Scarywood Video Trip Report, October 23 & 24

[LuminousAphid]

Hey again everyone, I am back with another trip report from Silverwood! This time we came back for Scarywood, Silverwood's kick-ass, non-family-friendly Halloween event. It totally transforms the park from a family destination to a festival of zombies, insane clowns, killer scarecrows and kick ass rides in the dark. If you need a tl;dr- totally awesome event, worth the 5-hour drive, even though it seemed the park was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds.

 

 

I was planning this trip ever since last year when I didn't pull the trigger on going. I am glad that I waited; I really liked the haunts and the scare zones were amazing, especially the expanded Clown Town. Some of my family was also able to go this year, which was a pleasant (although at times frustrating) change from my mostly-solo trip this summer.

 

Disclaimer: Sorry about the video quality, my camera isn't great in the dark.

 

Night 1: Friday

 

The first night we got dinner a bit late, and ended up about 20 minutes late to the opening gate. The entrance was underwhelming with little themeing, but the carousel horse had been replaced by an all-black mare.

 

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We decided to stick with our plan of waiting for Zombiewood Express first, which was a good decision but resulted in a painful 2-hour wait in 40-degree weather.

 

Somehow I pulled off this 4-second handheld shot, I think some black magic was already at work

 

It was a trying way to start our night, because by the time we boarded the train, we were pretty damn cold. I think we all underestimated how cold it would be. We got lucky and waited one cycle in the train station with 20 other people, I think we were all grateful to be in there.

 

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It would have been nice if there were more heaters in the queue area for Zombiewood Express, it was definitely a cold start to the night. The train ride was pretty awesome, though I heard it was not quite as zombie-heavy as previous years.

 

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After we got off the train, we got to see the zombie thriller bit.

 

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Next was Blood Bayou. This was simply awesome, was way longer than I was expecting, and being in the front of my group was super fun. Actors were great and we all got a lot of scares.

 

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Next we decided to try some rides, which turned into a long wait for one ride- Tremors.

 

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Out of control is the best way to describe this ride during Scarywood. The first tunnel had a fog machine running so thick that it wasn't even visible, which was quite a different experience to the normal plunge into darkness. Suddenly there is massive airtime, than another plunge into darkness, and then all hell breaks loose. The Giant Warped Helix of Death, as I will now call it, was simply insane in the dark. And somehow it seemed much smoother than I remember it from the summer. This was my first ride on a coaster in the dark (besides Space Mountain ) and it was amazing. Our group all agreed that it was awesome, outrageous, amazing and all sorts of other great adjectives. This was the highlight of the night, hands down.

 

I don't quite remember how we ended up back near main street, but the train came by and gave us a nice scare with the 50 cal.

 

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We made our way back through Clown Town for the second time, and I loved the area even more. The actors are so great, and the lighting, and the music, and... it was all just perfect.

 

"Alright everyone put your hands up and hand over your souls, hand over your belly buttons, and don't look back!"

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I think this area was a close runner-up for my favorite attraction in the park, behind Timber Terror, Tremors, and Blood Bayou. Definitely my favorite scare zone.

 

The Scarywood Nest was a novel little area, the tunnel was variably fog-filled or totally clear. Some scare actors would have been a nice touch here, but we never saw any.

 

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There were some truly creepy actors in certain areas, and apparently I am super easy to scare.

 

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We went through 3Dementia with no wait, which was pretty trippy and featured some great artwork. The 3d effect was actually more disorienting than I was expecting, and it was really weird how the different colors of paint would move relative to each other as you walked. The music was actually fitting and one of my favorite old Dubstep-style tracks, Kill the Noise pt. 1, was the topping on the cake. Slight aside, if you haven't seen the video for this song, it's pretty badass IMO:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVfU1DY73Tk

 

I think we just headed home after 3Dementia, with a few scares on the way out. There was a particularly disturbing rabbit suit actor that we didn't see the second night. Watch out for guys in ghillie suits.

 

That's it for the first night, I'm pretty tired so I will upload and post lots more clips from the second night tomorrow. Even though we got really really cold, the night turned out super fun and we all had a great time. The next night would prove to be just as fun, despite the craziness resulting from a record-breaking night for the park (thanks for this bit of info, ComeAgain)

 

To Be Continued

[LuminousAphid]

Night 2: Saturday

 

After experiencing the crowds Friday and knowing that Saturday would likely be even more crowded, we made sure to plan out the day so that we got to the park early. After the night before, the rest of my party made a stop at Fred Meyer to get more warm clothes, hats, gloves and hand warmers. I got some hand warmers too, but I just added another layer (sweat pants ftw) and didn't need to buy extra clothes.

 

Unfortunately I began to get sick during the day Saturday, and by the time we were on the park I regretfully informed my party, "I feel like $%" But, I decided that since I was the trip planner, I would not let this stop me from enjoying the night. It was really difficult to keep a good attitude while waiting in long lines feeling like that, but the attractions made everything worth it. Adrenaline is a really good temporary remedy, I found out!

 

First happening of the night was arriving to a crowd of 200-300 people waiting for opening. One of our party really had to go to the bathroom, and the only ones available once between the admission turnstyle and opening gate were two single-person stalls attached to the coffee shop. We don't know if there were any others before that point, and due to the no re-entry policy we could not even check. After a slight meltdown we were saved by a 15-minute-early gate opening, and we rushed toward Roller Coaster Alley (and the first bathroom along the way). After we got caught behind the train crossing, we followed the crowds through Clown Town and on to the coasters- and we saw a heavenly sight.

 

The line for Timber Terror wasn't even out of the station yet! This was another good decision which actually allowed us to ride it twice, since we all agreed it was the best roller coaster we had ever been on (coaster noobs )

 

This turned out to be the highlight of the trip for me, while some of my party preferred Tremors, but we all wished we had been able to get more rides in.

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I wish there was a way to speed up dispatches on these awesome woodies, but as a staff member informed me, even getting second trains wouldn't help much- it's the people who can't figure out their seat belts that really slow the process down. I would have loved to have ridden it over and over, but as it was we didn't want to wait 1hr+ for another ride on either coaster, so we opted to go through the rest of the haunts and enjoy the scare zones instead. SpinCycle in the dark was tempting, but with a 24-rider capacity it would also be a long wait.

 

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Scarecrow Corner was pretty good, with quite a few actors each time we went through. The basic scarecrow costumes were some of the most effective of the event in my opinion. They fell into that uncanny valley area, and I was genuinely startled a couple times by some crafty actors.

 

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Next a couple of us wanted to try Panic Plunge, which also had a short line this early in the night. Still took a good 15 minutes due to the low 12-person capacity. Anyone seeing a trend here?

 

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We were also able to make it to Caved In before the long lines kicked in.

 

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This haunt was fun but had so much untapped potential. I was in the back of the group and got scared several times by weird cave creatures, but the rest of my party was disappointed because of how few scares there were. The second half of the maze seemed to be deserted but very very foggy, which was itself unsettling but anticlimactic. I enjoyed it but there were so many unused opportunities for scares, sometimes literally- spaces meant for actors which were conspicuously absent broke the 3rd wall at several points. It's their first year for this haunt, but I feel like it suffered from another of the park's apparent issues that night, which was inadequate staffing. At least there were fun things to look at in line.

 

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Back through Clown Town, we wanted to try getting in line for Total Darkness before the waits were crazy, but at this point it was exceedingly futile to try avoiding long lines.

 

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Here was our view for most of the wait, with the train's arrival and sounds of scare actors getting people in main street giving some much-needed entertainment.

 

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Total Darkness was definitely an interesting experience, but I think the system they used to group people up caused 2 problems- the lecture they give at the beginning is long and hard to hear, and also caused issues with bunching up. I was squished between two people for most of the walk, which was a bit awkward even though they were from my party. The maze itself was interesting, with plenty of different things all over the walls, one of which (I think it was a big paint brush looking back) totally freaked me out.

 

After this we were all getting pretty hungry, which led to a frustrating search followed by a frustrating wait in line for hot dogs. "The Crypt" food stand appeared to have 1 person working through a line of ~40 people and growing, so we went to a "cash-only" stand in hopes the line would go faster. It probably did, but it still took us about 1/2 hour to get to the front and get our food. I was glad we were near the "Doll House" scare zone, which provided some nice entertainment. Also Corkscrew was almost on top of us, and that's always a fun ride to watch.

 

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To top the wait off, the stand ran out of hot chocolate before I made it to the front. The girl working was nice enough to offer an extra hot dog instead, which I appreciated, though as I walked away I wondered why she wasn't brought more hot chocolate, or if she was even able to relay that she had run out. Another instance where lack of staffing was painfully apparent that night.

 

We were all getting pretty tired at this point, so we decided something a bit more relaxed was in order- 3Dementia isn't exactly relaxing with all the loud music, but it was the least intense of the mazes. We went back through the extremely foggy Scarywood Nest, then in line for 3Dementia again. The short-ish wait for 3Dementia had some good "white people rockin out" electronic/dubstep music.

 

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Again, the art work in this maze is pretty cool and some of it actually really well done, but they obviously could have done more in terms of scares. We were sort of grateful that there were few actors since we were tired, but it might have been a let-down for people there just for that night.

 

This guy was cool, and there was a whole room themed around Alice in Wonderland, a classic trippy black-light subject

 

We went back through the crime scene scare zone, and like every other time we went through, it felt like a missed opportunity for some more nice themeing. It was basically leatherface scaring people with a chainsaw, but could have been so much more. I finally saw the clown car do its thing on our last pass through that area.

 

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Making our way back through the park, we decided that ending on Blood Bayou was a good idea. It was the "classic" Halloween haunt, but I was really impressed with the immersive and extensive maze. The makeup on some of the actors was really well done, and the exposed-guts "head through the table" actor had this stare which truly unnerved me without even doing anything.

 

After the maze, we were discussing the best parts when BOOM ghillie suit guy comes out of the hedge and gets half our group. It was a great last scare for the night, and we decided to call it a night and beat some of the crowds out of the park.

 

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Overall, it was a great event and I am glad we went, but in all honesty I don't think I will feel the need to come back until Silverwood can do something about the capacity issues it faced on that Saturday. Apparently it was a record night for the park, and it showed. Limiting ticket sales would be one solution, but of course why turn away willing guests? I don't see the problem resolving itself without either a major change in the number and scope of haunts, or getting some higher-capacity rides which can operate during the event. They have concentrated a lot on their water park the last few years, which takes pressure off rides during the summer but obviously that doesn't work for October.

 

Here are my thoughts on each of the attractions, in order that we did them.

 

Zombiewood Express: Did not live up to the hype. For being a nationally-noted attraction, it seemed very sparse and had way fewer zombies than I expected. I don't know if it was because we were further back, but one section where the .50 was firing like mad we didn't see a single zombie anywhere. The "zombie hunter" actors were great, and they were the main thing that saved the show from being a total flop. It was definitely not worth the 2-hour wait, and with 20/20 hindsight I would not have waited. GET THERE EARLY AND GO HERE FIRST! since it takes so long, it will be the longest wait, so make sure you're on the first couple trains

 

Blood Bayou: Very nice haunt, it was one of my favorites for its atmosphere and classic feel. The actors were good at both scaring guests and acting like crazy cannibals, and I got truly startled a couple of times. The fact that it's their oldest haunt means its the most polished and immersive maze, but I have heard from repeat guests that it could use a refresh, since it has been very similar over the years. I was particularly impressed by the makeup on some of the actors in this house.

 

Tremors: Completely insane. I have been on it a few times and it still felt crazy, but I can't imagine being one of the people in my party who had never ridden it before. The darkness and fog effects made for several surprising moments, and every aspect seemed faster and more intense in the dark. I desperately wanted to go on it again, but the people I was with were freezing cold by later in the night, and I didn't want to make them wait another hour for it.

 

3Dementia: Really cool maze. I would have liked to have spent some more time in there just looking at the art and playing around with the weird 3D effects. The music is fitting, but might be understandably annoying to some people (dubstep/electronic) and it's LOUD at some points. I was excited when an old favorite dubstep song came on, which really made the experience that much more special. I hope they don't change the music too much, maybe just add more songs. As for the art, it was all pretty weird in the best way, and some of it really made good use of the "3D" paint. I just looked it up and appears to use something similar to ChromaDepth but with black light paint. It was a really cool place to just look at things, I was sad there were so many people or I would have stayed in there longer.

 

Corkscrew: I rode this with 3 of the 4 people I was with- us two in the front thought it was awesome, and the 2 behind us in the second row had the classic headbanging experience many of us know and love. I don't really know why that is; maybe we were better at defensive riding, but I thought the whole ride seemed glassy smooth, even the transitions which can be a bit rough. It must have been due to the position in the train, but I didn't know it could make that much difference.

 

Scrambler: Like everything, it felt faster in the dark, but it was probably just your standard scrambler. It was fun, especially since I was the 5th person and got to have a car to myself

 

TImber Terror Backward: Oh my god what a fun ride. I have really never had such a cathartic experience on a ride before, but it was totally awesome! I was either laughing or screaming the whole time through the first ride, and it was one of the most fun things I think I have ever done. The whole trip was worth that first ride on this coaster. I was in the second to last row (second row in the train, but it's backward) so there was just ridiculous airtime over the drop and then immediate hard G's at the bottom, followed by a massive flying leap over the magical second hill... and the double up was heavenly because I forgot it was coming. By the time we were headed back I was hysterical with laughter, then that crazy helix hit and I had to yell along with the train as it squealed through the turn and into the final dip, hit the brakes, and I just yelled, "YES!!"

 

Panic Plunge: A solid Larson Super Shot, in times like these it suffers from low capacity. Because it takes so long to winch up to the top, and only holds 12 people, waits can get long quickly. I really like it, but if the line is long I wouldn't waste too much time since it's not mind-blowing or anything. Many say these are their favorite drop towers, though.

 

Caved In: A very cool maze but there could have been a lot more scares included. We might have just hit it at an off time, before some of the actors had time to set back up. This was probably my least favorite of the haunts, partly because my family didn't get any scares, but I still had a good time because I got scared a couple of times in there. The fog was a bit much at points, it would have been nice to see where we were going a little bit.

 

Total Darkness: This was a really novel haunt, and really got some good scares out of all of us. I wish it would have been easier to navigate on our own instead of having to be squished into a group. The infrared cameras were also visible overhead, which was distracting. We all really liked the maze, it was pretty long and featured some good scares from both actors and just sounds/feelings. A couple of us swore we felt something that was slightly electrified, like a 9-volt battery type feeling- I don't know if this was on purpose, or if we possibly all hallucinated the effect, but I was wondering how someone with a pacemaker would react.

 

I was really glad we went for 2 nights, but wished we had gone Thursday and Friday instead of Fri-Sat. Be aware that it might be crazy busy if you decide to go for either of the last 2 nights, so get there early and get in line for what you want to do most, first. If you want to see Zombiewood Express, which I would recommend, run to that right off the bat, it seems to immediately be the longest wait.

 

The last nights are Thursday and Friday this week, so if you plan on going, better get there Thursday!