Theme & Amusement Parks in Charlotte

A disfigured outcast in his community, Daniel bonded with the rats, snakes, and spiders in the nearby woods. After he was caught tying up a neighbor and emitting odd hissing noises, his parents locked him away in a mental institution. When Daniel escaped, he stole dental tools from his father and took to the trees, where he still stalks his next victims whenever he’s not busy recruiting birds for his whistling choir. Daniel is only one among many sadistic figures lurking on Camp Fear’s petrifying trail. There, half-dead guides haunt the rock maze, spooky dolls occupy the living-dead dollhouse, maniacal patients clamber about the insane asylum, and creepy clowns terrify passersby at Clown Chaos.

An affable red-footed tortoise named Confucius and a gentle black rat snake named Oreo greet visitors at Cold Blooded Encounters as founder Sean Amidon, a former reptile handler at Disney's Animal Kingdom, supplies a steady stream of compelling facts. Secluded and multispecies habitats house more than 150 species of amphibians, fish, reptiles, and invertebrates, including fire salamanders, jewel cichlids, Kenyan sand boas, and whip scorpions. Annual memberships grant gift-shop discounts, guest passes, and a family photo posed with an animal. Cold Blooded Encounters also reaches out to school groups from preschools to colleges with effusive educational programs and sends ambassadors to birthday parties, where children can help feed turtles or pose for photos with 8-foot snakes.