10/18 Visit

[italianchef]

Tonight I went to PKI with my friend Boddah. We got to the park a little after 8 PM and stayed until nearly 11:30. The park was so crowded that we only had time for one haunted attraction, Adventure Express, and SOB. On a positive note...I saw a most gorgeous lady who sat in front of me at SOB. She was full-figured...my type!

Sincerely,

Italian Chef

[DegenRider]

Should of said somthing. I would of gave you my 3 concert tickets that went to waste.

[SML828]

I'm gonna post my report for last night a little later, but just wanted to also say how bad the crowds were...but the concert was GREAT!

[RyanA]

Saturday wasn't really that crowded, until Fear Fest started. And even then it wasn't that bad, in comparison to DisneyWorld. As far as Fear Fest goes, PKI seems to up their haunted houses each year, whilst going cheaper and cheaper with theming. In fact, there is probably about 10 percent of the theming of the first year now. It's really pitiful, and PKI should really be ashamed. They atleast changed the lights in Coney last year to reflect Fear Fest, and they fogged it. Now, they do nothing. Nobody walks around anymore, there's virtually no halloween soundtrack, other than this looping "scary" music. But, despite my many, many, many, negatives of this year, there are still some positives. Opening the houses at 3 allows you the actual possibility to ride everything despite the huge crowds. We were able to ride all the rides in the morning while no one was there. And got a jump on the first Fear Fest lines. After about 2 and a half hours, we had rode the 4 Fear Fest attractions that were open. More rides. Then, dinner. Then, we got in line for Rt. 666 at 6:30, and there was already 80 people in line for it! They opened it early, and we got pretty far into the que. Rt.666 may seem like a capacity nightmare, but instead of loading 6 cars simultaneously, they load 12(I might be off). So the loading station is packed. They also made a sick new line for Psycho Path, it started under The Racer, went thru the gate, veered off left, went through around 5 or 6 que lines, and then started down the hill, the very long hill. On the positive side it only really took about an hour and a half. Also, the daytime kids stuff was well done, and I came away impressed, though the Ghastly Grove was really spaced out making it seem cheesy. And they put some blacklights on the Eiffel Tower(just covers on the existing lights, it barely lights up the tower). And alas, no fog inside the actual park, other than some slight haze later on from all the attractions using fog. Here's my Fear Fest reviews:

Curse of the Crypt: 7/10

This one has some nice theming, and alot of diversity. You start through strobe light lit tunnels. Then you have to enter a small hole(with jagged edges, ouch, don't hit your head, trust me)into a small tunnel, crawling, to find a jewel. Very nice little trick in there. After that, the hunt for the jewel continues, and your off again, this time into what looks like the old curse of the crypt. Except for the vampire's tomb inside it, complete with open casket. Just be careful where you go, I hit several walls, and they had to point me out. And the fact that my group wussied out, and me and my friend were going thru it alone probably contributed to us being lost.

House of Darkness: 6.5/10

Very good theming, it's a little staler than last year though. But it was done very well. Much like Curse of the Crypt, you now have a waiting area inside the house.

Not too many scares, but the electrocution is cool. And the kitchen wasn't too bad either.

Maze of Madness: 5/10

Not much innovation here, and it's worse than last year. And the guy that used to do a flip on the table isn't there, or isn't doing it this year. There's some fog, lots of strobes, though they do give you a break from them this year for about 10 seconds. Fencing, mirrors, strapped down bodies, and escaped asylum patients can all be found here. It's really not that good, but the line moves really fast.

Elvira's Superstition: 6/10

This isn't really scary, but it's alright. I don't like the title at the end, or the Iwerks logo, I think that kind of detracts from the experience. Great outside theming of the theatre, and PT characters made some returns. A really nice graveyard, and a very smoky preshow(which was timed very well this year)give this ride some character.

Rt.666: 8.5/10

A slick title, great idea, and interactivity made this Fear Fest attraction the star of the show. Lots of fog, lights, and corn make for a very entertaining, if not scary, ride through the countryside. On your journey you'll encounter some hooded demons, a guy with a whistle, vampires(who can fly, I might add), a radioactive wasteland, a blood wash(you might get wet), and some corn. This was all very entertaining, though not scary at all. The radioactive wasteland and the vampires were done very well. I really enjoyed this one, and highly reccomend it, just beware the line.

Circus of Horrors-In 3-D: 4/10

This was very bright, very dull, and worst of all, despite their use of clowns, incredibly not scary. And sometimes boring. They never look like clowns, and it's in the festhaus, so you smell pizza and hear people laughing like the whole time. And you can see the festhaus roof. The clowns are very nice and helpful, most of the time. But they never seem scary or pop out at you. There's a cool effect where a person blends in with the wall, and the spiraling tunnel is really great. But it's still just not scary, and with a few exceptions, boring.

Psycho Path: 7.5/10

This one, like it's line, is pretty long. Lots of fog, some hillbillies, and a little water are in PKI's sinister woods. Lots of weird tarps and ropes to push through, and even a bunch of dead bodies hanging upside down, which you must walk through.

Lots of limbs, dismemberment, and low lighting are scattered along the trail, leading up to the ever popular chainsaw wielding ghouls who always haunt the end of the trail. A pretty big graveyard is there too, along with the hillbilly homestead.

Pretty good, but a huge line.

Fear Fest Attractions: 7/10 Good

Fear Fest Theming: 2/10 Pitiful

On a sidenote, up until 8, Coney Mall replayed 'Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight"over, and over, and over again. Between that, and waiting for Rt. 666 to open sitting behind the speaker at the end that says, "caution, do not stop, and operator will assist your car", I almost lost my mind...

[shadow2k3]

Man Chef.. everytime I come to the park, I miss you! I was also there with family and freinds on the 18th. I did 2 FF attractions, ate at Bubba Gump's (eat the shrimp, you'll like it. ) and rode a few rides.

Maze of Madness-4/10- To me this was really lackluster, outside of the fact of not knowing the right way and the strobes throwing all of us off. Other than that, it was people running around randomly choosing people to scare..

House of Darkness-7/10- I liked this one better. I didn't get scared all that much, but I have to give kudos for the theming and dark humor. The "Butcher" was amusing, I have to admit.

Other than that, it was walking around, looking at the HUGE lines, and riding a couple rides. Flight of Fear was it's usual self, and SOB was awesome as a night ride. Although I did want to go do The Beast, but alas, the line was long. Overall it was a good night outside of fighting the crowds in Coney.

~S~

[italianchef]

I will be at the park on the last weekend for sure and possibly this weekend too. I much more enjoyed FearFest last year compared to this year. It didn't escape my notice that there was less theming and way many more people compared to one year ago.