Overall Experience :
By now everyone should know who Thrillvania and Verdun Manor are, after their 10 score from us last year… Unfortunately, Thrillvania was unable to live up to the bar they raised so high last year. We believe that most of this can be attributed to off season copper thieves and vandals ransacking Dr. Lycan’s Trail of Torment and Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre. The theater had to be completely re-wired for this season, causing lost time (about 12 weeks) and money that could have been used to fix or improve the primary haunts at Thrillvania. Unfortunately, we have to rate the haunts based on the show provided and our experience at the time of our review, and we cannot take ‘behind the scenes’ technical issues and/or problems into consideration.
With that being said…
When we first arrived at Thrillvania, our group headed straight into Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre. Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre is an animatronics based show that extends an invitation to view a spiritual séance. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it) Granny Lupus never actually brings anything back from the great beyond. The theater is meticulously decorated to the extent that it really feels like you are inside this old woman’s home. Granny moves more smoothly now, and the audio track is much easier to hear and understand this year. The new wiring job made a big improvement to the overall show. Although some people might think this attraction is rather “cheesy”, the majority should at least find this short theatre show mildly amusing.
We then ventured over to Cassandra’s Labyrinth of Terror. Cassandra’s Labyrinth of Terror has the façade of a road side freak show, complete with a few demented clowns prowling the queue line looking for those who fear them. This proves highly entertaining if you get the opportunity to witness someone who possesses an actual phobia for clowns. Once inside the haunt, we did not see many changes. Throughout all the attractions at Thrillvania, extremely detailed scenes and hallways have always been consistent and highly valued features. However, we truly wanted to see something new and different. Instead, we found that there were less actors this year, and the actors that were there did not seem as motivated as they were last year. Many of the unchanged scenes and decorations were damaged or malfunctioning. Don’t read us wrong, this place is still a fabulous haunt… but we were asking each other on the way out, “What all have they been doing over the past year?” Of course, we know about the vandals… but again, we cannot give extra points for their misfortune over the summer.
The Voodoo Bayou leading up to Verdun Manor received a couple new upgrades. Most noticeable is the fire breathing dragon, Nefarious, has been re-programmed to operate more smoothly and also looks quite a bit different and more convincing. The trip through Voodoo Bayou really adds to the overall spooky and creepy atmosphere leading up to Verdun Manor. However, one of our favorite beasts now sports a new green and red paint job that lacks realism and glares amateur artistic refurbish work.
Verdun Manor has also received some minor upgrades that most average patrons would not notice, but they do add to the overall appearance and atmosphere. Some of the walls now sway back and forth, the cave has a fresh coat of cement texture, and a couple new animatronics have been added. We also noticed a few props moved to different locations and a few slight tweaks here and there to keep us on our toes. Even without these upgrades, Verdun is still very elaborately and thoughtfully adorned throughout, and it also remains high on the gore meter.
The actors inside the haunt were few and far between (unlike last year), leaving mostly animatronics up for the challenge of scaring and thrilling us. Most of the very few actors we encountered were in fact very enthusiastic, portrayed their roles convincingly, and had moderately good timing. However, there were just a couple of actors with a plain black robe, plus a nice rubber mask, who simply jumped out and went “Argggggg” (literally) and then faded back into oblivion.
Finally, we visited the trail… 2007 is the third season that Dr. Lycan’s Trail of Torment has been in operation. The first year was a mere walk in the dark, with a couple actors. The second year we saw a HUGE improvement and greatly enjoyed the entire hike. For the third year we have mixed feelings… You follow a dimly lit path that leads through a thicket in the middle of nowhere. The sounds of machine guns firing and faint screams can be heard off in the distance. Some of the live actors had timing issues and missed their chance to get a good jump from us, while others seemed to be the most valued talent Thrillvania has to offer. These few actors with speaking roles remain the most memorable characters -- all possessing the ability to improvise and play along with the group while staying in character. However, we are still wondering where the dogs were supposed to be that we were so fervently warned about. But overall, we greatly enjoyed the entire trail, complete with scares, laughs, and even a single black room that could only be described as a path of rebirth. There is a bypass around the shack of confinement, but do yourself a favor and give this one a try, but try to go head first if you can…
Even with the vandal problems that the Thrillvania crew faced this season, they all still put on a good show. While this year may not have been as good as last year, we still left feeling fulfilled and entertained. Verdun Manor is still one of the most detailed haunts in the area and is truly one of the better haunts that DFW has to offer.
Additional Information
Visibility/Location :
Thrillvania is difficult to see from I-20 since it is not directly off the highway. You must exit County Road 138 (Wilson Rd.) and follow the road south (behind the fuel station). You should see the Thrillvania Trocar, aka hearse, in the parking lot of the fuel station. Follow the dark road until you see the entrance for Thrillvania on the left.
Parking :
The only parking available is an adjacent grass field and costs $5.00 per vehicle.
Atmosphere/Wait Entertainment :
Thrillvania has a carnival type atmosphere. There are carnival type games and concessions along the primary walkway between the various attractions. Several characters ranging from clowns to werewolves stalk their prey in the midway. You can also sit back and watch a magic show while eating a turkey leg or funnel cake from the reasonably priced concession stand.
Weather advisory- Midway entertainment, lines, and the trail is all outdoors.
Admission Price :
All Attraction THRILL Pass - $25.00 Internet Coupon: $2.00 off
VIP Unlimited Fast Pass - $35.00 Internet Coupon: $5.00 off
Children's All Attraction Thrill Pass - $12.50
(All 6 attractions for children under 12 years old.)
Attractions :
Located on the grounds of Thrillvania are 3 primary haunted attractions, including Dr. Lycan’s Trail of Torment, Cassandra’s Labyrinth of Terror, and Haunted Verdun Manor with Voodoo Bayou leading up to the house. Along with these 3 attractions, there is also an animatronics show called Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre, and the Maze of Chaos which is a chain link maze with strobe lights.
Crowd Control :
During our visit, the lines at Thrillvania were minimal. The longest wait that we had was for Cassandra’s Labyrinth and that was still only a few minutes at most. Be warned, the lines at Thrillvania do get very long during the season… On busy nights expect the lines to be long and waits in upwards of 2 hours for Verdun Manor.
Length :
Each of the 3 main attractions at Thrillvania range from 9 to 10 minutes each.*
* = Since people move through haunted attractions at different rates, your time will vary.
See the 2006 Review (http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=70)
See the 2005 Review ( http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=50)
See the 2004 Review ( http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=35)
Feel free to post your experiences and reviews in the Main Forum (http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2)
http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/images/banners/thrillvania.gif
Terrell, TX
OVERALL SCORE - 8.5
http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/images/stars/big/8_half.gif
Date: Saturday, September, 22 2007
Time: 9:30 pm
Time Spent at location: 2.5 hours
Overall Experience :
By now everyone should know who Thrillvania and Verdun Manor are, after their 10 score from us last year… Unfortunately, Thrillvania was unable to live up to the bar they raised so high last year. We believe that most of this can be attributed to off season copper thieves and vandals ransacking Dr. Lycan’s Trail of Torment and Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre. The theater had to be completely re-wired for this season, causing lost time (about 12 weeks) and money that could have been used to fix or improve the primary haunts at Thrillvania. Unfortunately, we have to rate the haunts based on the show provided and our experience at the time of our review, and we cannot take ‘behind the scenes’ technical issues and/or problems into consideration.
With that being said…
When we first arrived at Thrillvania, our group headed straight into Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre. Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre is an animatronics based show that extends an invitation to view a spiritual séance. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it) Granny Lupus never actually brings anything back from the great beyond. The theater is meticulously decorated to the extent that it really feels like you are inside this old woman’s home. Granny moves more smoothly now, and the audio track is much easier to hear and understand this year. The new wiring job made a big improvement to the overall show. Although some people might think this attraction is rather “cheesy”, the majority should at least find this short theatre show mildly amusing.
We then ventured over to Cassandra’s Labyrinth of Terror. Cassandra’s Labyrinth of Terror has the façade of a road side freak show, complete with a few demented clowns prowling the queue line looking for those who fear them. This proves highly entertaining if you get the opportunity to witness someone who possesses an actual phobia for clowns. Once inside the haunt, we did not see many changes. Throughout all the attractions at Thrillvania, extremely detailed scenes and hallways have always been consistent and highly valued features. However, we truly wanted to see something new and different. Instead, we found that there were less actors this year, and the actors that were there did not seem as motivated as they were last year. Many of the unchanged scenes and decorations were damaged or malfunctioning. Don’t read us wrong, this place is still a fabulous haunt… but we were asking each other on the way out, “What all have they been doing over the past year?” Of course, we know about the vandals… but again, we cannot give extra points for their misfortune over the summer.
The Voodoo Bayou leading up to Verdun Manor received a couple new upgrades. Most noticeable is the fire breathing dragon, Nefarious, has been re-programmed to operate more smoothly and also looks quite a bit different and more convincing. The trip through Voodoo Bayou really adds to the overall spooky and creepy atmosphere leading up to Verdun Manor. However, one of our favorite beasts now sports a new green and red paint job that lacks realism and glares amateur artistic refurbish work.
Verdun Manor has also received some minor upgrades that most average patrons would not notice, but they do add to the overall appearance and atmosphere. Some of the walls now sway back and forth, the cave has a fresh coat of cement texture, and a couple new animatronics have been added. We also noticed a few props moved to different locations and a few slight tweaks here and there to keep us on our toes. Even without these upgrades, Verdun is still very elaborately and thoughtfully adorned throughout, and it also remains high on the gore meter.
The actors inside the haunt were few and far between (unlike last year), leaving mostly animatronics up for the challenge of scaring and thrilling us. Most of the very few actors we encountered were in fact very enthusiastic, portrayed their roles convincingly, and had moderately good timing. However, there were just a couple of actors with a plain black robe, plus a nice rubber mask, who simply jumped out and went “Argggggg” (literally) and then faded back into oblivion.
Finally, we visited the trail… 2007 is the third season that Dr. Lycan’s Trail of Torment has been in operation. The first year was a mere walk in the dark, with a couple actors. The second year we saw a HUGE improvement and greatly enjoyed the entire hike. For the third year we have mixed feelings… You follow a dimly lit path that leads through a thicket in the middle of nowhere. The sounds of machine guns firing and faint screams can be heard off in the distance. Some of the live actors had timing issues and missed their chance to get a good jump from us, while others seemed to be the most valued talent Thrillvania has to offer. These few actors with speaking roles remain the most memorable characters -- all possessing the ability to improvise and play along with the group while staying in character. However, we are still wondering where the dogs were supposed to be that we were so fervently warned about. But overall, we greatly enjoyed the entire trail, complete with scares, laughs, and even a single black room that could only be described as a path of rebirth. There is a bypass around the shack of confinement, but do yourself a favor and give this one a try, but try to go head first if you can…
Even with the vandal problems that the Thrillvania crew faced this season, they all still put on a good show. While this year may not have been as good as last year, we still left feeling fulfilled and entertained. Verdun Manor is still one of the most detailed haunts in the area and is truly one of the better haunts that DFW has to offer.
Additional Information
Visibility/Location :
Thrillvania is difficult to see from I-20 since it is not directly off the highway. You must exit County Road 138 (Wilson Rd.) and follow the road south (behind the fuel station). You should see the Thrillvania Trocar, aka hearse, in the parking lot of the fuel station. Follow the dark road until you see the entrance for Thrillvania on the left.
Parking :
The only parking available is an adjacent grass field and costs $5.00 per vehicle.
Atmosphere/Wait Entertainment :
Thrillvania has a carnival type atmosphere. There are carnival type games and concessions along the primary walkway between the various attractions. Several characters ranging from clowns to werewolves stalk their prey in the midway. You can also sit back and watch a magic show while eating a turkey leg or funnel cake from the reasonably priced concession stand.
Weather advisory- Midway entertainment, lines, and the trail is all outdoors.
Admission Price :
All Attraction THRILL Pass - $25.00 Internet Coupon: $2.00 off
VIP Unlimited Fast Pass - $35.00 Internet Coupon: $5.00 off
Children's All Attraction Thrill Pass - $12.50
(All 6 attractions for children under 12 years old.)
Attractions :
Located on the grounds of Thrillvania are 3 primary haunted attractions, including Dr. Lycan’s Trail of Torment, Cassandra’s Labyrinth of Terror, and Haunted Verdun Manor with Voodoo Bayou leading up to the house. Along with these 3 attractions, there is also an animatronics show called Granny Lupus's Séance Theatre, and the Maze of Chaos which is a chain link maze with strobe lights.
Crowd Control :
During our visit, the lines at Thrillvania were minimal. The longest wait that we had was for Cassandra’s Labyrinth and that was still only a few minutes at most. Be warned, the lines at Thrillvania do get very long during the season… On busy nights expect the lines to be long and waits in upwards of 2 hours for Verdun Manor.
Length :
Each of the 3 main attractions at Thrillvania range from 9 to 10 minutes each.*
* = Since people move through haunted attractions at different rates, your time will vary.
See the 2006 Review (http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=70)
See the 2005 Review ( http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=50)
See the 2004 Review ( http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=35)
Feel free to post your experiences and reviews in the Main Forum (http://www.dfwhauntedhouses.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2)