anonymouscactus

$10 upcharge show? That's the first I've ever heard of that at this park... or any park... -- are you not allowed to tell us what happens in lost souls? What happens in lost souls stays in lost souls? Edit: ok I just found a video from media day, looks fun! Not sure I'd pay an upcharge, but I applaud them for trying something different!

Can't bundle up for the cold when you barely fit the restraints, tho.... had to take off my jacket for some holiday in the park rides at SFGADV when it was sub 30 degrees... that was .. uh.. cold... but I realize that's my problem and not everyone else's Curious what the ride lineup will look like.

^ my bad! I'll edit my post. Thanks for that I had no idea.

Manta is great, it is also my favorite ride in the park. And the most fun to operate (but slowest staff in the country), too. It was the coaster that turned my mother off of roller coasters FOREVER... lol! Gotta love that loop.

Despite this being the busiest couple of weekends for major parks, SFDL is now closed for the season. They had this in the spot of the Giant Wheel. Ouch. I realize weather plays a factor (Canada's Wonderland says hi!) back in the early days of their Halloween event they drew pretty decent crowds. Times have definitely changed and I know there's no way they can support the staff with it being in the middle of nowhere and they always have to close half the park anyways even back then. They should do a Michigan's Adventure (edit: I hadn't realized Great Escape had a full blown fright fest all month long) and just not open for Fright Fest at this point. I'm curious what attendance was like for the 6 whole days of fright fest. Yes, 6 days.

Nice writeup! I was curious how a first year event would go and you went into great detail. I feel like crowds are always crazy at Hershey, and it sounds like this event was very popular just as well.

So, I attended GHOST LAKE yesterday. I know nothing about Conneaut Lake other than they used to have Blue Streak which I never rode and that I'd drive near it on the way to Pittsburgh but have never been, but here is my copy and paste of my Google Maps review because I thought it was worth mentioning here. "I had to scale back the review A LOT since I hit the Google Maps character limit The whole tone was set by the "map" that was posted on Facebook which was a Google map with some blue text thrown over it with the name of each house, despite most not being labeled on the buildings themselves. The DEVIL'S DEN dark ride. I read there is no VIP line for this one, so I assumed the line would probably get the longest. This "ride" was absolutely fantastic. There was one group ahead of us headbanging down the drop with their fists shaking in the air to amp us up. We smooshed our two grown-ass adult asses into the car and were PUSHED to the lift hill. How it carried us up I will have no idea, but after thinking we were going to snap the chain, derail at multiple points of times, being so confined that our elbows were rubbing up against the walls during the ride, we were giggling and horrified all at the same time. We continued on to what looked like ACTUAL HOUSES IN A NEIGHBORHOOD that were torn apart and built into haunted houses. You know, houses are usually THEMED with a dining room scene, kitchen, etc but here it wasn't a part of the theme because you were walking through an actual abandoned house, complete with unlit stairs, no regard for safety, lots of OSHA violations, and no accessibility for handicapped whatsoever. Again, this is all a positive with complete sincerity. There are no rules given at the houses. Nothing said about actors touching you. No gimmicky "waiver" to sign. No visible security at the gate. This haunt breaks all the rules of traditional haunted attractions and provides so much entertainment along the way. You end up walking through very large rooms with only a few actors sprinkled throughout, but damn they tried their hardest with what was given to them. The sets are amateurish, and not well put together, but it's all a part of the charm. In the one house, there appeared to be no way out despite seeing an exit and people were ready to start climbing over the fence/set pieces to get out of the mosh of people because they were getting frustrated. Everyone is yelling at each other and nobody can see except for a scare actor trying to point the way out with no light and talking at room noise level while music is BLASTING. The only way out is by going through what appeared to be a backstage area, but wasn't, and didn't look like anything else earlier in the haunt, so people were confused and not going the way they were supposed to. A DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, INDEED! Anyways, I could go on and on, but you just have to experience it for yourself. They won't win any REAL awards, but dang, we had fun. We walked by the DEVIL'S DEN ride later on in the night and heard a very loud snapping sound and really loud grinding noises. I really do think the chain snapped, or something really bad was happening, but it all felt right at home and only added to the ambience. We lucked out because even without the VIP it took us 1.5 hours to get through everything and most reviews complain about not getting through everything. We bought tickets online to save the initial line and I'm surprised they had the technology in place to even be able to redeem these virtual tickets given the general disrepair and unorganization of everything else. We started in the back at opening and made our way forward. Only the 3 houses up front had lines and where we spent the most of our time. Good stuff. Check it out. Just PLEASE if you are familiar with haunts around the country, SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS APPROPRIATELY. It's unique and charming, and definitely worth $25 compared to much shorter, less enjoyable haunts out there. But I would put this in the "so bad, it's good" category, unlike some haunts which just fit in the "so bad" category. "

A crummy commercial!? Son of a b****

Well, we did Zombies 4d and the 5 houses in less than an hour. The verdict? Not a good haunt year. Despite going through the houses ourselves with no line (except for the crypt which they jam packed a bunch of us together), there was no interaction in any of the houses, only a popping your head out and growling. The scare zones (and houses for that matter) had very little scenery. The atmosphere just wasn't there. The new pandemonium inside the mountain was just a bunch of lasers and lights in a bunch of rooms with no other scenery. I left a bit disappointed but luckily it's included with our passes. A solid 2/10 rating from me. Not sure if it's just because I've been to so many better events and local haunts, but I really do think they put in minimal effort this year. Oh well. Hopefully it improves or others enjoy it more than we did.

This hasn't been mentioned yet anywhere but the new lodge restaurant is open! They have a fish of a day (salmon with apple something on top today), they have impossible stuffed peppers (really good!) , porchetta, tenders, brisket, I forget what else but anyways, it's open! They also have a "bar" off to the side of the building. Staying for haunt tonight!

Not trying to hijack the thread whatsoever, just wanted to post 2 quick pics of the room at Hotel KRØNASÅR because I thought it was really interesting! We stayed there a few weeks ago. ... and more bewbs! Rulantica's outside rapids River is absolutely insane. It's probably my newest favorite non-water coaster waterpark attraction. Lying on your stomach and what feels like gliding on ice is awesome. The one big drop in the middle after the split on the right straight into a turn/wall was my personal favorite! All the stairs there were brutal, I felt like I was going to drown on the drop slide slides because I didn't wait to catch my breath after walking all the steps. Really bad idea. lol Anyways, thanks for taking us along! Looking forward to more!

Just got back from Europa Park last week. Reliving the awesomeness through your photos (as I didn't take many). Now excuse me while I turn on the can can music and ride through some legs (lol). Thanks for the report, looking forward to more!

The "can can" coaster at Europa Park. wtf did I just ride? The only coaster I can think of where you fly though cutouts of ladies legs...

^ ugh wtf. That's crazy. So much violence all around the industry and the country but this one being in the park itself is particularly scary. -- (EDIT: just realized yesterday was the first and only night of the event hope none of you had to experience what was going on) -- did anyone have a chance to do Malice in Wonderland or do the malice feast during the event? Probably the last thing on your mind if you went, I'm curious when they will reopen the park as it is closed today understandably. Just sad all around.

Currently at the airport waiting for my flight home I won't go into much details but Phantasialand blew me away. There were barely any waits on the days we went, so we rode Taron 12 times! Many of which they just allowed is to stay on. I think that was my favorite coaster of the trip, it was just so good! The people that criticize it for being too slow or meandering too much or whatever, jeez. I loved it. My biggest/only complaint of the park is the length of the empty queue lines you had to walk through and the number of steps/stairs. Damn! You need to be in good shape lol. A small handful of random photos, sorry no play by play I did enough writing on my personal Facebook. Thanks to everyone for the advice and information, I had an amazing time!

Anyway, glad you got to experience it Boldy. And thanks for writing it up! I agree the dolphin swim is one and done, but the lazy river and reef I could stay in all day. Did you feed the birds at all? Those things are crazy. DC used to always be a must visit for me back when you could get a combo with SEAWORLD and Busch and it only cost like $50 above and beyond the 2 park ticket anyways, so it was a no brainer. Itching to go back, though.

It Would have been funny, and I could totally see them doing this as a Six Flags move, is leaving the 3d projector format (so it's showing two different images / has an extreme blur effect) and just removing the glasses without updating the video setup Or maybe they did... I haven't been on it. lol

Hopefully the new CEO doesnt read the ride manuals or we'll lose another good thing

Hot off the presses... Silver Comet reopened today!!!!! Curious how it is running, though I'd imagine it would be slower without full trains. it was a fantastic ride back when I was an operator on it and by the end of the day when it warmed up that last turnaround and hill were amazing. See if you can get 119 rides in one day to beat my record, I'm guessing you probably can! Also: maybe this thread should be renamed??

If you spend more than two days at Darien Lake, you are spending too much time at Darien Lake. I know your just said your were camping in the state, but hopefully you weren't planning on Darien Lake to occupy much of that. And if you're spending two days, some of that time should be occupied in the not-so-great waterpark. You'll get bored, quick. Unless you camp here:

FYI after reading the fine print for the platinum food add-on and platinum fast lane: "Valid only at park of purchase in 2022. Valid at all Cedar Fair parks in 2023." I'm assuming it will be the same for the other parks so keep this in mind before purchasing at a specific park.

Makes sense that they make it available right away this year (if true... I didn't research myself just going on your word) because Wonderland passes expire on labor errr labour day for those that bought end of 2019, 2020 or 2021. I was wondering how they were going to handle that since people would literally not be able to eat or use Fast Lane etc at the end of the year and would have to wait until next year of they were to renew since all that stuff will have expired, which is silly.

Thanks for the write-up. Did you have a chance to do Raven in the back as well? It/ think it's much crazier / life changing (especially in the dark but I know that's normally not possible). Glad you enjoyed your trip I always love reading HW reviews especially from those who have never been.

Maybe if you compare to now, but not if you compare it to August prices. I'm pretty sure Platinum was $194 (renewal), and FL+ was $849