Recapping 2015

2015 is about to be in the books and it was another super fun year. Here are some of the highlights

Favorite TV Show: Dexter. In January I began watching Dexter and after a few episode I became hooked. A lot of people like to blow through TV shows (binge watching is a popular term now.) But I like to take my time. I enjoyed many nights watching Dexter and finally finished it in September.

Favorite Movie: Jurassic World. I only saw 3 movies in theatres this year so the options are limited, but the one I would have to say was the best was Jurassic World. Props to Goosebumps though for providing a lot of nostalgia for one of my all time favorite shows and a show that is pretty much solely responsible for my love of Halloween today and all things spooky.

Favorite Song: Shut up and Dance. Definitely the highlight song of the year.

Favorite Sports Moments: The first half of 2015 provided a ton. Its truly a toss up between the Badgers beating Kentucky and the Lightning winning game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, but a slight nod to the Badgers because of how historic the win was.

Favorite Days: A lot of days stick out in my head from 2015. A day I spent at Magic Kingdom with my friends in february starts the list, which was also one of my longest park days ever. (10AM to 11:30 PM). Going to game six of the Bolts/Canadiens and getting to see the Lightning win a playoff series in person for the second time ever. Many Universal summer evenings with my family, but particularly the first one for kicking off a great summer. Opening and closing night of HHN is always a highlight, especially the last Bill and Ted. These are the days I will remember about this year.

Finally I will always remember this year for the weather. It was unsuprisingly the hottest year on record for Orlando out of the 121 years of record keeping. 4 of the months (March, April, November, and December) were in the top 3 hottest ever for that month and broke many daily record highs. Hopefully 2016 provided some cooler temps. Heres to 2016!

Finall Fall Statistics

"Fall" has concluded and for Orlando it was one for the record books. The statistics do not paint a pretty picture if you prefer cool weather from October-April like I do. I dont mind the summer heat of May-September, I dont like it, but I expect it so its tolerable. However when the calendar flips to October I like my nights to be sweatshirt worthy with a nice cool breeze, and this fall simply did not fit the bill. I could have tolerated a hot fall if it didnt occur in the same year we had a record hot spring as well. yeesh. Theres a lot of different stats that show how grim and hot this fall was, but lets first just start with the average high/low of the past seven falls and how much this years temps stick out.


2015: 82.8/67.2
2014: 78.8/61.0
2013: 81.0/64.6
2012: 78.6/62.7
2011: 79.2/62.4  
2010: 77.4/58.2 
2009: 80.8/64.7 

Where do we go from here? Lets start with how November saw the needle hit 90 degrees not once, but twice for just the third time in 130 years, and the first since the great depression.  Lets compare the coldest record temp of this fall compared to years past. 

2015: 48
2014: 41
2013: 39
2012: 46
2011: 42
2010: 28
2009: 44

This is a pretty staggering one. How Many Nights did the thermometer dip below 60 degrees?
2015: 8
2014: 35
2013: 16
2012: 34
2011: 32
2010: 38
2009: 23

And how Many nights did it really get cold and fall below 50?
2015: 2
2014: 15
2013: 5
2012: 4
2011: 2
2010: 19
2009: 8

Interestingly, one stat that actually comes in at below average, is the amount of days we hit 90 degrees, thanks to only one 90 degree day in October. 90 degree days in fall come in as follows
2015: 7
2014: 8
2013: 5
2012: 10
2011: 8
2010: 7
2009: 15

Unfortunately all it takes is one look at the ten day forecast and one sees winter will get off to a record start as well. Considering the trend in Orlando has been above average nearly nonstop since March 1st one has to wonder if this will ever end.

Taking a Look at Fall 2015 in Orlando

Today December 1st marks the 70th days of Fall, or the end of 10 weeks. Fall starts on September 23rd and the final day is December 20th. Its no surprise that this fall has been a way above average one in terms of heat for Orlando. I took a look at the average highs and lows from September 23rd-December 1st of every year since I moved here and here are the results


2015: 84.1/68.6
2014: 80.7/63.0
2013: 82.0/66.5
2012: 80.0/63.4
2011: 80.4/63.9  
2010: 81.8/62.7
 
As you can see this year is significantly  warmer than any other year. This coming in the same year in which we had a ridiculous above average spring as well. (April had 24 days above average, November had 26.) March had less days above average (21) but 12 of those 21 days were at least 10 degrees above average. Crazy! I'm ready for some cooler temps but looking at the 15 day forecast December could shape up to be yet another well above average month. Yeesh.

A little nostalgia before the final night

Here is a walkthrough of my very first HHN house ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awpa_gjy9tk

HHN House counts with one night left and final thoughts

One night to go and here are my current house counts
Walking Dead: 12
Purge: 14
Insidious: 18
RUN: 30
Asylum: 25
Body Collectors: 32
Freddy Vs Jason: 26
American Werewolf: 21
Monsters and Mayhem: 24

As recently as just a few days ago I said this was the first year every where there wasn't a single house I didn't end up falling completely in love with. I have now changed my mind. It took way longer than usual but I didn't realize until just a couple nights ago how much I absolutely adore Freddy Vs Jason. It has its flaws (the videos screens are kind of lame, finale is poorly executed) which is why I resisted the idea I loved it so much, but there is so much incredible visual eye candy that it is without a doubt my #1 house this year. Overall this year my final rankings shaped up like this

1. Freddy Vs Jason
2. Body Collectors
3. Monsters and Mayhem
4. Indisious
5. RUN
6. Asylum in Wonderland
7. American Werewolf
8. Walking Dead
9. Purge

Mom's house count
Monsters and Mayhem: 4
American Werewolf: 7
Freddy Vs Jason: 8
Body Collectors: 8
RUN: 9
Insidious: 7
Purge: 7
Walking Dead: 6
Asylum: 8

Top 7 Facades all time

A great facade helps to make a great house. Its the first thing you see and a great facade can amp um your excitement even more before entering your house. One thing that Halloween Horror Nights does light years better than anyone else is facades. One thing that has been very cool to see since I started going to HHN is the evolution of these facades. Just a few years ago the rule of thumb was that the inside soundstage houses would have great facades while the tent and queue houses would have cheap and small facades. One of my top three all time favorite houses, Catacombs in 2010 (Same location as the Purge this year) was an incredible house once you got inside but the facade was.....well.....see for yourself

Not so great. But over the past five years HHN has gotten to the point where the outside facades are just as good, if not even better than the inside facades. Lets dive into my all time top7

7. The Wyandot Estate (2010): This one is sort of a groundbreaking one because it was the first facade ever to basically be the full front of a house. Of course since then Universal has done several of these (two of which we'll see later on in this countdown. This house was in the same location American Werewolf is in this year.

6. La LLorona (2013): In my opinion one of the most severely underrated HHN houses ever, and it had a great facade to boot. This house is in the same location as the Purge this year. Unfortunately a daytime picture doesnt do this facade as just justice as a night picture would but I cant find a decent night picture.

5. Dollhouse of the Damned (2014): My all time favorite HHN house and a facade that perfectly set the tone for the creepiness inside. This house was in the same location as the Purge this year. The little details in this one are amazing.

 4. Halloween (2014): Another top five all time favorite house. The amazing projections and iconic Halloween score make this one of the best all around facades ever. This house was in the same location as Insidious this year.

3. Body Collectors (2015): A beautiful facade with great music, and awesome snow and lightning effects (even though snow and lightning don't go together, i'll let it slide).


2. Winters Night (2011): Another one similar to Body Collectors in that it takes place during a blizzard so it was accompanied with snow effects. This facade however had you entering an old cemetary, and it was a massive and beautiful facade. This house was in the same location as American Werewolf this year

1. Dead End (2012: As we've seen, Universal has done the "house" facade many times (Halloween, Insidious, Wyandot Estate) but no house did it as perfectly as Dead End. Another entry in my top five all time favorite houses, no facade screamed halloween as much as this one. In the same location as Body Collectors this year

HHN 25 interview

Very interesting and informative interview about HHN 25 with Mike Aiello, the creative director of HHN.
http://www.fullecirclemagazine.com/2015/10/unmasking-halloween-horror-nights_19.html?m=1

90 Degree days over?

The last 90 degree day in Orlando was October 1st, over two weeks ago now. As each day goes on without the needle reaching back to 90 degree it becomes increasingly likely we've seen our last 90 degree day until April. If it holds, it would be the second earliest day for the last 90 degree day in the past 15 years. Lets take a look at the past 7 years and when the last 90 degree day was

2014: October 14th
2013: October 21st
2012: October 6th
2011: September 30th
2010: October 28th
2009: October 29th
2008: October 10th

One thing we are still waiting for is the first time the temperature falls below 60 degrees (So far our lowest is 64 degrees.) Here's a look at the first time below 60 the past seven years

2014: October 26th
2013: November 3rd
2012: October 28th
2011: October 20th
2010: October 18th
2009: October 17th
2008: October 27th

The window here is basically between October 17th and November 3rd


Finally the question is when does the high humidity subside for good? A good way to determine when the air has dried out in Orlando is when the nighttime low consistently falls below 66 degrees (Averaging at least seven days out of 10) Here is the day in which that has happened the past seven years.

2014: October 23rd
2013: November 13th
2012: October 28th
2011: October 19th
2010: October 30th
2009: November 4th
2008: October 26th

Basically, summer weather has slowly been subsiding the past couple weeks, and the beginning of perfect weather almost daily is right around the corner.

Ranking All 47 HHN Houses Ive been through

1. Dollhouse of the Damned

2.        Monsters and Mayhem

3.       Catacombs

4    Halloween

5       Dead End

6       Saws N Steam

7     Cabin in the Woods

8       Evil Dead

9       Insidious

10.   House of Horrors

11.   American Werewolf in London

12.   HR Bloodengutz

13.   Hades

14.   Giggles and Gore

15.   Freddy Vs Jason

16.   Body Collectors

17.   Nightingales

18.   Havoc: Dogs of War

19.   Winters Night

20.   La Llorona

21.   Gothic

22.   Legendary Truth

23.   Hallowed Past

24.   Nevermore

25.   Penn and Teller

26.   Inbetween

27.   Alien Vs Predator

28.   RUN

29.   Asylum

30.   Havoc: Derailed

31.   Walking Dead (2014)

32.   Forsaken

33.   Zombiegeddon

34.   Roanoke

35.   From Dusk Till Dawn

36.   Silent Hill

37.   The Thing

38.   The Orfanage

39.   Psychoscareapy

40.   Walking Dead (2013)

41.   Dracula Untold

42.   Walking Dead (2015)

43.   Afterlife

44.   Purge

45.   Walking Dead (2012)

46.   Alice Cooper

47.   Resident Evil

Full HHN 25 Review

This is one of my favorite things to write up every year, a full review of Halloween Horror Nights. By this point I have done every house at least twice and many houses 4 or 5 times so I am comfortable enough with them to write up my reviews for the houses. Every year takes on an identity as to how the houses shape up: 2011 was a ridiculously strong year from top to bottom, 2012 had a solid top 2, a decent 3-4 and a very weak 5-7. 2013 had an incredible top 4, a decent 5, then a huge drop off with a very weak 5-8. 2014 had an incredible top 3, a very good middle, and also the bottom two were pretty good for a bottom two.

How does 2015 shape up. This year to me there are four groups of two houses. There is a clear top 2, but they are very close to each other as to which is number one. There is a clear 3 and 4, a clear 5 and 6, and a clear bottom two. In other words 1 and 2 are very close, but 2 and 3 are not. 3 and 4 are very close, but 4 and 5 are not. 5 and 6 are very close, but 6 and 7 are not. Hopefully that makes a little sense. Lets get into the rankings

1. Insidious: One of the all around creepiest and most disturbing houses I have ever done at HHN. A number of standout scenes include a room with actors standing still with creepy smiles before they lunge at you. The room with red face with tiptoe through the Tulips playing is pretty unnerving. The top scene though is actually a scene with 0 scareactors. A long dark narrow hallway with a effect that makes it feel like hands are touching you at either side. I love this house.

2. Jack Presents: 25 years of Monsters and Mayhem: This house is a dream for every die hard HHN fan. The facade sets the tone right off the bat, stepping into Jacks mouth with posters of all the other icons surround you. You step in and immediately see jack o lanterns in a darkened room, its a perfect start to the house. The house includes the icons, all the classic Universal monsters and select scenes from past houses, my favorite being the effect seen in Gothic in 2012 where it looks like you are very high up. Other scenes are from Havoc in 2010, and Nightingales in 2011 among others. It also includes several appearances from Jack himself.

3. Freddy Vs Jason: I was so stoked for this house when it was first introduced and it mostly lives up to my excitement level, but there are some flaws. First of all the mid-house facade entering the house on Elm Street is stunning. I also love the hallway where you see iconic kills from the NOES movies including smashing Amandas head into the TV. The scene after that however with all the mirrors lasts too long and they could have gone another direction with that. The screens in the boiler room scene are also kind of cheesy and could have been replaced with a better effect. Overall though its hard to screw up the two biggest horror icons of all time in house, and Universal mostly did a great job here.

4. Body Collectors: Recollections: This is the 4th BC house in HHN history, as they have became an HHN staple, people love the Body Collectors. The facade for this house is incredible, and the spine rip scene as well as the room with a Gentleman in the center as you go around him with different bloody images around you are both amazing. However I feel there could have been a few more detailed, expansive scenes, as I think a couple of scenes fell into generic territory. Still, its easy to see why the body Collectors are so popular, the look they have is just so disturbingly delightful.

5. RUN: I always enjoy the house in the Disaster queue more than most people and this house is no exception. The concept of this house is very intriguing, the the set up and scenes presented give this house a ton of potential. The "spark" effect returns this year for the first time in a few years which is a really good one in my opinion because the sound of those sparks is scary. The gore in this house is pretty good too. Maybe the house feels a little bit haphazardly put together, but the scenes that are there are strong.

6. Asylum in Wonderland: This is the 4th 3-D house in 5 years, and since they all pretty much use the same tricks there is a sense of "been there, done that" with this house. However, where this house sets itself apart from past 3-D houses is in its premise, and its costumes. The Alice in Wonderland gone mad concept is much stronger than the generic premises of previous 3-D houses, and the costumes in this house are among the most unique and fun to look at of any HHN house ever. Again though, because it uses so many of the same tricks in houses Ive done before, it ranks as a strong sixth this year. The 6th best house this year is much better than the 6th best house the past 3 years however.

7. The Purge: This house is loud, intense, and has a very agressive group of scareactors, and all that together saves it from the bottom. Its also a very generic atmosphere and in the grand scheme of things unmemorable and forgettable when compared to the unbelievably immersive atmopsheres of all six of the houses ahead of this one.

8. The Walking Dead: Talk about "been there done that." This is the 4th year in a row with a Walking Dead house and it just feels stale at this point. Walking Dead houses were never that good to begin with (last years was by far the best of the four and still only ranked as the sixth best house last year), but this years just feels lazy and one cant help but feel the Walking Dead well has run dry.

Scarezones: After three straight underwhelming years for the scarezones this year brings back the top notch zones HHN became famous for. Highlights include psychoscareapy and the Icons zone. Evils roots has a great atmosphere even iif the actual costumes are lacking, and all night die in is a real treat for fans of classic horror movies to see some of their favorite monsters. One of my favorite parts of that zone is the inclusion of Carrie.

Shows:
Carnage Returns: Only one other time in the History of Halloween Horror Nights has HHN has a top notch second show to go along with Bill and Ted. Every year there is a second show but it is often a standard run of the mill magic show not worth the time. The other time was with the Carnival of Carnage in 2007, but this show tops that in every way. Never has Universal put on a show with the production value of this, it is a sight to behold.

Bill and Ted: I love the houses, I love the scarezones, but to me Bill and Ted is Halloween. This years show falls somewhere in the middle of the six I have seen now, probably 3rd. I think some of the song choices for the finale were curious, but I loved the inclusion of Shut up and Dance and Uma Thurman, as well as Thriller for the final song this year. The opening dance was solid as it was clearly a nod to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Disney jokes are always one of the highlights and of course the Avatar bit returns for a 3rd year, (They have sex with their tails!) My favorite joke this year though was Bill and Ted making fun of Disney as well as themselves for having a Hocus Pocus show this year (Why would Disney base a Halloween show on a movie almost 25 years old?) then look at each other and realize Bill and Ted is in the same boat.

Overall the event this year is firing on all cylinders, something it hasn't done to this level since 2011. I would say overall this could be the best year for the event since I started going, at worst its second best behind 2011. There is 24 more nights for this years event to convince me it is better than the great 2011, I cant wait!

HHN 2015 House Rankings

A full review will come later once I become fully comfortable with every nook and cranny of every house but for now here is my rankings of the 8 new houses this year for HHN. I dont think its fair to put American Werewolf in London in this years rankings because it is the exact same house it was in 2013 and already got its spot in that years list.

1. Insidious (10 out of 10)
2. Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem (9.5 out of 10)
3. Freddy Vs Jason (8.5 out of 10)
4. Body Collectors (8 out of 10)
5. RUN (7.5 out of 10)
6. Asylum in Wonderland (7 out of 10)
7. The Purge (6 out of 10)
8. Walking Dead (4 out of 10)

Insidious has a chance to end up in my top 3 all time, I enjoyed it that much. Jack Presents will also end up in my all time top 10. Freddy Vs Jason will be close, only time will tell.

Overall from top to bottom the best house lineup since 2011.

Scarezone Rankings
1. Psychoscareapy
2. Icons
3. Evils Roots
4. All Night die-in
5. Scary Tales

Overall from top to bottom the best scare zone lineup since 2010.

Not only are this years scare zone and house lineup the best in a few years, but for the first time since 2007 HHN has a top notch second show to go along with Bill and Ted in the Carnage Returns. It truly is shaping up to be quite a special year for HHN.