Sunday September 29th 2019
Bates Motel
Located at: 1835 N. Middletown Road Glen Mills, PA 19342
3 Attractions (Bates Motel, Haunted Hayride, Revenge of the Scarecrows Haunted Trail)
Other Activities Available: Zombie Hunt (Laser Tag), & Double Edge Axe Throwing
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 8/10
Acting Overall: 8/10
Costumes/Makeup Overall: 8/10
Entertainment On Lines: 7/10
Food Options Overall: 7/10
Set Design Overall: 9/10
Props & Animatronics Overall: 10/10
There Is No Extreme option at Bates, BUT the actors CAN Touch you!
Free Parking
Plan to arrive early on High Volume nights!
We arrived to Bates around 7:30pm on Saturday September 29th. We noticed there was an exceptionally long line at the ticket booth for a Sunday. Luckily we had our VIP passes so wait times were not an issue! Immediately upon entering, we noticed the brand new additions for this year. Bates, has added an axe throwing experience & in the far back corner they were offering a Zombie Laser Tag event as well. We took a few pictures and began making our way over to the hayride! First up we headed over to the Hayride. Our experience with the hayride this year was a bit frustrating. It was around 8pm when we got on the line. There weren’t a lot of customers waiting for the next wagon, but for some reason instead of breaking up the line into 2 rides they shoved everyone onto one wagon. There was zero moving space, people were sitting on top of each other, and we could barely see anything going on in front of us because of the crowd. This significantly cut down on the experience of the hayride for us. If this wasn’t an issue, we would have had a much better time. The hayride is always very well done! Not only was this something we personally experienced but several individuals came up to us throughout the night mentioning Staff was putting in 15+ people in groups to go through the house and the corn maze. Crowd control overall seemed to have been an issue that night. We later came to find out kids had off from school the following day. As a result, There were a lot of young unsupervised kids at Bates that night. They were being extremely loud and obnoxious. They were also talking/taking pictures through the whole hayride. This was very frustrating, but this was NOT Bates Fault. We have visited Bates On a Sunday for the past 4 years, and never encountered a situation like this. This is most definitely not a normal occurrence for them. So do not let this sway you at all from visiting. Each one of the attractions here are VERY well done. You will not be let down. Just stay clear from visiting on very busy nights, if crowds are not your thing! Some of our favorite highlights from the hayride were the Dinosaur scene, the mine shaft & the overall extreme amount of pyrotechnics used throughout the show! The hayride has very elaborate well executed sets, as well as a large amount of animatronics and props. If this is your thing, Bates is most definitely going to be right up your alley! After the hayride we went over to the Haunted trail. We were sent through in a smaller group this time. There were maybe 6 people total sent through, ourselves and a group of young girls. Bates does an excellent job with their haunted trail. They bring the perfect mixture of a creepy desolate corn maze atmosphere coupled with large elaborate sets throughout the entire journey. We absolutely loved the new clown set that was added! It was by far our absolute favorite part of the trail. Just like the hayride this attraction is also jam packed with animatronics, props and beautifully done sets and tons of actors waiting to get you! The last attraction we visited for the evening was “Bates Motel”. This is our personal favorite out of the attractions! As huge animatronic fans, we are in complete AWE of everything this attraction has to offer. Out of all 3, the motel somehow manages to have even more animatronics, elaborate sets, and props then the other attractions before it! Our favorite Rooms were the library, the doll room & the bear room. This has been our 8th year visiting bates motel! It will forever be a staple in our haunted attraction “Must See’s”, and for very good reason! They do such an amazing job with their attractions. Make sure you get out to Bates this year so you can experience it for yourself!
Haunted Hayride
Actors: 8/10
Makeup/Costumes: 8/10
Use of Props & Animatronics: 10/10
Set Design: 9/10
Crowd Control: 1/10
Overall Attraction Rating: 7/10
Revenge of the Scarecrows Haunted Trail
Actors: 8/10
Makeup/Costumes: 8/10
Use of Props & Animatronics: 9/10
Set Design: 8/10
Overall Attraction Rating: 8/10
Bates Motel
Actors: 8/10
Makeup/Costumes: 8/10
Use of Props & Animatronics: 10/10
Set Design: 10/10
Overall Attraction Rating: 9/10