Photo TR: Halloweekends at Cedar Point!

[Invertalon]

Update: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=56841&start=20#p946938

 

As promised, I have plenty of Halloweekends photos from this past weekend. I went both Friday and Saturday, and have NEVER seen the park as busy as I did Saturday! They were back into grass "lots" I did not know exist. Either way, we had a blast. The scare zones have been improved (Fair Faire and Terror Island miles better than years past), and the employees had great energy opening night. I have not yet done the newest house due to the very long line, but hope to this Friday when I go back. I highly recommend making it out this year! It gets better and better every year. I just think it is time to update/revamp the Carnevil theme.

 

Enjoy the pictures. Any additional photos from Halloweekends I get in the next few weeks will be added to this same post, with the main page edited to show the location of the photos. If you have any questions let me know! Also, thanks for my girlfriend for supplying a few of the photos below as well!

 

Sorry for the large load of photos, but I figure some may appreciate some more than others and vise versa. Nothing wrong with extra photos I suppose though!

First thing you see through the main gate.

I like these pumpkins, hanging by where Demon Drop was.

Dick Kinzel's skeleton... Now as you will notice throughout the TR, tons of skeletons. They can be quite funny though!

Lawl

Tombstones!

Nice looking area.. Too bad they do not do more with it, scare-wise, at night.

They are back again!

Where the kid section is (hay maze and candy haunted house, which I really want to go through!)

Headless Horseman.

New this year, they have these lined up down the midway. They look nice though, I like them!

Oh Noes... UFO Crash!

Mmmm... Buffet... SWEET TOMATIESSS (J <3)

Last Thrill Dragster.

Sign.

These were at GL by X-Flight until the closure... They used to talk at GL though, it was hilarious.

Me too!

Banners located by Iron Dragon.

Hearse.

U.R.DADE

I always did like the HW logo.

Um... Train?

Train!

Fright Zone where Starlight usually is (western area). This used to be the best Scare zone, but the updates to Terror Island and Faire Fair changed that.

Hands up! (He sits on the MF tunnel)

Gargoyle.

More skeletons.

New prop this year in the Fright Zone.

Looks like a good time!

This one makes me laugh, for whatever reason.

This one looks a bit boney.

Around this time, the fog is on full-power.

Cool statue demon thing.

Entrance to Corn Stalkers.

The Fright Zone.

Fishing Skeleton.

The new house!

Overview.

These are inside the Ambulance... Cool touch.

Spooky!

Another sign posted in front of the house.

Zombies.

Yummy.

Lol

Coaster break... Nice photo of Maverick in the sunset & fog. Fall is here!

Evil Rat!

Oops.

Carnevil... My least favorite zone... I think it was better up front by WT to be honest. It "fit" better. Do not like it where it sits now.

A non-wide lens, a tall decoration, and no room to backup makes for a weird composed photo. Like this one.

"Spiders.... I HATE spiiiiders...."

Carnevil.

Terror Island... Excellent this year.

Skeleton Pirate!

Skeleton, again.

Fire in the hole!

These ones hang off Dragster.

He cuts grass.

I just don't know.

It is now around 7:30pm, and the monsters begin to come out.

The march out to the overlord tower... Located by the Good Times Theater.

Yo

I really wish there was a "bulk upload" option!

I got nothing!

No caption again.

They had quite a bit of energy "opening" the night. Great fun!

More monsters.

Waiting for...

There he is!

"I am happy!"

They all kneel and let the other guy speak.

Love this monkey guy... He has been there the past few years (same guy). Does a good job.

Ready?

Go! At this time, they run off, scare people and head to their respected scare zones for the night. This ceremony is cool touch to start the night.

This trashcan has a light-bar, and a siren that scares the hell out of people. It is hilarious! You can find it in the Fright Zone.

They are in Faire Fair I believe. At least the bigger one is.

I like this one!

Starting to get very dark...

They are waiting for you!

On a truck by Maverick... Kind of out of place, could be better put to use somewhere else IMO. Nothing really back by Maverick.

Inside Carnevil.

Bird Lady/Man.

Terror Island, at night.

This is the entrance to Terror Island (normally Paddle Wheel). Then you cross a floating bridge over to the island, which takes you through the entire scare zone, which was paved this year and made much more exciting with the use of props and much better people.

Almost done...

Walking over onto the island.

The skeleton boat... I do think that CP should start using gore, a bit more... Skeletons can only do so much!

Or aliens!

The Grave Yard Rockers! They have a few shows every night.

He be Jammin'

Why Hello!

I had to throw another skeleton in!

Or two!

Toy Factory! Which was not good when I went through Saturday... Almost no scares, very little staffing. Disappointing after how well it did the past season.

The ice cream truck located in front of the Toy Factory house (above)

Fair Faire.... (BTW, I have been adding files for well over a half hour now... Bulk upload, please!)

LOVE this new guy.

There is the taller dude from the earlier photo.

Decorations.

There he is again!

Edited September 30, 2010 by Invertalon

[Invertalon]

Two photos that didn't attach above to finish the TR:

Last photo! Hope you enjoyed.

[downunder]

Great photos, Halloweekends looks like a good time to go CP except perhaps for the Saturdays. Your low light photos look amazing, I've got camera envy now.

[socalMAN123]

Wow those are some great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

---Brent

[BigDipper 80]

I cannot wait to head out for Halloweekends this year! It is always a blast, and I love the whole "fall" and Halloween atmosphere of the park. It is just so fun and different!

[CPmaverick]

These are some seriously awesome photos . Could I get a few of these for backgrounds on my computer?

 

I also happened to be at CP on Saturday and Sunday and wow was the park jammed Saturday. MF, TTD, and Maverick all had full queues but I just wanted the outdoor Halloween stuff. The changes on Terror Island and in Fear Faire are indeed amazing, as they seem to have a flow to them now instead of just a place with people jumping out at you.

 

I did have a few complaints with the haunted houses though. Club Blood just flat out sucked. I don't know what happened to it but it's not even worth walking over to. Happy Jacks is normally great, but as you stated just felt like it was way under staffed. Eerie Estate had most of the lights off which made it so dark, no one could see where they were going. I kept walking into all sorts of things like tables, chairs, and pianos (which isn't fun). Lastly Dr. D Mented just felt like a revamp of Undertaker U. with a small hospital theme. I wasn't overly impressed with it. I did like the Screamster chasing people in the wheelchair.

[Invertalon]

I did have a few complaints with the haunted houses though. Club Blood just flat out sucked. .

 

Funny you should say that... Club Blood was surprisingly good compared to years past on Friday and Saturday when I had gone through them. Heavy staffing, great scares and women to complete the "theme".

 

It HEAVILY depends on staffing how good a house experience is. Even with HHN, some houses can be terrible one night and amazing another. Club Blood is usually my least favorite, but it has been decent so far. Too bad the new house was not that good for you, I was looking forward to it. Hopefully it is better when I go through this Friday (if I can get in! Refuse to wait 30+ mins, haha).

 

Glad you all enjoy the photos!

[CPmaverick]

Club Blood had always been one of my favorites but it just seemed like some of the themeing was not being used this year. For example the Club Blood canopy over the entrance to the "club" had been removed. Small things like that just add up to me.

 

Also I think between the last three rooms there were four Screamsters, so well understaffed.

[Philrad71]

Okay, there is no need for anyone to post any more trip reports for CP...ever! Invertalon officially has TPR's backs covered now!

 

I was not going to go to Halloweekends this year, but this has me thinking seriously about it. Although I have learned my lessons from years past and would only go on a Friday night when crowds are not quite as insane.

 

I still don't get why they have the Christian rock concert during Halloweekends though. Doesn't that kinda contradict the current offering?

 

That just struck me as kinda strange last year when we went...but in CF's defense, the parking lot was packed and they had the place just about maxxed out as far as attendance. I guess Christian's just like to rock out & then go get scared by devil and satanic-like creatures & ride coasters!

[CpBluestreakCp]

Thanks for making me want to go even more! It looks great this year. As you said, it gets better every year! And one thing, were a lot of the rides closed on Saturday? My friend told me it seemed like a ton were. Maintenance problems?

[Invertalon]

Thanks for making me want to go even more! It looks great this year. As you said, it gets better every year! And one thing, were a lot of the rides closed on Saturday? My friend told me it seemed like a ton were. Maintenance problems?

 

You know, I am not sure. Everything appeared to be up and running when I walked past them at various times. I was not there until 7PM though, so maybe it was earlier in the day?

 

CPmaverick, I also noticed the lack of the "Club Blood" sign in the house as well which was a bummer. I was hoping that maybe next weekend it would be up again, as there could have been a time crunch for setup on some things? My guess is they are not 100% yet, but should be by next weekend. I don't know why they wouldn't bring that sign back though! It needs it!

 

Also, that first mirror room in Toy Factory, one time they actually had "window cleaners" in that room, and the effect was amazing. Nobody knew where they were and made it much more exciting. It only was like this once (and I heard they were really washing the windows, go figure), but why not put two or three people in there to do that? There is NOTHING in that section and feels out of place to me.

 

I have big question though about Halloweekends though:

 

Does anybody else wonder why CP does not do a Haunted Train ride? Even if they only do half of it, the side that runs through all the skeleton villages. Throw a few actors in there and have fun with it. Stop the train, do a back-story, etc... Make it cheesy, whatever! It baffles me why they do not utilize that train though... Dorney does it, and it was quite fun I thought. Everybody else seemed to enjoy it too. *shrugs*

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

I have big question though about Halloweekends though:

 

Does anybody else wonder why CP does not do a Haunted Train ride? Even if they only do half of it, the side that runs through all the skeleton villages. Throw a few actors in there and have fun with it. Stop the train, do a back-story, etc... Make it cheesy, whatever! It baffles me why they do not utilize that train though... Dorney does it, and it was quite fun I thought. Everybody else seemed to enjoy it too. *shrugs*

 

I've always wondered the same thing! Seems like it would be such an easy thing to do.

 

P.S. Awesome photos as usual!

[YoshiFan]

I think Dorney stopped with the haunted train either last year or in 2008 and it now closes for the day at 5:00 during Haunt. One thing I never understood was that they only loaded half the rows of the train causing very long waits.

[saginawhxc]

I've thought the same thing about doing something with the train. Kings Island utilizes their train to take you to the start of one of their mazes. Not only does it take you to the start of the maze but they use it to set up the back story. I thought that was a nice touch.

[Lamoure]

Great Tr!! I like all of the photos !! Looks like CP wasn't that crowded??

I wish here in germany more parks would do some scare zones (Only MovieParkGermany does this )

[Invertalon]

All those photos were taken on Friday, not Saturday (in which the overflow lot was being used it was so busy). Nobody was in the zones prior to the event when I took the pictures so it looks a lot less busy. They had a very decent crowd Friday though, and I guess broke the opening night attendance record!

[jynx242]

I just love their use of the fog machines and lighting to create atmosphere. Thanks for the amazing pictures! Unfortunately, due to the distance from my home, I will be unable to attend HalloWeekends at Cedar Point. Halloween Horror Nights at USF will just have to do .

 

Looks awesome, and I'm glad you live close enough to go often.

 

David

[RoCo]

Man, I so love this time of year... Really tasty shots, and MAD PROPS to whoever at The Point made it his or her business to include the famous L. Fulci "worms in the eye socket" zombie in there!

 

So revved up for KSF's Haunt event in two weeks!

[BaMiTsPaT]

I love the Photo TR's of haunts and halloween events because they are just so creative and fun to see I wish I was near a major park this halloween season

[CpBluestreakCp]

I didn't even think to have a train ride like that. Maybe have scare-ers around it at night and have it kid friendly during the day? Unless that is how those other parks do it as well and that is what you mean.

[adamico2]

I was actually working there last weekend as a fund raiser. It was extremely packed on Saturday, but empty on Sunday. Millennium had a 2 train wait and Dragster was walk-on. This is a hugh swing from Saturday when Corkscrew and Blue Streak had half hour waits on Saturday.

 

We weren't working the whole time and were able to get in a lot of rides!

[JimmyBo]

Thanks for sharing these photos. The only times I have been to Cedar Point is during Halloweekends and it looks like this year will be better than last. For some reason the scenery looks a lot more "dark" than previous years. No more campy big head characters running around. The effects look awesome.

 

Jimmy "Cedar Point during Halloweekends is freakin awesome" Bo

[milst1]

Great report. I agree that a spooky night train is a great idea, although when we rode Dorney's HalloWeekends train during the day a few years ago it was only so-so. Someone here said that Dorney doesn't have a train anymore, which I didn't know, but in general Cedar Fair parks have upped their spend on their Halloween events considerably in the last several years and the attendance numbers have really helped them financially. The amazing thing is that not long ago, the season used to end with Labor Day.

[saginawhxc]

For some reason the scenery looks a lot more "dark" than previous years. No more campy big head characters running around.

 

I could be wrong but I doubt the "campy big head" characters are gone. He was only at the park during the evening hours so he isn't likely to have taken pictures of them. I think the characters you are referring to are the characters that hang out near the arcade and are used in the parade. They are out during the more family friendly part of the day.

I made this picture extra small so nobody would confuse it with his pictures. Not that anybody would.

[dammie16@vt.edu]

Amazing photos!

 

I am really glad to hear that you enjoyed the changes in Fear Faire and again, though it was quick, was glad that I ran into you on friday! Saturday was absolutely insane!

 

The haunted train ride seems like a good idea but is a liability waiting to happen, if someone gets scared and either falls off or knocks someone else off the train, CP is in deep doo-doo! I have seen first hand just how far people go in these scare zones, last year we had a guy take his shoes and socks off and run barefoot from the zone he was so scared (She wanted his toe fungus...).

 

As for the houses, I know that Eerie had a power outage one of the nights, I think Saturday, and there were some staffing mishaps with people quitting and the like. I went through them all on Sunday and Toy Factory was still my favorite with Eerie a close second. Asylum is a rehashed U.U. and was very understaffed when I went through.

 

Anyway if you are out again on Friday come find me, I won't be scaring on Saturday most likely as I have some leadership stuff to handle but I'm easier to find in the zone seeing as Saturday I picked up a new routine to scare people that involves a rubber chicken haha.