Be sure to check out Part 1 of my review here.

Guys. GUYS. Mansion House Meal at Dorney Park Haunt.

Dorney Park Haunt offers a couple of up charge experiences that I believe makes this event stand out well above others in this tier. In my previous post I talked about the General Admission ticket and the Fright Lane VIP / Skeleton Key package in which you get access to the secret rooms at Dorney Park Haunt. This post is about the package level that is just above that which includes the Fright Lane VIP / Skeleton Key and a meal inside the Mansion House Hotel complete with actors who are in character the entire time.

I like fine dining but I am not a very serious individual. Fine dining inside of a haunted house? YES. GIVE ME. The meal you will eat in here rivals what I have experienced at Disney at their top tier restaurants. Trust me – I’ve eaten in almost all of them.

Dorney Park’s Mansion House Meal package is $99.99 or $74.99* for season passholders. It’s limited to only 25 people per night. This gets you:

– Admission to the park.

– A keepsake metal Dorney Park Skeleton Key that gets you access to secret rooms in the haunted houses that regular customers do not have access to.

– A pass that gets you access to the VIP line and access to Blackout, the VIP-only haunted house.

– Dinner inside the Mansion House Hotel prepared by made by Jan Giejda who is the park’s executive chef.

While you eat each course ghostly scare actors will mill about and conduct their business in character.

You become aware that there is a wedding happening. The couple is there along with some other family members. Amusing interactions ensue. They will not scare you while the meal is in progress but they may speak with you from time to time. When you are done eating you get to be the first people through the haunted house.

We were invited to experience this as media this year. If you read my blog you’ll know that we paid to do this last year and loved it. This is worth it. This is my kind of experience. It seems that the trend now is toward special experiences. I love this. I can think of no better way to stand out from the pack than to raise the bar in such a creative way.

Unfortunately the theme lighting in the room made it a little difficult to get photos. Trust me – each option was delicious. Between Harknell and I we tried almost everything on the menu. The menu looks something like this:

Appetizers

Oven Dried Heirloom Tomatoes with Fresh Mozzarella, Roasted Garlic and Basil Oil: These were delicious and fresh. If you like sundried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and spices you will love this.

OR

Spicy Petit Crabcake on a Sweet Corn and Pancetta Waffle: This crabcake was probably the best crabcake I have ever had. It wasn’t oily like some of the ones I have had. It had a great flavor. The waffle that it was on was superb and added a little bit of sweetness that worked very well.

Salad Selection

Rosemary Roasted Beet Salad with Candied Peacans and Maytag Blue Cheese: GUYS. The roasted beet salad was one of my favorite dishes of the meal. I normally encounter pickled beets – not roasted. The flavor was a pleasant surprise.

OR

Baby Greens Salad in a Honey Fig Vinaigrette with Toasted Almonds and Pear Tomatoes: The greens were fresh and the dressing was not too sweet or overpowering. Harknell is sensitive to fruits but the flavors here he liked very much.

Choice of Entree

Seared Scallops and Shitake Mushrooms in a Pink Peppercorn XO Sauce: This one we did not order but it looked delicious!

OR

Petit Filet Mignon with Parsnip Puree and a Candied Shallot Burgandy Sauce:

I love me some filet mignon. This was done perfectly and the parsnip puree added a surprising hint of sweet flavor that didn’t overpower it. The crunch bits on top – I am actually not sure what that was but it was good. 🙂

OR

Apple and Sausage Stuffed Chicken Breast served on A Gratin of Yukon Gold Potatoes with Baby Carrots: The chicken was moist and the apple sausage was light and tasty. I don’t know food critic terms but I can tell you that I hate overly sweet things in my food. This was not overly sweet. It complimented the dish very well.

Dessert Selection

Parisan Apple Tart with Carmel Sauce and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream: The crust was flaky and sweet enough to round out the apples and caramel. The vanilla bean ice cream I believe was made on the premises for this event!

OR

Deconstructed S’more: This was really good. Chocolate and marshmallow with graham cracker ice cream. The ice cream was also made just for this event.

If you do Dorney Park Haunt I cannot recommend Mansion Meal / Fright Lane VIP enough. They are really elevating what them park food is. at their regular concessions they have expanded the options. For example they now have a “make your own Funnel Cake” stand. Yes, they have Pumpkin Funnel Cake:

The Mansion Meal is a special event where they seem to be truly running wild in bringing fine dining to the park. You can tell that Chef Jan enjoys is work. He joked that he doesn’t mind a 14 hour day which reminds me a lot of myself in my work. When you get someone who enjoys what they do and let them do it – you get magic. Or in this case you get Jan Giejda’s Mansion Meal at Dorney Park Haunt.

DO. THIS. ONE.