Got there at around 4:45, and to my surprise, the parking lot was nearly empty. Big plus, since my wife thought it would be betting going on a Saturday. Put my daughter in her stroller, grapped the camcorder, and headed on in.First off, I think that Great America did an excellent job this year compared to last with the decorations. The fog in front of the carousel, though it did get heavy at times, was a very nice touch. First stop was the carousel, since we can't walk by it without my daughter crying to go on. We rode two times, and then headed over to Southwest scaritory (sp?). My wife then saw that there was NO line for Deja Vu, and told me to catch a ride before the lines got to long. She sat down with my daughter, and off I went. It took me longer to walk through the ques than it was for me to wait in the station. What a ride!!!!!!! I am starting to like this ride more every time I go on it. It seems to take forever going up that back tower before it drops you. When I got off, I walked around to see that there was still no line, so I figured, why not. Walked around the ques again, and jumped right back on. In a span of about 15 mintues, I have ridden Deja more times that I did the first year it was open. Deja Vu gets an A+.Now it was time for Southwest Scaritory (sp?) Here I was surprised, and alittle dissapointed that I only saw one caracter walking around. My wive, and daughter grapped a pretzel, and a drink while I rode Raging Bull. Once again, I found that there was almost nobody waiting. Most have been 10-15 minutes top before I got on. Rode back row, as always. This is simply an awesome ride. Great airtime, especially the drop after the mid-course brakes. I have heard some people saw that Bull has lost some its touch. I would have to disagree with that. One trip on Raging Bull, A+Next stop was.....the....can't think of the Fright Fest name of it, but its the car ride next to Spashwater Falls. My wive, and daughter took a spin on that, while I walked around and got some night time video shots of Deja, and some of the decor. One thing I did notice that I have'nt before, is that the towers on Deja alternate between blue, and red. I am not sure if its a fright fest thing or not. I once again noticed how empty the park was.Next stop was to watch Love at first fright. Since we had only six hours, I disputed seeing the show, but hey, I got vetoed by my wive, and two year old daughter. Not a bad show.Now it was time to visit Looney tunes area for my daughter. Where is everybody????? Maybe 5-10 people tops. while my daughter rode the rides, I headed off to video tape, and ride some more. I headed over to Batman to see how the lines were, and.....wow, no line at all!!! Walk on. Did alittle video taping of the inside of the station, and jumped on the last row. For Batman, I have tried the front, the middle, and the back, and nothing can compare to the back. The G-forces are increadible, even better, in my opinoin than the Raptor. I managed to get three rides on Batman, each time was a walk on. Even though Batman is a shorter ride, and does'nt compare to the other inverts that are around, it is still one heck of a ride. A+Iron Werewof was next. I heistated going on this stand-up because of its roughness, but since I had not been on it in awhile, I decided to catch a ride. So far this was the longest line of the night. After I got off, I knew why I had not ridden it in awhile. This coaster is rough. It would be a btter ride if it was smoother. Iron Werewolf gets a CNow it was time to meet the family, and go for a ride on Scooby Doo mystery train. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Yeah it was boring, but my daughter really enjoyed it. Not much else to say about this ride. Scooby Doo mystery train gets a D for grown ups, A for children.My daughter was now asleep. So, we figured a trip through Netropolis would be ok. We pulled over the hood her stroller, and went in. As I was video taping the sign, Freddy walked right in front of me, and scared the h.. out me. We started to walk through and therre was a character covered in vines, you can't see him, waiting for people to walk by. Ok, Freddy got me, and now this. Thats two I wasn't prepared for. The decor was ok, but I have seen better in years past. There sure were alot of clowns walking around, and speaking of clowns, as I was video taping one came up right behind me with his horn, and blew it right by my ear. He wanted to see what I was taping, so I showed him, and then turned it around on him. Man, that was now three times I was caught off gaurd. Though the decor was lacking, I did like the way they had characters everywhere. Everywhere you turned, there was somebody chasing people around. As we headed out, I was once again caught off gaurd by a person in a vine costume. I saw the first one on the left hand side of me, but I never saw the second one coming from the right. For Necropolis, the decor gets a B-, for character interactions, a A+, and overall, a B.Its was now around 10:30, and getting colder by the minute, so we decided to call it quits. My hats off to Great America for putting on an excellent Fright Fest this year. The colors, the flashing lights, the fog, the music, all gave the park a Halloween feel. Even though I did not get to ride all the coasters, it was a treat just to be able to walk on some of them. So....for Great America Fright Fest, this by judging the Fright Fest for years past, since I have been to every one of them since they started, FF gets an A. If you havn't gione yet this year, make sure you make the trip out there.
