Howl-O-Scream 2012

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Doc Dollars said:
Go in with an open mind. Remember, people are WAY more likely to go online and complain about something than they are to go out and praise it.

You'll notice a lot of criticism on these forums (much of it from me), but remember that the usual suspects here are all way more invested in it than your average visitor. If something is slightly bad, it's TERRIBLE. If something is pretty cool, it's a sign that the park is getting ready to become the new Disney World.

Welcome to the forums, and have a good time at Howl-O-Scream. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
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Thanks, Doc!

I've been a fan of HOS since the park began doing it...I remember the days of Masquerage, Sea Dog Cemetery, etc...was really disappointed not to see any scare zones this year. BG has an uncanny ability to quickly remedy problems, so i'm thinking the kinks will be worked out. Kind of troubling to still hear the commercials on the radio for scare squad...hoping the numbers will pick up.

Will be sure to throw in my two cents after the weekend. Not telling the other half there is a clown horde will probably put me in the dog house, but it'll be worth the quiet laughter on my end...
 
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For the record, Scott said they thought they weren't going to make it in reference to employee numbers but he said that they did make their goal. They have employed approximately 300 scare actors I believe. I think most of them are in the houses, personally.

Also, the main problem with the hords is they don't visit one place very often, which can be caused by staffing issues or just scheduling issues which can be fixed greatly over a few days. So I do expect the hordes to get better as the event goes on. If the shows were running more than just 7 weekends, I would expect changes to those, but since it is just 7 weekends, I don't expect much.

If Zach is right, most of the time he is, and they do have the decor in storage, it should be easy enough for them to place it out in the appropriate areas. As far as haunted houses go, I doubt we will see any changes to them until next year seeing as 7 weekends is not a lot of time to redo something so huge. They can improve staffing and atmosphere though, which may help, but overall, to change a haunted house's structure or foundation to improve the overall quality is unlikely.

With that said, big hopes for next year and the rest of this year!
 
Agree with the camouflage. Also some of the wooden walls. It's probably too late now that they've bought them all, but some taller plants rather than the low growing flowering plants they have would be better.

One table only per house- and that one should have a sheet covering the bottom (if they don't already- I'm not sure). Have someone with a chainsaw at the final exit too.
 
VTBGWFan said:
Agree with the camouflage. Also some of the wooden walls. It's probably too late now that they've bought them all, but some taller plants rather than the low growing flowering plants they have would be better.
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They brought some of the camo people out on Sunday night. One of them was standing close to the pond.

The maze really just needs better props and more opportunities for hiding spots. Have a few living statues (more than just the Lady of the Gardens), some monster plants, taller plants to provide for hiding spots combined with smaller plants so it doesn't take away from the greenhouse theme. Throw in some gardening equipment (chainsaws, weed whackers, lawnmowers) and you've got a decent maze.
 
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When I went through they had a weed whacker and a lawnmower. This was as soon as it opened on Saturday. Both of those and the chainsaw guy all came after
me.
 
Smitty said:
They Already have lawnmowers, weedwackers, and chainsaws
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That's just some crap the landscaping staff left lying around. The entertainers decided to use them because the park was too cheap to buy them better props.
 
Personally if they had a good place to hide, I'd love to be the guy to chase people around with a lawn mower. Weedwackers aren't half bad either!
 
Yes, all those plants they bought were the scare actors. They should put price tags on them and make some money ;)
 
Quick question -- my last visit to the park was Sept 9, and there weren't too many HOS decorations up yet. Disregarding # of scare actors, quality of mazes and shows, etc. -- just looking at overall park decor, is it pretty well decorated this year? Just 5 days before HOS opening, I just thought they would have more decorations up.

That said, my sympathies were really with the park back in years past when they were really gearing up with decor in advance, and then a big storm would hit. Isabel year for sure, they had a LOT of stuff up then the park got a lot of damage from the storm, and then I _think_ they had some stuff up the very next year and Gaston took some of that out, too. Just personal observation, it seemed to me that after that double whammy they didn't start decorating as early anymore, and I could hardly blame them -- but still it seemed awfully bare of decorations on Sept 9 this year.
 
Zachary said:
Basically, for anyone who hasn't been, this is the park right now. Most areas to the left of the red line are themed while the areas to the right are not.
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So are you saying the park intentionally opened with a half-finished setup, or do you think they just didn't get to finish it?

Either way, it's crappy...just for different reasons.
 
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