Mini TR: ZooBoo [Lowry Park Zoo]

[Homer]

ZooBoo is an annual Halloween event held at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa that is a great family friendly alternative to HHN and HOS. Most of the workers were either volunteers from local college clubs like the Circle K (me) or part-time workers that were mostly unmotivated.

 

A few weeks ago, I got presented an opportunity that I doubt anybody would want to say "no" at. That opportunity? A scare actor for a haunted house. While The Bowl is creepy as is, fast forward to yesterday afternoon. After dealing with the good fun of getting lost on the Crosstown and Dale Mabry, then the fun of Tampa traffic on "Malfunction Junction" (where 275 and 4 meet), my group was late to ZooBoo. The result? All the scare actor positions taken and being left with the choice of either ticket taking or being a ride operator.

 

Of course, being the nerd I am, my friends and I signed up for ride operator positions. That night, my friends and I operated a ride called the "Muster." It was a little kids monster trucks ride with goats in the middle. However, the entire time, we all felt like we were "excess baggage." We helped little kids get in the cars and strapped them in while an unmotivated worker just pushed the buttons. In the meantime, it started to rain and since Muster was an electric tracked ride, the ride was closed for the night as with most of the other rides. So, my friends and I ended up having a free ride to ZooBoo and we got to check out most of the things they had to offer.

 

On to the part people care about a little more, the houses:

 

Shipwrecked! (7/10)

 

Shipwrecked was a decent house that attempted to have a backstory of sorts, but for the most part the house felt like it was too short. I know this event was not supposed to be extreme like HHN and HOS. But for the most part the scares were decent.

 

Factory of Living Fear (8/10)

 

If anything felt slightly creepy and seemed like a moderate house at HOS, this was it. It had a decent length and TONS of strobes and animatronics. The scares were slightly creepier and a few animatronics got me scared as well. Not bad for a zoo that does not really have a budget.

 

Unearthed! Secrets of the Museum (7.5/10)

 

Somewhat decent scare wise, but it felt like it could have used a few more scare actors. But the part where you're stuck in a hallway with no lights startled me a little bit and the house was also well themed too.

 

Midway Madness (4/10)

 

This house seemed like it would be scary if you were under the age of 8 and kind of a disappointment at the same time. For one, there were absolutely NO scare actors. And two, it was nothing more but a walk through of some clown statues and a spinning barrel illusion in the beginning. I have to give this some credit for being a family event and I'm sure it will spook young kids, but don't expect much.

 

That was basically all of the haunted houses. Spooky Trails was closed and Little Tyke Boo House seemed too scary for us, so for the rest of the night we hung out on the carousel. By about 9 PM the park was dead and so it was nothing more but everybody waiting until 11 to leave. All in all, despite setbacks, I had a great time.

 

On to the part people would actually read, the photos.

And whats a better way to end a Halloween TR than with a picture of a Pumpkin.

 

HOS next week. Thanks for reading!

CHOOSE A CAPTION

 

1) While Scott's TR of the zoo had cute Pandas, I had demonic Pandas instead.

 

2) Staring contest. Go on, you can beat him.

The list of houses. As you can see, this event is a family friendly alternative to the extreme events of HHN and HOS.

Nearby was also a skyride that was running empty almost the entire time.

Don't be a dope, you can't eat the soap! I smiled.

The station of the Muster ride. This kids area was decently themed as well.

The Muster ride had a nice Ram habitat in the middle.

Instead of scaring, tonight the Bowl will be stapling children. Ooooo, scary indeed.

And we're finally here!

And after 20 minutes of bumper to bumper, theres our exit!

No, I won't.

Rush hour traffic.

[Team Thriller]

Nice pics.

 

(That traffic reminds me of Seatille

[TheRapidsNerd]

The Bowl? The BOWL??? Awesome!

 

Yes, some times simple park trips turn into wierdness, even for special events. Still neat to see and glad you shared. - The Mullet

[J-Man]

haha finally a zoo boo tr, i work there every year (for the past 5 years) and every year it gets better and better.Tonight i worked in Shipwrecked, I gave some good scares tonight.