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I was privileged to represent Coastercrazy on opening night of Silverwood's annual "Scarywood Haunted Nights" event! I can say that I was overall very impressed. Let me give you guys some backstory to this trip. I grew up in Southern California. My home parks are Disney, Universal Studios, Six Flags, and Knotts. I went to Silverwood last year shortly after moving up to the great Pacific NorthWest and I knew about the charm of the park. It's great on any given day. Not much to do, overall, BUT it's a coaster-nut's paradise when you consider that the park has Timber Terror AND Tremors which are 2 of my top coasters among a list of rides like the Boss, Ghost Rider, Grizzly (DK). You get the point. I was very excited to ride these 2 gems again, especially at night, but I wasn't so sure as a halloween event, it could hold up to events like Knott's Scary Farm or Halloween Horror Nights.
Well, I will say in some regard it truly does. The 2 stand out attractions in my mind were Blood Bayou and the ZombieWood Express. These attractions were both on par to the best attractions that Universal or Knott's have to offer. They were fun and creative. The environment was engaging and spooky. The scare-actors at all the mazes were top notch. The scare-actors throughout the mazes were great. Even as the park emptied towards the end of the night, the enthusiasm was still there and you have to tip your hat to the folks in the community around Athol, Idaho for really supporting this event.
As part of the trip report, I will note that the park was VERY VERY dark for this event, so pictures didn't really come out. I honestly count this as a good thing, though, since it builds the overall atmosphere and spookiness of the park. I'm going to break down each maze, review it individually and give an overall score and summarize the event as a whole at the end
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Silverwood converts their train into a caged up zombie killing express. By far one of the best halloween attractions I've ever been on! You join Sgt. Buzz and the gang as they mount up to go kill some zombies. The characters seem like they're ripped right out of a comic book and it really adds to the overall humor of the attraction. The humor is cheesy, but it serves more as a bridge to each scene on the zombie slaying train ride. Language can be strong at times, but no more then what you would hear in a PG13 movie, though it may come across as a bit more offensive given the live performance of the show. This isn't the best ride for the PC patrol, but for those with a bit thicker skin, you will enjoy quite the zombie stunt show. To get a bit of an idea, what we're up against, check out the clip below
Post by CoasterCrazy.com.
Overall, I score the attraction 5 out of 5. It's a unique experience you can only get at Silverwood and it's something I think true horror fans can really appreciate. I wish I could have ridden it more but I ran out of time.
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Blood Bayou was another very well executed attraction. This one appears as if it's built in a sound stage, so they're able to really take full advantage of lighting and sound to create an excellent mood and setting for this maze. As one would guess, this maze takes place in a bayou swamp setting. Ghosts and Ghouls pop out and scare the willy-nillies out of you. This attraction is LEGIT. Eventually you leave the bayou to enter a hotel that leaves you at the mercy of the deranged beings inside. There's an elevator that brings you down into the basement to endure more suffering at even more haunted creatures. Without giving too much away, I will say that attention to detail on this attraction rival the best that Knott's and Universal have to offer. If I were to rate it down, it seemed that there could have been more monsters in the maze, but its only a minor critique. There's enough going on the set itself to really engage and transport guests into this bayou from hell.
Overall, I score this attraction 4.5 out of 5. More monsters would be great BUT it also could be a bit of an overkill. I think the maze is perfect as is overall and really enjoyed it. The maze also offered some back story with a live news broadcast in line. I didn't sit around to watch it as there was no line at the time, but it really shines a light on the attention to detail Silverwood put in for this attraction.
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Total Darkness is a maze that you have to do in quite literally, total darkness. The key to this maze is to use your hands to feel through the walls. Sometimes you hit what appears to be dead ends or other times you'll bump into people in front of you, or worse, you'll get disoriented when people who themselves have gotten turned around start heading your way. This can make for a long and enduring night. The very nature of the maze can create claustrophobia and a sense of feeling trap. This in itself works very well as it, in my opinion, creates real fears. It's perfect for a park the size of Silverwood. It tooks us about 6 minutes to get through the whole maze, though others said it took them close to 20.
Overall, it was a fun quirky little maze. Not great if you're very claustrophobic, but if you don't mind being a little disoriented and want to challenge yourself, it's worth checking out. Other then that, nobody jumps out at you. All the terror is psychological. Simple but effective.
I score it 3 out of 5. Simplicity of it makes it a great maze, not the most extreme maze. No story other than your own experience. Just a fun challenges and balances out the offerings of the other mazes.
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Ancient Ruins is another great attraction. I had seen this during the day last year and thought it appeared a bit cheesy. This probably attributed to my original assumption about the Silverwood halloween event. Although once the sun goes away though and the fog machines start up, it really changes the overall tone and atmosphere of the maze.
The maze does come across as Ancient Ruins and there were times that I felt disoriented as I navigated my way through the maze. There are plenty of draping vines and stone tombs throughout that provide great hiding places for the actors to set up the scares. The story behind this maze is well engineered as well, though not as interesting, in my opinion, as Blood Bayou. The sets themselves are not as intricate either, but they don't need to be as the simplicity of the design works very well to put you on location and into the story of these ancient ruins.
Overall, I score this attraction 4 out of 5.
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The final maze is 3D maze much like you can find at many other parks. Knotts and Halloween Horror Nights always seem to have at least one. In comparison, I've always found these mazes to be a bit average. Last year's HHN had a Black Sabbath styled maze that worked well as the general vibe felt kind of cheesy 80's horror. This maze had a bit more of a psycho-active raver on acid feel to it. There was heavy hard-hitting electronic dance music playing over speakers that really brought the maze together as a cohesive maze. The 3D worked well, and again, while some what cheesy, it offered something unique in the overall collection of mazes at Silverwood.
There didn't seem to be as many well set up scares in this one, but overall I found it fun and enjoyable. While the experience wasn't as unique as the others, I would say that its probably worth a trip or 2 more through it.
Overall I rate this 3.5 out of 5. It fits well within the collection of the other mazes. The story isn't as interesting as Blood Bayou, ZombieWood Express, or Ancient Ruins, but it works well as a supporting maze alongside the star attractions. It rounds out the 5 mazes and it doesn't disappoint.
Summary:
I had a blast at the event and I want to again thank Silverwood for hosting Coastercrazy. The staff and security were awesome! Very friendly. Very efficient. They really excel at the fundamental operations of a theme park. There are 3 very good mazes here that are worth checking out. Blood Bayou and Zombiewood Express are among the best industry-wide in my opinion and are worth checking out. The park is small and very dark. It allows a very good set up and execution for the scare zones.
The rides themselves are great too. You can get through the mazes, it seemed within 2 hours. This allows you to get some great pitch black rides on Corkscrew, Tremors, and Timber Terror. Tremors is still in great condition and features some great air time and strong lats. The sensation is multiplied in a dark setting. It is the more intense ride between the 2 wooden coasters. I personally preferred Timber Terror though, between the 2. While it is less intense, I am more of an airtime fan and it delivers some of the best. The front seat, imo, is the best spot on this ride. The buzz bars (yes that's right buzz bars), offer plenty of room to experience the sustained floating airtime through the entire crest of the hills, and there are plenty of little pops. I could have ridden this so many more times but unfortunately the night had to come to an end.
Another notable mention is their drop tower. The ARM design, imo, has the best programming for this style of ride as it never actually waits at the top to drop. The moment it hits the peak, it sends riders falling to the ground. The stop is very abrupt and almost at the base of the tower. I honestly favor this over the mighty Lex Luthor Drop of Doom at SFMM.
Overall, I rank the event 4 out of 5. It's impressive to see what a small park can do. The guest service ranks among the best of any park I've been to. If you can get to Silverwood during Halloween it is well worth it. While the amount of offerings may not be able to compete with the likes of Halloween Horror Nights in Florida or Hollywood, or Knott's Scary Farm, I think the overall quality of what they do have is on par.
I enjoyed my night very much and I hope to be back next year! Thanks again to Silverwood for showing CoasterCrazy an awesome time. Check out this awesome behind the scenes video below!
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