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Post by wolfblood on Oct 2, 2010 11:32:18 GMT -8
For those that can, do take pics. Not to mention do let us know if Lindy's is open, where the enterance to Blood Bayou is. (I have a feeling the queue starts on the pathway that leads to Boulder Beach.) and finally what sections of the park has scare zones.
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voodoobones
Thunder Canyon
It's not that life is so short, it's that you're dead for so long!
Posts: 180
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Post by voodoobones on Oct 2, 2010 21:52:28 GMT -8
At scarywood right now. Blood Bayou is outstanding. The train is ok. The effects are not very good but Nick Norton is on the train narrating and he is really good. There is no magic show this year. Will post more later.
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voodoobones
Thunder Canyon
It's not that life is so short, it's that you're dead for so long!
Posts: 180
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Post by voodoobones on Oct 3, 2010 18:48:39 GMT -8
Well last night at Scarywood was fun. They had plenty of wandering stalkers and such. The gem of Scarywood this year is Blood Bayou. It is a giant leap from last years haunt. However the end just kind of dumps you into a nondescript hall and it would be wise and it would not take much effort to do a little theming on the exit. Blood Bayou is something that they should use as a bench mark for future haunts.
Terror Canyon was a huge fail. The theming was sparse and the scares were few and lame. Terror Canyon was better last year and that isn't saying much.
The Zombie Train looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. Nick Norton hosts the journey and he does an excellent job. It is definitely not a kid friendly ride so do not take kids that you don't want to hear bad language. There is plenty of bad words on the ride. I had no problem with it but I wouldn't want my young kids to hear it. But to be honest, there is no reason to bring little kids to Scarywood. The train ride last year had a lot better effects in the woods and the atmosphere was way better. This year they leave the lights on through out the train only turning them off at select times. So basically you don't get a sense that you are traveling through the woods. It really kills the spookiness. So basically better narration this year, better effects last year.
Timber Terror is a win! Even though it beats the crap out of you, riding backwards is a blast. I rode it twice, once on each end. Both times were a lot of fun! Here is a video I took of the train leaving:
And of the Train arriving:
I will go back again this year. I hope that they will improve as the season moves forward.
I was disappointed that you couldn't have a beer with your pizza, there is no magic show, there are no corndogs ( I love the Silverwood corndogs), and they don't put a date on the Scarywood Sweatshirts.
I was also amazed to see that someone had brought some very little kids in a wagon. They couldn't ride anything so why would you bring them to Scarywood? They will be paying for therapy for a while.
Oh, and one more thing, the carnival area is awesome! Lot's of neat affects and theming. I had several women that I didn't know running up to me begging me to protect them from the scary.... well you will just have to find out for yourself or wait until the end of the season so I can tell you without ruining it for everyone else.
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Post by Bud Parsley on Oct 5, 2010 14:08:15 GMT -8
Nice TR! I take it Lindy's is not open? It sounds like maybe the added attraction got all the focus. I suspect it will improve to some degree as the season goes on. And remember, this is only their second year. We can't expect Scarywood to be on the same level as Knott's Haunt...not yet anyway
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voodoobones
Thunder Canyon
It's not that life is so short, it's that you're dead for so long!
Posts: 180
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Post by voodoobones on Oct 5, 2010 20:33:51 GMT -8
Lindy's was "Open" in a sense that they had candy, chips, and other crud. Pop only. It wasn't open as a full restaurant. I agree that the Blood Bayou got all the attention and the other haunts suffered because of it. I do hope it changes as the season progresses. I don't expect it to be the same level as Knott's but I would like to see each attraction have their own project manager so they don't suffer like they did this year. There is a lot of potential here and it wouldn't take much to see it to fruition. But it does require some dedicated resources. Sometimes a manager needs to step back and admit they need help. Delegating the haunts out could really benefit the entire park. It's all about project ownership. But that is just my opinion.
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Post by skinnyguy on Oct 6, 2010 19:10:25 GMT -8
^Thanks for the TR, voodoo! I'm heading out there on Saturday to check it out this year. So, how were the crowds and lines? Also, did you feel like there was enough time to do all three haunted attractions this time around? I remember last year that was my biggest complaint. I figure with the extra time they allotted for the event each night that you would have tons of time to do everything, but then again, I wondered if it would end up drawing bigger crowds this year.
Nice videos, too!
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voodoobones
Thunder Canyon
It's not that life is so short, it's that you're dead for so long!
Posts: 180
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Post by voodoobones on Oct 7, 2010 7:40:24 GMT -8
Thanks Skinnyguy. The crowds were very thin while I was there. But I think that might be due to the fact that it was opening weekend. However, the weather was a huge improvement over last year. When I went towards the middle of the month last year the temperature was 24 degrees. And we still had huge lines for the haunts. This year the wait for each haunt was less than 10 minutes. The nice thing was that you could go as many times as you would like because they are not punching tickets this year. I went through Blood Bayou twice. Both time I was surprised and spooked! The second time was by myself at around midnight so there was no other guest in the haunt besides me. Make sure to eat before you get there. Other wise your only option will be pizza and bread sticks. And those weigh a bit heavy on the coasters. Speaking of the coasters, they were either walk on or one cycle wait. I was able to do all the coasters at least twice if not more with out trying. The only reason I had to weight in line was because I wanted specific seats on the coasters. I had no problem doing all the haunts. But as we progress into October, the crowds will start to increase. I plan on taking a couple of friends again this year so it will be interesting to see if anything changes from now until then. I would like to see them sell corndogs! Do you hear me Silverwood? Sell your corndogs! I go for the corndogs but I stay for the rides!
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Post by skinnyguy on Oct 8, 2010 7:59:32 GMT -8
^I hear you on the pizza served at Silverwood. When we went this past summer, my niece wanted me to go on the tilt-a-whirl and trabant with her right after we had pizza at the magic show...man was I feeling it after that!!!! And I normally don't get sick that easily on rides! The food I eat before hitting up theme park attractions makes the difference for me, I guess.
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Post by skinnyguy on Oct 9, 2010 23:32:35 GMT -8
Well, just got back to the hotel after Scarywood.
The short version of my TR is that I agree with much of what Voodoobones said in his...but I do have some thoughts of my own about the event. Overall, it was very fun, and in many ways a huge improvement from last year!
Will post more later...it's bedtime now!
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Post by skinnyguy on Oct 11, 2010 10:12:41 GMT -8
Alrighty, here goes - SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
So, overall I thought this year was better than last in many ways, but I also felt a bit disappointed in a few ways, too. I'll be writing this review in an attempt to compare last year with this.
First up, the weather this year was much better than last. It only rained a little bit at the start of the evening, and was just cloudy for the rest - in the 50s the entire time, and much more comfortable. I know Silverwood can't control the weather, but it did make a big difference for me.
Next up, the park itself was so much better themed this year as compared to last! I loved how well decorated every little corner of the park was - there was themeing literally everywhere you looked, and it all looked so awesome! There was also only one path through the park this year, which you had to follow to get back to the coasters, which I think helped make it easier to theme, because they had a smaller space to work with.
As Voodoobones mentioned, Timber Terror backwards was AWESOME!!! I rode twice as well, once on each end of the train, and both times it was just a blast. I have never been on a wooden coaster backwards before, so this was a very new experience for me, but it was great, and I definitely think they should do this again next year. It was the talk of the park while we were there. Everywhere we went through the park, we heard people talking about Timber Terror backwards, so this was a great move by the park. Not sure how well it would work on Tremors...that might be a bit much...but on Timber Terror it was sweet!
I completely agree w/ Voodoo about the train. It looked awesome this year - very well themed and detailed (blood scratches on the seats, and all the train cars were decorated on the outside). They also had chain-link fences around the sides of the trains so you couldn't stick your arms out, but this also made it impossible to see anything outside the train when the lights were on (which was most of the ride). It totally killed the atmosphere that the train ride created last year - you had no sense of being in the forest in the dark, and it was hard to see the parts of the show that were happening outside the train. Further, at least half the anamatronic zombies that were supposed to be right by the train cars weren't even working. Only one jumped out at me the entire ride. And let's face it, when Nick Norton himself starts to make fun of the fact that the anamatronics aren't working...something is wrong! It was funny, though, when he did...it was after we left the mine and we were supposed to go through a section of anamatronics...he was like "Well, that was incredibly lame! Half those things weren't even working! Who here on this train thinks that Silverwood needs to spring for some more anamatronic zombies next year?" I had to laugh at that!
As for the narration, I loved that Nick Norton was narrating the train live, as well as other actors. That was much better than the recording because they could interact with people. And you can't go wrong with Nick Norton...he is just a great showman, and really works a crowd well. The profanity didn't bother me so much as it seemed overkill. Nick swore so much it just didn't seem natural...it was like I was around a 5th grader who was trying to swear as much as possible just for the sake of swearing. When there's a swear word at least every sentence, it just felt very...well...just overkill like I said. So, I'd suggest cutting back on it to make it sound a little more natural. I also would like to point out that Nick Norton says at the start of the train ride that "for those of you too stupid to read the sign out front, this ride contains strong language and brief nudity". Well...the sign out front doesn't mention either of those things! And the "brief nudity" wasn't exactly what I would consider "nudity". It was a bunch of skeletons wearing bikinis with their tops off. Yup...topless skeletons...somehow that constitutes nudity...
I also noticed that, although Silverwood did get rid of scary jerry's rendition of the Adams family song at the end of the train, they didn't miss out on a chance to end with corny singing. What is up with that? They must really want to end the train ride with a dumb song for some reason...this year it was the Elvis actor singing "Burnin' Love". Sorry, but that doesn't really create a scary atmosphere...it's just silly.
So, for the train, while the decorations on the train were awesome, and the train station looked great, and the narration was much better, I think I overall liked the train ride better last year. It was much scarier and creepier. This year, it felt like a show - more of just "entertainment", than a haunted ride. And keeping the lights on ruined the atmosphere. I still think they should keep the train and try to improve it, because I think if done right, it could really be scary, but this year it was not. Great show, great entertainment, but not scary at all.
Next up was Terror Canyon. I think they set this ride up much better than last year. They enclosed the entire entry-way this time, and enclosed the bridge across the river, and enclosed the queue, so you couldn't see any part of the walk-through from outside of it. That was a great move by the park, as last year you could see a lot of what was coming before even entering the attraction. Also, I loved that they created a story, with the whole "disappearance of campers on terror canyon trail" bit. That was a great idea to incorporate into the haunt. And very effectively done, too, I might add. Finally, I thought this year that the theming was much better throughout the entire walk-through. But the downside to me, was it wasn't scary. There were not very many scare actors, and I don't think I jumped once. Part of this problem, I think, was that they were letting people through too quickly...it was just a big long line of people walking through it for most of the time (as opposed to small groups spaced out), so all the actors that were going to jump out had already jumped out by the time we got up there. And there were many places during the walk-through that I expected someone to jump out somewhere but no one did. So, voodoo, I agree that the scares were few and lame, but I gotta say, the theme of the attraction was much better this year, and I loved that they incorporated a story into it. That was really cool! I think they just sort of forgot about the scare-factor. It was definitely turned down a few notches for me this time.
Last but not least - Blood Bayou. This thing was awesome, from start to finish! It really did feel like this got all the attention, and it showed. Very well done attraction! Couple compliants - the line was painfully slow - we waited over 1 hour and 15 minutes for it! Also, the sound effects/ambience playing in the background of the queue kept stopping about once every couple minutes. Then, it would kick back on, and stop again in five minutes. It sort of killed the mood, but didn't ruin the attraction by any means. Voodoo, you hit the nail on the head - this needs to be the benchmark for everything else they do - it was just awesome!!
As for the rest of the park, there were scare actors strategically placed throughout the park, and only one place I would actually consider a "scare zone", and that was the part of the pathway where you had to walk through the carnival games area. It was great! Clowns everywhere scaring everyone, and there were all kinds of anamatronic clowns and monsters jumping out of the games areas - it was great!
I also noticed that they had more places open this year to buy food - you could eat at the high moon saloon as well as the pizza place, so that was nice. But I still think Lindy's needs to be open - it's the best food in the park! I wouldn't have eaten dinner outside the park if Lindy's had been open.
So, I give the park thumbs up for blood bayou, timber terror backwards, theming and decorating the park up like crazy, totally decking out the train and train station, having live narration on the train, and theming up terror canyon better this year with a storyline. But I think they need to focus better on the scare-factor - the train wasn't scary at all, and terror canyon was definitely turned down a couple notches from last year.
I really think the train ride is just bursting with potential. That could be such a freaky, scary ride, if done right. I would like to see that focused on more next year. But if they are wanting to just keep it around as more of a show, like it was this year, they should advertise it as such, not as a scary, haunted ride. Because it wasn't scary at all, in my opinion.
I'd also like to see more haunts next year - as I've said in the past, I think they could really do some awesome things with the log flume. When I went to Knott's Scary Farm, my favorite haunt by a long shot was the log flume - it was so scary and fun! I also think they could do a cool haunt back in the picnic area, too. And I think they're going to need to change some of the themes up next year, for those that have been a couple times now. It's going to get too predictable if they do the same thing every year.
But all in all, it was a very fun evening! I can't wait for next year, and I wish I lived closer to the park so I could go again this year, because I totally would go back. Gore Galore really made a difference for them this year, and I think Scarywood is headed in the right direction.
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