Scarywood 2011
The new maze in 2011 was Mind Warp which was located near the exit to Blood Bayou. It showed much potential but in the end felt far to short and couldn't really capitalize on the maze aspect. It had an interesting setup of choosing doors but the problem was that all doors eventually funnel you to the exit. I'd imagine the reason for not wanting a true maze in a theme park is that guest frustration might be a bit too much to handle. While corn mazes and other haunted attractions can pull things off, I'm not sure how well a truly engrossing Haunted Maze would do in a theme park environment (though I do have my own personal ideas on how to pull off the logistics keeping things scary and pushing guests through efficiently). In the end the best part of Mind Warp was the ending through a vortex tunnel and the walk back to the park through a field of scarecrows. The only weak part was that it also got muddy those nights (probably why there hasn't been a haunt in this area since).
The biggest improvement for 2011 was Terror Canyon itself. The theme of girl scouts being captured was kept but for 2011 the girlscouts were subjected to horrific mutation rather than cannibal consumption. It added the right amount of flavor to the walkthrough (there was a huge variety of mutants) and easily boosted it above Blood Bayou as the standout attraction for this particular year. The actors gave a steller performance both nights I went with the attractions only weakness being rain on the first night.
The Zombiewood Express also returned this year with an interesting bit of cannon were King had been revealed to have been turned and was a member of the undead in the end (this feature wouldn't return in later years and is really the only bit of running cannon I can remember for this attraction).
Scarywood 2012
Thinking back on Scarywood 2012 I'd say this was when I realized the event was going to be more about small changes each year rather than huge revolutions like the transition from the first to second event were. However I also noticed an important president was being set. Every year seems to refine each haunt overall while also testing out a new concept that gets refined later.
2012 saw the return of Clowns, Blood Bayou, Terror Canyon (complete with mutants) and the Zombiewood. It also brought two novel concepts to be developed further in later years.
The most interesting of these was Oddities. Its name kinda fits because while I suppose some of it's more successful elements would return in 2013 in the form of a more fully developed sideshow attraction (or so I'm told as I couldn't make it to the event for 2013/2014). Oddities was an attempt to provide halloween themeing further into the park. The bright lighting around the thrill rides in the back makes for a difficult setting to hide creepy haunts. So I suppose setting up fun sideshows was an excellent compromise and the dance area was another unique idea as well. Overall I can't rave too much about this area. It had it's successes but really wasn't too scary and so I was glad to hear its good parts were developed into other ideas and that they managed to find a more compatible and scary theme for 2014.
Now the real standout for the event in 2012 was 3Dementia. I have a hard time expressing how much fun I found this one to be. From the moving floors to the fun effects like the bubble room, 3Dementia was the king of attractions for 2012 (I hear it wasn't as great in 2013 but was restored to greatness this last year for 2014). I'm ashamed I couldn't video it better but that's how things go I suppose. I'm sure theme park 3D maze veterans will know what to expect but honestly if I were asked which attraction to prioritize I'd probably say this one, even for the squeamish 3Dementia just stands out as the most fun of all the attractions.
More effects improvements were seen for Zombiewood express though I felt the script was growing a bit too familiar for me this year anyways (still a must see for newbies and easily the longest line in the park). Sadly Blood Bayou was much shorter on performers in 2012 and the bat monster performer that impressed me so greatly in 2010 was nowhere to be found. There were several new automated effects present in the attraction which may have kept things fresh were it not for the capacity breakdowns I noticed both nights I visited. It's likely a consequence of Scarywood's rising popularity. Gone are the days of isolation in Blood Bayou though at least the grouping system still exhists so far (being separated into groups is one of the key separators from events at parks like Universal Studios). I've heard it was better in 2014 though I'd like to see for myself how the crowds and Blood Bayou are working out.
Overall I loved the event both years I've commented on and am pretty upset that I couldn't make it these last two. My hope is to at least visit the event every other year in the foreseeable future, but time will tell...
