Halloweekends too scary?

Hey everyone, i am a huge CP fan living just outside of detroit and have been going at least twice a year to CP since i was like 10 but i have never been there for halloweekends for some reason. I planned a trip for this saturday with my gf, her brother who is like 12 and a sister thats about 14. I was wondering if Halloweekends is actually scary? Is it family-friendly? Could it be too boring or too intense for any of us? We all can handle fear pretty well though. Could you guys just like give me your general insights on halloweekends. Sorry, I am sure this has been discussed before but i couldnt find it on the CP Place forum.

Thanks in advance

Honestly, I think it's great for families. I, personally would like to see them add on a couple of haunted attractions that push the limits a little more, but that's just the horror/haunted house fan in me. :)

It's scary enough there that Jen won't go through any of the haunted houses or fright zone, but not really "deathly" scary. Does that make sense?

The screamsters do an excellent job of surprising and scaring, and it's a good balance of fun all around.

-Josh

That's a good explanation. It's more about being startled than being terrified. My wife doesn't like the haunted houses/Fright Zone for that reason either...she startles easily.

At the other end, I don't enjoy those things nearly as much unless I'm with someone who startles easily. It makes it more fun. If I just go with my brother, the haunted stuff is kind of boring. The exception to this is Fear Faire...I enjoyed that simply because the thick fog and irregular path made it disorienting.

^ What they said.

There's literally something for everyone.

I have one word of advice.

Make sure you see "The Tell Tale Heart" in the blowing Glass theater. (Or any of the Poe performances for that matter). The effect is especially good at dusk or when it is dark. Even if you don't like theatre, you will not be disappointed. (And yes, all ages would get it)

It's a great time for families and people of any age. They have lots of kid friendly stuff, and lots of things families can enjoy together, like the shows and the new parade. For the more daring members of the family, there are plenty of scary attractions to keep them entertained.

It's certainly nothing like Knott's or Universal where they close the entire park to families and essentially open an "adult only" park.

*** Edited 10/3/2007 2:50:19 PM UTC by Ralph Wiggum***

Kevin, I was very impressed with "The Tell Tale Heart." I wasn't expecting it to be so good, especially since I'm not a big poetry person, but I had heard several on hear recommend seeing it, so I did. I will no longer make a trip to Halloweekends without seeing that anymore.

Go see the Raven and the Black Cat as well.

Tell-tale Heart is the best, but the other 2 aren't bad either.

They are certainly marketing it as a family attraction this year more than ever before. In the past the radio commercials have talked all about the haunted attractions and how the park transforms into a completely different place. This year all I've heard it advertisments about the parade and not so scary attractions.

the only thing scary about halloweekends this saturday will be the huge lines.

^ding ding ding! We have a winner. Halloweekends really is fantastic at CP, but good lord... There may as well be lines to walk through the midways (in fact I think that there often are)!

I miss the good ol' days when Halloweekends was a secret.

Yup, the parks did a smart thing by cashing in on America's second favorite "holiday season". While additional money is spent to add new temporary attractions and shows, the return has got to be ten-fold. The parks are so much busier than back in the day when a few "bonus weekends" after Labor Day were all we could get. Now they stay open and BUSY right until the end of October.

I don't care much for haunted attractions, (big wuss, scare easily, scream like a big girl, faint, all that) and my friends are always trying to get me into the haunted houses and such for that very reason. I like to go, just not go in. So I usually volunteer to hold the purses and jackets and have hot chocolate waiting for everyone when they come out! Then some jackass in the group will talk one of the "outside" monsters into sneaking up behind me. Oh yea, big laugh while purses, jackets, and hot chocolates go flying straight up.

So to answer the question. Yes. While I love to go for the rides and the atmosphere I avoid the scary stuff at all costs. To avoid the Fright Zone, I've been known to walk all the way around the park from Millenium Force just to get a night ride on Mean Streak. I've managed a brisk walk, eyes straight ahead through CarnEvil, but Fright Zone? Once I made it in maybe 20 feet past the tunnel then turned on my heels and RAN outta there! Too dark, thick fog and the monsters (who have a great sense of fear) are on you in a second. No thanks!

But maybe that's just me....

gilbert gnarley said:
the only thing scary about halloweekends this saturday will be the huge lines.

Not sure it its quite the perfect storm though:

-There has been a string of good weekends in a row, so no "boost" from people who wanted to go last weekend

-As far as sporting events go, OSU is playing their first ranked opponent of the year (away but still big, night game,) Michigan has a home game that day and the Indians have a night playoff game on Fri (so hopefully some people will be too tired to go to the park the next day)

-Columbus weekend is really early this year, in fact its a week earlier then last year, which means its further from Halloween (and the park gets more crowded the closer to Halloween it is.)

Now dont get me wrong, I have no doubt the park will be crowded, and Im going expecting that it will be "crazy crowded" but due to those things listed above, I would not be surprised if the park is just "summer crowded" too.

What about next friday? (the 12th) Are Fridays packed with HS Football and stuff?

Fridays are always a good day to go, assuming that you can stomach some rides being closed and the short hours. I had a great time when I went on a Halloweekend Friday.

^^^ I'm pretty sure both of those games will be shown on the giant screen by Iron Dragon.

Friday's Cle/NYY game is at 5 - so it MIGHT be on the screen, it doesn't get dark till about 7:30 or so though.

The OSU game may be on, its an 8pm start.

Halloweekends is awesome! I always get so excited about going. They turn some of the trims of on some coasters which makes them even more thrilling!

I've been goin to CP since 1976, there have been great ride additions since then, but the park still has basically the same atmosphere over all those years. Finally we went to Halloweekends last week and all I can say is "What A Blast!" We went in the park Friday night, all day (and night) Saturday and planned to go home Sunday early, but guess what -- we ended up back at CP Sunday afternoon for a few more rides, renewed 4 seasons passes for 2008 and had a good Panda lunch before heading home - I think I'm spoiling my kids, but they had such a good time at Halloweekends that there just may be one more trip this year.

CP Halloweekends has found just the right balance between too scary and plain fun.

If anything I think it is to tame.