Ghosts, goblins, and ... roller coasters?
For the next few weekends, it will be fun by day and fright by night at Ohio's Big 3 amusement parks, as each wraps up its operating season with an annual series of spooky Halloween-themed events.
For years, amusement parks have used a Halloween theme as a way to boost attendance and revenue by extending their seasons well beyond the summer months.
In the early 1970s, a handful of amusement parks began experimenting with lengthening the season by hosting small fall weekend festivals. Later, those festivals led to special Halloween-oriented events, including the introduction of haunted houses and other special experiences.
The extra weekends are particularly important for parks when summer attendance is down, as it was this year due to rainy weather and a sluggish economy, among other factors.
This month, Cedar Point in Sandusky is again hosting its HalloWeekends through October, while Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in Aurora, east of Cleveland, has its annual Fright Fest through Nov. 2. At Paramount's Kings Island near Cincinnati, FearFest will continue on Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 2.
The particulars of each park's Halloween weekends:
CEDAR POINT
Highlighting this year's HalloWeekends is the new Werewolf Canyon. Located in the flume of the park's Thunder Canyon water rafting ride, the canyon features a thick fog, eerie sounds, and a “werewolf” or two. A similar attraction is the Fright Zone, where dozens of roaming “Screamsters” will appear suddenly out of the fog to scare visitors.
Three haunted houses also will be open: Pharaoh's Secret, the Toxic Tunnel of Terror, and Undertaker U. The haunted houses and Fright Zone are not recommended for young children, and Werewolf Canyon is open only to guests 54 inches and taller.
Two magicians will be performing, and one of them, Aaron Radatz, will close his show with a tribute to the legendary Harry Houdini, trying to escape from a straight jacket while hanging upside-down above the audience.
For younger visitors, there is less scary entertainment, including mask-making, a fun house, dancing midway monsters, a kids costume contest, and the Peanuts Halloween Show.
Other entertainment includes fortune tellers, live music, and a variety of shows.
During HalloWeekends, Cedar Point is open Friday nights from 6 to 11, Saturdays from noon to midnight, and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Friday nights, certain rides and attractions will not be open, but popular rides such as Top Thrill Dragster, Millennium Force, Magnum, Raptor, and other coasters will be open. The entire park will be open Saturdays and Sundays
HalloWeekends will continue every weekend in October. Admission prices are $25 on Friday nights; $44 on Saturdays or Sundays for adults, $30 for seniors age 60 and older; $22 for juniors age 3 and older, under 48 inches tall in shoes. Those 2 and under are admitted free. Starlight admission (after 5 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays) is $25. Two-day tickets are also available at reduced prices.
INFORMATION: 419-627-2350 or www.cedarpoint.com
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SIX FLAGS WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
From park opening until dusk, Six Flags is a family-friendly playground for little goblins and their parents, but at night, it is transformed into a fearsome den of demons.
The fifth and newest haunted house at Six Flags' Fright Fest is the House of 3-Dementia, where guests will be given 3-D glasses as they enter so they can see “things” moving around inside the house.
Other scary attractions include the Haunted Gauntlet, which visitors must run through to survive, Brutal Planet, House on Hell Street, Fearanoia, and the Haunted Trail. On the '50s Street of Freaks, Zambora of the Amazon, Dead Elvis, and other weirdoes will entertain and scare those who walk down the street.
The Journey on Lost lake is a creepy cruise on Geauga Lake aboard the Cuyahoga Queen, where passengers may encounter creatures on or under the lake's murky waters.
For younger visitors, the not-so-scary fun includes the Haunted Harbor Dolphin Show, the Phantom of the Otter Show, a hay maze, pumpkin painting, campfire storytelling, a costume parade, and a trick-or-treating trail open on Saturdays and Sundays. The park is not recommended for young children after dusk.
A series of concerts during Fright Fest includes tribute bands playing the music of Kiss, Guns 'N Roses, Lynrd Skynrd, Black Sabbath, and '80s “hair metal.”
During Fright Fest, Six Flags is open Friday nights from 6 to midnight, Saturdays from noon to midnight, and Sundays from noon to 10 p.m. On its final weekend, Nov. 1 and 2, it is open from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is $40 for guests 54 inches and over; guests under that height are $25. Children 3 and under are admitted free. Admission to haunted houses requires the purchase of a $10 wristband that allows unlimited access to all five houses on the night of purchase. Children's attractions on the Wildlife side of the park are closed Friday evenings.
INFORMATION: 330-562-8303 or www.sixflags.com
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PARAMOUNT'S KINGS ISLAND
FearFest grips the park each Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. until closing time. Children's activities end at 6:30 p.m., with some of the scary indoor attractions opening as early as 3 p.m. Outdoor haunts will begin as the sun goes down.
New FearFest attractions this year include Route 666, a spooky trip along an abandoned highway, and the New and Improved Curse of the Crypt, a claustrophobic trek through cobwebbed catacombs swarming with mummies, vampires, werewolves, and other creatures.
The Circus of Horrors is a 3-D nightmare with a house of mirrors inside, and still more mirrors await visitors in the Maze of Madness.
The park's Action FX Theatre is transformed into a virtual “Scream Park” where Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, takes guests on the ride of their lives. The PsycoPath leads guests into Kings Island's woods, where various creatures wait for them in the shadows.
The House of Darkness is a traditional gothic haunted house in which guests enter one terrifying room after another.
For smaller children, there's the Pumpkin Patch Express, a train ride during which kids can choose a pumpkin to take to Ghastly Grove, where there's pumpkin decorating, goblin food, games, and face painting. Boo's House is an inflatable maze for the little ones.
On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25 and 26, costumed children can trick-or-treat throughout the park and join a Masquerade Parade through the park.
Most of Kings Island's thrill rides will be operating throughout FearFest, but the children's area's of Hanna-Barbera and Nickelodeon Central will close at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 18, Third Eye Blind will perform at the park. Tickets are $5 in addition to regular park admission.
FearFest continues each weekend through Nov. 2. The park is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to midnight and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Admission is $25 for adults and $20 for children age 3 to 6 and seniors 60 and over. Children age 2 and under are admitted free.
INFORMATION: 800-288-0808 or www.pki.com
First Published October 5, 2003, 1:37 p.m.
