[phoenix]

yup! it comes with the fright lane pass

[redrunner97]

Anyone know if the everyday bring a friend prices are for Scarowinds or not? Tonight specifically.

EDIT: The answer is no.

[Littlegiles]

I bought season passes for next year and decided to use our free park entrance this year to go to Scarowinds. We had not been in about 3 years and wanted to give it a try. Sadly, it was worse than years past, at least in my opinion. I worked in a pro haunted house for years in Charlotte and I have to admit it takes a lot to scare me so I can be super critical. I've been in these actors shoes before so I know what the job requires.

Viral maze was a complete disaster. We walked through over half of it before there was even someone trying to scare us. In some scenes the actors were literally just standing there and in one area the actors were standing around talking as we walked past.

Cornstalker was fun (I like the outside theme) and it was the only maze that actually made me jump at one point. It was also the darkest in my opinion.

Zombie High School was fun and I thought it had the best flow of all the mazes. The transitions were good and the actors were really entertaining.

Silver Scream continues to have the best themeing of all the mazes, however the actors in there were really off their mark. After three mazes, it is easy to figure out where they actors are hiding and when they are going to jump out.

7th Ward had some nice area, but the exit out the front is very distracting and when you see people just walking out and not talking about the attraction, you know it isn't going to be great. Walking down the side of the building seemed odd. If you are going to enter me into a maze through the back door, don't make that the waiting room to the ward, how about you enter me through the "basement" or utility area and then lead me into the hospital. The whole orientation just seemed off.

Last Laff. This really needs redone. Didn't laugh, didn't scream, just strolled through it. And $1 to buy 3D glasses? Perhaps I missed something, but I really didn't see much in there that would have been better for wearing them and i'm glad I didn't spend the extra money.

To me the scare zones are just a waste of space. I know what they are trying to do, but just having some people walk up to me isn't scary. They really need to work with the actors and try and create a true "Scare" zone. Give it a creepy feel and make me uncomfortable and worried about what might happen.

To me the best parts of the night were riding Intimidator and walking under the new Fury track on my way to Silver Scream.

I know there are some major limitations on what can be done compared to smaller independant haunted houses, but I see stuff like Universal Horror Nights and think they need to take some clues from them. Make me uncomfortable. Push the boundries. People jumping out from behind walls really gets old. An observation I had this year was that I saw very few people scared.

I'm not saying everyone was awful and there were some actors that really stood out and you could really tell who was having a blast doing their job. There was a scarecrow guy in the crowd before the opening show and he was amazing. You could watch him scope out the crowd and pick out people to scare....but in the next group there was the guy in the clown outfit just jumping at everyone and hoping to get someone to jump.

Ok...enough complaining. Final recommendation is if you have a free visit, go to Scarowinds, but if you are having to pay, spend the money on some of the local, independant haunted houses and get more creep for your buck.

[redrunner97]

Went to Scarowinds tonight. It was absolutely dreadful in almost every way.

Not a big deal really, but I was informed of an all-year bring a friend thing with gold/platinum passes and apparently I heard wrong.. idk. The other people in my party paid full price to ride 2 rides (Intimidator, with a wait time of what felt like almost 2 hours -queue drawn out to almost the entrance of London Terror, and wrapped around in different maneuvers; and Drop Tower, which wasn't too crowded) and do 1 maze (Cornstalkers, the line was looooooong but moved fairly quickly). The place was PACKED!!!

The worst part was that we arrived shortly before 8pm and didn't physically get into the South Gate until 9:30!!!!!
The lines were incredibly long and there was absolutely no organization. I'm honestly surprised no one started fighting because people were cussing and screaming at each other and shoving to get where they thought they should be in line, there was no real order until much too late in our wait time (and that was only after several complaints). People were breaking in line, jostling. I even had to be assertive and insist that people kindly move out of my way because they've been waiting about 20 minutes, whereas we've been waiting 40, so there's no way that they should be slowly edging their way in front of me (only less politely :p). When we finally got in, we basically stood in two lines, got some frozen yogurt, then left at 1:15, after getting a ride on Intimidator (that's how long the wait was; we didn't even get to ride it during actual open hours!)

This was an awful experience and nearly everyone we encountered agreed. I didn't spend my time bummed out though, it's kind of hard for Carowinds not to give me joy, a feeling I think most of us share on this forum. Seeing the Fury track in place really was the highlight of the trip and I look forward to my next visit when I get to sit proud on North America's longest steel coaster!!

[dianals]

I was at Scarowinds yesterday, as well, but thought I'd chime in with a slightly different viewpoint (just coming at you from a slightly different angle).

My 11-year-old daughter (I'll call her K) and I were at Carowinds yesterday to take advantage of the free Fastlane for renewing our Season Passes for 2015. Had a great time, and enjoyed seeing the Scarowinds decorations. K had never been to Scarowinds, and was very apprehensive about the whole thing, until we found out from an employee that they have "No Boo" lanyards to purchase, so that the characters know not to scare you. I expected a huge price tag, but for only $5, it was enough to convince her to give it a try.

With the park closing at 5:30, and reopening at 7, we just hung in the parking lot (within view of the South Gate), for it to reopen. We noticed the crowds entering at 6:30, so we entered as well. The closest spot to buy the lanyard was at the Dinosaurs Alive shop, but we almost didn't make it that far, as one costumed character jumped in front of K and growled at her. But, I'm proud to say, she pushed on and we got her the lanyard. Being there at opening, we got right in line for Intimidator and waited about 30 minutes to ride. It was actually perfect because, by that time, it was completely dark. We then rode Windseeker with about a 30 minute wait, as well.

By that time, I agree with the others, the crowds were insane. We did not do any of the mazes, simply because I don't do mazes (for my own reasons), and I knew it would be too much for K. We did walk around and look at all of the decorations. K got much more comfortable with the atmosphere, as the night went on, and even got her own scares a couple of times (one of the really tall guys came up behind her...I presume he couldn't see her lanyard), and made her run (yes, I laughed...I'm a horrible mother). She also had her picture taken with 2 characters. She never got brave enough to take the lanyard off, but she does want to go back next year, and some day wants to DO the scaring, so I think it was a success overall.

Admittedly, if we had paid extra to go to Scarowinds, I would probably have been disappointed with the crowds and wait times. But since it was included in the pass, we just took in what we could, and enjoyed it.

[Littlegiles]

Dianals, I'm so glad you and your daughter had a nice time and enjoyed it. Thank you for not forcing your daughter through things that you knew, and she knew, would be too intense for her. Too often I see parents "forcing" their kids to go through the scary stuff. I wasn't aware of the Boo lanyards.

We must have ridden Intimidator about the same time. The sun set just as we were waiting to board the coaster and it was an awesome ride. Like Redrunner said, later in the night the line was CRAZY. I was hoping to ride it again, but I kenw we would be there forever waiting. We managed to get all but one maze done and walked through all the scare zones and left the park at about 10pm. Lines for the mazes were long but moved quickly.

I can only hope that next year they get their act together and try to do better with Scarowinds....but if not, I'll have my season pass and will just enjoy stopping after work to ride Fury! YEA!

[dianals]

Thanks! I've seen those same types of parents, and I refuse to do that. I will encourage, but never force. Especially since we didn't have to pay to get in, I told her that even if we only stayed for 30 minutes, that was fine. We ended up staying for 2 1/2 hours!

Regarding the "No Boo" lanyards, if you saw anyone walking around with the blinking orange lanyards with the pumpkin on the bottom, those were them. Actually quite a cute souvenir for $5!

Like you, Littlegiles, we went back to check out Intimidator later in the evening, and we refused to get in the long line. It was all the way out into the walkway, where they had set up additional switchback queues to handle the people. We were happy we got to ride it one time in the dark, at least.

Redrunner...we were trying to leave just about the time you got there, at 9:30. And I agree, the people outside the gate were absolutely awful. We were following out another family, just by chance. As we were trying to squeeze through a bunch of people, someone asks me "Is that your family?". I replied no, and she and the 6 people in their line of hand-holding just walked right in front of me. No, it's not a big deal, but no excuse me, no thank you, nothing. Oh, I forgot, we also rode the bumber cars, and got cut in line by about 6 adults. Since I had K with me, I didn't say anything, but what is wrong with people???

I only remembered these things just now, so obviously they didn't have any serious impact on the night. But when we go again next year, I will definitely do what we did this year, and go to the park during the day, stay until Scarowinds starts, and be one of the first in the park.

[Axel]

Scarowinds Music Video 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93TSScJEHVM