Aussie World FestEVIL

[POP]

Thoughts? Anyone going?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Thats a nicely done little ad.

Good to see them making an effort on bringing this event into the big leagues.

[BNErider]

I went to Aussie World last night for their first ever Halloween "FestEVIL" event. My thoughts are below.

The scary maze (Maze of Evil) was situated near the bumper cars. It started off quite lame (temporary fencing with tarps and actors near the darkly lit edges) but got better. I liked how they got an old car and put some flashing red/blue lights on it, and then had zombies nearby trying to jump at guests. There was also a chainsaw man with a girl in a chair trying to get out. Those two scenes were the only two things that "saved" an otherwise boring and lifeless maze. Theming in the maze was obviously NOWHERE NEAR anything you'd see at current day Movie World. It was a bit more like Movie World's first mazes, with just fencing covered with tarps and actors hiding wherever they could. Some actors needed more things to do than just go "ARHHHH" though. In saying that, some definitely tried hard and it paid off towards the end (with the two said scenes above). Not really scary, though... it just needed more atmosphere/theming to really make you feel like you weren't at Aussie World in-between some temporary fencing. Others (girls, kids) were scared though. So perhaps it severed its purpose?

The less scary maze was called the Enchanted Forest. It featured some well known storybook characters who would randomly sing/talk/yell at (or scare) those that walked past. It wasn't dark and there was little theming. The actors tried hard with their accents and acting here though. Well done. And although it wasn't scary, the actors yelling did manage to startle unexpected guests.

The actual park had little bits of theming around. For example, there was a graveyard with fog and a dead Elvis roaming within. He looked SUPER bored though.

Of course, the thing about this event was that it wasn't really aimed at people like me. It was aimed at families, especially with the kids' disco and dress contests. It was a bit like Movie World's first few "Halloween Family Fun Night" events -- they had little in the way of budgets and they didn't try too hard to SCARE. I think for a park like Aussie World, this is not such a bad thing. Both nights sold out and people were spending big on the food. But going forward, will they aim to stick at this or go for the teenage/mature market? Time will tell. Either way, the park will need to invest more in the way of crowd control and queueing. Budgets will hopefully grow and the park can decide what they want to do - create something actually scary or something that's aimed at family fun? Do it properly and pick either Disney Halloween family fun or Universal scary. Because something in the middle just doesn't feel right.

Edited November 1, 2014 by ash.1111

[Jobe]

Thanks for the report Ash. I think its great that a little park like Aussie World has initiated a Halloween event like this and its great to see it was a success.

[DisneyDoll]

Yes thanks Ash. I would've loved to have been there for it as I LOVE Aussie World. I can only guess it will get better each year

[joz]

Am I the only one thinking that a park called Aussie World should leave the Halloween thing alone?

I mean, I know, Halloween is big over here these days and all that jazz, but it still doesn't seem like it fits the theme of the park to me. It'd be like if they dressed up the pub for 4th of July or tried to do a 'White Christmas' rather than an 'Aussie Christmas'.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Interesting view Joz - I guess because Movie World is "Hollywood on the Gold Coast" they can align themselves with American events... Hallowe'en is becoming much more prevalent here too.

I think the 4th of July thing is probably too much (as would be thanksgiving)- because they are strictly an American holiday - like we have Australia Day - but Hallowe'en isn't restricted to the USA - it started in the British Isles (although not in the same candy-crushing fashion we have today) - so i'm not against it (but certainly won't be keeping a bowl of candy by the door). That said - the folks that do big christmas lights displays usually use hallowe'en as a 'dress rehearsal' for their lights (with a few spooky items pumpkins thrown in)

I do think you're right though - a park called "Aussie World" would do better to focus on more aussie themed events - but i guess you don't need Hallowe'en to do scary mazes at night ala Tomb Raider....

[westical]

Such fan'cy spelling.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Given the Celtic-Christian background, it's the correct and appropriate spelling for a contraction of "All Hallow's Evening"

In Scots, the word 'Eve' is 'Even', and this is contracted to E'en.