The Roller Coaster Alley team made our annual pilgrimage out to Scarywood for the 2024 season this past weekend. We’re excited to share all the details of what’s new, what’s returned, and everything in between…so let’s jump right in!
The biggest change for 2024 is the addition of the new haunt – The Swine. This is located in the far back corner of the park behind Aftershock and across the train tracks. It is essentially themed to the story of three little pigs, modified to “slasher mode”. The main entrance is at the picnic pavilion area, but this is a bit deceptive, as we quickly learned.
The pathway through the pavilion area is more of a scare zone, as opposed to the queue to the attraction itself. There are bales of hay, corn stalks, pumpkins, and scareactors galore through here, and it’s incredibly dark. That makes it a very effective zone, even if we were a bit confused about the purpose.
At the end of the pathway we found ourselves staring up at the gigantic Aftershock coaster, and signs directed us to head to the right to get to the actual haunt itself. So, consider the pathway through the picnic pavilion as a sort of teaser or preview of what’s to come. Also note that you can veer left here and head over to the entrance of Chuckle’s 3D sideshow, or vice versa. In fact, our recommendation is that you use this area to hit up both of these haunts in quick succession. You do not need to walk all the way around through the pavilion area to access the Swine.
Once we made our way across the train tracks we could better see where the main attraction was. To our surprise, this was not housed in the massive building that we saw this past summer from the train ride, but instead is located mostly outdoors in an area nearby.
The queue wasn’t too long when we arrived, but gave us just enough time to soak in the atmosphere. Massive bales of hay and scarecrows lined both the queue and the maze itself, and we could hear the sounds of chainsaws and screams through the air on the other side of the walls around us. Within minutes it was our turn.
Workers will direct your group to start in one of two pathways. Indeed, this haunt is truly a “maze”. Unlike other haunts where you follow a designated pathway, this attraction offers multiple options through the hay and corn stalks. Don’t worry -it’s not too hard to find your way. Most paths all eventually converge in the same area, but there are a few dead ends you can run into if you’re not careful!
As we made our way through, we soon found out the source of all the screams. Scareactors donning grotesque “zombie-pig” like costumes were found around every corner, many of them with chainsaws at the ready.
Before long, we approached the sole indoor portion of the maze – a small “brick” house that served as a great finale with some fantastic set pieces and the disgusting Pig Mama in the final room.
We fondly remember this from the former “Freak Farm” theme that used to exist in the Terror Canyon Trail attraction from many years ago. Needless to say, as long-time fans, we loved seeing some of our old favorites brought back in a new way.
After exiting the pigs house, there is a little more navigating to do in order to completely leave the attraction, but you’ll soon find yourself heading back towards the backside of Aftershock.
We did notice the huge new building on our way back, which we can only assume will house something new for next year. More work had been done since our visit in July, but there’s a lot left to do. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as something of this scale certainly has a huge amount of potential. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
The other four haunts – Chuckle’s 3D Sideshow, Pharaoh’s Curse, Planet Zombie: Lights Out, and Blood Bayou were all largely unchanged from previous years. All of them were well staffed, fully functional, and packed full of scares. We’ve discussed these all in detail in previous years, so there isn’t a whole lot more to say that hasn’t been said before. Scarywood continues to keep these well maintained, even with some of them in operation for well over than 5 years. Not all parks take nearly as much pride in keeping their Halloween attractions in as good of shape.
Indeed, with the removal of Total Darkness a couple years ago, and now the reintroduction of a 5th haunt, this felt like the most solid lineup of haunts ever offered at Scarywood. Each one was top notch, there was a nice variety of themes, and nothing felt lacking. With another new haunt seemingly in the works for next year, things are only set to improve.
We’ll also note that queues were very reasonable all night. The longest we waited was for Planet Zombie around 9:30, and that was about 20 minutes. Everything else was 10 minutes or less. Part of that was due to us being there earlier in the month, but another aspect is definitely due to a good spread of quality attractions with good capacity.
Speaking of Planet Zombie – we got to be the ones in our group this year who were able to hold the flashlight, and what a difference that made! The small red light is very faint, so it really only helps the person who’s holding it to (barely) be able to see better. But WOW! Getting to shine it around, not knowing if or when a scare would happen, was a blast. We almost wish more people could get to hold the lights in each group, rather than just one. It really elevated the experience a lot for us.
Scare zones were also running full tilt this year. There were actors spread all around the various corners of the park. The zones did have a wide range of theming, with some (such as Clown Town) themed heavily throughout, whereas others were very lacking. The “fog bubbles” in Clown Town were fantastic – be sure to check them out when you’re walking through!
It’s great that the park has such great coverage, even if we wish some of the zones could get a little more TLC with the theming.
Turning to entertainment, we were excited as always to see Nick Norton’s magic show Dillusion. After snagging front row seats and a few snacks, we were disappointed to see that Nick was not on the stage that night. Instead, the magic was performed by a different actor who was filling in for him.
Other characters returned from previous years, but Nick did not. We learned later on that he is unfortunately unavailable for the month. He should be back in action for next year, but for the time being, the show is in “B” mode.
Don’t get us wrong – it’s still a fun show to see, and a great way to take a break in the middle of the evening. But if you’re running short on time, this would be the thing to skip for 2024. If you do go, keep your expectations reasonable. The lead magician (pictured above with his assistant) does a decent job, but it’s sort of like trying to find a substitute for Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Sean Connery, or Paul McCarney. Nothing’s ever quite the same when it comes to the best of the best!
Moving on to a few other notes from around the park – we noticed some new snacks at the coffee shop this year.
We didn’t get to try any of them, but they reminded us of some of the treats found at other major park chains during Halloween, so that was great. The Reeses Pieces caramel apple still reigns supreme for us in that department. Several of those were purchased by us, and delightfully consumed over the following days!
We also had time to hit up a few of the coasters throughout the night. Timber Terror backwards was as good as ever, and still should be your first stop of the night. The lines for both Timber Terror and Tremors were quite long for the majority of the night.
Stunt Pilot, on the other hand, was consistently 5 minutes or less, thanks to the fantastic 2-train operations. And the ride is incredible at nighttime – definitely a “do not miss”.
One final quick non-Scarywood related note that we wanted to follow up on is the new 76 gas station and mini mart outside the park. Much progress has been made since our visit earlier this summer, and it looks like it’s very close to opening!
All in all, it was another great year – we got to do everything we wanted, sometimes multiple times. The Swine is a great addition to the lineup, all of the returning acts lived up to previous years, and the future looks promising with the return of Nick Norton and what looks to be a new permanent haunt for 2025. Until then, be sure to get out to the park if you haven’t been yet this month, and have a safe and happy Halloween!
Planning a trip to Scarywood? Be sure to check out our Scarywood Haunted Nights Trip Planning Guide as well as our Scarywood 1-Night Itinerary posts to help you get the most out of your time in the park!
Have you been to Scarywood yet in 2024? What were your favorite parts? What did you think of the new haunt - The Swine? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
The official Silverwood Theme Park website can be found at: www.silverwoodthemepark.com. All business-related questions should be directed to this site.
Really loved “The Swine” Haunt, particularly because I love Pig Monsters (I mentioned before, but from the teaser things I thought it would be Wolf themed, but these Pig monsters are great!). Also I liked it a lot because there used to be a Corn Maze I went to in the area each year, but it shut down because somebody was killed accidentally (I think?) so I was very happy to see that The Swine was literally a “Corn Maze” (Or designed to feel like one anyways). I’ve been going each Friday this year, and on opening week The Swine didn’t have the Jack O Lanterns, so I’m happy they added those, as I like the atmosphere it adds. I don’t know if they added anything else that wasn’t there on the opening Night besides some of the Scarecrows were given Shovels I think.
I don’t know if they’ve had it previous years since I didn’t notice, but I also loved the new Souvenir Cups they had for Scarywood, I kept getting the free Refills of Hot Chocolate for each Night I’ve went this year.
Thanks for the comment Joshua! You’re spot on with your comments about the atmosphere in The Swine – the “Corn Maze” is a great setting for it, even if it’s not too hard to navigate. Interesting to hear about the pumpkins being added…those definitely made a big difference for us. We’re jealous you get to go every week – have fun!