CHECK IT OUT YOU GUYS WE HAVE A TIKIS. FOR REAL:

I was able to go with my High School to Orlando once in the 90s. I didn’t get to see much on that trip, thanks to having to wait for all the girls to do their makeup in the morning and not having enough money to spend much time there. The Tiki Room was one of the things I actually go to do. I personally wanted to just pass it by, but my friend dragged me on it. For about 10 minutes I thought I was on drugs or something. It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen. There was some crazy singing, birds coming out of the ceiling, lights…I don’t know what went on but OMG. IT WAS AWESOME.

I went back in 2008 and found that it was replaced with some sort of “Under New Management” thing. Iago and Zazu from Aladdin had taken over the show. This iteration of the show is generally hated by most people because the birds actually make fun of anyone who would want to see the show. There was never a line for this attraction. Making fun of an attraction that your founder designed wasn’t the greatest idea anyone ever had. Sure, Tiki isn’t a coaster or a cutting edge ride that is supposed to bring 10 year olds into the park, but it’s not supposed to be.

Let me explain what “Under New Management” show was like. When I went through the exit, I had tears in my eyes. I was THAT upset that they ruined the Tiki Room. If you grew up experiencing the classic Tiki Room that Walt designed, this version is a kick to the face. Harknell had never seen the classic Tiki Room and he remarked “I have no desire to ever go in THERE again.”

On January 12, 2011, a fire broke out in the attic of the attraction. The Iago animatronic figure was damaged and the attraction itself received some water damage. Tiki re-opened on August 15, 2011 as Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. This is a not exact copy of the original show, but it is pretty close. I’m so there, you gaiz. I AM SO THERE.

The wait is over:

Here is the commercial:

Tickets are now on sale. You can buy them here. And BOY HOWDY should you buy tickets and GO TO THIS ONE. BGT’s HoS is always epic – one of the highlights of my haunt season. Here is my review from last year.

The word on the interbuttz (thanks to the AAA south website) is that this is the house list:

- Ultimate Gamble: Vampire Casino (New for 2011.)
- Nevermore: A Poe themed house (New for 2011.)
- Zombie Mortuary (New for 2011.)
- Deconstruction: The Dr. Is out of Control (Returning from last year.)
- Death Row Vengeance: Fear the Dead (Returning from last year.)
- Nightshade Toy Factory (Returning from last year.)
- Alone (Returning from last year. There is an upcharge for this house)

If this is true, we are one less house from last year. That is never a happy occasion, but the Delta Epsilon Delta house of last year (sorority-themed) never quite seemed to work for me. I thought it was amusing, but I am not sad to see it go. Trapped in the Walls (paranormal research themed house) was OK, but not one of the more memorable ones for me. The only thing I remember from it really well is the people researching outside the house. If they are devoting resources to making a great product (which BGT is known to do) then I’m sure it will be awesome.

Deconstruction and Nightshade Toys are really good houses. I am glad they kept those. Death Row Vengeance was fun, but seemed not quite as good as the others. It could be because I live near Eastern State Penitentiary’s haunt. ESP has the unfair advantage of being inside a real prison that is scary during the day. Still, if they have to axe a house for next year, I vote DRV off the island.

Of course, this is assuming that these houses are exactly the same as 2010 – this may or may not be true. BGT could have very well altered the houses this year from the inside.

I am excited that Alone is returning because I felt it was WELL worth the money last year Alone is the best haunted house I have ever gone through in my entire life – and I’ve gone through hundreds. I will be most definitely going through again this year.

When it is launched the official site is here. BGT’s HoS is always an event that I know will keep me coming back year after year – all the way from New Jersey! I can’t wait to go this year!

When people ask me how to promote their company, I tell them that they should be on Twitter. I then caution them that they should not use Twitter if they don’t know how to use it right. Your social media presence can easily lose sales for you and damage your reputation if you do it wrong.

Today @MangaUK did just that in a conversation with @NorthStarBlog. I had to take this screenshot because I was so blown away by what I saw:

It doesn’t matter what @NorthStarBlog was saying – it is never a good idea to get into a personal squabble with a reader or customer when you are representing a service-driven company. Have people said things to me that I disagree with or criticized me unfairly? Of course they have! I have never – not once – taken a rude tone with anyone. The “worst” I have ever said is, “I’m sorry you feel that way. What can we do to make it better?”

Why do I handle disputes gently? 9 times out of 10 a customer will realize that when you care about what they are saying, they should care about you and support you. This is Psychology 101. If you challenge them and start arguing it just makes the company look bad and inspires them to not buy from you even more. You’ll catch more flies with honey. You don’t like it when people are rude to you – they don’t like it when you are rude to them.

No customer will interpret negativity as “Wow these people really care about my business.” Negativity is interpreted as, “WTF jerk”. Back in the day, many people went out of their way to download Metallica’s albums even if they didn’t like Metallica because they thought they were jerks.

Positive conversation is the foundation of the customer-company relationship on social media. If you have something negative to say – imagine the outcome after you’ve said it. Will it make things better? Will it inspire people to buy from you or support you? Will it inspire people to not pay you and download things because you are a jerk?

The other reason gentle, positive conversation is better is because there is a margin for error. In the case above, apparently the person wasn’t even referring to @MangaUK:

At least @MangaUK apologized? Oh wait no he freaked out later on @NorthStarBlog in his Twitter stream on the guy and then:

I can answer the above question – There is a difference between gentle correction and being just plain rude. MangaUK was just plain rude here.

Then he unfollowed the @NorthStarBlog due to his use of profanity that was brought upon by @MangaUK’s rudeness. @MangaUK then seemed to be trying to get him to beg to be re-followed?

Manga and comics (my industry) isn’t essential for people to eat and sleep. In fact, it’s hard for many companies to stay in business because the economy is so bad. I hope that @MangaUK realizes how bad this makes his or her company look before they have no customers left.

Wow.

EDIT:

It’s that time of year again! I’m getting ready to pillage all of the haunts worth seeing and report the debauchery back to you. Honest and fair reviews are the order of the day. I started doing this a few years ago after being angered when I found a highly rated haunt or two ended up being absolutely awful after I drove hours away to see them. The only explanation was that some haunt review sites were padded with fake reviews from people who worked there.

I don’t take or give that kind of BS, so I’m here to set the record straight. I’m traveling from NJ all the way to FL and back up again to challenge the best of the best Halloween events and haunted attractions.

Here are some of the haunts I am looking at to be reviewed for this year. I probably left some out, so feel free to tell me if I am missing any.

Haunts I will definitely be doing this year:

- Eastern State Penitentiary – Philadelphia, PA – Every year, Eastern State doesn;t fail to impress me. It also helps that their building is one of my favorite places on earth, and you can get Aztec Mocha across the street from them.

- Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights – Orlando, FL – The biggest and highest budget haunt in the world, I think? Need I say more? Click here to read last year’s review.

- Busch Gardens Tampa Howl O Scream – Tampa, FL – FL’s (second biggest?) haunt shouldn’t be underestimated. These guys came in as my #1 favorite haunt for ALL of 2010 last year. they sit securely in the “can’t miss” category. Check it out my post here.

- Morey’s Fears – Wildwood, NJ This haunt is new for this year. It seems these guys really know what they are doing and are moving in the right direction with their related attractions. I have to go see this! This could be the biggest thing for NJ since hairspray!

- Schaeffer Farm Fright Fest - Not a big budget haunt, but one of my favorites! Click here to read last year’s review.

Haunts I might do this year:

- Night Terrors – Jacksonville, FL Never been here.

- Corner of Chaos – Hightstown, NJ See least year’s review here.

- Scarehouse – Pittsburgh, PA Never been here before.

- Fear Factory – Philadelphia, PA This haunt has said they have beefed up the scares. I have to check it out!

- Night of Terror – Mullica Hill, NJ Never been here before.

- Field of Screams – Lancaster, PA Never been here before.

- Field of Terror – East Windsor, NJ See last year’s review here.

Haunts I will not be doing this year:

- Bates Motel: Bates is an excellent haunt. You can’t go wrong with Bates, really. However I noticed that many effects were broken when I visited last year and it really doesn’t change that much from year to year to encourage me to go a 3rd year in a row. I’m giving it a break for this year and will return next. Again, I don’t have unlimited money.

- Pennhurst: This haunt opened last year and Bates has something to do with it. Because of this I expected it to be awesome, but it really fell short in a major way. Here is my post about why I was not happy with it in 2010. I am sure that with Bates on board this will become a great haunt, but I have limited money and choose to give them some time to perfect it before shelling out the cash again. If you go this year and find it is much better, please let me know. If that is the case, I’ll go again.

EDIT: Yikes! I’ve done SO MANY haunts in the last 2 years that I’m going to have to put together a page that links everything in alphabetical order for you guys. Know before ya go! :D I’ll try and get that done in the next few days.

Every year gargoyles Frank and Carson are placed on the Eastern State Penitentiary façade to coincide with the launch of their most excellent Halloween event. They have turned Frank (who is nearly six feet tall and close to 300 pounds) into a plush doll. For example:

ESP has also added some new sections to their haunt this year. I’ll be there to check it out and I’ll probably get a little gargoyle, too. :D It’s Intervention season now (have you registered yet? Time is running out and the room block is almost full!), but right afterward, I will embark on my yearly Haunt Blogging tour again! Yay!