For only a few weeks out of the year, Valleyfair goes under a makeover to convert to ValleyScare. The entire park adds haunted houses and a darker theme to set the tone of the park. Almost every ride and fair activity is still open, but most lights that were being used are now turned off. Decorations of skeletons and the park staff uniforms are used to create a Halloween theme in an attempt to make ValleyScare scary.
When walking into ValleyScare, you see almost only orange lighting throughout the park. Valleyfair showcased a poorly planned theme, as it seemed some of the park was never finished in the ValleyScare prep. Small sections towards the front of ValleyScare are set up with decorations of skeletons and orange lighting, the rest of the park wasn’t decorated. Thick smoke, with a slight smell of gas, is pumped around every corner and makes it hard to see. Additionally, only a small amount of staff were at the front in an attempt to scare you, hiding in bushes or small corners to pop out in roller skates. The theme itself felt poorly put together and was underwhelming.
Valleyfair is known for its rides, and that is also what ValleyScare focuses on. Haunted houses and rides were filled with lines. Everything was so much more fun due to having almost no lights on and it being nighttime. Since ValleyScare is set during the night, the entire park is cold. No rides or haunted houses have heaters, so the restaurants are the only places to go for warmth. The haunted houses weren’t as cold because of the number of people waiting in line, and the lines moved fast. However, most of the lines seemed too long to even bother, but they (for the most part) didn’t take more than 20 minutes in the slow hours. When waiting for a ride during peak hours, ValleyScare will have you waiting for over 60 minutes. Lines backed up all the way outside the ride area. Rides like Renegade and Steel Venom had 70 minute wait times. Another issue around the park was how the haunted houses were not scary at all. The “scarers” would be waiting in the wide open or be visible behind corners. The thought of the haunted houses was creative but they did not put much thought into scaring people. My friends and I only encountered one haunted house that was scary.
Entering the park was quite difficult. If you didn’t have a parent, you would be pulled aside to check your age and your group members as well. ValleyScare was an average cost. For an online pass, with no hidden fees, it was $40 to $50. I’d recommend bringing your water and eating before you come, as food and drink inside the park are expensive. Water was five dollars a bottle and food was always more than 15 dollars. A food truck me and my friends went to said they were forced to charge five dollars for a bottle of water. Their food was severely overpriced, and nothing seemed appetizing after seeing the prices. There was also no fall or scary-themed food around the park which was very disappointing. Most of the staff were clueless. A lot of them didn’t know what was happening and were mostly watching people pass by. Even the “scarers” were mostly standing around and occasionally jumping out at you. Most of the staff would greet you with a smile and be pretty welcoming, but they would have no idea where haunted houses or certain stores were located within the park.
For my first time at ValleyScare, I expected more. My expectations were high when entering, and ValleyScare did not meet my standards. It was only enjoyable with friends. Nothing in the park made me want to go again. I expected to see scarers everywhere and for ValleyScare to have a lot more prep work done to the park. I also expected to see Halloween-themed or scary food-themed food around the park. Overall Valley Scare didn’t live up to the hype.
