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Knott's Scary Farm 2018 Sneak Peak! Theme Park Review was invited to attend an announcement event where all of this year's Knott's Scary Farm haunted attractions were revealed. Be warned as you scroll through the pictures below, as you never know where monsters are lurking! Members of the media along with the most die-hard Haunt fans, filled the Charles M. Schultz Theatre to learn about this year's event. We were treated to a high-energy opening number, complete with a funeral procession. There is only one creature of the undead who would be in that coffin... ...Jeff Tucker! Serving as the Master of Scare-a-monies, he jumped right into the long-awaited information. In the first of two new mazes, a heavy fog drapes over an abandoned port village where ancient creatures lurk inside the pitch-black underground caves hidden below the seaside shores. The Nightwatch Mining Crew has mysteriously disappeared and village rumors point to the eerie tunnels the town sits upon. Myths of the terrifying horrors that lurk within the cave have often been whispered but never confirmed. Did the crew meet their demise at the hand of vicious creatures that live within the cave? Journey into the dark caverns and follow the crew’s path into The Depths and discover if the superstition revolving around the cave is true or not. But be warned! All who have entered have never resurfaced. In the second new maze, you will teleport beyond earth and into a realm where the darkness is absolute. In the depths of space, a lone station faces terror beyond all imagination. An extraterrestrial mutation has invaded the station, and it’s on the prowl for new hosts. The unearthly inhabitants’ force increases as it feeds on its unwilling victims. Escape the dark entities before its deathly force eliminates all living form aboard the station. There’s nowhere to escape when time is running out! This year, a new and unearthly scare zone is making its sinister arrival to the park. The lake underneath Silver Bullet reveals the horrors and creatures it has kept hidden until now. Forsaken Lake will unleash gothic creatures, which have been ravaged by the dark and murky waters, as they wander their crypts preying on unsuspecting visitors, looking for victims to drag back to their watery graves. Ahhh! The Green Witch! Where did she come from?!?! In addition to this year’s mazes and haunted attractions line-up, Knott’s Scary Farm is debuting two-all new shows that will keep guests on the edge of their seats. In HACKS – Cutting Room Floor, the unique, twisted, improvised comedy antics of “Hacks” returns to Knott’s Scary Farm with a brand new show in the Charles M. Schulz Theatre. This time around, they have taken over a run-down movie theater and with the help of the audience and lots of “B” horror films, they create on the spot, a Halloween show that will have you screaming with laughter. The Bird Cage Theatre will once again become the home of comedy and magic in CONJURE – Magic and Mirth in the Bird Cage Theatre. Join award-winning magicians and Fox’s Masters of Illusion regulars as they take the stage to amaze and amuse. Witness magicians Dana Daniels, Taylor Hughes, and Chipper Lowell front and center as they perform on select nights. A dance party can be found in Fiesta Village with AWAKEN THE DEAD, where guests can jam to the most popular songs. The remaining haunted attractions consist of everything returning this year. Dark Ride - Journey through an abandoned carnival ride where cruel carnie folk still linger in the shadows in Dark Ride: Castle of Chaos. Now those shunned performers have created a dark world of terror which they plan to unleash on those who enter. Dark Ride will lead brave visitors through a treacherous path and into the bowels of a long-neglected attraction as sinister shadows and horrifying scenes cast the gloom over the once pleasant ride. It’s everyone’s worst nightmare, being helplessly trapped inside an abandoned carnival ride with no way out. Trick-or-Treat: Lights Out - Scared of the dark? Returning darker and more twisted than ever, step inside the Green Witch’s home by venturing through the blacked out building in Trick or Treat: Lights Out while armed with only a faulty flashlight. Featuring state-of-the-art special effects, unexpected scares and other eerie surprises, Trick-Or-Treat is back to terrorize like never before. Shadow Lands – A fulfilling life ensures a soul safe passage into eternity but what happens to the souls of soldiers slain in battle? The Shadow Lands maze invites valiant wanderers to fight off demon samurais whose souls are cursed to rot within the depths of purgatory. Guests will embark on a quest through a sacred shrine, an ancient Japanese temple and into the midst of the shadow lands. Pumpkin Eater - Survive the wrath of the murderous 7-foot tall creature that haunts the old woods surrounding The Hollow in the Pumpkin Eater maze. The notorious creature is on the prowl hidden within the dark confines of the haunted town he once terrorized. To escape the sinister Pumpkin Eater’s wrath, all that enter must go on a quest through the silent town of victims, face a cave of crawling insects and solve the labyrinth of thorns that blocks the way out. Special Ops: Infected – Enlist to fight the zombie apocalypse in an all-out war against the undead in the interactive experience, Special Ops: Infected. Armed with specially designed laser guns, brave groups of guests embark on a mission of navigating through the city in quest to find the infection cure. The highly sought-after attraction includes more bloodthirsty zombies than ever before, heart-stopping challenging missions along with many action-packed surprises hidden at every corner. PARANORMAL, INC. - The Haunting of Hayden Hill: Paranormal Inc. maze opens its doors to those brave enough to uncover an eerie and supernatural adventure. Guests investigate a haunted hospital where the patients were tortured for decades by deranged doctors and nurses. Demonic spirits of the murdered victims have been detected throughout the mysterious halls, while evil medical staff prowl for new patients to torture. This year, guests will encounter a newly redesigned finale scene that will have everyone screaming out the door in terror. Red Barn – Take a trip to a blood-soaked barn filled with gore and fear that is home to a murderous farmer in the Red Barn maze. Legend has it the farmer who owns the barn transformed into a monstrous creature that sends his sadistic sons to procure food and new wives for him to ensure his legacy. None dare enter the barn, for those who wander in never escape. And last, the Timber Mountain Log Ride Halloween Hootenanny is back featuring an original song by Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. Ahh! Dang, how do they always sneak up on me like that!? The Hanging – In this Scary Farm standard, the Citizens of Calico face their toughest foes yet, the censors, in this live stage show that looks back at the year’s pop culture with some killer comedy. Notorious for its special effects and high-flying stunts, The Hanging is a no holds barred assault on pop culture’s most infamous moments of the past year. A must see parody! Knott’s Scary Farm is far more than a collection of haunted attractions. Every night monsters spill out onto the streets and turn theme park midways into murderous scare zones. Ghost Town Streets is the original and largest, most terrifying scare zone that started it all. Bands of half-human, half-animal monsters prowl the streets and inhabit the fog, while the notoriously startling sliders lunge from every fog-filled corner of the land. On the Boardwalk, clowns crave your undying attention in the CARNEVIL scare zone as they lure you in with their antics. Okay, at least I could see you coming that time! Though it doesn't make either of you less creepy. The witches of The Hollow along with their armies of creatures have risen once again to go to battle with the witch hunter in The Hollow scare zone. From the world famous Ghost Town Streets to the Boardwalk area filled with evil clowns, there’s nowhere to hide at Knott’s Scary Farm. The Knott’s Scary Farm Pass returns for the 2018 season and offers unlimited visits to all 25 event nights. Current 2018 Knott’s Berry Farm Season Passholders can purchase the pass at the limited time price of $85 and non-passholders can purchase the Scary Farm Pass for just $95. Visit knottsscaryfarm.com for all of the different ticket types and general information to ensure you get every last scare out of your experience. Thank you to the entire Knott's team for inviting Theme Park Review to this sneak peak; we can't wait for this season's screamings! Welcome back to Knott's Scary Farm!

Thanks to Theme Park Review, we were able to attend the HangTime Media Event at Knott's Berry Farm ahead of its grand opening today! This new coaster makes quite a splash, as it becomes the choice-wave in the Boardwalk area of the park. With the opening of HangTime, the Boardwalk area now feels complete. The official TPR Media Event report will come soon from David and Brittney, but here a few teaser pictures from the totally tubular event! After a few laps on the surrounding rides, the crowd gathered for the opening ceremony. The lighting completely transforms the look of the ride at night. The coaster prepares to catch a wave as it makes its first drop! After the ceremony, we went on the Sky Cabin to get a different view. Watching the lights chase with the train is so enjoyable! Time to take our first ride! ..and second and third ride! Check back soon for the official report from David and Brittney! Congratulations to Knott's Berry Farm on brining the first dive coaster to the West Coast, and thank you for inviting us to join you for this wonderful event! Here is to a great summer season at the farm! Glad to be back at Knott's Berry Farm!

I love the Disney ships, and the upgrades during the dry dock for the Disney Magic look spectacular! Can't wait to see more from your trip, and more fish extender goodies.

2018 Boysenberry Festival Media Day! As spring roles around, Knott's Berry Farm transforms their park into a field of boysenberries as far as the eyes can see. This event remains popular with locals as a great way to celebrate the boysenberry with fun food and drinks as well enjoying classic Knott's entertainment with a boysenberry twist! During the media event we were given the Boysenberry Festival Tasting Card, which is a bit different from last year's card. This year they have increased the price to $30, but includes a bump to 8 different food items. This change is a welcomed way to taste even more of the most popular items the event has to offer. Included with the tasting card is: Slow-Cooked Boysenberry short rib, Boysenberry Pierogies, Boysenberry Cheese Quesadilla, Boysenberry Elote, Boysenberry Coconut Macaroon, Boysenberry Hummus w/ Grilled Pita Bread, Boysenberry Sausage on a Bun, and Boysenberry Chicken Wings. The portion sizes with the tasting card are smaller than the other full-priced items around the park, but with the low price of the tasting card it's totally worth it! A few other great features for the tasting card: If you aren't interested in one of the items, you can use the tab on the card for any of the listed items. Secondly, you can use the tasting cards through the entire length of the festival from now through April 8. During the media event, we had such a great time enjoying the festive decorations, the wonderfully playful entertainment, and of course the boysenberry overload of food and drinks! This is certainly an event you will want to see from park opening to closing, so arrive hungry and stay for the day! Thank you to Knott's Berry farm for inviting Theme Park Review to this wonderful event! Welcome back to Knott's, on a perfect spring day! We were able to experience many of the items on the Tasting Pass, as well as a few of the wines at the Wilderness Hall. All of the items on the Tasting Card can be found within the Ghost Town area. We watched a short video on the history of the boysenberry, and it was a nice place to sit and enjoy our first item. The food photos below are arranged in order of what we believe is the best "value" from least to most. Remember that you have 8 pull tabs on the Tasting Card, so if you want to go for the items with the best "pay-off", this list can help! Boysenberry quesadilla. The real star is the boysenberry salsa that comes with it. The Boysenberry Hummus and Pita. Way more hummus than anyone should consume in one sitting. Boysenberry Pierogies. It was great with the boysenberry/onion/bacon mix on top, but whatever boysenberry concoction was on the right side was still frozen. Boysenberry chicken wings were as great as I remember them from last year. Normal chicken wings smothered in their boysenberry barbecue sauce. Even a chef from Dorney Park is helping during the Boysenberry Festival! Boysenberry Elote was so flavorful and such a fun item! The boysenberry sausage was fantastic and totally filling. We enjoyed it alongside the boysenberry punch, boysenberry wine, and the cheese plate that comes along with the wine tasting card. Boysenberry Short ribs on a bed of rice was by far the most high-quality items on the tasting card. The portion was filling and had a nice variety of flavors! We also enjoyed the Cherry Pie wine which was from an outside winery. We were able to see the Calico Saloon bar show, and the Boysenberry Bedlam Melodrama in the Bird Cage theater. Both we enjoyable "classic" Knott's-style shows with fun boysenberry twists. A few photo bonuses: First Sol Spin in action! And lastly, here is a view the park from the Sky Cabin. You can see where the queue will snake below through the track. HangTime construction continues. We expect to hear an opening day announcement soon. Once again, a big "thank you" to Knott's Berry Farm for allowing us to see the Boysenberry Festival! Be sure to experience it now through April 8.

HangTime Construction Preview! Theme Park Review was invited to an exclusive construction preview of Knott's Berry Farm's newest roller coaster, HangTime! Knott’s Berry Farm will welcome HangTime in the 2018 summer season, as the only dive coaster on the West Coast. HangTime Basic Stats: -Height: 150 feet -Track Length: 2,189 feet -Capacity: 3 trains with 16 single passenger carrying units each -Maximum velocity 57 mph Ride Features: -150-foot Vertical Lift -96-degree First Drop -5 Inversions -Holding Break at 60 degrees- ride will hang guests looking down over the first drop before starting -The Negative-G Stall Loop- only the 2nd roller coaster in the Western Hemisphere to have this feature offering unprecedented hang time -Colorful nighttime track chase lighting that will accompany the coaster train as it travels across the track. Thank you to Knott's Berry Farm for inviting us on this tour, we can't for your opening day announcement! It's a rare gloomy day in Southern California, but perfect for enjoying the HangTime waves! They took us into the construction area... ...and unwrapped this beauty! The trains are reminiscent of surfboards. Really love those headrests! You know you love this wheel assembly! The yellow surfboard is reference for where the ride entrance will be, with a shaded queue winding underneath the coaster's inversions. Sending the first daytime test train! Knott's plans on announcing the opening day for the ride within the next week or two. Thank you again to the wonderful staff at Knott's for hosting us!

Theme Park Review was invited to attend the opening of CHILL at The Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. You can experience this winter wonderland most days thru January 7th. There are a few different ticket levels, with add-ons such as access to some of the bigger attractions, a drink-around-the-world-style passport, and front-of-the-line passes for the attractions. Visit http://www.queenmary.com/events/chill-2017-2018 for more information. Welcome to Chill! The Queen Mary is a wonderful backdrop for this winter event, even if it's sunny and 80 degrees! The ice adventure park is complete with a 145 snow slide. Instead of just a normal ice skating rink on the left, there is also an expanded ice staking path around half of the complex. This ice skating path takes you into a dome. The inside of the dome, complete with a forest scene, and a bar in the back. Ice bumper cars. A few elevated walkways give great view of the complex. They turned the inside of a shipping container into a 9-degree ice bar! $15 for 4 Vodka shots of your choice. This is one of the cozy indoor seating areas complete with a bar. Happy Holidays from sunny Southern California!

Welcome to another season of screams at Universal Studios Hollywood! Theme Park Review attended the opening night of Halloween Horror Nights on both coasts again this year! That's right, live from Hollywood and Orlando! On the West Coast, William and Daniel had the opportunity to visit all 7 mazes, and of course the Terror Tram on the USH backlot. Let's roll this horror film in 3...2...1... Here's the walk-throughs of three of the mazes at HHN Hollywood: It's time to hear the chorus of screaming once again! William and Daniel brining you coverage on the red carpet before the frights begin! Jennifer Tilly, aka the Bride of Chucky dropped by. And with that, we head right to our first maze of the night The Shining. Throughout the night, we were hearing the most buzz about this maze, and we agreed! The Hell-O-Ween scare zone leads you from the Lower Lot to the Metro Sets, where three mazes await your arrival. "Please help me!" Ash vs. Evil Dead "Do you like my chainsaw hand?" We love scares when they aren't at eye-level! Scares from above or below are super effective! Get 'em Ash! SAW: The Games of Jigsaw That is one screwed up doll thing! Let's play a game! As a big fan of the American Horror Story TV series, USH had a great season to work with. My Roanoke Nightmare, was a fast-paced season set in the backwoods of mid-America, with lot of murder and pig heads! This little piggy was a' roastin'... This little piggy was just tails... This little piggy popped out to say "hi"... ...and this little piggy was blue! The Butcher going what she does best! Yummy! The Horrors of Blumhouse, was a really fun and energetic maze which features stories from three Blumhouse Production films: The Purge, Sinister, and the soon-to-be released Happy Death Day. We are only going to show you photos of the first third of the maze, so the rest of it can be a surprise. We loved it! What's up Abe?! Who wore it better: This Purge participant or Mt. Rushmore? With liberty and justice for none! Next is the Terror Tram! If you just purchase general admission tickets for the event, we recommend you heading to Terror Tram first, because it closes sooner than the rest of the mazes. This year, the Terror Tram features the titans of terror, and is hosted by Chucky. We always love walking through the Bates Motel set... ...and seeing it come to life! Well that's one way to skin a...human. Woah, woah, woah! Wait a freakin' minute! Is that supposed to be Catawampus in the War of the Worlds plane?!!?!? Respond in the comments below with your thoughts on this conspiracy theory! She's only half the lady she used to be... Last up was Insidious. This was a tough one to photograph due to dark lighting, but it made for awesome scares! And that's a wrap on the first night of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood! If you are planning to attend between now and November 4th, we highly recommend splurging the extra $100 - $120 for the Front of the Line pass. It is almost impossible to see all 7 mazes with general admission because the maze lines can reach 180 minutes on some nights. With the Front of the Line pass, you will be able to hit all the mazes for sure! We want to give a big "thank you" to the USH PR team for inviting us to opening night, and we wish you a great season!

Theme Park Review was invited to visit LEGOLAND California, as they prepare for their summer season! We visited on a Tuesday when school was still in session, and we were able to experience every attraction in the park (which we weren't too big to experience). Park Operations were great, with the longest lines being for some of the family coasters because of one train operations. There were great food options throughout the park, and all the employees were emphasizing their claim to fame of all the entrees in the park being prepared "from scratch". If true, it's pretty impressive for a theme park! The only thing we couldn't quite rationalize was the $96 price point for a 1-day Adult ticket to the park. Even after experiencing every attraction between the off-peak park hours of 10am - 5pm, that averages out to about $13/hour of value. You could see 7 different movies at a theater for that price. If you are from out of town, our suggestion would be to go with the So Cal Citypass at $353, and includes 1 day at LEGOLAND, 1 day at SeaWorld, and a 3-day Park Hopper to the Disneyland Resort. If you are a local, we would recommend the LEGOLAND Annual Pass which is $159. Both are substantially better values than the 1-day Adult ticket. That said, we had a GREAT time in the park! We want to give a big "thank you" to the LEGOLAND team for inviting us. Onto the pictures: Welcome to LEGOLAND California! Kids at heart! At opening, almost everyone heads straight toward last year's new attraction. Ninjago! Similar to Voyage to the Iron Reef at Knott's, you use your hands as the controllers. Although it is much more interactive that rides which use blasters, the accuracy was much lower due to hand placement in reference to the sensors. We would have enjoyed it more if we used blasters. It was so great to see a ton of play areas strategically placed throughout ride queues. Easily the best way to help boost the parents' enjoyment of the park. Even the Egyptians knew how to "play well". Lost Kingdom Adventure. Yay for blasters! Yahoo! A coaster! We were most looking forward to Knights Tournament, as none of us had yet experienced a robotic arm attraction. Two of us picked Level 2, and two picked Level 5. With Level 2 being billed as "fun", we did have a fun time! Level 5 was extreme, and the other two had a headache for the rest of the day... Choose wisely! Splash Battle, an inherently watery water ride with wet water. Mr. Shark has seen better days. Skipper School, where you can pilot your own boat. It still lives! A surprisingly physically demanding attraction where you move an enormous fire truck toward the burning buildings. At the heart of each LEGOLAND location, is MINILAND. Lego models of anything and everything. The bricks are strong with these ones. A ton of Star Wars scenes; very popular with all generations while we were there. The Death Star was very "Impressive"! The new item for 2017, the Star Destroyer, was back under construction during our visit but looked awesome from afar. You never know what you will see at the Model Shop. Working with Legos for a living must be a dream job! Recognize any of these characters? MINILAND, USA. Washington, D.C. Godzilla! The Capitol Building NYNY Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas. The Mirage, complete with a dolphin pool! Both the scale of the models, and the details within the models are so impressive. They even have the billboards for the Cirque shows! The Big Easy. Jackson Square Café du Monde. NYC. Inside Grand Central Station. We wish a great summer season to LEGOLAND California! Thank you again for having us visit!

From Knott's: Knott’s Berry Farm is the birthplace of the Boysenberry and each spring, Knott’s celebrates the flavorful berry and it historic roots during the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival with unique food and live entertainment. For the first time ever, the mouthwatering festival is expanding to three weeks, April 1 – April 23. The 23-day food festival features over 80 one-of-a-kind boysenberry inspired dishes, drinks and more, plus foot-stompin’ entertainment, the Wine and Craft Brew Tasting Garden, and family fun everyone will love! From sun up to sun down, the festival offers good ol’ fashion food, fun and entertainment. Pick up a tasting card to sample a few of the most popular boysenberry dishes in the park. For guests with a hankerin’ for some live entertainment, the options are endless with live music throughout the park, a nighttime dance party, and brand new shows like, Snoopy’s Boysenberry Jamboree at the Calico Mine Stage. Head over to Calico Park for a hootenanny featuring pie eating contests, line dancing and country fair festivities with the local Ghost Town townsfolk. The limited-time Festival is included with admission to Knott’s Berry Farm. Last week, Theme Park Review was invited to a tasting preview of some of the 80 boysenberry inspired items of their 2017 festival. It's awesome that so many parks are doing these food and drink events because they give patrons a reason to come back throughout the year as well as breaking the stigma of "theme park food". What you should know: -New items for 2017: Boysenberry pizza, boysenberry ravioli, boysenberry fry bread, and corn on the cob with boysenberry butter and mayo. -One of the best ways to experience the event is with a boysenberry Bites Tasting Card for $25. It includes the boysenberry: pizza, ravioli, buffalo wings, BBQ meatballs, fry bread, and pana cotta. -This event features more than just food. The Knott's Boysenberry Festival will feature live music, a nighttime dance party, a new Snoopy show, pie eating contests, line dancing, and more. - The boysenberry is a cross between a loganberry, red raspberry, and blackberry. You can learn more about its history during the event at Ghost Town's Town Hall in a 10-minute film played on loop. Be sure to visit the festival starting April 1st! Theme Park review will be in attendance that day and will be live tweeting all of the festive festival festivities! Enjoy the pictures and video below of the tasting preview, and a big boysenberry overloaded "thank you"! To the incredible Knott's PR team! [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] Welcome to the 2017 Knott's Boysenberry Festival Tasting Preview! We're not even through the door yet and they loaded us up with boysenberry: shortbread cookies, cotton candy, and chapstick! ...then we get in the door before the presentation and they butter us up with fresh baked rolls for boysenberry: punch, jam, and butter! The tasting event hasn't even started and we are on a boysenberry overload! Boysenberry!!! The head Chef for the event detail the new and exciting dishes for this year's event. We started with the Apricot and pulled pork sandwich. Alligator with boysenberry aioli. This was my first time having alligator, and I liked it! Of course anything deep-fried is great. It is soft and light like fish (without a fishy smell) and a bit more chewy than chicken. New this year is the boysenberry pizza. Very well done! Nice and flavorful with the boysenberry component replacing the sauce and most of the cheese. Boysenberry short ribs on jasmine rice. It tasted great, but our sample portion had a high "bone to meat" ratio. I assume that the normal portion size with have more meat. Boysenberry ravioli. So inventive and fun; a great flavor both inside and out! Boysenberry buffalo wings. I can't handle anything spicy, but took the risk for the TPR members. Luckily it was just under my tolerance level and I could really enjoy the flavor of the sauce. It was a great dish! Same with the meatballs. Perfectly tender, with the sauce being a perfect compliment for this sweet and savory item. Now for desserts! Starting with the boysenberry flautas. Nice crunchy outside with a flavorful filling inside. Boysenberry crepe: A bit of chocolate and a lot of boysenberry and what we think was Nutella. Great stuff! The next three desserts were all *perfect*! First, this chocolate-covered boysenberry cheesecake on a stick was awesome. It has a cold slice of cheesecake on the inside with a hardened chocolate shell on the outside...on a stick!!! ...even more amazing was the deep-fried boysenberry cheesecake...on a stick!!! It has a boysenberry sauce drizzled on the outside and powdered sugar. "I will conquer you!" "Or you can conquer me...that's fine...you are perfect!" And third: the boysenberry fun bun! This is a deep friend boysenberry cinnamon bun! Simply put, this is perfection. If you are only going to get one item for this event, we recommend this! Be sure to check out all this event has to offer starting on April 1st, and watch for live tweeting from Theme Park review as we cover the opening day! Thank you again to Knott's Berry Farm for inviting to this boysenberry overloaded tasting preview!

VR Showdown in Ghost Town Features Background information: VR Showdown in Ghost Town is the result of a creative collaboration between Cedar Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, and VRstudios with weekly syncs across 6 months of development effort from VRstudios' internal development team. The game was designed and developed specifically for VRstudios' custom hardware platform, which includes incredibly accurate positional tracking sensors, a proprietary, wireless VR HMD, and a custom gun peripheral. The installation features design work and theming from Knott's hardware and décor teams to theme the entire user experience as a time travel adventure, including a themed pre-show video and scenic decoration throughout the VR play space. Beyond the standard VRstudios hardware, the gun peripheral has been modified specifically for the VR Showdown installation to match the gun model in the experience and to heighten immersion. These modification also helps provide a seamless transition from reality to virtual reality. The Knott's installation includes 8 capture spaces of roughly 20'x17' with 2 users playing simultaneously in each space. No consumer VR platform allows multiple users to move around this large of a play space, and without the limitation of cables connecting users to the PCs, players are free to move around each other and the space to take advantage of the full-motion nature of the system. Players are encouraged to move around the room to dodge incoming enemy projectiles and pick up useful power-ups, and there are both physical hardware indications and virtual software barriers that indicate to players the limits of their physical play space. Up to 2 capture spaces are networked together to allow anywhere from 1 to 4 players to play together in a single game instance. The hardware is designed for out-of-home use and features custom, premium VR equipment that is cost-prohibitive for consumers, hygienic materials and cleaning procedures to ensure every user has a clean experience, and easy operational procedures to maximize throughput. The game was developed in Unreal Engine 4 utilizing Oculus Spatial Audio and Wwise audio middleware. Experience Details: VR Showdown in Ghost Town is a 3-minute experience with intense gameplay, cinematic moments, and a dramatic finale. The experience features- -Intense, robot blasting action -Cinematic train explosion where players must dodge incoming debris -Dramatic boss finale The experience features dynamic difficulty scaling to ensure players are constantly challenged, but not overwhelmed. The experience ties into pre-existing Knott's lore of Professor Welles' Time Machine, and captures the likeness of iconic building from Knott's Ghost Town. Enemies: Melee enemies spawn around the town and run towards the players. When they get onto the train platform that the players are standing on, they activate their lightning clubs and charge at players. Every time the melee robot's lightning club hits a player, they lose points, so players must dodge incoming attacks or shoot the robots before they get the chance to swing. Ranged enemies spawn around town in strategic locations an fire plasma shots at the players. They must charge up their gun and only fire every few seconds, but there are many of them and bullets fly at the players in all directions. Players must dodge out of the way of incoming range projectiles, or risk getting hit and losing points. Melee and ranged enemies take 2 shots anywhere on their robot bodies or 1 headshot to destroy. There are 2 Mini-Bosses in the game that are leaders of the robot army. They have distinct colors, unique props, and clear objectives to destroy certain building of Calico. Player must show the mini-boss robots before they cause damage to the town. The quicker players destroy the mini-boss robots, the more of the town they will save. The robots have also commandeered Steam Engine 41 in an effort to destroy the bank and expose the safe. The robots run the train too hot nd create a time distortion as the train stems into town. The train explodes through the time distortion and players must dodge debris flying off the train. Every time a plyers is hit by a piece of debris, thy lose points, so they must dodge or shoot the debris to avoid getting hit. The boss robot appears at the end of every Showdown mission. He is Professor Calek's secret weapon and controls a tractor beam that pulls the safe towards a portal. Players must destroy the boss robot before he steals the safe. Score: Individual and team scores are calculated based on player performance at destroying robots, and saving the town. Players are given a ranking based on their relative performance to other team's scores in each sector. There is an in-game leaderboard trakcing top scores for each sector that is visible before and after each experience in the VR lobby.

Earlier this week TPR was invited to Knott's Berry Farm to preview the new VR Showdown in Ghost Town experience located in the Boardwalk Arcade (underneath Iron Reef.) This new installation is a 3-minute experience featuring dynamic difficulty scaling to ensure players are constantly challenged, but not overwhelmed. It ties into pre-existing Knott's lore of Professor Welles' Time Machine, and captures the likeness of iconic building from Knott's Ghost Town. Cedar Fair collaborated with VRstudios to bring this first permanent VR installation to life, and as many folks may be wondering, this is operated by the Games department and not the Rides/Attractions team. We were told that the introductory price point would be $6; a very reasonable price for the experience. Although this is an upcharge experience, I believe this price point is justified. The closest comparison at Knott's Berry Farm for this new activity would be the midway carnival games. Most of those games cost between $3-$5 and the experience lasts from 10 seconds - 1 minute. Compared to the 3-minute experience of VR Showdown in Ghost Town $6 price point, this is Cleary the better value (for now). Depending on demand after the experience opens on April 1st, 2017, the price may rise. A friend and I experienced the game twice during the preview. After our first round, we received a few tips from the game designers on how to maximize your score: -All "enemies" that you try to eliminate with a VR gun will be highlighted in red or green. -Each time you are hit by an enemy, your score will decrease. -In the VR environment, there are boxes and barrels you can hide behind in order to avoid being hit by the enemy. "Using levels", or crouching/kneeling in the environment will help you avoid being hit. -Keep moving in the environment to avoid being hit by the enemy. After our second try, we certainly felt more accomplished with a deeper understanding of the game objective. We highly recommend giving this latest Knott's Berry Farm experience a try (especially at the introductory price)! More details will chronicled in the next post below. Please enjoy a few pictures from our experience and watch for our report later this week from the 2017 Knott's Boysenberry Festival Tasting Preview, as well as our live tweeting taking place for the opening day of the festival on April 1st! Thank you to the Knott's PR team for inviting us to participate in this awesome preview! Tucked away in the back of the park underneath Iron Reef is the home of the new VR Showdown in Ghost Town. Located in an arcade, this is considered to be part of the Games department. This check-in area will give backstory and instructions to the players. 8 pods can accommodate two players at a time. Two pods (for a total of 4 players), live in the same VR environment and in a somewhat co-op environment, attempt to save the Ghost Town. The inside of each pod consists of a minimal set up. A shelf is provided for participants to store their personal items, and also stores the VR headset, headphones and game guns. Cleaning supplies for these items are also visible, which is a nice visual for the Sheldon Coopers of the world. The carpet in the middle of the pod gives participants a tactile cue to let them know where the VR game boundary is, and adds to blue grid that shows itself in the headset if you stray too close to the boundary line. Eight overhead capture cameras are used in each pod. The Games team member put on your headset and headphones after a bit of instructions. When in doubt, shoot! At the end of the three minutes, the team member will give you a physical cue to stand still so they can assist you in removing the VR components. Again, a big thank you to the Knott's team for inviting us to experience this great new offering! VR Showdown in Ghost Town opens on April 1st, 2017.

Theme Park Review was recently invited to experience a Haunted Attraction in Tustin, CA called the The 17th Door. This is the 2nd year for this stand-alone Haunt, and simply put, it is a wild experience! Like many others, I am familiar with mostly theme park mazes and experience with an estimated 250 mazes under my belt. This manic experience takes the experience to an entirely different level. In the corporate world of theme parks, there is a clear line drawn to protect both customer and employee. The parks ensure that customers understands they come to experience “fun scared” and not “real scared”. “Real scared” may conjure a true fight or flight reaction, and that is not what they are after as it can lead to injury or something greater. Free from the constraints of a corporate brand and image, The 17th Door has free range to create and design whatever they want their customers to experience. Event Description: Barely surviving freshman year, Paula has decided to return to Gluttire University. After an attempted suicide and a mental ward sentence, she struggles to pursue her fading dream of becoming a doctor. Frequent psychiatric evaluations force Paula to revisit disturbing childhood memories. Now dealing with a painful traumatic pregnancy, Paula remains desperate to escape her past. Nothing can prepare her for what comes next.… sophomore year. If you attended Gluttire University last year, know this: it has grown in both size and difficulty. The personal pig demons of Paula’s past still roam the campus waiting to haunt her… and you. Everything inside this decrepit institution, which assaults your five senses, is real. Your endurance will be tested as you progress through the 21 unsettling rooms of this monstrous school. Can you walk in Paula’s shoes through the dissolution of her life and burning flashbacks of her past to withstand what’s behind that final door? Can you endure over 34 minutes of psychological terror or will you scream MERCY to be escorted out of this nightmare? Are you brave enough to make it through… The 17th Door? After experiencing the attraction, I can say that I was blown away! It is amazing to see what can be done with no corporate oversight. What sets this event apart or “What people don’t like about theme park mazes, and how this haunt fixed it!”: Group Size: Theme Parks - Normally experienced in an overcrowded conga-line to get a high throughput. 17th Door - Group size is limited to 5-7 people per group, making for an intimate experience Storytelling: Theme Parks – Disjointed storytelling with an overarching theme based of the title of the maze. 17th Door - With two “preshow” rooms on top of the 17 doors (or experiential rooms), you are given clear and concise story as you learn about Paula’s past and present in 90 second increments as you go from room to room. Going from scene to scene: Theme Parks – People have to push their way through a doorway covered in cloth, plastic, or other material. 17th Door – Because groups of 5-7 people are experiencing a different 90 second scene in each room and rotating to the next room for 30 seconds before the next room starts, the maze designers wanted to ensure that you would never see another group. This is where I was very impressed with the operation of the event: Between each true room was a “transition hallway” which not only ensured that you wouldn’t see another group, but also allowing the actors and technicians a few seconds to reset the complex scenes for the next group of folks to come in. The transition hallways also allowed for decompression time for the customers as some of the content is graphic and emotionally heavy. After a few of the more intense scenes, the individuals in my group used the transition times to talk about what we just experienced. The transition hallways were themed to the same high standards of the rooms themselves, with a perfect setting that compliments both the previous room and the room we were about to see. Pacing: Theme Parks – Most of the time, a normal walking pace. 17th Door – 90 second scenes and a 30 second transition a perfect for the right amount of storytelling and absorbing the information before being ready to take in the next chunk of information. Variety/ New Ideas: Theme Parks - It isn’t too often that I say to myself: “Wow, I have never seen that before!”, in a theme park. In fact, the only time I said it at an event this year was walking through the last room in USH’s Halloween maze when you are walking through the inside of a pumpkin. 17th Door – Every third room or so, I found myself saying “wow” or being surprised by what I was experiencing. We experienced a mini-escape room with this haunt, which really put you into the first-player mindset. Such a fun idea! What was simply too much or “They have so many other things that made people uncomfortable, that this one element is just unnecessary and doesn’t add anything to the experience. So please do away with it.”: Before entering the haunt, there is a waiver you will sign. (See image below.) You will witness major adult themes, along with a laundry list of things you will physically come into contact with or will experience. Licking – Theme Parks: The golden rule for haunt events is “Don’t touch the scare-actors, and they won’t touch you.” 17th Door – You do not touch the scare-actors, but they touch you in almost every room. The scare actors are careful and mostly respectful. They keep their hands above the belt for gentlemen, and the same for ladies while also avoiding the chest. What crossed the line for me is when an actor full on licked my cheek in one of the room. It added absolutely nothing to the story. In fact did the opposite of telling a story: it took me out of the moment. With his bodily fluid now sitting on my face, it smelled disgusting. I couldn’t concentrate on the room because of how foul it smelled right next to my nose. How many people a day does that scare-actor lick? People go to haunts to be “scared”. Licking is not scary, it is a gimmick. It is an unnecessary gimmick which takes away from what otherwise is an insanely cool and unique experience. 17th Door, I implore you to stop licking your customers. Thank you for your consideration. Despite that one element, the other 99% of the experience is simply incredible and it an amazing show of creativity and spectacle as you are watching and reliving the story of a severely troubled young woman. We highly recommend this attraction for “expert level” haunt goers. If you find yourself bored with haunts where there is no physical contact between you and the performer, then this event is for you! We want to thank the creators of The 17th Door for inviting us to experience their incredible work of art, and to Heather for being a wonderful and gracious host. Attraction information: 2856 El Camino Real, Tustin, CA 92782 Website: http://www.the17thdoor.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/the17thdoor Instagram/Twitter: @the17thdoor 2016 SCHEDULE September 23-24: 7:00pm to 12:00am September 30-October 1: 7:00pm to 12:00am October 6: 7:00pm to 11:00pm October 7-8: 7:00pm to 12:00am October 9: 7:00pm to 11:00pm October 12-13: 7:00pm to 11:00pm October 14-15: 7:00pm to 12:00am October 16: 7:00pm to 11:00pm October 19-20: 7:00pm to 11:00pm October 21-22: 7:00pm to 12:00am October 23: 7:00pm to 11:00pm October 25-26: 7:00pm to 11:00pm October 27: 7:00pm to 12:00am October 28-31: 6:00pm to 12:00am - Tickets start from $22.00 and vary depending on day - VIP/Speed Pass tickets have a shorter, faster line Welcome to the 17th Door! The main character, Paula, is a student at Gluttire University. This haunt is intense! So intense in fact, that you have to sign your life away before you enter. The queue area outside of the first door. Paula in her current state: pregnant and troubled. Very rich detail throughout. Paula's boyfriend, Brad. Well, she is pregnant after all... We learn about Paula's past from her Psychiatrist. We learn how her past still haunts her, by experiencing what she did first hand. Come visit Paula at The 17th Door! Happy Halloween!

Agreed! It was such a gross but effective visual!

Halloween Horror Nights 2016 - Opening Day Review On Friday, Sept. 16, Theme Park Review was invited to the Opening Night of Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights! For many, *this* season is the “most wonderful time of the year”, as the theme park industry continues to capitalize on the continued popularity of the horror genre. Halloween Horror Nights continues to reign as a premier Halloween event in Southern California. We heard many comments from folks as we waited for the event to being, that this year’s maze lineups looked to be of the strongest the event has ever seen. (For you pictures-only kind of folks, skip below to the photos.) The maze line up: The Exorcist – Join in Regan MacNeil’s possession, and run in terror as you attempt to escape the horrific battle between innocence and evil. Our thoughts: This maze boasted the longest wait of the night. Buzz outside of the maze was high, as fans were excited about the prospect of seeing some pretty awesome moments brought to life. A levitating Regan is seen going up and down the entry stairs, and we wind through different rooms before seeing Regan in her bedroom with the Priest. Some of the effect were really well done, but the pacing of the maze fell a bit flat. We go through her bedroom several times as if we are seeing the story progress, but the rooms between Regan’s bedrooms were plain “palate cleansers”. American Horror Story – Three chapters from three different AHS seasons are brought to life: Seasons 1, 4, and 5. Our thoughts: Fans of the show, especially those who have seen the first 5 seasons will really enjoy this maze. Admittedly, I have only seen the 5th season and am going to follow along with the (just starting) 6th season. Focusing on the 3rd Chapter, “Hotel”, the architecture of the Hotel Cortez is perfectly brought to life with the iconic characters and voice overs straight from the series are used to give context to what you are seeing. A very enjoyable maze! Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield – An all-new maze inspired by the second film in the classic “Halloween: horror franchise. Our thoughts: USH more often than not has a maze featuring Michael Myers. Although Michael Myers can be seen in almost every room in the maze (sadly, some are mistakenly visible at the same time), I want to focus on one of the most inventive and original ideas I have seen from more than the 100+ mazes I have seen over the past few years. The final scene has you walking through what looks like the inside of an uncarved pumpkin with a dreamland like music track playing. The texture used to create this visual is the simple stretching of cheesecloth, exactly what Knott’s uses to create the patches of spider webs on their building exteriors. For this room, the cheesecloth was drastically thickened and dipped in what looked like orange paint with a thickener to create a gourd-like texture. The smell of pumpkin also filled the air, creating one of the most simple “wow, I have *never* seen this before!” moments I have had for mazes. Although it is a simple and somewhat silly room, it is so rare to have those wow moments because props and gags are recycled and repurposed every year industry wide. Freddy vs. Jason – Inspired by the 2003 film which brought together two of the biggest horror icons. Our thoughts: Simply, and enjoyable maze with these two killers. Although the film had an outcome for “who wins” and we saw the finale with that same outcome, other visitors were reporting that they saw a different outcome when they went through. Either folks are mistaken, or the finale changes a bit throughout the night. Let us know who “won” when you went through! The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Blood Brothers – Guests are pit against Leatherface and his brother ChopTop. Our thoughts: The opening room is rich in detail, but the rest of the maze was sadly forgettable. It didn’t help that all of the talent triggers happened after we walked out of each room. It happens. Krampus – The terrifying dark Christmas legend is manifested into a maze based on the Christmas-themed horror film. Our thought: Our favorite maze of the night! I am admittedly a holiday Grinch, and although the last thing I want to see is more holiday decorations, the blend between Halloween and Christmas makes for excellent storytelling and leaving room for so many holiday things to go awry. Beautifully themed, with haunting holiday music playing Krampus is seen throughout a family home, with you as the main target. Very enjoyable! The Walking Dead– This year round maze stays open for HHN, and helps absorb the crowds in the upper lot. Eli Roth presents Terror Tram – Hollywood Harry, a “has-been” Clown and some of his minions who live in the rolling Hollywood Hills come out to play with folks who are venturing through. Our thoughts: Although the footprint is the same as in past years, our experience somehow felt shorter that in the past. The clown theme was fun and different, making use of the bright colors in this area of the Backlot. Although, as I am writing this, I am now realizing that the iconic backgrounds of the Bates Motel, and War of the Worlds set are virtually ignored and not used. (I recall only a clown attacking a victim next to the back of an open ambulance in the WotW set. Again, new and bright, but didn’t make use of the awesome background as much as they could have. The Scare Zone line up: Unlike past years, it was *so nice* to not have The Walking Dead everywhere. Of all the types of Halloween “monsters”, the Zombie has the lowest energy and relies heavily on the least effective scare tactic “the stare”. This year, all four scare zones were themed to The Purge: Election Year. It was interesting to see this change from separately themed scare zones to just one theme. Our thoughts: It worked, and it didn’t work. It worked because it is based off of high-energy characters in a bizarre version of America. It was fun and fresh at the beginning of the night, but by the end of the night people were a bit numb to it because they saw it everywhere they went. I would love to see them keep this type of set up and enhance each area even more to make them each feel a bit more unique. The Jabbawoceez perform six times a night in the Special Effect Stage Theater on the upper lot. Our thoughts: With a show concurrently running in Las Vegas, we were expecting to see six or eight dancers in the show. We were shocked to see at least 13 dancers in this 25-minute show. They did a great job with their performance, integrating lasers and storytelling into their act. It’s certainly worth a watch. Final thoughts: We LOVE Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights! It’s always fun to see what Creative Director John Murdy and his team come up with each year for horror fans. We caution everyone who goes that although they hit it out of the park creatively, operationally it can be a very trying experience. Wait times for the most popular mazes had posted wait times of 150 minutes. We firmly believe that in order to enjoy this event and to see all its offerings, waiting in lines of that length are not the way to go. The only way to see everything is to purchase a Gate A pass. We used Gate A passes for our visit, and although the Gate A lines actually took up to 15 minutes to get into some of the mazes, it pales into comparison of the stand-by lines. Again, get your Gate A pass and enjoy your visit! Halloween Horror Nights run on: September 23, 24, 29, 30 October 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 November 4 and 5. The event begins nightly at 7:00pm and closes at 2:00am. Ticket Information: http://www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com/hollywood - Advance purchase is highly recommended as event nights will sell out! A big "thank you" to our Media Host Gail for inviting us to attend! We wish USH a great Halloween season and we look forward to covering future USH events! And now, we invite you to join us as we take you through Halloween Horror Nights! (Check back for partial maze videos soon!) Photos by Daniel Barsky Welcome to HHN 2016! Theme Park Review is on the blood-red carpet! Fancy. Creative Director John Murdy. A great strategy to cover as much ground as possible at start of the event is to head to the Lower Lot where a ton of mazes can be found. Starting off at The Exorcist. Hello Mr. Priest, please save our souls! Doin' his magic. "Penn and Teller have nothing on me!" Devil child! Next up is American Horror Story! That's not very nice of him... Chapter 4: Freak Show. Beautifully themed! Chapter 5: Hotel. The Mattress demon seen here. Next maze is Halloween. You can't catch the Boogieman! Such an awesome and unique ending! Freddy vs. Jason Who will win? Freddy or Jason? Texas Chainsaw Massacre Krampus! One of the best Scare Actors we have ever seen, this ice delivery guy outside the Krampus maze entertains guests as the wait! That is definitely NOT Santa. Walking Dead year-round maze. Eli Roth presents Tram Tour. Here is Hollywood Harry! We were there as Eli walked through his own maze! Nice bright theming new for the Backlot area. Here is the entrance to one of the Purge scare zones. Nice little scenes here and there. The chainsaw folks are always entertaining. Perfect strobe-lit moment! Be sure to catch the Jabbawockeez in the Upper lot! Thank you again to USH for having us! We hope you can make it out to their event!

On Tuesday 6/28, Theme Park Review was invited to attend the Media Preview for Universal Studios Hollywood's newest attraction. The Walking Dead is a new year-round daytime maze situated at the top of London Street next to Mel's Drive-In Diner, and is based off of AMC's television series The Walking Dead. After a nice introduction from the Director/Executive Producer of The Walking Dead, Gregory Nicotero, a horde of 100 ravenous walkers approached the crowd and we were forced to enter the maze to escape their reach. I am happy to report that the permanent nature and rich detail were more than I was expecting following the closure of the comparable House of Horrors year-round maze. For fans of the show, many iconic scene are nicely brought to life with a surprising list of props that came right from the show. Visitors who have also attended the popular Halloween Horror Nights events will recognize the standard effects USH is known for in their maze design with the added benefit of permanent sets! These sets will last nicely for years to come. The reactions I had as well as others I walked through with centered more around things looking "awesome" or "really gory", and not "scary". This is usually my concern with horror offerings featuring the undead. The most a zombie can do to you is stare, drool, and grunt. Compared to other Halloween monsters/creatures, zombies are inherently the least energetic and therefore the least threatening. My issue aside, the scare actors rely on the built-in hiding areas to startle unsuspecting guests. Small groups are let in every 15-30 seconds similar to HHN, but I only recall a few times where rooms were separated by hanging cloth/burlap/chicken fingers/curtains, which lead to a more seamless storytelling experience! The Walking Dead attraction officially opens on Monday, July 4th. A big thank you to Gail from the USH Media team for inviting us to attend! We wish the USH team a great summer season when The Walking Dead is in full swing and folks enjoy their Butterbeer from the newly opened Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I am not yet dead. William USH Creative Director John Murdy met with folks outside of the new attraction located in the Upper Lot on London Street. If it weren't for the crashed helicopter above the sign, you wouldn't know there was a maze there! Just like the WWoHP airport bathroom entrance at USO! A ruffian gang of survivors met us during the opening moment, and cheerfully invited us into the attraction. The queue area is fashioned as the Harrison Memorial Hospital. Most importantly, it has ample indoor space with air conditioning! Inside the maze. A similar scene to the HHN maze, the use of a two-story room draws your attention away from the walkers who are ready to pop out from behind strategically placed hiding places. Congratulations to Universal Studios Hollywood on their newest attraction! Come check it out, though I barely made it out alive to share this with you.

Theme Park Review was invited to attend the VIP Press Event for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood! In my six years of attending press events at USH, this was by far the most extravagant, elaborate, and beautifully presented. The event started with VIP arrivals on the red carpet which stretched from New York street to the archway entrance to Hogsmead. We spoke with many of the actors from the Harry Potter film series before transitioning inside the land for the VIP presentation and fireworks celebration. Executives from NBC Universal, Warner Bros., and USH addressed the attendees and acknowledged the many people who helped bring the newest Wizarding World to life. The evening was capped with legendary composer and conductor John Williams leading the LA Philharmonic Orchestra in playing a Harry Potter suite from the film scores. The presentation portion of this event was truly remarkable, and quite a sight to behold! It is a rare treat for USH to have an aerial fireworks display, or any pyrotechnics outside of the WaterWorld arena. This was the perfect time to break that mold and honor this cherished IP. This new land is nothing short of stunning (save the already discussed sight-line issues within the land), and it is now up to the park operations team to keep the summer crowds cycling through as best they can. The first three days after the land's scheduled opening on April 7th, is already "SOLD OUT" and new ticket purchases are not available those days. Rumor has it that on the morning of the 7th, a smaller opening moment will occur at the Hogsmead entrance in the early morning. This will be a nice welcome to the first official guests who are expected to arrive and go through the Security screening process as early as 3am. We extend a hearty "Congratulations!" to the entire Universal team, and wish them a wonderful Spring and Summer season as guests flock to see their new addition. A big "thank you" to Gail from Public Relations for once again inviting us to attend! When you visit the new land, be sure to share your experience with the following: Twitter: @UniStudios Instrgram: @UniStudios #WizardingWorldHollywood Enjoy the photos and videos of the festivities below! "Mischief managed!" William Welcome back to USH! We live tweeted, bringing the action to our home viewers! Official Wizard! The real heroes: The Park Operations staff! Many folks on the red carpet! Here is Evanna Lynch. She portrayed Luna Lovegood in the film series. Mr. Steven Spielberg! Warwick Davis, of "Willow" fame and Professor Flitwick / Griphook from the film series was so kind to speak with us before he joined his family in the new land! Tom Felton, Draco Malfoy in the film series, spoke with us about his childhood memories of USH. James and Oliver Phelps, The Weasley Twins, in film series, also spoke with us before enjoying the festivities. After the red carpet, the guests and media members relocated inside the land to witness the VIP Press celebration. We see the start of some projection mapping! After the celebration, we were invited to enjoy many of the food offerings from the land, all traditional Scottish/English fare! Butterbeer for everyone! Which type do you prefer? Though many prefer the frozen, I much prefer the "cold" Butterbeer. The "Carts" team members are ready to serve up over 1 million Butterbeers this summer! Congratulations to Universal Studios Hollywood on your new land! Have a wonderful summer season! My personal favorite item of the night was the Bangers and Mash, perfect savory flavor for the sausage and the potatoes were a perfect comfort food! The Sheppard's Pie was a close second.

Universal Studios Hollywood recently invited Theme Park Review to tour the soon-to-open Wizarding World of Harry Potter, guided by Alan Gilmore. Alan is the Art Director for each of the previously-built Potter lands as well as a few of the Potter films. It is clear with this project, (the fourth individual Potter land), that the Creative and build teams have found their groove. They have taken the most successful parts of the past projects and created another stunning setting. Alan described the unique challenges of each of the builds and that this project was no different. Sightlines and land size are the biggest challenges for this property. One aspect that worked in favor of the project are the surrounding Hollywood hills. From certain vantage points within the land, the surrounding hills help reinforce the secluded and far-away feel of Hogwarts. The building details feature an amalgamation of different architectural designs which are representative of many uniquely identifiable time periods dating back to the dark ages. He explained that just like in the real world, tourists can see many different time periods represented in architecture all over the globe. The same is true in the world of Harry Potter, where buildings and shops are handed down for generations and improvements would be made through the centuries. The Creative team sought to engage all five senses for the Guests who explore the land. Guests have grown accustom to the rich detail, unique food options, and background music. However, the biggest success for this project, and how they truly immerse Guests and conjure emotional connections from the books and films come from the targeted and specific use of music and sound. In the streets and in the stores of the land you hear the soundtracks of the various Harry Potter films. The real fun is experienced in the many unique “moments” you find inside the shops. For example, you may find The Monstrous Book of Monsters safely caged in a particular store. The music from the scene in which this book is featured can be heard, and immediately takes you back to that moment in the films. A great success! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will officially open to the public on April 7. Theme Park Review will be present for the celebrity-filled Media Day a few days prior to the official opening. We would like to thank Alan Gilmore for giving us an in-depth tour of the new land, and to Gail from the USH Publicity team for inviting us to tour the land! Enjoy the photos from the tour! Welcome to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! West Coast Edition! Art Director Alan Gilmore is our trusty tour guide. Where wolf? THERE WOLF! It takes a wizard moving in for LA to get snow. At the front of the land sits the Hogsmead station. The interior will be used as a green screen photo location. Just past the entrance of the land is the first of many locations where the popular Butterbeer concoction can be purchased. Alan points out one of the various places guests can interact with the land. When guests purchase specialty wands, they are given a map of places where they can cast spells. There is a little something for everyone! Alas, earwax! The ever popular Ollivander's wand shop. Another location which so perfectly uses the film score. The one place where a non-tidy display works! Alan shows off the interactive wands and maps. J.K. Rowling went so far as to help the Creative team dive deeper into the lore of the world with a calendar explaining the wand components and how each month influences the wand. The Monstrous Book of Monsters cannot be contained! The Three Broomsticks is an iconic tavern from the books and films. Classic British-ish inspired food items can be found here. Ample interior seating, and realistic high ceilings. The Hog's Head serves unique Potter beers. Libations for everyone! One of two attractions found in the land, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Here we see what the Hollywood hills offer the land in theming reinforcement. It is stunning in person! To which house do you belong? Thank you again, Alan! Congratulations to you and your team on another successful land! Mischief managed.

Last week, TPR was invited to Universal Studios Hollywood for a Halloween Horror Nights maze walk-through with Creative Director John Murdy. We visited two of their anticipated mazes: Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home and Insidious: Return To The Further. These mazes we toured were mostly completed, and it was fascinating to see the mazes out of operation with time to appreciate the rich level of detail. Before we get to the pictures, we would like to give a very big "thank you" to our Social Media Coordinator Gail, Creative Director John Murdy, and the Universal Studios Hollywood team for their hospitality and for giving us this incredible sneak peek of their ever-growing Halloween event! Stay tuned later this week as Theme Park Review will be covering the opening night of this event! For event details visit: www.halloweenhorrornights.com/ Welcome back to the Entertainment Capital of LA! Creative Director John Murdy welcomes us to our first stop, Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home Maze description: October 31st, 1963 is a day that will forever haunt the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois. That's the night a six-year-old boy named Michael Myers inexplicably stabbed his sister to death. The family house where the murder took place has sat abandoned all these years, the source of endless tales about "The Boogeyman" Michael Myers. The local children believe the house is haunted.. they may be right. Welcome to Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home, a terrifying new haunted attraction based on the classic movie that spawned an entire genre of Horror. Return to the town of Haddonfield on Halloween night, the night "he came back" to take his bloody revenge. Michael Myers is waiting for you in the dark, relentlessly stalking you at every turn. Let's follow John inside! John not only gave us a tour of the mazes, but described the entire creative process and how elements such as costumes, lighting, audio, and most importantly the scare actors work together to create a seamless and fully immersive experience for the Guests. Here, he shows us a hiding place for a Scare Actor and how their part contributes to this scene. John tasked his set dressing team to recreate Halloween decorations from the 70's. They did a great job with the graphic design of the exterior decorations! John Murdy and his team wanted to bring Michael back to the event, but with a big change that primarily focuses on the classic line “You can’t kill the Boogeyman.” The Halloween maze from 2009 featured the 1963 version of the family house, but this year’s version features the house in 1970 which is now abandoned and still for sale. More maze detail. Poor Mama... You won't get to see Michael Myers himself until a bit further into the maze; the first half helps set up the story, and Michael is waiting for you a bit further in. But then, he will almost be following you the rest of the way through. Just remember: "You can't kill the Boogeyman." Moving to the Lower Lot for Insidious: Return To The Further, we were excited to see the park’s 2nd crack at this film franchise after previous great success. Maze description: The Further is a world far beyond our own, yet it's all around us - a place without time as we know it. It's a dark realm filled with the tortured souls of the dead. A place not meant for the living... they crave life; the chance to live again. But there are other entities who are malevolent and have a more insidious agenda. A new threat has crossed over from that world into ours, a threat that does not merely seek to possess the souls of the living but to steal the living back to their world of shadows and keep them there for eternity. To face this new threat, we are going to have to confront the demons where they live; we are going to have to Return to The Further! Welcome to Insidious: Return the Further, a terrifying journey into the paranormal based on all three chapters of the Insidious saga. Keep a steady stride, into The Further you go! Murdy explained to us that one of the most iconic visual elements in the films is the low lying fog that is found in the Further. Dry ice is traditionally used to create this effect, but would not be practical for this 27 night event. The USH team has done research on a more cost-effect way to still create this effect and they believe it will be successful! Unlike the Séance scene from the previous maze taking place in the living room, this time the Séance is held in Dalton's Room. Projections will be used in this scene to bridge our two worlds. Pegged to be an incredible special effect, you will be walking down a hallway only to have it disappear and find yourself standing in the middle of the Further! We can't wait to see this effect in action! More detail. John futher explains the training process of the Scare Actors and how they mentally prepare to repeat the same action hundreds of times a night to ensure a consistent guest experience throughout the entire run of the event. These scare actors work very hard! Everyone gets to go into the closet! Once again, a big thank you to John Murdy, Gail, and the USH team for inviting us to their open house tour! We can't wait to see these mazes and more in action starting this Friday!

Yep, we did another show this year. The public is always welcome to watch from the public beach at Will Roger's State Beach. It is always on July 3rd at 9pm. The show in the video costs about $15,000, keeping in mind that the price includes the various permits, Fire Marshall, operator costs, and of course the product itself. Sadly I have no clue what the actual break down of shells and cakes are. :/ Hope you had a good time with your mortars!

With all this interest in fireworks, let me leave this old gem right here: "Blowing S#!& up!" themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=63040

^Holy f^#$!!!!! Robb Alvey, you are my hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my absolute favorite word correction!

And every time I see that one guy write "Pocky" for Apocalypse, I vomit all over my laptop. Mr. Stratosphere: So great to hear of friendly employees in the park; a rare breed these days!

I too was surprised by Glenn's change of demeanor. At the red carpet, it is clear that he is just a normal guy. The rumor that he and his family frequent Disneyland, so I asked them all if they are "theme park" fans in general. Glenn started rattling off his favorite parks, and even went so far to say that his favorite attraction is The Haunted Mansion. The event was certainly enjoyable, but it wasn't the best (compared to itself from past years). SFMM's Fright Fest can't hold a candle to even the worst of HHN mazes. Definitely do HHN, but seriously consider upgrading to a Gate A pass if you want to get through all the mazes. I am never a sucker for any upsell in life, but this is the ONE thing I will always get!

Halloween Horror Nights 2014 - Opening Day Review On Friday, Sept. 19, Theme Park Review was invited to the Opening Night of Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights and the Eyegore Awards. For those unfamiliar, the Eyegore Awards honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the Horror genre of film and television. 2014 Award Winners: Robert Rodriguez: “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Machette,” “Grindhouse” Greg Nicotero: Executive Producer and Special Effects Make-Up Supervisor of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” John Landis: “An American Werewolf in London” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” SLASH: Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Of course, Halloween Horror Nights continues its reign as one of the premier Halloween events in Southern California. With its incredibly immersive and detailed mazes and its leverage of the most popular horror-based films and television shows, this event continues to stay fresh for its die-hard fans. This year’s event tagline states that Halloween Horror Nights will be “More Dead Than Ever” as it brings together the sickest minds in horror to immerse guests in the living, breathing, three-dimensional world of the most notorious and terrifying creatures in existence. The maze line up: The Walking Dead: The End of the Line - based on AMC’s award-winning TV series From Dusk Till Dawn - inspired by Robert Rodriguez’s cult film and TV series Clowns 3D Music by Slash - featuring an original maze score created by the famed guitarist Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood - based on Universal Pictures’ upcoming epic action-adveture AVP: Alien vs. Predator - based on the Twentieth Century Fox film franchise An American Werewolf in London - based on Universal Pictures’ Academy Award-winning film Face Off: In the Flesh - based on Syfy’s hit TV series (most anticipated maze of yours truly!) Scare Zone line up: The Walking Dead: Welcome to Terminus – Make your way through a gauntlet of flesh-hungry walkers The Purge: Anarchy - a new scare zone inspired by Universal Pictures’ blockbuster thriller Mask-a-Raid – Hidden amongst the party-goers on French Street are members of a cannibal cult Dark Christmas – See Krampus, the Christmas Devil and his mythological companions on Baker St. Skullz – From Native American lore, the Wendigo are malevolent supernatural half-beast creatures have an appetite for human flesh And of course, the world-famous Backlot Studio Tram Tour is hosting Terror Tram: Invaded By The Walking Dead - An all-new, apocalyptic journey through the Walker-infested Universal Backlot. Noticeably absent this year are the cult-classic Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure show, and any other show offerings. In the past, there have been smaller offerings such as Chucky’s Insult Emporium and The Rocky Horror Picture Show Live. With a bit of controversy surrounding the Bill and Ted show last year during the run of the event, we are very sad to see that this beloved offering did not return. For me personally, the show was an event staple and it just “doesn’t feel like HHN without it”. We truly hope that it returns next year. Despite the lack of entertainment, Universal Studio Hollywood has once again created an overall great Halloween event for their guests! We would like to give a heart-felt “Thank You!” to USH and Trana Pittam for hosting us! We look forward to seeing this event continue to grow year after year. And now, we invite you to join us as we take you through Halloween Horror Nights: Photos by Joseph Tagnipes and wrs28330. Welcome back to Universal Studios Hollywood for another great season of Halloween Horror Nights! TPR is on the red carpet rubbing elbows with the horror elite! Sid Haig of House of 1000 Corpses. Tara Reid of Sharknado 1 and 2!!!!! ...and some other movies too. McKenzie Westmore, host of Syfy's FaceOff. She was a delight to talk to, and she shared the story behind how the maze FaceOff: In the Flesh came to life. A FaceOff fan tweeted both McKenzie and John Murdy, suggesting a maze be brought to life. After tweeting each other back and forth, the fan's idea became a reality! FaceOff judges Lois Burwell, Glenn Hetrick, and Ve Neill. Also a true delight! They were very excited to have fans of the show see the best make-ups "in the flesh". They also talked about what big fans of theme parks and haunts they each are. Glenn reminisced of visiting boardwalk haunts back in the 70s and 80s. HHN Creative Director John Murdy and the famous Beowulf cane which brings luck on the event's opening night. Heading to the lower lot, we first see the Skulls scare zone. First maze of the night is American Werewolf in London. Some very impressive puppets and animatronics throughout this maze! Next up, was Clowns 3D; your typical 3D blacklit maze. Such an inviting façade! By far the "scariest" thing in the maze. After a 1/4 mile walk to the world famous Universal Backlot, we visit the maze which created the most buzz amongst park guests, Alien vs. Predator. A very nice touch for guests without the Gate A passes, they can watch clips from the movie as well as interviews with the cast and crew. Gate A plug #1! Seriously, unless you want to wait an hour for each maze... worth every penny! I'm Alien, give me some candy! Jumping to The Walking Dead: End of the Line maze. Fans of the show loved the amount of park-wide representation. We love the large-scale rooms in some of these mazes! Back out in the Walking Dead scare zone. Next was From Dusk Till Dawn. Basically, the sexy vampire maze. These two club owner style characters arguing about how to run the club. It was fun seeing them bringing the story to life even before you get into the maze! I'll take 2 please! Boo! Walking back from the Backlot. Only a few hours into the event and already packed! Yup, getting more crowded. This guy was also bummed about Bill and Ted's. Bogus. And now to the Terror Tram! And more Walking Dead. On your short journey to the drop off point at the Whoville set, you get plenty of exposition. Not watching the show myself, it was a helpful introduction. Wouldn't be a haunt event without chainsaws. "Mmmm! Babies is good eatin'." Walking through the coolest movie sets will never get old! Back on the Upper Lot, we take a tour through French Street. ...and onto Baker Street. I honestly wasn't holding my breath for this Halloween/Christmas mash-up, but the music and scare actors did an incredible job of bringing this area to life! It was very enjoyable! Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood "Take the tunnel!" One of the "wow" moments of this maze was the incorporation of the exterior courtyard between Baker and French streets. The open air was awesome. The Purge: Anarchy scare zone at the front of the park. Join the cause! Kill your neighbors? Wait, what? It's my civic duty???? And lastly, FaceOff: In the Flesh! As a huge fan of the show, I was really excited to see these characters. The only issue with translating these complex make-ups from TV to a theme park is having the looks hold up perfectly through the night. Because the make-up simply wouldn't last, all the scare actors wore masks. As sad as that could have been, I must say that these were the BEST masks I have ever seen. From a few feet away they looked just as good as what I could see in detail on TV. FaceOff model before... ...and after. We love when we are kept entertained while in line! The Candy Man Mad Hatter DJ Zombie White Rabbit. Again, a big thank you to USH and Trana for hosting us yet again! We honestly had an incredible time on the red carpet for this event, and so many of the "celebrities" actually took time to talk to those of us all the way at the end of the carpet! Be sure to buy your tickets for the event early, as most nights are anticipated to sell out!

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is now open! Theme Park Review was invited to attend the official YELLOW Carpet premier of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem on Friday April 11th, ahead of the official ride opening on April 12th. Follow William and Melissa as they enjoy the event, and take a look at just a few more pictures from the day! As always, a big "thank you" to Universal Studios Hollywood and Trana Pittam for hosting us, and congratulations on opening another great attraction! After the event, the ride was available for day Guests. By 2:30, the line was still only 20 minutes! See you real soon USH! Our favorite Super Villain! They are kinda cute, for being Joey-sized! No Banana for you! Super Silly Fun Land is (almost fully) open! The dry play ground and flat ride are open, and the wet play ground should open any day. Dry play ground. Wet play ground. And the Silly Swirly flat ride. (Watch it in action in the video above!)