Yes, that's usually the way to go. If you take a look at Skive Festival 2012 on my website, you'll notice a couple of things fade in while you scroll.

Here's the code to do that:

  var boxesShown  = false,
    gallShown = false;

  function handleItemAppearance(e) {
    var top = $(this).scrollTop();

    if (top >= 400 && !boxesShown) {
      boxesShown = true;
      // Show boxes
    }

    if (top >= 1700 && !gallShown) {
      gallShown = true;
      // Show gallery
    }

    if (top >= 3000) {
      // Show iPhones
      $(window).off('scroll', handleItemAppearance);
    }
  }

  $(window).on('scroll', handleItemAppearance);