Scarywood 2016

[wolfblood]

It's the last month of Summer, so you know what that means. Scarywood is just on the horizon! With the event starting right at the end of September, it's no surprise they're updating the website at this moment.

Right now the site has updated the calender as well as the prices for this year, and while I would ask what do you think is returning or leaving...they've already updated the attraction page as well. However I don't know if they've started updating or finished updating the attraction page as it's the exact same attractions as last year. Caved In, Total Darkness, 3Dementia, Blood Bayou and Zombiewood Express. They all have the exact same descriptions as last year, with the exception of the 2015 in the descriptions. The 2015 has been replaced by 2016, and in the case of the desc for Caved In it now says "INTENSIFIED for 2016".

So if this is the finished update for the attractions, then it's gonna' be a quiet year reguarding those. They'll definitely get updates, but there won't be anything brand new.

Now scare zone-wise, since the description for Clown Town still says 2015, that obviously hasn't been updated yet so there's a chance something could change there.

EDIT - As of the 10th, they edited the Clown Town description so it no longer says it's expanded for 2015. Nothing else has been changed so far, hopefully once it get's closer to September they'll announce something new.

8/22 UPDATE - Total Darkness's location is now Pavilion 1, so there's changes afoot.

That's it for now, so thoughts? Speculation?

[skinnyguy]

This will be the first year I will not be able to attend Scarywood, since I will not be in the area. If they really aren't adding any new mazes this year or changing anything up, then it sounds like I picked a good year to miss.

[jspider]

Hopefully they can come up with some interesting updates to Caved In. I thought it was the best maze last year but overall the event is feeling a bit samey. I might just visit too frequently we'll s33 how this year goes.

[wolfblood]

Well it seems like something has changed up a bit, for it looks like Total Darkness is going to be in a different location this year. On the site it lists it's location at Pavilion 1, so right in the Picnic Pavilions along with 3Dementia (Pavilion 5).

So Total Darkness will probably have some notable changes due to the new location, and that does give us a possibility of a fifth maze if they're still using the Theater of Illusions.

[brandonwarren]

Silverwood is now hiring for Scarywood.Go to www.workatsilverwood.com to apply and set up audition. Good luck and Happy Haunting.

[wolfblood]

It looks like tickets are now on sale, and over on the website it now mentions that Scarecrow Corner will be expanded this year.

So with the currently announced updates of Total Darkness moving into Pavilion 1 and Scarecrow Corner being expanded, it does look like this'll be a quieter year a la' 2014. An' since Nick Norton's last show day for the season is September 25th (the very week Scarywood starts), there certainly won't be a maze in the Theater of Illusions this year.

[wolfblood]

(Doing a double post, but that's to bump the thread up for a nice bit of news.)

With today being the last day of the regular season, Scarywood opens in just five days. An' luckily for me, I'm finally returning to this event! While this looks to be a quiet year, it works out in my favor considering the last time I was here was opening night in 2009, so everything will be brand new for me. I'll be here opening weekend for both nights, I figure that'll help me take it all in good and proper.

[skinnyguy]

^You'll love it. The event has come a LONG ways since that first year. Hope you enjoy it. I look forward to your trip report, it will be interesting to hear the perspective of someone attending year 8 after only attending year 1 previously.

[wolfblood]

Now that I'm home safe and sound, here's my opening weekend review of this years event. Joining me was my Mom who was with me for Scarywood's Opening Night in 2009, and my Dad who hasn't been to Scarywood yet. The quick n' simple review is we all LOVED it! For quite some time I've been hoping the Northwest get's a big theme park haunt, and Scarywood is without a doubt that haunt. I really hope next year my schedule is freed up so we can return again soon.

Now for the more detailed reviews, starting with the haunted attractions in the order we hit them up. (Yes, this is a BIG post. There's a lot for me to say since everything was brand new for me.)

Zombiewood Express (2 Times) - This was essentially our first impression of the event, and it delivered a 1, 2, 3 Punch right off the bat.
1. Going straight into the queue and seeing the Quarantine Zone zombies attack the fence.
2. Seeing the train make it's grand entrance barreling through the fog.
3. Seeing Subject 7 for the first time, then looking down at his feet and noticing he's wearing regular boots!

As for the show, it's really a unique gem for the park. It's appropriately dirty, Nick Norton is great as Sgt. Buzz (An' the other Hunters are great as well.), the humor works and I love how the train interacts with the park when it's returning. (The Tilt a Whirl riders sure got a great scare!) Overall, it's a awesome way to kick the event off!

3Dementia (3 Times) - Out of the four houses, this was the most "fun" of the bunch. The 3D effects were nice, and this house was dead set on throwing you off balance. There was a good amount of tricks and visual gags, and my favorite room had a bunch of Alice in Wonderland designs on the walls. (Plus a unique trick I think most will get a kick out of. ) An' while the house was light on scares, it's understandable since they're going for more of a fun/party atmosphere which is a nice contrast to the other three. (Though a couple actors did get me.)

Total Darkness (1 Time) - Since this attraction is now in Pavilion 1, I can relay that the entrance is in the Aftershock Courtyard, and the exit dumps out into the Crypts scare zone nearby the food stand/entrance to 3Dementia. An' considering the exit of 3Dementia is right nearby the entrance to TD, it's easy hitting both up no matter which one you do first.

As for the attraction itself, I was wondering how dark it would be in the Pavilion. Clearly they did a proper job of blocking light as it was pitch black in there the whole way through. The only thing you could see were the dim red lights of the cameras and that's it. This was a doozy to get through, and it really messed with my head/senses in just the right way. An' if you're not holding onto anyone, your gonna' get split and lost from your group pretty easily! (Also, we would've hit this up a second time on Saturday, but a combination of the cold weather, time and seeing medical staff taking care of someone right at the exit (Since the person was on the ground I presumed it was either a panic attack or someone fainted) when we walked by prevented that.)

Caved In (4 Times) - I was both Ready and Not Ready for this attraction, looking at pictures and reading reviews I was expecting a claustrophobic cave with bat creatures that's pumped full of fog and lit only by work lights strung up. What I wasn't ready for was the work lights to be flickering on and off the whole. way. through. This was the most unsettling house to walk through, and those bat creatures got me good. For me this was the scariest house of the bunch, and one of the bats was able to do a perfect appear and dissapear out of nowhere right in front of me. (I almost hit the floor due to that.) Just like Total Darkness this was simple yet very effective!

Blood Bayou (3 Times) - Last but not least, Blood Bayou. Now I've been pretty open that this attraction is getting a bit long in the tooth, after all this year is it's 7th. (In comparison, the longest running Knott's Scary Farm mazes only run for 6 years.) Now with that said, I'm definitely happy I got to experience it in person because the house is no doubt sheer eye candy. From the indoor queue, forest and two story house, to the sewers and catacombs, there's a LOT to take in. There really is no way to catch everything in one walk through, especially my personal favorite room which was that "Hag Shack/Voodoo Hut" with all the glowing jars. The actors inside were quite nice as well, they were nice and creepy an' a good chunk of them took advantage of the hiding spots in the forest sections.

So for the attractions, it was a solid lineup and none of them were a dud!

Scare Zones
Quarantine Zone - The zombies were plentiful and "lively", good scares all around and I liked the extra entertainment they provided. From chasing the train as it departs, to dancing Thriller after that and then promptly getting shot by Matt Hazard.

Clown Town - This zone was just plain fun, the lights are a great touch and if the clowns wern't getting a scare in they were getting some good laughs.
The Dollhouse - When it comes to haunted themes, I love twisted dolls and this bunch worked for me quite well. Heck they got some great tag team scares on me a couple times!

The Scarywood Nest (On the park map it's listed as "The Nest") - This spiderweb tunnel was pretty unsettling to walk through each time, it made for some nice scares as well.

The Crypts - While this zone was on the smaller and quieter side, the actors were doing a real good job. There was also a big skeletal warrior a la' Army of Darkness who was also really funny.

Scarecrow Corner - This scare zone was a little reminder of the haunt I work at (I work in a cornfield). It offered a narrow passageway of hay bales, though I think this one might get changed up during the month since the narrow paths don't really offer much in terms of space for the actors to work with. (Though I did appreciate the heavy security presence in this zone for the actors due to the tight spaces.)

Crime Scene (On the park map it's listed as "Leatherface") - It's the chainsaw zone, and not surprisingly there we're plenty of scares going on here. An' while chainsaws don't get me, I will say on Friday night when we were leaving Leatherface did get me good. He was nestled deep in a bush in one of the darker spots so he got a good jump on me.

Overall the scare zones were a lot of fun, and I love that besides the official zones, there were monsters all over the other dark places in the park. (A couple personal favorites were some kind of warrior with a beast skull with glowing eyes, and a robed figure with a awesome orange and red bird/plague doctor mask.) It really gave off a presence that there's no safe zone.

Other attractions
Timber Terror backwards was downright insane in the right ways, it was impressive how it ramped up till it hit the breaks.
Since my last visit was 2009, SpinCycle was brand new for us. We liked it a lot and I was surprised by the G's that sucker pulls when it does full revolutions.

Other Notes
- For those curious how crowds/wait times were. Opening night was really quiet, all the haunts were pretty much walk on or less then 5 minute waits. (With the exception of the train, we could've marathoned the walk through haunts if we wanted to.) Panic Plunge and SpinCycle were one cycle waits, and the woodies were 2/3 train waits. Saturday on the other hand was busier, probably due to the non rainy weather and it was friends and family night for the employees. The biggest wait for us was the train where we had to wait for the second one plus the small mechanical delay. Both woodies were 15-20 minute waits (Though the lines did get bigger.) 3Dementia was 15-20 minutes, Caved In the first time early in the night was surprisingly 5 minutes, while the second time later was about 20 minutes. Total Darkness looked busy, and Blood Bayou was shockingly only to the second to last row of the small indoor switchback. So it was a short wait, and I never saw the line outside the Ice Palace.

- Weather-wise, this was the wackiest I've ever seen the weather here. On Friday it was quite warm, and midway through the night it was rapid on and off rain. Plus there was a bit of heat lightning to make things more exciting. Meanwhile for Saturday it was just clear and cold. It didn't work out too well for us since Friday we dressed warm, and Saturday we dressed light.

- Admittedly on Friday it seemed like the houses were a little understaffed (Though the ones that were there were doing great), however there was a notable increase of actors in the houses on Saturday. (Scare zones looked thoroughly staffed both nights)

- I recall in some previous year reports people mentioned the music loops in the Zombiewood Express queue line were short so they heard something like Rob Zombie's "Dragula" five times etc. I can report that this year the music loop is quite lengthy, and it also kind of felt like there were multiple ones as well. On Saturday when we had to wait in line for the second train of the night, I think it started to repeat once before we got on. Kinda' tricky to tell since there are some songs which I did hear repeat, however there were others like Rob Zombie's "The Great American Nightmare" which I only recall hearing once throughout the weekend.

- The Topper Track additions to Tremors were most welcome, I recall in 2009 Tremors gave me a headache. But this year it was notably smoother, a bit shufflely/jackhammery in the first turnaround, but not as bad as 2009. An' the TT on the second turnaround makes a huge difference as it goes eeriely smooth right through it.

- Finally, we all loved the improvements to the entry area, road and parking lot. It makes it way easier heading down south and the new entry makes for a good holding pen too.

To finish this big review off, here's Five Memorable Moments!

1. On opening night we were on the first train out for Zombiewood Express, and I was expecting there would be some kinks since that can happen with opening night jitters. We reach the main show section, and right off the bat Nick is supposed to shoot a zombie in the head...but his pistol doesn't work. Thankfully Nick is great at improve so without missing a beat he said something along the lines of "I'm such a bad-@$$ I can shoot you like this. BANG!" He literally made a gun with his hand and shoots the zombie that way, and from that point Nick had a serious case of the gigglefits as he laughed through the rest of the scene. Making matters worse (Or in this case, better.) were the zombies in the scene were late on their cues. So the cast rolled with it, made some good improv jokes and still made it entertaining. In fact it made certain jokes later in the show even funnier! (An' for the record, the kinks were ironed out as everything in the second show went off without a hitch.)

2. The next day while we were waiting on the train (There was a mechanical delay), I was idly looking out onto main street and got a bit of a suprise as Subject 7 was out on the platform looking back at me straight in the eyes! It's seriously stunning how tall he is!

3. While we only went through Total Darkness once, it was truly memorable as it was a prime example on getting split up and lost. We went in as a group of 5, I was in the front, two guys we met were right behind me and my Mom and Dad brought up the rear. When I finally emerged out of the exit, it turned out I was the 2nd one out of our group! The guy who was literally behind me somehow made it way before me. 5-6 minutes later, my Mom and Dad come out. (To which they amusingly explain my Dad somehow accidently stumbled into the control room of the attraction!) Finally 5 more minutes later the other guy comes out, absolutely befuddled how he got seperated from the group. We all give props to Total Darkness since no other house has ever gotten us that lost before!

4. Caved In was chock full of great moments, but the funniest happened during our first walkthrough where there was a small group in front of us. We were given the go ahead to enter, and it wasn't long before the two women in front let out a blood-curdling scream...from bumping into the plastic curtains which help contain the fog. Needless to say, everyone in earshot (including the attendant) busted a gut.

5. On Saturday while walking through Clown Town, we got a unexpected surprise going through one of the foggy sections. As a big white rabbit (Who was heading back to the Dollhouse) emerged from the fog, casually tapping a wrench in his hand. Since the white fur blends right into the fog, a rather sizable group didn't see him until he was right there, causing a great "Parting of the Red Sea" moment as everyone dashed out of the way. Someone commented on how cool that was, to which one of the clowns piped up. "I know right? He's Kevin Hart!" Well played, clown. Well played.

[skinnyguy]

^Glad you had such a great time. It's cool to hear about the experience from the viewpoint of someone who hasn't seen any of these attractions before, and only previously attended the first year.

I still wish they'd put something back in the Thunder Canyon trench. That was always such a unique and cool place to put a walk-through...very different from your traditional "enclosed" maze.