koreandude said:
Aside from being disappointed from the removal of MSR and Jack is Back, the overall HOS experience this year feels noticeably downsized in generally every aspect from scare-actors to HOS park decor to the lack of scare zones.
MSR - On hiatus Jack - Old unused icon + congestion = gone
Have you seen the decor? They obviously have a ton out, i especially like how MSR's wagons for the drum portion are located by the troll bridge near Festa along with Hunted/Unleashed's rocks and a few ghosts.
koreandude said:
RoAE wasn't bad and featured an innovative path re-direct "feature" with a scare-actor directing ones path about half-way through the maze. The white port-a-pody like prop is amazingly effective and scared the piss out of a couple in front of us, causing me to laugh hysterically. The make-up though looked cheap on most actors and a dude in a wet-suit in a pond is just not scarey. Put him in a ghillie suit and now you have a "swamp thing" that could work better. I did not see any aforementioned Lady of the Garden actresses on this run. Time of day was dusk so perhaps it would've been scarier during night. Approx. wait was 45 minutes.
The guy in the pond isn't supposed to be scary, it is supposed to be unexpected and startling.
There are two Lady of the Gardens, one before the pond and one after. They are there to direct you past the pond.
koreandude said:
Now the lack of scare-zones. DUMB IDEA. I saw werewolves once that were running around like a pack of upright dogs. All it did was just make one want to step out of the way rather than run the other way. Saw a pack of honking clowns twice that were sort of chillin'. Only one guy near the back of the pack was really into character with a creepy high pitched laugh.
If the roaming hoards are to work, they need some serious team work. And STAY in character! Otherwise, it fails. Miserably.
You must not have been to the park. I will admit the wolves need some work, after all this was there first weekend so I am not judging them too harshly. All the clowns are very excellent and do stay in character. After seeing them at least 10 times the past two weekends total, they all do really well and I wouldn't change them at all. Even saw one go so far as to get into the woods area just to walk around and sneak up on some people sitting on a bench. Plus, the guys with the chainsaws were great too. There were like three of them that wander slowly behind the rest that really get the job done great!
koreandude said:
Overall, it leaves each country feeling, well, un-scary and EMPTY. The general lack of decor (compared to previous years) doesn't help either. I would think by the 3rd operating weekend they would have the majority of everything decorated. Guess not.
England had noticeably less crows, the pathway leading into Italy from Pompeii was nearly undecorated, Scottland was underwhelmingly plain, and France had noticeably less rats. Ireland though had nicely lit pumpkins.
I guess you need a recap of the decor?
England is very well done, so 10 less crows, that isn't much of a difference.
Ireland is superb. All the yellow wires attached to the executive monsters and the cogs on Abbeystone and the green is all just amazing. BTW, it does not have pumpkins.
Scotland looks great with the Jack O'Lantern skyline at night, that is really all the decor you need with how well they did that.
Wild Reserve is full of tombstones and ghosts. Tons and tons! It looks fantastic!
France, again 10 missing rats is nothing to be worried about. I mean I think they did perfect and it looks EXACTLY like the same amount of rats as previously if not more.
New France, Werewolves looking good as they look life like and real in the night time. Spiders also make a good compliment. The bridge to Aplengiest is amazing, using mummies for spider victims was a good idea.
Rhinefeld could use some more along with Oktoberfest.
San Marco and the Gardens of DaVinci's Inventions is looking great. Broken pots, crates, wagons, etc. line the pathway making it look outdone.
Festa's bridge is over the top from previous years. The hanging fabric is great, but I wish they could keep the fabric from becoming just a straight line rather than a wall. The actual area can use a bit more.
Pompeii is it's own attraction and decor.
Overall, you seemed to miss just about everything or you just went the first weekend? Tons and tons of decor everywhere! Even Atlantis had said, he hasn't seen so much decor before. Where have you been?
The feel in the park is amazing now and will get even better.
Plus, if you read over it, you probably did, I mentioned that
the park is doing more extensive work this week as well. All this was planned, and this decor is being placed in the park on time.
koreandude said:
The trend seems to be downward and disappointing.
BGW, what are you people DOING!?!
Your post is so disappointing. The fact that you siad the pumpkins were in Ireland where they were CLEARLY in Scotland make me doubt the legitimacy of your post. I think you were just greatly mislead and had expectations beyond anyone's imagination.
I will give my full review of the past two weekends later on when I have time. I mena after being there every day, I have a lot to say!
