Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween NPN readers!  Wishing you nothing but the scariest of nightmares on this special day!

Scott And Carol Present - Lake WinnepeSPOOKah

If you ever wondered why Lake Winnepesaukah used to never stay open deep into fall, the story has now come to light. It took 85 seasons for the secret to be revealed. Deep down in the cool waters of the lake, “Wet Winnie” has risen to entertain guests during autumn. Winifred was an only child who lived in fear of her father, Cletus, and his overly protective spirit. He lived in fear that some handsome young man would capture the heart of his daughter and take her away from their home close to the quiet lake.




The Ghoul Market inside the entrance contains a petting zoo, where only the skeletal remains are left for your amusement. A giant spider web forms an iridescent false ceiling, and a store sells all kinds of seasonal light-up goodies. Beware of the parts shop, lest you donate and appendage. Be sure you stay for the end of the show! The Mild Reaper greets one and all, and Jessica is really enjoying her fourth year at the park but the first during Halloween.




The normal associates of Lake Winnie have bought into the new fall celebration with boundless enthusiasm. One ride operator we met told us he spent $50 of his own money just for a great costume; pretty impressive for a part time weekend job that stopped at the end of the month. Costumes for specific characters are chosen by the park but the rest is somewhat random. The ride operator at the Buzzing Bees fit right in with her charges, and the smiles of the children were her reward. The park provides a face painter, and many were gathered around doing their own makeup. Hard to imagine



And then we met Jeff. Jeff is kind of an evil genius; unless you like being terrified, and then you can replace the evil part with awesome. He has developed the Legend of Wet Winnie storyline, handmade an electric chair with the remains of an old crate, some PCV pipe, a strobe light, the obligatory skeleton, and a couple of salad bowls. It was too good to hide in his haunted “Castle,” so he left it outside for even the casual passerby to enjoy. He brought is his collection of scary movie characters and added things like skeletons dumping barrels on the riders and many other surprises. Talking with him we learned that the better skeleton props are the rejects that were made for classrooms, but failed the quality checks and were sold as scenery props. Who knew?



When Cletus caught Winifred with Eddie, an innocent young man lost in the woods, he chased him down and chopped him up with a chainsaw. Unfortunately Winnie witnessed this horrible act, and she desperately ran away from her father. She sought refuge in the old boathouse on Lake Winnepesaukah. As she lay down in the boat, she woke up the nest of snakes that promptly squirmed all over her and bit her again and again. Desperate to escape their fangs, she fell into the water and sunk to the bottom of the lake, carrying the snakes with her.



Every hour, the Thriller parade performs down the midway. The characters regroup from throughout the park for a fantastic parade with lots of candy. Suitable for the entire family, after the parade the participants will pose with anybody who wants a photo memory of their visit. Don’t have a camera; the “Paranormal Paparazzi” will have your picture for you at the front gate as you leave.



When you ride the chairlift, some more pieces of the legend are revealed. As you cross the lake, Winnie appears by the shore, screaming for help and disappearing back into the cabin by the Boat Chute. As you ride through the Boat Chute, every noise seems be a venomous reptile. Exactly what are the things that rustle in the dark and sometimes even brush against your cheek? Every shadow seems a twisting curve until loud noises make everyone jump. Your heart beats louder and louder, until it seems like the only thing you can hear. As you feel like you can’t take it any longer, you emerge to climb the lift and splash down into the lake. Mercifully, as you came back into the station the lights reveal that there are no snakes left in your boat, but when did they leave? The only way to solve this mystery is to try it again, if you dare. Will you be as lucky the next time?



Wet Winnie now only returns in the fall, when she can be seen running through the fallen leaves between the trees. Whether she is looking for Eddie or running from her father no one knows. Sometimes a chainsaw can be heard in the woods, and the locals think it is Cletus still searching for Eddie, who is sometimes seen running around the lake. If you take the haunted train ride you might see Winnie floating close to shore or Eddie fruitlessly running for his life. As you get closer she seems to rise from the water, trying to help Eddie escape from her father. Great for everyone, it still is best after dark, when things come out of the shadows of the trees.

If you choose to take spin on the Cannonball, Lake Winnie’s classic John Allen designed PTC coaster you see some more history. The remnants of the Mad Mouse, extinct for many years from the gentle waters, have reappeared as you roll out of the station. A surprise awaits as you careen down the drops towards the turnaround, but we won’t reveal it here. You have to experience it for yourself, and it’s best after dark.

But much more common than ghosts are the snakes that took Wet Winnie’s life. She is determined that they too shall have no peace until she does, and they overrun the park in the dark. When you wander the park after sunset, every time you hear a rustling in the leaves, you question was it the wind, or a distraught reptile slithering along the ground.

All Your Fear Is Here: Dorney Park Haunt 2010

With so much Halloween oriented hoopla currently going on across the nation it's not fair that I ignore 50% of this Blog's home park!  With that let's take a peek at the horrors taking place at Dorney Park's 2010 Halloween Haunt.

The event has continued to grow each year since being renamed Halloween Haunt from Halloweekends in 2008, but dates back to 1998.  The experience now includes 13 different haunted attractions including indoor mazes, outdoor mazes, haunted midways, lots of fog and live entertainment.

A Mansion House display greets guests at the main entrance

The 2010 Haunt features a new indoor maze called the Mansion House Hotel.  The park really went all out on this one, creating one massive haunt by combining two picnic groves.  In fact, the 10,000 sq. ft. attraction is not only the largest at Dorney Park but at any Cedar Fair park in the nation.  The park has decided to play on the park founder's original Mansion House Hotel which opened in the 1880s.

The creepy exterior, well, one side anyway

As guests enter the Hotel they are greeted by a front desk clerk that informs them that their room isn't quite ready - but urges them to explore the hotel grounds.  That's when the fun starts.  The tour includes plenty of encounters with dead maids, crazed bellhops, and other long-dead employees.

The entrance gates to the property

The haunt really is noticeably longer than most, even including a mid-course trip through a dilapidated green house, and a trip in a special-effect filled ramshackle elevator.  We won't even talk about what happens when you have to pass through the laundry area!  The theming is a definite step above many other attractions at the park, and seems to have been extremely well received by the public.  (judging from the long lines!)

Clowns are scary... no way around it

Since the Mansion House Hotel replaces the former Boo Hill/Kill Hill space, Psycho Circus now does double duty as a kid-friendly daytime attraction, and a scary haunt at night.  During the day it is known as the Clown Factory, where kids can enter and be processed into a clown - red ball nose and everything.  At night the psycho circus clowns take over and things are decidedly more intense.
 

You can hear the base pumping from outside... the screams too

The park's two other indoor haunts have also returned this year - Club Blood and The Asylum.  The Vampires and Crazy Folks are equal opportunity - both will welcome you into their attractions with open arms (fangs). 

Yo ho, yo ho, you know the rest

All 7 of the Haunt's outdoor mazes are back for another year of screams as well.  Pirate Passage again takes over a portion of Camp Spooky, and there be plenty of wenches and scallywags along the way.  The Gauntlet, which runs on the path under Thunderhawk, and its medieval themed monsters continues to be a fog-filled screamfest.  Terror Square, a western themed haunt, has moved onto part of the go-cart tracks near Steel Force's helix, after Demon Drop took out much of its previous home.

Calling all crazies... the Asylum is open

A darkened trip through a graveyard is what you find yourself on in Headstone Hollow, and an equally dark journey through cornstalk-lined paths filled with ghouls awaits in CornStalkers.  Death Trap, which is really a traditional indoor haunt with no roof, is also back.  The gory trip through the destruction left by a Saw-like killer is enough to freak anyone out!

This is the view before you even get in line for Backwoods!

Finally, Backwoods, with its Camp Cudie theme, has again taken residence in the woods behind Steel Force's station.  There's nothing better than walking up to the attraction to hear the sounds of a chainsaw and screaming girls!

Live entertainment this year includes Fangs'n'freaks, a mix of vampires, music, and dance, and Panic Attack, which includes dancing ghouls to spooky music.

The Haunt runs for two more weekends - check out the official website for full details.

Weekly Rewind 10.17.10

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions announced this week that their President and CEO, Charlie Bray, has resigned.  Bray has been with IAAPA since 2004, first serving as the CFO.  His tenure saw the expansion of IAAPA offices across the globe, and the plan to hold the annual convention in Orlando for 10 years.  No replacement has been named.

Screaming cheerleaders in a Busch Gardens Tampa haunted house?  Indeed.  Several members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stopped by the park before a game to visit the new My X: Revenge Rocks haunted house at this year's Howl-O-Scream. 

If you're looking for a new high in Vegas, then check out Fremont Street's new zipline attraction.  On the Fremont Street Zipline passengers "will leap from a platform 60 feet high and glide 800 feet down one of four lines at speeds of up to 25 mph to a 14-foot-high landing near the performance stage."  More information on the official website.

Developers want to build the Orlando Thrill Park on 70 acres of empty land at the north end of Orlando's International Drive.  The organization behind the plan is the Baker Leisure Group, who's also been involved in Freestyle Music Park.  The park would include a 425 ft. launched ride, probably much like Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure.  Another proposed looping ride is seen above.

The Wizarding World of Profits - Universal Orlando has posted some amazing revenue and attendance numbers for the last quarter.  Attendance at the Florida parks is up one million guests, and profits have doubled.  The gains are pretty much completely attributed to the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure.  Be jealous Disney, be very jealous.

Congratulations are due to Legoland California's new water park for receiving the World Waterpark Association's Industry Innovation Award.  The award is judged based on how the organization set itself apart from others in terms of moving the industry forward or to a higher plane.  The water park was the first to open at a Legoland park, and is expected to appear again at Legoland Florida next year.

Even more Planet Snoopy is planned for Worlds of Fun in 2011.  The official Blog for the park confirmed that the development's price tag has gone up to $6 million, with some changes being made to the area since the announcement.  They promise more details to come soon.

Now these are Halloween fans:  April and Adam Cochran got married at Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights on the front steps of one of the haunted houses.  After the vows the couple celebrated with a trip through the maze.  Is a wedding filled with death and monsters bad luck?

More progress was made on the Zippin Pippin this past week at Bay Beach Amusement Park.  The first drop looks pretty complete at this point, as well as the climb to the second hill.  You can see that plus the children's day the park recently had in this gallery.

Scares Are In The Air at Great Adventure's Fright Fest

Calling all ghouls, ghosts, monsters, and freaks - the 2010 version of Six Flags Great Adventure's Fright Fest is currently underway each weekend through the end of October, and they're always looking to add to their twisted army of spooks.

As the sun begins to go down you can see changes starting all over Great Adventure, the midways are lined with creepy torch columns, and fog starts to creep out all around.  Then the fun really begins, as the park's "fright by night" slogan turns into reality.

Fright Fest is packed with a slew of live entertainment and haunted attractions, all of which have become very popular over the years.  Halloween's popularity in general continues to grow, and with that so does the popularity of events like Fright Fest.

And here's some proof of that statement.  Check out this midway during Fright Fest at Great Adventure - I mean it when I say the event is popular!  Everyone was out to get spooked, it seems.

There's an awful lot of Halloween activities that take place during the day to entertain kids - here we see Mr. Six himself hosting his Spooktacular Street Party.  There's also trick-or-treating, a Wiggles' Show, and Team Green Beach Patrol, where dolphins and sea lions join in a beach cleanup.

The darker festivities begin at 5:30 when the Awakening takes place, starting with a parade of ghouls down the midway to the stage in front of the Big Wheel.  Monsters from all over the park congregate in the parade, and they have no problem getting up close and personal.

Told you so! I think this guy was a little crazy, don't you?  Once the short parade ends the focus turns to the stage where the Awakening takes place - this is the zombie infested resurrection of Dr. Fright, who leads over the entire event.  Once he's awake and had his cup of coffee (not really) the zombies go all out - naturally this includes the Thriller dance.

The Awakening bleeds into Dead Man's Party, a perennial favorite of the shows that take place at Fright Fest.  The event's unofficial (or perhaps official?) host is pictured here, known as the Ghoulmaster.  He's developed quite the following over the last few years.

Dead Man's Party is a high energy show that features a combination of blasting music, dance, and special effects.  The songs featured are changed annually, but each year there is a solid mixture of rock, pop, and other genres.  Who knew zombies were such good dancers?

On a busy night it's advised to get to the stage early - the show is very popular.  We didn't get there quite early enough but still had a good view from afar.  Good enough to capture this explosion of special effects taking place!

Other entertainment includes the new for 2010 show "The Ghoulmaster's Ghosts," a Dead and Local Music Showcase that feature local bands, and "Hypnosteria," where a hypnotist works his magic.

Fright Fest has old fashioned scares as well, many of which are found in the extra-admission haunts: Demented Forest and Escape From The Asylum.

Many other haunted midways can be found, too, which are crawling with monsters.  Above is one of the entrances to Circus Psycho, which takes over the boardwalk area of the park.  Those carny folk are crazy, I tell you.

The Lakefront Graveyard was expanded some this year to make it a little longer.  You start off on the midway but have to travel down toward the lake, all while ghouls hover around you in the fog.  It's best to wait till dark for this one, but I wanted to get some photos!

This nice gentleman was in the Lakefront Graveyard, I think he was offering haircuts or something.

Frontier Adventures is taken over by crazed cowboys when it becomes Bone Butcher Terror-tory, and the area near the entrance to the park is filled with the undead as well.  The undead are really great about taking photos with them, too!

I'll leave you with a shot of the Blood Fountain and the crowds watching Mr. Six's dance party.  Our thanks to Great Adventure for having us out to check out the event.  If you want more information, check out Six Flags Great Adventure's website for details.

Frightening Fun: Halloween Events 2010 - 5

Darien Lake's annual Fright Fest has returned, and as the theme park transforms into a "scream park" guests will find new haunts for this year.

CarniVille sounds especially interesting. Visitors will "experience a haunted graveyard of old amusement park rides."  Is this a haunt through the park's boneyard?  I'm not sure but it sounds enticing to me.  Also new is the ability to shoot a head of corn as far as you can with the Corn Cannons.  

Visitors will also want to finish their scary evening with a viewing of LaserBlast Spooktacular.  The show features classic monster hits, lasers, and even fireworks.  Fright Fest runs weekends through the end of October.

If anyone knows how to throw the ultimate family-friendly Halloween party it's Disney - and that's just what you'll find if you drop by Disneyland's Halloween Time celebration.

Special spooky fireworks, trick-or-treating, rethemed rides, and all your favorite Villains in one place - does it get any better?

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy is a special overlay of the famous indoor coaster which features a "haunting soundtrack and sinister special effects."  Haunted Mansion Holiday features Jack Skellington's combination of Halloween and Christmas and is adored by fans.  Just watch out for Oogie Boogie!

The event is requires a special ticket and runs many nights through the 31st. 

No menacing haunted houses are to be found when Hersheypark in the Dark takes place each year.  The park that was built on chocolate provides plenty of treats, and no tricks.

Many of the park's "ghoster coasters" are open for guests, and there's a ton of special Halloween themed entertainment.  Kinds 12 and under can take part in Hershey's Trick-or-Treat Adventure, which I'm sure has some great treats - this is Hershey after all!

The park will hold a Halloween costume contest on October 17th.  Costume categories include Most Original and Most Hershey-like.  Winners will receive special prizes.                                                             

Some of the Six Flags parks have bigger Fright Fest celebrations than others, and one of those can be found at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Seven different haunted mazes await guests who are looking for a good scream.  New this year is Bite II, where the "sexy and sinister are out for a BITE in this recently uncovered nest of the undead."  Other haunts include Warehouse 13 and the Jokester's Hideout in 3-D.

Live entertainment also abounds during the event, including this year's new Dr. Fright's Roc Zombie stage show.  The classic tradition of turning the trains on Colossus backward during the event continues this year as well.

Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain will continue weekends through the end of October.

On October 22-23 and 29-30 visitors to Nickelodeon Universe will find a special event named Blackout! taking place.  The entire indoor theme park will be doused in blacklight and fog, and the festive atmosphere will include live music and a bubble dance party.

Families can even get glow-in-the-dark airbrush tattoos, and make black light t-shirts.  A definite highlight will be "make your own spooky goo" where you, well, make your own goo!

Best of all the park's rides and attraction will be operating during Blackout.  The first 500 guests who purchase a ride ticket after 5:00 pm will receive a free treat bag, too!

Considering the event takes place at a working movie studio, few places can provide scares as realistic as Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Each year the park goes all out and creates a new batch of terrifying mazes, typically themed to popular movie franchises.  This year is no different, as Freddy, Jason, and Jigsaw are back with terrifying new attractions.  Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses takes place in 3-D and features a journey into Captain Spaulding's deadly tourist trap.

Universal's backlot tram takes on an evil spin when it becomes the Terror Tram.  Guests are taken out on the tram but have to make their way back through monster infested movie sets.  It is intense, to say the least.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure has been playing to packed houses on the East coast for years, and was transferred to Hollywood some years back.  The parody of all things pop culture combines music and comedy in a most excellent way.