Halloween Horror Nights 2012 has come and gone and my third year of attending this incredible event is behind me. In trying to think of how this year will stick in my memory it was hard for me to come up with an answer. 2010 will stick in my memory as the first year I attended the event and therefore that year will always have a special place in my heart. Last year will stick in my memory as the year I went every single night and for that it will have a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, I think this year will stick in my memory as the year of insane crowds. Thanks to the text message wait times I compared last years average wait time to this years average wait time. Last year the average wait time was 26.7 minutes for a house, this year? 48.3 minutes. almost twice as much. Those numbers include the first and last hours of each night which typically have no waits, so the middle of the nights would see average wait times of about two hours this year, as compared to about an hour last year. Overall the house lineup this year wasnt as strong as last years, but was better than 2010's, however the event as a whole, including street atmosphere was the worst of the 3 years ive attended. This is forgiveable because of all the construction going on in the park right now (transformers, harry potter) it was impossible for Universal to put on the type of grand scale event everyone has become accustomed to. There are 3 houses from 2010 that I miss alot, 4 houses from last year that I miss alot, and I think in a year, there will only be two houses from this year that I miss alot, Dead End and House of Horrors. Dead End took you through a house haunted by ghosts victims of gruesome murders that happened there. It was basically a walk through version of Disneys Haunted Mansion and it was an amazing house. House of Horrors took you through black and white versions of Classic monster movies, Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, the Mummy, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. This house started off as my least favorite of the event at first because i thought it was to simple, but after several run throughs it was obvious this was by far the scariest house of the event because of how high energy the actors were, getting right up in your face. For that reason, I fell in love with this house. My final house count for this year is as follows
House of Horros: 25
Alice Cooper:19
Penn and Teller: 18
Walking Dead: 17
Gothic: 18
Dead End: 18
Silent Hill: 16
Bill and Ted: 23
Total: 131
Compared to last years number of 226, I didnt get through nearly as many houses this year. Again, the crowds.
Now onto the best part of every HHN, and a spectacle not to be missed, the final Bill and Ted show of the year. I think the fact that every year all the HHN dies hards spend the last hour of the event seeing the final show rather than getting one last run through their favorite houses proves how much of an impact this show has on people. The actors go all out and the audience cheers racously throughout the whole show, there really is no better way to end the event than with fellow Die hard fans of Halloween Horror nights cheering along to the final show, its kind of like a going away party.Here were some notable things that happened during the last show this year
1. After the opening dance number the actors would always dry hump each other for about 5 seconds or so before the principal of the school would break them all up. for the last show, the dry humping went on for about a full minute and a half, causing the crowd to go into an absolute frenzy the longer it went on.
2. During normal shows after Bill and Ted said theyd signed a domestic partnership agreement, and the principal would say, "thats for gay people", Bill would reply with a phrase like "Like Dwight Howard going to the Lakers gay?" or "Like replacement refs in the NFL gay?" there was about ten different ones he would use. During the final show he used all ten of them right after each other, with the crowd reciting all of them with him. After he was done, he pointed at the crowd and said "like the audience knowing my lines better than I do gay?" Then he looked at Ted and said "like wearing a wig thats the same color as your hair gay?" citing him wearing a black wig even though the actors hair is black. Ted replied "Like dying your hair for a theme park show gay?" citing the actor who plays Bill dying his hair yellow every year for the show. the whole part, which normally lasts ten seconds, lasted five minutes, mostly because they had to stop for a few seconds after each one to let the crowd go nuts.
3. During normal shows, a guy playing a high school teacher would slap one of his students butts, the principal would then look at him and say "yea, your fired." during the last show, the principal walked up and smacked her butt also. they went back and forth smacking her butt about ten times while the audience went crazy before they finally ended the scene.
4. When Bill and Ted introduce Abraham Lincoln (as the Vampire Hunter) during normal shows he would come out in leather pants, during the final show he came out in nothing but his underwear.
5. During the Avengers scene thor came out with ponytails in his hair, and the black widow, normally in a conservative cheerleaders outfit, came out in just a bra and skirt.
6. During the Avengers scene, when thor puts him hammer down, during normal shows Ted goes to try and pick it up, but can not do it because only thor can lift the hammer. During the final show, Ted lifted the hammer up off the ground, prompting the audience to go nuts, leading ted to say "Its just a shitty hammer, calm down."
7. During normal shows Ted would say "the best thing about America is, we have our own show every Halloween." During the last show he said "the Best thing about America is, we have the best fans in the entire world."
8. During the Avengers scene, when Hulk starts getting mad the Black Widow screams "Oh Yea rip your clothes off!" to which Bruce Banner replied "Seriously, you sound more desperate than Taylor Swift right now." During the last show he actually did take his clothes off, when Captain America said "Even in the cold weather Ive got more than that."
9. During the Snooki scene, after she has her baby, during normal shows it would go flying across the room and Ted would catch it. During the last show, Ted dropped it (intentionally) The crowd went crazy during this, because I think every one was expecting to drop it accidentally at some point during a normal show, but it never happened.
10. During the Obama rap scene, right before he was about to rap, he decided to call Michelle out to do the rap for him. During normal shows, a michelle obama characters was never part of the show at all, so I think this shocked the audience. This moment by far got the loudest reaction from the audience, as almost everyone was on their feet cheering.
11. During normal shows, after Obama was finished withi his rap, hed go to hand the microphone to Romney, but right before Romney would grap it, hed drop the mic at his feet. During the last show, Michelle actually handed it to him to which Romney said "Wow, you actually gave me the mic unlike your dick husband, Im putting you in my binder."
12. During ther dick clark scene, when dick clark says Ryan Seacrest was the biggest douchebag hes ever worked with, an actor playing Ryan Secreast came out and said "what the hell man." he said more but the crowd was cheering so loud I couldnt really hear it. Like the michelle Obama thing, a ryan seacrest character was never part of a normal show, so it was another big surprise.
13. During a scene where a guy is doing an interview with planned parenthood, the guy getting interviewed says "Thanks for the job, also I banged your wife." To which the person would reply "your fired." During the last show he replied "so has everyone else."
14. During the Magic Mike scene when one of the girls says "lets see your magic wand" the magician actually pulls out a wand, well the girl was insinuating she wanted to see his man parts. During the last show, he pulled out a wand that was about five feet long, to which the girl replied "thats what ive been waiting to see!"
15. During the princess pageant, during normal shows the judge would turn to snow white and say "Id love to dip you in polynesian sauce"' and then move one. During the last show, after he said that snow white pulled out a container of polynesian sauce, smeared some on her face and let the judge lick it off.
All those hilarious things, plus the audience interaction made seeing the last show an incredible way to end Halloween Horror Nights 2012. Cant wait until next year!
due to the increbly strict rules against filming the Bill and Teds show, this is the only known footage that got leaked this year. This is part of the dancing finale, not from the last show, but it will be the only way to relive this years show from this point forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4NCZPBho9E
Here are some quotes Ive read from people on Halloween Horror Nights forums the past couple days
Its funny how much i slept yesterday after HHN... i got home, ate, passed out... woke up briefly & then slept some more. This year wiped me out and I didnt even go as many nights as last year. Most likely due to having to deal with the crowds...
speaking of the crowds... awful awful awful. I never want to see another long line again... ever.. lol
(okay.. anytime soon
honestly feel glad it is over. in 7 years that I have been going to HHN this is the first time I feel that way. I never felt that way before I was always sad about the end of HHN. I would miss it. right now this week at least I feel a little bit relieved. It makes me sad to admit this, because of the crowds and because I Was not as excited to see the houses as years before. really this is the first year I felt this way, just glad is over right now. I enjoyed it a lot but I ended up skipping some days at the last week too.
Its so weird because I honestly feel the exact same way. The one emotion I had when it was all over was relief, compared to last year which was straight sadness. I was just so sick of the crowds. I am going to immensely miss seeing Bill and Ted though. It was something I could look forward to every night to just forget about everything and laugh for a half hour. I love HHN for the houses, but Bill and Ted is what keeps me coming back every night. 322 days until HHN 23
Friday, November 2, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
top 10 HHN scenes of 2012
The haunted houses of Halloween Horror nights are all a collection of individual scenes which mesh together to create the most immersive and impressive haunted houses in the world. Its not a coincidence that Halloween Horror Nights has won the award for best halloween event in the country for the last 15 years or so. They win it because they have an amazing ability to completelt immerse you in the environment they are trying to create. Unlike traditional haunted houses, which use effects such as darkness and strobe lights as you walk through, HHN uses movie quality sets in its houses to make you feel like you are really there. This post is dedicated to honor the individual scenes that I think best exemplify that immersive feeling this year. There are seven houses and each one has about ten scenes, so this is the top ten of about seventy.
HOH finale
Light room Newk Vegas
Conservatory scene
Chapel scene
10. Attic Scene (Dead End)
9. Pigeon scene (Penn and Teller)
8. Nurses scene (Silent Hill
7. No more Mr nice guy (Alice Cooper)
6. Creature From The Black Lagoon (House of Horrors)
5. Barn scene (Walking Dead)
4. Light room (Newkd Vegas)
3. Chapel Scene (Gothic) - This scene uses an amazing effect that makes you feel like you are hundreds of feet up in the air on the roof of the cathedral staring down into the chapel. Its an incredibly convincing effect and executed perfectly.
2. house of Horror finale scene:This scene was billed before the event as having the most scareactors in a single room in HHN history, and I believe it. You walk into the room and are attacked from all sides as the Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, CFTBL, Boris Karloff, and others all get right in your face. To add to this immersive feeling like youve just walked into every Universal horror movie ever is long strips of film depicting these characters on them.
1. Conservatory scene (Dead End) - a very cool scene, this reminds me a little bit of the outdoor scene from legendary truth two years ago. The three scareacors in this room are all on point and agressive, and the set and props are the best in any HHN scene this year.
At the end of the day, the scenes this year are very dissapointing compared to last year. The top 4 on this list are amazing, after that it was hard to come up with a top ten. Last year, it was hard to come up with a top ten because I felt there were about 15 amazing scenes. This is my top 10 last year,
10. extraction facility (saws n steam)
9. hospital scene (nightingales)
8. The raven scene (Nevermore)
7. Light up hallway (inbetween)
6. finale of winters night
5. Spaceship (the thing)
4.Masque of red death (Nevermore)
3. String room (inbetween)
2.Leg rip scene (saws n steam)
1. Courtyard scene (forsaken)
All 10 of these scenes are better than 5-10 this year, highlighting my dissapointment with this year.
HOH finale
Light room Newk Vegas
Conservatory scene
Chapel scene
10. Attic Scene (Dead End)
9. Pigeon scene (Penn and Teller)
8. Nurses scene (Silent Hill
7. No more Mr nice guy (Alice Cooper)
6. Creature From The Black Lagoon (House of Horrors)
5. Barn scene (Walking Dead)
4. Light room (Newkd Vegas)
3. Chapel Scene (Gothic) - This scene uses an amazing effect that makes you feel like you are hundreds of feet up in the air on the roof of the cathedral staring down into the chapel. Its an incredibly convincing effect and executed perfectly.
2. house of Horror finale scene:This scene was billed before the event as having the most scareactors in a single room in HHN history, and I believe it. You walk into the room and are attacked from all sides as the Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, CFTBL, Boris Karloff, and others all get right in your face. To add to this immersive feeling like youve just walked into every Universal horror movie ever is long strips of film depicting these characters on them.
1. Conservatory scene (Dead End) - a very cool scene, this reminds me a little bit of the outdoor scene from legendary truth two years ago. The three scareacors in this room are all on point and agressive, and the set and props are the best in any HHN scene this year.
At the end of the day, the scenes this year are very dissapointing compared to last year. The top 4 on this list are amazing, after that it was hard to come up with a top ten. Last year, it was hard to come up with a top ten because I felt there were about 15 amazing scenes. This is my top 10 last year,
10. extraction facility (saws n steam)
9. hospital scene (nightingales)
8. The raven scene (Nevermore)
7. Light up hallway (inbetween)
6. finale of winters night
5. Spaceship (the thing)
4.Masque of red death (Nevermore)
3. String room (inbetween)
2.Leg rip scene (saws n steam)
1. Courtyard scene (forsaken)
All 10 of these scenes are better than 5-10 this year, highlighting my dissapointment with this year.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
top 5 HHN facades
To see where this year stacks up against the past two years, Ive decided to rank my top five favorites in different categories, starting with facades.
Facades
5. The Thing (2011): This was one of my least favorite houses last year, but the facade of entering an alaskan research base was very convincing and cool.
4. Havoc: Many have said this is the best tent house facade ever, and I agree, at least of the three years Ive gone.
3. Saws N steam (2011): A very cool facade with the smokestacks and the propaganda posters with the speaker of the guy talking about the Horizon in a chilling voice, it really set the mood for the house.
2. Winters Night (2011): Generally the soundstage houses have the better facades as there is more room, and my ranking reflect that as my top two are both soundstage houses. Winters Nights had a massive facade, a gate about twenty feet high marking an entrance into a cemetary. Add that in with the hearse, and the "snow" falling and it gets number two on my list.
1. Dead End (2012): Just an amazong facade, really sets the tone looking like a run down house, you really feel like your entering a haunted house. Its far and away my favorite facade since ive started going to HHN
Facades
5. The Thing (2011): This was one of my least favorite houses last year, but the facade of entering an alaskan research base was very convincing and cool.
4. Havoc: Many have said this is the best tent house facade ever, and I agree, at least of the three years Ive gone.
3. Saws N steam (2011): A very cool facade with the smokestacks and the propaganda posters with the speaker of the guy talking about the Horizon in a chilling voice, it really set the mood for the house.
1. Dead End (2012): Just an amazong facade, really sets the tone looking like a run down house, you really feel like your entering a haunted house. Its far and away my favorite facade since ive started going to HHN
Monday, October 15, 2012
HHN 2012 review
Halloween Horror Nights has passed the halfway point, with fourteen nights down, and eleven to go. I never judge the event or review it until I have done all the houses, and seen the shows several times, as they change throughout the course of the event, and my opinions on certain things after the first week, are often completely different by the end of the fourth week, and this year is no different. Ill rank my houses in order of 1-7, then say a few things about the house, what I liked, and what I didnt.
1. Dead End: A perfect example of my opinion changing, this house was ranked fifth out of seventh a couple weeks ago, but I have fallen in love with it. The facade would rank as my number one favorite facade since I began attending the event in 2010, and its not even close. The conservatory scene is my favorite HHN scene of the year this year, and the effects are stunning. I love the effect of the ghost walking up the stairs right as you walk into the house, I love how they did the vortex tunnel, and I love the music that plays throughout the house. The library scene is pretty cool, my only gripe about this house, and there seems to be one house every year where I think this, is that it ended so abruptly. There was no real finale or sense of finishing, it just ended. Thats not enough to move it from number one though.
2. Penn and Teller: This house was my number one for the first couple weeks, but Ive gotten a tad bored with it. Its still plenty fun to go through though, and I dont foresee it falling anymore in the standings. I love the puking guy before you enter the house, and I think the highlights of the house are the opening casino scene, and the light scene is incredible. The backstage scene with the pigeons I think is what officially made me fall in love with this house, and the Buffet scene and finale are also fun. My gripes are the hotel scene is way to empty, and the chapel scene is set up in a bad way, as you can see the actors long before they get a chance to scare you.
3. House of Horrors: After the first weekend, this house was dead last in my rankings, and I even declared this was the worst house at HHN since I started going. Since then, I have absolutely fallen in love with this house. I love the prelude to the house, with the movie posters, and the run down film room. My big gripe is I think the house starts way to slow, I dont like the Wolfman scene, and I dont like the Brides of Dracula scene, but after those first two scenes the house is amazing. The dracula scare is the best of the event this year, the Mummy scene is innovative, I love the creature from the Black Lagoon scene, the phantom of the Opera Scene is eerie, the Frankenstein scene is very cool, and the finale is absolutely incredible. The best finale of the year by far, and maybe the best since ive started going.
4. Gothic: People are going to rip me apart for putting the amazing Gothic in the middle of my rankings. Almost everybody else has this house at number one this year and many proclaim it to be one of the best ever at HHN. Im putting the brakes on that, its still very good, just doesnt do it for me. My huge gripe, is its way to short. I have to think its the shortest house of the year, its the only one that consistently takes less than three minutes to walk through. I do enjoy the chapel scene, but the outside rooftop scene with the flying gargoyle takes to long to reset, Ive seen it less than half of my run throughs. The candle effect, while cool, definitely could have been executed better. The lack of variety of costumes also hurts. Number four is a good spot to me.
5. The Walking Dead: This house was number two early on, but is the opposite of House of Horrors this year, it has dropped like a rock. It has just become bland to me, part of the house seem empty. there needs to be more people than one in the second part of the barn, the finale scene is set up so awesome, but you hardly ever see any actors in it, which is always a massive dissapointment to me. I enjoy the barn scene, and a couple other cool visuals, but its just become a not so great house to me.
6. Alice Cooper: Welcome to my Nightmare: My bottom two houses this year have been in the bottom half of my ranking from the beginning and have done nothing to make me want to move them up. Alice Cooper is not a bad house, I quite enjoy it, but its just...weird. The Kitchen scene, the stripper mausoleum scene, black widow scene, all cool scenes, but just weird to be mashed together in one house. I reallly enjoy the scene that goes to the song No more mr nice guy, but the Schools out scene was a big dissapointment, no creativity. The finale was really cool, which probably saved it from the bottom.
7. Silent Hill: wow, apart from the first couple days where House of Horrors was dead last, this has been dead last since, and I dont see any way it moves up. This house is set up so poorly its a shame. The first scene with the monsters put me in a dissapointed mood already. They had no place to hide, a lackluster start, this was followed by a guy writhing in a bed, weird, and not scary. This was followed by a long hallway of lockers with no scareactors, just an annoying air effect. After this the house does get better, but by this point im so disconnected I dont care anymore. The highlight of the house is billed as Pyramid Head, but again, his placement was executed so poorly Ive only seen him 2 or 3 times out of my so far ten walk thorughs. I feel bad for the people that pay a lot of money and only get to go through the houses once a year and miss stuff like that.
Roaming Hordes: I didnt really go into this with an open mind, I wanted scare zones, and I already had in mind I would not like this. But I have been pleasently surprised. It is pretty cool to walk into a certain area and not know which horde your going to run into, which brings an element of surprise to the event, avoiding it from becoming stale for people like me who go every night. the actors themselves are really working it, Ive never seen the street actors so agressive as they are this year. Their ability to go anywhere is kind of a thin line for me, sometimes its cool, and funny, other times its annoying. There are certain places I just want to sit and not be bothered or worried about a scareactor coming at me, but this year there is nowhere to go where that can happen, apart from the bathroom. I have for the most part really enjoyed this experiment, I think it was executed very well, but with that said, I want scarezones back next year.
Bill and Ted: Im biased towards Bill and Ted. It is my absolute favorite part of HHN, I enjoy watching this show more than I enjoy the houses even, plus you dont have to wait in line! I sometimes see the show up to three times a night. That said, I love this years show as I do every year. The highlight this year would have to be Magic Mike, but the Honey Boo Boo skit is a close runner up.
The crowds: Wow, I thought maybe I was imagining things and maybe it wasnt more crowded this year than usual, but after reading the forums Im not the only one who realizes the crowds this year are insane! Nights that last year were drawing 30-45 minute waits are drawing 60-75 minute waits this year. and nights that were drawing 60-75 minute waits last year are drawing 90-120 minut waits this year. This upcoming week is known as "hell" week. Most people think the last week of the even would be busiest, but its actually the second to last week. I would not be surprised to see 3, maybe even four hour wait by Friday this week. This is really all you need to know about the crowds this year; Last year I did not have an express pass and I went through the 8 different houses a total of 226 times. This year I do have an express pass and I have made it through the houses a total of 69 times. Since were about halfway through Im on pace for about a total count of 135, almost one hundred less than last year. The biggest reason for the drop off is that most years by 1AM most everyone had left and you could walk in any house with no wait the last hour, not so this year, even as late as 1:45 this year waits have been at about 20 minutes. After a lot of thought I think there are a number of factors that contribute to the busyness this year.
1. Only seven houses: Obviously cutting down from 8 houses to 7 houses is going to make the lines longer, its basic math.
2. The Walking Dead: This is the biggest reason. I cant believe how many people this year Ive heard say theyve never been to HHN before, but decided to come this year because they love the Walking Dead. This is apparent in the line for the Walking Dead house always being at least 30 minutes longer than every other house.
3. Construction: This doesnt make it busier, but its the reason why the whole park has been a major cluster of people this year. With so much construction theres a lot less space for all the people to walk, its been a major headache trying to get around the park this year.
Overall: Of the 3 years I have attended so far, this is the worst. I think the house lineup is actually stronger overall than it was in 2010, but the crowds, combined with the lack of scarezones, and lack of a theme, make me say that overall 2010 was an event year. This year doesnt even touch last year, as im told by many long timer HHN goers that last years house lineup was the best ever, and its certainly the best in the three years Ive been going.
Dead End as my number one favorite this year probably ranks as my number three favorite all time.
Last years number one Saws N Steam is still my number two favorite ever.
2010's number one Catacombs is still my favorite house Ive ever been through.
I wouldnt put any other house this year in my all time top 5
1. Dead End: A perfect example of my opinion changing, this house was ranked fifth out of seventh a couple weeks ago, but I have fallen in love with it. The facade would rank as my number one favorite facade since I began attending the event in 2010, and its not even close. The conservatory scene is my favorite HHN scene of the year this year, and the effects are stunning. I love the effect of the ghost walking up the stairs right as you walk into the house, I love how they did the vortex tunnel, and I love the music that plays throughout the house. The library scene is pretty cool, my only gripe about this house, and there seems to be one house every year where I think this, is that it ended so abruptly. There was no real finale or sense of finishing, it just ended. Thats not enough to move it from number one though.
2. Penn and Teller: This house was my number one for the first couple weeks, but Ive gotten a tad bored with it. Its still plenty fun to go through though, and I dont foresee it falling anymore in the standings. I love the puking guy before you enter the house, and I think the highlights of the house are the opening casino scene, and the light scene is incredible. The backstage scene with the pigeons I think is what officially made me fall in love with this house, and the Buffet scene and finale are also fun. My gripes are the hotel scene is way to empty, and the chapel scene is set up in a bad way, as you can see the actors long before they get a chance to scare you.
3. House of Horrors: After the first weekend, this house was dead last in my rankings, and I even declared this was the worst house at HHN since I started going. Since then, I have absolutely fallen in love with this house. I love the prelude to the house, with the movie posters, and the run down film room. My big gripe is I think the house starts way to slow, I dont like the Wolfman scene, and I dont like the Brides of Dracula scene, but after those first two scenes the house is amazing. The dracula scare is the best of the event this year, the Mummy scene is innovative, I love the creature from the Black Lagoon scene, the phantom of the Opera Scene is eerie, the Frankenstein scene is very cool, and the finale is absolutely incredible. The best finale of the year by far, and maybe the best since ive started going.
4. Gothic: People are going to rip me apart for putting the amazing Gothic in the middle of my rankings. Almost everybody else has this house at number one this year and many proclaim it to be one of the best ever at HHN. Im putting the brakes on that, its still very good, just doesnt do it for me. My huge gripe, is its way to short. I have to think its the shortest house of the year, its the only one that consistently takes less than three minutes to walk through. I do enjoy the chapel scene, but the outside rooftop scene with the flying gargoyle takes to long to reset, Ive seen it less than half of my run throughs. The candle effect, while cool, definitely could have been executed better. The lack of variety of costumes also hurts. Number four is a good spot to me.
5. The Walking Dead: This house was number two early on, but is the opposite of House of Horrors this year, it has dropped like a rock. It has just become bland to me, part of the house seem empty. there needs to be more people than one in the second part of the barn, the finale scene is set up so awesome, but you hardly ever see any actors in it, which is always a massive dissapointment to me. I enjoy the barn scene, and a couple other cool visuals, but its just become a not so great house to me.
6. Alice Cooper: Welcome to my Nightmare: My bottom two houses this year have been in the bottom half of my ranking from the beginning and have done nothing to make me want to move them up. Alice Cooper is not a bad house, I quite enjoy it, but its just...weird. The Kitchen scene, the stripper mausoleum scene, black widow scene, all cool scenes, but just weird to be mashed together in one house. I reallly enjoy the scene that goes to the song No more mr nice guy, but the Schools out scene was a big dissapointment, no creativity. The finale was really cool, which probably saved it from the bottom.
7. Silent Hill: wow, apart from the first couple days where House of Horrors was dead last, this has been dead last since, and I dont see any way it moves up. This house is set up so poorly its a shame. The first scene with the monsters put me in a dissapointed mood already. They had no place to hide, a lackluster start, this was followed by a guy writhing in a bed, weird, and not scary. This was followed by a long hallway of lockers with no scareactors, just an annoying air effect. After this the house does get better, but by this point im so disconnected I dont care anymore. The highlight of the house is billed as Pyramid Head, but again, his placement was executed so poorly Ive only seen him 2 or 3 times out of my so far ten walk thorughs. I feel bad for the people that pay a lot of money and only get to go through the houses once a year and miss stuff like that.
Roaming Hordes: I didnt really go into this with an open mind, I wanted scare zones, and I already had in mind I would not like this. But I have been pleasently surprised. It is pretty cool to walk into a certain area and not know which horde your going to run into, which brings an element of surprise to the event, avoiding it from becoming stale for people like me who go every night. the actors themselves are really working it, Ive never seen the street actors so agressive as they are this year. Their ability to go anywhere is kind of a thin line for me, sometimes its cool, and funny, other times its annoying. There are certain places I just want to sit and not be bothered or worried about a scareactor coming at me, but this year there is nowhere to go where that can happen, apart from the bathroom. I have for the most part really enjoyed this experiment, I think it was executed very well, but with that said, I want scarezones back next year.
Bill and Ted: Im biased towards Bill and Ted. It is my absolute favorite part of HHN, I enjoy watching this show more than I enjoy the houses even, plus you dont have to wait in line! I sometimes see the show up to three times a night. That said, I love this years show as I do every year. The highlight this year would have to be Magic Mike, but the Honey Boo Boo skit is a close runner up.
The crowds: Wow, I thought maybe I was imagining things and maybe it wasnt more crowded this year than usual, but after reading the forums Im not the only one who realizes the crowds this year are insane! Nights that last year were drawing 30-45 minute waits are drawing 60-75 minute waits this year. and nights that were drawing 60-75 minute waits last year are drawing 90-120 minut waits this year. This upcoming week is known as "hell" week. Most people think the last week of the even would be busiest, but its actually the second to last week. I would not be surprised to see 3, maybe even four hour wait by Friday this week. This is really all you need to know about the crowds this year; Last year I did not have an express pass and I went through the 8 different houses a total of 226 times. This year I do have an express pass and I have made it through the houses a total of 69 times. Since were about halfway through Im on pace for about a total count of 135, almost one hundred less than last year. The biggest reason for the drop off is that most years by 1AM most everyone had left and you could walk in any house with no wait the last hour, not so this year, even as late as 1:45 this year waits have been at about 20 minutes. After a lot of thought I think there are a number of factors that contribute to the busyness this year.
1. Only seven houses: Obviously cutting down from 8 houses to 7 houses is going to make the lines longer, its basic math.
2. The Walking Dead: This is the biggest reason. I cant believe how many people this year Ive heard say theyve never been to HHN before, but decided to come this year because they love the Walking Dead. This is apparent in the line for the Walking Dead house always being at least 30 minutes longer than every other house.
3. Construction: This doesnt make it busier, but its the reason why the whole park has been a major cluster of people this year. With so much construction theres a lot less space for all the people to walk, its been a major headache trying to get around the park this year.
Overall: Of the 3 years I have attended so far, this is the worst. I think the house lineup is actually stronger overall than it was in 2010, but the crowds, combined with the lack of scarezones, and lack of a theme, make me say that overall 2010 was an event year. This year doesnt even touch last year, as im told by many long timer HHN goers that last years house lineup was the best ever, and its certainly the best in the three years Ive been going.
Dead End as my number one favorite this year probably ranks as my number three favorite all time.
Last years number one Saws N Steam is still my number two favorite ever.
2010's number one Catacombs is still my favorite house Ive ever been through.
I wouldnt put any other house this year in my all time top 5
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
HHN houses
With just 30 hours until the big reveal of the HHN 22 website, I decided to write an article detailing my favorite and least favorite HHN houses over the two years I have attended so far. This is tough to do because none of the sixteen houses I have been through have been bad houses, but some are better than others. Going to the event multiple times per year, it takes about five to ten walk throughs of each house before I can make a full determination of which ones are good and which ones just dont work as well. So here are my top five and bottom HHN houses I have been through. starting with the bottom.
1. Zombiegeddon: this house occupied the disaster queue in 2010, and while it had good moments, ive never been a fan of zombie themes. Its to generic a halloween theme in my opinion, and I want more out of an event with creative geniuses running it. This house just didnt work for me, and out of all 16 houses ive been through this also has my lowest house count total at only 3.
2. Psychocareapy: It started out all with the window hallway, but after that I felt it was a bland house. The scale was to gray, and it never fully felt like an insane asylum.
3. The Forsaken: its tough putting this one here as it houses my favorite HHN scene ive ever been through in the courtyard, but aside from that one scene i wasnt a fan of this house. Not enough variety in costumes, and the description billed this as a war between the forsaken and the conquistadors, but you never got that impression at all in the house. The hyped hurricane effect was weak, and there was a long hallway of nothing immediately after the courtyard which severely hampered this house.
4. The thing: This is why you need to go through the houses several times to form a true opinion. I adored this house the first two or three times, but it got increasingly boring and stale after a lot of run throughs, the ones in my top 5 are the ones which never lost its luster even after up to 34 walk throughs. The scareactors just never did enough in this house to convince me an alien was attacking them.
5. The orphanage: Most people I know have this as the number one worst house over the past two years. I didnt dislike it that much, but it wasnt without problems. The finale was weak, the fire effect was overhyped and some of the scares were ineffective, but the chalkboard scene and the bed scene were really good in my opinion, which puts it above the other four.
Now to my top 5
5. Nevermore: This house inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe is the most detailed non soundstage house in the history of the event, and it delivered. The highlight was the masque of red death room, but every scene in this room was impressive in its own right.
4. The inbetween: Both tent houses from last year make an appearance in my top 5. This trippy house made you feel as if you were on an acid trip. The quadruple whammy four scenes in a row was a great sequence, starting with the light scene with actors hiding in the wall, then the laser scene, then the string scene, finishing with the light up hallway. this was a fun house to go through.
3. Hades: the only soundstage house on my list, this house inspired by the characters of greek mythology was intense and fun. The highlight was the medusa scene, but the whole house was impressive.
2. Saws N steam: This house occupied the Jaws queue last year, and is, by a country mile, the goriest house of the sixteen ive been through, which is probably why its this high. The extraction facility was always a treat to see, and the leg rip scene was awesome as well. The overall nature of this basically being a torture facility definitely appealed to my taste as a fan of the SAW series ( though this house is not based off of saw at all, its actually based off the videogame "bioshock.") this house has my highest house count of any house ive been through, with 34 walk throughs.
1. Catacombs: The third tent house to make my list, this was the second HHN house I ever went through, and it has been my favorite since the second I first walked through it. It doesnt have the most detailed sets by an stretch, and there is barely any variety in costumes, but something about this house just works for me. I loved the finale, I loved the claustrophobic atmosphere, i loved the story, I loved everything about it.
1. Zombiegeddon: this house occupied the disaster queue in 2010, and while it had good moments, ive never been a fan of zombie themes. Its to generic a halloween theme in my opinion, and I want more out of an event with creative geniuses running it. This house just didnt work for me, and out of all 16 houses ive been through this also has my lowest house count total at only 3.
2. Psychocareapy: It started out all with the window hallway, but after that I felt it was a bland house. The scale was to gray, and it never fully felt like an insane asylum.
3. The Forsaken: its tough putting this one here as it houses my favorite HHN scene ive ever been through in the courtyard, but aside from that one scene i wasnt a fan of this house. Not enough variety in costumes, and the description billed this as a war between the forsaken and the conquistadors, but you never got that impression at all in the house. The hyped hurricane effect was weak, and there was a long hallway of nothing immediately after the courtyard which severely hampered this house.
4. The thing: This is why you need to go through the houses several times to form a true opinion. I adored this house the first two or three times, but it got increasingly boring and stale after a lot of run throughs, the ones in my top 5 are the ones which never lost its luster even after up to 34 walk throughs. The scareactors just never did enough in this house to convince me an alien was attacking them.
5. The orphanage: Most people I know have this as the number one worst house over the past two years. I didnt dislike it that much, but it wasnt without problems. The finale was weak, the fire effect was overhyped and some of the scares were ineffective, but the chalkboard scene and the bed scene were really good in my opinion, which puts it above the other four.
Now to my top 5
5. Nevermore: This house inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe is the most detailed non soundstage house in the history of the event, and it delivered. The highlight was the masque of red death room, but every scene in this room was impressive in its own right.
4. The inbetween: Both tent houses from last year make an appearance in my top 5. This trippy house made you feel as if you were on an acid trip. The quadruple whammy four scenes in a row was a great sequence, starting with the light scene with actors hiding in the wall, then the laser scene, then the string scene, finishing with the light up hallway. this was a fun house to go through.
3. Hades: the only soundstage house on my list, this house inspired by the characters of greek mythology was intense and fun. The highlight was the medusa scene, but the whole house was impressive.
2. Saws N steam: This house occupied the Jaws queue last year, and is, by a country mile, the goriest house of the sixteen ive been through, which is probably why its this high. The extraction facility was always a treat to see, and the leg rip scene was awesome as well. The overall nature of this basically being a torture facility definitely appealed to my taste as a fan of the SAW series ( though this house is not based off of saw at all, its actually based off the videogame "bioshock.") this house has my highest house count of any house ive been through, with 34 walk throughs.
1. Catacombs: The third tent house to make my list, this was the second HHN house I ever went through, and it has been my favorite since the second I first walked through it. It doesnt have the most detailed sets by an stretch, and there is barely any variety in costumes, but something about this house just works for me. I loved the finale, I loved the claustrophobic atmosphere, i loved the story, I loved everything about it.
Friday, August 24, 2012
top 3, bottom 3 HHN scarezones
This site has been very MIA recently, and Im currently out of town so any real updates are still far off in the future, but Halloween Horror Nights is coming up, my favorite theme park event of the year, so this site will kick into full gear with the commencement of that. Tonight, however I will be reviewing my top 5 favorite and least 5 favorite HHN houses I have been through. I have only attended for two years, so this only includes sixteen houses, but theres still a decent amount to work with. As an appetizer I will rank my top and bottom three scarezones I have been through. Starting with the bottom.
3. zombiegras- This one just didnt do it for me. The music, the lights, the location all combined to be one big mess. There were few props, and some of the scareactors just werent quite top notch.
2. Nightmaze- Honestly, this should have been number one, but the scareactors saved it from that distinction. Such an intriguin concept executed horribly.
1. Your luck has run out- Just one look at the Lady luck masks says it all.
top 3
3. esqueleto Muerte- this was the first scarezone I ever went through at HHN so has a special place in my heart. I loved the music, the location, and the set in this one.
2. seven - Great actors, great music, this was one hell of a fun scarezone.
1. 20 years of fear- a recap of the first 20 years of HHN. There was something awesome to see everytime you went through, it never got stale at all no matter how often you walked through it, which is why its number one.
tomorrow, the houses!
3. zombiegras- This one just didnt do it for me. The music, the lights, the location all combined to be one big mess. There were few props, and some of the scareactors just werent quite top notch.
2. Nightmaze- Honestly, this should have been number one, but the scareactors saved it from that distinction. Such an intriguin concept executed horribly.
1. Your luck has run out- Just one look at the Lady luck masks says it all.
top 3
3. esqueleto Muerte- this was the first scarezone I ever went through at HHN so has a special place in my heart. I loved the music, the location, and the set in this one.
2. seven - Great actors, great music, this was one hell of a fun scarezone.
1. 20 years of fear- a recap of the first 20 years of HHN. There was something awesome to see everytime you went through, it never got stale at all no matter how often you walked through it, which is why its number one.
tomorrow, the houses!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Soundstage 44
Ive been very MIA as of late, for which I apologize, but over the next few weeks before a long hiatus trip to Wisconsin, I will be covering different topics, including HHN, a Despicable Me ride review, A look into Super Silly Stuff, and more. Today I am going to simply talk about the bizarre events that have surrounded soundstage 44 recently.
Last month, Universal surprised everyone by pulling a permit to put an HHN house in soundstage 44. The building has layed dormant in the park for eight years, with no activity whatsoever. Many have said the building had basically been left to rot. Well, a two days ago, a permit was pulled to demolish soundstage 44. According to some on the inside, this was a huge shock to those working on HHN, apparently they had already begun work on the house in SS 44, and were basically just kicked out of the building one day and were told this building would no longer be used for HHN and it was going to be demolished. So this is where it gets really bizarre. If your Universal, why cant you wait for five months before demolishing SS 44 until after HHN is over? Why NOW? They basically cancelled the HHN house last second, and decided to demolish the building ASAP without hesitation, after eight years of laying dormant, to being a new attraction. What is so urgent about this new attraction going in SS 44s place that they have to start working on it immediately, instead of just waiting until November 1st when HHN ends. Its so bizarre I cant even begin to guess, although some rumors have come up. One is that Universal had plans to demolish 44 after HHN, but they had no idea just how bad of shape SS 44 was in, and when they saw the awful condition of it decided it wasnt suitable to host a HHN house, and just canceled it ad decided to demolish it now. This sounds unlikely to me because work on the house had already begun, and to my understanding was moving along quite nicely. I just can get over the bizareness. The HHN creative team had plans to build a house in 44 for almost a full calendar year, and then BAM! one day this building is getting demolished, no more HHN house in this building. Its clear that something big has happened in the last few days causing Universal to go into top speed on construction of a new attraction. The only plausible rumor Ive heard for why they may be in such a huge rush, is that Disney has bought out Marvel from Universal, which means Universal is being forced to close Spiderman, arguably Universals, (Orlandos?) most popular ride, and they want to get a ride just like it (Transformers) built ASAP, so it can be open by the time they have to close spiderman. Problem is, I just cant imagine Universal so willingly agreeing to close spiderman forever. The outrage people had when crappy outdated rides like Jaws and Back to the Future closed, can you imagine the outcry if Spiderman, the ride that made universal what it is today, were to close? Maybe I just dont want to believe its possible, since Spiderman is my personal favorite ride Ive ever been on. (yes I prefer it over Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.) I just cant get over the intrigue of wondering why Universal is in a huge rush to get 44 demolished. Its bizarre to say the least. Only time will tell.
Last month, Universal surprised everyone by pulling a permit to put an HHN house in soundstage 44. The building has layed dormant in the park for eight years, with no activity whatsoever. Many have said the building had basically been left to rot. Well, a two days ago, a permit was pulled to demolish soundstage 44. According to some on the inside, this was a huge shock to those working on HHN, apparently they had already begun work on the house in SS 44, and were basically just kicked out of the building one day and were told this building would no longer be used for HHN and it was going to be demolished. So this is where it gets really bizarre. If your Universal, why cant you wait for five months before demolishing SS 44 until after HHN is over? Why NOW? They basically cancelled the HHN house last second, and decided to demolish the building ASAP without hesitation, after eight years of laying dormant, to being a new attraction. What is so urgent about this new attraction going in SS 44s place that they have to start working on it immediately, instead of just waiting until November 1st when HHN ends. Its so bizarre I cant even begin to guess, although some rumors have come up. One is that Universal had plans to demolish 44 after HHN, but they had no idea just how bad of shape SS 44 was in, and when they saw the awful condition of it decided it wasnt suitable to host a HHN house, and just canceled it ad decided to demolish it now. This sounds unlikely to me because work on the house had already begun, and to my understanding was moving along quite nicely. I just can get over the bizareness. The HHN creative team had plans to build a house in 44 for almost a full calendar year, and then BAM! one day this building is getting demolished, no more HHN house in this building. Its clear that something big has happened in the last few days causing Universal to go into top speed on construction of a new attraction. The only plausible rumor Ive heard for why they may be in such a huge rush, is that Disney has bought out Marvel from Universal, which means Universal is being forced to close Spiderman, arguably Universals, (Orlandos?) most popular ride, and they want to get a ride just like it (Transformers) built ASAP, so it can be open by the time they have to close spiderman. Problem is, I just cant imagine Universal so willingly agreeing to close spiderman forever. The outrage people had when crappy outdated rides like Jaws and Back to the Future closed, can you imagine the outcry if Spiderman, the ride that made universal what it is today, were to close? Maybe I just dont want to believe its possible, since Spiderman is my personal favorite ride Ive ever been on. (yes I prefer it over Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.) I just cant get over the intrigue of wondering why Universal is in a huge rush to get 44 demolished. Its bizarre to say the least. Only time will tell.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Spongebob Storepants, Universal Trip 5/28/12
As it turns out, I got off work a bit early today and was able to make a quick express trip to Universal that lasted about an hour. The main order of business was to check out the Spongebob Storepants store, which opened on Saturday. This store is amazing, immersive, very nice. It includes life size images of Squidwards house, spongebobs house, and a character meet and greet built into the store. Without further ado, here are some pics. Beginning with the entrance.
Throughout the store there are digital pictures letting you know what part of the store your in. The pictures would occasionally animate and "come to life" which I got a couple pics of. All the digital portraits are featured below.
The merchandise in the store is basically an overload of spongebob. You will feel surrounded by it, because you are.
Some more little nuances
Life size spongebob house. Yes you can walk inside
Life size squidward house. No you can not walk inside
They have cast anchor in Orlando
Finally some posters that are displayed on the outside of the store
Overall this is an incredible addition to Universal. It hasnt gotten the press because its just a gift shop but this adds a whole nother dimension to the park and should not be missed. After checking out the store I moved onto the Mummy for a quick ride. Because tourists dont have the largest brains the single rider line was longer than the stand by line, so I moved over to the stand by line at the front and walked right on.
Unless the stand by line is at least 30 minutes, I wouldnt even think of using the single riders line. Plus it angers people like me who usually go alone, when big families crowd the singles line when the stand by line is pretty short. After this I saw the 4:30 horror make up show, which I did not see last time when I snapped pictures of the display. Here is the set up of the stage for the show.
The show runs at a fairly long 25 minutes, but there seems to be so much unmined territory, I think it could easily be an hour. Its a great show, if you decide to see one show on your trip, this is my suggestion. After this I left for the day, and was out of the park by 5. Still have a trip planned for IOA tomorrow morning, so see you sometime tomorrow.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Universal 5/26/12
I spent a couple hours in the park last night, snapped a few pics, and have a few odds and ends to share. I got into Universal about 7:15 and decided to hit up the 7:30 terminator show to rest my feet. The preshow to this is about 10 minutes and the room which houses it is pretty cool.
The show itself is a nice place to rest your feet and relax, but its nothing special, I do enjoy it if Im in the right mood though. After this I moved over to IOA, the single rider line for spiderman was way to long, and the single rider long for Hulk was closed despite a fourty minute wait, so the only Marvel ride I was going to get on today was Doctor doom. there is a single rider line for doctor doom, but its hard to locate, its up the stairs that the ride exits out of.
The ride exits into the Marvel arcade, with some fantastic four decor
I wouldnt recomend the single rider line if youve never been on the ride, because the queue really is fantastic. The single rider line does provide some nice views though. From here the regular entrance looks quite extravagant.
The regular queue is inside, so you never see the towers, but from the single rider line your pretty much looking straight up at them which may be a bit daunting.
For this ride I was in station four, which is the side that gives the best view of the park.
After the ride I moved to the Marvel observation deck, which gives a breathtaking view of the Hulk coaster
After a few minutes their it was on to Ripsaw Falls for a nighttime ride. It was basically a walk on and after some comprising I got the backseat which gets you the least wet. I was still pretty wet afterwards though.
By now it was 9:00 and I decided to move onto Jurassic Park, where I explored Camp Jurassic for some nighttime pics. The inside mines of Camp Jurassic are really cool, most people overlook this as just another playground, but Id recommend exploring in here, its really awesome.
This next pic is my favorite park of camp Jurrasic, a mesh bridge covered in fog with bubbling water beneath. It can quite scary to walk across!
To end the the night, I decided on a nighttime ride on Jurassic Park. The river adventure is absolutely stunning at night, and I hadnt had the opportunity to do it in the dark in awhile. I got an extra treat in my very own boat all to myself, the third time ever where Ive had this luxury. This is my favorite experience in Orlando, Jurrasic Park, at night, in my own boat, but its incredibly rare. Here are some pics of the beautiful ride at night.
Heres proof that my voyage was solo
See, empty seats. The Trex looked good this time, the drop was awesome as usual, the inside part of the ride is awesomely creepy by yourself. All in all it was a good night. My next planned trip into the parks is slated for Tuesday Morning.
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