Let's discuss this in the attractions category since there's not really a special events section of the forum.

Cant wait to get out there, ill be there probably the first night with 7 of my friends... should be a lot of fun. loved it every other year so why should it be different this time...


other than the fact that they got rid of dea dog cemetary, that was my favorite attraction there

sea dog cemetary sucked anyways. it wasnt even scary, neither is sleepless hollow manor, but they are still fun to walk through.

I'm wondering if they are going to re-do the Festa Dementia clown area since the website shows it having a more Italian look and has dropped the "Dementia" off the name.

I hope they don't change Festa Dementia too much. I liked the clowns with the puppets on the bridge.

I'm also hoping they'll bring the preshow for Curse of Pompeii back. I missed that last year.

I'm confident that BGE will match or exceed yje quality of Seadog Cemetary with the new attraction. I'm also looking forward to ythe return of "Haunts of the Olde Country."

My biggest problem wth HOS is the outdoor show in Ireland that completely clogs the area. It's nearly impossible to walk through there.

Jack is Back is one big clog.
__

For being 2 weeks away, they are very ill prepared when you look back to years past. It seemed like they put tons of stuff up the beginning of august and nothing the past few weeks. Well at least they'll have 3 days of solid DAY-LIGHT preparation time, the 4 more days for rehearsal once it's completed.

I heard that in addition to the new Magic Show, Monster Stomp will be newly redone as well, as its creator "retired" (if you know about this you'll know why it's in quotes). Anyway, it has EXTREMELY HIGH standards to live up to. MS was great.

This will be my first time going down there for their Halloween event. I'll be there from September 30 thru October 1. Hopefully I'll see some of you down there,also.

Jack is Back is a congestion, but if you've ever stopped to watch the show, it's pretty good.

Me and a few other family members are headed to Howl-O-Scream on Oct. 14th. A little ways away, but that's as close to halloween as it gets for us, haha. Sucks it's a saturday, but that's the only day they volunteered to go, haha

i was supposed to be out there last night but school intervined. damn project...

im goin next friday night and saturday
maybe ill see some of you guys there

Overall HoS was well done, but had fewer decorations that the years past. I heard they were behind schedule so they may appear as time goes on. The new maze, Wicked Woods is GOOOOOOOOD and so SCAAAAAARY. I went in the daytime first and it was still scary. At night it is horrifying. There are so many people in it. Plus dead trees. The only thing was that they had evidently been there for a week and smelled like...dead trees. It will be interesting how they will smell in...a month and a half. The shows were about the same...Monster Stomp was he same, but had more people. Fiends was a disappointment. They switched the order and it only has about 10 people in the whole show...it used to be so good... Jack is back is better this year with the new lighting effectd and more speakers. The train is worse. It gets worse every year. But overall, it was well done for the first night. They certainly did a lot over the past week.

I went last night. Had a blast but actually im not really a lover ofspooky things. I went through Last Laugh Industries. That i thought was a good level for frights for me. But for some reason all of the clowns had on happy faces. What happened to the Evil Clown faces? For some reason I always love Jack's Nightmare Express. Even if it's not scary. But why when they said at the end they were going to fire things up could they have burnt down that little town. I think that would've been a great ending. Many people have nightmares about fire! I heard Wicked Woods was absolutely terrifing. Jack Is Back isn't a clog anymore. Now they have a whole roped off course for people who don't want to see the show and the cast lady told me that ifyou went through that course you also went through the Abbey Stone Theatre. Thw WereWolf Preserve got a bit more scary than years past with i think more actors and smoke.


Skyrider

I went on friday...

They had the roped off thing last year. It desn't work on crowded saturdays and for people who can't read.

Hi all,

This is my first time posting. Speaking of Jack's Nightmare Express, I remember just a year or two after they started Howl-O-Scream, the train for one year was set up themed around Sleepy Hollow. They had the headless horseman at one point before you crossed the tressle from Italy to Germany throw a pumpkin toward the train. Once the train reached the old Drachen Fire area, the headless horseman chased down the train and followed along side for a short distance. I think this is when the train was at its best.

As always, any day at Busch Gardens is a good day!

The sleepy hollw train wasn't that popular if i recall. The first year it was amazing because they had the cast of jukebox spred over the train.

The Sleepy Hollow train was just a personal favorite; I've always liked the story of Sleepy Hollow. On another note, a year or two ago, I took a few family members to Howl-O-Scream and hardly anything in the park was running. Come to find out a transformer or something blew within the park and many rides and attractions did not run for the day. A few rides were running in Festia Italia, but not much more. I hope it doesn't happen this year! We are going on October 7th and 8th and I will have about 18 family members there. For many of them, it will be their first time to Howl-O-Scream. Looking forward to it!!! One of my favorite things to do at Howl-O-Scream is to watch the guy with the puppet of a clown chase people on the bridge going over the tracks at Festia Italia. Some of the reactions are hilarious!

I remember that day. HoS was cancelled b/c theydidn't have enough generator power from the Brewery to run the park attractions and howl-o-scream stuff. They should have given you a free ticket to come back. They sent me one even though I have a pass. Oh, and the guys on the bridge in Festa are not there any more . Most of this year's budget went to the new wicked woods maze, which is amazing nonetheless.

I wasn't overly impressed with the decor around the park. I figured that it would be more decked out than what it was.

I am normally not a huge fan of scary stuff during Halloween events, but what we were able to get in before the rain started was plesant. The train wasn't scary at all, which was actually kind of a disappointment, and Curse of Pompei was just right for me.

The ratings really aren't as telling as what they seem. I can't wait to try out a "5".

The parks event seems much more family oriented than what I was expecting, which is welcome in my book.

At night, the wicked woods maze is probably worth a 5.

Is Wicked Woods a little too scary for a 13 year old?

I'm 13 and i didn't think it was too scary. It has incredible theming though! You couldn't tell it used to be a petting zoo.

I sadly didn't think Wicked Woods was very scarey, you can always hang toward the back of a group of people where you'll already know what is coming by any screams ahead of you.

I found one thing about Wicked Woods funny though, I think I found where all the chopped down trees from Griffon went to I used to use dead branches in my front yard during Halloween, sadly when you go off to college those days come to a swift end How I used to love to hear "I don't want to go to that house, it looks too scarey" muhahaha.

I thought Sleepless Hollow was the scariest, then again I went through in a group of 3 and we had no idea what to expect.

Sleepless Hollow was incredibly good this year!

My favorite will always remain as Curse of Pompeii, though.

Sleepless Hollow Manor used to be amazing when it first opened, but now the theming looks worn out and it has very few people
.

I went to howl o scream last friday night and saturday night, and it was no were close to as scary as i thought it would be. The good thing is that im not a fan of all the scary stuff, but i do like some startling. Werewolf Reserve was the best scare zone in my opinion, with the fog everywhere and the people in gilly suits underneath the fence. All the clowns had happy faces in festa italia which was really screwed up. On the train ride though, the clowns in the festa station had the evil faces on. the chainsaw guy in the england train station was pretty cool, even though he didnt take a picture with me...

I just did some research on Howl-O-Scream and found this:

• BGE changes over 5000 light bulbs
• Festa Italia is invaded by up to 30 bizarre clown models
• BGE fills the park with over 900 pumpkins and 200 bales of hay

Skyrider

^that's alot of preperation. It must cost a ton of money.

Now let's see,

For Halloween I
-change one lightbulb
-use no clowns
-put out 3 pumpkins


Pathetic, huh?

Haha better than me, I

lock the doors
turn off the lights
and hope the swarm of munchkins dont find me...

I hate living in the biggest hegihborhood in the area lmao

at least BGW has 5 months to take down the lightbulbs, and not a few days like other year-round parks

I went down there this past Saturday. It was my first time going for the Halloween event(I mostly go to either SFA or PKD for Halloween stuff). My overall opinion is that they do a great job with the mazes and shows. I especially liked the show at the Royal Palace Theatre. The mazes were great,even though I didn't get scared that much. Planning to go back in a couple of weeks. P.S. Liked the two skeletons that were telling funny Halloween jokes. That was cool!!

^Sometimes (if a new ride is being built) the skeletons will be set up in the hamlet were the construction is and talk about the upcoming attraction.

My dad 'n I always stop by to see what the skeletons have to say.

My first post awesome!
I've been to Howl-O-Scream twice, opening night Sept.15 and last weekend Sept.30. I love haunted houses, but im kind of a scaredy cat when it comes to them. Although I did go in Wicked Woods and Last Laugh Industries. In my opinion Wicked Woods deserved its 5 pumpkin rating. So many people sooo many jumpy parts, and its very long and turns zig zag like a huge maze. Beware this house is super scary at night and day!! Last Laugh Industires wasn't scary, but it was still fun for people who dont want to get too scared and just a little startled. I hope to go this friday Oct.6 with some friends IF it doesnt rain. If I plan to brave Sleepless Hollow Manor.

I'm hoping I can go tomorrow. My parents don't want to drop me off if it's raining, but I want to go rain or shine! Howl-o-Scream always gives me that extra boost of inspiration I need to really get moving on my plans for the modest haunted house I make every year.

figures. the one time im supposed to go with friends (tomorrow) theres a noreaster comming. so as expected the plans were cancelled and i have a term paper to write anyway.

Same with me. Then we were going to go Saturday, but it rained so much it wouldn't have been fun.

Edit: Can anyone who remembers them, name some of the other haunted rides that have been changed for howl-o-scream over the years? All I remember are Sea Dog Cemetary, and Demented Disortions.

^Don't forget The Dark Tower in hastings

LOL! it was the Distorted Dimension.

I went to HOS yesterday. Everything was as good as ever. There aren't words to describe the increadible quality of Wicked Woods! I went through it 3 times and had just as much fun the last time as I did the first. Let's just hope this doesn't go the way so many other BGE attractions have gone--gradually dulling until it's nothing compared to what it origionally was. The hardest part will be replacing those tree limbs each year.

The worst part for me was the dimly lit and extremely foggy corridors of Sleepless Hollow. If I wasn't following someone, I would have felt so lost. That's the one maze that could use some improvement. Hopefully, that's what will be replaced next year. (Which has been there longer, Curse of Pompeii or Sleepless Hollow Manor?)

Curse of Pompeii actually theyve had that since the second year i believe i remeber it cause it scared the crap out of me then but now its fun. Anyways one tip i will give you if you want to get all the mazes in and avoid the lines get there about an hour or 2 before closing on a sunday night the crowds start to empty out around then. That usually works for me but just to be sure get there around 5 or 6 whenever every thing opens. This will be the first year in a few years i wont be able to make it to bges howlo scream.

Overall, my girlfriend and I have been very disappointed with the event. We thought it was going to be a lot more decked out than what it was. The haunted houses and mazes were not that scary at all, though I thought they were decent.

We have just expected more from the theming and stuff.

We have made two visits so far this year, and have found that we love the park, but just believe that so much more could be done to make the Halloween event a major success. I guess it is all just because it is more family directed?

Lol I mixed that up!


Wow, I can say I have never heard of that one. It sounds really cool. Maybe it was back when I was little.

It was in 1999, and quite possibly the best haunted house i've ever ben in. Think the corkscrew hill queue, ride area, and exit way, only heavily themed...

I was just on the Howl-O-Scream website and found out that Wicked Woods isnt considered an attraction instead a Scare Zone. This is probably old news for you guys but I never even checked. Also just went looking through Busch Gardens gallery and found Howl-O-Scream 2006. Pretty good pictures too.


Skyrider

How have sundays been this year? i should be leaving on a last minute decision with friends to go out there in the next 10 minutes or so... hopefully since its a sunday there wont be many lines we will probably stay until closing.

Sundays are probably the least crowded days but as time creeps tword halloween it will get more and more crowded.

I was there last night, nothing was too "Scream your Ass off" scary but there was some pretty great stuff, all i got to do was Nightmare express, Curse of Pompeii, and Wicked woods but they were really cool!!! It was really crowded last night, and the scariest part was probably when a man, screamed "Get out the way, move, move!" it scared the shit out of me cause he was loud and i didnt know what was going on. It turns out the lady, his wife had an uncontrolable disease (teretts) and she couldn't help herself from yelling and flailing everywhere in the middle of like a 200 person crowd over by the bridge and Alpie.

I got out there finally last night. looked really crowded but it turned out to be amazing, there was about a 20 minute wait for apollo, longest all night. Loch ness was short. Alpengeist was maybe a 3 train wait... the attractions were amazing. we got chased by a clown in last laugh industries because a girl i was hanging out with blew him a kiss. then again on the new maze by the dead bride.

all in all it was amazing the lines were short, were gonna try again and go out there on the last day the park is open.

Wait where was The Dark Tower located again?

I went to howl-o-scream on saturday. It was so crowded that they were parking people in the Bavaria parking lot. Somehow, we got a spot in the Germany parking lot. Even though the park was extremely crowded, we still managed to get on every howl-o-scream attraction, because the staff did a great job of getting people on.

Curse of Pompeii- Not much has changed since previous years. The first room is now filled with a heavy mist that can be pretty refreshing, but is really hard to see through. Shortened the little intro story. 7/10

Last Laugh Industries- Still a little tacky and geared towards younger kids, but the effects, scares, and theming, have improved alot since the September. The line was very fast and efficient. Overall it was a great experience, even though it's for kids. 7/10

Sleepless Hollow Manor- The size of the building has remained the same, yet the interior path has probably doubled in length. The fog and strobe light use has been increased to a point where it is near impossible to see in certain parts. A thing I liked alot is how many different things a single actor can do to scare you. One actor got me three times by doing three entirely different things. Very well themed. 8/10

Nightmare Express- Very childish and not even scary at all. The theming was excellent though which made up somewhat for its suckiness. Of course though, one must remember that this attraction is geared toward the younger ones. The overall experience, though, has slightly improved since last year. 6/10

Wicked Woods- Busch Gardens has done it again! This attraction is the best in the park and is extremely heavily-themed. In some parts I was actually scared, which is rare. This attraction is probably the best thing since the Dark Tower. In one part, there are about 20 people standing perfectly still in a large circle. When you walk through them one of them will be real and will jump at you. It is near impossible to tell which is the real one. 9/10

Overall, Howl-o-scream was very good this year and I give it a total of 8/10

And remember everybody, just because something is not as you expected, doesn't mean that it isn't good.

-Jonathan

Does anyone remember the preshow for Curse of Pompeii when the scafolding fell over? I really miss that.