[montumax]

Scarowinds has and always will be amusing to me. Outside of that one year when the crowds were ridculous and the park had to be closed down, we've never really had a bad time. I figured Sunday night would probably be a good time to go since 1) they were previously closed on Sundays and nobody would think about it and 2) most good people should be in church. Well, that didn't stop that busload of Lutherans from pulling in next to me.

I met up at CrackBar with my friend Cindy for a pre-Scarowinds dinner. Second worst CrackBar I've ever been in. (The one in Gaffney being the absolute worse.) Somehow they managed to screw up meatloaf. I don't know how. But, they did. So, we finished up quickly and got to the park. I still had to buy my ticket. She was smart and printed hers out at home. Still, the whole process didn't take long and we were inside trying to decide which haunt to tackle first. Since it wasn't quite dark yet, the Alien Annilihation wasn't open. So, we went for our Final Summons.

I swear this thing gets longer every year. Its usually my favourite of the haunts at the park. There was a couple of cool things in it. Cindy liked the old lady sticking her face out of the picture. But, it all just seemed a bit too familar to me.

As we were leaving, people were coming out of the woods so that meant the Alien thing was open. So, we traipsed over there. There was hardly a wait. You could hear all the strange noises coming from the woods and I commented that it sounded more like Alien Constipation more than anything else. I just didn't "feel" this attraction. Maybe the woods isn't the setting for this attraction. I commented that the aliens must have been cheap asses with their techhonolgy (the props along the trail) and must be from the planet Big Lots. The only part that I really liked was the ending with the wall that had the laser beams coming out of it. But, it would have been a nice effect but the log flume track above us took away any real scare value.

For some reason, on our way out, I wanted to walk through it again. So, we did. During the second trip, one of the aliens belched really loudly. There really should have been a UFO somewhere along the trail to walk through or see. This trail just didn't really have any atmosfear.

The scare zone at Borg was cool.

From there, it was off to Dead Inn. It was okay. I got into a staring match with one of the creatures. He tried scaring me. It just didn't work. He finally walked away. Both of us were laughing. Dead Inn was a nice attempt but again, all a bit too familiar.

We did Scooby and it was one of the rare times that I beat Cindy. I think I had 1180. I did see Kinzel and Falfas' tombstones outside the Haunted Mansion. I saw Shanrocks, the park's GM's tombstone also. I am guessing the Helms one was for Jesse.

Big Top Terror. I just didn't like it. You know why? The wooden panels and mirrors just didn't work. In the past, it was usually chain link fence and the occasional mirror (and lots of fog.) I know last year, it was easy to get lost in there and it took us a while to get out. This year, we were out of it in no time. I actually missed the whole "lostness."

From there we headed over to Thrill Zone for the other haunts. The cotton candy smelled good but it wasn't worth no 5.50. We checked out the Goldrusher. Cindy had just gotten her seatbelt fastened and I couldn't get mine to budge to fasten it. The guy yells that we don't have to wear them! (I wanted to yell back, well take them out then!) Goldrusher was fun as always. It looked like they wanted to add some atmosfear to the ride by pumping some fog into the first helix. The poor little lone fog machine just wasn't doing it.

Richochet had a ridiculous line. So, we passed on it. Vampire Woods or whatever it was called was next. Vampireless Woods was more like it. There were like two vamps that finally showed up at the end of the scare zone.

Dream Factory was next. It was a decent attempt. The park ads said it was bloodier this year. Where? As we exited the building for the first time, there was the creature or whatever it was pulling the guys head off and WATER was squirting out of it. I hate to say it but it was just funny. Blood would have been much more effective.

Finally! Our last haunt was the Slaughter House. This was my favourite one last year. But, it seemed to have less than it did last year. The Saw music was a nice touch. Especially since I had just seen Saw 3.5 the day before.

Overall as far as crowds go, the place was dead. There was hardly any lines for the haunts. The biggest lines for the rides was for Borg (out the entrance, those dumb people!), Ricochet, and Thunder Road. When we saw an empty train go by on Hurler, we didn't even think about riding it.

On our last walkaround of the place, I noticed what looked to be a place where you could have your picture taken in a coffin. I just wanted to lay down in one to see what it'd be like. I mean I'm going to be in one some day but I won't know what it feels like. So, I wanted to find out.

We had a good time there. We always do. Maybe I'm just a bit jaded sometimes but several of the haunts had a feeling of deja boo and I kinda got bored with them. Oh yeah, I loved the red eyes on the Skytower. Nice touch there! I know it was also advertised that there were more scareactors. It seemed less to me. Some of the scareactors really enjoy their job. Others seem down right bored. One girl over the harvest looked like she was going to sleep she seemed so bored.

It was a fun night and it'll be interesting to see what they do next year.

[psychoclam]

My apologize for Slaughter House - but take into mind that 30-40% of our mazes are school kids - and school kids have to leave early. Know this - our crew is normally 33 - on Sunday we ended with 9 (try running a maze that big on that many people and see what happens) - so might I suggest a Friday or Saturday when our kids don't have to be in school the next day - then you can get the effect the way it was meant to be. In all honesty - I though we did pretty good for what we had!

Sincerely -
Psychoclam

[Jay]

Surely I am too lazy to post my own TR so I will just pick apart yours and interject my own thoughts, since I was there the same night.

I swear this thing gets longer every year. Its usually my favourite of the haunts at the park. There was a couple of cool things in it. Cindy liked the old lady sticking her face out of the picture. But, it all just seemed a bit too familar to me.

Yep this is always one of the better-er ones. The logo for the haunt was questionable to me, I kept reading it as 'Anal Summons.' :ph34r:

I just didn't "feel" this attraction. Maybe the woods isn't the setting for this attraction. I commented that the aliens must have been cheap asses with their techhonolgy (the props along the trail) and must be from the planet Big Lots. The only part that I really liked was the ending with the wall that had the laser beams coming out of it.

Agreed for the most part. I thought it looked more some sort of Mayan ruins than some "Alien" thing. Pretty much anything that tries to be 'Alien' without a UFO is just kidding themselves. The laser at the end though was definitely a awesome effect.

From there, it was off to Dead Inn. It was okay. I got into a staring match with one of the creatures. He tried scaring me. It just didn't work. He finally walked away. Both of us were laughing. Dead Inn was a nice attempt but again, all a bit too familiar.

I thought this one was really well done, I especially liked the guy in the wheelchair at the end. It is kind of strange seeing all the arcade games outside though. :blink:

I did see Kinzel and Falfas' tombstones outside the Haunted Mansion. I saw Shanrocks, the park's GM's tombstone also. I am guessing the Helms one was for Jesse.

I got a kick out of this as well, in fact I spent many minutes during the day looking at all the tombstones to see if I could tell who they were named after.

Big Top Terror. I just didn't like it. You know why? The wooden panels and mirrors just didn't work. In the past, it was usually chain link fence and the occasional mirror (and lots of fog.) I know last year, it was easy to get lost in there and it took us a while to get out. This year, we were out of it in no time. I actually missed the whole "lostness."

Totally agreed. This was the weakest haunt this year. We only ran into 5 clowns the entire time, and 2 of those may have been the same guy. I do like all the extra circus stuff outside around the County Fair area though.

So, we passed on it. Vampire Woods or whatever it was called was next. Vampireless Woods was more like it. There were like two vamps that finally showed up at the end of the scare zone.

This was the second thing we went in. My mom looked in one of the coffins and a Vampire jumped out and it was the loudest she screamed all night. The laughs from that alone made it worthwhile. It was a good concept but I would have liked to see go a step further in the future.

Dream Factory was next. It was a decent attempt. The park ads said it was bloodier this year. Where? As we exited the building for the first time, there was the creature or whatever it was pulling the guys head off and WATER was squirting out of it. I hate to say it but it was just funny. Blood would have been much more effective.

This was the first thing we went in, and by far my favorite of the night probably. They sent us through just the 3 of us which I thought was strange, but it was probably the only time of the night where something genuinely frightened me. In the future though I would like to see this take a step more toward "dreaminess" and less like Final Summons. These two were incredibly similar IMO.

Finally! Our last haunt was the Slaughter House. This was my favourite one last year. But, it seemed to have less than it did last year. The Saw music was a nice touch. Especially since I had just seen Saw 3.5 the day before.

Pretty much the same exact maze as last year. I do like how they put the Saw spin on this, and the guys running around in pig-face masks were GREAT.

Oh yeah, I loved the red eyes on the Skytower. Nice touch there!

100% agreed, I kept trying to get a picture but my camera would not cooperate. Just AWESOME effect.

I know it was also advertised that there were more scareactors. It seemed less to me.

I kind of felt this way too, but maybe its not that there were less, its just that they were spread more thinly with all the stuff to do now, as well as the park being 100% open for the most part. I imagine being a Sunday night there were plenty of staffing issues as the post above me said.

One thing you didn't mention that I did do; The FreakShow Deluxe at the Carowinds Theater. The stunts horrifying, the costumes outrageous, the punchlines hilarious! We even had one poor guy pass out and the show had to be completely stopped while they got aid. Overall a great show, glad I didn't miss it.

To all those that said "Cedar Fair hasn't done anything for us" I give you.. this new incarnation of Scarowinds. Arguably the best year ever so far for the parks Halloween celebration, even with the limited crowds and even limited-er capacity. I look forward to the future of this, and see nothing but good things.



EDIT:

I'm pulling out all my old Scarowinds maps and 2003-2006 were crappy newspaper-style maps, while 2002 and 2007 were smaller but sturdier paper/plastic. I definitely like this, it is a minor thing obviously but its just neat to me as a 'collector' of sorts. Also the more you spend on maps the less the 'throwaway value' of the map is. Its also interesting to see the progression of the individual haunts over time. One day I will scan them all in... one day...

[nyxmike]

I am going Halloween night. Does anyone think it will get crowded/will a lot of staff be working that night?

[psychoclam]

Let's hope so - or we will die or exhaustion

[nyxmike]

I just wanted to say that Scarowinds was WEAK this year. As always, lots of potential, but it just isn't scary. It was pretty lame. Jump out at me, don't stare at me or talk to me...

[GriffonBoy69]

I got a kick out of this as well, in fact I spent many minutes during the day looking at all the tombstones to see if I could tell who they were named after.

They were all either GM's or full time staff for Carowinds, such as each of the department leaders.