“150 actors”… Say whatttt?!!! When we saw this advertised on Madworld’s website we were extra amped and dying to check them out! One of our biggest complaints is when a haunt doesn't have enough people because there are times when an animatronic just cannot replace the real thing.
Madworld definitely made us feel like we stepped into another little world. The midway was spacious, yet enclosed with a nice bonfire where you can warm up and watch the big screen, a gift shop, eerie lighting, and monsters wandering around created a very anticipatory and scary setting. They have also started doing friendly tours and day-time events geared towards families and Haunt Junkie Jrs. which is a pretty cool concept and fun for everyone!
The inside of this haunt felt massive! Room after room of well-designed, detailed sets that nicely transitioned into outdoor spaces (which we love!). Indoor and outdoor scenes incorporated animated props and creatively implemented lighting and effects with its actors. There were a couple of rooms that completely blew our minds and some that were so scary we hesitated before walking through! Sorry, no more details… NO SPOILERS!!! But there were also areas that lacked cohesion, and a few rooms and locations where the set, placement of props, and actors made it difficult to navigate. There was even a time when we tried to crawl through a backdrop, which would have been awesome... if it wasn't a backdrop.
Madworld has started to include elements of an immersive haunt, which is GREAT! The more you interact with not only the characters but the environment, the more emotionally invested you become in the haunt, but it is not quite up to par yet. The first two actors were out-of-this-world, the hotel owner and the bell-hop. However, the others did not live up to the same standard set by those first two. This led to a little confusion because we weren’t sure who we would be interacting with and who we wouldn’t be, which left us standing in front of actors like idiots waiting for them to interact with us.
You will probably never hear us say this about another haunt, but Madworld may have gone overboard with their cast. The make-up, masks, and costuming were well done, but at times, we felt the animated props, effects, and crew were competing against each other instead of complementing one another. The length of the haunt and number of actors started to make scares predictable and less frightening as time went on.
If you've never experienced Madworld plan a trip now! We absolutely love the growth and the commercial appeal they've added! Food trucks and DJ's are always a plus, but for the main attraction, we hope they find a happy medium between actors and props and continue to work out the kinks throughout this season and others to follow!
