A look at Busch Gardens’ Scary and Merry event
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay holds many seasonal events, however, Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town fans received a preview of those two opportunities during an exclusive Scary and Merry event on July 25, 2023.
For one day only, Busch Gardens guests could have some spooky season fun and Christmas season fun. For the scary part, guests entered a walk-through one of the haunted houses for this fall’s Howl-O-Scream, The Residence: Home for the Holidays. And for a Christmas-in-July feeling, guests could meet Santa at the Pass Member Lounge.
We were fortunate enough to experience this special event. The two aspects of Scary and Merry occurred from noon to 4 p.m.
The Residence: Home for the Holidays at Busch Gardens
The Residence: Home for the Holidays Howl-O-Scream house is a returning house for the 2023 season. Though walking through a Howl-O-Scream house during the daytime hours feels strange, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay made a wise choice utilizing this house for the promotional day of Scary and Merry.
In case you were afraid to watch our video above, The Residence: Home for the Holidays house consists of various set pieces and corridors themed to the holiday season gone horribly wrong. Guests walking through this house saw various settings ranging from a front porch, kitchen, bathroom, and laundry area, to other indoor and outdoor locations at a standard home. All of these areas contained holiday décor to pair with the haunted elements.
A bonus for this lights-on walk-through involved scare actors being randomly in certain locations in this Howl-O-Scream house. Guests received no indication that scare actors would or would be part of this special event.
We went through Home for the Holidays three times. The first time we went through, a scare actor met us in one room with props. She did a wonderful job without the normal amount of darkness to help in her quest to scare guests.
In other locations, scareactors hid behind walls and other props. They popped out to catch a few guests off-guard.
Only a small number of scare actors participated in the house during this afternoon event. If you visit Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for Howl-O-Scream 2023, far more actors will participate in bringing a frightening experience to you in this house.
At spooky events like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort, guests enter houses in one long line of people. This is often called a conga line. This method gets more people through the houses. However, guests may miss significant scary moments since other guests enjoyed them.
Pulsing at Howl-O-Scream
At Scary and Merry, guests were pulsed through The Residence: Home for the Holidays. With this method, Busch Gardens only allows one group at a time to enter the house. This allows guests to enjoy all the work of the scenic designers. More importantly, guests receive the scare actors’ full attention. This creates a better overall experience for fans of spooky houses. For those more easily scared, you have fewer places to hide this way.
Based on our experience with haunted houses at other theme parks, we found this house quite entertaining. We also appreciated the length of this house. We have walked through haunted houses at Cedar Fair, Six Flags, and Universal theme parks in the past that were noticeably shorter.
Though this may not be practical, some guests suggested they would love to see this house stay open through the Christmas Town event at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Based on this lights-on walkthrough, that might make a nice addition to the Christmas Town event.
Santa, I know him!
The merry part of the Scary and Merry event involved meeting Santa in July. Santa looked happy to have us visit him. Well, we did come specifically to see him. His elf, Pixel, greeted us with good cheer. After chatting with Santa, we had some pictures taken with the jolly fellow. Most guests appeared happy with their interaction with Santa in the air-conditioning on a warm Florida summer afternoon.
Overall, this event served as a great opportunity for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to promote Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town coming up later this year.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is holding a “Sinister Sale” through July 30, 2023. This saves guests up to 70 percent on single-night tickets to Howl-O-Scream this year. For more information, please visit the Howl-o-Scream website.
