Erik Johnson

Food booths!

I can't wait until my cruise in April!

I went to MK today here are a few photos.

I can't believe how much stuff I did not see when I went to the City Museum. I could be because we went at night and they really dim the lights throughout the place. The caves were pitch black scary for sure. I guess I simply need to go back.

This link seems to work as well http://www.cheetahhunt.com

God, please no!

Oh wow, that really looks amazing.

Yeah there really seemed be an abundance of fog and chainsaws this year.

There was not one this year.

While I thought it was a soild year it really was pretty much more or less than the same as others (i.e. not a gamechanger).

Here is yet another update/review from Halloween Horror Nights 20: Twenty Years of Fear. Overall I thought it was a very solid year for HHN. I was pleased to see that Universal has gone back to HHN's roots in that all eight mazes were original this year in that none of them were based on other's licenced properties (i.e. Saw, Chucky, Freddy etc). Also since it is the 20th anniversary of the event, they could have easily done a "best of" and simply brought back 8 former mazes from previous years. As for the houses this year, I honestly think that there was not a single bad one. They really kind of tried to make this year a bit more scary and a lot less gory than previous years. So those who really are not into a lot of gross effects will be happy. While I thought that the houses were good, all but one really were not very innovative in terms of special effects or theming. They kept things pretty simple this year with the houses. Nothing is quite a elaborate as last year's classic monster houses which I found to be somewhat dissapointing with this year's event. Also, makes sure you do the non-sound stage houses after dark. There is a LOT of light leakage which ruins the effectiveness of the houses during the day. Ok, let us get to the houses. *Spoilers Ahead* 1. Horror Nights: The Hallow'd Past. (Warehouse outside Barney show) This one was pretty cool, especially if you are into looking at props from previous events. It is themed as a large warehouse where they store hundreds of HHN items. As you walkthough you are transported via a spinning vortex into a series of rooms which recrates some of the favorite scenes from previous houses such as Body Collectors, Dead Exposure, Scary Tales etc. You finally do escape into the other side of the warehouse where more props await to be seen. 2. Catacombs: Black Death Rising. (Tent outside Barney show) 500 years after the plague, we are given the chance to explore a recently opened tomb which is filled with all sorts of nasty infected people. This one certainly was one of the more scary mazes so if you are into being scared you will probably like this one. Make sure you do this one at night because this is one of the tent houses and any light leakage simply ruins it. 3. Havoc: Dogs of War. (Tent by Men and Black) This maybe the loudest house I have every experienced at HHN. Seriously my ears were ringing after both my walkthroughs. You walk into a government's secret army facility where you come face to face with a bunch of scary looking bald soliders who have gone crazy. Just think of Dolph Lundgren's character from Universal Solider and you get the idea. 4. Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes. (Jaws Queue) You walk through a burned out orphanage that still is inhabited with scary looking kids. You do get to experience some really cool fire effects which was a nice surprise. This one was certainly more of a house built on atmosphere rather than scares. Again, make sure you do this one after the sun sets. 5. Zombiegeddon. (Earthquake Queue) This one starts off like it is one of the more fun houses but it turns real serious very quickly. There is a lot of great detail in this one especially with all of the posters that you could spent a lot of time looking at if you did not have to keep moving through the queue. This would be one of my favorites from the evening. 6. Hades: The Gates of Ruin (Soundstage) This one appeared to be really cool, but I honestly think that I missed out on quite a few things because it appeared that we walked through during a scare actor shift change. Great atmosphere as well as makeup on some of actors that we did see. It was obvious we missed out on something great in what appeared to be an empty throne room at the end. 7. PsychoScareapy: Echoes of Shadybrook (Soundstage) Well, I guess this one is sort of a repeat maze as they do this theme every few years. While it was good there was nothing really special about it especially when compared to the Christmas themed variation from a few years ago. No, you do not have to worry about any bad smells this time. 8. Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate (Soundstage) This one was my favorite house this year. You walk in an episode of a Ghost Hunters type show and you get to experience some really cool effects. The way they used the scare actors was very innovative (floor gag was really clever). With that said, if you are unlucky and walk through this one during a shift change you will think that it is not very good. I went through this one twice. The first time was awesome (full of scare actors), the 2nd time was awful (due to we only saw 2 or 3 scare actors the entire time). Overall the scare zones were pretty good with HHN: 20 Years of Fear as the highlight. This one is fantastic for all of the many great photo opportunities you can have. While the actors and dancers were really good for the Bill and Ted show this year, I found the show to be rather flat. Just like last year I think this was a difficult one to try to find good material to make fun of from this year's events. Does anyone else think that they used more fog machines and chainsaw people than any other previous year? Ok, onward to the photos. It looks like Universal has matched Six Flags for parking prices. Plan accordingly. It is always a good idea to take a picture of where you park. This garage is simply huge. It is that time to experience another year of Halloween Horror Nights. This year's billboard. Do you want to check out some of this year's exclusive merchandise? Here is the front on one of the T-shirts. Here is the back of another. You can fill these up with your choice of liquids. Other than the large monitor, they did not do any additional theming to the front of the park. This year's video does a really good job tying in the new Fear character with the rest of the icons. Here are a bunch of photos of this year's map. The passholder event this year was pretty awesome. This line went really fast. This wristband allowed us early entry intro three houses and Bill and Ted. This would be this year's slogan. The first scarezone we experienced would be: HHN 20 Years of Fear. This one is themed to a prop warehouse. Since we are early, we had the opportunity to check out all of the sets/props closely. Oh look, Dueling Dragons. This makes me sad. I remember this....But I do not remember from where. Anyone got any matches? Notice anything from a past attraction here? Who are you going to call? This was from last year's event. Just awesome details! We see you Jack. Fear will be here a little later. The Director's set. The Usher's set. The Undertaker's set. Who is Billy? A little later the HHN Icons showed up. Hello Mr. Undertaker. This would be one of Fear's minions. Fear itself. Watch out for The Director! Not sure who this is supposed to be, but I am sure someone can help me remember. You really do get some great photo opportunties in this zone. You can see how much taller Fear is compared to normal folk. The Storyteller. The Usher. Jack. The Wolfman took me be surprise, heh. Pumpkinman. Dracula's Bride. Chucky. Pigman. The tree looking guys are still simply amazing. Oh awesome! The Cryptkeeper. Scary dude. Scary woman. Certainly one of the best scarezones ever. Well...maybe not quite yet. It is still pretty bright out. You knew that these guys will be here. Ready! Kill! Esqueleto Muerte is much cooler at night. These costumes are made to been seen under black lights. Close up. Ahhhh! The Coven during the day without scare actors. Saws n' Steam during the day. If you get too close you may get wet. The pumpkin trail is my favorite area. It does look better at night. Horror Nights is a house for the fans of HHN. The theme is a warehouse, so no extra theming was necessary. Scary stuff....but make sure you do this one at night. This one has some backstory. Hope that we can get out alive. This may be the loudest house ever. Wow, they really did build apartments 500 feet away from Universal. Entrance to Dogs of War. When it gets closer to Halloween, expect all the lines to look like this. There were many fog machines this year. One of my faves from Body Collectors. This one got pretty serious quickly for being the "fun" house this year. Zombiegeddon: The Entrance Probably would be TPR approved. Looks like they found a 2nd use for all of those Mardi Gras decorations. While the actors and dancers were good, I found the show to be rather flat this year. I do not understand the double standard they have with this when comapred to the Hollywood show. Yes, they really do enforce this. No HHN Photo TR: is complete without one of these. Another really atmospheric house. Too bad I went through during a shift change or actor break. While good it was pretty standard. Some really cool fire effects in this one. Most innovative house of the evening, though it would be simply ruined if you go through without seeing any scare actors. Looks like the witches are taking care of this pilgram. Hello again! Let us learn about Roman numerals, shall we? No HHN Photo: TR is complete without... I like fire. Fear...at night. Fear at night....with fog. I LOVE the pumpkin trail. I finish up with one of the new icon pumpkins for this year.

Here is the full introduction for Halloween Horror Nights 20 as seen on the large monitor hanging from the front gate of Universal Studios Orlando.

Thanks for posting about a park I have never heard of before. So is U2 going to add a date next time at Western Playland?

^ Sea World's coasters are really good. Certainly better than RRR, IMO.

I guess this explains why Rip Ride Rockit is going to be down for a little while.

For me, Schlitterbahn day was my favorite day during the Texas trip. This brings back some great memories, thanks for posting this!

I am honestly getting really tired of the same things winning year after year. What did they do, just cut and paste last year's winners?

Hydra was interesting. I guess I sort of did like it for the very unique layout. You really do get a long of hang time on the JoJo Roll.

You better have ridden the paratrooper, that thing was amazing.

^ Wow awesome, they already have a great waterpark to begin with, this will even make it better.

^ Wow, you are right. The website does say a max of 56 inches, though there is nothing on the ride's signs that says that. Rules of the ride.

You can now get a wax kangaroo in the newish Kangaroo/Rocko Modern Life petting area.

Yep, there are no maximum height restrictions on any of the Grover coasters.

I finally made it to Dorney park! I have been within a hour of the park several times over the years but I never managed to set foot in the park. I thought it was a pretty nice park. The park was very clean and operations were very good. I did not have time to experience the waterpark this time, but it really looked like a good one. I thought that the coaster collection was pretty good and I will go over coaster specifics/reviews here in a following post. Anyways, let us head on into the park: It must be a Cedar Fair park. I finally made it to Dorney Park. Yes, I actually never been here before. So, how many parks have this place? The first thing we rode was Wild Mouse. It is pretty much a standard mouse. Next was the ultra strange B&M, Hydra. Yes, very strange. It certainly is not a standard, cookie-cutter B&M. Reverse Jo-Jo! Yes, every report must include this. This was not very good. It was not too bad until you hit that horrible trim. Yes, this is a train. Yes, while it is a super tall mine-train, it is a fun one. I think you can ride just about every coaster in the park before this reaches the top. Wheeeeee! This is my all time favorite coaster logo. Holding Break = Super Scary. Fun and intense. No, I did not get this one. Even with the new name, you still get denied. I had no idea that there was a powered coaster here. You can actually ride this one. Soon! Ahhhhh! So pretty. Such a nice field. And yes, I am so super sad because I missed out on Laser. Two years, too late! At least they put grass in here. Yes, another shot. I wonder what used to be here. I guess this is the final year of Camp Snoopy. Will he still have his house in the new land? I bet all of this will still be worked in. Yeah, I am pretty pathetic. Looks like I can fit. Coaster train! I thought this this was a pretty solid ride We rode in the back row. Wheeeee! Even with a 10 minute delay at Steel Force, we cleared the park in around 90 minutes. Something is lurking behind those trees. I actually did not ride this while it was at Cedar Point. I guess I get a second chance. Is this the last operating 1st Gen Intaimin drop ride in the United States? I have only ridden three. This one, Freefall at SFoG, and Freefall at SFMM. Yes, it really does feel like you are riding inside a trash can. Does this mean that Dorney is an awesome park? Over the trees! Oh, they have one of these here. Good to know. So tall! ALL DROP TOWERS! Wheeeeee! Let us ride a train. That is just plain evil. Classy! The creek area is the nicest area of the park. You probably already have this one Larry. This too as well. Not doing it's thing. The Whip is pretty standard. Pretty area of the park. This would be the last ride of the trip. I always do these. There was quite a bit of Haunt stuff out. See? See anything new this year? Good-Bye Snoopy! Good-Bye Dorney Park!

Yeah, they did use footage from Tron during the finale of Horizons as well. This really shows my age, but does anyone else remember that they were going to build a section in Communicore West (Epcot) as Tron a themed arcade/pavillion? I remember seeing an announcement painted on one of the walls around early 1983. Yeah, it never did happen, but maybe they just dug up nearly 30 year old plans for this one.