Howl-O-Scream 2012
- Thread starter Ben
- Start date
Hmm, well, it looks to me that the parts that have been themed then are kinda minimal compared to past years. Used to be a lot more ghosts in the trees, things like that, IIRC. Hope they do get a lot more stuff out before I go back!
They did open HOS all the earlier this year, so they didn't have as much time to get it ready. Still, I am surprised that a major park like BGW would open an event half-themed.
Weather has been gorgeous. If it continues HOS should have some great attendance numbers, I would think. Might be rain this Saturday, though, but the temps have been great.
They did open HOS all the earlier this year, so they didn't have as much time to get it ready. Still, I am surprised that a major park like BGW would open an event half-themed.
Weather has been gorgeous. If it continues HOS should have some great attendance numbers, I would think. Might be rain this Saturday, though, but the temps have been great.
It looks like they thought they had plenty of time, so they did England, Ireland, and Scotland well. then they realized the event started in 3 days so they rushed everything else
I really wish they still had the "life sized" clowns in festa. Instead of the little 10 in clowns hanging in trees. I've seen them at Walgreens before :|
I think they should trash the horde idea. It doesn't make any scence. You are in france, which is themed as rats and skeletons, and you are scared by a clown? That is wacked. So, they should change it so that you have themed costumes (France skeletons, Oktoberfest/Germany vampires, etc.) and just have them roaming around that hamlet. Get scared by a skeleton while leaving Griffon or getting scared by a clown while exiting Apollo's Chariot. It seems more logical like that then what they have now. With the horde you may get scared, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. With this idea, it doesn't matter where you are, you WILL be scared. Hopefully they fix it.
^ Agreed.
I feel that was one of the problems with the park's past attempts at scarezones. The only scarezone in the past that has really worked was the chainsaw scarezone in New France. Why did it work? Well, chainsaws are startling, but also, I think the freedom they gave those actors had a big part in it as well. The chainsaw guys seemed to be given basically free roam of the whole hamlet. They were free to literally run at guests, follow people though the hamlet, etc. This is how it should work. The clowns from last year shouldn't have been confined to just a bridge- they should have free roam of the hamlet they're themed to. Also, I don't think the park needs 5 or 6 scarezones. I'd much rather see 3 well staffed, well themed ones. I'd say Festa, Scotland, and New France make good locations for said scarezones. Lastly, but certainly not least, sliders. Bring back the sliders! Even with the hordes- just throw one or two sliders into each horde. They freak people out.
I feel that was one of the problems with the park's past attempts at scarezones. The only scarezone in the past that has really worked was the chainsaw scarezone in New France. Why did it work? Well, chainsaws are startling, but also, I think the freedom they gave those actors had a big part in it as well. The chainsaw guys seemed to be given basically free roam of the whole hamlet. They were free to literally run at guests, follow people though the hamlet, etc. This is how it should work. The clowns from last year shouldn't have been confined to just a bridge- they should have free roam of the hamlet they're themed to. Also, I don't think the park needs 5 or 6 scarezones. I'd much rather see 3 well staffed, well themed ones. I'd say Festa, Scotland, and New France make good locations for said scarezones. Lastly, but certainly not least, sliders. Bring back the sliders! Even with the hordes- just throw one or two sliders into each horde. They freak people out.
Hoopla said:
They could easily do this. Keep the clown costumes for festa and the zombie ones for Scotland. Then use old costumes for the rest of the zones. Things would have to be awful for them to change the event so much. But it could happen.
Hoopla said:
1st time posting here. I have to say this is an excellent idea. I think this would be an excellent way to do the hoardes as opposed to just hoping to randomly run into one. Will bring real meaning to "The Scare is Everywhere". Will be coming to BGW some time in October, hope things are vastly improved by time the we make our trip.
Hoopla said:
Just so you know, demanding that kind of theming consistency can damage your reputation around here
Seriously, though, I like the idea. Park execs would probably claim that that would require too many bodies...but I really don't see how. It would seem to me that there would be MORE than enough people willing to get hired for something like this.
I mean, maybe not, but I'd be shocked to find that a company wishing to pay people to run around in a Halloween costume and scare the crap out of people was having a hard time finding interested volunteers.
Atlantis said:
I'm sorry Atlantis, but you're one of maybe 3 people I've heard try to defend the hordes. In my two days at the park last weekend, they simply weren't working. The concept has failed. It's time to go back to the method everyone else uses because, well, it works (when executed correctly).
Zachary said:
The other method is too consistent. Gets stale fast. Past few years (more than a few) I have walked through scarezones yawning. They were tired and needed put to bed. The people I were with Friday and Saturday were caught more off guard by hordes than they have been scarezones. Unexpected > Knowing its there.
Atlantis said:
I kind of felt bad after I posted because I meant it as a joke, plus I did the quick reply at first and didn't realize you had already posted something sort of saying how you liked the way it is now...
So I feel badd, because that comment was just a joke and not meant to be directed at you, but ended up being posted right after what you said and looking like it kind of might have been directed at you.
If you could follow that train of thought there...you know what I mean.
Doc Dollars said:
I gotcha. Directed at me or not does not make a difference to me. Seems we have a bunch of people that hate change (even though I think they probaby voted for it). In a crowd based environment there is only one way to see exactly how it will work and a crowd will react. I enjoyed walking around the park not know when something was coming vs the nonsense they have had before. Don't get me wrong, this horde deal needs a good amount of tweaking but I feel it will trump the bore of scarezones.
Hate change...lol.
Well, I think that scare zones are great concept...and hordes are even a good idea...but it's something that needs a TON of people. Two teams of 15 guys in a massive park like BGW is not enough on its own.
If you could combine the two concepts, where you had three or four major scare zones (hamlet-wide things in smaller areas), two or three smaller sort of scare-corridors (on bridges or like the werewolf thing by the wolves) and then one or two big hordes...I think you'd have a big hit. Plus you've still got the 4-5 haunted houses, 2-3 halloween themed shows...BOOM.
I feel like that's not really too much to ask.
Well, I think that scare zones are great concept...and hordes are even a good idea...but it's something that needs a TON of people. Two teams of 15 guys in a massive park like BGW is not enough on its own.
If you could combine the two concepts, where you had three or four major scare zones (hamlet-wide things in smaller areas), two or three smaller sort of scare-corridors (on bridges or like the werewolf thing by the wolves) and then one or two big hordes...I think you'd have a big hit. Plus you've still got the 4-5 haunted houses, 2-3 halloween themed shows...BOOM.
I feel like that's not really too much to ask.
Doc Dollars said:
I sat VIP at the Newport News Ryan event yesterday! I'll keep my change!
My feelings are that these new shows leeched the budget and will be around for a couple more years while scares somewhat took a backseat and will be overhauled next year.
Scarezones are just stale there with the way they have done them for years. I am going to give the horde aspect the benefit of a doubt as it is entirely new and there is no true way to test it without guests in the park (I know that level of thinking is kinda up for this thread). I will reserve my full judgement for my next visit after this weekend.
I think they just drew out the two different hordes idea because they thought it would be a good starting ground to see if they needed to increase the number of hordes or not. So far from what I've heard it looks like they need to thin out the number in each horde and add a third or fourth one. This scare idea has a lot of potential, just so far it hasn't come close to meeting it.