To be fair if you look closely through out the season there are places that they just n
NEVER get taken down from. England's sky ride station had them up year round.
Howl-O-Scream 2018
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
To be fair if you look closely through out the season there are places that they just n
NEVER get taken down from. England's sky ride station had them up year round.
After waitimg for circo cinistro for 40min. I think the waiting and talking thing is the stupidest damn thing. That line wasnt even that long. It was in roman rapid queue but if it had the flow of vault xx it woulda moved 10x faster. The pre show thing killed that wait.
Dystopia: Marvelous house, felt like the people weere super into it and it was FILLED with actors. It was a great time
Vault: Cool maze, felt like everyone was lazy. And we went right as it opened
Lumberhack: Badass maze. Didnt know there was so many chainsaws, everyone was into their character.
Didnt do anything else, park was pretty busy and i was exausted
Dystopia: Marvelous house, felt like the people weere super into it and it was FILLED with actors. It was a great time
Vault: Cool maze, felt like everyone was lazy. And we went right as it opened
Lumberhack: Badass maze. Didnt know there was so many chainsaws, everyone was into their character.
Didnt do anything else, park was pretty busy and i was exausted
Hit every house every night this weekend except for Cornered tonight, and I have determined my rankings over the course of three days.
Houses
1. Vault XX
Consistent, which goes a long way at BGW. Nostalgia combined with well set up scares sends this one home.
2. Demented Demensions
Great sets, and good scare setups. Good spots to hit those scares and provides a good atmosphere.
3. Dystopia
First night felt weak, but it picked up. Always well staffed. Only complaint is that it feels very short. but the actors really play into the story of this one a lot, and there are some good scares.
4. Lumberhack
I'm not sure why this one was so bad this weekend when it has always been so good. The first half of the maze doesn't have actors anymore ever since the flip happened. And the maze is already short, after that they don't even try any jump scares really. The chainsaws just stand there with chainsaws, so if you aren't inherently scared of chainsaws, you don't get a scare. They need to try some more surprise attacks with the saws, like jumping out of the spaces between the bushes or off from the sides.
5. Frostbite
I was pleasantly surprised that there were SOME jump scares, I came into this one expecting the worst. That being said, it still feels like Bitten but with too much space, too much light, and blue. The ending with just curtains confuses the hell out of me. There are too many bare areas in this one with either no props or shitty props, and the lack of actors doesn't help.
6. Circo Sinistro
This one crushed my dreams. I have always LOVED Circo. Saturday night it wasn't bad, but Friday and Sunday were just not good. Aside from the lack of actors in every room, the actors tasked with selling the story were just plain annoying. Something about their voices irked me, and their delivery. After that, each section had one or at most 2 actors in it, and for a house like this where each section needs people doing it well, it's unnaceptable. This needs a facelift, or it needs to go.
7. Cornered
Absolutely abismal. In every way. No part of it was good. The first 30 seconds have no spots where scare actors can even be if they wanted. After that, there are just no actors in the maze hardly. The bare sections of fence with nothing wouldn't bother me as much if all of those setups for scares actually had people. And those who are in the maze aren't even doing scares properly, just wandering around trying to do creep scares which don't work when you're just a farmer. And then you get to that end "corn maze" part, which is so stupid because you can just walk straight out, and they have like 5 actors there!! Like what are you doing??
Scare Zones
1. Garden of the Souls
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one, but it just worked. The actors did a great job of scaring even when they have been recognized, and it was always well staffed.
2. Vampire Point
This one gets up so high solely because of the one actor who jumps on top of the trash can and slams it to scare people. The dedication of some of the vampire actors is remarkable.
3. Fools' Court
Costumes were amazing, and the actors got some decent scares.
4. Sideshow Square
The lack of costumes was a small issue for me. The big issue here was it felt like nobody was ever doing their role. I only saw the lady in the crystal ball box once all weekend. Otherwise she was walking around. That, and the scares each actor had to work with were lame. A big obvious mallet, some chains, a horn, and one guy in a suit just screaming at people.
5. Ripper Row
I was extremely disappointed with this one, since it usually is ol' reliable. All of the actors felt out of it and low energy, with most of them just strolling around and occasionally jumping at someone.
6. Axe Alley
Always has, and always will be, a terrible no good very bad theme for a scare zone. Makes Wendigo Woods look like a God send.
Shows
1. Monster Stomp on Ripper Row
Solid show, entirely because of the knife guys and skeletons. The leads were pretty good, but the cringe brought on by the Rihanna Eminem song is just too much to bear. The story I have always felt as lackluster compared to Monster Stomp: Revamped, or at the least just poorly executed.
2. Night Beats: Revamped
Easily the most talent on one stage in the park for HoS. Good singers, good entertainment, ultimately nothing really wrong with it, I'm just partial to some kick ass percussion.
3. Fiends
Terrible. Not only was the cast just not good at their parts, but the amount of sexual innuendo was just uncomfortable. One or two jokes here and there isn't bad, but they were forcing it down our throats. Like chill. And the cringe is all too present with the whip and stuff like that. Stop having the performers attempt "relevant dances", it just hurts me to watch. This year's show makes me want to never see the show again.
That was a load off. Thanks for reading!
Houses
1. Vault XX
Consistent, which goes a long way at BGW. Nostalgia combined with well set up scares sends this one home.
2. Demented Demensions
Great sets, and good scare setups. Good spots to hit those scares and provides a good atmosphere.
3. Dystopia
First night felt weak, but it picked up. Always well staffed. Only complaint is that it feels very short. but the actors really play into the story of this one a lot, and there are some good scares.
4. Lumberhack
I'm not sure why this one was so bad this weekend when it has always been so good. The first half of the maze doesn't have actors anymore ever since the flip happened. And the maze is already short, after that they don't even try any jump scares really. The chainsaws just stand there with chainsaws, so if you aren't inherently scared of chainsaws, you don't get a scare. They need to try some more surprise attacks with the saws, like jumping out of the spaces between the bushes or off from the sides.
5. Frostbite
I was pleasantly surprised that there were SOME jump scares, I came into this one expecting the worst. That being said, it still feels like Bitten but with too much space, too much light, and blue. The ending with just curtains confuses the hell out of me. There are too many bare areas in this one with either no props or shitty props, and the lack of actors doesn't help.
6. Circo Sinistro
This one crushed my dreams. I have always LOVED Circo. Saturday night it wasn't bad, but Friday and Sunday were just not good. Aside from the lack of actors in every room, the actors tasked with selling the story were just plain annoying. Something about their voices irked me, and their delivery. After that, each section had one or at most 2 actors in it, and for a house like this where each section needs people doing it well, it's unnaceptable. This needs a facelift, or it needs to go.
7. Cornered
Absolutely abismal. In every way. No part of it was good. The first 30 seconds have no spots where scare actors can even be if they wanted. After that, there are just no actors in the maze hardly. The bare sections of fence with nothing wouldn't bother me as much if all of those setups for scares actually had people. And those who are in the maze aren't even doing scares properly, just wandering around trying to do creep scares which don't work when you're just a farmer. And then you get to that end "corn maze" part, which is so stupid because you can just walk straight out, and they have like 5 actors there!! Like what are you doing??
Scare Zones
1. Garden of the Souls
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one, but it just worked. The actors did a great job of scaring even when they have been recognized, and it was always well staffed.
2. Vampire Point
This one gets up so high solely because of the one actor who jumps on top of the trash can and slams it to scare people. The dedication of some of the vampire actors is remarkable.
3. Fools' Court
Costumes were amazing, and the actors got some decent scares.
4. Sideshow Square
The lack of costumes was a small issue for me. The big issue here was it felt like nobody was ever doing their role. I only saw the lady in the crystal ball box once all weekend. Otherwise she was walking around. That, and the scares each actor had to work with were lame. A big obvious mallet, some chains, a horn, and one guy in a suit just screaming at people.
5. Ripper Row
I was extremely disappointed with this one, since it usually is ol' reliable. All of the actors felt out of it and low energy, with most of them just strolling around and occasionally jumping at someone.
6. Axe Alley
Always has, and always will be, a terrible no good very bad theme for a scare zone. Makes Wendigo Woods look like a God send.
Shows
1. Monster Stomp on Ripper Row
Solid show, entirely because of the knife guys and skeletons. The leads were pretty good, but the cringe brought on by the Rihanna Eminem song is just too much to bear. The story I have always felt as lackluster compared to Monster Stomp: Revamped, or at the least just poorly executed.
2. Night Beats: Revamped
Easily the most talent on one stage in the park for HoS. Good singers, good entertainment, ultimately nothing really wrong with it, I'm just partial to some kick ass percussion.
3. Fiends
Terrible. Not only was the cast just not good at their parts, but the amount of sexual innuendo was just uncomfortable. One or two jokes here and there isn't bad, but they were forcing it down our throats. Like chill. And the cringe is all too present with the whip and stuff like that. Stop having the performers attempt "relevant dances", it just hurts me to watch. This year's show makes me want to never see the show again.
That was a load off. Thanks for reading!
I love Garden of Souls. Everything about it is perfect: costumes, music, atmosphere. The actors do a great job on every facet; they can balance selfies with scares seamlessly and also speak Italian. I admire their dedication and I hope to see this area make a return.
Maybe i came to garden of the souls at the wrong time? Because i went through it at like 8:30 abd saw the green light up dress lady with the fan, and some dude with a cane he would hit the ground with. That was it lol Unless they were near the center between Battering ram and de venchi
At dark, the scare actors in the gardens are hard to see, they should be wearing UV facepaint, that wouldve made it better
They areed being used again thisd year but they switched over to Jack popping up instead of the ghost.
Throwing in some cents of mine. The hack pack, for those curious, is only breaking a few of the territories to test out a new system. They want to see how it works this season to decide whether to keep that trend, which I think they should seeing that it gives that whole area a rest at once and they can come back strong and not have any holes.
The biggest complaint I can see on this forum is the lack of staff, but it isn't a measure of "It's the parks fault for not hiring them." I have to be honest with you guys, speaking from experience they don't say No to any one and they end up hiring almost everyone that auditions. That being said, we are getting a mixture of people who think they want to do it and quit within the first weekend because they got hit in the face by some drunk, a few returners who are getting a little too old for the game, and a bunch of randoms they may or may not be good. So, the areas get filled with a lot of new people who do not know exactly what they are doing and just walk around watching others get scared, or watching to mimic anyone getting scares and try their own out but that takes a lot of time and it makes the event better later in the season, which isn't great as a whole. Because the park has a lot of back to back product, the rehearsal time is slim to none and most of the time the areas aren't even set up for the actors to use and get used to before it opens to the public.
Also, not enough people are coming out to audition. Like, this year alone they audition almost every week for more people and maybe 5 or 6 show up. No locals want to perform here any more because they are not willing to go through the abuse each year of guests bring. You have to understand, this group on this forum in particular just want a good product, but you guys are maybe the 15% of people who (even though are brutally honest at times) appreciate the park and the entertainers who work there. The other 85% are people who bring their kids and yell at actors who scare them, get wasted and throw up on people, actors, props ect. get too scared and start raging at everyone and throwing fists or are just angry at the world and take it out on the actors. It is honestly a war zone most nights and then everyone expects the actors to come back bright eyed and bushy tailed to let it all happen AGAIN, matter of fact happen the entire weekend. Security and police can only do so much when there is three codes going all at once in each area because people are maniacs! The park would LOVE to hire more people and fully staff these areas and have enough people to have a break team to fill in the spots like they used to, but people just don't want to work there anymore and I cannot blame them. When I went this past weekend I saw one of the clowns get smacked in the face by some jerk kid who's parents egged him on and had no problem with it! They had a bigger problem getting kicked out of the area afterwards, but honestly these people are animals and the fact that the actors keep showing up is honestly a miracle.
When I did it, it was fun to see people have a great time being scared and enjoying the atmosphere and in all experiencing the best season of the park, but the dark side is these actors are going home battered, bruised, over worked, hungry and exhausted mentally and physically. By Sunday they are asking for a quick death or quitting. It used to be a fun gig but honestly, it wasn't worth the abuse.
The biggest complaint I can see on this forum is the lack of staff, but it isn't a measure of "It's the parks fault for not hiring them." I have to be honest with you guys, speaking from experience they don't say No to any one and they end up hiring almost everyone that auditions. That being said, we are getting a mixture of people who think they want to do it and quit within the first weekend because they got hit in the face by some drunk, a few returners who are getting a little too old for the game, and a bunch of randoms they may or may not be good. So, the areas get filled with a lot of new people who do not know exactly what they are doing and just walk around watching others get scared, or watching to mimic anyone getting scares and try their own out but that takes a lot of time and it makes the event better later in the season, which isn't great as a whole. Because the park has a lot of back to back product, the rehearsal time is slim to none and most of the time the areas aren't even set up for the actors to use and get used to before it opens to the public.
Also, not enough people are coming out to audition. Like, this year alone they audition almost every week for more people and maybe 5 or 6 show up. No locals want to perform here any more because they are not willing to go through the abuse each year of guests bring. You have to understand, this group on this forum in particular just want a good product, but you guys are maybe the 15% of people who (even though are brutally honest at times) appreciate the park and the entertainers who work there. The other 85% are people who bring their kids and yell at actors who scare them, get wasted and throw up on people, actors, props ect. get too scared and start raging at everyone and throwing fists or are just angry at the world and take it out on the actors. It is honestly a war zone most nights and then everyone expects the actors to come back bright eyed and bushy tailed to let it all happen AGAIN, matter of fact happen the entire weekend. Security and police can only do so much when there is three codes going all at once in each area because people are maniacs! The park would LOVE to hire more people and fully staff these areas and have enough people to have a break team to fill in the spots like they used to, but people just don't want to work there anymore and I cannot blame them. When I went this past weekend I saw one of the clowns get smacked in the face by some jerk kid who's parents egged him on and had no problem with it! They had a bigger problem getting kicked out of the area afterwards, but honestly these people are animals and the fact that the actors keep showing up is honestly a miracle.
When I did it, it was fun to see people have a great time being scared and enjoying the atmosphere and in all experiencing the best season of the park, but the dark side is these actors are going home battered, bruised, over worked, hungry and exhausted mentally and physically. By Sunday they are asking for a quick death or quitting. It used to be a fun gig but honestly, it wasn't worth the abuse.
Great points. I am currious as someone who has no experience in this are other then as a guest what opinions you might have on steps that the park might be able to take that would address or at least minimize these issues.
Personally, my complaint isn't so much a lack of staffing, so much as the across-the-board issue of staff laziness. Scare actors at Howl-O-Scream seem content to do little more than stand, cock their head, and make the occasional grunt, and this year has been especially bad. Even though some of the casts are impressively large (looking at you, Lumberhack), the whole "stand there and grunt" routine makes each house and terror-tory bland and indistinguishable from the next, and there's no sense of story or immersion conveyed by the actors. A huge cast all making the same minimalist noise or movement is no better than a tiny cast, in my opinion.
My understanding is that the Festa map scare is now triggered by someone at the Control Lab.
To avoid a double post, I’d like to add a thought to discussion about staffing problems. Our observation over the years is that the actors do not seem to get enough real training. You can’t expect them to be proficient at their jobs, if they are just handed a costume and dumped on a park path.
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As an enthusiast, I totally sempathise with all of the points @NoStylGia mentioned above.
That said, if Busch Gardens Williamsburg cannot, practically, deliver on the promises of their event, they need to change the event.
Instead, year after year, the park promises more and more while delivering less and less—it's an ever-widening gap between the park's advertising and their actual offerings.
That said, if Busch Gardens Williamsburg cannot, practically, deliver on the promises of their event, they need to change the event.
Instead, year after year, the park promises more and more while delivering less and less—it's an ever-widening gap between the park's advertising and their actual offerings.
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Basically, there is no escaping it. The park makes a lot of money on the alcohol sales, and people are human and will pre-game harder if the booze lessens in the park so regardless they will be that way. That is generally why the actors keep doing it, it is fun for the most part and the bad guests will never not be an issue so you soldier on. You can't do much in the way of controlling a crowd, they have a heard mentality, so whoever is the loudest most tend to follow. It's unfortunate, but security and the police staff do a great job making sure those guests don't continue to ruin it for everyone and make sure the actors are safe and can continue doing what they obviously love to do! Remember, most of these people have another life outside that park and just do this for fun! It's just as much fun scaring as it is going through as a guest, so they do come back each year for a break from the "real world".
I can say, to up the staff numbers, taking some of the mazes and terror-tories away wouldn't be such a terrible idea. It would make the cost of decorating the whole park less since there would be less themes they could buy in bulk again and carry out themes through countries. That would make the numbers in the houses better too, and we could have a break staff in each house so there is never a spot that is empty. Same for the whole park in general. The moving hoards were, in my opinion, the best idea they had for park coverage. Constant movement means constant differences in each night and only gives windows of clearance through the park so it gives time for guests to also reset to keep getting scared but also enjoy the park. Being stuck in one area all night kind of effects the stores and games in the area and they make less money when people skip a terror-tory because of a certain phobia (What's up clowns). I would also agree that if the product was amped up and delivered as promised (scary, professional and actually on time and polished) the guest issues would minimize because they would be so focused on having a good time that one or two missed scares or a bad meal won't ruin the experience.
The standing and grunting issue mentioned previously is just a rehearsal issue, and lack of enthusiastic cast members issue is from the lack of experience and the issues also stated previously in my comment. You as guests walk through an area for only about two to three minutes, but the moments just before you made it there the actor may have had a conflict with another guest and is just trying to stay calm and reset. We on on the ENTIRE time we are out there, so we have no where to go to just sit and breathe. That goes for mazes too, not a lot of time to run off for some water and a quick cry, we just reset and keep going, so it's tough to want to continue at 100%. That being said, some of them are just inexperienced and there for the money so the grunting is what it is. It's intimidating shouting and acting in front of people the whole time you are out there, especially when heckled or haven't had a break in three hours of constant movement and frights. Sometimes people just rely on being a little creepy to get by another night. I see it a lot in mazes too, but my biggest pet peeve is just women or men screaming and that's it. Do something else! You guys are right, there is a story to be told and they need to tell it with the atmospheric scares and distractions so you can enjoy the theme as a whole. Standing and just screaming like you are an inch from death isn't scary, it's just loud.
I think pay could be a big factor here too. Not only is it a seasonal job with less than stellar work environments, but it's also only a weekend job, so hours are limited somewhat. If they managed to pay enough to justify the job better, I think they would have no problem with staffing. Of course, that money needs to come from somewhere, but I imagine there would be a way to make it work with some convincing...
The point of that section is to separate the group and make them go an even longer way to get out of the house. That section is only short if the actors aren't doing anything. When it does work, it works very well. But like everything else it's up to the actors.
To say something about the point NoStylGia brought up, rehearsal time is a big important issue. It's all the more reason for BGW to finally invest in just building dedicated warehouses for their mazes. Oh my god a novel concept of building warehouses so you can store your maze year round and have minimal damage to it from weather. It also means people can get trained in their actual environment and learn their areas. It's probably why Bitten was so consistent in its scares. The house sat up for years, I know I saw reoccurring faces in it annually. Its house that the cast got to know very well and had learned what to do to get a good/decent scares. Yes there's an argument against this bc Deadline. But Deadaline had good scares too. Occasionally.
This is the most accurate statement about Howl-O-Scream ever. Not only is it loud, but it is obnoxious and irritating. I'm looking at you Garden of Souls.
Alright so I haven't posted in a hot minute but I have been going and I saw some things from guests that are just WRONG. I saw a girl threaten to SHOOT one of the clowns because she was telling her to get off of the box prop their. They let her go and then like ten minutes later she tried to come back so she could go through circo and she went back up to the same actor and threatened her again. So they finally kicked her out. Then I saw security taking a guy out near Fool's Court. I talked to people and I have a good idea of what happened. So you know how you walk past the area near the giant jester (I heard an actor call her Giggles) and there is also that giant pile of skulls with a throne on top. Yeah a guy hopped the fence and climber on top of it for a picture. Guess what, parts of the skulls were crushed and the guy is apparently banned for life. Also I know someone had posted about it, but I saw a kid sneak up on the sad clown (I heard his name is Rummy from one of my friends)and slap him in the face. The guy called security and I got kind of closer to here the stage manager talking to him. The kid first denied it, then he said he DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH HITTING THIS GUY THAT IS JUST DOING HIS FUCKING JOB, then he claimed that he was just trying to touch the clowns shoulder when security came. I'm sorry, but you don't try to tap someone's shoulder and reach around to their face. So the kid was crying and trying to get sympathy from security and only got thrown out for the night because even if you just touch an actor on the shoulder, IT IS STILL ASSAULT. PERIOD. JUST KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF. I went up to Rummy and told him I saw it and I'm sorry and he just did his weird like frown smile face and said nothing. Also THE WORST THING I'VE SEEN SO FAR IN ALL MY YEARS GOING TO THIS PARK HAPPENED BY A KID THAT WAS TWO GROUPS AHEAD OF ME WHEN I WAS IN QQ. THIS FUCKING KID JUST STRAIGHT UP GRABBED THE RINGMISTRESS' BREASTS AND THEN WAS SURPRISED WHEN SECURITY, WHO WAS RIGHT BEHIND HIM, TOOK HIM OUT OF THE PARK. THESE ARE FUCKING PEOPLE JUST DON'T TOUCH THEM. NO WONDER THEY ARE UNDERSTAFFED THE GUESTS AND THEIR KIDS ARE DISGUSTING. FOR FUCKSAKE MAN I WOULDN'T WANT TO WORK THERE EITHER. IT SERIOUSLY MESSSES WITH ME. I heard about it last year, but apparently in cornered a former scare squad member saw a guest making sexual remarks toward an actor and straight up smacked the guy. To be honest, I DO NOT blame them.
here is the guy who jumped onto the throne...lmfao