CGA’s HALLOWEEN HAUNT MEDIA DAY (Video Posted!!!)

We went to CGA’s Halloween Haunt last year, which was their first time having one. The event was so great! It was really crowded too. The link to last year’s report is below.

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=652948#652948

 

 

I was asked to go to CGA’s Media Day for Halloween Haunt this year, but I couldn’t make it on 10/3. We were lucky enough to get a second chance at it on 10/9. A few friends joined us and we all had a great time.

 

Along with the same mazes from last year, CGA added a new one called Toy Factory. They also added Shocking Sideshow of Freaks, which was a great show and Bang! Primeval Percussion.

 

You must arrive early for the opening. All of the ghouls gather around to hear their directions to scare everyone. I have a video clip from this. We have a really good picture with the guy on the front of the CGA Haunt website.

 

http://haunt.cagreatamerica.com/

 

We’ll start off with reviews of the mazes:

 

CarnEvil – A must with 3-D glasses. Don’t go through it without them. They do a great job with the scare zone outside as well. I believe it is called the Gauntlet.

 

Club Blood – It has a couple of stripper poles…need I say more?

 

Slaughterhouse – I believe there was more gore last year, but this maze is absolutely disgusting. The gutting meat grinder is great, as well as the “store” at the end.

 

Toy Factory – I’ll start off by saying the song is annoying. The maze is fabulous! They are really creative. I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say what happens.

 

Cornstalkers – This is a very long maze. I like how it runs along the backside, behind Grizzly. There are many scares in here.

 

Camp Gonna Getcha – Last year, this wasn’t operating regularly. It is a little different because you’re in the log ride, but it is enjoyable. If you don’t want to get wet, don’t ride it.

 

Werewolf Canyon – Probably my favorite maze next to CarnEvil. The werewolves are great and they added some chainsaws to really make this scary.

 

The shows:

 

Ed Alonzo – If you have seen him before, there probably isn’t much of a change. He is hilarious and crewd! Everyone enjoyed him. If you have kids, you might want to see the show before they see it.

 

Shocking Side Show of Freaks – This is a new show for this year. There is fire and fireworks. What more could you want?

 

Dave Hill’s Haunted Hypnotics – We didn’t watch this show. It was going on as we were leaving. If you like hypnosis, this is the show for you!

 

Bang! Primevil Percussion – A welcome change throughout the park. They don’t stay in one place.

 

This is a MUST for Northern Californians to go to.

 

Time for the pics!

and such a great price...

Derek might be happy with this news.

Hi Jack...I can't be any funnier than that.

We had a photo taken with the super duper bad dude!

3-D glasses are a must for CarnEvil

A ton of fog

This is the next best maze. Some people might like it better then the werewolf canyon.

Hi, I'm Ed Alonzo and I cut my arm off for fun.

Ed Alonzo puts on a great show, and he does it 3 times a night!

A little entertainment while we were in line.

One of my favorite mazes by far.

but luckily I escaped!

She was taking me to the bridge...

I said beg!

On your knees and beg for you life, Rick

Please don't eat me...

Oh NO!!!

She put me in shackles and dragged me around.

We rode this as our last ride of the night. You do get wet.

Bird-woman, another great character.

Don't let this guy scare you at the end.

We weren't able to do this maze last year. It is really long, but very well done!

It isn't a CGA update without Survivor, the Ride.

Just inside Toy Factory

A great new edition. Hopefully the song won't drive you nuts.

Full group photo.

L-R Steve, Courtney, me, Gyendolynne, Susan, and the 2 boys are Nick and Colton

Always fun to see this guy get shocked.

Coming up on one of the scare zones. This is by the Demon.

Decorations throughout the park

Really gruesome

Club Blood, stripper poles and scantily clad women. Anything else to say?

This is Bang! Privevil Percussion.

A "captive" audience...

Getting the "kill all humans" instructions for the night.

and ghouls...

more ghouls...

These guys have been waiting for the carousel for a long time!

Nick is giving the "You don't scare me" look, but I think he is a little scared.

The water wasn't blood red this year.

The kids wanted their photo taken with him.

This was one of the best costumes.

They had a bunch of ghouls running around.

The sign once you enter the park.

A picture with the hearse out front.

Susan and her family showed up too!

We start off at Bennigan's

The final event for Mike, was to have 2 $1 bills stapled to his chest by audience members. If you had a $20, you can staple it to his forehead.

Did you get enough fire in this update?

More flames and fire...

Final event for George was lighting 100 firecrackers on his stomach.

had an audience member pull it out.

He swallows a sword and...

Fire is always enjoyable.

Finally, a sledgehammer to break up the blocks.

You don't like 1? How about 2 with some flames?

How about a cement block on top of your stomach?

First, lay down on this bed of nails.

Our final show for the night was the Shocking Side Show of Freaks.

Sweet, I'll be going there next weekend! Got a video project to shoot during the day, and a Haunt to check out at night.

Sounds like you had a good time! I went last Saturday (8/3) and loved Toy Factory too! But I missed out on the opening ceremonies. Looks cool.

^Here is a video of the opening ceremonies that I took.

Haunt.zip

Opening Ceremonies

The photos are great. Glad I saw this because I went last week and looking at your pics I guess I missed a couple of stuff.

Love the Toy Factory it was very creative.

And I agree about Slaughterhouse. It seemed like a couple stuff was missing.

I enjoyed the Haunt a little more this year.

Great trip report. It seems like CGA has a pretty nice haunt. Since you put up pictures of CGA's freakshow, it now reminds me how much I miss the one we had here at Scarowinds a couple years ago.

 

Now that CGA has Dole whip, does that mean the rest of the CF parks will start carrying it? I really hope so, that is some of the best stuff ever made.

I was planning on going on 10-10 but a bunch of things kept me in Stockton. Man I am so bummed I didn't get to go.

Hi Rick! Nice Photo TR. I haven't been to CGA in a LONG time. Is it better than it was a couple years ago?

 

I am going to the Sharks game tomorrow (got a great deal for seats in Section 116 Row 2!), are you going?

 

-Kevin

Thanks guys!

 

^We're not going to the Sharks game. Have fun there! Your seats sound good.

I forgot to give a HUGE thanks to Ryan Davies for taking us around the park for Media Day. It was great hanging out with you. Everyone had a such a good time.

Nice photos Rick! Glad you guys had a great time!

Nice report Rick!! I really liked CGA on the West Coast trip, and it's great to see the park nicely themed out!

 

Thanks for the photos

I'm so excited. Great trip report. I cannot wait! Does Delirium and Firefall run without the lights on?

^Delirium doesn't have any lights (other than the big bright white ones), but Firefall still has its lights and fire (if it's working).

Yay, Haunt tomorrow! Thanks to CGA I won some tickets for tomorrow...so that's $50 I'll be saving.

 

And is Firefall still down? I know it's been down for a large chunk of the summer.

FireFall reopened last night. But who knows how long that will last.

I'm also going again tonight with a bunch of friends. From what it was like last year, there should be a decent amount of crowds tonight.

It was packed tonight (10/17), however I did get to do Toy Factory probably like 6 times. So here's my rundown:

CarnEvil: 1x - Wished to do more but the lines got long

Slaughter house: 1x - Probably the most packed maze tonight

Club Blood: 1x - Short lines

Toy Factory: 6x - Love the ending and the catchy music, lines were semi long/bearable. At 1 point, the line stretched across to the games on the opposite side of the walkway.

CornStalkers: 2x - Lines were bearable

Werewolf Canyon: 2x - Pretty short

Camp Gonnagetcha (or gonnasoakya): 1x - Short

For some reason, that log ride was splashing up a lot of water today.

 

A lot of people were going for the rides so I skipped out on much of the night rides. I had ridden them all earlier today prior to Haunt so no real loss.

Glad to hear it was packed... that's good for the park.

^^Around 11:30 the line for Club Blood stretched all the way past Celebration Swings.

 

And just wait until next weekend. That is when the lines are going to be long.

And just when you thought you were done hearing the song...

I've heard this song in my dreams last night, waking up to still have it in my head..lol

Also, you can see the long line Toy Factory had at one point...then the line shortened, starting at the TF sign.

 

Club Blood stretched back that far? I saw insane lines for Slaughter House, Club Blood being pretty short most of the night. I was there until around 11:30, and my feet were hurting from all the walking.

I went last night and got on all of the mazes once and also a ton of rides. My friends were on Flight Deck when it broke down (got stuck on the chain). We were also the last ones to ride Camp Gonnagetcha before it broke down.

 

We decided to skip Club Blood first and head to Slaughterhouse first to be one maze ahead of the crowds. It worked very well. Walk on for Slaughterhouse. Then walk on for Toy Factory. 5 min for Cornstalkers. Then we got to the point where some people who went the other way around the park were, so Camp Gonnagetcha was about 25 min. Werewolf Canyon about 10 (but they were not good at pacing and we caught up with the group ahead of us very quickly). Carnevil was about 15 min. And Club Blood at the end had a crazy long line, but we still waited about 25 min for it.

I know how you feel about TF's music, I'm in Underworld Alley and usually hang out on the food court side so I hear this all night as well =p

^^^That's the song I can't get our of my head...

 

I'm glad that they are getting more of a crowd. Anyone go to see Ed Alonzo, or watch the freaks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-7N4O8voE

Just about the full song recorded by someone else. I wish CGA would release an MP3 of this...for now, it's just a matter of ripping the Youtube video if you want an MP3. Not sure what it is about the song but it's extremely catchy, and can almost never get tired of it.