ajs2294

Obligatory on ride shot and accompanying off ride video below!

Got to ride Falcons Fury twice tonight (I work at Adventure Island). It was my very first drop tower so I was definitely nervous. BUT it was absolutely awesome! The way up feels like a life time especially when you turn and face the ground. I must say the drop is really quick and not violent at all. Well worth it for the view of Tampa alone! ps- your legs swing freely and theres just enough space so that you can feel yourself fall as it faces you down

I finished up my second trip to HHN this year last night. I went last Wednesday the 16th and last night the 24th. I have been wanting to go to HHN for years but lived in Tampa so always 'settled' for Howl-o-Scream. I have heard a lot about HHN for many years which probably hyped me up but I couldn't help but feel disappointed at first. Its only after I assessed my trips I realized the true differences between the two events. HHN has much more detailed houses based on actual movies/shows which are fantastic although they feel very short and really on a few true scares not startle scares. HOS seems to have longer, less detailed houses with more much more startle scares. I will admit I have not attended HOS this year but Thursdays at HOS in years past are extremely quite. Where as HHN Thursdays still rack up 140 minute waits through the night. Wednesdays are a bit quieter but it only opens to 12am which can really cut back on what you can experience. I have also given up on being scared in houses. I am not trying to prove how manly I am or any of that non sense as I truly would enjoy the adrenaline of getting scared but it just doesn't happen which is kind of disappointing for me and I hoped HHN would scare me due to all the hype surrounding it. I guess what I am trying to say is HOS and HHN are both very respectable events in my opinion with their own strengths and weaknesses but neither is 'better' than the other, IMO. For those interested on how much I got done on each day. The Wednesday I managed to do 4 houses and all rides. Thursday I managed 7 houses and 3 rides. Both days without express passes. Favorite houses this year; 1) American Werewolf in London- unanimous favorite among everyone in my groups 2) Evil Dead- Strictly for the sets and following the movie story line. Perfectly executed. 3) Llorona- I read up about the premise of this house on the forums and thoroughly enjoyed it. 4) Cabin in the Woods- Once again this house followed the story quite well with many noticeable scenes 5) Walking Dead- Mainly for the length of the house and the familiar props, however the walkers were not true to the show 6) Havoc 2- Having low expectations for this house definitely helped. Girls in my group got good scares throughout 7) After Life- I've never been a fan of 3D houses they all feel the same and every park has one... 8) Resident Evil- I'm not going to lie I have never played the games nor watched the movies. Felt lost in this one. In regards to the Harry Potter expansion I have a friend who works at US and seems adamant that each 'train' has 500k in audio visuals. Take it for what its worth since he is only a ride op lol. Also, does anyone have the drop height for RRR? I can't believe its 167 feet :/

I went to Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream last night for the third consecutive year and my 7th overall time and for the first time I honestly can say I left doing everything but still feeling unsatisfied. In years past I made the mistake of going on Fridays or Saturdays without front of the line passes which for me makes for a miserable night waiting in outrageous lines and only managing to do one or two houses. This year I spent the few extra dollars and came prepared with "Front of the Line Fear." As far as these passes go if you want to hit every house and get the full HoS experience buy them, they will save time and frustration. But as an overall event this years collection of houses just left me wishing they would of done more, it seems in recent years Busch has become content in recycling more houses than making new ones. Recycling houses on Busch's budget isn't a big deal, but at least make alterations to keep a fresh feel. Death Row Vengeance and Deconstruction are back for the 4th year in a row and seriously need to be removed, yes they make for a decent first time through fear factor but after that they become pretty short and boring. Nightshade is back for a third year but I will give this house the credit it deserves in the creepy factor but I hope its seen its last showing in the HoS line up. This years 3 new houses also left me feeling kind of empty towards the 2011 HoS lineup. Nevermore replaced the "DED" house of previous year but retained many of the scares which was a let down. Vampire Casino just felt empty and lacked any real scares similar to the MyX house of last year that it replaced. And lastly Zombie Mortuary as far as new houses go this had to be best, even though once again many scares from trapped in the walls of years past were reused. I feel I may have enjoyed Zombie Mortuary more if I don't have such high expectations of Mortuary scares thanks to the old house back in the 2002-05 seasons. Overall this years Howl-O-Scream is not a memorable one and if you are a frequent HoS attendee or plan on going to another Halloween attraction I'd urge you to skip it. Busch really needs to revamp its house line up for next year!

So following up my Howl-O-Scream trip Thursday (10-21) I had a great time and the amount of people in the park was perfect. They were actually letting people go into the park right when I arrived at 7:10 which was a pleasant surprise. I managed to walk straight into MY X, D.E.D, Taste of Blood, and Trapped in the Walls along with riding Kumba by 8:45ish. After a little break we continued to do Death Row Vengeance this one we had to wait about 15 minutes I guess by this time I was running into the small crowds that turned right when they entered the park, left is definitely the way to go like others have said btw. After that I headed over to Deconstruction which was a bit of a pain to with all the construction and had a small line also (Inside the old Akbars tours building cues I always feel like im a cattle going to slaughter lol). Also managed to ride Montu the lines went a bit slow taking about 35 minutes to get on. Once off Montu I had to fight through the narrow path back over to Night Shade and once again walked right in. All houses done along with Kumba and Montu by 10:30 made me a very happy person. The rest of the night I spent walking around the park and watching Fiends. I ended the night going through D.E.D again due to its proximity next to Fiends, I was actually in the last group to go through it for the day and the five people behind disappeared in the house! Only thing I feel missed I out on was ALONE is was skeptical about the house and never pre-ordered the tickets My personal house rankings- 1) Death Row Vengeance- Mostly for the fact I've been wanting to get in the house for the last few years and never got in, great special effects and very neat ending 2) Night Shade Toy Factory- Was my favorite last year near the top once again very creepy feel to the house 3) Trapped in the walls- Another house that I've been wanting to get in for awhile, it was pretty neat and some good scares but the whole paranormal investigation theme was lacking 4) Taste of Blood- I was very surprised with this house some unique effects in it especially the one near the ending. It was also neat to see some props from my old favorite the Mortuary returning. 5) D.E.D- Went it it twice a very funny house with some hot chicks making it a must do but it lacking in any real scares 6) Deconstruction- Didn't do anything for me. Kind of annoying with all the noise and overuse of strobes lights still, along with the fact I don't see how plastic blood and guts is scary 7) My X- Personally I found this house very disappointing no scares and it seemed very short. The Scare zones this year were also lacking but the moving hoards kind of made up for it. Overall the whole event was a blast but I do feel that there is still some more work that needs to go into the houses and their scares as a bit seems quite outdated or overused.

Thanks for the fast replies. I'm really hoping its a quite night tomorrow and I get to do all the houses. I guess hillsborough was the only county that did have school I even have school and a football game Friday but I'm dying to get to Howl-O-Scream. Just last few years have been completely unacceptable imo in the amount of people they allow in. How is 2-3 hours per house a fair wait time for paying customers? I could understand missing a house or two but missing 5 really stinks. I'll also take the tip and head to MY X and then clock-wise around the park. Maybe that was my mistake in the past I always went counter-clockwise hitting whatever was in the old skyride station first.

I've been going to Howl-O-Scream Tampa for the past 7 or so years. Still don't feel like the hour trip at 2a.m home from HHN so I'll be sticking to Howl-O-Scream this year. I'm actually switching it up a bit and going this Thursday the lines on a Saturday just got plain ridiculous. Hoping this years Howl-O-Scream doesn't disappoint I'd love to make it it all the houses and not just 2 :/

Just out of curiosity if any of you have been to Howl-O-Scream this year or in years past on a Thursday how were the lines? The past few years I went on Saturdays and had insane waits of 2-3 hours so im wondering if i should be expecting that this Thursday.

Looks good, but it appears you are using a Vertical Drop coaster, although the saw ride is actually the same as the towering coaster model.