Hi everyone,
I'm new to the board. We went for our annual Howl O Scream trip to BGW last night (Sunday 10/18). I think I'm always more impressed with the zones than I am with the mazes. I usually get at least one pretty good scare in each maze, but maybe I'm just getting older.
I actually think my favorite maze was Cornered, though a camera crew went in right before us, so I'm not sure all of the actors were in place as there seemed to be several areas where I would have expected a scare but there wasn't one. Catacombs is usually a favorite, but again it seemed very light on actors. The atmosphere was great, but not many scares.
Lumberhack was a nice outdoor maze. I'm probably in the minority, but I enjoy Cut Throat Cove. I'd not be broken if it was gone next year, but I like it better than the clown one before that. I think the beginning of Deadline is a bust, but I've always like the last few rooms.
I was disappointed with Scarlett's Revenge. I don't think the use of the "Europe in the Air" screens added anything to it (though I'll say that I hate Europe in the air, so wasn't sad about the ride not being in use, lol). It was a better maze than Number 13 (or whatever the one from the last 2 years was), but still not all that. We actually missed the final scare because the exit was slightly confusing.
I always enjoy the Rum Apple Cider and I LOVED the Scarlett's Potion. I wish I had paid closer attention to what was in it.
We did the Blood Banquet. The food was SO good and perfect for how cold it was yesterday. I actually didn't mind the show. Yes, it was silly, but it was self-aware that it was silly and Igor was a really good ad-libber. We've seen Monster Stomp in the past (several times) so we went with Fiends. Which I liked well enough for what it was.
As usual the theme-ing throughout the park was great and allows for many photo opportunities. I do wish they'd add back the train ride. I'm sure it was the most elaborate thing to set up, but I always enjoyed it. I sort of miss the "Jack is Back" street party, too...
QQs are a MUST. Lines were not too bad during the day (we got there around 1pm and got on Tempesto in less than 20 minutes), but people started streaming in around 6pm and most of the mazes had at least an hour wait, so we got to do them all in about 2.5 hours with QQ. Also, several times our QQs were not even marked out and we could have done those mazes and rides again (though we had so much to do and it was a Sunday) we opted to leave when we were done with everything. I don't think the park ever reached capacity like it did on Saturday (10/17). Though I was slightly worried we wouldn't be able to get back in when we went to the car to get our coats.
We have season passes to BGW, so I know we'll go again and of course I've never had a bad experience there (at HOS or during the year) that makes me want to cancel. Kings Dominion has more rides, yes, but the overall presentation of atmosphere at BGW cannot be beat.
