Goblyns Glen

This review is for goblyn’s glen. My husband and I took our nieces to the kid friendly haunt and we thought it was set up great for kids! It was just the right amount of scary. We had a groupon so it was well worth it. I recommend arriving at least 30 – 40 minutes because the line gets long. Cute scenes, décor, actors are great! The so called halloween train was a bit disappointing, it goes through the dark with no lights or props but it was still fun with the family.

Skip this! We just got in from Goblyns Glen. A two hour plus wait for a 15 min walk thur the «maze». I bought the groupon and thought this would be a fun activity for the kiddos. Waited in a huge line to redeem groupon and get hard tickets. Proceeded then to wait in even longer line to get into maze. They trick you and you think once you enter the building they constructed you hit the activities… NO. You get to just be standing in a waiting area of sorts where they sell dollar store glow sticks, drinks and cookies. For your entertainment and money wasting pleasure they have a physic, some lady selling steampunk items, glow in dark tattoos and girls doing polish. Random crap. Then finally after your ridiculous wait and your feet are swollen from standing and your children bored you go into a maze that is disappointing for the time invested and your done in 15 minutes. They only allow a certain number of people in at a time. Our experience was awful! Thank goodness we didn’t pay full price for this. I hope your experience isn’t this.

Family friendly haunt. very well constructed, they put alot of detail in it.
This is a good haunt for kids. THey sure make great use of the space they have.
THe staff does a great job with the décor and the costumes.
The thing about this cool haunted house is the kids get candy.
Its very affordable and worth checking out.
They have some cool refreshments and some homemade gifts to buy also.

This is a hard one to rate. I Attended last night with my husband and children, ages 5 and 2. We arrived at 7 pm and purchased tickets. Then waited 90 minutes to get in!!! Ahhh. It was awful. The children were restless, yet didn’t want to leave because we promised the kids a haunted house. Based on the wait I would give this a 1 star. However, after the long wait and the rather «short» walk through the glen, my five year said it was «awesome» and she had «the best day.» And my two year old was all smiles. So with that said, I give this a 3 star because my children had a great time, and really we were there for their entertainment not ours. The children never mentioned the long wait. We attended this in 2010 and didn’t have a wait as long as this year, so I don’t know what has changed in the program.

We went there with multiple families that have kids in similar ages. It was great fun! The kids enjoyed the shear fun of playing outside in the evening, with friends and in costumes. The area next to the waiting line was well planned. Kids could get temporary tattoos and nail polishes at different stands during the waiting.
The bird man was really goofy and mysterious. The kids had a lot of fun with him. They grew un-​scared of the bird man and tried to scared him instead. However, when the bird man struck back, all the kids were screaming in horror and fled away. Super fun to watch.
When we finally got in the door, the kids met different characters that spoke in various accents. They were quirky and fun to interact with. The setting looked mysterious and convincing in the darkness of the evening.
The only downside is that the waiting is a bit too long, but the experience has exceeded our expectations.

Wicked Woods was totally fun! I enjoyed the decorations/​costumes, spooks, and laughs very much. Minus 1 star for the long wait, though. My group arrived at 9:15 PM but we didn’t get in until 10:30 PM. Nonetheless, I had a great time!

WASTE OF TIME — Not only is this non-​haunted house boring and VERY short. They make you wait FOREVER to get in! If you’re going to have two different venues you should be timing the first one to end on time so the older crowd doesn’t wind up waiting an extra HOUR for the later Wicked Woods to begin.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS — STAY AWAY!

First, this review is SIMPLY for the «Wicked Woods» part of this as I did not attend Goblyns Glen.
Second, ignore virtually every review on this page. They’re all clearly employees or family of employees trying to boost the rating of this event.
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Let me give you a quick rundown of your night if you visit these Wicked Woods. First, upon parking and heading into the park, you’ll see a surprisingly long line. This isn’t to buy tickets or the bathroom, this is the door queue. Okay, fine. Some of the best places have long lines (Disneyworld, right?). This is a good sign, though inconvenient.
To the left of the line is a line of various little shacks selling cheap jewelry (for a high price), snacks, tea, etc. Unfortunately, these close LONG BEFORE the actual event closes, so if you want a hot drink while waiting in line, get it on the way there and keep it in a Thermos, I guess.
After a couple of hours standing in line (not an exaggeration), you get to the front of the line where you encounter one of the overly funny (that’s an insult, because this is a HAUNTED event) workers. She takes your tickets, then you wait some more. Shocking. The scariest thing about this place is the waiting.
Upon entering, you meet your first, for lack of a better word, monster. This is a poorly made up «witch» of sorts that speaks in some mumbly tones about dolls or something. Not scary. You then move on to a guy dressed like the main character in Assassin’s Creed. He makes you give him your soul (by a high five or something?), then lets you go. Then you walk through some hilariously stupid rooms where, I kid you not, Casper-​style ghosts are drawn on the walls and skeletons are digging with shovels. It’s like The Haunted Mansion in Disney, but less scary.
After leaving this first shack (which I HOPED was just the kids part of it, and was gearing us up for some good scares), you head out into the woods where you encounter a ninja. Yeah, a ninja. Not a zombie ninja. Not a ninja vampire. A NINJA. Terrifying.
But even scarier than this? ANOTHER LINE! This one is to actually enter the woods themselves. Seriously? This is not the third queue of the night, if you don’t include restrooms or the food stands.
Luckily, this line goes by relatively quickly and 5 – 10 minutes later, you’re out into the woods. You meet the doorman who is actually kinda funny and really wasted at this place. He gives you two choices: Something about a dog, or something about a castle. My wife, being the genius she is, says «BOTH!» This excited him, but to no avail. As we enter the woods and encounter some silly mad scientist, we’re only given «the castle.»
After a cool scare at the start, we’re taken through some rough terrain (over roots and under low-​lying branches). This is where my hopes got boosted. It definitely was getting better. Unfortunately, hope dies after about 30 seconds when you see the cardboard castle you enter. They open the door for you, you make two or three turns and encounter two or three unscary «monsters,» then you walk out of the castle. At first, we though there had to be more so we waited for a tour guide, but no one came. Instead, we turned and saw we were already back at the parking lot.
That was truly it.
Overall, this haunt is simply this: Two to three hours of standing in line with no atmosphere, then no more than 5 total minutes of being any haunted attractions. This is not an exaggeration, this is not any kind of malevolent revenge for money wasted, this is simply A WARNING! Avoid this scam shack at all costs.
The Wicked Woods was clearly just a second thought to the Goblyns Glen kids event, just a few pieces of cardboard and some Dollar Store/​landfill decorations to fill the walls.
Pathetic.

Just got home from our first and last trip here. Though the haunted house is well put together, it’s not long enough, nor scary enough, for the cost of $ 10/​person. I understand that it’s geared towards the younger crowd, but even my 9 and 11 y/o’s left feeling a little jilted.

Wicked Woods is worse than awful. Not scary. Not worth the wait. Not worth the money. (If you must go at least get the 2013 discount on Groupon)
Everything about the Wicked Woods is bad. Bad props. Bad costumes. Bad acting. And the haunt is short –oh so short. We waited in line for 2 hours and the whole thing probably took 10 minutes max.
This is a huge Unilocal fail. The good reviews can only possibly be for the kiddie «haunt» before the Wicked Woods begins. (Website says Wicked Woods begins at 9pm but did not start until 10pm)

Nighttime fun for the family and the the young ones.
— Trick or Treating with gift bags and candy, all apart of the admission price that is far and below all the other Bay Area Haunts. Plus the Spooky Cooky Shack allows you to quiet the growling of your young ones tummies while you can enjoy a cup of Crow-​coco or Spiced Apple Cider.
–Vendors and handmade local artists will be on site to get you in the haunted Halloween mood with their wears.
–Arrive before 10 PM to ensure your little one experience the not so scarey haunt and get your teens to come back for the haunt after 9:30 for some chainsaw action!
–All put on by local volunteers and construction talents. Volunteers always welcome.

Finally, a haunted house that is actually fun and just scary enough for those daring sorts of kids (kids who are bored by Barney and tired of being coddled). This event is put together by folks who are obviously really into Halloween and love to entertain the kids. The props are impressive and spooky, but not overly/​unnecessarily gory or gross. Some of the displays are very impressive and the actors are delightful. My kids are just scared enough to need a little help going through and feel like superheros when they reach the end. We went last year and they absolutely can’t wait to go back again.
In addition to the haunted house, there is a fantastic little train they can ride through the beautiful, but very dark, park. With the train, the kids refused to let us join them on the ride and it was just spooky enough to leave them wide-​eyed and giggling.
Kudos to the crew that puts this event on. We’re certainly coming back and we’re bringing friends.

My 7 year old niece was enthralled by the colors and attention to detail, declaring to one of the actors that it was «the best Halloween experience ever!» The haunt is VERY kid friendly, none of the actors were trying to scare the kids, instead they talked and played with them and gave them candy. Overall, a very magical experience! After the kids are done, then the big kid haunted house, Shadow Hills starts at 9 and was REALLY scary… if you like haunted houses DO NOT miss this one! I especially liked the fact that the use of blood and gore was really minimal, yet the scares were really effective! Go early for the little ones then stay for the scares! It was also really reasonably priced, Goblyns Glen was 10.00 and Shadow hills was 13.00 which makes it one of the lowest priced Halloween events in the Bay Area. Not to be missed.

A few days ago, one of the children I watch asked if we were going back to this haunted house again this year. At that point, I knew I should write something about this place as it’s got the kids I watch hooked lol…
Goblyns Glen at Oak Meadow Park is a great, spooky experience for children! The children I nanny enjoyed the experience. The children I watch are between the ages of 5 through 12 years old. There were points where they were a bit spooked but laughed through most of it of the experience and asked to go through again. I found the workers to be very good with the children and had some amazing costumes!
We have been to a few other children’s small walk through haunts in San Jose and Palo Alto, but this was by far the most detailed haunted houses for children and provided a variety of fun things for children to do.
I would recommend for parents to walk through the haunt with their children and if your child is spooked a little easier than others that you should mention it to the staff working. As a nanny, I think it’s also important to prepare a child for scary things they might see, depending on the child. But as a parent, you can judge what is best for them. Another positive thing is that they give children candy and have other treats, along with face painting, a train ride, and carousel surrounding the haunted house.

Goblyns Glen’s decorations are very impressive for older kids. Not suited for young children though. After 8:30pm no kids are allowed due to the adult theme.
I got a flyer from a friend, so I we decided to check it out. I was told that from 6:30pm — 8:30pm it is «very kid friendly». Not the case. I expected cute Halloween decorations, maybe princesses, a few superhero themes, Snoopy… stuff like that.
The kids go trick or treating through a haunted house with eerie and spooky decorations all over. There was a cemetery, a séance room and a girl dressed up as a Raggedy Ann doll. There were two pirates which was the best part. They were very friendly and funny, but they looked kind of scary, too. Some of the people who manned each themed room and handed out treats were dressed in spooky costumes and wore funky contact lenses. Again, NOT child friendly!
At the end of the haunted house walk through the kids got to ride the merry go round (with scary music playing in the background). My kids (7 and 5 yrs old) usually love merry go rounds, but they sat there, looking very «unsure» of the whole experience. The merry go round was included with the admission fee, but my kids did not want to ride again.
Right next to the merry go round was a train ride that they charge an additional $ 5 per person for. You ride through the park in the dark. No decorations to see. It’s a fairly lengthy ride; about 15 minutes long.
After all of the activities, we walked past 3 booths: A woman selling lacquered bugs, a snack stand (hot drinks and fresh cookies), and a glow in the dark tattoo booth.
The kids came away with the usual candies (lollipops, mini candy bars, sweet tarts…), a glow stick, a beaded necklace and a helium balloon.
Break down of costs:
Tickets: $ 10 per person, plus $ 1 service charge per person if you buy online
Parking: $ 6
Train ride: $ 5 per person