Halloween advise

Hi,

We are plan a trip to a park at Halloween, but havn't decided yet, where to go.

What is special at CP than other places?

Halloweekends.

It's the best time of year to go.

You forgot the official website link John.

Halloweekends Official Site

And yes, it's the best time of the year to go. The atmosphere in the park is great, the weather is cooler. Crowds can be pretty bad on Saturdays, but go on Friday night or Sunday, and you'll have a great time.

And new for this year, the Monster Midway Invasion Celebration parade.

Last time I had checked it wasn't up yet.

Since someone started a thread on this, I'll ask here. We don't like to partake of scary stuff, so my question is: since I still want to enjoy the park to use my season pass, can we stay pretty clear of all the Halloween stuff or is it thrust upon you everywhere like it or not. (Obviously we would stay away from haunted areas) The Great Pumpkin & the like is fine, but we don't do the death/zombie stuff.

The fright zones are clearly marked and very easy to stay away from. You may see screamsters moving to their location from the dungeon, but they won't scare out on the main midway.

The frightzones also don't start until 8pm, so anytime before that you can wander the midways and view the decorations without being worried about screamsters.

Also, make sure you check out the Red Garter show. It is one of the best I have seen, year after year. The other don't miss is the Trio of Terror at the glass-blowing amphitheater. It is a really good re-telling of 3 Edgar Allen Poe classics, "The Tell-tale Heart", "The Black Cat" and "The Raven". The actors do it in character, and it is definitely worth catching.

There are decorations around the park, but I wouldn't say it's in your face. The only place you'd have to stay clear of is the Frontier Trail (Fright Zone), and that would only be at night. Your best bet would be to go on Sunday, because the walk thru haunt areas don't open on Sunday due to the early closing time.

During the day time you will be fine and not run into the anything. The only time you will be is during 8 when trails start opening and screamsters come. *** Edited 8/22/2007 4:12:13 PM UTC by cmkbabie***

Another thing to be aware of. The last weekend before Halloweekends start there are some screamsters in the lines of the big coasters. I love the fright zones during Halloweekends but when they jumped out at me when I wasn't expecting it before halloweekends even started I was kinda po'ed. I know there was a woman with kids that I was talking to later in the night who was as well. Her kids didn't want to go on any more roller coasters because of it.
*** Edited 8/22/2007 4:28:04 PM UTC by Krafty***

Before Halloweekends? Do you mean on the bonus weekends, or are you talking on Halloweekends, but before the Frightzones opened at 8.

I mean on the bonus weekend. It was the last bonus weekend of the year.

I remember that last year too. There were some in front of the pop machines in Dragster's queue, so you couldn't see them until you passed the machines.

Remember sunday of columbus weekend,all haunted activities will be going on Oct 7th, the park is open till 10 on that sunday night.

The other don't miss is the Trio of Terror at the glass-blowing amphitheater. It is a really good re-telling of 3 Edgar Allen Poe classics, "The Tell-tale Heart", "The Black Cat" and "The Raven". The actors do it in character, and it is definitely worth catching.

Last year I took the late Mr Scott's advise and checked out the Tell Tale Heart in the blowing glass theater.

Simply fantastic! The actor was very engaging, and completely drew the entire intimate audience into his story...along with a couple well-timed and placed special effects.

I will never miss this again at Halloweekends. It's a must!

I will say one thing about it, show up early. It is worth waiting 15-20 minutes before a performance because then you can get a seat.

The first year we went, we got in just before it started and ended up standing in the back. The last thing you want to have to do after standing and walking all day is stand some more.

Kevin - make sure to check the others. Tell-tale heart is definitely the best but The Raven is a very close second.

OK, go Sundays & leave before 8:00. Got it, thanks guys. Sorry to the newbie, I didn't mean to hijack your thread, but maybe that gave you some insight as well.

Stay at night and get some rides.

The screamsters are confined to the haunted houses and the fright zone. Take advantage of what is a great time of year to catch some night rides.

Know where the Fright Zones are:

Fright Zone - Millennium Force Tunnel to Glass Blowing Shop. On the GBS side there is a giant "Fright Zone Skull" which issues a warning and interacts with visitors. It's actually entertaining to listen to him.

CarnEvil - Chaos to Macaronis. There is a carny barker at the Chaos end that attempts to convince people to come and witness the freak show. Again, great entertainment to just sit and listen.

Fear Faire - Under the Point Pavilion. As it rained last year, I didn't really get to see this one in full glory. I thought they had a "king" sitting out front with the warning.

All three are very easily avoidable, the only issue is that if you are at the back of the park, you have to go the long way around past Magnum to get to the front rather than up the MF midway.

You will also not want to miss the magic shows. The one at the Centennial is much better than the one at the Palace. But the one at the Palace is also geared more towards kids, so it is a bit goofy at times.

Jugga said it perfectly, all the zones are clearly marked and easily avoidable if you choose to not go through them. The CPLE Railroad is closed on Fridays, but on Saturdays it is an easy way around the Fright Zone. Sundays the outdoor zones do not open because the park closes at 8 (except for the Sunday before Columbus Day). People with kids(and people without kids) will probably enjoy sitting near "Skully" outside of the Fright Zone and listening to him talk to guests. I appreciate Randi being responsible with not wanting to take her kids though the scare zones (I assume she's talking about her kids when she says "we". If not, I apologize). It's very aggravating when parents drag their small children through the zones and then get confrontational with us for doing our jobs.

As for what Krafty mentioned with Screamsters in the ride lines the week before Halloweekends started, last year was the first year we did that and it was limited to the Millennium Force and Dragster queues. I don't know yet if it's going to happen again this year, but in my opinion, it seemed pretty successful. We were mostly out in the daylight hours and weren't really "actively scaring", just playing our characters. We also stood by the front gates for about the last hour and a half of the day passing out brochures for Halloweekends and taking pictures. I'd never been hugged by so many excited children as when we did that. Being a creature of the night, I was a little confused as to what to do about it. :)

^ - it should be more of a wandering around the queues and doing "photo-op" things around the park. Not the active scaring that it sounded like.

And I have to agree with you on people who bring their kids in. I actually have a good laugh when parents do that because it just highlights how unfit some of them are to be parents.

I thought Fear Faire was pretty sweet. There was so much fog in there, you couldn't see 12" in front of your face!

But anyway, if you're not into that stuff, ya better avoid that one!