NC’s New Whirligig Woods Theme Park to Include Halloween Land

A former designer for Disney parks and Busch Gardens has officially announced plans to bring an all new family entertainment experience, Whirligig Woods Amusement Park and Treehouse Resort, to Saxapahaw, North Carolina, to include an entire section dedicated to Halloween.

WRAL reports that theme park designer and Raleigh resident Bob Baranick, who has worked on projects around the world including Disney World, Disney Land, and Busch Gardens, is turning his dream for a North Carolina theme park into a reality with his proposed Whirligig Woods, which he plans to build on a 21-acre site in Saxapahaw, located in Alamance County on the Haw River less than 20 miles west of Chapel Hill.

The new theme park would include thrill rides, a tree house resort, and, most exciting for us here at NC-based HDN, a Halloween-themed haunted land that Baranick tells us will be called Spooky Hollow.

According to the report, Baranick plans to break ground in 2018, with the first phase of Whirligig Woods opening in 2019. He also has plans for a second and third park to follow in North Carolina. 

Baranick, who has 45 years of experience in theme park design, says that he is especially passionate about this project and has no doubts that it will happen.

“We have a seasoned team behind this,” he said. “We have designers from Hollywood that are working on it. What I really want to do is inspire the next generation to use their imagination and to dream. It’s more than just throwing money around. It has a soul. It has a meaning, and it’s very important for the future of North Carolina.”

He and his team have already purchased land in Saxapahaw, NC for Whirligig Woods.

You can watch a local news feature on the project and see Baranick’s illustrations of what the park will look like below.

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