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Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Howl-O-Scream 2023

We got to the park and parked in the Italy parking lot, (a bit surprising, considering we had to park across the highway last year) and rode the tram to the park. Once we got into the park, I went to customer service to get a camera card, so I could record on rides, and make this video. We first went to Festa Italia, to ride Pantheon, but it was closed due to weather, so we decided to go over to Oktoberfest and ride DarKoaster. We had never ridden DarKoaster yet, nor did we ride DarKastle, as it closed just before my first visit. We waited about 20-30 minutes to ride, which wasn't that bad. We got assigned the back row and had a fun time. We then got a pretzel, and a drink, and rode Verbolten. The ride was great, except that we were being pelted by the rain. It was still fun though. We then went over to New France and rode InvadR, and man, it was flying. We then decided to get food at the Festhaus, but we decided to take the train there. We got on the train in New France, got off at Festa Italia, and walked back to Oktoberfest. When we walked in, we realized that a show, Phantoms of the Festhaus, was about to start. After we ate, and watched the show, we went back to Festa Italia because despite being there multiple times, we hadn't ridden Pantheon or Apollo's Chariot. We first rode Pantheon, and my dad and I rode in the front (for the video, of course), and my mom and brother rode towards the middle. Most of the rows were a walk-on, except for the front. By this time, the haunted houses were open, but we decided to do the indoor ones first, so we headed over to Lost Mines: The Decent. This is under Escape From Pompeii and took the place of Inferno, which wasn't that great. I thought it was a pretty good house, and 100% an upgrade from Inferno. Next, we went over to Killarney/Ireland and realized that we probably should get our stuff from the locker, which was still near Pantheon. So, my mom and I walked across the park, from Killarney to Festa Italia, and back. We then went to Killarney Diner: Infested. We walked right in, which was such a difference from last year. The first half of the maze was pretty similar, with dead bodies and all that, but the second half, after you leave the dining room of the diner is different. You walk through a dark, empty tunnel, and come across a giant ant, so that's pretty cool. You exit out of a castle into Killarney, which used to be a VR motion simulator ride, Battle for Eire. We then walked through the calmer area of the park, with the animals, like wolves, and birds, and the former Pet Shenanigans theater. We then entered France, where my dad and I rode Griffon in the front row. It was the first time I rode in the front row, and it was really fun. We then entered New France, the Meat Market, with more bloody, chopped-up bodies. We walked through Germany, which was Scary Tale Road, and finally got to Oktoberfest. We first did Witch of the Woods: Scorched. We didn't have to walk all the way around the Festhaus this year, we instead went through the pavilions. It was still a long walk, just a little bit less long. We walked passed the former Drachen Fire station and storage building. We finally reached the actual house, and it seemed very different than last year. It was cool though. We then went to Nevermore: Chapter 3, which takes place in the former Drachen Fire station building. It was a cool house, with some cool scenes and characters. We then rode Verbolten again, then made our way over to Festa Italia once more. We went to the back of the area, to Death Water Bayout: Full Moon. This house had some interesting scenes and characters too. We rode Apollo's Chariot, and Pantheon, and Apollo's Chariot once more, in the back row. Before we left, we rode Loch Ness Monster, then we rode the tram back to the parking lot. Overall, it was a good day. It was raining for a while, but it was better towards the end, and we had fun the whole time.