My ticket was provided by Busch Gardens. All opinions are 100% mine.
This year’s Howl O’ Scream Busch Gardens trip was like no other I have ever done.
First of all it was WEEKS after I normally go. I usually try to get there opening weekend to avoid the crazy crowds.
I love these guys. They look so calm during the day and at night their faces light up!
Second I wasn’t there first thing in the morning. We had worked our trip around someone’s schedule who ended up bailing on us so we didn’t get to the park until almost 1:30 in the afternoon. I paid the $10 for premium parking- totally worth it after waiting an hour at the gate to get in!
These hanging pumpkins are probably my favorite decoration. They also light up at night.
Third- the park was at capacity. I’ve never been in the park at capacity. And the weekend before I went the park was closed due to a “little bit of rain” that turned out to be Hurricane Matthew. So I think it was extra crowded because of that. It was NUTS.
What’s New This Year?
Circo Sinistro– Let’s start with the highlight. Circo Sinistro is the newest Haunted House. It’s a circus theme but they went more with creepy dolls instead of creepy clowns which is great. My friends and I wanted to try to go through it first thing. The scary part of Howl O’ Scream begins at 6:00 p.m. so we headed over to Italy to go ahead and get in line at 5:30. I figured we would be toward the front, go through the house and then be on our way. I was starving.
In spite of being 30 minutes early the line was already wrapped through the back portion of Italy. We waited over 90 minutes to get into the house.
I do have to say it’s a really amazing house. Probably my favorite in the park to be honest. You are greeted at the door by a creepy ring master who introduces you to the theme and also helps keep the groups moving along. Once you are inside it’s small staircases up and down and fantastically themed rooms- including one where you choose the direction you want to go. (Choose the red and white stripes- it was super fun). Also I LOVED the mannequin room.
I heard one of the employees say that the lines for that house tend to get shorter at the end of the night. I am guessing everyone has the same idea we did- try to get through there first thing. The park closes at 11 so if you show up around 9:30 or 10 you might have a quicker journey in. This one is absolutely a welcome addition to the park- I can’t wait to do it again next year.
Starfright Orchestra– This year the Starfright Orchestra is back in the stage of Italy’s il Teatro Di San Marco. I had never seen them before (they were off for a few years) and was excited to see a packed house. When the singers came out I was thrilled to see local performers (Busch Gardens doesn’t hire nearly enough in my opinion). The band was awesome. The material was HORRIBLE.
I only made it two songs before we ducked out. It was just cheesy. I know perhaps my expectations for shows at a theme park might be high but Busch Gardens is the reason they are. Their shows are normally top notch. I wish they had just let them play great Halloween big band music and left off the cheesy performances by the singers.
No Escape- Escape Room– I am an Escape Room pro. A group of friends and I have done three of them now (our fourth one is coming soon) and we love them. Every time they pop up on Groupon I grab a deal so we can go. But I couldn’t bring myself to swallow the $40 a person for a 30 minute escape room at the park. With so much else to do it just wasn’t in my frugal vocabulary for the day! I am sure you can find reviews online to give you an idea of what it’s like!
What Else Did We Do?
So food was a huge issue. We needed some and the lines everywhere were absurd. I thought we might have luck at LaCucina because it’s a buffet (so the line would move faster). It’s all you can eat pizza, pasta, salad, and dessert. Plus drinks are included in the meal so it ends up being kind of frugal.
James took a selfie with a creepy clown!
The running joke of the night was that the people who worked in LaCucina looked MISERABLE. I think they were just over the park being so crowded. The girl who took our money was fine but the people inside slinging pizzas did not seem happy. But we were just there to eat and run so we got our stuff and headed out to the park.
As we were heading to our next destination we ran into some friends and decided to head over to the Fest House to check out the lines at the houses near it. My faborite haunted house last year was Lumberhack. It’s kind of out of the way so I thought there was a chance the line wouldn’t be too long and I was right. 20 minutes later we were happily being chased by a maniac with a chain saw.
Near Lumberhack is Bitten. 75 minute wait. We checked Cornered. 90 minute wait. So we headed over to Scarlett’s Revenge- the house that was new last year.
Now during all of this we have an ongoing pursuit.
Meanwhile one of the girls in our group, Leigh, has seen people carrying around these stuffed pumpkins. They are EVERYWHERE in various sizes. And she has severe pumpkin envy. She wants a pumpkin.
So over in Italy we see the BIG pumpkins. She tries to play the game and can’t beat it. We leave defeated.
As we head to the Fest House I see pumpkins in a game. We run over. It’s the wrong size pumpkin. Defeat again.
After Lumberhack I see yet another stand. We have found the correct pumpkin! It’s turns out it’s a water gun game and it only needs two players. A play is $3. Leigh ponies up the $6 and plays against James. VICTORY IS HERS and she walks away with the perfect sized pumpkin.
The preferred pumpkin!
Scarlett’s Revenge was as good as I remembered it being last year. The detail in the house is incredible and the wait was only about 30 minutes since we were now getting closer to the park closing.
Then we dashed over to England to see my favorite show- Monster Stomp. That did not change this year- STILL love Monster Stomp. Mainly due to these guys in the picture above. INCREDIBLE knife skills.
Overall it was a good visit but we couldn’t do nearly as much as I wanted. I will always advise people to try to go as early as possible (meaning in September and earlier in the day). I think we could have done much more if we had arrived earlier- although we did ride several of the normal rides before it got dark.
If you want to head to the park Howl O’ Scream runs through October 30th. And check out the Busch Gardens Virginia Coupons to find the best ticket prices in town!
