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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Eighty-one percent of
amusement parks will hold Halloween or fall-themed events this year,
according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and
Attractions.
But fewer than half of them offered Halloween attractions 15 years ago, illustrating the tremendous growth in recreation related to the holiday, according to an informal survey conducted by IAAPA among more than 100 park managers. Some parks offer haunted walks and other fun for thrill-seekers, complete with zombies and bloody axemen. Other places are geared for kiddies, with pumpkin-decorating and hay rides. And some cities have haunted houses created from abandoned prisons and other creepy places using Hollywood-style special effects.
Here is information on some of these attractions, compiled by the IAAPA. Check with destinations for exact times and dates; many are only open Thursday-Saturday or Friday-Sunday through Halloween. • Adventure Landing, Jacksonville Beach, Fla., "Hall of Terror" and "Haunted River Ride," adventurelanding.com/jaxbeach • Boo Crew Haunted House in Rochester, Ill., "Dr. Griswold's Experimentorium," boocrew.com •Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va., "Howl-O-Scream," howloscream.com •Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, "HalloWeekends," halloweekends.com • Carowinds, Charlotte, "SCarowinds," scarowinds.com • Darien Lake Theme Park Resort, Darien Center, N.Y., "FrightFest 2009," GoDarienLake.com •Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif., "Halloween Time," disneylandnews.com •Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pa., "Terror Behind the Walls," easternstate.org • Kennywood Park, West Mifflin, Pa., "Phantom Fright Nights," phantomfrightnights.com • Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va., "Halloween Haunt," kingsdominion.com • Kings Island near Cincinnati, "Halloween Haunt 2009" visitkingsisland.com • Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, Calif., "Knott's Scary Farm Halloween Haunt," knotts.com • Lake Compounce, Bristol, Conn., "The Haunted Graveyard," hauntedgraveyard.com • Playland-Not-at-the-Beach Museum of Fun in El Cerrito, Calif., "The Haunted Museum," playland-not-at-the-Beach.org •Six Flags parks, "Fright Fest," at parks in or near Mitchellville, Md.; San Antonio, Texas; Jackson, N.J.; Gurnee, Ill.; Lake George, N.Y.; Louisville; Los Angeles, Calif.; Arlington, Texas; Eureka, Mo.; Vallejo, Calif.; Agawam, Ma.; and Atlanta; sixflags.com •Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif., and in Orlando, "Halloween Horror Nights," HalloweenHorrorNights.com • Great Wolf Lodge resorts, "Howl-O-Ween at the Wolf," Kansas City, Kan.; Traverse City, Mich.; Concord, N.C.; Mason, Ohio; Sandusky, Ohio; Scotrun, Pa.; Grapevine, Texas; Williamsburg, Va.; Centralia, Wash.; Wisconsin Dells, Wis. • Hersheypark, Hershey, Pa., "Hersheypark in the Dark," hersheypark.com •SeaWorld Orlando and Sea World San Diego, "Halloween Spooktacular," seaworldspooktacular.com • Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party," wdwnews.com Copyright 2009 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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Comments: (16)
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recommended! 
Guerrilla
Radio (30 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/5/2009 10:28:56
AM
We went to 6 Flags in ATL Saturday just to go and
much to our amazement it was Muslim Day! How fun walking around all day seeing women covered from head to toe and thinking about what types of detonators the hadjis use...... 
beancounter
(16 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 7:17:56
PM
The "journalist" conveniently forgot to mention
Maggie Valley and western North Carolina's park "Ghost Town in the Sky."
It' was reopened back in 2007 after being closed for a few years.
www.ghosttowninthesky.com. It's best attraction is "The Cliff Hanger"
roller coaster. It's at the top of the mountain and offers riders
spectacular views of the mountains and Maggie Valley. For the first time, this year, they paired up with a group out of Florida to offer a mountain top haunting. www.houseofterror.us. Oh...and don't forget Dollywood. It's the park in Sevierville, TN the home of country music LEGEND Dolly Parton. Their website is www.dollywood.com but they aren't doing a halloween/haunting feature. What gives USAToday...do we folks here in the Great Smoky Mountains not rate well enough for your "sophisticated" tastes? I won't put the website to my place in as that wold be a shameless ploy to get lodgers. 
24x7
(25 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 2:23:16
PM
We must thank Six Flags for their push to sell
season tickets for their theme parks NOW for this season in their
commercials - Which entitles you visits till the end of the month when
only H'ween festivities are on. Nice way to get us to part with our $$$ 
tdbnbr
(19 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 12:49:36
PM
I just want to know where "Zombieland"
is. 
Man
the Middle (26 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 12:45:59
PM
Halloween is not a holiday for the rich. It's just
too hard to pull-off that "image" when your dressed-up as a Goblin. That's
what makes Halloween so fun - socially, it's the Great
Equalizer. 
Jackov
(16 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 12:33:55
PM
I'm unpacking my zebra platform boots, gold chains,
and glitter shirt. Thanks to yoga, I can still do splits. 
Alabama_Patriot
(29 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 12:29:57
PM
They should consider a Chicago theme if they want to
scare people. 
Pansy
(32 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 11:53:43
AM
Christiancon is correct...everyone is gonna burn in
hell........keep preaching CC3... 
Faulconbridge
(4 friends, send
message) wrote: 10/4/2009 11:48:04
AM
Hey CC3... How 'bout a Halloween Christian House... Would feature: --The Spanish Inquisition (the stretching RACK!) with Torquemada and his homies --A Salem Witch Trial-themed dunking for apples tank --The Sodom and Gomorrah experience (Sulphur Storms forecast for the the Twin Cities tonight) --The Smiting the Canannites game (or whatever group is currently out of favor w/God-- maybe gays -- and need some smiting. --The Altar Boys vs Priests 200 meter dash around the rectory Seriously, dude, get a life.
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