2013 The Boo at The Zoo Event Reviews

We decided to check this out because it's really close to Caledonia where we're at.

While I think this haunt has some tremendous potential, it was fairly obvious that they weren't ready for paying customers yet. Many of the actors simply weren't at their stations, workers were still in the process of installing lighting, and the girl taking admission told us point blank that they didn't expect customers this early in the season, which may be why we didn't get to see the Headless Horseman.

I would recommend a couple of things here with regard to this. It's okay if actors aren't at their stations the entire evening, particularly if it's a slow night early in the season. But what I'd advise is to keep the customers at the entrance, until all of the actors can get to their stations, then let the customers in. A short wait will always be tolerated if it allows for a better haunting experience.

Second, I know this is the first year so there is some inexperience at play and that's totally understandable, but they should try to be ready by their advertised date of opening. If they can't be 100% ready till the 2nd or 3rd week in October, that's okay, but they're better off just not opening until then in that case in my opinion. Though they may not be aware of how much traffic hauntedwisconsin.com can drive to their haunt, particularly this early in the season.

When we went there were probably only about 4 actors in the whole place. A "Jason" that stood by a table that didn't seem to do much of anything other than stand there under bright white lighting, a couple of zombie girls milling about that were okay, and a really great actor in a gorilla costume that scared the heck out of us as he beat his chest.

Unfortunately, many other employees weren't in costume who were milling about, so it was hard for any kind of spooky atmosphere to be maintained. I'd recommend that every employee, even admission takers or parking directors, be in costume so as not to break the mood. Even some simple face paint would be good enough.

I've been there before in the day so I know that the animals are really cool, and being able to hear a real lion roar in that close of a proximity is thrilling and gives some great chills, but in the dark you can't really see any of them. I'd recommend getting rid of any white lighting since it kills any spooky mood. Install creepy green, blue and/or red lighting. Place it on the ground and shine it up in that classic monster movie lighting kind of way, like a flashlight under a chin. Rope lighting isn't all that spooky in general, but it could be used to great effect by laying some on the ground in the back of the cages to give some spooky back lighting.

A few fog machines would be helpful though I'm not sure they could coexist with these animals.

The inflatable lighting lawn ornaments are okay in the parking area, but I'd lose them inside the haunt, they're just too cheesy to facilitate a spooky mood. Speaking of parking, depending on how popular this haunt becomes, parking may be difficult as their parking area seems kind of small, and there's some potholes in the driveway as you pull in that you have to watch for in the dark.

They could benefit from a small concession stand too, maybe some popcorn or hot dogs and soda or cider or hot chocolate as folks wait in line if it becomes popular.

It might also be wise to light the sign at the intersection they're near so folks can find the place easily, one of those inflatable lighted lawn ornaments would be great here.

However, having said all that, if they take some of my suggestions above this could be a really, really great haunt. Where else could you see a lion, tigers, camels, turkeys, pigs, reptiles, goats, zebras, lemurs, monkeys, and all kinds of other animals this close in a night time Halloween setting?

At $5 admission, I'll be willing to try this haunt again later in the season when they have everything in place.