HHN & small children

[Metro West]

You wanna see kids at an inappropriate event? Howl-O-Scream is way worse than HHN. I saw so many strollers last night that I thought I was at the Magic Kingdom. And yep, a tiny baby being held in a blanket too.

I didn't see many youngsters walking around or being wheeled around on Friday night...I did see a family pushing their kids who looked to be four or five around in a stroller...but they were the only ones I remember. Maybe the message is getting out.

 

[inkkognito]

I didn't see too many on Friday at HHN either, but Saturday at HOS was like a kindergarten classroom. It inspired me to write the Neglectful Parent's Guide to Halloween Horror Nights and Howl-O-Scream. Click here to read it, and I know my Orlando peeps can back me up on people having been in the news in the past for giving their kids booze at HHN, then getting angry about being kicked out.

 

[donaldduck352]

Great way of putting it,I loved the report and believe in everything you wrote!!!!

 

[Victoria3]

They should post this pic on the front gate.

 

[Timmy Boy]

This pretty much covers it. I can see the parents rolling the stroller up, Jack seeing the kid and taking pride by preying on the kid (which he should) and the parents laughing.

EDIT: Victoria beat me by 2 minutes!!

 

[donaldduck352]

They should post this pic on the front gate.

That says it all!!!!!!

 

[Magpie]

I've never been to HHNs, but I have to confess we once took the kids to a very scary Halloween event at our local museum without realizing it wasn't meant for children. (It was a combined thing - half inside for the kiddies, half outside for the grownups and we wandered into the wrong area.)

Yes... bad parent moment there. But on the other hand, it did give us one of our funniest Halloween moments ever.

We were walking through a really well themed haunted house type area (and thinking maybe we'd made a mistake) when a ghoul in realistically gruesome makeup jumped out in front of us and shouted, "Yarrgh!" My son, almost-three years old at the time, braced himself, clenched his fists and screamed, "YAARGH!!!!" right back at the monster. The actor literally jumped back a foot and said, "H*ly Sh*t!" Then he looked at us, wide-eyed, and said, "That kid's scary!"

My son stomped out of the haunted house, frowning. Then, back inside the museum, he looked up at us and said, "I don't like that!"

So we headed back to the kiddy area for the rest of the night.

And FWIW - no nightmares, no trauma, and given that he's a reasonably well adjusted 12yo now, I don't think he was scarred for life.

 

[tarrbear]

You wanna see kids at an inappropriate event? Howl-O-Scream is way worse than HHN. I saw so many strollers last night that I thought I was at the Magic Kingdom. And yep, a tiny baby being held in a blanket too.

Friday night at HOS I saw a lot of youngsters too. It was quite ridiculous, there were a few 12 year olds in our group but they only came cause we knew they could handle it, but some kids I saw were having mental breakdowns!

I don't get what is running through some parents minds, then again last year at HHN a kid who was probably 10 told my friend she was a scaredy cat after being in front of us in the Dracula house....

 

[Jonny_Duck]

And FWIW - no nightmares, no trauma, and given that he's a reasonably well adjusted 12yo now, I don't think he was scarred for life.

Ya. Good point imo. Pretty sure the point of these events are to scare ppl and why should only semi wussy adults be the only one to enjoy the fun?

I would say though Howl-O-Scream seems more scandalous and from what I have heard their are a lot of half naked women around so I based on that assumption I wouldn't bring someone young.

But both my Mom and I last year said that my Nephews/Nieces could handle it. Especially the scare zones imo were just semi entertaining more then they were scary. It was no more terrifying then the haunted forest walkthrough we went through.

 

[mjohnson96]

I didn't see too many on Friday at HHN either, but Saturday at HOS was like a kindergarten classroom. It inspired me to write the Neglectful Parent's Guide to Halloween Horror Nights and Howl-O-Scream. Click here to read it, and I know my Orlando peeps can back me up on people having been in the news in the past for giving their kids booze at HHN, then getting angry about being kicked out.

Loved the article...so true and sad!

 

[Yoshi]

I went to a Halloween event at my local amusement park last Friday night and they also say it's not for kids under 13. They also close all the kids areas/rides on Friday night and at 5:00 on Saturday and Sunday. I was surprised at all the little kids there too. Besides having hardly anything to ride, there are scare actors walking all over the park chasing people and sneaking up on them not to mention uncensored music playing, not the place a little kid should be at.

 

[TheRatPack]

My son and husband were going to go when my son was just 13....I ended up rearranging the plans because after watching some of the houses on Youtube I thought that it was way too much for him (and he'd been to haunted houses before). They are going this year though....but he's now 16 LOL I on the other hand will not be attending....I don't watch scary movies either!

 

[SharkyGoddess]

This comes up every year...

Every child is different. If they can handle the gore/scares/sex/crowds/alcohol and they know that it's all fake/effects/makeup and that the scary people WILL go after anyone, then it's Your Call.

And I have seen strollers, 4-10 year olds sitting on a bench crying, 8 year olds loving every minute of it, 20-somethings having breakdowns, etc.

THANK YOU!!! As stated, it all depends on the kid. Take my 6 year old for an example. He's been exposed to haunted houses since he was just a few months old because we have friends who build and host them for charity events. He was even in a zombie walk last year as a Zom-BABY.

What I'd love to know is why isn't someone calling for a counselor for all of those wimpy "adults" who run crying and yell at the Scareactors for *GASP* scaring them? Loving all things scary doesn't come with an age limit, and just because you see a parent at any Halloween themed even doesn't mean you know that family or their child so stop being so judgmental.

 

[inkkognito]

Loving all things scary doesn't come with an age limit, and just because you see a parent at any Halloween themed even doesn't mean you know that family or their child so stop being so judgmental.

You sure do know when you see the kid screaming and crying and begging to go home and the parent slapping the heck out of them. I go to HHN and HOS multiple times every year, and sadly I see that multiple times every year. You ain't gonna convince me that I'm misjudging the situation when a kid crying and begging to leave and is in obvious terror. Yes, some kids can take it, but there are plenty there that can't.

 

[Planogirl]

We regularly go to local haunted houses and it always amazes me how many young kids I see. Some of them take it all in stride but I can see that some are also quite scared. It's hard to believe that people take babies and toddlers to these things. Wacky.

 

[chrisn]

I agree that it is not good for parents to DRAG visibly terrorized children to these things..as a parent, I would never do that to my child. My son is 13 and has been BEGGING to go...matter a fact, he is living for it LOL! He's already picked out his house shirt! So I do think if they are mature enough or have a thick hide/tough constitution, and enjoy the horror genre, taking those ones at a younger age is ok.

Last Halloween (at 12) my DD-21 and her BF took him and two of his 12 year old friends to one of our big premier houses (notice how I didn't go?). Once they were there, one of his friends wouldn't even step foot in there. One walked slow and reluctantly in, and my son ran up ahead cause he couldn't get in fast enough.

While her BF waited outside with the one who would not go in, my DD took the other two in. 1/2 way through, they all had to leave cause the other 12 yr old was just too scared to continue. My DS was so pi$$ed! I didn't hear the end of that for a week and now when someone asks if he wants to invite friends, he can't get HELL NO (in so many words) out of his mouth fast enough LOL!

I'm placing my therapist on speed dial...case "I" get traumatized!

 

[indimom]

We're going to our local theme park (Kings Island) for their halloween event this weekend. The last time we went, we were only five feet in from the gates and saw these "parents" dragging an 8/9yo into the park despite his crying and screaming and begging to leave. They were giving him all kinds of grief, calling him a big baby, and shaming him in front of hundreds of strangers. It was soooo sad. Why would you do that??? Hopefully we won't have to see that again this year, I'm not sure my hubby will be able to hold his tongue again if we do...

I agree that there are kids who can take it, but when they obviously can't, or if you just don't know how they will react, I don't get why anyone would do that to a kid??? Heck, why pay that amount of money just to be miserable?? Makes no sense to me at all.

 

[SharkyGoddess]

You sure do know when you see the kid screaming and crying and begging to go home and the parent slapping the heck out of them. I go to HHN and HOS multiple times every year, and sadly I see that multiple times every year. You ain't gonna convince me that I'm misjudging the situation when a kid crying and begging to leave and is in obvious terror. Yes, some kids can take it, but there are plenty there that can't.

I guess I'll get to see all of these terrified, beaten kids when I'm there

Of all the years we've helped host our haunts, not once have we seen anything like this. Then again, I actually have kids and when I see a child being scolded by a parent I realistically know it's because they've misbehaved.

 

[Planogirl]

I guess I'll get to see all of these terrified, beaten kids when I'm there

Of all the years we've helped host our haunts, not once have we seen anything like this. Then again, I actually have kids and when I see a child being scolded by a parent I realistically know it's because they've misbehaved.

I have seen a few parents ridicule kids for not wanting to ride a few things at amusement parks but it's been very rare. I don't recall anything at our local Halloween attractions but I don't know about HHN.

 

[TaylorsDad]

I hate when people bring little kids. It affects the rest of us also in our experiences in the houses. It seems when scareactors see small children in the house that the scareactors tone down their scares. So if you are beside someone who decided to bring their 4 year old, you won't get the maximum scares.

Perhaps this is true most times, however when we were there on opening night we were behind a couple with a small boy going into Hades (Best house IMO). I do not know the childs age but he was small because the father actually let the son sit on top of his shoulders and I noticed the boys head bent down to avoid looking. They got just a little ahead of us and it seemed the scareactors were careful to avoid scaring them much so we got the perfectly timed scares that we probably would have missed. Either this or the scareactors are just that good.