Busch Gardens Howl-o-Scream detailed Picture Walkthrough and Review

Marquibiri

HHN Addict!
Joined
Jun 25, 2009
After attending HHN for 5 consecutive years, I decided to finally include a trip down to Tampa to visit Busch Gardens (which I had not been to since 1988!) and for Howl-o-Scream.
The park was great, no queues, and went for the front row on all coasters. Loved Shreika!
Anywho, this picture walkthrough and house reviews is for Howl-o-Scream.
Let me just say how much I loved the event. I went on the first Thursday after Freaky Preview, Thursday September 27th.
Here goes:

Arrived at Busch Gardens the previous day before park opening. Rode all rides and got to know the park well.

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The day of the event arrived a bit later, using the shuttle from the hotel I booked (Holiday Inn Express & Suites). The shuttle ride was great! The hotel was very good too, and so near.

Did more rides and took a picture of some of the props inside the Shop of Horrors. Also purchased the HoS t-shirt.

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By 4:45 I was outside Desert Grill getting ready for Fright Feast.

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If you don’t know what Fright Feast is, see and read the picture below..

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By 5:00pm, I exchanged my vouchers with the event wristband, as well as the purple Fright Feast wristband (gave me early access to houses from 7 to 7:30pm and then front of the line until 8:30pm, excellent deal).

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By 5:55, I was let in (second one in after what I believe to be a tour group). To the left, there was a picture spot with some naughty nurses (still not out though) and to the right, the bar!

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Continues…

Marquibiri :thumbsup2
 
Here are some pics of the buffet and show. To my surprise, it was pretty good!

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..And of course, I needed to purchase the souvenir mug (which I like much more than that of HHN with the blood they had for XX and 21) with lots of alcohol.

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Now I was all set to watch Fiends! It started at 6:30pm and it was pretty good!

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Continues…..

Marquibiri :thumbsup2
 
About five minutes before the show was over (6:55pm) I left the Desert Grill to find these creatures waiting for me outside…

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I quickly took their picture and headed to Zombie Mortuary (I had carefully practice the route I would take for the event, during the event. I even timed myself during the day!).

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I was the only one waiting for 7pm to come by and go in…
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At 7 sharp I was let in, all by myself, and was the first one in the house! Here’s another pic (a bit blurry and terrible angle) which I took later in the evening of a zombie outside the Mortuary house(kinda reminds me of the zombie girl of the Walking Dead House found outside the actual house).

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I then jogged, yes, jogged to Nevermore..

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From there, I dashed to Ultimate Gamble, zooming past the Faded Memories scarezone. The scareactors kept saying, “Where are you going”! It was hilarious…

When I arrived at Ultimate Gamble, it was 7:27pm, a few guests waiting for the 7:30pm opening time were lined up to enter the house. I showed the fright feast wristband and was let in right away. Loved the house and oh, by the way, that makes it three houses I went through all alone with no one else around, so that is totally different and more spooky experience…

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Continues..

Marquibiri :thumbsup2
 
From Ultimate Gamble, I kept on dashing, through Zagora Café to NightShade Toys,..

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..and then straight to Blood Asylum..

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Finally, Circus of Superstition…

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Done! All houses done by 7:55pm. Amazing, wonderful, excellent… But wait, I still have half hour of front of the line, so let’s get back to it! Wait times were amazing anyway…

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By 8:30, I had redone Zombie Mortuary, Nevermore, and Ultimate Gamble again using the Front of Line. Then, started doing the houses in the normal line and there was minimal wait all night long! I loved it! After the fourth time around the park, my feet were killing me, so for the fifth run, I did the houses twice! That’s 6 times in total per house. I had to skip Zombie Mortuary on the fifth turn because it had a 20 minute wait. Imagine that, a 20 minute wait only! I want back after midnight and the line died to 5 minutes and did it twice, just to say that I had done all houses 6 times.

Oh yeah, I also had an 11:30pm ressie for Alone, all by myself…

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Continues..

Marquibiri :thumbsup2
 


Here are a few other pictures of scareactors, the faded memories area, and shows..

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At 1:15 I left the event and took pictures of the decorations and props at the entrance of the park..

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Excellent event! I’ll try to follow-up this thread with the house reviews (from what I can remember) shortly….(this week)…

Thanks for reading…

Cheers!

Marquibiri :thumbsup2
 
Thanks so much for the pics...I am an HOS scream veteran, and I learned years ago that Fright Feast is worth EVERY penny. My hubby and I can usually manage all the house before the 8:30 end time as well. Its awesome. We are going on the 25th, and Thursday and hoping for cool weather and low crowds!
 
Great pics! We moved to Tampa last year, and haven't attended the HOS event before. I have a 14 year old who thinks she is brave and wants to do both HOS and HHN, but she's only ever been to kiddie haunted houses, so we are a bit nervous about her doing. And my 12 year old is scared of ALL, she is afraid of Haunted Mansion at Disney, so pretty sure she won't be wanting to go any time soon, LOL. What are your thoughts on the level of the fright factor? Would HOS be a good way to introduce dd14 to "real" haunted houses? I am thinking that my dh would take her, since she already tried to talk us into going with her friends, and we were pretty confident that would NOT be a good idea. I want her to get a good fright but hopefully not be so scared that it is a bad thing, ya know?
 


Thanks so much for the pics...I am an HOS scream veteran, and I learned years ago that Fright Feast is worth EVERY penny. My hubby and I can usually manage all the house before the 8:30 end time as well. Its awesome. We are going on the 25th, and Thursday and hoping for cool weather and low crowds!

Agree! Fright Feast is a must! I hope I will be able to fly in (from overseas) again next year and attend the event.
I actually wanted to do a private tour but couldn't book it by myself, neede 2 ppl at least. I think I saved a good deal of money doing it by myself and at my fast pace...

Great pics! We moved to Tampa last year, and haven't attended the HOS event before. I have a 14 year old who thinks she is brave and wants to do both HOS and HHN, but she's only ever been to kiddie haunted houses, so we are a bit nervous about her doing. And my 12 year old is scared of ALL, she is afraid of Haunted Mansion at Disney, so pretty sure she won't be wanting to go any time soon, LOL. What are your thoughts on the level of the fright factor? Would HOS be a good way to introduce dd14 to "real" haunted houses? I am thinking that my dh would take her, since she already tried to talk us into going with her friends, and we were pretty confident that would NOT be a good idea. I want her to get a good fright but hopefully not be so scared that it is a bad thing, ya know?

My daughter is 1 year old. I still have to wait quite a few years (more like a decade + a couple years) before thinking about taking her.

I enjoy horror, suspense, thriller movies!
The fright factor was pretty high, IMHO, especially since I did a few houses all by myself. I took my wife to HHN two years ago and she left the park after the second house (she went back to the hotel).
Worst case scenario, she can skip the houses if she doesn't like the first one. Going behind a conga line is not the same as going alone, so that might help..

Cheers!

Marquibiri :thumbsup2
 

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