Now that the season's finally over, I'll give my final thoughts on this year's HOS.
Mazes
Bitten: 5/5 - Done 5 times - I can definitely see why this maze keeps coming back year after year. The theming is good, the actors are always on point, and the scares are fantastic. I don't understand why everyone knocks this maze because it's consistently good.
Catacombs: 5/5 - Done 3 times - Another solid maze with some really good scares. The theming isn't as elaborate as Bitten's, but the great actors totally make up for it's shortcomings (a short maze with pretty minimal theming). Luckily it felt a bit longer this year than it did last year.
Deadline: 5/5 - Done 3 times - This maze was definitely improved from last year. They had some fantastic actors and the theming is top-notch (even better than Bitten's). The additional props, special effects, and scareactors really make this one of the most improved mazes from last year.
13: 3/5 - Done 2 times - I've addressed this a few times before, but this maze really needs a bit of tweaking done. The actors are pretty good and some of the rooms are really well-done, but the empty rooms, plus some of the odd scares (waiting room? seriously?) really bring the maze down. I remember it being better last year, but not by much.
Root of All Evil: 3/5 - Done 5 times - This started out as the weakest maze of the season, but underwent some major improvements as the season progressed. I still think some of the scares were really creative and well-done (Am I the only person that likes the water splashing? It's no different from getting spewed with toilet water in an abandoned subway), while others were a bit of a miss. If the park really wants to improve the maze, they should ditch the cheap makeup and come up with some more elaborate props/costumes.
Fear Fair: 1/5 - Done once - I unfortunately was only able to do this once this year, but this maze was pretty weak this year and last. I hear it's improved, but I was only really able to do this maze early in the season. Maybe next year I'll get to do this maze a few more times later in the season.
Roaming Hoards: 4/5 - Like the scare zones last year, the hoards started out pretty weak, but got stronger and stronger as the season progressed. I still think they need to add more people to the groups along with the scare zones sorta like last year's (at least change the makeup for the people in the zones so they don't look like the hoards. The bungee people were awesome though, especially the one in New France.
I guess I can't say much about the shows other than they were all amazing. BGW really pulled out all the stops this year for HOS shows.
Dig It Up: 5/5 - seen once - Like I said before, anything that combines Queen with Star Trek is a winner in my book. The actors are great and the show itself is a lot of fun to watch.
Night Beats: 5/5 - seen once - Fantastic music combined with fantastic acting all make for a great show.
Fiends: 5/5 - Probably the best show IMO. I think moving the show to Ireland was a great idea. It definitely made gave the show a little more of an "adult" feel that the old show didn't seem to have (and I guess that made it a bit more entertaining). I kinda miss Frankenstein though. Maybe they could make him part of the roaming hoards.
Overall, I'd have to put this year's event on par with last year's. The park still needs to tweak the event a bit (starting with closing the children's areas earlier for HOS prep), but I really enjoyed this year's event just as much as I did last year's.
I unfortunately missed out on KD's event though due to some unforeseen circumstances (I couldn't get a ride home), but there's always next year for that.
Mazes
Bitten: 5/5 - Done 5 times - I can definitely see why this maze keeps coming back year after year. The theming is good, the actors are always on point, and the scares are fantastic. I don't understand why everyone knocks this maze because it's consistently good.
Catacombs: 5/5 - Done 3 times - Another solid maze with some really good scares. The theming isn't as elaborate as Bitten's, but the great actors totally make up for it's shortcomings (a short maze with pretty minimal theming). Luckily it felt a bit longer this year than it did last year.
Deadline: 5/5 - Done 3 times - This maze was definitely improved from last year. They had some fantastic actors and the theming is top-notch (even better than Bitten's). The additional props, special effects, and scareactors really make this one of the most improved mazes from last year.
13: 3/5 - Done 2 times - I've addressed this a few times before, but this maze really needs a bit of tweaking done. The actors are pretty good and some of the rooms are really well-done, but the empty rooms, plus some of the odd scares (waiting room? seriously?) really bring the maze down. I remember it being better last year, but not by much.
Root of All Evil: 3/5 - Done 5 times - This started out as the weakest maze of the season, but underwent some major improvements as the season progressed. I still think some of the scares were really creative and well-done (Am I the only person that likes the water splashing? It's no different from getting spewed with toilet water in an abandoned subway), while others were a bit of a miss. If the park really wants to improve the maze, they should ditch the cheap makeup and come up with some more elaborate props/costumes.
Fear Fair: 1/5 - Done once - I unfortunately was only able to do this once this year, but this maze was pretty weak this year and last. I hear it's improved, but I was only really able to do this maze early in the season. Maybe next year I'll get to do this maze a few more times later in the season.
Roaming Hoards: 4/5 - Like the scare zones last year, the hoards started out pretty weak, but got stronger and stronger as the season progressed. I still think they need to add more people to the groups along with the scare zones sorta like last year's (at least change the makeup for the people in the zones so they don't look like the hoards. The bungee people were awesome though, especially the one in New France.
I guess I can't say much about the shows other than they were all amazing. BGW really pulled out all the stops this year for HOS shows.
Dig It Up: 5/5 - seen once - Like I said before, anything that combines Queen with Star Trek is a winner in my book. The actors are great and the show itself is a lot of fun to watch.
Night Beats: 5/5 - seen once - Fantastic music combined with fantastic acting all make for a great show.
Fiends: 5/5 - Probably the best show IMO. I think moving the show to Ireland was a great idea. It definitely made gave the show a little more of an "adult" feel that the old show didn't seem to have (and I guess that made it a bit more entertaining). I kinda miss Frankenstein though. Maybe they could make him part of the roaming hoards.
Overall, I'd have to put this year's event on par with last year's. The park still needs to tweak the event a bit (starting with closing the children's areas earlier for HOS prep), but I really enjoyed this year's event just as much as I did last year's.
I unfortunately missed out on KD's event though due to some unforeseen circumstances (I couldn't get a ride home), but there's always next year for that.
