Scarowinds Preview/ Dress Rehearsal TR

[Pufferfish]

First off, I would have had pictures, but stupid me forgot to put my battery back into my camera after charging it last night. Anyways, this is my trip report from the Invitational Dress Rehearsal.

 

Overall it was a fun night. They split us into groups and then gave us a tour around the park to every single one of the mazes and scarezones. Here's my opinions on the mazes.

 

Last Laff: This is Last Laff's second year at the park. They did a couple of noticeable improvements to the maze for this year, but overall it's still the same. I did not get to experience it in 3D as there were no glasses available tonight. It's basically your standard clown maze. I love the mirror maze though. 7/10

 

Camp Killauee: This is the new maze for this year. It took Corn Stalker's location from last year. This was your standard outdoor maze. There were several decent special effects like an aligator that jumps out at your feet and several very good hiding places. The one negative is that the location for the maze is very small which leads to it being a pretty short maze. 6/10

 

Final Summons: I have never really liked this maze. It's decent this year, but it's still one of the worst here. For one, they put it inside a picnic shelter which traps the sound making it extremely load. You can hear everything happening inside it while waiting in line. It has decent length and who doesn't like zombies? The best part about this maze though is its queue line goes ride through Intimidator's construction site. 4/10

 

Silver Screen Sinema: This is a returning maze, just under a different name. It used to be Dreamfactory. I have always liked this maze and regard it as one of the "classics" here. It has been updated with some pretty cool new special effects including a movie theater where the Scaractors watch you walking through the maze. They sadly removed the outdoor section, but at least it still has the spinning tunnel. 7/10

 

Slaughterhouse: Now here's the park classic. This maze is to some the best here. It would be my favorite too if the Asylum weren't slightly better, but more on that later. Ah, Slaughterhouse, they welcome you in by shouting "fresh meat!" Then you begin your journey deep into the ultra gory Shady Lakes Pork Processing factory. You travel through a freezer, oven, and meat locker walking past some of the bloodiest scenes in the entire park. They are the butchers and you are their little piggies. Top it all off with being chased from the maze by a guy with a chain saw and you have a 10/10.

 

Corn Stalkers: This is a returning maze but it has, thankfully, been relocated. Its new location gives a lot more places for scaractors to hide amongst the seemingly endless rows of corn. It is much longer than it was last year and much better put together. I really enjoyed it this year and feel that it is finally how it should be. 8/10

 

Dead Inn: One of the best themed mazes in the park, it also contains the second best special effects after The Asylum. This maze has always been my personal favorite to go to when I can't decide what to do. It isn't too intense, but it isn't a wimpfest either. It's about the perfect balance. The only thing this maze needs is slightly more staff and a few better hiding spots. This maze is home to my favorite special effect ever, aka the mirror trick, but I don't want to spoil anything. 9/10

 

The Asylum: This is 100% the best maze here. It is stocked full of top-of-the-line special effects, excellent music, great scaractors, and more hiding spots than you can shake a stick at. They did add something new, though I don't know exactly what it is as it wasn't open tonight. It would appear that they have added some sort of in-maze photo as there is a photo booth at the exit. Anyways, I can't say enough how awesome this maze is. It was the best last year, and it's still the best this year. 10/10

 

Now here are my opinions on the scarezones.

 

The Playground: This is our brand new for 09 scarezone. It is pretty cool prop wise, but having it based on a kid's playground is fairly difficult without truly having any kids to act in it. The main downside to this scarezone is the fact that there are 0 places for someone to hide. 5/10

 

Feeding Frenzy: Yay, the vampire strip club returns! It is in a new location this year which gives it more hiding spots. It sadly no longer has the stripper poles, but it now feels even more like a club with it being enclosed. This is my favorite of the scarezones. 8/10

 

The Cemetary: I have to admit it, this is now my least favorite of the scarezones. There is just no where to hide and it just feels rather old and cheesy. The only good thing I can say is that this scarezone features the goriest costumes in the park. I'd expect it to though due to being just a big walled in section of zombies. 3/10

 

If you are in the area, be sure to come check us out. We have amped up the volume of gore and violence this year and we are ready to send you home crying for mommy. We have even more scaractors this year than in years past including the largest collection of sliders our park has ever seen. Seriously, there's between 1 or 2 sliders for every maze in our park.

 

Well, that's all I have to say now, byebye! HEHAHAHAHUHAHAHAAAAAAA!