I got to visit Howl-O-Scream last weekend, so I guess I'll give a little review over what I thought, but I'll try to omit saying things that everyone else has said a million times. But let me start off by saying I really had a great time, budget cuts be damned. Seriously, as surprised as I was, I think I had one of the best times at HOS I've ever had. Yeah. Anyway...
Terror-tories
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Demon Street - While I went into this thinking Demon Street would be absolutely terrible, more of dance party than a haunted hamlet, I was very surprised to actually like the area. I can't believe I'm saying this, but yes, I actually thought Demon Street was fun. The Wild Reserve side entering the Terror-tory looked fantastic--day and night. The wooden spikes, the evil demons, the dragon, the flames all looked great and very evil. That said, the rest of the area was very lacking in decor during the day--a few banners/streamers, some new signs, and that was kind of it. My first glimpse of Demon Street was from atop Alpengeist at night, and it was really amazing, beautiful, spectacular, eerie--whatever you might want to call it. Paris was burning. That's really how it looked. The demon actors with the chainsaws were great, there was great use of fog to go with the flames and sparkling ashes, and Catacombs was well-blended into the theme of the area. It was rainy the day I went, so there was no Demon DJ. I actually thought this was great, because it made the giant flaming skeleton face look more like a really elaborate and EVIL decoration than a gathering point for a street party, which really lent to the feel of the area. If they could just make the whole area like the Wild Reserve side of it next year, I would really come to like the area.
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Ports of Skull - While I didn't get to spend a ton of time here, I thought the decor in this area was fantastic. The wooden facades and torture devices, along with the skeleton pirates and scraggly ropes everywhere really looked great, like how a pirate area at Busch Gardens should look. I also liked how they had the "funny pirates" making appearances throughout the day, even before 6 o'clock. The scare actors here had a lot of energy here (some of the lady pirates had the giant metal fans like in Ripper Row), and really did a good job. Some were actually hiding around and even
under the Pompeii bridge, jumping to the level of people's feet, catching them totally off guard. This was a very well-done terror-tory. The only thing I would change would be to get rid of the mini-golf-type pirate statues, and put at least
some decor in Festa. There is pretty much nothing piratey there except around the Buccaneer Galley and Cut Throat Cove.
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Ripper Row - Hands down my favorite terror-tory. No questions asked. This one literally had everything I think my perfect Busch Gardens would have in a haunted area. The sets, props, and facades were amazing, and immersed you into the area. The Globe Theatre's decorations looked great. The feel here was beyond words. The actors were great--the rippers were scary, but the old-London police men are what really made the area feel like they were searching for a killer, and that you were in danger. Everything about the feel of this area was top-notch.
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Vampire Point - Despite having really energetic scare actors here, this seemed to be the most lacking Terror-tory. There was nothing in the main village except a few vampire mannequins and some shredded cloth nailed to some two-by-fours on the windows. The more open part from Land of the Dragon's entrance to Oktoberfest's entrance, though looked really good. Igor the dead vampire (reduntant?
) was there, the two building looked mildly misplaced, but still added to the immersion, and the Vampire Point Hotel look fantastic.
