Wild Waves 24-hour coffin challenge produces 5 brave winners

Despite strange foods, lack of sleep, and spooky challenges, five out of six contestants emerged victorious from the Crypt Keeper Challenge at Wild Waves Theme Park in Federal Way.

Wild Waves offered six contestants the opportunity to see if they could withstand 24 hours of laying and sitting in a coffin, alongside intermittent spurts outside of the coffin to go through haunted houses, rides and food challenges. Out of the six contestants who entered the Oct. 4 challenge, five won: Malerie Slack, Christian Hutto, Doug Gorski, Sophia Gleason, and Tristan Moran. Chad Pritt was the only contestant to lose the challenge after reporting he had back pain around 6 a.m., according to Slack.

Slack said the course of events began at 8 p.m. when they had to lie in the coffins. Slack said she and the other contestants attempted to sleep, but the park was loud, people kept peering in, and the coffin was uncomfortable. She said that once the park closed at 11 p.m., she slept for around 45 minutes before they were woken up to eat a piece of pizza with dried tarantula sprinkled on top at midnight.

Slack said she’s a very picky eater, and when the first meal of the night was tarantula-covered pizza, she was about to call it quits right then and there. But her co-contestants encouraged her to power through. She said she wouldn’t say they became family, but through doing difficult challenges together, they formed a sort of trauma bond where they weren’t going to let each other quit, she said.

After the pizza, Slack said they rode the Wild Thing roller coaster two times in a row, which made her a little nauseous. After the roller coaster, Slack said they had a short respite before they were awoken at about 2:30 a.m. and then made to walk through the Chamber of Souls maze with nothing but a tiny lantern in the dark.

Although she knew the maze was just for fun and it wasn’t real, Slack said because of exhaustion, she was delirious, and in those moments, the maze was real for her. After the maze, they went back to bed, but they were quickly awakened again at 4 a.m. to go through the Camp Whispering Pines haunted maze, which Slack said was once again terrifying.

After this, Slack said they were brought a full breakfast with eggs, bacon, and pancakes, but with a crunchy black substance sprinkled on top. Slack said she was terrified to eat the pancakes, but they assured her that this was the one good meal they would get, and the crunchy black substance was Oreos. They were allowed to sit up after the break, but Slack said the coffins started to get really hot, and there bugs in the coffin from them being outside, and the crypt keepers threw worms inside, too.

After breakfast, Slack said there was more sitting in the coffin, and then for lunch, they had to eat a corn dog, but dip it in beef and gravy baby food, which she gagged down. Slack said the challenges kept getting harder, and they had to eat crickets, and escargot next. Finally, the contestants had to eat a dead water bug and two other bugs for the last challenge. At this point, Slack said she just ate the bugs and then washed them down with water as she grimaced.

After chowing down on the last bugs, Slack said the challenge was over, and she won. Despite the prize being two season passes and a free meal every day contestants go to Wild Waves, Slack said she wasn’t really doing it for herself — instead, she was doing it for her 15-year-old son. She said now, with the two season passes, she and her son will get to go to Wild Waves this Fright Fest, this summer, next Fright Fest, and make lifelong memories.

“It’s just a really cool feeling to get that opportunity to do something cool for him,” Slack said. “I’m not just a regular mom. I’m a cool mom. Look at what I did.”

For Moran, he said he didn’t even know he was going to be competing until less than a week before the competition. Moran said he just moved to the area, and his parents wanted him to start doing some new stuff, so they signed him up for the challenge. He said he was up for it because he’s a skater, and he likes doing extreme stuff anyway.

Moran said the night was rough, but once it was daytime, he and the others relaxed in the coffins and got to know each other. But every time the food came out, he thought, “This could be the end.” Moran said the camaraderie that came from the challenge was his favorite part.

Regarding the prize from the win, Moran bluntly said that he doesn’t even like Wild Waves, so the season passes weren’t really a big motivator for him, but what really pushed him to win the challenge was bragging rights. He said he does enjoy Fright Fest, so he’s looking forward to using that VIP pass and utilizing the free meals that come with the pass.

Wild Waves 2024 Crypt Keeper Challenge contestants.

Wild Waves 2024 Crypt Keeper Challenge contestants. Photos by Joshua Solorzano/The Mirror