[Haunts] Golden Ticket Awards - Best Halloween Event

Well, last night around 9pm the Golden Ticket awards for 2013 were announced by Amusement Today. Long been the standard of showing excellence for theme parks and water parks, it's definitely not without issue. I won't get into all the categories here because there's only one that matters around this time of year. Besides, +Carrie H.C. already did that on her blog here.

Best Halloween Event at a theme park/amusement park, that's what I'm interested in.

This list really hasn't changed much over the years, especially at the top. There's been a back and forth struggle between Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando and Knott's Berry Farm's Knott's Scary Farm for years...though HHN has taken the crown quite a few years in a row now.

So, here's the list of the top five:

• Universal Orlando - Halloween Horror Nights (30%)
• Knott's Berry Farm - Knott's Scary Farm (22%)
• Knoebels Amusement Resort - Hallo-Fun Nights (11%)
• Kennywood - Phantom Fright Nights (10%)
• Cedar Point - HalloWeekends (7%)

Alright, so the first two I can definitely see. As I said, they've been going at each other for years and they both produce some really top notch events. Both look like they're on the top of their game for this year as well. Though, why Universal Studios Hollywood isn't on this list is a bit of a mystery as well, it's not like they're slouches at all when it comes to Halloween either. You can check out what both are offering up for 2013 with our HHN Orlando Mega Post and Knott's Scary Farm Mega Post. They both definitely deserve to be on the list and at the top.

Knoebel's I can also kinda see because the folks who vote on these things really do love that park to death so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that favoritism and bias weighed in to some degree. I've never been to that event so I can't say for sure, but maybe it's just a change of pace from everything else out there. The park alone just has that kind of vibe and it's been one of my favorites for years...so maybe I need to get out there for October one of these years to see what it's all about.

Now here's where I have a serious issue and start to question the sanity of anyone that voted this year, Kennywood. How in the seven layers of hell does one of the absolute worst experiences I've ever had at a haunted event even make it into the Top 5 of anything? Maybe others had a better time, but the Saturday we went they stunk up the place in such grand fashion that it became funny. Then it just became sad, because it used to be great. (read the review here) Severe lack of actors, extremely poor line control and very unhelpful/unknowledgeable park staff.

This one just has me scratching my head...even more so since they have nothing new for this year  at all. (Read here for a look at this year's event) I could see if they changed things up often enough, but they really don't and with last year's performance, it shouldn't even be in the top 10.

Last, but not least, is Cedar Point. I swear the only reason it's even on the list is because it's Cedar Point (much like many of the other categories it won for, it's not the best park, it's not even the best Cedar Fair park!). It's the smallest Halloween event from a maze/scare-zone perspective out of any of the Cedar Fair parks and while it does have some original shows...it doesn't even have fully unique haunt experiences either.

It looks like a severely watered down version of what else is out there in the park chain (more on that later). Whoever was voting here was just voting the party line it seems because even Kings Island or Kings Dominion is far and away better than Cedar Point's offering during the fall. Don't believe me? Just check out what's coming to both of those parks by click on the links, our review of Kings Dominion last year also speaks volumes.

What would my list look like? Probably not too dissimilar at the top to be honest. HHN Orlando and Knott's would be duking it out for the top spot but you can bet your chainsaws that I wouldn't have included Kennywood or Cedar Point. Likely not even Knoebel's. Places like Kings Island, Canada's Wonderland and Howl-O-Scream Tampa may have gotten the nod. Maybe even HHN at Universal Hollywood or why not go crazy and include something like Universal Singapore (their event this year looks great btw!) to the mix?

So there ya have it, this year's "best" Halloween Events at theme parks/amusement parks. A couple that make sense and a few that are definitely complete BS.

As per the usual, don't forget to follow me on Twitter @KitsuneHazard and Google+ for all the latest updates, news and more from haunts all over the US!