Howl-O-Scream is under-rated for sure! In my opinion it's much scarier and overall better than Halloween Horror Nights. The biggest, and probably only negative is HOS don't have the money that HHN has to make as many house with expensive details. But HOS, unlike HHN, don't have security in every room telling you to move along and hurry you through their houses and thus ruining the scare factor. Also, HHN is always a conga line and never a break between guest unlike HOS.
I talked with a friend who visited HHN last weekend and they weren't happy with it. Said he spent a lot of money and didn't get to go through their 2 best houses as the lines were over 3 hours for their best houses.
Howl-O-Scream, for many of us Floridians know is cheaper, less crowded, scarier, and more fun.
Glad you got to experience it. No word on Gwazi, but wood don't weather good in Florida. I think it'd cost too much to take apart a weather damaged (?) ride and ship it and attempt to assemble it back together and hope it runs well. I think maybe... firewood? Sad.