Pirates of Emerson

My boyfriend and I go to this every year it’s fun and we haven’t been disappointed yet next this year is their 50^th anniversary so I’m sure they are going to be doing some extra fun stuff but make sure you go early bc if you go to late they will kick you out and you have to run through the mazes. Overall it’s one of the best haunted houses I’ve experienced in the bay we drive from San Jose. I highly recommend if not for the haunted houses then for the gypsy shows

This place was so awesome, I had so much fun! We’ve been to a few haunted houses this season and this was by far the best. The lines weren’t that long, all the actors were really into their roles, all the costumes and decorations were great and each of the rooms were set up really well! We even got our Misfourtune read. The only thing was the mental maze, it was literally just a maze– so we felt kind of like we wasted 1 of our 5 tickets. With that said, we were in it for the adrenaline rush of a haunted house experience. I lost track of how many times I screamed and jumped. :) exactly what I wanted out of this place. I can’t wait til next year, I’ll definitely be back :)

HuhNow that halloween is over lets put new ideas on the plate for next year lets make it a goal to puts some new scares in the scene my friends enjoyed last nite but to me it was the same although i enjoy pirates of emerson but we need some new scares like may be a haunted pirate ship or something new and outrageous like a dirty diaper errr nasty.
Come on suprise the halloween lovers…

Pirates of Emerson was suggested to me by a fellow Redditor of San Jose. The suggestion was great! I feel like, only as a first timer though.
Pirates of Emerson is more expensive ONLINE than in person, what a rip-​off!!! It’s 5 bucks cheaper and the fast pass is also cheaper, wtf?
I gave three stars because only went to 3 out of 5 attractions, out of those two only one was good, The Haunted. My friends and I got here around 8PM and it was starting to get packed. By the time we finished The Haunted, the place blew up with people and lines formed so much that it took forever for an attraction.
Also, they need to time better because people in front of us got scared and gave away the hiding spots of jump scarers.
If you do decide to go to this for the first time, buy your tickets there and not online. Come early and run through the mazes and definitely save The Haunted for last. It was not worth the time to sit in line and go through a mediocre maze at max.
Pirates is better than many places, but only if they look at people’s review on timing groups better.
Won’t be coming back next year. Not so fun anymore, since been here already.

Came here on halloween to check out all the hype.
Ticket– 27 $ each
Parking– 10 $ each
5 Mazes:
1) Mental Maze (No wait time) — Lit with strobe lights in the dark, people run around this maze fenced off with mental fencing. Objective is to get from the entrance to the exit point which took a while especially with the cluster of people inside the maze trying to figure it out as well. There is no SCARE in this maze so if you’re one of those people who get scared easily… well this spot is perfect for you. Took a good 15 minutes to find the exit but the maze is unique in it’s own way.
2) Voodoo (25 min wait time) — Average maze with average scare… scarers in dark corners throughout the maze. Follows you for a little bit behind you murmuring weird shet. Bang noises at sudden times. Not scary for most times because the groups entering are so close to each other so you can predict whats happening in front of you.
3) Tavern (5 min wait) — probably the weakest Scare maze here… similar to voodoo with different decorations. Cool wooden bridge i guess… Again with the people lurking around
4) Haunted (15 min wait) — Scariest maze in the park. Cool rotating bridge, sudden sounds and movements. Lurkers at most corners and several screams can be heard from the audience.
5) Pirates Of emerson (10 min wait) — Anticipated to be best one because of the name but it was pretty average too. It was themed pirates. Lurkers… sudden sounds… mehhhhhhh
Portable pottys, ATMs with fees provided, Side arcade games and money needed side mazes also available.
Probably an one time experience for most people! Worth a try.

Worst 2 hours of my life.
No lines to get in and ample parking. As for the «haunted houses». They’re packed, like no separation between groups so it’s like a bee line of folks walking through, which means you always see what’s coming at you. Definitely the most underwhelming experience of my life. Staff grouchy and actors didn’t seem to want to be there, absolutely no originality. Long lines to get into «haunted», think about 45 minutes to an hour without the speed pass. All others were between 30 and 5 minutes each.
Won’t be back. Do yourself a favor and rent a movie on Netflix, you’ll get a much better scare at a fraction of the price.

Overpriced and on a scary scale (1 – 10), I’d give it a hard 3.
Lets start with price — $ 27 for the ticket + $ 10 for parking + $ 15 for the Fast Pass since we didn’t want to wait 5 hours to go through 4 houses that took 5 minutes each. Oh and don’t forget the $ 3.50 charge to take money out of the ATM since they don’t accept credit cards.
So a total of $ 55.50 for something that should be priced at MAX $ 25 for the entire experience.
People go to haunted houses because they want to be scared. «The Haunted» was by far the best house and thats not saying much. They actually spent some money and threw in some lighting and effects so there were a few trippy parts for sure. You would expect that their flagship Pirates of Emerson house would be legit … it wasn’t.
In EVERY house, due to poor line/​entrance management, you were literally 1 foot away from the group ahead of you and the group behind you. Ruins the scare factor in my opinion. Yes it was a Saturday night so it was busy but that can be expected on any weekend night and who wants to go during the week?
What also ruins the scare factor is the complete lack of lighting in all the other houses so you can barely see the people in their outfits/​makeup trying to scare you.
Considering how much money this place takes in, straight cash, i’m surprised they didn’t invest more in the houses that actually attract people to come in the first place.
I won’t be coming back. Clearly.

This was my second time at these haunted houses. My first visit a couple years ago was really good. I was impressed at the quality of the sets and the actors. However, this time I wasn’t impressed at all. They only take cash which was a huge inconvenience, yes it says so on there website in very small print at the bottom but come it’s 2015 get square or something.
The mental maze was the worst attraction!!! Just chained fences and strobe lights. (Not recommended for epileptics and people who are light sensitive) The other maze is crappy too and you have to pay extra for that one. They chase you with chain saws through another fence maze.
If you Come here bring cash and don’t plan on coming back because they never change the theme of the haunted Houses… A fact I wish I would’ve known before the $ 60 trip.

My boyfriend and I came here last night and we had a blast! It has been several years since I’ve been (when it was in Fremont way back when) and when I told my boyfriend about it, he wanted to check it out. We liked the Haunted one the best and went through twice (you can go through each house twice on Sunday!)
The whole place is pretty cool, lots to see and most of the attractions are great. We didn’t care for the mental maze much chain link and dull strobe lights… kinda boring… used to be better with lots of strobes and 3d glasses.
Other than that, I know we’ll be back next year and I might just have to drag my 12 yr old with me next time!

Lines can be long on the weekend, but I think it’s more fun with more people. My favorite haunted house maze was, ‘The Haunted’ — a creepy first entrance through the living room fireplace leads to endless scares. It was an hour long wait, but totally worth it in the end.
What I initially thought was just going to be an all-​Pirate themed attraction, ended up being more than that. In my opinion, it’s a much better experience than the Great America haunted houses, where everyone was bunched up through the rooms and the actors didn’t even have time to reset.
I recommend coming here with groups of friends!

My boyfriend and I had a great time at this event. With so much to see, time just quickly went by. It was a real thrill! I hope we get the chance to go back again next year!!!
Pros:
–lots to see at this pirate themed haunted park
–great stage productions
–plenty scares to be had
Cons:
–parking for this event costs $ 10 (my boyfriend and I realized that we could have saved money parking at a nearby shopping center for free and walked to the event instead)
–lines can get long for each haunted exhibit
–the maze was basically just wire fencing and was pretty blah…
–some exhibits cost extra and are not included in the general admission

Awesome with friends…$ 25 for the speed pass at costco… way worth it because the line for the best one was super long! Cool costumes too!

If you are looking for some Halloween entertainment, you must come here. There are 5 main attractions for you to check out and get some good screams in. My least favorite was the maze, in fact that gave me a headache with all the strobe lights flashing. Other than that, you will have the opportunity to scream, run and be afraid of some Halloween ghouls.
The bad will be the long lines you will have to wait to get in these scary spots. Here is a quick helpful tip. Go to Costco (Fremont) and get the ticket for $ 25 which also includes the speed pass. You save $ 10 AND you will not have to wait as long in these lines.

Second year in a row taking my 12 year old son and his friends for his birthday. Most of the boys love it, but a couple get pretty freaked out. Many of the tricks and houses were very similar to last year, so it felt a little like a redo from a year ago. However, the boys did buy «Monions» to be able to do a couple of extra things in the «Carnievel», which included going into «Clown Chaos». They came out of there freaked out. It was awesome.
Buy your tickets at Costco, for $ 25.99 you get a speed pass. We never waited in a line. We also went on Sunday, where you are able to go through all of the attractions twice for free.

It was a disappointment after reading some of the 5 star reviews for 2015. Lines were ridiculously long. Had to wait an hour for the first haunted house (keep in mind the majority of people coming to this are high school kids who have the BEST conversations while waiting in line), and it wasn’t even scary. I gasped maybe once and that was it. I was expecting to do some full-​on screaming, but that never happened. The Mental Maze had no scary characters in it, so it’s a bunch of people in a chain link fence maze trying to find their way out. We left after those two attractions. Will probably give the rest of our card to friends to try.
Would suggest you buy your tickets online ahead of time, and add the $ 10 fast pass boost to get in the shortcut lane. And don’t expect to be that scared.

Not scary but fun. Especially the last one of the right. I forgot the name. The mental maze is just annoying. Please take it down already. The fun one is the clown corn maze that cost a dollar to go to. Tip of the night, bring enough girls. It’s more fun that way!

5 haunted houses that will scare the bejesus out of you! The perfect place to bring the kids (preferably ages 12 and up). The scare factor is pretty high, mixing pirates and ghostly ghouls in a small section of the Alameda County Fairgrounds. The lines run quick so it’s a one hour affair at least.
Recommended Haunted House: «The HAUNTED» is the scariest by far. Eerie from the get go! You’ll have to see for yourself.
It would be nice to see more additions to the haunted house list. Two more haunted houses would make this a Five STAR Scary Halloween hit!

Emerson is done very well. They time the entrances nicely, so you’re alone with your group. Unless, like us, you become paralyzed until the next group catches up with you. But the ghosties usually prod you along in their terrifying manner. The actors here are quite good. Of the four attractions, we liked the Haunted the best.
Be sure to stand in front of the little shack with a lighted window to see a very short horror movie… standing on the mat in front will start the show.

If you’re looking for a horrific night… I would recommend checking out Pirates of Emerson!
Their mazes were displayed very well, and the staff did a really good scaring the heebie jeebies out of me. During the «Buried Alive» I couldn’t wait to get out. It was the scariest of all the mazes for our group. Oh my god, and that «Mental Maze» I wanted to just start climbing the chain link fences. Our group had a blast and I’m definitely excited to see what’s in store next year!
The entrance fee was $ 25, but I would highly recommend getting the fast pass for an additional $ 10. You were able to get in and get out very quickly. You should not have to wait more than 20 mins for each maze to get creeped out!

Right off the bat, I loved Pirates of Emerson. It was Ladies Night, and I got 5 bucks off the price of admission! Very cool. Once we entered, this creepy pirate greeted us with the scratchiest, most authentic pirate voice I’ve ever heard. I snapped a picture of him with the full moon in the background, and every person I’ve shown this photo to thinks that he’s not a real human — the makeup and costumes of the greeters and floaters were insanely good! They spent a lot of time creating a pirate themed area that seemed really authentic — they even had a Poop Deck!
A lot of the 6 mini houses within the Pirates of Emerson were similar to what we’ve seen elsewhere — people dressed as zombies jumping out from the dark as you walk by, girls screaming for help, loud bangs here and there. But there were a couple of unique surprises here. First, I spent literally 5 solid minutes staring at a hanging man to see if he was real. I mean, his body looked completely human, he had a mask on with breathing holes, and he was swaying slightly on the branch. And just when my rational brain would come out: «There’s NO WAY a human can hang upside down all night like that — all of his blood would rush to his head,» then, boom! He started wiggling and writhing around like a real human would. Wow! Great effect!
Another delight was the ticket taker into the Virus house. She freaked is out big time! Such good makeup and acting, we haven’t stopped talking about her. We enjoyed the Mental Maze — we actually got through it after about 15 minutes and as we exited, the lady running the station said, «Congratulations — you’re the smartest ones here!»
The Walk into the Woods needed a little TLC and creativity, but overall, the ambiance, the staff, the costumes, and the theme of Pirates of Emerson were outstanding. We really enjoyed ourselves, and would come back again.

This is the raddest, the most baddest, the most illest, the most awesomest,
the most well put together, the most memorable, and hard to forget, and the best haunted house I“ve ever been too.
THis is the one I look forward to every year. I seriously get bummed out if I miss out.
I love the way they hype it up and promote this place, they do very well with there cool parade and there videos.
All the staff gets into there characters so well and looks so real. Even just standing in line they give you the jumps.
I love the blood vials, The pirate rock band, the huuuuge pirate ship, the swashbuckling,
and every single haunt.
The maze is kind of a throw in but it is mentally challenging and always seems to put a smile on my face.
If you love haunted houses like I do then I am sure you’ll love this place too.
Hell even if you don’t this is sure a good way to break you in .
I don’t see how anyone wouldn’t enjoy themselves here.
Well maybe if they are the lamest of lames.
I highly urge you to check this place out.
Bring your family, your dates your friends, your roomates, share the love of this awesome place.