THIS REVIEW IS STRICTLY ONLY ABOUT THE TRUNK OR TREAT EVENT HELD ON , 10/25/2019
This is the parks "Annual" event that is held every year.
This was our first time ever going.
Upon arriving , the second we turned off of route 300 by the light the traffic was bumper to bumper , continuing up the hill towards the park their was SO much traffic, police everywhere directing cars and letting people know that the parks Parking lot was completely filled. The event started at 6pm and at the time we arrived it was around 6:30pm so only a 1/2 hour into the event . We turned onto some side road that took us to another road and finally found a parking spot on the side of some street . We parked about a 1/2 mile away.
The road we walked down was so lined with cars that their was no 2 way for cars to pass one another . My husband had to actually help 2 cars back up so that one could go up the road and the other could exit the road.
When we entered the park their was no one directing the crowd to let them know where anything was. I had to ask one of the guys directing traffic.
Once we found the line for the trunk or treat we couldn't believe our eyes. The line was over a mile long , it reached all the way past the trail that runs alongside the lake and the playground.
I HAVE TO SAY THOUGH, the line moved pretty fast. We were only in line for less then a 1/2 hour.
BUT THE THING THAT TICKED ME OFF WAS WHEN WE GOT TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE TO ACTUALLY WALK DOWN THE NEXT TRAIL THAT LED TO THE SMALLER PARKING LOT WHERE THE EVENT WAS.
Was , I thought someone was controlling the line and only allowing a certain amount of people in at a time , but once we got to the front I realized that wasn't the case at all!!! THERE WAS NO ONE HANDLING THE CROWD!
IT WAS THE CROWD HANDLING THE CROWD! And what was taking so long was that people were stopping at the front to enter under this Halloween decoration arch way thing to take selfies. THIS IS WHAT WAS HOLDING THE LINE UP!
So once you got past that point you walk down the paved walkway towards the actual event and you stumble upon yet another LONG line!
So overall their was maybe 50 cars participating in this event. Which was being held in the smaller parking lot over by the boat house. Just about each car was giving out 1-2 pieces of candy with about maybe 4 cars giving handfuls. This event was supposed to be over at 8pm but went way past it due to the amount of people.
Their had to be over 2,000 people at this event. The organizers who put this on had to have some what of an idea because they were telling the people who were putting their cars in to participate to have 3,000 pieces of candy ready. SO WHOEVER THESE ORGANIZERS WERE THEY SHOULD OF DID A WAY WAY WAY BETTWR JOB AT HAVING MORE WORKERS CONTROLLING THE CROWD, moving people along , & directing people.
The people/families that were stopping to get photos created a huge traffic jam. FOR A SUGGESTION FOR NEXT YEAR- Create a photo op separate from everything else so that the line does not get held up and everything runs smoothly and efficiently.
I wouldn't do this again.
From what I heard this is the 5th year and it just gets bigger and bigger (crowd wise). I think we'd have better luck at a small town trunk or treat event. You get more candy and the crowds are smaller.
Just to add: The Dj that was @ this event , was great! He played a variety of songs and had everyone dancing. read more