I always enjoy going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) for their Howl-O-Scream event. The atmosphere throughout the park and the haunts are always among the best in the region. Having them included in the price of admission as opposed to being an upcharge has always been a plus too.
In recent years due to the pandemic and visiting with friends who don’t do haunts, I haven’t had the opportunity to experience Howl-O-Scream in its entirety. My hopes for this visit were to spend the day riding all the coasters, run through each haunt once, and then squeeze in some night rides before close. With the park open 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., and it being a Sunday (October 1), I figured we could that happen.
Plans Changed
Originally this visit to BGW was to include Eric, his wife Sherry, my friend Jen, and myself. Mid-day we were to meet up with Chris, Carrie, and several other members of their family. Sadly Eric and Sherry had to pull out last minute. Jen and I did meet up with Chris and Carrie, but we only stayed together for the Death Water Bayou: Full Moon haunt.
After Death Water Bayou, Jen and I decided we wanted to ride Pantheon and Apollo’s Chariot in the dark since they were nearby. Chris and his family were mainly there for the shows and haunts, so we split up and never got together again for the rest of the night. Jen and I also decided to focus on night rides at that point although we had only done three of the park’s five haunts.
Over 2 Dozen Rides
It had been 18 years since Jen has last visited BGW. She was excited to get back to the park and wanted to ride every coaster. Plenty has changed since she visited. Since her last visit the park has added: Griffon (2007), Grover’s Alpine Express (2009), Verbolten (2012), Tempesto (2015), InvadR (2017), Pantheon (2022), and DarKoaster (2023).
Well, we rode all those and more. We rode most of them several times too. Yes, even Grover’s Alpine Express. Back row! It’s wild.
All kidding aside, BGW was empty when we arrived. My plan was to head directly to DarKoaster since it’s famous for its long waits and bouts of downtime. Once again, we didn’t follow the original plan. We began the day with Loch Ness Monster and worked around the park counter-clockwise. Here are some of our stand-out rides/experiences of the day:
Griffon
Griffon ended up being one of Jen’s favorite rides. It was her first-ever Dive Coaster and she loved it in the front row. We rode it a total of four times, with three times coming in the front. While in the front we also managed to ride on the far left, far right, and in the middle to experience the full gamut of different sensations the train’s wide 10 across seating provides. Furthermore we also managed to ride it early in the day and was also on the final train of the night.
Whenever I have a chance to visit a park with someone who enjoys coasters, but isn’t an enthusiast per se, I always love to get their feedback on what rides they enjoyed the most.
“I loved the first drop after the hold,” Jen said. “It’s so fast, smooth, and exhilarating. I love it. A new fav for sure.”
Dive Coasters tend to be popular rides among park guests. Although us enthusiast tend to overlook them for more intense rides, they’re a great fit for parks and clearly crowd pleasers.
DarKoaster
I was so scared that we would walk into the queue for DarKoaster to find a 45 minute wait (or longer) by time we finally made our way back to the ride. We had already rode Loch Ness Monster, Finnegan’s Flyer, Griffon (2), InvadR, Alpengeist (2), and Le Scoot. I had also stopped in several shops looking for pins, so people had plenty of time to work their way back to the ride and build up the line. What we found was a 20 minute wait at most. The queue began for us in the room featuring King Ludwig’s painting. Not bad.
After a back row ride Jen asked if I wanted to ride again since there wasn’t much of a line. Plus the ride didn’t take our photo and we wanted one. When we went back in, we found the line to be even shorter. This time we walked all the way up to the ride operator who assigns rows. We were told to go to the back row once again.
Having ridden this only in the front, back in June, I did prefer these back row rides. There was a bit more whip through the course than I remember. I also saw what Chris had mentioned about the video projection shown at the end of the ride. From the front row, you don’t see much of anything. From the back you can’t miss it. I feel like that shouldn’t be the case. Perhaps BGW can change up the timing of that final theming event to play out a little bit sooner so the entire train can experience it?
Pantheon
I think I’m finally ready to move Pantheon over Alpengeist for my overall favorite coaster at BGW. I’m sure many of you will call me crazy for not having it there immediately following my first rides in 2022. My love for Alpengeist and all the memories I’ve had while riding it made it hard to justify it not being my favorite. Well, I’ve made a bunch of memories on Pantheon now too with so many crew members and friend. It’s time. The ride is amazing and one I love to ride several times every time I visit.
Jen certainly loved Pantheon too. Just like Griffon, it was one of her favorites of the day.
“Pantheon was like nothing I’ve ever ridden before. It starts off fun and then falls backward. Going super fast forward, backward, and forward again through the launch is such a rush and so much fun,” she said.
Final Ride Counts
Alpengeist (3)
Apollo’s Chariot (3)
DarKoaster (2)
Des Wirbelwind (1)
Finnegan’s Flyer (1)
Griffon (4)
Grover’s Alpine Express (1)
InvadR (2)
Le Scoot (1)
Loch Ness Monster (1)
Pantheon (3)
Tempesto (1)
Verbolten (2)
Haunt: Death Water Bayou: Full Moon (1)
Haunt: KILLarney DIEner: Infested (1)
Haunt: Lost Mines (1)
One Jam-Packed Day
After visiting Hersheypark with Jen back in August, I knew she was someone who can keep up with my desire to ride, ride, ride. Had you told me how many rides and haunts we’d experience before this visit, however, I would have doubted you. We managed 25 rides among all the coaster, flats, and flumes. Heck, had we not worn pants to the park we would have had 26 because the park was running Roman Rapids. I haven’t been on that in well over a decade and have been itching to ride it again.
While I wished we could have squeezed in the two other haunts to say we did everything, I’m not upset. Getting night rides on Pantheon, Apollo’s Chariot, Alpengeist, InvadR, and Griffon (2) certainly made up for it.
Hersheypark Photo Gallery - October 1, 2023
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Chris
Ensign
New Credit(s): n/a
Carrie
Ensign
New Credit(s): n/a
