Are you ready for Halloween yet? I mean, if we can have Christmas in July and all the Hallmark Holiday Movies that come with it, then why not Halloween as well!!

This past weekend was the unofficial kick-off (well, official for many of us) of the Halloween Season. And it came just when we needed it most!! We have SO much to get to from this years event, which was bigger and better than ever. So big in fact that there were about 10-15 things on our "must see" list that we totally didn't get to see. 

But as you can see below, what we did see was all kinds of amazing. Let's head into the fog!! 

Welcome to Midsummer Scream

Before we get too deep into the in's and out's of panels and more I want to share something I posted on our social media the other day. A few thoughts on the experience of the weekend.

More than amazing panels, or fog, or mazes or aisles upon aisles of amazing things to spend all your money on, what I take most out of this past weekend is love.

People who have never been to any Halloween event or MSS are missing out. Halloween brought all of these people together. Some were there to see Theme Park panels. Others to see YouTube stars or just to shop. But all were there because we love Halloween and all things that go bump in the night.

Not once the entire weekend did I see anybody acting out, everybody was polite, considerate and amazing. And it was CROWDED. We talked with people we know, and met so many new people just standing around waiting in line.

None of the actual horrors that exist out in the world made it's way into Midsummer Scream. I know it may sound hard to separate the two, but it's not. It's all about a shared love of horror and Halloween.
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And it comes down to the people in charge. They've helped to create a culture of love and acceptance that is at the core of the Haunt Community. And it's so amazing

​With that said, let's first head into the Hall of Shadows 

The Tiki's have invaded Midsummer Scream, and were an amazing entry to the area. 

Tiki Tiki Tiki!!! How about some video of the Hall of Shadows featuring some of our favorite maze walk-throughs that you all need to visit this Halloween season. 

One of our absolute favorite Haunts

We kind of split up our coverage this year, DSLR on Saturday and Hand-Held Gimble on Sunday. We wanted to make sure we captured all we could. 

Some amazing displays were on, well, display. =) 

Most of the Haunts were very short and gave a nice tease of what's to come. Some were longer and made you wonder how they got so much in a small space. 

Our weekend consisted of a LOT of panels. I think two major ones on Saturday (and a Podcast) and three on Sunday. 

​Our panels started off with the AMAZING 50 years of The Haunted Mansion panel. And it was standing room only. 

Our view for much of the weekend 

The Midsummer Scream Dream Team 

We were going to live-stream this but service was spotty at best. In hindsight I wish we would have recorded and edited everything together. Lesson learned. 

Here is the full panel in three parts. It's truly amazing to listen to his talented group of people talk about an attraction they love so much. 

Part One: Bob Gurr and Tony Baxter talk about their experiences with The Haunted Mansion and proof that the Hatbox Ghost was indeed there at the beginning. 

Part Two features Don Hahn talking a bit about the Haunted Mansion movie (I really would love to get more in-depth with this some day) and Tom Morris discussing some of the in's and out's of the attractions construction. 

Tom also had a panel on Sunday that went deeper into this that we sadly had to miss. 

The last segment features Tania Norris in her first live-panel anywhere talking about her experiences with The Haunted Mansion and Walt Disney. It was truly a treat. 

We could have listened to his panel for hours upon hours. And I know we weren't alone. 

Later that day we attended the Halloween Horror Nights Panel where they announced Creepshow. It was ana amazing panel that we were able to Live-Stream. 

Sadly the quality probably isn't up to our normal standards but here it is in it's entirety nonetheless. 

Slideshow of all of the images from the presentation including Creepshow, Holidayz in Hell and the Scare Zones. 

Bright and early Sunday it was time to spend more time in the Hall of Shadows prior to the Haunted Hayride panel. 

They had an awesome display at the entrance of the show floor. 

During the panel they announced Midnight Falls. We are seriously excited for the event this year. 

The full panel featuring all of the info on Midnight Falls, some chat about the history of the event and a great Q&A session. 

It sounds like they may have a few surprises in store for us that they didn't announce. 

Immediately after was the panel for Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. But first we had to run downstairs and get a picture with some old friends. 

Last and absolutely not least was the last panel of the weekend for Knott's Scary Farm. 

The event that started it all did not disappoint and there are some treats in store for fans this year. 

Dates for this years event, we'll see you there on opening and closing night for sure!! And a whole bunch in-between. Knott's Scary Farm passes FTW!! 

Video of our live stream of the panel, this one seemed to turn out WAY better than the HHN panel. 

No new mazes announced at Midsummer Scream (they'll do that on August 29th, and we will of course be there) but they did announce some new surprises for returning mazes. 

One of our personal favorites, Dark Ride, will be getting two new rooms this year. 

​First up the Surveillance Room which is replacing the Air Duct Room in the maze. 

And lastly, what's a Dark Ride that doesn't exit through the Gift Shop!?!?! 

Two new characters are coming as well. 

Any chances of getting those Castle of Chaos shirts for sale? 

One of the coolest announcements of the entire weekend, that I think may be getting overlooked ... 

Knott's will now be selling "graveyard pins" for retiring mazes. So at least one that will be available is for Infected, who's last year will be this year. 

They will also be selling a "graveyard" that you can put your pins on. 

REALLY hope they are going to release pins for some other retired mazes. What an awesome way to remember some of our favorites. 

Just because Infected is going away doesn't mean it's not getting a couple of enhancements for 2019. 

And that's a wrap!! 

Never too early to start making plans for Midsummer Scream 2020. 

​We'll be there for sure!! 

Last weekend we made our annual trek to Las Vegas for the Holidays and of course, lots of amazing fun, food, a show and drinking. 

The casinos were all decked out for the holidays and it was a rather calm weekend in Vegas, probably due to the proximity to Christmas. All around it was a very awesome trip. 

Snow on the mountains as we made our trip through the desert

View from our room at NY/NY

It was our first time staying here, and it won't be our last. We just love all the casinos in this area of the strip. 

We were quite prepared for our weekend 

Fun to look at, but no winners. :( 

This one however, the bonus game just kept going and going. It wasn't a very exciting bonus game, but hey, I'll take $125 in pennies!! 

Did you know Vegas has a Chocolate World too? 

A tradition, checking out the conservatory at The Bellagio

And the next morning too

Chocolate Fountain!!! 

Our Friday Night dinner was at Noodles, it was most excellent. 

We had leftovers. Lol

We followed up dinner with some Gelato

Saturday morning we headed to Flamingo for their champagne brunch 

There is Golden Knights stuff EVERYWHERE. EVERY-WHERE!!! 

It's awesome to see the town so enthusiastic about Hockey. 

However, it's going to be REALLY annoying when the Raiders come to town. 

We hadn't been inside the Forum Shops at Caesars in awhile

The best part was the spiral escalators 

Nice to see the fountains still there

We had to check out The Atlantis Show. Hasn't changed in, well, however long it's been there. 

We also of course had to check out the Bellagio Fountain show

After a quick nap it was time to head to Luxor for Blue Man Group. 

We couldn't find the sky-bridge for some reason, so we ended up on the back-side of Excalibur. Lol. 

An Egyptian Christmas

Still fascinated by this hotel 

My wife has been trying to shut me up for 23 years, Blue Man Group finally did it

The show was AMAZING. So much fun and definitely family friendly. So feel free to take the kids. 

Our last morning in Vegas we headed over to MGM

And on the way home stopped at Seven Magic Mountains

They were painted rocks. And that's pretty much all you need to know. =) 

We had an AMAZING time in Vegas, we'll be back in a few months for our sons 21st birthday (how is that even a thing) and we'll have more "theme parky" stuff that trip since he hasn't been to Vegas since he was about 5 and needs all the credits (other than Miner Mike).