Thrillvania Thrill Park is located off of I-20 and Wilson Rd. in Terrell, Texas. From Fort Worth this drive can take about 1.5 hours, but it is well worth the drive. Thrillvania consists of 4 haunted attractions. Haunted Verdun Manor, Cassandra's Labyrinth of Terror, Granny Lupus' Seance Theater, and new for 2004 Dr. Lycan's Trail of Torment. They also have new attractions geared towards the younger crowd, the Boo Maze (No actors, just all maze) and the petting zoo. While you are there you can take in Tarrot Card readings and a very amusing magic show.
Parking $3.00
Haunted Verdun Manor: $16.00
Cassandra's Labyrinth of Terror: $13.00
Granny Lupus' Seance Theater: $8.00
Dr. Lycan's Trail of Torment: $10.00
They have a Thrill Pass for $25.00 that allows access to all 4 haunted attractions and for $35.00 you can visit all of the haunted attractions as many times as you like.
Scare Factor: 8.5 out of 10
Being veterans of haunted houses it takes a LOT to scare us. There were several places in Haunted Verdun manor and Cassandra's Labyrinth where we were not expecting actors. There were several props that made us think that they were live actors. For those who are not able to anticipate where the scare may come from, like we are, these two haunts alone will scare the pants off of most people.
Set design / Props / FX: 9 out of 10
The grounds around Haunted Verdun Manor are almost just as detailed as the inside of the haunted house. The trail leading to Verdun Manor is almost another haunted attraction in its own. The path leads through several scenes which is just a small tase of what's to come. Haunted Verdun Manor is one of the most detailed haunted houses that we have ever had the opportunity to visit. There is not a single blank wall through out the whole haunted house.
Live Actors: 7 out of 10
We noticed many more actors this year. Since the scenes are so gruesomely detailed, it is hard to know which part of the scene includes a live person. Several of the live actors were in places where we were not expecting a live actor to be at. Inside of Haunted Verdun Manor and Cassandra's Labyrinth the actors were very into playing their roles. Several did an excellent and convincing job.
Animatronics: 7 out of 10
This haunt is largely animatronics, but with the additional actors and the extreme detail, the animatronics are very much tolerable. Then there is Granny Lupus' Seance Theater... This attraction is nothing more but animatronics.
Length: 8.5 out of 10
Haunted Verdun Manor is the largest of the 4 haunted attractions at Thrillvania. It the average person approximately 20-25 minutes to walk through. If you are scared enough and running for your life then that can be knocked down to 10-15 minutes. Cassandra's Labrinth of Terror take a pproximately 10-12 minutes while Granny Lupus and Dr. Lycan's trail of Torment each last around 8 minutes. You could easily spend a whole evening at Thrillvania.
Summary:
Thrillvania is one of the haunt that should be on everyones lists to visit. If you are planning on visiting just one or two of the haunts then definitely go through Haunted Verdun Manor and Cassandra's Labyrinth of Terror as they are worth the money. If you are going for those two haunts then you are still better off purchasing the Thrill Pass or the Unlimited Thrill Pass is the better way to go. Dr. Lycan's Trail has the potential to become one of the better trail haunts in the area, but it falls a bit short in both scares and in length. Unfortunatley for $10.00 you could probably take a stroll in a park at night and get just as scared. That leaves us with Granny Lupus' Seance Theater... the lack of scares, lack of human interaction and pure animatronic is a huge turn off. For the $8.00 I'd rather save it and visit an retirement center. You'd probably get several more scares there then you would visiting Granny Lupus. However, if you have one of the Thrill Passes then you might as well go see it just for the laughs. Thankfully we don't take off points for poor side attractions, but if we did then there would be some serious deductions for this attraction.
Click here (http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&file=viewreview&id=12) to see the Thrillvania 2004 review.
Terrell, TX
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Review Date: Friday, Sep 30
Thrillvania Thrill Park is located off of I-20 and Wilson Rd. in Terrell, Texas. From Fort Worth this drive can take about 1.5 hours, but it is well worth the drive. Thrillvania consists of 4 haunted attractions. Haunted Verdun Manor, Cassandra's Labyrinth of Terror, Granny Lupus' Seance Theater, and new for 2004 Dr. Lycan's Trail of Torment. They also have new attractions geared towards the younger crowd, the Boo Maze (No actors, just all maze) and the petting zoo. While you are there you can take in Tarrot Card readings and a very amusing magic show.
Parking $3.00
Haunted Verdun Manor: $16.00
Cassandra's Labyrinth of Terror: $13.00
Granny Lupus' Seance Theater: $8.00
Dr. Lycan's Trail of Torment: $10.00
They have a Thrill Pass for $25.00 that allows access to all 4 haunted attractions and for $35.00 you can visit all of the haunted attractions as many times as you like.
Scare Factor: 8.5 out of 10
Being veterans of haunted houses it takes a LOT to scare us. There were several places in Haunted Verdun manor and Cassandra's Labyrinth where we were not expecting actors. There were several props that made us think that they were live actors. For those who are not able to anticipate where the scare may come from, like we are, these two haunts alone will scare the pants off of most people.
Set design / Props / FX: 9 out of 10
The grounds around Haunted Verdun Manor are almost just as detailed as the inside of the haunted house. The trail leading to Verdun Manor is almost another haunted attraction in its own. The path leads through several scenes which is just a small tase of what's to come. Haunted Verdun Manor is one of the most detailed haunted houses that we have ever had the opportunity to visit. There is not a single blank wall through out the whole haunted house.
Live Actors: 7 out of 10
We noticed many more actors this year. Since the scenes are so gruesomely detailed, it is hard to know which part of the scene includes a live person. Several of the live actors were in places where we were not expecting a live actor to be at. Inside of Haunted Verdun Manor and Cassandra's Labyrinth the actors were very into playing their roles. Several did an excellent and convincing job.
Animatronics: 7 out of 10
This haunt is largely animatronics, but with the additional actors and the extreme detail, the animatronics are very much tolerable. Then there is Granny Lupus' Seance Theater... This attraction is nothing more but animatronics.
Length: 8.5 out of 10
Haunted Verdun Manor is the largest of the 4 haunted attractions at Thrillvania. It the average person approximately 20-25 minutes to walk through. If you are scared enough and running for your life then that can be knocked down to 10-15 minutes. Cassandra's Labrinth of Terror take a pproximately 10-12 minutes while Granny Lupus and Dr. Lycan's trail of Torment each last around 8 minutes. You could easily spend a whole evening at Thrillvania.
Summary:
Thrillvania is one of the haunt that should be on everyones lists to visit. If you are planning on visiting just one or two of the haunts then definitely go through Haunted Verdun Manor and Cassandra's Labyrinth of Terror as they are worth the money. If you are going for those two haunts then you are still better off purchasing the Thrill Pass or the Unlimited Thrill Pass is the better way to go. Dr. Lycan's Trail has the potential to become one of the better trail haunts in the area, but it falls a bit short in both scares and in length. Unfortunatley for $10.00 you could probably take a stroll in a park at night and get just as scared. That leaves us with Granny Lupus' Seance Theater... the lack of scares, lack of human interaction and pure animatronic is a huge turn off. For the $8.00 I'd rather save it and visit an retirement center. You'd probably get several more scares there then you would visiting Granny Lupus. However, if you have one of the Thrill Passes then you might as well go see it just for the laughs. Thankfully we don't take off points for poor side attractions, but if we did then there would be some serious deductions for this attraction.
Click here (http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&file=viewreview&id=12) to see the Thrillvania 2004 review.
OVERALL SCORE:
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