Event SeaWorld San Diego Howl-O-Scream 2025

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Wild Atlantis

Wild Atlantis

The Giant Dipper sucks
Jul 26, 2022
210
621
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san diego
If you had full control and an infinite budget for this event, what would you do to improve it for future years?
I would build a pertinent haunt building behind Emperor to replace the parking lot mazes. I would also expand the event to the whole park, putting a maze back near where Twister was and filling all of the stadiums with shows. I would also give the whole event a myths and legends of the ocean theme. Giving Journey to atlantis a overly to expand the story of the event
 
Wild Atlantis said:
If you had full control and an infinite budget for this event, what would you do to improve it for future years?
I would build a pertinent haunt building behind Emperor to replace the parking lot mazes. I would also expand the event to the whole park, putting a maze back near where Twister was and filling all of the stadiums with shows. I would also give the whole event a myths and legends of the ocean theme. Giving Journey to atlantis a overly to expand the story of the event
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I'd eliminate all of the existing mazes, except maybe Area 64 which is semi-unique to this park (though I'd upgrade and enclose it). Bring in 7-9 new enclosed houses that all adhere to sea themes, have larger and more elaborate sets with more special effects, and are complemented by matching themed zones with scarezones, bars, street entertainment, etc. One of the themed zones would definitely have to be Atlantis, and would include a projection mapping show on the ride building and a scary ride overlay for JTA.
Some other themes that would work well are pirates, sea monsters, a haunted seaside inn/lighthouse, "beneath the ice", a submarine where the sailors have gone insane, sirens (if you can differentiate from the Atlantis theme), and a swamp. Honestly, they could realistically rework some of the existing houses to these themes. Also, a "haunted SeaWorld" theme: it's the 70's and you board the skyride on an eerie, ominous night, arrive and disembark at the fog-filled station on the other side, and make your way through a maze of demented throwbacks to SeaWorld history before re-embarking to go back to the park.
Monster Stomp is great so I'd keep that. I'd make the opening "scaremony" something similar to the Sirens Song from SWO. The current number of "Vile Vignettes" is probably enough, but I'd upgrade most of them to have more actors and bigger production value.


Also, I wanted to give my $0.02 on HOS this year because I thought it deserved to be talked about 🙂
  • There definitely seemed to be an improvement in the number of scare actors. The mazes and the scarezones never felt abandoned, and it made everything so much livelier.
  • The mazes were mostly unchanged, but there were a few scenic upgrades here and there. Still, having more scareactors made them feel totally different than before. Every maze except the pitiful carnival one had legitimately scary/suspenseful moments, something I'd never experienced at this park before.
  • Scare zones got an upgrade in both staffing and scenery. I love the scarecrow/farm one even though it's not sea themed; whereas most of the scare zones are spooky/cheeky, this one feels more horror oriented.
  • Entertainment got the biggest boost. Monster Stomp was excellent, and the Vile Vignettes were better than last year. I especially appreciated the JTA tie-in one, which gave a lengthy backstory for Allura and Atlantis (I have to assume this was someone's passion project), and I hope they'll expand upon it next year with more actors and effects.
 
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I noticed a few new props and set pieces on Sunday. I'm really rooting for this to become an amazing event, and last year was an incremental improvement. Ultimately though I think it's going to come down to HOS in San Diego getting the same funding as HOS at the other United parks, which it evidently hasn't if there's been no budget for a new or significantly altered house in four years.
 
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Wild Atlantis said:
New mazes is replacing nightmare experiment.
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A new maze would be awesome! Too bad Circus of the Damned isn't getting replaced haha. But from the website it sounds like it's just going to be another slight refresh of Nightmare Experiment and one or two others. Added props and details are always welcome, but I suspect locals in SoCal are getting bored of seeing the same five mazes every year. The only major new addition I see for this year is the Overgrowth scare zone, which is actually a little surprising because I know they wanted to do something special for their fifth anniversary.
 
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Wild Atlantis said:
Would It be so hard for them to buy some tents death water Bayou desperately needs to be enclosed. Also circus of the damed needs to be removed or themed desperately.
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Maybe I'm wrong but I think they might've at least partially covered Death Water Bayou last year? But I agree, aside from scenes that are explicitly meant to be outside there ought to be a ceiling, otherwise it breaks the immersion.

It's a mystery to me why Circus of the Damned hasn't gotten at least a major overhaul in all these years. It seemingly stays up year round now, so there's ample opportunity to add scenery and effects. I could seriously make a noticeable improvement to this house with a quick trip to Spirit Halloween.
 
Well, no one is talking about HOS on here, so I guess I'll give my little review now lol.

This year felt like an improvement in a few areas, though it's still frustrating that it clearly hasn't gotten the budget the other parks have gotten and still has the same five mazes it had in 2022.
  • Circus of the Damned finally has some decor and props, so there's something to look at besides just the walls. That and the music (and the actors who lean into the rave-like vibe) actually make it kinda fun now, though it's still the weakest maze by far.
  • The other mazes got some noticeable changes too. Lots of (I think) new moving set pieces and animatronics; one of my favorites was a large monster animatronic in Death Water Bayou.
  • The Fanta branding everywhere was silly but they did actually have some interesting looking cocktails at the "Fanta Fright House" bar.
  • The quality of the alcoholic drinks was generally better around the event too. I couldn't spot all five of the speakeasies, but the 3 that I went to had better drinks than their speakeasies have had in the past.
  • Food offerings are still subpar. There is one restaurant open during HOS, and it basically just serves chicken tenders and burgers. They should at least introduce a special menu for that restaurant during the event that's more interesting and varied than their standard offerings.
  • Monster Stomp is still a good show. I liked that there's now a "vignette" show that accompanies it just outside the theater.
  • The Dolly Delightful mini-show is fun too and has a cool set.
  • Scarezones were hit or miss. Felt like they generally needed more actors to actually be scary or entertaining.
  • There were some other miscellaneous things added that made the event a little better than past years. The live dj with the fire effects over by JTA, roaming actors interacting with guests (even outside the main pathways), and added decor were some of the main ones, but I think there's been some effort to overall make HOS feel a little less "slapped together" for lack of a better way to describe it.
I'd say if you've already been in the last three years you're not missing much by skipping this year. But it is starting to at least feel more like a proper theme park haunted event, even if it's not a particularly high budget one.
 
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Zachary said:
Thanks for the roundup! I feel like I never see ANY mention of this event online. Curious to try it some day just to compare.
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Yeah, it's weird. Like even most locals in SD don't really talk or even know about it. It always amazes me that people actually show up when out of the hundreds of people I know in the area, the only ones who've heard of HOS are the ones I've taken there myself lol. I think it's just not very established, at least not yet. Here's hoping they'll get there though!
 
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