Its Halloween Everybody!

I havent posted in a while, but after reading that life of an enthusiast thread I decided it was time to post again...

As Ive grown into an older (28) enthusiast and away from the "hyper teen phase" Ive come to an important conclusion about parks: I want to have fun. I no longer am going to tolerate being in a park I do not particularly care for sweating in a 2 hour line for one of the few rides I like there. Due to me moving away from Ohio, and my lack of desire to really go too far in the summer when I have a fantastic place to go and relax (the same reason I go to amusement parks) nearby (Noah's Ark) Ive only spent a grand total of 3 days at an amusement park this year (Sea World San Antonio and 2 days at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.)

That changes one week from Saturday, when I plan on hitting 4 parks in the next month (Cedar Point, Valleyfair!, Kennywood and Hersheypark.) This is despite the fact that one of my other favorite pastimes just kicked off (football) and I hope to attend 7 games (already hit 2) between Labor Day Weekend and the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Why in the world would I "waste" my summer and instead pack all this excitement into the fall? That is because I have come to the realization that Halloween is by far my favorite time to visit parks, it its not because of the lack of crowds this season can have (all but one park I plan on attending on a Saturday due to work.) Its because of less enthusiast reasons of:

- I love the cheesy macabre humor most parks put up for decorations, and fill their shows with this time of year (thats right I actually take time to see shows)
- I love the haunted houses, Im the big guy walking through with a smile on my face and even if you get me to jump Ill be breaking out into laughter soon after. Its just an added benefit that I take time away from doing rides to be sure and do (and if you do the houses right, ie right when they open you can usually hit all of them before it gets too crowded. For some reason Ive noticed that people tend to do the coasters first and the houses last, switch the order and youll be good to go even on a Saturday at most parks)

Not to mention Halloween has the added benefits of:

- It not being so bloody hot, give me sweatshirt weather (60s-40s) at a park over 90s any day
- It gets darker earlier + parks stay open later = Huge increase in time to do nightime coaster riding
- All the fake fog that gets leached onto the rides (MF, and the KI racer are great examples)
- For the most part, even though they are understaffed most of the staff that is there are the ones that really love their jobs (especially the ones manning the mazes) which makes for better customer service.

Anyone else agree with me? After I cross off Kennywood this year the only parks left on my dream list for Halloween visits I havent been to yet reside in California (KBF, Disneyland, Universal) and Florida (Busch Gardens, Magic Kingdom and Universal.)

I concur. Halloween in general is one of my favorite times of year. Halloween at the amusement park is part of that.

I LOVE hooded sweatshirt weather. I just can't wait.

I love fall, I just can't stand what it turns into.

Peee-Shaw ... EVERYDAY is Halloween :)

But how many of them have bonfires burning bright? Pumpkin faces in the night?

Remember? ;)

Candy apples with razor... forget it :)

Under the ark of a weather stained bored - ancient goblins and warlords...

Halloween ROCKS. Best part of the year. Best for coasters. Best for everything :) I'm due for my annual viewing of all 10 Friday the 13ths.

We've already busted out the Michael Myers. Well, 1 and 2 - the good ones, anyway.

I really need to call my buddy and see if we can play a Misfits cover show on or around Halloween this year somewhere.

^Halloween 2 is out of it's case next to my tv as of 2 nights ago :)

I play Misfits gigs in my head all the time.

We have a cover band that comes out every once in a while called OneThirtyEight. It's fun because no one realizes how much I love the Misfits, thanks to my suburban 30-year old fashion. :)

^Well, the Mifits were hip, for a while. In a very Hot Topic sort of way.

Whizzer becomes Swamp Thing soon ;)

I liked the Misfits before they were cool. Aw crap, I sound like a Misfits hipster. :)

Sometimes I realize that you guys are even cooler than I thought. Everyday IS Halloween!

My traditional DVDs for Halloween season viewing is House of 1000 Corpses, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I recently added Trick 'r Treat to that list as well. Halloween 1 and 2 are good ones as well! Maybe I should add those two to the list.

I help my family throw a HUGE Halloween party here in WV. Last year we had over 300 guests, and we expect more this year. We have a costume contest, a really scary Haunt that would rival many pro haunts, a pig roast, and a few of us preform the Thriller dance in full costume. It's a riot! People talk about it all year. The party takes months to prepare for, and friends and family come from all corners of the U.S. to attend. It's a lot of hard work, but very, very much worth it.

Edit - I do wish that my family would appreciate a Misfits cover band performance. It probably wouldn't go over very well. :p

Touchdown said:
As Ive grown into an older (28) enthusiast...

Get off my lawn!

The Halloween events really are the best time of the year at the parks. This year I'll be heading to Orlando to visit Halloween Horror Nights and I couldn't be more excited for it. Even though everyone I know thinks I'm insane for doing the trip down and back in under 24 hours..

Touchdown said:

- All the fake fog that gets leached onto the rides (MF, and the KI racer are great examples)

I rode the Beast at KI last fall after a 15 year absence, and it was the fog around the tunnels that scared the crap out of me.

When I rode it in the daytime this year mid summer - it just wasn't the same.

With the demise of the big bad wolf, the beast is the coaster most improved at night. Thanks to an evening moonless, breakless (with the old skid breaks) ride is the reason that ride is tied with the voyage for my #1 wood coaster.

You must have been on a special night, usually the fog does not make it back to the beast.

Halloween is the ultimate holiday. There's also an annual zombie walk in my city that month, and after party/concert for zombies only, which rules.

But I agree, Halloween at a theme park is very close to the ultimate experience. At night time, with fake fog and some real fog, it's the best

^We had some real fog here in Chicago last night. But it wasn't really fog - it was smoke, from a fire in Minnesota! That was kinda scary.

This would be a scary Halloween ride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7klXwqWPBzY&feature=related

You know, that movie starts out, and ends really well, but in the middle there it gets way too "supernatural" and freaky. I prefer straight up slasher stuff.

^That's probably why I like it so much, Josh. I also like the Halloween 2 remake for the same reasons...

But I still don't like the *snap* in the B&M corkscrew (yes, that is singular).

Yeah, the Halloween 2 remake sucked. I couldn't stand it, because there was too much supernatural crap. I'm all about straight up human or zombie on human or zombie.