PR's Horde Zones

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
P

Party Rocker

Dec 23, 2011
7,132
5,080
250
As the title implies, scare zones and hordes put together. I think I may have mentioned this idea in another thread, but will elaborate with more concise information.

Firstly, the main idea of this concept is to include both scare zones and hordes, but do so in a way that whole park is completely covered with scare actors all at one time throughout the entire evening so that no place is truly safe.

Now this idea is composed of two fundamentals, one having scare actors in an area stationed in one spot that are restricted to that area, while having scare actors be able to roam a hamlet or hamlets to a certain degree where they constantly come and go.

For example: let us say that Scotland was themed around the harvest idea. You have scarecrows stationed in a zone, whilst having crows roam around all of Scotland. This ensures that people can be sure to get scare by these scarecrows, possibly take a small break from scare and then get scared again by crows.

So here goes the breakdown:

England:
- Zone [Living Statues - Ticket Entrance]
- Horde [Crows on stilts - Banbury Cross]

Explanation - We see these faceless living statues did so well, they give a good introduction to this eerie event that they should be positioned just outside the gate and right inside the gate in the front section. This will give good warning to all who enter they are to be scared without seriously scaring children immediately should parents decide to bring them. The crows on stilts, aren't that scary but more or less eerie and creepy and uncomfortable, and like I said a great introduction to the whole feel of the event.

Scotland:
- Zone [Scarecrows - Near the entrance to Ireland]
- Horde [Crows on feet - Heatherdowns]

Explanation - The scarecrows acted much like the living statues, they could provide a more scary scare rather than a uncomfortable scare while still not too intense for being close to the entrance, but positioned in an area where fake scarecrows can hang properly and mix in with the real ones. Crows on feet will definitely mix things up and get the crows closer to your face. This theme works well with Scotland because farming is very popular and can be quite scary.

Ireland:
- Zone [Goblins - Bald Eagle Range and Castle O' Sullivan]
- Horde [ Goblins - Kilarney]

Explanation: We should all agree mythical creatures worked well in the past here and so goblins would fit just fine, positioned closer to the entrance of Cavern of Darkness would make sense as to give guests a hint as to what lies inside. As well as the zone pouring into the queue area. While the horde roams all Ireland.

Wild Reserve:
- Zone [Werewolves - Wolf Habit/Show]
- Horde [Werewolves - Wild Reserve]

Explanation: What better way to scare people with werewolves, especially with a live wolf habit and show right there! The zone would cover right in front of the theater entrance down the hill to the bridge, while the horde goes from the bridge to the First Aid station. The goblins will be restricted from the other side fo the bridge to Castle O'Sullivan.

France:
- Zone [Skeletons - Back pathway from Sky Ride entrance to Griffon]
- Horde [Skeletons - Aquitaine]

Explanations: This is a good strong theme for this area, classy but simple and scary. The zone obviously hidden away in the back alleys of France to be more mysterious and add in fear, to those who dare take a short cut past the main path. However don't fear guests on the main path will get a dose of the horde as it comes through along the main pathway.

New France:
- Zone [Lumberjack Killers - In front of Le Scoot and Caribou Station]
- Horde [Lumberjack Killers - New France]

Explanations: What goes so well with a log house, a lumberjack who built it. Imagine that but gone a little insane. Of course with chainsaws to cut down the trees or anything or anyone else in their way. The zone position closer to Le Scoot for the simple reason they can play off of the theme pf the ride very well. The zone will cover all the hamlet though.

Rhinefeld:
- Zone [IDK]
- Hored [IDK]

Explanations: I was thinking a continuation of Oktoberfest's theme but now I am thinking Root of All Evil, help please?

Oktoberfest:
- Zone [Vampires - close to Bumper Cars]
- Horde [Vampires - Oktoberfest]

Explanations: Vampires worked well for this area as well as the vampire bar. So keep the zone close to the entrance of a completely renovated or new house themed to vampires. The horde of course will go all over the area.

Italy:
- Zone [Zombies - DaVinci's Gardens}
- Horde [Zombies - San Marco, DaVinci's Gardens, Pompeii]

Explanations: This is a mix of Pompeii's Deadline theme and the Dark Side of the Gardens Zombie theme, they blend so well together. So of course keep the zombie close to the gardens (if the Dark Side of the Gardens is to return), while having the hordes go from the entrance of Deadline to the San Maroc bridge and back.

Festa Italia:
- Zone [Trick or Treaters - San Marco Star Tree/Festa Bridge Entrance area]
- Horde [Trick or Treaters - Festa Italia]

Explanations: It was decided the park should try a retro Halloween theme which isn't bad, they could play off of the regular Halloween traditions such as trick or treating and turn it into horror movie style. Have trick or treaters welcome you to this grim little town while small groups go from the entrance of rides to the entrance of snack stands and games, and ask trick or treat and do their scares. It will give a creepy yet scary twist on this classic Halloween tradition. I can give a clowny version if anyone would like in case this theme doesn't work out.

Sesame Street:
Close at 5PM - No Theme

Explanations: Get kids out of the park an hour before the scares start since they are close to the entrance.

Land of Dragons:
Close at 4:30PM - No Theme

Explanations: Get kids out of the park an hour and a half before the scares start since they are close the back of the park.

Now stick with this idea and give my your thoughts on how this sounds. Don't be too hurtful, but just let me know could the idea work, what corrections could be made to improve it. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism for the most part please.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FrontSeatMafia and CastleOSullivan
Instead of sticking the hoards in one area, just have groups of them roam the park like this year (otherwise you've pretty much made an extended scare zone). England should be clear of any scareactors until the end of the night when you let the hoards into that area for one final scare. Have groups of hoards roaming the paths around Sesame/stables and have groups hanging out around the entrance.

Keep the scare zones in their designated areas. The areas given are already on major pathways anyway. No need to add too many, although you could definitely extend a few of them (Scavengers, Retro Lane/Grin and Scare, Stitching Time/statues). Move the living statues to either DaVinci's Garden or the old Stitching Time area.

Don't forget to have roaming zombies, clowns, and chainsaw maniacs.
 
The problem with having those hordes they way it was done, was lack of scares. If anything you should be constantly getting scared with little to no break exceptions include shows, dinning, rides, and such.
 
Then you can either

1) Scrap the roaming hoards and extend the scare zones. The scare zones were a good concept, but fell short due to short length/lack of actors. Just make them larger and add more actors.

2) Make the roaming hoards larger. The current groups are large, but there are still times where you rarely see them. Just make them larger so they can cover a greater area. They end up in England around closing time.

3) Have more groups of hoards roaming the park. I'd actually love to see a group of hoards start out in a specific country and move to a different area each hour or so. They end up in England around closing time.

I'd love to have actors running into queue lines/show areas. We had zombies rolling into Dig it Up before the show started once. It was great. Not sure how the public would react though.
 
The thing is a mix of scare zones and hordes is probably the best we can hope for, and is probably the best way to do it. Plus I would like to try and keep a specific creature in it's themed location, like clowns in Festa and not clowns in Oktoberfest because they don't fit in.
 
I LOVE this idea, PR. This would really be "the scare is everywhere" done right.

the only problem I see with it is that there's not a lot of room for change from year to year.
 
Scare zones need to be viewed as major attractions. They need more attention. They shouldn't be things that you run into, that are just there. They need to be anchors... Things to do/see... They should be experiences, additional attractions to howl o scream.

Fix the Scare zones and then the Horde concept would work better. If you got hordes running around with lackluster scarezones there's nothing to "Ground" them into the event. If the scarezones or the mood of the park doesn't put you into the atmosphere of the event. How are a bunch of people running around you see coming from a mile away gonna work?

It'll scare people who are afraid of the mask, the make up. But what about the people who know... That's just a dude in the mask. The hordes need to work on being "Natural". Rather than doing 10 laps around the park in one night hanging around in one area then moving to the next, they should add to the atmosphere by being constantly on the move, and moving through more intense themed areas of the park(but first there needs to be intense themed areas...). Getting random guest on the pathways should just be a bonus... If the Scarezones put the guest on edge by themselves, what kind of effect are you gonna have when actors are thrown into the mix.

Atmospheric is 100% necessary to increase the rate of the guest startled. Startles don't tend to get me, but when you get me in an atmosphere that tells my senses I'm in danger THEN go for the startle, it works... Everytime.... Even with the "Manliest" of men. Imagine going downstairs to investigate a noise your wife/sig other heard. It's pitch black, your eyes havent adjusted and you cant see anything... but you can hear things moving around you... You can't find the lightswitch... You grip your golf club a little tighter. Something is getting closer. You find the light and hurriedly turn it on... And as you turn it on you look down and your dog barks at you before you can ready yourself. Dark disorienting Atmosphere just fed into the startle yes? If it wasn't dark and you saw your dog coming from a mile away you never would have even questioned the situation, you would've anticipated the happy bark. It's the questioning and unfamiliarity created with the atmosphere in even the most familiar of territory that creates scares... Some of the best scares.

There also need to be some realism and other stuff... But nothing is more important than the right atmosphere.

Anyways... The decorations should set an atmosphere, a tone... A mood. Christmas lights and hanging sheets don't make me think scary clowns in this area are going to get me... And it certainly wouldn't even put a 5 year old on edge. Absolutely nothing about that area would put someone older than 10 on edge, other than actors. Just like the mazes use "Distract/Scare" ,The scarezones need to be able to accomplish this on the same level, But it needs to be scaled UP to fit the larger more open areas. It shouldnt seem the park looks at a scarezones and say "Oh we can cut corners here", they should be looked at and say... Hey, these are the building blocks of our whole event. If these fail, the event as a whole fails. HOS is the draw and the attraction, and mazes and shows are only attractions within this main attraction. Decorations and scarezones set the mood and the tone for the rest of the event... So if the Guest aren't scared by the event itself, If it doesnt atleast look cool... Then it leaves it all hanging entirely on the other attractions to hold the event up... and it shouldn't be that way. There were rather strong mazes and shows this past year... Heck, the BEST shows in HOS history IMHO. But, look at how the rest of the event and the event as a whole was rated consistently throughout last years run... I'd say there's room for improvement.

Party Rocker, I got to say I love the Idea... I personally would tweak the concepts behind some of these.... But I love it.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqyBiRsdKSk

See, This is my idea of Well built atmosphere, granted it's on a one way entry pathway with actors in maze-like positions... If you could see something like this on a larger scale in the more open areas of the park... I think that'd be delightful and exactly what the scare zones need to achieve...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zachary, CastleOSullivan, netdvn and 2 others
It is all about the atmosphere and the proper staffing of actors and if they move around or not. The more actors that you have moving around rather than staying in one place adds to the atmosphere since you can't expect them to stay in a restricted zone.
 
Hunt Club Farm in VB does a haunted hayride, a guided walkthrough and a corn field maze. Their actors go through auditions, and are very good. They have a couple of parkour(freerunning, watch American Ninja Warrior) guys who go nuts on the hayride! a few guys like that at the park that could jump out of trees or over walls would be sick. Mostly overall better acting. I think the clowns were the best this last year, but I think they could jump it up a notch with the freerunners!
 
You2how, I love your idea. However, I don't think BGW would want to make large scare zones as you posted. It would be awesome though :)
 
I don't think they want to either... But quite honestly there's no excuse anymore if ya ask me since they went with hordes the past year. That tells me that they were willing to "haunt" all over the park... I mean, now there is literally no excuse to use some of the more well suited areas.

Oktoberfest... Could be done up SOOOO GOOD. You got a vampire club inside... So what kind of part of town does the vampire club look like? I love the cheesy gravestones... But there is a much better opportunity for props and a scarezone here. Dynamic lighting... Not just a change of lightbulb color...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad