Color Codes: Not Yet Revealed | Rumored | Construction | Confirmed

Note: The names of confirmed attractions have links to their official pages on the Howl-O-Scream site.


Hamlets
As you'll be able to tell from the list below, the park seems to be integrating hamlet themes with the attractions in said hamlets much better than they have done previously. Hopefully this will give the event a much more cohesive feel.

• England: Crows
  No real surprise here. England has had crows for years now.
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• Scotland: Pumpkins
  This one is a little more interesting. Scotland seems to have ditched its ghost/cemetery theme in favor of pumpkins this year. Guess that means Ireland needs a new theme...
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• Ireland: Doctor Frankenstein's Laboratory
  This is a new one. It should match perfectly with Fiends as well as a little something else that has yet to be reviled. Technically it doesn't fit very well with Thirteen but I guess I'm willing to give them a pass seeing that you enter Thirteen outside of Ireland.
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• Wild Reserve: Cemetery
  The Wild Reserve gets the cemetery/ghost theming that was located in Scotland last year.
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• France: Rats
  France gets the rats theme that we've seen since, what, 2009? At least it fits well with Catacombs.
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• New France: Spiders
  Spiders. Nothing too interesting there.
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• Rhinefield: Vampires
  Thought Rhinefield was rumored to be getting a full Lady of the Gardens theme, it looks like we'll see Vampires here as well as in Oktoberfest. Sorta disappointing to be honest.
  Info coming soon
• Oktoberfest: Vampires
  Yes, vampires. Lets hope they don't sparkle. At least the theme will flow nicely with Bitten and the new vampire-themed show going into Das Festhaus this year.
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• San Marco: Archaeological Dig Site
  This is one of the more interesting changes this year. In the past, we've seen witches and whatnot in San Marco but I'm very intrigued by the dig site theme. Not only does it match perfectly with San Marco's new show, Dig it Up, but it also meshes well with Deadline. If pulled off right, San Marco could be a very neat hamlet this year.
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• Festa Italia: Clowns
  Ah, my favorite. Clowns. After tons of begging and pleading from a good number of people here (myself included) we finally saw them return last year and, by the sounds of it, they're back again this year. Festa's theme goes hand-in-hand with Fear Fair as well.
  

Houses
While there's only one new house this year, there will be plenty of tweaks to the existing ones to both improve upon what we saw last year as well as to keep things fresh.

1. Thirteen in Ireland
   Last year's most advertised (and potentially most disappointing) house returns again this year with some teaks and changes. With any luck, the famous "It's a bat" scare will be gone this year.
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2. Catacombs in France
   Catacombs debuted back in 2009 and is, once again, returning this year. It's a solid house but don't expect it to be up to par with the houses that premiered at last year's event.
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3. Root of All Evil in Rhinefield
   What started as a tour of the park's greenhouses turns sour when the Lady of the Gardens shows up. More to come on that house soon...
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4. Bitten in Oktoberfest
   Yes, Bitten is returning once again. Everyone seemed to be ready to shove a wooden stake through its heart last year but hopefully the changes coming this year will improve things a bit. Don't hold your breath for anything too impressive though.
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5. Fear Fair in Festa Italia
   Last year Fear Fair started off rather, well, awful. The good news? As the event went on, Fear Fair improved by leaps and bounds and became my favorite house in the event's history. Hopefully they will continue to build on the success that they achieved last year with this fantastic house.
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6. Deadline in San Marco
   Deadline, the last of the three houses that debuted last year is returning as well with some changes that will hopefully make this fantastically themed house even better.
   

Shows
This year we get two new shows and the only one that's returning from last year is being moved to a new location and getting a massive overhaul. The park is dumping a ton of money into shows this year- there's no doubt about that.

1. Fiends in the Abbeystone Theater
   Last year's extremely controversial show returns, nurses and all, to a less controversial location. Hopefully the move to the Abbeystone will silence last year's complaints as well as provide a better show than what was possible in Das Festhaus. Needless to say, there will be a ton of changes this year in order to make the show work on the Abbeystone's stage.
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2. Night Beats in Das Festhaus
   Basically it's a vampire themed music show of some kind. Should have more on this one soon.
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3. Dig it Up in Ristorante della Piazza
   This is the second new show for this year's event. It was originally planned to debut at last year's Howl-O-Scream but was cut at the last minute due to budget constraints.
   

Other
(More to come?)

1. Two Roaming Monster Hordes around the park
   This year the park has moved away from the scarezone concept and will instead use two hordes of monsters (20+ actors each) which will roam around the park. From what I understand, they will actually be stopping in each hamlet they come to for a set amount of time to preform pre-planned scares using the hamlet's props and theming. Perhaps it's best to think of them as scarezone actors that rotate between scarezones. It sounds like sort of an odd concept to be completely honest.
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2. Inoculation Station in Ireland
   Jello Shot shop staffed by the Nurses from Fiends. I know there will be people here who love this addition.
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3. Open Casket in Oktoberfest
   Open Casket will be a temporary bar set up where Wunderbarn is currently located. From what I have heard, it'll be themed after vampires and coffins to match the rest of the hamlet's theme.
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4. Howl-O-Scream Shop in Der Marktplatz
   Not much to say here. It's a shop for Howl-O-Scream stuff.
   

I think the big news already is that BG sent out a survey gauging the popularity of a pay event. Interesting idea, it will be worth watching to see how it flies with the pass holders.

(10-24-2011 08:52 PM)studiopzp Wrote:  it will be worth watching to see how it flies with the pass holders.

I'm pretty sure I can tell you how that'd go.

I actually hope it becomes a pay event, especially if it gets us Christmas Town free. It is more logical. Howl-O-Scream can be more adults, Christmas Town can be more families (as in it being free for pass holders, more families will go more often). I think it would be best for both events in the long run.

Does anybody have any idea what the logistics of this would be? Would the close the park at a certain time and reopen?

And before anyone gets delusional about this, this would be an EXTREMELY unpopular move with the GP.

Indeed, the details are really important with this, it would also require BG to stay open past 10 in order to let people get their money's worth.

11 PM on Fridays and Sundays and 12 PM on Saturdays? They have the crowds to justify it...

I could deal with that, 6-12 is enough time on a Saturday. Another aspect would be if there's an age limit. If there's an age limit, that would be the best way to get support for it.

10-2. Additional $15/20. 18+.

I'd take a look at the way Tampa does it. Park is open all day. Hos starts around 7, but you can get in at 5 with a hos ticket. You get a wristband when you go in. After 6 or so you have to leave if you weren't there for hos. If you were there before you just flash your hos pass and get a wristband.

their event goes from 7-1 Thursday and 7-2 Friday and Saturday. Don't know how well their system would work here, but they certainly could draw from that.

I doubt Thursday would work here, especially if it ended at 1.

There's no way they'd go to 2am on the first up-charge year- it's too much of a risk.

This idea would be a huge blow to passholders. I can't fathom the blowback. Nor do I see any possible reason to justify this. The event is already wildly popular.

I think that right now, we all should just wait to see the details of this. It might just be well worth it.

Are there any county or state regulations restricting how late BG can stay open? I was thinking maybe a noise ordinance or something to that effect.