PR's New Vision for Howl-o-Scream

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Party Rocker

Dec 23, 2011
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[align=center]POST RE-WRITTEN:
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So in reply to the responses I got from my initial announcement of changing the event entirely, I am trying to rewrite the idea clearly and include as much logistical information as possible to give everyone a clear and crisp idea of what is floating around in my head.

Instead of the park opening during October and late September. Have the park close at Labor Day, and then from Mid-September into October, have the park transform into a very large haunted house. That is the original thought. Now I will expand on that and provide logistics.

As a guest, you will wait in line at the turnstiles in England, (England parking lot can be used as a queue should it be required), and from there you and 999 other people in your group (or some other magic number of guests) will be let into the park, andin this order, go through England, turn left and go past Pompeii, into Festa and then back out to DaVinci's Gardens of Invention, through San Marco, into Oktoberfest, through Rhinefeld, into New France, into France, through the Wild Reserve, then into Ireland, through Scotland and back into England. Throughout their journey in the park, they will encounter scare actors themed to each country with top notch theme decor, while all the attractions, shops, etc. are all closed it would be like walking through the park after closing. Ideally, any pathway that detracts from the main path will be blocked off with some sort of benches, rope, planters, etc. to keep guests following the main path.

So basically, turning Busch Gardens into one giant haunted house. Another way to look at this is the Christmas Town 8K Dash. That is a special event where everything is closed, but the guest participating travel through the park when closed. Do the same thing but make it haunted and scary. Charge anywhere from $30 - $60 per person (lower than regular admission due to the fact this is not the park being open but a special event).

In regards to lines and all that, they can let in 1,000 or so guests, (whatever number is fit to keep the amount of guests in park down but keep lines flowing), at a time and then once all those guests reach a certain point like lets say Oktoberfest, they let in so many more, etc. and depending on the size of each group and how often they are let in, the line would not be too expected. Also note that since this is not the park being open, but a special event like the CT 8K Dash, guests should expect a long-ish line to get in. Also, they can issue tickets by time, let so many people in at certain times, so your know what time to be there on what day.

I would like to say, the decision of hordes vs scare zones mixed in with the CT 8K Dash, is what brought me to this idea. I am not voicing an opinion for either or nor supporting the CT 8K Dash, but using it to support my idea.

Certain areas in the park can be safe buffer zones, to be used as breaks, which can have some snack stands open for those who wish to take a quick bite before carrying on, of course this will affect when people can be let into the park, and therefore they should only be limited to snack stands that sell food on the go and not full entres.

Since this should be advertised as the park not being open, but one single haunted attraction only, it should be expected and indicated clearly to all those who plan to attend that nothing wil be open.

Like I said, this idea is not perfect, it can be perfected and I do look at the responses and try to adjust my idea to either go with something, or change to where that something would not be an issue. But please no bashing, just polite responses. Thanks.

*This post was edited to reflect my thoughts clearly, as well as in response to feedback and not to confuse anyone.*
 
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I went last night and I like what they're doing. a good mix of scare zones and hordes. The clown guys are awesome. However I don't really have anything nice to say about your idea.
 
While you have an interesting concept in mind...

- Letting only groups of 50 people into the park is gonna cause a huge backup at the entrance. Given the popularity of Halloween events in general, you'll need to let much bigger groups into the park to keep the lines flowing.
- You have to open restaurants. People will get hungry and complain if every food stand in the park is shuttered for the event.
- You have to realize that a lot of the locals visit BGW just for HOS. They're gonna want the rides open and will complain if they can't get their rides in during HOS.
- 70 bucks is a little steep for a glorified haunted house, especially with cheaper (Hunt Club) or more expanded (Haunt) options out there. The price should be more reasonable if you're not running any rides/attractions. Even if the actors were allowed to touch you, curse at you, etc, $70 is still pretty expensive.

I'd say keep a combination of scare zones and hordes. Have a few hordes of monsters roaming the park and have a few scare zones scattered about here and there. What they have now is good, but could definitely be expanded on much further.
 
I see what you are saying, basically a creepy, old, closed, amusement park... interesting idea, but I think that many people would not be happy... now here's an idea, have the park open for regular hours on Friday to Sunday with traditional HOS, but Monday through Thursday have this idea implemented with hours of 6 to 10 or 11, they would not have to have everyone who works there working, as a lot would not be open, but enough people who work there are not in school or other work to do this... thoughts?
 
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Thanks for the input FALNROX, yes that is the idea, but still have the clowns, zombie ect. but you certainly improved upon it and made it better. OR also, just implementing this idea for one night only on Halloween, or is that too restrictive?
 
no problem... my sources in the park say that the scariest time to be in there is when the park is closed and there is no music playing... they could easily just shut the park down, block off certain areas, and let guests roam through the main path with scare actors along the way... I think it would be creepy and awesome
 
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Realistically, I highly doubt they could sell tickets for such an attraction- especially not enough to justify the staffing requirements.
 
Having the park open for a "Hos alone" during the week is an amazing idea. basically have bgw become the discovery island of halloween events... even if its only done on thursdays, if they could manage about 2000 guest paying for a more intimate experience each day they do this, i believe they could profit... they could create a sub-event that focuses on atmosphere rather than startle.... a good atmospheric scare does take time to build up, and a trip around the park with props around the pathways, lights on, sound and effects on could actually do the trick... about 150 scare actors and some merchandise and food stands... 1 security guard per maze and scare zone... maybe a couple of park ops in few spaces... they might be able to budget something like this to under 20k a night. charge 50 for non season pass holders. 25 for season pass holders. their maximum income at the door would be about 80k... not including parking for the non season pass holders. they could probably even allow up to 4000 a guest a night. even if they only did this during halloween week nect year...... the potential for an idea liiike this is immense.. now the only problem i see for this... is that in order to pull this off theyd have to pump money into the event like never before. the paths would have to be filled with scary things.... and wait! nhis would even be the perfect way to implment an age limit!. sorry about how sloppy this is. will edit later when not on my phone....
 
^ Your sort of on the right track, but like I said not all the houses open, just turn the park into one haunted house.

The potential for something like this would be an industry first, the capital could be immense, and the return hopefully can be successful.

I think they could implement this idea by testing it first, open this idea on Halloween night, then the year after extend it to the last week, then throughout Howl-o-Scream. If they wanted to test it out they could go with that. I mean, I would want to test the idea like that, because one day couldn't hurt them.

Also, they would have to be on point with Howl-o-Scream, as far as pathway decor goes and staffing scare actors.
 
That would be an amazing idea, it gets better and better the more I think about it. But I think they could atleast have the coasters open, or a few of them atleast
 
Well, im still on my phone but ive crunched the numbers a bit. So you staff the park, 300 workers for an average wage of 9.15 and hour. some will be paid more, some less but i figured that was a good average. Thats 16470 to run a Night (5 hours + 1 prep hour). Now, non of the larger restaurants would be open and im positive opening different stands with a few food options wouldnt be a huge problem, Cost of running a bunch of stands is negligble compared to the gains made my the food sales. As for the differences between my and PR`s ideas... I`m gonna have to say mine is a bit more realistic. Staff the haunted houses half way, with few guest running through the more experienced actors will be able to effectively staff the mazes. All of them might not be able to open, which would be fine, as long as the guest are getting to experience something unique. 4 mazes basically alone with the parks pathways haunted to a more intimate level? Basically with all cost considered im betting the park could operate this event fairly cheaply... cheap enough that it might be worth looking into... but they`d have to do alot more to the pathways in the way of scarezones... boosting the whole budget of HoS. but this idea could cause a huge spark in the industry.... as basically, bgw is really the only park i think coul
 
Original Idea - Nothing open, whole park one giant haunted house, just a walk through the park with scare actors on pathways, props, and music.

Keeping that in mind, if the park was looking for something new to break into, than they could test it out. Going off of what Youhow2 posted, have only the Howl-o-Scream attractions opened, with a smaller capacity rate for a more intimate experience that you really can't get anywhere else. Further more, this would be a great time to implement Howl-o-Scream as a separate event or even applying an age restriction. They could close the park down and clear it, like Tampa, yet when they allow people back in, only allow a much smaller capacity limit to give a more intense scare event. Also, like in the original idea, nothing open, with the exception of Howl-o-Scream attractions and some snack locations, and a gift shop for each attraction. Simple as that. The main problem is the park really has to step up their game on theme decor and scare tactics. They also need to figure out their logistical plans. When it comes to logistics, the park over complicates things or just ignores them.

This idea can also up the idea for houses to become more Alone-style, letting in fewer people, with no stacking. I think the park can really pull this off, and now here comes the bad news. The GP is going to have a hard time accepting this style. We have heard many complaints on Facebook regarding the park's closure to capacity, and with allowing an even more limited number of guests into the park, these complaints can grow, but I believe if advertised right, and logistically planned out everything, things can work out.
 
Upcharge mazes work at other parks. If other park chains can implement upcharge mazes and still be successful, I'm sure BGW can work it out as well. Just make sure you keep the maze quality (and maybe let the actors touch/curse at you or something).

The Six Flags chain has implemented upcharge mazes with one or two free ones, and I'm sure they've received backlash, but they've been doing it for the past few years now.
 
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