Reindeer Manor Abusement Park

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  This is my least favorite haunt in all of the DFW area.
  
  Like another reviewers said, I too look forward to October all year long, and plan out my haunts and events the month before, eagerly anticipating the month like the spooky loving big kid I am. There are so many haunts here, it is a pity for anyone to waste time and cash on this one.
  
  The drive in is the very best part, be sure to enjoy it, it is all down hill from there. When we pulled up my husband was convinced we were in the wrong place, lost out in the boondocks, and was already creeped out. There is your one star. They advertise a hayride, but they smoosh you in so much that you are practically sitting on top of one another. It only lasts a few minutes and there weren't any scares. lame. This could be such fun if they put some effort into it, it could really set the mood for the whole evening... and I guess it currently does if disappointing is the mood they are going for.    
  
  When you get to the main area you expect a fun atmosphere, but it all just seems dead, and not in a fun zombie like way, more like everything is poorly planned out and there isn't really any other activities going on. This place had potential, I can see it, but nothing was happening. Where is everyone?! Then I found out why it was so dead.... all the hundreds of people were standing in one giant never-ending line..... Dante's inferno level 10? lol.  
  
  The lines are longer than ANY other haunted house I have been too. I'm talking 3+ hours in line for a single haunt. Well over 3 hours, no potty break people. When we finally made it inside Reindeer Manor the actors all seemed tired. We stood around watching "scenes" and when they were done everyone just sorta stood there. They even said, "That is it. Keep moving." Sigh, real scary there guys, this was worth 3 hours of my life in line. They also make you go in with a HUGE group, so many people that it is impossible to be scared because you can see every scare coming because they did it to the 13 people in front of you. I typically scream my way through haunted houses, this one didn't get a single peep out of me. They were also constantly yelling at us to "hurry up!"  and move, and....well I felt like cattle. By the time we made it out I was tired and upset from the lackluster haunt that we just left. I didn't care to stand in line for another 3+ hours for much of the same.  
  
  I know all haunts have lines, but the ones here are RIDICULOUS. I don't think I even stood in a 3 hour line in the middle of tourist season at Disney, and they have roller coasters people! lol. Why not have everyone draw a ticket upon arrival and have a big board with numbers on it like at a deli and let it count down. This way no one is standing in line for endless hours, and you don't have to send in massive huge groups all at once. From a business perspective even, this would be smart, not standing in line means everyone is instead spending money on concessions and other events. Speaking of which get some decent concessions and other events...
  
  I gave it a second shot, thinking the first time HAD to be a fluke, I mean, other people seem to like it, other reviews here are high. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... well you get it. The second time was no better, the lines were just as long, the scares just as lame, the atmosphere just as empty.
  
  It was a rainy year too so I spoke to an employee before we went out to find out about the "conditions". They assured me it was all dry and to come on out. WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG. It was so muddy that cars were getting stuck. They had another car with a chain, pulling people out of the mud. They had to pull us out 3 times, and we were nearly hit several times by other cars spinning their tires and trying not to get stuck themselves. Our car was covered in mud, there was mud on the freaking roof. The mud was the scariest part of the evening. This is not an exaggeration, I lost a shoe. It was bad. Don't go if it has been raining in the last week.
  
  If you are making it a goal to see every haunted house in the area like I am, then see it just to check it off the list. If you are just looking for a fun spooky night - SKIP IT!!

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  Posted on 04.10.13 Heather L.

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  I really don't like it when my friends build something up and then  I am let down. I ended up going with the husband and a friend and her co workers when they wanted to go cause I missed going with my normal haunted house friends. We all really enjoyed the smaller houses but the big house really ended up ticking me off. had so many people in a group ... 20 ... that most of the time I saw nothing that was happening. A lot of the time I ended up talking to the "bouncer" who went with us cause some of the folks we didn't know were getting roudy.  I ended up getting shoved into a dark hallway corner because they were trying to get us thru the haunt and most of us couldnt see in the hall so I ended up  hitting my head from being shoved and got a massive headake. When we got to the last thing where you go in 2 by 2 or whatever my husband and I just left along with another couple. Nothing was really scary but I guess I'll give it a shot with my regular haunted house friends because they say it all depends on the group you go with.

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  Posted on 01.18.13 Haley K.

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  As far as haunted houses go, they are pretty good.  I didn't penalize them for being a "sloppy" haunted house.  Their score is low due to what went on while we were there.  But before I get into that, let me start by saying Halloween is probably about the biggest holiday in my house.  (We celebrate Christmas too, but Halloween is more fun!)  I always decorate the inside and outside with gore and blood and scary tactics.  My husband and boys built an electric chair a few years back.  So my kids aren't wimps by any means,  So back to the story at Reindeer Manor.....We arrive at the turn off and drive on this gravel road for what seemed like forever.  In the distance all we could see was this huge flare of flames soaring into the air.  Upon parking, we had to be ushered to the "grounds" by hayride via tractor.  For added flair and fun apparently it was super duper cold the night we went and it was lightly raining.  So it was the perfect setting! Anyway my 2 youngest kids aged 13 and 9 had not been to a haunted house in several years.  We make it through the ticket gate and proceed to begin our evening.  I let the boys pick where we would begin.  They choose the Dungeon of Doom.  The bubbly attendant at the door gives us our rules such as we can't touch them, but they can and probably will touch us.  Immediately I knew we'd have a problem.  They only allow like groups of 3 or 4 at a time, so they have plenty of time to "torture" you!  Not long after entering the house, one of the "spooks" grabbed my 13 yr old by the shirt and tried to force him into a room alone so my son was screaming and fighting because he didn't want to be alone.  Basically at that point he was ready to go after that.  But the attendant up front had told us we couldn't exit.  So we keep going until we round a corner and the boys get scared again, but this time my 9 yr (who has asthma) is starting to panic.  He's having trouble breathing (catching his breath) and he's crying.  He's begging me to leave.  We just so happened to stumble upon an emergency exit.
  
  As we prepare to leave one of the "spooks" blocks the door and tell us we can't leave.  To which I replied I could and would because my son's health was in jeopardy.  He broke character to tell me we were literally at the end of the haunt and only had 2 more corners to go.  Then he pushed on around the corner, but he followed us (still out of character) so I thought he was gonna help us on out because of my son.  But I then noticed he ducked behind a freaking wall and we were there to just deal with the brunt of whatever was to come.  So we pushed on through and my son was terrified literally at the end because there was a chainsaw at the end.  I was quite pissed off after that little incident.  My 9 yr old refuses to EVER go back there again.  My oldest son, whose 19, actually worked at another local haunted house in the area around the time we went to Reindeer Manor.  My 9 yr old was quite prepared for what he was gonna encounter.  But the fact he was starting to struggle breathing and I step to take him out of the emergency exit and am then told no and forced on inside the house is a MAJOR problem for me.  I am unsure if we'll ever go back to this one.  I will say its spooky, but our situation could have been a lot worse.  What if my son had a severe asthma attack and needed paramedics???  No haunted house or amusement park is worth my son's health!   Bad experience! :(

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  Posted on 01.02.13 Adra M.

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  I really loved the detail in 13th Street Morgue!!! The length of this attraction, the perfect looking cobwebs, extensive detail, decoration and choosing of props made me feel like I got my moneys-worth.   I really enjoyed the fact that this is a touch haunt as well. The in-your-face interaction from the actors makes the haunt worth it. Although I didn't get scared/jump once, I will be back next year.

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  Posted on 11.04.12 Jaci V.

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  Tayman Graveyard in Midlothian is MUCH better than Reindeer Manor.  We were disappointed to see people outside of the Reindeer manor house in street clothes to let people in.  There were also employees/volunteers in street clothes sitting & eating on the front porch!    Zero for ambience guys!
  
  The 13th street Morgue was also a huge disappointment.  After waiting for over 2 hours in the line there were few characters in the haunt & the same old props.
  
  We waited in line an average of 2 hours per haunt and it SO wasn't worth it.  Very few scares here.  It's like they don't care anymore.  It's too bad because this used to be our favorite haunt.
  
  Save your time & money and have a much better experience, more authentic with more scares at the Tayman Graveyard in Midlothian.....

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  Posted on 10.30.12 Dee K.

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  I've been going to reindeer manor since I was a little kid and it has always been my favorite haunt in DFW. It is located around 30 minutes south of downtown Dallas off Interstate 35. The location adds to the scare factor since you're basically in the middle of nowhere and it's really dark. After you take a short dirt road to the open field parking lot where a police explorer shows you where to park, you are escorted on a short hayride ride through the property to the attractions where you are dropped off to buy your tickets. THEY ARE CASH ONLY so print a coupon off the website or bring a canned good for a discount, proceeds go to the Boy Scouts of America. They do have an ATM but they charge you an arm and a leg to use and there is usually a line.
  
  There are three haunts to visit, the main Reindeer Manor, the Dungeon of Doom and the 13th Street Morgue. Reindeer Manor stays open until the last "victim" enters the house but the other two close at 1am or shortly thereafter. Dungeon of Doom and 13th Street Morgue are much scarier than the main house because they make you go in in groups of 4 leaving less people to hide behind, you are definitely outnumbered by the monsters. One thing to remember is THEY WILL TOUCH YOU HERE!!!! I was poked in the side (my fiancé is very ticklish here I kept hearing him giggle!) hair stroked, and they grabbed my leg! On the other hand, they are clear about you not touching their actors (most of whom are underage so watch your language!)  so don't punch them if you get scared! There are sheriffs and security onsite ready to deal with issues as they arise. Reindeer is the largest and longest attraction in the park. Our group of 8 went in with 10 other people, which was a little bit too big, but I understand the need to keep groups large so they can have the line move. They let groups every 5-10 minutes. The concept of the main house is really neat and different from other haunted houses in the area where you just walk through with no storyline and direction. It is live theater; every room has a plot, the actors are performing for you, they are interacting with you and you may become a part of the show. However, some of the story lines are stale and need some creativity and change, and some of the actors should project their lines a little bit more so the patrons can hear them over the special effect and music. The other two houses, Dungeon of Doom and 13th street morgue are the traditional walk through haunts, but do not discount them, they are intense and not for children!
  
  The WORST part of going to Reindeer Manor are the lines. Please, please consider having a fast pass next year. I would be willing to pay an extra $10-15 more per person to not have to wait HOURS in line. We arrived right at 8:30 and were only able to visit 2 houses by 1:30AM. Last year we visited in early October and saw few lines and made it through all attractions in a few hours, so I think the earlier in the season, or as close to opening time the better to avoid lines. Also, the haunted house will shut down for a half an hour while you're in line so that all the actors inside can take a break. I think it would be much more efficient if the actors inside took staggered breaks instead of shutting the entire operation down and leaving the customers just standing in a stalled line. There are a few actors that provide entertainment while you are standing in line, (staged scenes in the graveyard, song and dance routines, lip sync, ect) but it's not spaced out very well. We waiting 1  1/2 hour before we saw anyone perform anything outside. One more thing, bring some hand sanitizer because they only have portapotties, and wear tennis shoes because you will be standing in grass and dirt, and may at some point run away from chainsaws and scary zombies :) Happy Halloween!!!

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  Posted on 10.22.12 Stephanie P.

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  I am obsessed with haunted houses and always try to explore as many as possible each season, and I have to say, out of all the ones I've been to through the years, this is my favorite overall experience in D/FW.
  
  To start, it's off a very sketchy dirt road in Red Oak - so just driving to the remote location sets a really fun, creepy vibe for the evening. Once arriving outside the gates (at which points both my girlfriends asked that we go home), you drive down a dirt road for about half a mile before arriving to a parking area. From there, you take a hayride to the actual haunted house, so to say that this is in a desolate area would be an extreme understatement.
  
  The haunts were amazing. There are three completely different, full haunted houses.  I don't know how to describe them other than so awesome. The sets were so thoroughly decorated and imagined, the actors were so scary, and the scares were frequent and distinct - it seemed like every time you thought you'd determined where someone was hiding to scare you, it came from somewhere completely different. My friends and I actually ended up on a floor of the 13th Street Morgue, screaming and holding each other before sprinting out in sheer terror.
  
  We were at the park for a solid two hours and it was worth every minute and well worth the price. The location, the haunts, the actors, the decor, the entertainment outside the attractions - everything merged to create the creepiest experience. We had so much fun and raved about it for weeks. It's basically the measuring stick to which we put all other houses now, which has led to a lot of big disappointments at other local haunts.
  
  I can't emphasize enough how much I recommend this park. It is worth the drive, the price, the time - if you go to only one haunted house this season, make it Reindeer Manor!

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  Posted on 10.18.12 Kara K.

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  Here is the quick and dirty on Reindeer Manor.  I live in Red Oak and I love going to haunted houses every year.  This place hyped up and cannot deliver. The parking is in a field where they require you to ride a trailer to the entrance. This is the first line you wait in.   Then you wait in another line to buy your tickets.  It appears that every teen in the police junior ranger program is out there with a flashlight working there.
  The Dungeon - a good scare house except for the wait.  Took about 40 minutes to get in since we did it first and the crowds were lighter. When we left at 12:30 the line had doubled in length.
  Reindeer Manor - the main attraction.  Took 1 1/2 hours to get thru the line. It was totally not worth it. They send in groups of 20. This size of groups are way too big - that number of people do not fit in the rooms and you cannot hear what is going on. The jist is you go from room to room to hear a story scripted by actors.  Unfortunately you have a house full of 15 year old actors that you can barely understand. I never got the jist of what they were saying.  The new BBQ scene is so bad I dont kow why it is in the show. The scare factor is pretty low since I couldnt understand what all the 15 year olds were trying to say. Most groups went in every 7-8 minutes. But then there was a 25 minute wait with no groups supposedly for the scheduled breaks they give the "actors".
  The Morgue was good last year. By the time we had stood in line for 2 1/2 hours to go thru the other 2 houses, we were not up for another hour wait this year. I wish we had gone thru the Morgue this year and skipped Reindeer Manor.
  There are a couple of snack shacks but the facilities are somewhat ran down. I never saw anyone walk in to the little souvener shop. Only cash is accepted at the park. For the time and money I would go somewhere else.
  
  If the other reviewer Kara was there for only 2 hours then there is not way they had time to go thru all 3 houses. The waits are way too long for that !

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  Posted on 10.14.12 Rodger J.

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  I'm an old pro at Haunted Houses... It's one of the reasons I love autumn (another reason being that it's rarely 110 degrees). I look forward to October and will typically plan out my weekends a month in advance to visit as many haunted houses with as many friends as I can.
  
  Typically, my October schedule throws a new haunt or two in the mix, but Reindeer Manor is ALWAYS always on the agenda. Even the year I was a really poor college student (think so poor as to live off ramen and cigarettes as my main food source), I scrimped and saved and went to Reindeer Manor.
  
  I've been coming here since I was about 12 (haunted houses are a family tradition, just like watching horror movies at a young age and developing a serious complex about them- thanks, parents!), and this was the only haunted house to ever make me actually scream in fear. And no, I won't tell you what part I screamed at- That ruins the fun.
  
  Granted, I was about 12 when I screamed bloody murder, but even at that age, this was the only haunt to ever do that, and I'd been to quite a few at that point.
  
  In the 14 or so years since that first blood-curdling scream, I've grown to appreciate Reindeer more and more. And Reindeer itself has grown substantially since then.
  
  In addition to the main and biggest haunt, Reindeer Manor itself,  the fine folks here have put together 2 new haunts as well. The 13th Street Morgue is always an excellent show as well, and is the 2nd biggest. There was a time when the 3rd haunt was kiddie-stuff and not that great, but no more. The Dungeon of Doom is still the shortest haunt, I believe, but it is MUCH improved over what they had a few years ago (I think it was called Uncle Stinky's).
  
  One awesome thing about Reindeer Manor is that they really put on a show for you. The people there to scare your pants off? Yeah, they're actors. Not just folks rounded up who live nearby to chase you in the dark. There is a pace at which you move through the haunts, scenes to watch, and stories to learn.
  
  The idea is that Reindeer Manor is an actual haunted house. Do I believe that? I'm not sure. In all my years of going to this place, the only spooks I've seen or heard or even felt are the ones in makeup and costume.
  
  Reindeer is worth the drive and worth the money. The price has definitely increased in the past 14 years, but I still go every year. Bring a canned food item with you and save $5 off (at least that's what it was last year) the Combo ticket- which gets you in to all 3 haunts. Parking is FREE, which is nice. Some places screw you out of $5 just to park in a disused field plus the $30 to get in. Not at Reindeer.
  
  PLUS, they have a little midway with some games, hot chocolate, a food stand that sells hot dogs and nachos (if you sign up for the newsletter, they typically send you a coupon for a free hot dog). And shows to watch and things to listen to while you stand in line. I've also seen them showing horror movies in the barn outside the 13th Street Morgue house.
  
  And to top it all off? It's all for charity. All the proceeds go directly to the Boy Scouts, I believe. And, you can wear a costume to the haunt if you want. Some places lose their minds if you (or even your children) show up in costume. Not at Reindeer. They're happy to have you.
  
  Park in the field, take a free hayride to the haunt, get the combo ticket (trust me, do it. If you can't visit all 3 haunts in one night, come back the following night to visit the ones you missed!), have some hot chocolate, and scream your face off.
  
  I'll be there at least once this year, that I'm certain of!

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  Posted on 08.12.11 Kate R.

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