Halloweekends - Missing It's Vibe?

I took my two sons to the park on Sunday, September 25. Great weather and really short lines = Great Day. But I just never got the feeling that it was Halloweekends. It just felt more like a normal day. In the past the park seemed to have a different feel to it this time of year, even on a Sunday. It seemed like there were fewer decorations this year and the music definitely was not very seasonal - my kids even commented on that. Anyone else not feeling Halloweeny?

I suppose it is still early in the Halloween season, so that might account of a bit of spirt not being too strong yet. I will say that I miss all of the little touches and displays that came with the early iterations of HalloWeekends on the various buildings, food stands, etc. I think back in the day individual crews would decorate their respective locations, giving the entire event a more grassroots vibe. So perhaps as those touches have gone the Halloween feeling might have faded a bit as well.

This is like saying the Christmas store in town just doesn't feel too "Christmasy" yet. I would actually argue that it's more psychological...and if anything combined with the fact that the first few Halloweekends weekends are not hitting on every level like they will in the coming weeks. It's an event that gets better with each passing week.

The music, though, is curious...did they have the general park music still playing everywhere? That would seem to be out of place.

Go to Kings Islands Haunt. Nothing lacking over there at all. Amazing!

^ I loved how Kings Island had the empty children's carousel circling nonstop with the carousel music playing loudly in that area. The abandoned / boarded-up ticket booths up front were cool too.

Sadly, Dinosaurs Alive killed off my favorite Trail of Terror and the first half of Urgent Scare. They could have made Dinosaurs Alive a great outdoor maze, but they instead let the Dinosaurs ruin more great attractions.

Losing the Trail of Terror is quite the bummer. It was probably the best and most unique haunt at Kings Island.

Kings Island's Howl-o-Fest (hay rides, games, hay mazes, crafts, free small pumpkins, etc. in a nicely contained outdoor area) makes Cedar Point's family offerings for HalloWeekends seem fairly sad. I'm surprised that Cedar Point hasn't been inspired to do more for families at Halloween like Kings Island has been doing for years.

The weather may have had something to do with it. It's not often you see peeps walking around with cups of ice water during Halloweekends. The a/c was also blasting in Happy Jack's and Eerie Estate, which is usually not necessary.

As for the music, it did seem like most of the speakers were playing the normal CP music. Screamworks was missing the movie-themed music that usually played in Fright Zone, i.e. Halloween, Psycho, Elm St themes...

Sundays are generally the least Halloweenvibeish of the three days, due to all the daylight :p

Oh.

It was a Sunday. Yes, yes...that's it entirely, actually. Until they really start Sundays up like Fri and Sat (beginning of October, I think), Sunday is definitely the least Halloweeny day to be there. From previous years, this is a fairly significant difference actually.

My sister and niece were there yesterday and were pretty disappointed that all of the outdoor Halloween stuff was not open yet on Sundays. They did not check the schedule, which was their mistake, and didnt realize some things on Sundays arent open until October. The lines were short but they were hoping to see more Halloween stuff

Just got back to Muskegon, MI from California this afternoon after visiting Knott's Scary Farm as a VIP on friday and a normal guest at Magic Mountain on Saturday. All I can say is Knott's definitely has not lost it's vibe when it comes to Halloween. New haunts were awesome as usual along with some great new shows. Magic Mountain on the other hand seems to be lacking this year. I'll post a trip report on CB. I won't make it to Halloweekends untill closing weekend hope the vibe improves by then.

Nice to know I am not the only one who feels this way. I don't think it's because it's too early or too warm. The last few years I have attended it has been VERY warm/hot the 1st few weekends and still had that awesome Halloween vibe, but this year it is just not happening for me :(

I don't know what it is exactly, but something is definitely missing and it makes me sad.

Not sure what it could be since about 99% of the decor is right back in the same place as it always is. The music playing in the park is the same from last season and is not the summer playlist. Feels just like Halloweekends to me.

The Macy's in town already had Christmas decorations up. They skipped a few holidays...

^^^ Well as has been pointed out, the complaints came after a visit on a Sunday. Sunday is intentionally "less Halloweeny" until it is ramped up to the same level as Fridays and Saturdays.

But we always go on Sundays so that theory doesn't work as I am comparing past Sundays to yesterday. And the warm weather is not it either as we have gone in September with nice weather. The more I think about it the music is what is different. It may not be the summer play list but it is definitely not Halloween music. What happened to Werewolf in London, Purple People Eater, the scary instrumental music? Now that I think about it even my 6 year old commented about how they were not playing the right music.

^I have not heard those songs for at least the past 2 or 3 years.

Kevinj said:
Sunday is intentionally "less Halloweeny" until it is ramped up to the same level as Fridays and Saturdays.

In seasons past, the only thing that did not operate on Sundays were the outdoor zones. That its, just those so other then the zones, Sundays are the same as Saturdays as far as the "Halloween" stuff goes.

You are right about the music. Guess we did not hear them last year either. Wonder why? Kids sure seemed to like hearing them and it seemed to set the mood. Certainly better than what we heard yesterday.

I don't frequent the park in the summer so I don't know what the summer playlist is like, but I agree that the music has been lacking in Halloween spirit for the last couple of years.... I think music goes a long way towards setting the mood in the park, and he classic rock loop we heard last year (and that they seem to be playing this year) doesn't scream halloween to me the way that the park soundtrack of a few years back did.

First, I really dont want to hear "calling all the angels" playing in the midways anymore this year. (whatever the song's called) That takes away any Halloween feel for me.

I also think they took away some of the decorations because someone must have complained about them for some reason, just like that mental health group did with the asylum haunted house name. : /

I totally agree that CP needs to bring back the classic Halloween music throughout the park.

I can't stress how important music is in setting a mood, and this seems to be something CP overlooks for whatever reason. During a Halloweekend Sunday 2 years ago with my family, Nickelback - Hero was just blasting in Frontier Town with those awful park speakers.

It was not only highly grating our nerves, but it felt nothing like Halloween. My sister even commented about what CP was thinking with their music selection, jokingly asking if they were trying to drive people home.

Come on CP, bring back the music that people want for Halloween! And while we're at it, there have been people begging that Cedar Fair bring back the grandiose music to International Street at Kings Island ever since the takeover. Listen to your customers!