Howl-O-Scream 2011
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
Bryansworld said:
That's the big thing I liked about them having one house open at noon the past few years. You could at least knock one out before 6. It's a shame they didn't do that this year. A 12:00 Deadline would have been awesome.
I am possibly going this weekend, and if Bitten is really the same as in years past. I may skip out on it to make time for the other four houses. Especially 13 and Deadline. Did I mention I may finally become a Season Pass holder.
I went this past Saturday, there were SO many people, but it didn't take away from any of the SZ. The highlight of the night is still between 13 and Deadline. 13 got the most reaction out of me, and Deadline was just so cool to look at. The decor is flawless. I agree with Swift by saying even though the lines were longer, I never got stacked up inside a house. MSR let me down this year. They took a lot of the singing out, and the talent was lackluster. Even though i felt that the SZ were compartmentalized, they still looked amazing, and were def better than in years past. My biggest complaint has to do with inside all of the houses: by the end of the night my arms hurt from having to shove away countless drapes, bodies, and things hanging in my way. It takes away from the experience for me...
Overall I am so so happy and impressed with HOS this year, and I hope BGW keeps pushing HOS in this direction.
Overall I am so so happy and impressed with HOS this year, and I hope BGW keeps pushing HOS in this direction.
Took the kids (ages 9 and 5) last night from 4-9 ish. Really is no problem if you're well thought out. Here's what we did:
Got there at 4:00 went straight to Festa. Did Apollo, Tea Cups, etc. Took the train to New France, did Catapult. Wife and son did Griffon and Alpen, I took the 5 year old to LOD. At about 5:50 we headed to Festhaus for Fiends at 6:00. Once we were done with Fiends, we did the Oktoberfest rides (DK, swings, MT, bumper cars, etc.) then to San Marco for those rides, then swung by FOF for Grover, and made it to MSR by the 8:30 show. Hit LNM on the way out and were in the car by 9:15.
There were no lines for any rides, even though the park was pretty crowded. After 6:00 we had a clear path all the way around the park without having to go through any SZ's. In fact, we only passed two of them (Festa and Scotland) after they were open. The kids stopped and looked into Scavengers for a few minutes. I asked them once if they wanted to go through, they said no and I told them that was fine.
The key to all of this is being really planned out and to sit the kids down before you go and explain to them what's happening. We told them if at anytime they felt too scared to let us know and we would leave. Also, we let them know that we would NOT force them to do anything they didn't want to do. For the most part, the HOS attractions we just kind of in the background for us. We really didn't even notice them because we didn't involve ourselves in any areas where stuff was going on. Like I said, we just took advantage of the unpopulated areas (the rides) and were out of the way for the most part. They had a great time. It was a little scary for them to be there just with the atmosphere, but not too scary that they were terrorized (scary in a fun way, not scary in a traumatic way).
Got there at 4:00 went straight to Festa. Did Apollo, Tea Cups, etc. Took the train to New France, did Catapult. Wife and son did Griffon and Alpen, I took the 5 year old to LOD. At about 5:50 we headed to Festhaus for Fiends at 6:00. Once we were done with Fiends, we did the Oktoberfest rides (DK, swings, MT, bumper cars, etc.) then to San Marco for those rides, then swung by FOF for Grover, and made it to MSR by the 8:30 show. Hit LNM on the way out and were in the car by 9:15.
There were no lines for any rides, even though the park was pretty crowded. After 6:00 we had a clear path all the way around the park without having to go through any SZ's. In fact, we only passed two of them (Festa and Scotland) after they were open. The kids stopped and looked into Scavengers for a few minutes. I asked them once if they wanted to go through, they said no and I told them that was fine.
The key to all of this is being really planned out and to sit the kids down before you go and explain to them what's happening. We told them if at anytime they felt too scared to let us know and we would leave. Also, we let them know that we would NOT force them to do anything they didn't want to do. For the most part, the HOS attractions we just kind of in the background for us. We really didn't even notice them because we didn't involve ourselves in any areas where stuff was going on. Like I said, we just took advantage of the unpopulated areas (the rides) and were out of the way for the most part. They had a great time. It was a little scary for them to be there just with the atmosphere, but not too scary that they were terrorized (scary in a fun way, not scary in a traumatic way).
Youhow2 said:
Yesterday a guy, probably in his early 70s, threatened one of the clowns on the Festa Bridge. For some reason they decided to stay in the park way after dark with a kid. This guy got in the clowns face was threatening to hurt him and using bad language to the poor actor. The clown was not even messing with them. I went through Festa a couple more times later that night and did not see this clown, so I have no idea where he went. I bothered me the rest of the night (and still does) that people are that stupid and act like that. I know we have been through this on the forums about how kids should not be in the park after 6, this proves the point.
Alpenscoot said:
Maybe it proves that 70-year-olds shouldn't be there. They're too rowdy, apparently.
BTW, why isn't HoS open until midnight?
I thought you were boycotting HoS, does it matter? 
I heard it was simply because they don't make enough money during those hours to justify staffing.
I heard it was simply because they don't make enough money during those hours to justify staffing.
They are open until 11 on the last few Saturdays. Williamsburg is not a late night town (trust me). They roll it up here around 9:00.
ScoutN said:
Last year I went on Friday and the lines were not bad at all. It is the ideal day to go in my opinion.
studiopzp said:I thought you were boycotting HoS, does it matter?
I'm not boycotting...that implies some kind of movement, lol. I don't like Busch Gardens doing some of the things it's doing, so I'd rather not be around to see it. Isn't that what they always say, anyway? 'If you don't like it, don't go'? Well, here's me doing that.
I've only got two days in Virginia anyway this Halloween season. I think I'll hit up one of the haunted hayrides near Richmond.