Scarowinds 9-27-08 Photo TR

Carowinds 73-03 · #1 09-30-2008, 03:35 AM

My first of many trips to Scarowinds was tonight since it was pretty much rained out friday night.

I got to the park about 6:30 expecting a small crowd but had no idea it was really going to be busy. It took about 20 min just to get in the front gate.

Nice Scarowinds banner at the Plaza Stage.

One on the coolest decorations in the park.

The new Cemetery Scare Zone was pretty awesome. Nice layout and some cool decorations.

Tons of fog so it was really hard to see walking through which just made it that much scarier.

Slaughter House Maze. Pretty cool but pretty much the same as last year but it was one of my favorites. I loved the freezer scene. It was really cold in that area then onto the boiler room which of course was really hot.

Dead Inn was the same as last year as well but it has some amazing scenes in it and a great layout and provided the best scares.

Took this really nice shot leaving Dead Inn. It shows just how much fog the park was useing this year which i really liked.

Very nice large graveyard set up in front of Scooby's Haunted Mansion.

My next stop was at Last Laff in the CF section. I was curious where it was going to be since some swings were in the way. They put the maze inside the Action FX Theatre or atleast the area where you exit which i always though was small but the maze was very good and bigger than i expected given it's location. Nicly placed.

I took a picture of these creppy guys cause they scared the hell out of me. Just a few of the many great scares this year by just walking around.

Final Summons was and old haunt but still one of the biggest and best at the park.

Another shot of just how much fog was used.

I got this weird feeling i was being watched all night.

The Asylum was by far the nicest maze and clearly the most money & work went into this maze. An entire facad was built in front of the new building behind Nighthawk. Great Layout and a very long maze.

Now we were coming up on the next new scare zone called Feeding Frenzy which blew me away. I was not expecting a club like theme with loud music and pole dancers. They even had some really good music playing. Just beware the pole dancers are there to distract you from other evil pole dancers waiting to jump out from nowhere.

Carowinds 73-03 · #2 09-30-2008, 04:38 AM

More fog shots. I love that the park replaces all the lights on Ricochet with red lights. It adds alot to the area and looks nice.

On towards Slaughter House since it was not open when we first walked up and waiting in line i found an old friend. I think he followed me all the way from the main entrance.

Some random shots of all the nice themeing.

This girl hiding in the bridge also scared the hell out of me. I think she jumped down from the roof.

My favorite walkaround. Mr. Pumpkin Head.

Ok so now we headed over to Cornstalkers. This was another totally new maze. It was built in the grass area beside Country Kitchen. This maze was amazing. It was like walking through a real cornfeild. The walkways were very narrow and the corn stalks were about 5-6ft and people jumped out of just about everywhere. This was one of my favorites. Not a very long maze but great for what it was.

The Dream Factory is another maze from last season but this one had a completely new theme and the layout was changed a bit. This was my favorite last year but it was just ok this year and it seemed with the new layout it was alot shorter but again still very good for Scarowinds.

Now it's time to leave. It's midnight and i need to get some sleep so i can do nothing tomorrow. On the way out i took some photos of the entrance and the Scarowinds Herse.

I hate Paramount for putting these medal detectors here. I just don't see why they can't be moved after you go through the turnstiles like other parks. Maybe CF will move them one year cause they totally ruin what a nice & unique entrance we have.

Alien Annihilation was pretty much the same trail as last year but with alot more Scharacters so it was better. It also did not even open until 8pm.

Overall Scarowinds was pretty amazing this year. Maybe not the best ever but by far the best out of the last 4 years.

I was totally suprised they decided to take on 8 haunts this year and they did an amazing job. So many Scharacters were roaming the park this year. I'd say almost triple then the park has ever had. Every house was also full of Scharacters.

The fog was another great part this year. It almost looked like they doubled up on the fog machines. I remeber walking from Carowinds Cafe all the way to the Carowinds Theatre and only able to see about 3 feet in front of me. Most people would say thats overkill but that much fog makes it 100% better.

The lines were not too bad tonight. I waited about 30 min for Final Summons, The Asylum & Dream Factory which i think will be the popular mazes this year. The other haunts had about 15-20 min waits. Cornstalkers had a huge line but when i came back an hour later it was down to 15 min.

If the lines were this long on opening weekend then i can only imagine what they will be like on Halloween weekend as Scarowinds always gets super busy as the weeks pass.

If you do plan to go to Scarowinds later in the season then i'd say hit The Asylum, Dream Factory, Corkstalkers & Final Summons first.

I did hit all 8 haunts just in time. It was about 11:30 when i got in line for Dream Factory and i was out by 12:10. I also got 2 rides on Afterburn, 1 ride on TR & Nighthawk so the later in the season you go it's very unlikely you'll get all 8 haunts done.

I did skip the Dead Awakening show so no report on that so i'll just add it here when i see the show next weekend.

Also Scarowinds has just added Nov 1st to it's schedule so now you'll have an extra 15th night.

**Wes** · #3 09-30-2008, 10:01 AM

Wow they look like they gave a flip this year and actually tried for a change.

I'm "dying" to get into scharacter 10/11. lol

Hopefully Dani will let me do my story part for a few hours, then let me roam around and experience the mazes later.

JEdMc91 · #4 09-30-2008, 09:38 PM

Im ready for October 11 to come lol, my second trip to scarowinds. I went last year and really enjoyed it, I just think that they should stay open a lot longer or open a little earlier.

Carowinds 73-03 · #5 09-30-2008, 11:12 PM

I doubt that would happen. I think 15 nights is long enough. I would like to see it extended as well but highly unlikely.

**Wes** · #6 10-01-2008, 07:41 AM

Cedar Fair is running a tight ship these days, only if they have huge numbers would they extend it.

I think Paramount tried the 1:00 AM thing, and most people went home before the close didn't they? Chris you were there then I think.

Carowinds 73-03 · #7 10-01-2008, 01:28 PM

I was working that friday they decided to stay open till 1am.

They had to close the gates at 10pm i think cause they were at capacity. Most of the crowd stayed till 1am. If i can remeber that far back i think it was 16,000+ at 9pm and about 6,000 were still in the park when it closed at 1am.

They counted the exit turnstiles to see how many people left between 1am until the park was clear and it was just under 6,000 so a larg bit stayed until 1am but i guess that was not enough to continue the 1am the following year.

It won't be extended. Most if not all of the major haunts in NC/SC as well as HHN alway start and end at the same time. It's just that most other haunts and HHN are open on wed & thurs. If they were ever to extend Scarowinds i would like to see them try wed & thur nights and maybe stay open till 1-2am only on Halloween weekend.

**Wes** · #8 10-01-2008, 04:13 PM

I doubt they would, considering how much a flop Winterfest was (which I wish they'd bring back). I think they are scared to take a risk these days, and understandably so with the economy like it is.

Carowinds 73-03 · #9 10-01-2008, 04:26 PM

Winterfest acually broke even. It neither made or lost money but had CF given it that 2nd year it could have taken off. If i remeber correctly Scarowinds did not do so well it's first year.

Winterfest was for one overpriced and Paramount realized that when they cam out with the price for the 2nd year then CF said no and had to refund alot of tickets that were already purchased.

Alot more rides were even scheduled to be open for the 2nd Winterfest like Ricochet, Vortex, Carolina Cyclone, Carolina Goldrusher & Drop Tower. I doubt we'll ever see Winterfest again so back to Scarowinds.

I hope that CF can really turn Scarowinds into a major attractions like HHN. It might take 5 more years to do so and alot of money but my wish is to see it just like HHN.

With such a stand out name like Scarowinds it should be at the top. This year CF clearly went with quanity over quality but now that we have established 8 haunts i think they can all be improved over the next few years to make Scarowinds a major player and get more money and in turn open more nights.

Then we can charge people over $100 for tickets and fast passes.

**Wes** · #10 10-01-2008, 09:44 PM

LOL! $100 For SCAROWINDS?

No. No way in you-know-where would people pay that much.

This ain't Orlando.

Carowinds 73-03 · #11 10-02-2008, 03:20 AM

Yeah $100 was a little off maybe $60. It's already $42 now.

**Wes** · #12 10-02-2008, 07:43 AM

I wonder how the VIP thing went over last year. I didn't see that they were doing it again this year.

Carowinds 73-03 · #13 10-02-2008, 11:29 AM

They are doing the VIP ghing this year. I just bought tickets for it next friday.

coasterdave · #14 10-04-2008, 09:35 AM

I attended this thing last night (Oct 3rd) and will say that I was not the least bit impressed with it. This was the first time I had been back to carowinds in a number of years and decided to give it a shot from the pics that I saw Chris had posted. I think there is alot of room for improvement with the people that they hire to scare people. I recall the people over in the rave type scare zone that where all in one place talking while guest where walking through.

If they have any hopes on being as big as Halloween Norror Nights in afew years then they had better get going. I would rate this as one of the worst Halloween Events that I have ever attended. Maybe they need to pick the phone up and call Knotts and ask them for some help with their event.

Carowinds 73-03 · #15 10-04-2008, 09:07 PM

I agree. There is still alot that can be done. Like i said they just need to keep improving of the 8 haunts and the park scare zones they have now and maybe hire another 100 people. They have to start sinking money into the event and alot of it. I doubt it will ever be as goos as HHN simply because they don't have the money & the creative team that Universal does.

Sadly they went with quanity over quality this year.

I was lucky enough not to see people standing around just talking. The night i went everyone was doing their job and doing it pretty well.

I would love to see them get some ideas and people from Knott's.