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Merboy

Resident Sea Monster
Oct 25, 2009
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Raleigh, NC
I don't know where to put this and this seemed like the likeliest place.

Okay, so I'm cutting to the chase. My boyfriends and I are *extremely* excited about Howl-O-Scream this year after they first discovered it last year (they didn't believe me when I said it was awesome, now they can't get enough).

So my question is, how do you *properly* do HoS? I've read up on the various new developments so I've got the basic gist already. We'll be there for two days the second-to-last weekend of October but where is the best place to start? When do we get there to really get the best experience? I hear everything starts after dark which leaves about fifteen minutes of actual time to do things considering lines can get crazy long. Can someone tell me where to be and when in order to get the most out of 2013 Howl-O-Scream?

Thank you so much!
 
As far as crowds go the first few weekends are the best. I went the first weekend last year on a saturday and managed to hit all houses. However I will be going the second weekend this year but I assume September is always good crowd-wise.

Fridays and Sundays are bearable throughout HOS.
 
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When it comes to houses, start with Deadline, then Bitten and Catacombs, they are indoor and better in daylight. Once it gets dark hit root and Cutthroat Cove, since they are both open air. In between, check out the shows!
 
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Cody said:
When it comes to houses, start with Deadline, then Bitten and Catacombs, they are indoor and better in daylight. Once it gets dark hit root and Cutthroat Cove, since they are both open air. In between, check out the shows!

Thanks very much! Exactly the kind of info I was asking for. Thank you!
 
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Cody, I believe you left out 13 on your indoor house list, unless you are saying don't do it at all. :p

It really doesn't matter when you go on bitten, now a days, the line is no longer than 5 minutes on a busy day. It was at least last year, kind of hard to judge it this year. :)
 
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Here is my suggestion of what to do:

Night Beats then Fiends,
13: Your Numbers Up, Catacombs, Bitten, Deadline, Cutthroat Cove, Dig It Up, and lastly Root of All Evil

My reasoning is simple, Night Beats and Fiends are indoor shows so they will look and feel great during the daytime, I suggest Fiend second because you can easily go from there to wait in line for 13:your Numbers Up. After that you basically work your way around the park counter-clockwise and hit up all the indoor houses. Then you work your way clockwise and hit up Cutthroat Cove and Dig It Up, and finally end it with Root of All Evil.

Although I suggest using that second day to do you favorites during the day and then go to Cutthroat Cove and Root of All Evil as soon as it gets dark. I suggest this because you might not get to do them all in one night, and if you have a second night, you would want to do these early but not during the daytime.
 
Here's mine from last year. Note: This assumes both Thirteen and Deadline will open thirty minutes early again this year.

Zachary said:
My Friday/Sunday night Howl-O-Scream gameplan:
  1. Get to Thirteen at about 5:15 and wait for the 5:30 opening.
  2. Upon getting out of Thirteen, book it to Deadline and knock it out. There's a good chance you can get both done before 6pm if you play your cards right.
  3. Directly after Deadline, hit Bitten. Its line shouldn't be too bad just yet, but you'll probably wait a bit. If the line looks too unruly, skip it.
  4. From Bitten, hit Catacombs. Yes, you'll probably have a bit of a wait here but it's performing well this year.
  5. Wait for it to get dark if it isn't already (catch a show, eat dinner, ride Verbolten, etc.)
  6. Make your way over to Fear Fair [Cut Throat Cove]. I have yet to see a line at Fear Fair this year so it shouldn't be too bad of a wait.
  7. Hop on a train from Fiesta Station, ride to New France, and get in line for Root of All Evil a little before the park closes. No matter how long the line is, they should let anyone in line through. Just don't cut it too close.
 
Go on Fridays and/or Sundays. Go in September. Gets tougher in October. And if nothing else...DRINK...A LOT!! I hear they have rum this year. :p

Seriously, to add to Zachary's suggestions, ROAE & Cuthroat Cove are likely to suck in the daylight. Of course they may suck anyway, but I'm sure they will suck slightly less in the dark. Worst case scenario, for these two, especially Root, hit it on a Friday or Sunday at night when they MAY be selling Quick Queus for half off ($5.00). So worth it if you don't wanna wait an hour+. Don't really know for sure about CC until HOS starts. It is new.
 
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You don't necessarily need a plan if you're going Friday/Sunday as the park is a ghost town both days. I will say you're better off going on Friday/Sunday in early-mid October though as September weekends may not be bad crowd-wise, but the actors are definitely getting their bearings so the mazes/scare zones will be somewhat weak. Come October, things should be much smoother/scarier.

Also I've noticed crowds drop significantly at the very end of the night. I waited an hour for Bitten and once I left, ran to Fear Fair and walked into the maze with no wait at all. This was on a capacity Saturday.
 
It did not look to me that 13 was opening early this year.

One strategy: Get there early, and do Fiends and Night Beats if you must. While walking around, buy $5 tickets for Cutthroat, 13, and Root of All Evil (you might not need them, but it's a plan). At 4:30pm, hit Blood Banquet if you want, but for my plan you have to leave at 5:10.

Get to Deadline at 5:15, then get to Bitten before the 5:30 Nightbeats show lets out. After Bitten, go to Catacombs, you'll be done before 7pm. Now you can go eat dinner at Dig it Up 7:30pm. If not, you can skip the $5 13 and just stand in that line for an hour.

Hit the two outdoor mazes at your convenience. Save an hour to walk through the terror-tories.

Big mistake I've already made twice -- don't forget to walk through Ripper Row before 10pm.
 
Biggest thing to keep in mind, buy the individual Quick Queues depending on the size of the line! Do NOT go for the all in one Quick Queues. You can save money and plan better for this. Plus I don't think they have a limit on single Quick Queues since they aren't unlimited just one time use.
 
Even better yet, go early to gauge the crowds then come Haunt time, decide on the Fastpasses. No point in wasting your money buying Fastpasses first thing and have the park be completely void of lines.

Also you can just pass the scare zones on the way to the mazes. They're all pretty hard to not walk through since all of them sit on the main path.
 
netdvn said:
Even better yet, go early to gauge the crowds then come Haunt time, decide on the Fastpasses. No point in wasting your money buying Fastpasses first thing and have the park be completely void of lines.

Also you can just pass the scare zones on the way to the mazes. They're all pretty hard to not walk through since all of them sit on the main path.

-__- No, as you go up to each house, if the line is long by the QQ, if not don't. Judge line by line. That way you can buy only the QQ for the long lines. If there are no lines you won't pay for anything.

You can't avoid any of the Terror-tories especially if you want to do anything in Italy, France, England, or Germany.
 
You can generally determine how long the lines for the mazes are based on how long the lines for the major rides are and how crowded the park seems. The lines for all the major rides and the mazes are generally pretty consistent with each other. Of course there will be exceptions to the rule, but I don't see exceptions happen very often.

I'm sure it's impossible to avoid any of the scare areas unless you leave the park before they open up. Mainly because one of them sits at the entrance.
 
Yeah, you can determine lines by crowds, but not all attractions will get the same lines. All I am saying is pay for QQ as you go (IF you need it). For example, go to 13, if the line is long, by the one time single QQ for $5 - $10. Do that for each house as you go through each house, you may only need to buy QQ for two houses for like $10 instead of buying a whole pass for $30 - $40 so odd dollars.
 
For what it is worth, I always get QQs for Saturdays, and I buy them on-line in advance. Convenience is my friend.

How much are they individually, anyway?
 
So assuming away the Pass Member discount, for Saturdays

In advance: $40-$55 (houses and rides)
Individually: as much as $60 (houses only)

I'm not a gambler and I like convenience. Easy choice for me.
 
Actually discounts do still apply on the single tickets. My point is why pay $40 - $55 when you may end up only needing QQ for just one to two houses?
 
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