Pennhurst Asylum, Spring City PA

4 hours waiting, first walkthrough fifteen mins, didn’t bother w/ last 2 attractions purely bc we bought 8: 30 timed tickets and (naively) expected to be home at a reasonable time — tonight felt like the fyre festival of haunted houses Im not gonna lie: (Especially after 4hrs of standing around waiting, commiserating w the sea of folks beyond us (no staff in sight), when you finally get to the front and are greeted with the most sardonic and genuinely unhinged actress lecturing you about everything being copyrighted and threatening litigation, like what? That just felt so aggressive and weird. It’s cool that they ARE allowing people to use their tickets from tonight on another day when it’s less crowded, and the animatronics were very impressive in the section we got to experience (tho i’m not too sure about how i feel about this place ethically after my experience plus what i’ve read about its history and being marketed this way…like part of the ‘theme’ of the place is that essentially mocking the systematic torture of disabled people that actually happened here for decades) so…my conclusion is: sticking w creamy acres and bates motel for my annual dose of spooky, probably will not return here unfortunately: - (

Good sets and animatronics, but the theming seemed somewhat random and there were so many missed opportunities. Most of the scares were animatronics moving at you from a dark passageway. The actors were mostly standing in plain view, yelling things at you as you walked by, and occasionally reaching out to touch you.

There were hardly any jump scares in the 3 houses we went through. There were so many times they could have done something cool, but instead just had stationary props and strobe lights.

Also, in the “asylum” there was a mixture of patients, then a Stranger Things room, and even more random…. Aliens right at the end. Didn’t fit the theme of the attraction in my opinion.

Im giving 2 stars only because it was a great show but the wait is definitely not worth the price, we waited 4 hours just to get in to the first attraction. They need to organize themselves before next year.

Absolutely incredible! We had so much fun. So many jump scares, great actors and attractions! Definitely must go!

Make yourself a favor and don't go, trust me. Waited 3+ hours in a horrible line, and wasn't even given the time to enjoy the haunted houses after I waited all that time since they were rushing us.
This is dumb. We waited 3+ hours in line since they're greedy af and oversold the tickets. No staff members in sight, and the ones we encountered were SO RUDE. The thing itself wasn't even that scary. Totally not worth the ticket price and 3+ hours wait without any access to water or food in the meanwhile, which I think is probably some human's right violation.
The funniest part is that when we finally got to the attractions they rushed us so bad and all the actors inside were obviously tired and just wanted to go home.
So basically they are just greedy, horrible at organization, and rude. I would never recommend this place, it ruined my Halloween. I hope they go bankrupt or something. I'm not going to spend more time talking about this stupid attraction, don't go.

Wait time was long for the first attraction even with VIP but after that the last 2 attractions were a very short wait in line. I do think there were too many people going through the attraction at one time making it way less scary. But the props and animatronics are always really really awesome. The fog machines were a bit much at times but otherwise I had a great time as always.

This was my 5th time 10/28/23 at Pennhurst. Things have changed, not for the better. Got in line at 7: 30 for first attraction, after two hours and not even close to the entrance we decided to leave. We couldnt believe the line. It was out to the parking lot at 10pm. Pennhurst oversold tickets. Vip line was just as long. My advice would be to get there when the doors open, also eat and drink before you go in. The concession stand has been moved to the end of the attraction. Not sure why. Kinda like giving you popcorn after the movie is over. Good Luck!

Went on the night of 10/27 had a great time. Loved all the attractions we got there early and had vip tickets which was absolutely 100% worth it.

We have reserved tickets for 830, arrived at 8, waited in the longest line. Finally got in the first attraction at 1130. It was so crowded in the attraction that it was not at all scary. We didn't go in the other attractions because the lines were so long we couldn't wait hours more just to walk through something for 5 mins. It was an hour drive and a complete waste of money. The ride in was the scariest part. If you decide to go get the vip pass to avoid the long wait but don't expect to be scared. So disappointing.

10/28/23 night was insane. The event was way oversold. Waited 2 hours in line and wasn't even close to the entrance. They have been doing this for a long time. How do you not know how many tickets to sell to ensure a quality experience for all at a reasonable wait time.
If you are hoping to attend this event, you HAVE to go early. A staffer told us that the timed tickets are a joke and dont mean anything.
When we got out of line last night, we walked back to the entrance with folks who had been in line since 730 and weren't close to the entrance. This was at 10pm. The line behind us stretched all the way to the parking lot and was growing. I'd have to think that this event was going on til early am to get to the final guests. Feel really bad for the staff and actors. Now we have only a couple chances to GO BACK and use our $52 per person tickets because, you guessed it, tickets are non-refundable. Oh, and half our party is from New Jersey, so it's very inconvenient for them.

I was excited to visit for the first time last night, but I definitely won’t return. We got there at 8: 30pm and waited in line for about 3.5 hours. There were very few actors or even staff members in the line - SUCH a missed opportunity. We saw 2-3 actors during the 3.5 hours in line, and the didn’t really interact with us - they just slowly walked by. At one point (around 11pm), it seemed like event organizers realized that overselling the event was making the experience horrible, so they sent some actors to do a dance near the line. It felt totally random and was kind of awkward.

When we finally got to the first attraction at around 12am, we were greeted by an actor yelling about how we will be sued for taking photos in the attraction (“we’ve done it before and we’ll do it again! ”) - it was really odd. They send you into the attractions in groups of 15-20 people, so you’re basically just walking in a long, slow, single file line through each attraction, which makes it hard to get surprised or scared since you see everything happen ahead of you. We were done with all three attractions within 45min, which includes waiting in the smaller lines for each attraction. All of the attractions had long stretches with seemingly no actors stationed. Scenery and animatronics were cool, but it doesn’t effectively replace live actors. A lot of the actors who WERE in the houses seemed (understandably) tired and kind of just looked at us as we passed by. There were a few very good actors in the tunnels though!

Overall, I expected a lot more for the high ticket price. I think the organizers should pay closer attention to the overall experience/manage entrance times better, limit capacity so group sizes can be smaller, and hire more actors for attractions/lines. Definitely disappointing.

We were there for 4.5 hours, didn't get into the first attraction for 3.5 hours. There is nowhere to sit and the only food is a 4 dollar hot dog. The attraction just could not live up to the terror of that line. They definitely oversold tickets and it was horribly obvious to everyone there.

Fantastic haunted houses with tons of well costumed actors, coolest props I've seen, and the forest with all the pumpkin monsters is so much fun to walk around! We got the fast pass and I recommend it- saved us TONS of time.

The cast did a great job, but it was impossible to enjoy after waiting over 3 hours before getting to anything. I had a 9 pm reserved time slot ticket and didn’t get into the first house until 12: 45. They don’t care enough to space out the wait times or god forbid sell fewer tickets. Miserable experience that no haunted house could be worth.

We drive 2 hours for this and it was so worth it. Hands down the scariest haunted house I’ve been to! I usually don’t get scared, I was terrified. I don’t want to give it away but if you’re into haunted house and you’re from PA this is the one!

Best haunted attraction in PA.hands down. WAY BETTER THEN BATES! We’ve Been doing the October haunted tour for many years. My girls and I love this one. You will NOT be disappointed. The theme in each section is specifically planned out and perfectly executed. Very well organized place.

Best haunted house ever, such good actors and such a good scare! Amazing staff, all were helpful and organized! Derek was great and such a help! 10/10 experience

Here is what the staff did do:
-Threaten to kick me out because I wore a costume
-Brag that the VIP across is a scam and does not make any difference about the wait times
-Hold you hostage when you ask to leave, because you can't be trusted to do it yourself

Here is what the staff did NOT do:
-Warn anyone prior to entering the wait time is three hours
-Explain that the time you bought your ticket for is not honored
-Let me leave without a chaperone.

This is a scam, and the staff brag about it. Do not waste your money.