Howl-O-Scream 2009
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
I'm not that big on the mazes, as I am a big chicken. When you see the woman glued to her husband's back, that's me. 
I think I'd rather go through the CoD during the day. Catacombs opens at 6, so we may try to hit it early, too. I'm just glad that they've started switching some things up. Pompeii just needs to be redone, and it will be all new. Oh, do they do anything with the train anymore? That was always my favorite part.
I think I'd rather go through the CoD during the day. Catacombs opens at 6, so we may try to hit it early, too. I'm just glad that they've started switching some things up. Pompeii just needs to be redone, and it will be all new. Oh, do they do anything with the train anymore? That was always my favorite part.
kcracken said:
It doesn't look like the train will be themed this year. They have all of the stations on the map, when it was themed only the New France station was open. You will be able to see part of Harvest Hollow from the train, it's extended out almost all the way to the tracks.
It'll be interesting to see what all has been done.
My wife and I are attending BGW/Howl-O-Scream for the first time next month. Looking for some advice and answers:
Thanks.
- How does the 'conversion' to Howl-O-Scream occur? Do they just start opening houses and lines form?
- How early do you need to get to the houses - before it opens I assume? What's a typical wait at a popular house?
- I've read on the HHN forum that Monster Stomp and Jack shows are more for kids. Is that the case? Recommend seeing them?
- Looking for a recommendation for places to eat there as well. Any input appreciated.
Thanks.
slave2thegrind said:
I'm sure I won't be the only one here replying to you, but I'll give you the best answers I know.
Monster Stomp and Jack are definitely for kids. I've seen Monster Stomp this year and there were a lot of small children in the theater and they had no issues that I saw. It was entertaining.
There are a lot of new attractions this year so it's tough to say how long the waits will be, but I'd imagine Harvest Hollow, Bitten and The Hunted will be the longest wait because they're all in the same location.
Go to the Smokehouse in New France for food, you won't be disappointed.
We'll be able to give you better answers here after tomorrow, and you'll be able to get a preview of what to expect since we'll be posting pictures and trip reports here.
Also, if you click on the link in my signature at the bottom of this post, there is a video from the Monster Stomp Revamped sneak preview last Friday (I'm going to try to get closer today ;-)
In addition to Trapper's Smokehouse, I'd also recommed the Festhaus (I'm looking forward to seeing Frankenrock today!)
In addition to Trapper's Smokehouse, I'd also recommed the Festhaus (I'm looking forward to seeing Frankenrock today!)
bgwilliamsburg@myspace said:
Saw your video, I was actually on the other side of the theater, sad to say I was once of the people that didn't immediately understand what he was trying to get the audience to do with the claps right away. Happy to say I wasn't one of the people that actually messed up the clapping.
So, I went to HOS last night, Im not going to spoil anyones trip but I do recommend you go to Bitten, Cursed and Catacombs. It's probably no surprise to anyone that Bitten is good, that location has had good houses for the past few years. Cursed is long and is really well themed, be aware that you will get wet. Catacombs was my favorite, it's fairly short, but there are some really good surprises and it's pretty dark. Overall, as I suspected, I feel like Catacombs steals the show in terms of scares relative to size.
Some of the houses seemed a little empty, which is something that I'm sure will be addressed by the park and the actors will get better at their scares as they figure out what works.
All of the scarezones were pretty small and ineffective quite frankly, but it is a family park, so that's understandable.
Some of the houses seemed a little empty, which is something that I'm sure will be addressed by the park and the actors will get better at their scares as they figure out what works.
All of the scarezones were pretty small and ineffective quite frankly, but it is a family park, so that's understandable.
Chris said:
As far as food goes, my family and I went to the buffet in France, and we will be eating there from now on. For 15.99 (plus drink) you get quality entrees, sides, a salad bar and a dessert bar. If you were to go to any other stop and buy the same, you would spend at least 25. It was a great deal, and I suspect that the Elmo buffet would be the same (with different offerings). Other than that, I recommend anything at the Smokehouse or in Italy. If only they had a brisket and breadsticks plate, I'd be thrilled.
If you happen to find yourself walking into Jack is Back, you might as well stop and watch for a few minutes. Jack is really more geared towards kids, but Monster Stomp is different. It's my second all time favorite show (behind Imaginique and before Rockin' the Boat and Fright Lights) and it is just awesome. There are some adult themes (nothing more than you'd see on MTV), but nothing really scary. I was concerned that my 2 year old would finally understand what 'scary' is this year, but he love the show last Sunday, and has begged to go back every day.
Jessica
Not sure how many of you have gone to HOS yet, but I have to say the worst of the attractions that I saw was Stranger's Beware. I'm not sure if I completely missed something, but it seemed like there were a total of TWO cast members making up the entire scarezone just outside Harvest Hollow/Bitten/The Hunted.
Anyone else have more info on what's going on over there? Did I miss something?
Anyone else have more info on what's going on over there? Did I miss something?
We didn't get a chance to hit over there, but we did see Frankenrock, which was really good. They have some people who can really sing and dance. And they end with Time Warp. Jack is Back is good to watch people who can dance on stilts! Really nice if you happen to be around. I totally agree about the scare zones. They do seem a lot smaller. Perhaps the problem is they couldn't hire more people. Then again, the mazes seemed to have TONS in them.
I've had a great weekend, and just have the wolf adventure tomorrow. Shall be a successful weekend!
Jack is Back is good to watch people who can dance on stilts! Really nice if you happen to be around. I totally agree about the scare zones. They do seem a lot smaller. Perhaps the problem is they couldn't hire more people. Then again, the mazes seemed to have TONS in them.I've had a great weekend, and just have the wolf adventure tomorrow. Shall be a successful weekend!
Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on how HOS went on Sunday.
I got to the park at maybe 8:00 PM, it wasn't too crowded, there was a short wait for Bitten/Hunted/Harvest Hollow, but that's not surprising considering the popularity of houses in that location, there was no line at any of the other attractions.
Cavern of Darkness was still a bit too well lit for my liking, but the cast has stepped up their game and was pulling off some better scares. It was improved from both times I went on Friday. Bitten & Hunted were still good (Bitten the better of the two) and Harvest Hollow was still pretty terrible. Catacombs remained the best house in all aspects. It's not very long, but the cast is doing a great job and the theming is far better than any of the other houses.
As far as scarezones, Stranger's Beware might be the most disappointing attraction BGW has ever had during HOS. There was no improvement, there were maybe three people dressed as "townsfolk" and one person in a ghillie suit standing outside Festhaus Park.
I got to the park at maybe 8:00 PM, it wasn't too crowded, there was a short wait for Bitten/Hunted/Harvest Hollow, but that's not surprising considering the popularity of houses in that location, there was no line at any of the other attractions.
Cavern of Darkness was still a bit too well lit for my liking, but the cast has stepped up their game and was pulling off some better scares. It was improved from both times I went on Friday. Bitten & Hunted were still good (Bitten the better of the two) and Harvest Hollow was still pretty terrible. Catacombs remained the best house in all aspects. It's not very long, but the cast is doing a great job and the theming is far better than any of the other houses.
As far as scarezones, Stranger's Beware might be the most disappointing attraction BGW has ever had during HOS. There was no improvement, there were maybe three people dressed as "townsfolk" and one person in a ghillie suit standing outside Festhaus Park.
I have to agree that the scare zones weren't that great this year. Too much fog and not enough interaction. I understand they are trying to make the areas smaller so kids can go through without being scared, but others of us (who are not me ) would like to have more scares. (see, they always pick on me. One of the zombie Scotsmen banged his shield directly behind my head. I was good enough not to turn around and tackle him.)
One suggestion I would make would be to put more black light inside the mazes. It wouldn't really give more light, but rather it would make it easier for those of us who have problems seeing in the dark to find the pathway easier. That's really the only problem I have getting around. I can follow glowing sneakers.
My favorite part of everything we saw, scare zones and the two mazes, was the queue line for Catacombs. Completely awesome! I wanted to take some of the headstones and statues home for our yard this Halloween.
) would like to have more scares. (see, they always pick on me. One of the zombie Scotsmen banged his shield directly behind my head. I was good enough not to turn around and tackle him.) One suggestion I would make would be to put more black light inside the mazes. It wouldn't really give more light, but rather it would make it easier for those of us who have problems seeing in the dark to find the pathway easier. That's really the only problem I have getting around. I can follow glowing sneakers.
My favorite part of everything we saw, scare zones and the two mazes, was the queue line for Catacombs. Completely awesome! I wanted to take some of the headstones and statues home for our yard this Halloween.
I watched the video Chris took of Harvest Hallow and it really isn't the fact that it is under-staffed, its the fact the staff aren't good at their job. I saw alot of scareactors just standing on the side when they really should've been hiding somewhere to scare you. On the other side, the set up of the scarezone really doesn't give much place for them to hide. At least they gave Harvest Hallow it's own identity this year unlike Beaten Path where they just took the old scenery which they no longer used from the Nightmare Exprss and threw it against the pathway.
Until I actual go there myself I can't get the first-person experience but I would say it looks better than Beaten Path.
Anyways I have a few questions:
Do you guys think the mazes were better or worse than last year?
What do you have to say about Cursed?
Is Catacombs equal to, less Than, or greater than the size of Masquerage?
Did they build a queue area for Cursed? I remember seeing a picture of an un-recognizable queue.
Overall is HoS better or worse than last year?
Until I actual go there myself I can't get the first-person experience but I would say it looks better than Beaten Path.
Anyways I have a few questions:
Do you guys think the mazes were better or worse than last year?
What do you have to say about Cursed?
Is Catacombs equal to, less Than, or greater than the size of Masquerage?
Did they build a queue area for Cursed? I remember seeing a picture of an un-recognizable queue.
Overall is HoS better or worse than last year?
Wings said:
I think the mazes are probably about the same, at least from what I've seen this past weekend (although there was a good amount of improvement from Friday to Sunday).
I couldn't really give you an accurate guess about the size comparisons between Catacombs and Masquerage, my mind is cloudy on the size of Masquerage.
I didn't go into Cursed on Sunday, but on Friday there was no line and just a roped area to separate the people going in and the people coming out that just ran the length of the path between Roman Rapids and the train tracks.
I'd say that it's improved from last year, if for no other reason than they've added new attractions (not just new theming, new mazes). Catacombs is great and Cavern of Darkness improved from Friday. It's definitely worth checking out and should be able to provide a night of good fun.
You made some good points regarding Harvest Hollow, I mean, you can see in the video there is a cast member giving hi-fives and waving at people, and they are fairly limited in the type of scare tactics they can employ. It's pretty much become them following you as you walk out.
Thanks for answering those.
Masquerage was the size of the Roman Rapids Queue Area next time you take a trip, do me a favor, take a look at the Roman Rapids Queue and see what you think as for the size of the Roman Rapids Queue Versus Catacombs.
Masquerage was the size of the Roman Rapids Queue Area next time you take a trip, do me a favor, take a look at the Roman Rapids Queue and see what you think as for the size of the Roman Rapids Queue Versus Catacombs.
Wings said:
Well, I can tell you it would probably be possible to squeeze more turns into the RR queue than there are in Catacombs, but Catacombs has a couple
good length straight paths themed as a sewer with people popping out of holes in the walls.
Catacombs may be my favorite maze from any HOS. I'm sure there will be differing opinions on that, but, just my opinion. I don't want to hype it up to unattainable levels though, it's still a BGW maze, so take that into account with your expectations of it.