like a prop and scared everybody. He then read us the rules and we were set in motion. Fairly quickly I realized this place had their act together. Thank goodness. Non - stop action and very hands on actors. A 400 lb. pig guy with overalls and an axe busted out of a door and started swinging at the girls next to me. But that was nothing! A hay monster emerged shorly thereafter and grabbed one of the girls shoes next to me and started pulling her off the wagon (!) She screamed and kicked frantically until it went away...only to emerge a few minutes later and start doing the same thing again! I thought the guy was going to twist the girls shoe right off. Meanwhile, all kinds of craziness is going on on both sides of this thing. A skeleton guy comes flying over us on a zip line, a fire - belching truck lurches at us as we pass by, and all sorts of cool animatronics dance around the wagon as it lumbers slowly through the frosty New York forest. The sets are nicely done. The actors are really effective (and persistent! ) And the ride is a good 20 minutes of continuous mayhem. Once again though, they pull the same old clown room crap where the wagon stops and they run about doing whatever. Yawn. Otherwise, really good hayride! Next up is the house. Again. Surely the lines gone down by now. WRONG! Now the line was even longer. I looked at the time and gradually came to the sad realization that I was not going to make it to the last stop of the night. 30 minutes or more passed as we stood about shivering in the chilly night air. Snot ran down my face as I grew angrier about the state of things. Being in a line is like traffic. Its just such a hopeless, day-ruining experience. I hate lines. By the time we got to the head of this never ending line, there seemed no way in hell Id ever get the last place. But I still had to try. And try I did! The house was about 10 min. or less. Some great actors and sets. A way cool spinning room, along with a neat fireplace tunnel and other assorted classy touches made this a nicely done little house attraction. But I was still fuming about the hour I had just wasted in line here. As we made the mad dash back through the cold darkness to the car, I felt determined to at least make an effort to get to The Last Ride. But it was not meant to be. I rolled by at 12:03 and they were done for the night. It wasnt meant to be this year I guess. So Demon Acres wrapped the evening up, at least ending things on a positive note. I was fairly happywith most of what I had done this evening and was looking forward to Sunday as I made my way due east toward Utica. A big thank you also to all the legions of salmon fishermen that booked up every decent hotel room within an hour or more of where we were. Fun! Hauntfinder Rating: * * * (out of 4)
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 04:15:22 +0000
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