upsidown

Tokyo Disney for sure in late April (my third trip), wondering if Nemo will be open by then....and probably another randomly decided park. Either Hershey Park or Bush Gardens Williamsburg when I visit my parents over the summer. Of course a variety of Halloween trips as usual (Uni Hollywood, Knott's Scary, etc.)

Hmmm, I wonder if the style of the Pirates ride is what they are going to use for one of the Star Wars rides when it opens in the U.S. Wasn't one of them supposed to be a ride through the movie scenes? We may never get a new Pirates clone ride in the U.S., but perhaps something that uses a similar style. Or a mix of the trackless Winnie the Pooh ride in Japan with Shanghai Pirates big sets and film screens. The Avatar boat ride at Animal Kingdom will most likely be the closest to Shanghai Pirates though in it's technology.

Just back from Japan, and thought I would add a report about my trip to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Japan. Firstly, the place was extremely crowded. Maze lines weren’t too bad, between 40 minutes and 70 minutes all day long (the mazes actually open at 12, which was nice since the park closed at 8), but the rides that had horror movie versions of them didn’t open until 6, making it very difficult to do those. Regular rides were mostly around 2 hours a piece, except for Potter, which topped out at a 6 hour wait at one point. I ignored all regular rides to focus on the HHN stuff. First up was Nightmare on Elm Street , which was held in what I believe was normally a restaurant. Groups of 7-8 entered this maze holding a rope single file, an interesting way of doing the maze, which seemed mostly due to the fact that the pathways were very narrow. All the mazes let people enter in smaller groups ,then used a stopwatch to pace out the next group, which was nice. Lots of twists and turns through the passage walls. Some cool scares. Several Freddys mouthing dialogue from the movies over a sound system. Go through the Elm Street house first, followed by the boiler room. Some nice pop out scares with bloody people, one covered in a sheet. The sink scare was probably my fav, the room completely empty minus a sink, up ahead you could see a shower curtain with a sexy lady on it so you eyes were focused on the expectation of Freddy being behind the currtain, all of a sudden there is a loud cracking/smashing noise as Freddys glove comes through the sink mirror (projection effect). Very nice and extra surprising due to the shower distraction. Also go through a morgue, one body sits up and screams, followed by a room with lots of benches and people, one person is real and provides a nice scare. Another cool projection effect of glove cutting through a hallway wall as you walk by it, dragging along the whole length of the wall. The maze kind of just ends without a big finish (but there is a final Freddy waiting outside to scare those who are relieved the maze has ended). Overall a very fun maze though. 8 out of 10. Next up was Alien versus Predator - Held in a backlot area. Not as detailed or intense as Hollywood, didn’t seem to be a lot of actors in the maze and it was shorter than Elm Street by far. Some cool effects though, including an Alien bursting through a waterfall and a part where you duck down, an alien bursts out at your feet. Near the end you go into a room with a bunch of larvae, followed by the giant queen. Two girls in front of me got scared at the very first thing and wanted me to go first. The both ended up clinging to my arms and shirt, cuddling closer when scared. They both thanked me when we got out for taking care of them. It was sweet. 6.5 out of 10 Finally was Chucky - favorite maze, not as many good scares as Elm Street, but was fun. - There was a funny "drunk" guy during the last part of line who would come out once in a while and interact with the crowd. Upon entering the maze there were mutilated dolls. People jump scaring out of doors with Chuckys on their backs. The best actors were this girl chained to a steel drum near a guy who was chopping up a body and scaring people with the severed head. They were amazing at interacting with the crowd. Lots of Chuckys popping out behind tiny clanging doors that would drop quickly, often in pitch dark hallways, nice jump scares. It had a duck down part similar to AvP. The ending was pure genius and something I wish they could try more of at Hollywood. We were rushed into a dead end room by a guy saying he would protect us (there was actually two of these identical rooms to keep the line flow moving, you would go into one or the other depending up on which was full at the moment). After the actor realizes we are all locked in, the lights go out, you hear a chainsaw, and when the lights come come back on there is a chainsaw guy behind some bars, and another guy in the room with a Chucky on his back (with a mini chainsaw). Chucky cuts the guys head off and rushes towards trapped guests until another door opens to let us out. It was a neat effect. I’m guessing there was a guy in a headless costume, who also operated the Chucky as a puppet to take off the head. Whatever, it was surprising and a great way to end the maze. 8.5 out of 10) Didn’t get to do the Biohazzard maze/lazer gun thing. Sadly, tickets were all handed out within 15 minutes of the park opening. As noted above, some rides (Back to the Future, Terminator, the 4-D movie theater, Backdraft, and Space Fantasy) all changed to horror versions from 6-8PM. BTTF was Grudge, the 4-D movie was a haunted school film, and the others were all based on The Ring. Lines were around an hour each. Sadly I only had time to do one ride, due to the fact that USJ apparently closes their lines based upon wait time instead of closing lines at the actual listed park closing time. I guess this is to ensure the park closes on time? So for example, if there is an hour wait for BTTF at 7 they would close the line at that point so everyone will be through by 8. So by the time I got off my one horror ride, all other ride lines were close. Wish they were open a bit later as I feel I missed out on some stuff. But the one I did do was fun. BTTF/Grudge - loved the way they messed with the normal que videos, ghost croaking sounds, static, humming, and the little boy (Toshio) appearing, interrupting the Future Institute of Technology vids. In the ride prep room, when the power goes out and Doc (in the video) turns his flashlight on, Grudge girl Kayako is behind him (awesome, that got a big reaction from everyone). Ride starts the same, until the first time jump (through the clock tower), we end up in Grudge house, go up some stairs (the effect of the car going up stairs is very bumpy) and run into ghost girl, try to go down stairs but she is coming up towards us. Ride "malfunctions" and upon dropping down croaking gets very loud all around us. Ride worker tries to rush us out to safety but Grudge girls are in the hallway stalking us out the exit. 7 out of 10 Streets – Instead of scare zones like Hollywood, there were instead random scenes spread out around the park. Some nice make-up effects. There was a zombie on car eating a guy. Zombies going in and out of houses on the streets. Thriller dancing would break out every half hour from the zombies. Loud orange flashes and bangs from time to time all around the park. The best was this one guy with chainsaw slowly wandering and laughing crazily then quickly rushing someone with chainsaw revving. At one point a guy ran into this cage set and got chainsawed (he was a plant, but it took me a minute to figure it out, at first I was all “oh, no, that guy ran into a “no entry” area, he is going to be in trouble, oh wait, he’s in on it”), spraying the crowd with water blood. These mini shows are another thing that I think it would be nice for Hollywood to pick up and do in the scare zones. 7 out of 10. Overall, I enjoyed my time at the USJ park for Halloween, but wish I could have done more. If I ever return at this time of year, I’m guessing earlier in the month might be better for crowds (I did hear that there was a lot of tour and school groups that came the last week of October (I was there on the 28th)), and I will certainly pick a date in which the park is open later than 8 PM (most other days were 9, with 10 on the weekends) to get more nighttime rides done. But I would not trade the experience I did have for the world. It was a unique experience, some pluses and minuses from Hollywood, but certainly worth a visit (or two).

Looking forward to attending Haunt this weekend and had two questions: 1. Since Paranormal Inc. has two routes, is there a strategy for getting to do one or the other, how do they split people up? If I go through a second time, is there a way to ensure I get the opposite route from the one I did the first time. 2. I think I saw someone mention trading cards from the Deadly 7. How do you get those? Thanks. This will be my 10th year attending, and my girlfriend's first. So it will be certainly be a memorable experience.

You should totally try going on your own. It's such a different experience. Especially with Knott's, if you do the pre-scare dinner and hit up some of the middle-to-back-of-the-park mazes right after, you might get the chance to go through the maze all by yourself. This has happened to me several times and the isolation factor brings a whole new level to the mazes. Hahaha. One of my favorite experiences. Plus, I like getting to go where I want, when I want. I've done alone trips to both Knott's and Universal each year since 2006. I actually prefer it that way. One of my favorite Haunt stories is getting to meet a 72-year old lady, who was at the table beside me during pre-scare dinner one year, whom, after her husband started having trouble with all the walking at Haunt, opted to keep returning to Haunt for several years ALL BY HERSELF because she enjoys it so much. My own mother refuses to even go into a single haunted house, even with a large group of people around her. I gave mad props to this lady for not being scared to come all alone at 72. This was several years ago, I wonder if she still attends.......

Question, I know one is usually given their FOL pass when entering through the front gates. But if I want to go do the early entry for the lower lot mazes, will my FOL pass be handed out to me when going through the early entry area? Or do I have to pick it up elsewhere? Thanks for any help.