- October 2nd, 2004, 6:51 pm
#8205
My friend James and I hit Scarowinds on opening night like we usually do, so we can get the most rides with the least waits possible. We got a shock / surprise / scare right from the get-go, as they informed us that they're charging Platinum passholders the $8 parking.
Let me rant on this one for a bit. This is the most assinine thing I've seen them do in years. First off, there was no warning - so I was caught with NO cash to pay for the parking fee as I was going to use my debit card to pay for entry and anything else I needed. To their credit they let me in without paying after I explained this, but James had to pay. If I had the money on me I would've, but I totally didn't expect this since I've gone to Scarowinds at least once a year since 2001, and have never paid parking with the Gold pass. At least if we were forewarned, we'd have carpooled and split the cost instead of taking seperate cars.
This just smacks as nothing but pure greed. They already charge passholders for Scarowinds entry, which I've never complained about although I'd obviously rather get in for free. We do get in half price so it's not too bad. But it strikes me as odd that I can buy a season pass for $65 that gets me free parking and unlimited entry, yet they want to charge me $25 to go to the park for 5 hours and park my car. It seems counterproductive to hype up the season pass benefits to get us to buy a pass for next year, and then try to nickle-and-dime us when we go to Scarowinds. Not that $8 or even $25 is that big of a deal really, but from a customer relations standpoint it's that kind of theme-park greed mentality that puts a bad taste in people's mouth.
Ok, on to the trip report for Scarowinds. Despite having free entry for people doing a blood drive it wasn't terribly crowded. We were there near the head of the line and got a 2nd-row ride on Borg's first train of the night after they dropped the ropes. From there we went to Top Gun for several rides, then headed around the park to check out the various haunted attractions and favorite rides.
The haunted attractions were a mixed bag this year, as was the overall park theming. The park felt a bit less decorated than in years past, with some old favorite theming bits missing. From worst to best, I'll give a rundown of the haunted attractions:
Dracula's Haunted Mansion: This is a film in the 2D side of the Action F/X theater that during some past Scarowinds has shown an Elvira "ride simulation". They've shown some truly crappy things in this theater over the years, but Dracula takes the crown by a LARGE margin. It makes Smash Factory and the Indiana Jones thing look like world-class entertainment. This film barely vibrated the seats and never had ANY feeling of movement. There was nothing redeeming about it - period.
Alcatraz - this was in the former Flight Zone / waveswinger location, and was yet another name for a Scarowinds tradition. This of course was a maze through chain-link fences and mirrors, with some characters jumping out at you at various spots. This year they're prison inmates, in other years they've been insane asylum patients or zombies, but it's always pretty much the same. It's been done better in years past, although this one is probably the most dependent on the group you go in with. It can be great fun if your group has lots of girls / women who scream, but is pretty lame otherwise.
Alien Crypt in 3D: This was pretty much the same as in years past, in yet another new location - behind Cyclone where the Toxic Waste attraction was last year. The 3D is good in spots, with some hovering skeletons that appear to be coming out of the walls and some characters that blend into the scenery that jump out at you. The music / sound effects weren't ear-splitting like they have been in some years so that made it more enjoyable. And yes, it still has the rotating tunnel you walk through that makes you feel like you yourself is spinning that is always one of my favorite moments during Scarowinds.
Sleepy Hollow Horror - this was in last year's Haunted Circus location behind the log flume. There was nothing spectacular about this one but I thought it was much better than last year's trail, and I liked it pretty well.
Nightmare Manor - this was in it's usual location, in the picnic shelter beside Animation Station. The trail leading up to it was missing much of the theming from previous years, and the haunted house part seemed a bit shorter than last year as well, although it was still well done with several good effects. Good, but a bit of a letdown from previous years when this one seemed to get better and better.
The most fun haunted attraction this year was easily Friday the 13th, which was held in the Paramount Theater. This had actors playing "camp counselors" that interacted quite a bit with the audience, and of course a movie with various clips from Friday the 13th over the years. Overall it was very fun if you enjoy horror movies at all and aren't bothered by some pretty graphic scenes. I love horror movies so enjoyed it, but some might not so be forewarned. The actors were campy / cheesy of course but their parts were pretty well done. This was shown every hour on the half-hour.
Overall the Scare part of Scarowinds was a bit of a disappointment from years past, but it wasn't bad - and having it much warmer than usual probably didn't help the "mood" any. The rides on the other hand were running very well as they usually are for Scarowinds, and with light crowds these were all walkons most of the night.
We got several rides on Borg, including the first night rides for James and myself. It doesn't ride much different at night, but with the theatrical smoke covering everything it certainly looked much cooler than the ride does during the day. All our rides were in front or in row 2, and they were all pretty good. The ride is fairly brutal in the outboard seats and really tosses you around, and is a good bit smoother in the inner seats. Very forceful and fun despite the rattling in spots, and I'm liking this coaster more and more.
Top Gun had no line whatsoever except for the front row all night, and we got several front rides and some in the back as well. The yellow train up front was simply superb, as it was running very fast. It probably wasn't quite the equal of some other Scarowinds rides as it was warmer than usual, but the rides were very good nonetheless.
Thunder Road backwards was standard fare, fun but not much airtime. Of course the C3 rides with a slick track are going to be very hard to beat! Drop Zone was it's usual self, although it was nice that they had lights off on the side facing the park so it wasn't blinding on the way down. Vortex was good as well - ok, maybe we're odd, but we LIKE Vortex. The smoke hung around the entire course of Vortex making it a very different looking ride than usual as you were almost always in the "fog", even if it rode the same.
The surprise ride of the night had to be Hurler - they found the ride we had in 2002 and put it back in the park! I have no idea whether some maintenace on the track and / or trains got done, if it was simply luck or what happened, but the slow, bone-rattling ride we've had much of the past two seasons was nowhere to be seen. I now remember why I loved this ride so much when it's running well. There was not only the great airtime on the usual hills, but it really flew around the turns making those fun instead of a shuffling, screeching pain on the way to the next airtime hill. Since the train didn't lose much speed at all, the 4th hill had better than usual airtime, and there was very good airtime on the 5th hill after the turn under the lift. My butt has barely left the seat in that spot in 2 years but it sure did Friday night. Often the coaster has run fast enough to have decent air on the first few hills and a bit on the 4th after the 2nd turn, but it has consistently slowed down enough to make everything after that hill boring. Friday night though it was fun all the way from the drop to the brakes. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for Hurler!
KenB
Let me rant on this one for a bit. This is the most assinine thing I've seen them do in years. First off, there was no warning - so I was caught with NO cash to pay for the parking fee as I was going to use my debit card to pay for entry and anything else I needed. To their credit they let me in without paying after I explained this, but James had to pay. If I had the money on me I would've, but I totally didn't expect this since I've gone to Scarowinds at least once a year since 2001, and have never paid parking with the Gold pass. At least if we were forewarned, we'd have carpooled and split the cost instead of taking seperate cars.
This just smacks as nothing but pure greed. They already charge passholders for Scarowinds entry, which I've never complained about although I'd obviously rather get in for free. We do get in half price so it's not too bad. But it strikes me as odd that I can buy a season pass for $65 that gets me free parking and unlimited entry, yet they want to charge me $25 to go to the park for 5 hours and park my car. It seems counterproductive to hype up the season pass benefits to get us to buy a pass for next year, and then try to nickle-and-dime us when we go to Scarowinds. Not that $8 or even $25 is that big of a deal really, but from a customer relations standpoint it's that kind of theme-park greed mentality that puts a bad taste in people's mouth.
Ok, on to the trip report for Scarowinds. Despite having free entry for people doing a blood drive it wasn't terribly crowded. We were there near the head of the line and got a 2nd-row ride on Borg's first train of the night after they dropped the ropes. From there we went to Top Gun for several rides, then headed around the park to check out the various haunted attractions and favorite rides.
The haunted attractions were a mixed bag this year, as was the overall park theming. The park felt a bit less decorated than in years past, with some old favorite theming bits missing. From worst to best, I'll give a rundown of the haunted attractions:
Dracula's Haunted Mansion: This is a film in the 2D side of the Action F/X theater that during some past Scarowinds has shown an Elvira "ride simulation". They've shown some truly crappy things in this theater over the years, but Dracula takes the crown by a LARGE margin. It makes Smash Factory and the Indiana Jones thing look like world-class entertainment. This film barely vibrated the seats and never had ANY feeling of movement. There was nothing redeeming about it - period.
Alcatraz - this was in the former Flight Zone / waveswinger location, and was yet another name for a Scarowinds tradition. This of course was a maze through chain-link fences and mirrors, with some characters jumping out at you at various spots. This year they're prison inmates, in other years they've been insane asylum patients or zombies, but it's always pretty much the same. It's been done better in years past, although this one is probably the most dependent on the group you go in with. It can be great fun if your group has lots of girls / women who scream, but is pretty lame otherwise.
Alien Crypt in 3D: This was pretty much the same as in years past, in yet another new location - behind Cyclone where the Toxic Waste attraction was last year. The 3D is good in spots, with some hovering skeletons that appear to be coming out of the walls and some characters that blend into the scenery that jump out at you. The music / sound effects weren't ear-splitting like they have been in some years so that made it more enjoyable. And yes, it still has the rotating tunnel you walk through that makes you feel like you yourself is spinning that is always one of my favorite moments during Scarowinds.
Sleepy Hollow Horror - this was in last year's Haunted Circus location behind the log flume. There was nothing spectacular about this one but I thought it was much better than last year's trail, and I liked it pretty well.
Nightmare Manor - this was in it's usual location, in the picnic shelter beside Animation Station. The trail leading up to it was missing much of the theming from previous years, and the haunted house part seemed a bit shorter than last year as well, although it was still well done with several good effects. Good, but a bit of a letdown from previous years when this one seemed to get better and better.
The most fun haunted attraction this year was easily Friday the 13th, which was held in the Paramount Theater. This had actors playing "camp counselors" that interacted quite a bit with the audience, and of course a movie with various clips from Friday the 13th over the years. Overall it was very fun if you enjoy horror movies at all and aren't bothered by some pretty graphic scenes. I love horror movies so enjoyed it, but some might not so be forewarned. The actors were campy / cheesy of course but their parts were pretty well done. This was shown every hour on the half-hour.
Overall the Scare part of Scarowinds was a bit of a disappointment from years past, but it wasn't bad - and having it much warmer than usual probably didn't help the "mood" any. The rides on the other hand were running very well as they usually are for Scarowinds, and with light crowds these were all walkons most of the night.
We got several rides on Borg, including the first night rides for James and myself. It doesn't ride much different at night, but with the theatrical smoke covering everything it certainly looked much cooler than the ride does during the day. All our rides were in front or in row 2, and they were all pretty good. The ride is fairly brutal in the outboard seats and really tosses you around, and is a good bit smoother in the inner seats. Very forceful and fun despite the rattling in spots, and I'm liking this coaster more and more.
Top Gun had no line whatsoever except for the front row all night, and we got several front rides and some in the back as well. The yellow train up front was simply superb, as it was running very fast. It probably wasn't quite the equal of some other Scarowinds rides as it was warmer than usual, but the rides were very good nonetheless.
Thunder Road backwards was standard fare, fun but not much airtime. Of course the C3 rides with a slick track are going to be very hard to beat! Drop Zone was it's usual self, although it was nice that they had lights off on the side facing the park so it wasn't blinding on the way down. Vortex was good as well - ok, maybe we're odd, but we LIKE Vortex. The smoke hung around the entire course of Vortex making it a very different looking ride than usual as you were almost always in the "fog", even if it rode the same.
The surprise ride of the night had to be Hurler - they found the ride we had in 2002 and put it back in the park! I have no idea whether some maintenace on the track and / or trains got done, if it was simply luck or what happened, but the slow, bone-rattling ride we've had much of the past two seasons was nowhere to be seen. I now remember why I loved this ride so much when it's running well. There was not only the great airtime on the usual hills, but it really flew around the turns making those fun instead of a shuffling, screeching pain on the way to the next airtime hill. Since the train didn't lose much speed at all, the 4th hill had better than usual airtime, and there was very good airtime on the 5th hill after the turn under the lift. My butt has barely left the seat in that spot in 2 years but it sure did Friday night. Often the coaster has run fast enough to have decent air on the first few hills and a bit on the 4th after the 2nd turn, but it has consistently slowed down enough to make everything after that hill boring. Friday night though it was fun all the way from the drop to the brakes. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for Hurler!
KenB
