Wednesday, September 06, 2000

Kings Island FearFest not for 'Halloweenies'

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By Jim Knippenberg
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        Paramount's Kings Island, long known as a center for thrills, chills 'n shivers, will bump it up a notch this fall with a horrific production called FearFest.

        Running weekends Sept. 29-Oct. 31, FearFest is five haunted attractions, each a 15-minute walk-through, past live actors armed with Halloween accoutrement — chain saws, mutilated body parts, gruesome makeup.

        Unlike Howl-O-Fest, Kings Island's transformation of Hanna-Barbera Land into a Halloween party for kids, this is not for children. Park officials do not recommend it for anyone under 12.

Kings Island's horrific Halloween production, FearFest, is not intended for children. (Kings Island photo) | ZOOM |

        Five rides — Son of Beast, King Cobra, Top Gun, Face/Off and Drop Zone — also will be open for the 8 p.m. to midnight sessions.

        Halloween events aren't unusual in theme parks — Cedar Point and Six Flags Ohio have been doing them for years — but FearFest is different in that it's designed to be a serious scare.

        Kings Island designers, marketing execs and producers spent last fall researching 13 local haunted houses for the marriage of Paramount's production technology and Kings Island's flair for fright.

        “Halloween events are very common and extremely successful,” says Dennis Speigel, president of Cincinnati's International Theme Parks Services. “But the majority are more family oriented, less on the scare-o-meter and certainly not as intense as this one. They aren't taking it lightly up there.”

        The attractions:

        • Torture Tower: Located atop the Eiffel Tower, it's howling winds, iron bars and scenes of torture, including an especially graphic electrocution scene.

        • The Freezer: Beneath the Eiffel Tower, it's a stainless steel meat locker stocked with corpses, crazed prisoners, ghouls, a maze and costumed characters behaving badly.

        • Pirate Jack and the Legend of Halloween: Set in Paramount Theatre, it's in 4-D — a combination of 3-D effects, sets, exotic lighting and atmospheric illusions. It's another maze, this one telling the tale of Halloween in a variety of horrific ways.

        • The Sewer: This one also requires 3-D glasses — even the actors' makeup is 3-D. It's a dark and dank world full of toxic waste and the creatures who thrive in it. It's in the Festhaus.

        • Mummy's Revenge: Located in the Enchanted Theater, it's a claustrophobic, mummy haunted world of tombs and catacombs.

        FearFest will cost $19.99, $17.99 for guests already in the park and $16.99 for season pass holders.

       

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