October | 2009 | Cavalcade of Awesome

Archive for October, 2009

AWESOME-tober-fest 2009: Midway Pier’s Castle Dracula

Posted in Halloween, holiday, New Jersey with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2009, Dracula, Halloween, haunted houses, holiday, New Jersey on October 7, 2009 by Paxton

Week 2 of AWESOME-tober-fest. This week we are discussing haunted dark rides. On Monday I talked about Six Flags’ Monster Plantation. Today, we are looking at a much older attraction. It was located at Midway Pier in Wildwood, NJ; Castle Dracula.

Midway Pier amusement park was first opened in 1919. the Nickel family purchased it in the ’70s and opened the Pier’s most recognizable attraction, Castle Dracula in 1977.

This huge haunted castle attraction was built over an old mill ride that had been there since the Pier’s opening in 1919. The mill ride had been “themed” differently throughout the years (Arabian Knights, Circus, Mine Train, etc). The Nickel family decided to build the ride up as a haunted castle attraction. The upper portion of the mill ride became the walk-thru haunted dark ride known as Castle Dracula and the ride portion underneath became the Dungeon Boat Ride.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2009: Six Flags’ Monster Plantation

Posted in Atlanta, Georgia, Halloween, holiday, Six Flags with tags Atlanta, AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2009, Georgia, Halloween, haunted houses, holiday, Six Flags on October 5, 2009 by Paxton

Okay, here we are at Week 2 of AWESOME-tober-fest 2009 (click here to see past articles). Last week I discussed Halloween treats you can find in the supermarket. This week, I’ll be discussing some of my favorite as well as some other famous haunted rides.

During the Halloween season, who doesn’t enjoy going to a scary haunted house? Well, my wife doesn’t, but we do it anyway (last year we went to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights). So I thought I’d look at some cool haunted houses and rides. Today, we start at one of my all-time favorites.

Today’s haunted ride can be found at Six Flags Over Georgia. It opened in 1981 and is consistently listed as one of the most popular rides. It’s called The Monster Plantation.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2009: Supermarket Halloween Goodies from years ago

Posted in Halloween, holiday, Pepsi, retail, soda, Supermarket with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2009, Halloween, holiday, Pepsi, retail, soda, sodapalooza, Supermarket on October 2, 2009 by Paxton

**Start shameless self-promotion** Recently, a humor/nostalgia site called Monkey Goggles has asked me to write some articles for them. Unlike on Cracked.com, I got my first article posted on Thursday. It’s a repost of my Glorious Glass article about ’70s and ’80s collectors glasses. If you don’t mind, click on over to my article on Monkey Goggles and take a look if you haven’t already (or even if you have). Get some friends and family to click on over and check it out, too. Let’s let MG know they need to feature more Pax articles. **End shameless self-promotion**

Okay, back to business…

As you can tell, this week has been the “Supermarket Goodies” week of AWESOME-tober-fest. I’m continuing this theme today but I’m firing up the Flux Capacitor and taking us back in time. Let’s have a look at a few products from Halloweens past. It seemed like items back then were just more FUN. Starting with…

Ghoul-Aid — Kool-Aid’s entry into the Halloween product parade back in the late ’90s. There was also a Scary Black Cherry flavor, but this Scary Blackberry was a brand new flavor not seen before or since. It has reached almost mythical status amongst the Kool-Aid enthusiast crowd. How awesome is it that Kool-Aid man is dressed as a bat-winged “ghoul”. I would say he’s a vampire but I don’t see any fangs. Maybe he’s a Twilight “vampire” (notice the quotes, yes that was on purpose).

Halloween Rice Krispies — Snap, Crackle and Pop dress it up for All Hallow’s Eve (click the image to make it BIGGER). Love the graphics on this box. The three elves flying in on a witch’s broom. So cool. It’s funny, this is a box of the cereal, yet they are showing pictures of the Rice Krispies bars all over the front and back. Hope you weren’t expecting that you were buying the bars instead of the cereal.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2009: More Supermarket Halloween Goodies

Posted in Halloween, holiday, retail, Supermarket with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2009, Halloween, holiday, retail, soda, Supermarket on October 1, 2009 by Paxton

Day 2 of AWESOME-tober-fest!! Did you miss Day 1? Check it here.

It seems like fewer things are getting branded with the Halloween graphics. Sometimes companies will cop out and brand something “Fall” or “Autumn” instead of a cool Halloween theme. I’m totally not on board with that. Bring out the bat and demon fueled monster graphics.

Here are some more retail products that celebrate All Hallow’s Eve like the rest of us.

Blue Bird Snowballs — I’m not a huge fan of Snowballs, but Blue Bird really dresses them up for the holidays. For Halloween they turn orange. For Xmas they are usually red (or white). I may not like them, but I fully support their celebration of the Halloween season.

Gourmet Candy Corn — Gourmet candy corn? Gourmet? Should I drink red or white wine with these? Calling candy corn “gourmet” is like calling McDonalds a “fancy restaurant”. First, it’s not true, and second, well, the first one pretty much covers it. I can understand you wanting to change the flavor of candy corn, but blackberry cobbler flavored candy corn is no longer, technically, candy corn. Unless it’s just a hint of blackberry cobbler, then I’m worried they are just making the flavors worse. Up next? Strawberry shortcake flavored peanut butter cups.