On July 15th we published a story summarizing our thoughts on what appears to be a major shift in direction for Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s annual Howl-O-Scream event. If you have yet to read our last post, I highly recommend you do so before continuing.
Within that article we reported on a permit filed for the construction of a new Howl-O-Scream house code-named the “Woods Maze” located on “an elevated walkway in a wooded portion of the park behind the former Drachen Fire site.”
Today we’re going to publish the plans for that new Howl-O-Scream house. Sounds fun, no? Lets jump in.
Location
We know from the permit that this “Woods Maze” will be located “behind the former Drachen Fire site,” but that is a very broad description of its location—we need to narrow that down a bit. Well, after a fair amount of time spent researching and comparing various satellite and topographic maps, I am fairly certain I’ve worked out the house’s exact location.
Assuming my analysis is correct, the “Woods Maze” will be constructed in the rectangular area sectioned off by the Rhine River to the north, the railroad to the east, Festhaus Park to the south, and Verbolten’s final drop to the west. I know this area is probably not the easiest to visualize, so I put together the composite satellite map below.
I have to say, I was a bit surprised by my findings. I fully expected the “Woods Maze” to be constructed behind Drachen Fire’s maintenance building or even back towards the greenhouses behind Festhaus Park. I didn’t quite expect the park to go this far off the beaten path. That said, in light of the fact that the park hasn’t expanded outside its current bounds in a very, very long time, it’s exciting to see development happening in a previously untouched area of the park’s property.
House Layout
Now that we’re fairly certain of the “Woods Maze’s” location, lets take a closer look at its layout.
I know the site plans above are a bit difficult for the untrained eye to read, so I’ve created a modified version of the first one that should better emphasize the walking paths. That can be found below.
I imagine many people are going to question why there are three different walkways that connect the new house to the service road pictured in the plans. To answer that question, I believe the middle path will likely be used exclusively for evacuations, cast entry and exit, etc. With that detail in mind, I’ve included a map showing my best guess as to how guests will experience the “Woods Maze” directly below. Hopefully everyone finds it helpful!
That’s about all I have to share for today. Hopefully all the other Howl-O-Scream fans out there find this “Woods Maze” project as intriguing as I do. As I said in my previous Howl-O-Scream 2015 post, I really am very excited by what we know of this year’s event thus far and that’s something I haven’t been able to say about Howl-O-Scream in a very long time. Here’s to hoping Busch Gardens Williamsburg pulls through this Halloween. I know a return to a haunt-focused Howl-O-Scream would make a lot of people very, very happy, myself included.
Stay tuned to BGWFans.com and our social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) over the coming months as we unearth more information about Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s 2015 Howl-O-Scream event!