Howl-O-Scream 2011 Rumors

[Shafor]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

Once again, the attendance for HoS is through the roof.

Bingo. It's fun to critique the good and the bad, and to suggest improvements that we'd like to see personally. But, it's just folly to suggest that the event is somehow a failure and the park needs do some sort of major revamp.

From the park's perspective, it's an incredibly successful event that needs very little retooling. They seem to have stuck a perfect balance to please the masses.

 

[MMMU]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

When are we expecting the next release? its a HOUSE so im stoked

 

[Youhow2]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

Once again, the attendance for HoS is through the roof.

Bingo. It's fun to critique the good and the bad, and to suggest improvements that we'd like to see personally. But, it's just folly to suggest that the event is somehow a failure and the park needs do some sort of major revamp.

From the park's perspective, it's an incredibly successful event that needs very little retooling. They seem to have stuck a perfect balance to please the masses.

Yes, Yes, Yes. We are all aware of this... But im almost positive they got tons of complaints from both "sides" of the argument, from it being not scary to too scary. Remember the parks facebook wall and all the drama that went on specifically in regards to certain people's experiences with HOS... You think that went unnoticed(anyone remember the first incarnation of jack is back? It was changed after the first week.)?


Im sure the park took all the criticism to heart. Director of howl o scream guy told me they take the criticism to heart. Even said he was going to check out KD's haunt and such. this only tells me is they want the complaints to stop and they want to please their fans... Part of having a good business is always looking to innovate, change when necessary. I'd say just because of the sheer amount of hatred spewed on their FB wall and no telling about the things complained about at guest services they may be looking to make changes... who knows?

 

[Parkgoer]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

Yes, Yes, Yes. We are all aware of this... But im almost positive they got tons of complaints from both "sides" of the argument, from it being not scary to too scary. Remember the parks facebook wall and all the drama that went on specifically in regards to certain people's experiences with HOS... You think that went unnoticed(anyone remember the first incarnation of jack is back? It was changed after the first week.)?


Im sure the park took all the criticism to heart. Director of howl o scream guy told me they take the criticism to heart. Even said he was going to check out KD's haunt and such. this only tells me is they want the complaints to stop and they want to please their fans... Part of having a good business is always looking to innovate, change when necessary. I'd say just because of the sheer amount of hatred spewed on their FB wall and no telling about the things complained about at guest services they may be looking to make changes... who knows?

Bottom line. Bottom line. Bottom line. It is a business and not a PR corporation ran off smiles and cheers. Don't be naive. The director of HoS said those lines to anyone and everyone. Busch has a huge success with how they run HoS. There will be no MAJOR changes.

 

[Youhow2]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

So you are telling me they are gonna go ahead and ignore what their fans are telling them, until their attendance starts to drop? That sure is a smart way to run a business...

 

[Zachary]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

^ The park values money over what a small group of enthusiasts have to say about their event. They may take what we have to say into consideration, but don't expect them to put that before their wallets.

There will be no MAJOR changes.

The "Scare is Everywhere" is gone. That's a major change...

 

[Haberdasher1973]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

...I really don't see that as a major change, I see last year as an experiment.

 

[Shafor]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

^ The park values money over what a small group of enthusiasts have to say about their event. They may take what we have to say into

Correct.

I guess I'll put this plainly. They are not making the event more "adult," they are not closing the park and doing a separate ticket thing like Tampa, and they are not going to host a separate kids event. The nut of the complaints on this board about HOS center around people wanting it to be "scarier" (i.e. more geared to adults). They're not (or at least they'd be crazy to) going to do that. The event is wildly successful as it.

Will that consider changing things to the event based on customer suggestions? Of course they will. They do listen. But they do that all the time. I go there 4-5 times a weeks sometimes and almost every single visit I notice some small tweak to something. But are they going to do some major overhaul to the event? No. I'm pretty sure at the end of the day, you'll have about 5-6 moderately scary houses, 5-6 less scary scare zones, and near sell out crowds as usual.

 

[Parkgoer]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

^ The park values money over what a small group of enthusiasts have to say about their event. They may take what we have to say into consideration, but don't expect them to put that before their wallets.

The "Scare is Everywhere" is gone. That's a major change...

Theme changes are pretty regular with HoS so I would not see that as major. I would see that more as routine. Changing the theme could mean nothing more than changing the name itself while retaining the same execution with minor tweaks.

---

So you are telling me they are gonna go ahead and ignore what their fans are telling them, until their attendance starts to drop? That sure is a smart way to run a business...

Leaving well enough alone is a smart way to run a business.

 

[Ghost of Pretzel Kaiser]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

As much as I would love to see kids gone from HoS, I still have an EZPay season pass and I'm still going to go and get a bunch of cider and pretzels. I think ratcheting up the scares past a certain time and giving parents plenty of time would be a decent compromise, but it's not going to happen. In the end they might be making more during HoS than in the summer at this point and they're not changing what works for them.

 

[Youhow2]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

See, Im arguing that I honestly dont think they can keep it up... The people on facebook page CLEARLY arent enthusiast, atleast most of them, and the bad comments clearly outweighed the good. People arent happy with BGW. They arent...

So I wonder what the response will be to this year's Howl-O-Scream. You can sit here and argue they wont change it, they very well may not... But to say people are happy with it is a whole other thing. It's broken. We know this, the parkgoers know this. When will it start hurting their business?

 

[Shafor]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

Comments on Facebook are not representative of the overall public's response to an event. Attendance is. The handful of people that actively comment on the park's FB page represent what, .01% of the people who visit the park per year? Also, people are generally more motivated to complain rather than compliment.

I understand you have a lot of issues with HOS, but you're stubborn insistence that "It's broken. We know this, the parkgoers know this." borders on delusional.

 

[Zachary]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

I think it's broken. I think the park knows it's broken. I know a whole lot of people who think it's broken.

The thing is that the park has no reason to change it. They had ridiculously high attendance last year. It has problems, but apparently those problems aren't big enough to keep people from showing up and spending money. Money matters more than the 1% of people who care about the stuff enough to complain about it.

 

[Shafor]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

I guess I just have a different definition of "broken."

 

[David]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

I really don't see why they wouldn't set a suggested age limit. Not make it mandatory. But just so people have no reason to complain when they carry their kid through a maze and then complain they were scared. Its people like this that ruin it. It happened more than I could have ever fathomed last year. And reaching capacity before 5 really hinders those who work and spend the money.

I don't think anyone is saying its not a successful event for BG, but that it could be executed much better.

 

[Zachary]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

I really don't see why they wouldn't set a suggested age limit. Not make it mandatory. But just so people have no reason to complain when they carry their kid through a maze and then complain they were scared. Its people like this that ruin it. It happened more than I could have ever fathomed last year. And reaching capacity before 5 really hinders those who work and spend the money.

I don't think anyone is saying its not a successful event for BG, but that it could be executed much better.

^ This.

I'm tired of walking behind 10 and 11 year old girls who just stop moving because something scared them. Stuff like that ruins houses for everyone.

 

[Chris]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

You know what's worse than 10 year old girls stopping in the maze because they're scared? 13 year old boys acting like jerks trying to prove to their friends they aren't scared.

 

[Shafor]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

Do 16 year old girls that stop moving not bother you as much?

Seriously though, in regard to this whole line of conversation, one the thing that's really dopey that the park does is the "pumpkin ratings." I mean, if you've got a kid, how do you know what 2 pumpkins vs 4 pumpkins means if it's not assigned any other criteria like an age-range suggestion.

Question for the "adults only" crowd out there: Would you be able to deal with maybe only 2 over 18 suggested houses, 2-3 over 13 houses and at least one 8-12 age houses? If they actually put age suggestions on the houses (which I have no problem with and actually think most parents would welcome because many are looking for that type of guidance) but that meant fewer "hard-core" houses, would that be a fair compromise?

 

[Zachary]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

I've seen it with both genders from people who look like they're 8 years old to people who look like they're 40 years old. I picked on the 9 to 13 year old crowd because I've seen it the most from them.

I fully support the houses ranked by age. The problem is that people will ignore them. The recommended ages work when kids have parents there, but it's not the kids with parents present that cause the problems, it's the group of 12 year olds that has been sent off on their own.

Is there anyone here who has worked Howl-O-Scream and wants to speak up on the matter? You've had time to observe the problems from a perspective that none of us have.

 

[Ghost of Pretzel Kaiser]

RE: Howl-O-Scream 2011

Actually, I remember a HOS show at the RPT where they did turn away little kids. I can't remember the name, but it was a magic show that suggested gore.