TR with Some Photos: BGW's Howl-o-Scream

cfc · October 24, 2005

It was damp, drizzly October night . . . must be time for Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. But no one should go through such a terrifying, but enjoyable, ordeal alone, so my old friends Gary and Linda flew in from California to get a taste of Halloween Virginia style. Always happy to initiate some poor, unsuspecting dupes, er, I mean old fiends, er, friends to Howl-o-Scream.

There’s one little twist to this trip report. Linda suffers from nerve damage in her legs due to diabetes. The diabetes is under control, but the nerve damage is permanent, and while she can walk for short distances and transfer to most rides, she needs a wheelchair for the long haul. But what she lacks in mobility she makes up for in enthusiasm.

We hit BGW on Friday, October 21, and the weather was damp but hardly a washout—just extra atmosphere. The park’s coasters were their old, reliable selves, and it was a kick seeing Gary and Linda ride Apollo’s Chariot and Alpengeist for the first time, and they both loved Curse of DarKastle.

If you’re not familiar with BGW’s policy regarding guests in wheelchairs, it goes something like this: Your party checks in with the CM at the ride entrance and receives a pass with a return time. If it’s a slow day, you can proceed to the ride exit (or designated disabled-persons entrance), and the CMs there will get you onboard within a few minutes (the disabled person and two other riders). This went pretty smoothly with one exception. BGW is rather hilly, and it’s a bear to get a standard wheelchair down to the exit of the Loch Ness Monster when it’s been raining! It’s a fairly steep path, and Gary and I were slipping and sliding the whole way, but we did keep Linda from sailing down the hill and into the river. Overall, kudos to BGW's very helpful CMs.

Howl-o-Scream was fun, as usual, and all the mazes are wheelchair accessible (although the ground around Sea Dog Cemetery is a bit uneven). And fiendish pirates, crazed clowns, and ghastly ghouls are attracted to a person in wheelchair like an ACE member to a buffet. Linda was getting spooked constantly in the mazes, and loving every minute of it. Even Gary got into the act when I spelled him in wheeling Linda around.

Arghh, them scallywags of Sea Dog Cemetery took the prize that night. Aye, the cap’n must’ve shanghaied a few extra hands, for ye could hardly take a step without a pyrate dog or wench comin’ at ya from somwhere. Curse of Pompeii was great, and Last Laugh Industries was much improved over the beginning of Howl-o-Scream (although still not quite as good as the old Distorted Dimensions), thanks to adding more fiendish clowns.

Three minor disappointments: Sleepless Hollow Manor was fun, but a little off (for some reason, BGW made the last year’s exit into the entrance, so the maze’s climax comes at the beginning—huh?). Jack’s Nightmare Express was the same old same old—OK, but needs some freshening up. And the Werewolf Reserve was rather lacking in lycanthropes—we spotted only one lone werewolf as we ambled though (maybe the weather?).

All in all, a lot of fun—I’ll post something on PKD’s Fearfest next.