Scout Island Scream Park Review (2018)

The Cast that SCOUT ISLAND has onboard so far is extremely dedicated and talented, including the nun performer in DEVIL SWAMP (speaking in Latin, or a believable alternative), a good deal of the zombies in ZOMBIE OUTBREAK: BATTLEFIELD (Aggressive and dedicated to scares, including a couple realistic and believable decoys), and a few other roaming characters creating great atmosphere around the entire attraction. Unfortunately, besides ZOMBIE OUTBREAK: BATTLEFIELD, the attractions seem to be lightly staffed, most notably DEVIL’S SWAMP, leaving a beautifully designed layout, with a ton of potential, relatively scareless due to the lack of performers along the trail. It seems as though SCOUT ISLAND is still working to hire people for the season, so hopefully, this is one of the focuses, as the trail, though inherently creepy by design, could greatly profit from a large increase in performers.

Overall, Customer Service at SCOUT ISLAND SCREAM PARK is top notch. The majority of the employees are friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, and aimed to make a great night for Guests. A small collection of employees were still getting their bearings and slightly overwhelmed by Guest questions, but with time should gain more comfort in Guest Service. The hospitality of those working in and around the KRAKEN tent was superior, adding to a top-notch VIP experience, including the friendly and knowledgeable bartenders and servers. SCOUT ISLAND has taken extra measures for Guest safety and comfort, by adding a high-quality layer of mulch in muddy or potentially wet areas through the trails to minimize any weather impact and Guest dissatisfiers. The amount of foresight given to details such as these was impressive for the first year of operation. As someone from out of town, the location was a bit difficult to find at first, but locals will know exactly where this is, and the team does a great job of putting maps and directions online to assist in locating the attraction. Additional signage around the perimeter roads of the park property (if allowed) may help misdirected Guests in finding their way.

SCOUT ISLAND SCREAM PARK is located on Scout Island, a massive area within the city park. The creative team does a great job using existing paths and trails (BLOOD BAYOU, DEVIL’S SWAMP, THE HORSEMAN’S FRIGHT ZONE) along with using the open space (SCREAM FACTORY) to create freestanding haunts as well. While there is certainly room to grow in the future, they have done a great job transforming the natural landscape into a Halloween atmosphere, with lighting, carnival paraphernalia and various props and set pieces (including the SUPER fun KRAKEN inflatable. The three main haunts have great facades/entrance statements to make them iconic within the scream park, as well as enticing for those who may be purchasing separate tickets to the attractions. The signs created for the various attractions as well as the one for the overall attraction near the bridge and entrance are very impressive, creative, and well built, creating landmarks and great photograph moments for Guests as well, making navigation through the event very easy.

SCOUT ISLAND SCREAM PARK has spent a great deal of resources in locating/purchasing/creating sets, props, and various special effects for their attraction this year. Lighting, audio, and other effects are heavily used and nice to see in an outdoor trail environment where weather conditions can be a challenge for that amount of technical equipment. There is a large number of animatronic/robotic figures throughout the DEVIL’S SWAMP attraction, however an unfortunate few were actually operating, perhaps not yet fully hooked up, or unable to be animated due to the setup given the outdoor setting. Regardless, these props provide great eye candy throughout the trail, and prove great potential should more become animated, lurching out from the darkness. The equipment setup for ZOMBIE OUTBREAK: BATTLEFIELD was impressive, with a nicer quality gun/target system than other laser themed attractions. The display on the guns showing ammunition and hits make for a more themed experience and allows some healthy competition to happen throughout the haunt. The scoring aspect should be emphasized stronger prior to entering the haunt to begin the competition between friends.

SCOUT ISLAND SCREAM PARK has developed a strong foundation for a growing haunt with great scare moments and even more possibilities for the future. ZOMBIE OUTBREAK and SCREAM FACTORY are pretty well stocked with performers, creating a good level of consistent scares, along with effect-driven scares. DEVIL’S SWAMP was very light on performers and therefore had many dead spots and missed opportunities for performers hidden among the landscape in between the scenes for highly effective scares. More sensor/trigger-based scares with the aforementioned animatronic figures and other special effects could help fill the gaps and dead space as well, and build the anticipation needed in a trail haunt between main scenes.

The performers that they did have in the trail were aggressive, dedicated to their performance, and effective, but sadly there were just too few. All that being said, the foundation is great, the technical elements are in place, and with more performers (the attraction is still actively hiring to fill performer spots), and some technical testing and adjustments, the experience could be completely different in a few weeks, as the technical infrastructure is there, the performers are obviously well trained, so the trail has some major potential.

SCOUT ISLAND SCREAM PARK has enough attractions between haunts and rides as well as food/drink to make it a full night event. With this being said, individual tickets on top of general admission for the haunts/rides can add up very quickly as single walk through tickets are priced rather high. This makes the combo tickets really the best option for those looking to make a night out of their visit to the island. While still on the expensive side, this allows Guests to make it their own experience and visit each attraction as many times as they desire throughout the entire night. The combo tickets for unlimited access to all rides and attractions are priced at $49.

With the combo ticket, there is .79 minutes per dollar worth of Entertainment (not including rides, or multiple trips through attractions), whereas when purchased separately, at a higher cost, there are only .56 minutes per dollar (and no included multiple trips through attractions, or rides available with cost of ticket).

The haunt does have a partnership with Lyft and Coca Cola offering discounts (including discounted rides to and from the attraction). Make sure to check out their website and social media outlets to check in on the latest deals!