Screamfest 2012

[urrforce]

Hey just wondering if anyone has gone this year or plans to?

Done a couple in the past when it was at COP but now its at the grounds and serves liquor lol.

Just wondering if it's worth the price to head down the last couple have been meh but still a good time usually lol.

[carson blocks]

I got dragged to it last weekend and didn't like it at all. Tons of loud teens being annoying and I thought the haunted houses were pretty lame. I guess it's hard to scare someone when they're expecting to be scared, and it doesn't help when you're being stuffed through at a pace where you can easily see what the guy ahead of you is getting and know exactly what to expect. All I got from the evening was a headache from the constant horns and flashing lights.

The games were little bit of fun, easy enough to win cheap stuffed animals for the GF, but at $3/try I just used up the tokens that came with my speedpass. The best haunted houses of the bunch were probably the indoor charity ones, again $3 each. The upside to the crowd being mostly under 18 is that you can escape to the bar for a little peace and quiet as it wasn't all that busy.

The stage show was decent though, Ryan Stock from Guinea Pig and his fiancee Amber Lynn doing the freak show thing, and a girl named Safire doing a fire show :love:. If you go, make sure you get a speedpass. I didn't enjoy the experience overall, but I would have been absolutely miserable without the speedpass.

[speedog]

Kind of in the know here as I know the owners and have family working down there - went down myself with 4 teenagers on the first Saturday (on passes). The scares don't really work on me - I go more to be amused by the fools that are scared stupid when just standing around.

Certainly it's in a better location at Stampede Park as compared to COP and the numbers paying to go in are reflecting that. Downsides - too much area between the outside houses now and the outdoor maze is gone, many people miss that and it was probably the best scare they had. Also, the increased numbers means more people getting pushed through the houses producing exactly what 'carson blocks' above alluded to - you'll see what's coming. Try going earlier as the crowds will be less and the house leads can better control how many are going in and how often.

No huge ass fire pit this year - Stampede says the dirt on the rodeo grounds is sacred. The on-site bar plus the proximity to other nearby bars is now creating a new issue in the form of drunks and the problems they create. Stampede's new sound system is much better than what was out at COP. Better or worse than COP - hard to say, certainly the busyness/crowded aspect has disappeared as there is way more open area both inside and out and that in it's self takes away from the experience as the roamers just don't have the places to hide like they did at COP.. Biggest bellyache I overheard (and constantly) is the loss of the outdoor maze - somehow they have to recreate this as the fog tunnel, the ghillie suit guy/camo area and chainsaw guys literally could scare the crap/piss out of multiple patrons each night. Scaring the crap/piss out of patrons is still happening as I get the reports every night - just doesn't happen as often now.

Still the bastion of the teenaged crowd although there is a considerably larger contingent of older people now (20-30's) and even a number of 60+ people on the night I went. Just go earlier in the evening to try to avoid the crowds - this past Saturday night's attendance (probably over 5,000) most likely eclipsed any night they've had at COP in the past and the crowds only get larger the closer we get to Halloween, doors open at 7PM..

[urrforce]

Thanks for the replies as much as I want to skip this now it looks like i'll be heading down this weekend anyway lol gf and her little brother want to go so

[speedog]

Originally posted by urrforce
Thanks for the replies as much as I want to skip this now it looks like i'll be heading down this weekend anyway lol gf and her little brother want to go so
Go down Friday night as Saturday's weather doesn't look to be too pleasant.

[urrforce]

actually maybe i can use te eweather to possibly get out of this lol