DarienLake:D
09-29-2010, 11:20 PM
I camped at Darien Lake 9/24-9/26 which was the first weekend of Fright Fest! Sorry I have no pictures though... Everyday I either forgot to grab my camera from the car..
General Park- The park was partially dressed up for the occasion.. Pumpkins and dead corn stalks everywhere. And the occasional grave. And the best part was all the fountains were dyed and themed to have that scary feel. Though during they day they all looked pink coming out and red in the pools. But at night the lights gave everything a dark red look which was better. These fountains were located in front of "The Emporium" as you walk into the park. And for t he first time ever "Twister" waterfall was dyed as well. Also the park was so so on the busy side. Saturday it seemed to be slightly busy but not enough to make long lines in the park. But Sunday it was completely dead. No line's for anything literally you could re-ride a ride without getting off. Except for Ride of Steel which had about a 5 minute wait. Friday was also slow because mainly it was only campground goer's like us since the park was only open for 4 hours that day.
Fright Fest Attractions-
CarniVile (New in 2010)- It was a pretty neat walk through attraction. You went into this shelter kind of thing and there were i think bat like creatures hanging from the ceiling. Once you got past that there were old ride carries and concept art. (All made to look like they were in some kind of accident) There was what looked like an old kiddie Ferris wheel which my mom said I used to ride when I was little. Also there were some old bumper car's, car's in a pile (like they were in a collision) And one of them even had a dead figure in one of them. And then there was some background boards from Sleigh ride (which is still in the park it just has new backgrounds etc...) There was also some ride cars that did not look familiar to either me or my parents.. we tried to figure what they were from but we did not figure it out. And the star attraction in Carnivile was PREDATOR'S OLD TRAINS! They were in pieces (again like they collided with each other) you could see the restraint locking system, some without outside panels and some with the seats gone. And then after that they had some games that you could play. Overall it was pretty neat and was defiantly unique.
Corn Cannons (New in 2010)- Nothing really special here. It was cool to watch the kids try to hit a target which were out in "Fun Lake" (lake between MotoCoaster and the Giant Wheel) Basically it was propane tanks filled with compressed air (with a tank to fill them up that was also connected to them) And then a tube connected them all to act like a cannon. It was $3 to shoot 4 ears of corn into the lake. The ducks definatly liked it. I saw some dive down into the water after the corn.
Fright Night Field Trip Bus- Defiantly better then any year in the past! Basically its a haunted field trip (buses are actual old school buss's painted green and the windows taken out) and this year it had more of a story line. *Spoiler Alert* There is a "shooting" and at one point a girl gets on the bus (to get away from the dude that's trying to kill her) And this guy gets on the buss and grabs her and drags her off the bus and she is yelling and screaming and kicking etc... This is near the end of the ride and the buss driver gets off to try to see if they can help her. Then that's where we get hijacked and this crazy bus drive takes you back (at probably 35+MPH down the campground roads) swaying side to side (left and right). And before that you have people smacking the buss with baseball bats and allot of scenery around you. It was trully amazing and well... they really beat those busses up! lol! I hope there heavy duty!
Road Rage Cage- Simple bumper cars boarded up and music, strobe lights, laser's etc... are put in. Makes it a fun ride!
Manic Mansion- Again this is better then years past! And definatly better then the syfy theme used in the SF era... This also has a story line to it. And this year it has more rooms, more actors, and more fright. Definatly worth $4
Cemetary- Just a walk through area where there are some funny grave labels and creepy people walking around. This leads right to Manic Mansion and its free of charge to walk through and look around. Really the only thing you had to pay for is admission (unless u are season pass holder or are camping in the park) and $4 for Manic Mansion.. everything else is included with admsission!
Overall fright fest was trully "Frightning" and it is amazing! I am definatly going back next year weather I have a season pass next year or not! (well that is if i stay in town for school freshman year of college). Fright Fest runs from 9/24-8/17 Fridays 6-10pm, Saturdays 12-10pm, Sundays 12-8pm. Fright Fest attractions open up at open up at 6-10pm Fridays, 5-10pm Saturdays, 5-8pm Sunday nights. And "Laser Spooktacular" runs every night 10minutes after the park closes!
General Park- The park was partially dressed up for the occasion.. Pumpkins and dead corn stalks everywhere. And the occasional grave. And the best part was all the fountains were dyed and themed to have that scary feel. Though during they day they all looked pink coming out and red in the pools. But at night the lights gave everything a dark red look which was better. These fountains were located in front of "The Emporium" as you walk into the park. And for t he first time ever "Twister" waterfall was dyed as well. Also the park was so so on the busy side. Saturday it seemed to be slightly busy but not enough to make long lines in the park. But Sunday it was completely dead. No line's for anything literally you could re-ride a ride without getting off. Except for Ride of Steel which had about a 5 minute wait. Friday was also slow because mainly it was only campground goer's like us since the park was only open for 4 hours that day.
Fright Fest Attractions-
CarniVile (New in 2010)- It was a pretty neat walk through attraction. You went into this shelter kind of thing and there were i think bat like creatures hanging from the ceiling. Once you got past that there were old ride carries and concept art. (All made to look like they were in some kind of accident) There was what looked like an old kiddie Ferris wheel which my mom said I used to ride when I was little. Also there were some old bumper car's, car's in a pile (like they were in a collision) And one of them even had a dead figure in one of them. And then there was some background boards from Sleigh ride (which is still in the park it just has new backgrounds etc...) There was also some ride cars that did not look familiar to either me or my parents.. we tried to figure what they were from but we did not figure it out. And the star attraction in Carnivile was PREDATOR'S OLD TRAINS! They were in pieces (again like they collided with each other) you could see the restraint locking system, some without outside panels and some with the seats gone. And then after that they had some games that you could play. Overall it was pretty neat and was defiantly unique.
Corn Cannons (New in 2010)- Nothing really special here. It was cool to watch the kids try to hit a target which were out in "Fun Lake" (lake between MotoCoaster and the Giant Wheel) Basically it was propane tanks filled with compressed air (with a tank to fill them up that was also connected to them) And then a tube connected them all to act like a cannon. It was $3 to shoot 4 ears of corn into the lake. The ducks definatly liked it. I saw some dive down into the water after the corn.
Fright Night Field Trip Bus- Defiantly better then any year in the past! Basically its a haunted field trip (buses are actual old school buss's painted green and the windows taken out) and this year it had more of a story line. *Spoiler Alert* There is a "shooting" and at one point a girl gets on the bus (to get away from the dude that's trying to kill her) And this guy gets on the buss and grabs her and drags her off the bus and she is yelling and screaming and kicking etc... This is near the end of the ride and the buss driver gets off to try to see if they can help her. Then that's where we get hijacked and this crazy bus drive takes you back (at probably 35+MPH down the campground roads) swaying side to side (left and right). And before that you have people smacking the buss with baseball bats and allot of scenery around you. It was trully amazing and well... they really beat those busses up! lol! I hope there heavy duty!
Road Rage Cage- Simple bumper cars boarded up and music, strobe lights, laser's etc... are put in. Makes it a fun ride!
Manic Mansion- Again this is better then years past! And definatly better then the syfy theme used in the SF era... This also has a story line to it. And this year it has more rooms, more actors, and more fright. Definatly worth $4
Cemetary- Just a walk through area where there are some funny grave labels and creepy people walking around. This leads right to Manic Mansion and its free of charge to walk through and look around. Really the only thing you had to pay for is admission (unless u are season pass holder or are camping in the park) and $4 for Manic Mansion.. everything else is included with admsission!
Overall fright fest was trully "Frightning" and it is amazing! I am definatly going back next year weather I have a season pass next year or not! (well that is if i stay in town for school freshman year of college). Fright Fest runs from 9/24-8/17 Fridays 6-10pm, Saturdays 12-10pm, Sundays 12-8pm. Fright Fest attractions open up at open up at 6-10pm Fridays, 5-10pm Saturdays, 5-8pm Sunday nights. And "Laser Spooktacular" runs every night 10minutes after the park closes!