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| - I went with my fiancé and her 8 year old son on Sunday two days after Halloween. The line wasn't too bad-- we waited about 40 minutes in line before being admitted. They set it up to allow a LOT of people in the lines, and we could tell if you go during a busy time (before/during Halloween) the wait could easily exceed 2 hours. They let people in as 'groups' and it's about 10 minutes or so per group.
You can opt to pay $10 extra for a 'fast pass' and I would HIGHLY recommend this if you plan to go during a 'busy period' unless you want to spend half the night in line.
Pros: The 13th Floor is part of a small Franchise which started in Denver and you can tell it's a VERY well oiled machine. When we went, they did a masterful job of controlling groups to keep the pacing fluid-- it felt like a living, personal nightmare. You are given a quick intro and ushered into a elevator that gives you a cool, freaky breakdown. From there, you start to walk through and you're on your way. The production is split into the 'main' attraction' and then a zombie/military quarantine zone.
The FX quality is extremely well done; there are multiple 'themes,' all resembling some sort of twisted nightmare (such as a pirate theme, a classic haunted house, a creepy asylum, etc.) I can't compliment the production value enough, that's probably what impressed me the most. It's like they combined a bunch of crazy nightmares that blend together. The pirate section had a 'deck' that would sway back and forth like you were on a boat, the haunted house was extremely authentic with a big entry door, the jungle areas were outstanding.
The cast was superb and stayed in character-- many of whom were very athletic (sliding underneath half open garage doors or climbing on walls, etc.) and had very impressive vocals (one girls scream was ear shattering! Very nicely done) They also did a good job 'controlling' our group. We got a little far ahead and they were able to 'stop' us without touching us by standing in front of a door and asking us creepy questions, very clever way of managing our group.
This haunted house is also surprisingly physical-- one section is about 30° which is very disorienting and somewhat difficult to travel, they also have these blown up air bags that you have to 'push' your way through that add to the creepy factor. Then of course a creepy shifting tunnel that you see at fairs. Many rooms tilt or shift, etc. All just add to the jarring, creepiness.
Cons: I'm not easily scared-- possibly years of violent videos games,The Walking Dead and just over stimulation in general has made me pretty immune to cheap scares and people jumping out at me. I made a point to 'acknowledge' the actors in some way vocally as I didn't want to insult them by just walking by unflinching. If you treat it like a 'interactive' performance, you'll have a better time. The actors want you to react, so it just makes things more fun. A few times I was masterfully startled, but there were no real 'scares' and highly predictable. Some points are completely pitch black, I stumbled around pretty frequently and had to sort of 'feel' my way around; a handful of times the actors had to borderline physically move me because I was very clearly not going the correct way :P The darkness is a minor caveat as it's a double edge sword-- it can be a little annoying bumbling about, but it adds to the 'creepy' factor when you literally can't see 1 ft in front of you.
The zombie section wasn't as good-- it felt like 'cheaper' thrills, had an awkward pacing and the set design was hit or miss. The control wasn't as perfect as the first section and there were several actors sort of just 'standing around,' or waiting for you. (rather than jumping out)
Finally the way the fast passes work sort of irks me. You can pay $10 to get a fast past which puts you in a separate line that's ahead of the pack. They then alternate between fast pass people and regular ticket people. This sort of bugs me because anyone who buys a 'regular' ticket, just has to wait an extra amount of time, it greatly incentives people to spend the extra money and penalizes the 'regular' ticket price people. Really though, I'm not sure how else they would do it, but it's just frustrating when you get closer to see all these people jump in front of you which inevitably means you're waiting even longer.
Overall I was impressed. The entire walk-through took about 45 minutes and I feel you definitely get your money's worth. It's an entertaining endeavor, even if you aren't easily scared like me-- you can certainly enjoy the event. I treated it like a crazy spectacle, and it was! As for the 8-year old in our group, they definitely liked to focus on him and he thought it was VERY scary but had an absolute blast. Use your judgement if your child can handle it. (they don't recommend children under 12) They REALLY like to pick on the kids and go for the easy targets, which really can be fun for everyone :P
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