Springboro Haunted Hayride-“19th Year of Fright”
Springboro Haunted Hayride returns for its 19th year of frightful fun. When we arrived the parking lot was packed while more cars were waiting in the large line behind us. You can tell if a haunt has a good following when they are this crowded on their second night of operation. Expectations were high and in the end we were left a little disappointed.
Length-10: Your ride on the popular Springboro Haunted Hayride will take about 30 minutes to complete. There are very few dead spots along the trail.
Design-6: Every year we are impressed by the wide variety of scenes and rooms available at this classic hayride. But unfortunately we walked away disappointed this time. It seemed as if the majority of the rooms were stripped down to help with budget. Many of the scenes you’ll come across incorporate materials used on the farm and ultimately lack creativity. Classic scenes returning this year are the haunted clown barn, the headless horseman, the combine chase and much more. Many of the newer scenes would improve if they were accompanied by frightening music that went with the scene.
Props/Animatronics-7: Springboro Haunted Hayride doesn’t rely on high end animatronics, but instead uses the tools it already has available on the farm. This includes a running combine, an out of control hearse, a galloping headless horseman and much more. Unfortunately a few key scenes weren’t working properly such as the combine chase. In years past the combine would chase the tractor as it beeped its horn and flashed it’s light. This year the original lights have been replaced with strobe lights and no longer does the driver beep his horn. But everything else seemed as intense as ever and you wouldn’t expect any different from Springboro Haunted Hayride.
Acting-6: An actor is only as good as the dialogue He or She has been given. And unfortunately the acting at Springboro has become worse over the years. It may be because we were visiting on the second night of operation, but many of the actors lacked enthusiasm and instead of acting, they would chase the tractor with a chainsaw. Now it’s ok to use a chainsaw here and there, but if every other actor uses a chainsaw it starts to lose its impact. The acting needs to be greatly improved and a more adult cast would greatly improve this haunted hayride.
Scare Effect-7: You don’t have to have the scariest hayride around, but if the people on the wagon are in the mood to be startled then everyone on the wagon will have a great time. The night we visited everyone seemed to be in a great mood and were ready for a frighteningly good time. The majority of scenes that involved moving vehicles were as intense as ever while the acting fell way short of what we expect from Springboro Haunted Hayride. As I said before the scenes this year lacked creativity and didn’t leave a good lasting impression on us. But if this is your first year visiting Springboro your in for a Hell of a good time.
Fright Value: $12 is about the average price for a haunted hayride. But please make sure and purchase a combo ticket and see all of the impressive changes that have been made to The Black Bog. You would be a fool to not spend an additional $4 for a well organized haunted trail.
Final Stab-7.2: This year Springboro Haunted Hayride fell short of our expectations. There were a lack of impressive new scenes and the actors relied heavily on chainsaws. This classic hayride needs to be overhauled to be able to compete with newer hayrides such as Sandyland Acres. But every haunt that has been around for many years always has an off night and this may have been the case when we visited.