Howl-O-Scream 2018

[mtorange]

A couple of questions for the Howl-O-Scream fans:

1. I noticed Jack is back this year for the "No Escape" rooms. While I do not plan to do either of these rooms, I am curious: How long was Jack with the park before he was removed and why was he removed? I am somewhat familiar with Jack from seeing him in older ads when I was younger. When I saw he was gone, it seemed like an odd decision to me; I compare it to if Kings Dominion got rid of the Overlord... it just wouldn't be the same.

2. When is the best night to go to the park during this event? When I went last year, I went on a Sunday and crowds didn't seem too bad. I know for Haunt, Fridays and Sundays have been the best days because Saturday crowds are TERRIBLE.

 

[Icer]

A couple of questions for the Howl-O-Scream fans:

1. I noticed Jack is back this year for the "No Escape" rooms. While I do not plan to do either of these rooms, I am curious: How long was Jack with the park before he was removed and why was he removed? I am somewhat familiar with Jack from seeing him in older ads when I was younger. When I saw he was gone, it seemed like an odd decision to me; I compare it to if Kings Dominion got rid of the Overlord... it just wouldn't be the same.

2. When is the best night to go to the park during this event? When I went last year, I went on a Sunday and crowds didn't seem too bad. I know for Haunt, Fridays and Sundays have been the best days because Saturday crowds are TERRIBLE.

Jack was the mascot for the longest time, i believe it was around 2010-2012 when they replaced him with the Lady of the Gardens. In the later years he wasn't seen as the official mascot as much as the guy who had a show in Ireland and some years they didn't have the show yadda yadda. I am not sure why they got rid of him, he was always so much fun and was like a family friendly aspect to the haunts, while all the houses provided the scares.

Fridays and Sundays see much smaller crowds than Saturdays, Saturdays will typically hit capacity and stop allowing people into the park. If you were to go for a weekend, I wouldn't worry about it, but if you are only going for one day I suggest picking a Sunday in late Sept or early Oct since it can be crowded on opening day and the last weekend is usually pretty heavy too.

 

[sereniv]

Or it means 1 year only because next year they will be utilizing that area for Project Madrid.

!?!?!? project madrid confirmed!?!?!?

 

[Ghost of Pretzel Kaiser]

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[Coaster Takes]

Anybody have any updates on Scare is Everywhere? I’m still crossin my toes for this to make a comeback. Even if it’s only the clown group that would roam the park back in 2011-2012. Regarding Jack. I’m pretty sure he opened with the event, and staying as the mascot until lady of the gardens popped up. His show with the original costume was a work of art. When they tried to “update” him, that’s when it lost me.

 

[Icer]

Anybody have any updates on Scare is Everywhere? I’m still crossin my toes for this to make a comeback. Even if it’s only the clown group that would roam the park back in 2011-2012. Regarding Jack. I’m pretty sure he opened with the event, and staying as the mascot until lady of the gardens popped up. His show with the original costume was a work of art. When they tried to “update” him, that’s when it lost me.

I agree with the costume change. And I still maintain the belief that the scare of everywhere just means there is gonna be spookyness everywhere, no roamers. I'd be shocked if there were roamers. I think it would be cool if it was something more like they had these 5 they are now considering the "icons" to be the roamers. Not hordes like they used to, but just one person at a time roaming. it would be a lot more unexpected.

 

[Nicole]

The site explicitly lists scare zones. There is no mention of the scare being everywhere.

In addition, here is the press release:

BUSCH GARDENS® REVEALS MORE GHASTLY DETAILS ABOUT THE UPCOMING 20th YEAR OF HOWL-O-SCREAM®​

​

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (July 20, 2018) – The past is not dead and buried. Busch Gardens® Williamsburg is inviting back some old friends to unleash on unsuspecting guests as part of the scary 20th anniversary celebration of Howl-O-Scream®.

These classic characters will usher in a new Era of Terror this fall within the park’s collection of elaborate haunted houses, immersive themed scare zones, challenging escape rooms and darkly entertaining live shows.

As the clock counts down toward the start of Howl-O-Scream, Busch Gardens will reveal elements of coming attractions on the 20th day of each month through Aug. 20 until the full line-up is announced. Details can be uncovered at HOWLOSCREAM.COM/VA


Here are the July Howl-O-Scream reveals:

New Haunted House: The Vault: XX™

Favorite creatures of the night from past Howl-O-Scream experiences are locked up in one location in The Vault: XX™. Classic characters such as Executioner from Dark Tower; Mummy from Curse of Pompeii; Pirate Captain Ghost from Sea Dog Cemetery; Little Dead Riding Hood from Deadtime Stories; and Werewolf from Hunted, just to name a few, are dying to frighten you again. Park-goers can look forward a walk down memory lane.

New Terror-tory™: Garden of the Souls™

Welcome to Funeral Gardens, the setting for Garden of the Souls™. Here guests may visit the graves of the deceased, but this garden has a dark secret. The dead roam free, and they’d love to show park guests what waits in the afterlife.

No Escape Room: Jack’s Nightmare Room

No Howl-O-Scream anniversary would be complete without Jack, the original Busch Gardens trickster. He’s back in the all-new No Escape: Jack’s Nightmare Room, and he’s had plenty of time to sit in the dark and come up with new ways to surprise and startle fans. Explore the terrors that keep Jack up at night. It’s a new era of chills, and this escape room will bring the SCREAM back to Howl-O-Scream.

New scares coming in 2018 include:

3 Haunted Houses - 7 total

3 Bars - 5 total

2 Terror-tories™- 6 total

2 Party Zones

1 No Escape (Escape Room Experience) - 2 total

Plus more frightening fun

August 20 Reveal – A third haunted house, party zones, bars and other frightening features.


Howl-O-Scream opens Sept. 15 and will run on select days through Oct. 28.

The best way to enjoy Howl-O-Scream and other events all year long is through the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Membership Program. Get unlimited visits to Busch Gardens, Water Country USA®, Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town™ for as little as $12 per month. Plus, exclusive discounts and monthly Member Rewards valued at over $250. For more information, visit buschgardens.com/joinBGW.

 

[Icer]

The site explicitly lists scare zones. There is no mention of the scare being everywhere.

The only mention is on the About tab at the bottom:

"It's a New Era of Terror. Stop back on the 20th of each month to learn something new about the event. This year, you'll find more scares than ever, EVERYWHERE."

But I don't know if it is worth much

 

[phurst]

I thought KD saying "there's Really More Coming" was a coincidence as well, so I'm going to keep holding out hope

 

[Zachary]

I've updated the first post with everything new from today.

Like a few others, I'm very worried about Vault. "Series of rooms with themes" houses never work for me. The constant shifts in atmosphere repeatedly break any sense of immersion and tension. My hope is that the park learned from Thirteen that cohesion was 100% necessary for a house to be successful.

With that initial skepticism out of the way, I do think there's a pretty easy way to make a house like this work. If Vault is, quite literally, themed to a prop warehouse, the seemingly random conglomeration of characters could successfully coexist in the same thematic "world."

That said, I have severe doubts that the park will actually put much effort into this house—especially since they've made it clear that they intend this to be a one-season house. Last year BGW only debuted one new house and, frankly, they really struck-out atmospherically, thematically, and story-wise. From the beginning I've been completely unable to fathom how the park is going to deal with creating three entirely new houses and completely redesigning Frostbite. This single-season, "fanservice" house looks to me like a perfect candidate for the park to completely dial it in on. ?

 

[wombat96]

Anybody have any updates on Scare is Everywhere? I’m still crossin my toes for this to make a comeback. Even if it’s only the clown group that would roam the park back in 2011-2012. Regarding Jack. I’m pretty sure he opened with the event, and staying as the mascot until lady of the gardens popped up. His show with the original costume was a work of art. When they tried to “update” him, that’s when it lost me.

Jack was first introduced in 2003 and served as the events icon until 2009. Then at the end of the event in 2009 the park took a sharp unexpected turn created some fake PR statement on their Facebook page about how Jack needed to change with the times. The next year in 2010 the theme was “The Scare is Everywhere” and Jack was more so of just an icon for a show. He played an integral role in his show Jack is Back but stepped back as other themes were introduced in 2010 and essentially replaced with the Lady of the Gardens in 2011. The last time he made an appearance was Scarlett’s Revenge in 2015 although the character didn’t really look like him and the audio didn’t sound one bit like the Irish character everyone had grown to love. I hope they use the character seen before the 2010 re-vamp with Patchie the Pumpkin by his side.

Also, for anyone else who is pretty big into the history of HOS as an event. The name No Escape: Jack’s Nightmare is a reference to Jack’s Nightmare Express. I doubt they’ll really share any similarities other than the fact they’ll be based on very generic concepts of Halloween. Either way it seems like a neat throwback and I’m curious as to how it will turn out.

 

[mtorange]

I've updated the first post with everything new from today.

Like a few others, I'm very worried about Vault. "Series of rooms with themes" houses never work for me. The constant shifts in atmosphere repeatedly break any sense of immersion and tension. My hope is that the park learned from Thirteen that cohesion was 100% necessary for a house to be successful.

With that initial skepticism out of the way, I do think there's a pretty easy way to make a house like this work. If Vault is, quite literally, themed to a prop warehouse, the seemingly random conglomeration of characters could successfully coexist in the same thematic "world."

That said, I have severe doubts that the park will actually put much effort into this house—especially since they've made it clear that they intend this to be a one-season house. Last year BGW only debuted one new house and, frankly, the really struck-out atmospherically, thematically, and story-wise. From the beginning I've been completely unable to fathom how the park is going to deal with creating three entirely new houses and completely redesigning Frostbite. This single-season, "fanservice" house looks to me like a perfect candidate for the park to completely dial it in on. ?

When I say this, I do not mean to insult the event in any way, but I did notice during my visit last season that the sets seemed to be of a lower budget than those of recent years at Haunt, at least to me. Frostbite was sort of an exception, so I'm surprised to hear it's being redesigned (I'm still convinced that Blood on the Bayou and Frostbite have the same monster animatronic at the end!!!). I'm not well-versed in Busch Gardens, so I'm not sure if this is a budget issue or if the issue lies elsewhere. Does more of the park budget tend to go more towards ChristmasTown each year? I know that allocation of funds can determine the quality of any event.

 

[Zachary]

Frostbite was sort of an exception, so I'm surprised to hear it's being redesigned

Frostbite relied heavily on the layout and sets of DarKastle to create its environment. Over the last few months BGW has almost completely gutted DarKastle of all of that permanent scenery.

I'm not well-versed in Busch Gardens, so I'm not sure if this is a budget issue or if the issue lies elsewhere. Does more of the park budget tend to go more towards ChristmasTown each year? I know that allocation of funds can determine the quality of any event.

From what I understand, house budgets at KD have been higher than at BGW the last few years. Additionally, honestly, it is my impression that Kings Dominion makes their money go a lot further than Busch Gardens—this is likely partially due to KD doing most of their own design, construction, dressing, etc. while BGW outsources a lot of that to a third party. (This wasn't always true, but that is the way it has been for almost a decade now.)

 

[CastleOSullivan]

Masquerage was the only thing I "had to have", and of course it's the one thing not mentioned at all. Lol. The cloak-walkers would be very cool. I would add that the remaining parts of FrostBite all came from the parts of Bitten that were originally used in Masquerage. So, in a way, the house has lived on through the years.

From what I understand, house budgets at KD have been higher than at BGW the last few years.

Kings Dominion has also been scavenging from scrap yards and other places for years now, whereas Busch Gardens tends to create large props on their own. This creates an illusion of a bigger budget. They are merely using theirs, arguably, more wisely. Also, whether or not Oak Island Creative does anything for BG beyond using props that already exist (Cut Throat Cove) the park has to pay a ridiculous down payment for "consultation."

OIC usually uses these scenarios to sell more of their line of Scare Products. This resulted in lackluster haunts like 13, CTC, etc. I don't know why BGW couldn't have done those themselves. Interestingly, I don't think Oak Island designed any of the houses listed in Vault XX. With them (presumably) taking a back seat in FrostBite last year, I am curious as to what this means for both of them.

 

[BGWPinGuy]

After looking at Oak Island Creative's scare products I know that their products were used in Circo and Cornered, did they actually build them?

 

[Zachary]

Oak Island does a lot of the design and construction of BGW's houses, yes. Ultimately, it is still a partnership with the park, but Oak Island has played a very big role in the entirety of the process for around a decade now.

 

[VonDerrick]

Whaler kinda called this way back when, since the new scare zone is essentially the Dark Side of the Gardens with a different name

no that is a horrid comparison. the Lady is nowhere near what a ghoul is. ghouls are generally evil spirits/phantoms/ghosts. the Lady was a zombie. two different types of creatures all together. BG has gone thru their lady of the gardens obssession. they had the icon and house for two or three years. it was a great concept, but the character and house never panned out like the concept.

 

[Icer]

no that is a horrid comparison. the Lady is nowhere near what a ghoul is. ghouls are generally evil spirits/phantoms/ghosts. the Lady was a zombie. two different types of creatures all together. BG has gone thru their lady of the gardens obssession. they had the icon and house for two or three years. it was a great concept, but the character and house never panned out like the concept.

Williamsburg never had a house.

I said kinda called it, since it is is a garden theme and yeah. Since this terror tory is the "dark side" of this garden and all.

 

[Nicole]

I think a case could be made that Root of a Evil was the Dark Side of the Gardens maze.

For what it is worth, while I didn’t like a Root it’s first year, it bacame one of my favorites, before it closed.

 

[Icer]

I think a case could be made that Root of a Evil was the Dark Side of the Gardens maze.

For what it is worth, while I didn’t like a Root it’s first year, it bacame one of my favorites, before it closed.

It was cool after the first year, and it was themed to rogue plants, but I don't consider it a Dark Side of the Gardens, since it wasn't called that and also they didn't have the same concepts. But I could understand how people could link it