Scarowinds 9/28/05

Carowinds 73-03 · #1 09-29-2005, 06:12 PM

This was not open to the public. This was a dry run night for family & friends of employees.

Wednesday, September 28th. A nice large crown showed up. I'd say 200 people.

We started in at around 7:30 and the first maze we headed to was Alcatraz Escape. Like last year it was pretty interesting but no changes but the scares this year were a lot better and they seem to have had more people working in and around the maze. The decorations around county fair were pretty awesome. It was nice to see that area decorated for the first time. 5/10

Next we headed all the way across the park to Alien Crypt which has a new entrance. You enter the line near the Hurler Photo booth walking through a trailer. After walking through another trailer we finally reached the entrance which was switched this year. The exit last year is now the entrance and the maze has been completely redone and it's actually a bit longer this year. AC was my 2nd fav maze. a lot of scares and nice loud music. I even got scared so good I jumped back about 2 ft into a wall. My elbow was a bit sore after that but anyway. The maze was much much better this year. 8/10

After a tour of Area 51 we headed to Massacre Manor. I was really looking forward to this one since this is what replaced the long running and most popular Nightmare Manor so Massacre had some big shoes to fill and it did. I won't give much away to keep some suprises but I really liked the way the new rooms were decorated and even likes all the dead bodies & meat hanging from the ceiling. There's even a room that grossed me out a bit. It's full of little critters. This maze was the best of the night and I'd say Massacre Manor is just as good if not better that Nightmare Manor (Hope the folks at PCW enjoy NM). The entrance was moved around and it was of course a completely new maze. Also this maze featured a pre maze walkthrough while in line. At the entrance you walk through a cornstalk maze which was really cool. Everyone was screaming through this and just waiting in line this maze got the most and loudest screams. Kudos to carowinds for coming back to outdo Nightmare Manor. Perfect 10/10.

Last but not least we took a short hike to Headless Hollow. What was once my fav attraction 2 years ago has slowly gone down to #3. It's was a ton better than last year and it was actually cool to see the headless horseman this time. Also to keep you on your toes just like Alien Crypt this maze has completely been turned around and now the entrance is where the exit was last year. Very happy their switching the mazes around to keep it fresh and new. HH featured lots of actors. I'd say double that last year which made for a lot of great scares and more often scares. 7/10

All in al it was a perfect night. The weather was quite cool once it got dark and there was no wind which made it great for all the fog. I was told a lot of the fog machines were not on last night so if that's the case then expect a lot more fog than last year.

I was also very happy to see the park do some pretty interesting decorations. The Spider's lair was just awesome, The themeing was just out of this world and the special effects and lighting just made it even better. I was actually a little creeped out.

Slaughter Street was also another overly themed areas with wrecked cars everywhere, some were even on their roofs. It was just like a movie set and the actors were out in force in this area jumping out of cars and from behind props.

The rest of the park was just themed amazingly. It's clear they have spent a lot more money this year than in years past and I mean a lot more money. Basically everything has some type of themeing on it. The park looked perfect, The fog was prefect & the music was great. I'd say it was a prefect & frightening evening. I can't wait to go back on the 7th and see this when it's open to the public. I'm told it will be a lot better with even more actors in the mazes and walking around. I'd say this is the best year for Scarowinds and I think the attendance will prove to be just as great.