10/11/2023
PENNHURST ASYLUM 2023 REVIEW:
My word. Where to begin on this one. We went Friday 10/6 with a deal to get VIP half off to start the Pennsylvania trip right. We got there late due to taking a delay getting out of Michigan, and it was exceptionally busy. Finding the grounds was simple but they direct you around the other side to enter, so you have to find this one lane old ruined road and go deep into the woods.
Parking was backed up, but they totally had a handle on it vs other big haunts. It was $3 to park, and once we got out and walked towards the tickets the trail went downhill into the woods. In my selfie you see what I saw as the first building, then it goes to a big courtyard and the haunt is in several buildings connected through access tunnels underneath.
VIP got an extra haunt through the access tunnels, and frankly that was the most unique part. It's a shame they don't do it for all ticket holders, it was really creepy and the actors down there were awesome. It had a cult theme, with a big demon at the end.
Line was 3 hours GA, 15 minutes VIP, but a group in front of us had a member in a wheelchair and it was cool to see they let that person in with security guys to help them up and down stairs. The rules host was really aggressive in a good way.
Inside it's very similar to eloise both on the first haunt and the second one. The first area went through 3 floors of the main building and was ASYLUM themed, the second one went to other buildings underground and was sci fi like eloise but not nearly as polished. The third area was a fog tunnel for half opening up to the scariest abandoned tunnels I've seen a haunt do with really scary ghost and insect people costumes. My buddy really has a problem with low visibility in haunts because it comes off lazy, but I could tell half the stuff in that area didn't work correctly so they just hid it with fog. It wouldn't be a huge deal in normal haunts, but pennhurst has a reputation and is known as a multi million dollar haunt, so that was disappointing.
All in all, great value, really cool if you're in the Philly area, and if you love eloise this is cool and different while being run by the same people. Overall, I like Eloise more, but this is a solid 8/10 haunt that's worth visiting if you're in Pennsylvania during the season!
