DerekRx Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 So, with no conference this weekend after all, I decided to go down to Florida since my friend, Todd, was also down there and had nothing to do. Since it was the first weekend of both HHN and Food and Wine, we decided to hit them. Halloween Horror Nights 16: From past years, opening weekend is usually a good time to go. All the actors are more enthusiastic and pumped up, and crowds are less...supposedly. Fortunately we got Express Passes just in case and its a good thing we did, because they came in handy. Thanks to them we managed to do every house, a few twice (Run and Dungeon of Terror). I won't spoil things too much, but I'll give some of my views on the stuff, and then you can look at pretty pictures. Part 2: Food and Wine will be up tomorrow. Overall it kinda seemed like a cheaply done year, having a house from every year from the past couple of years. It was nice though that some were more updated with all new scenes, instead of just using old props and throwing a "2" in there. The scare zones didn't seem really that good this time. I don't know if it was the lack of characters, hiding places, or the crowds, but nothing really struck me in these areas as cool or scary. The houses: Here's how I'd rank the houses 1. All Nite Die In- Take 2: The best house with the most new scenes and things that could actually really "get ya". I enjoyed the scene with the director and the introduction of some newer characters from recent horror movies 2. Psychoscareapy- Another house that brings back the best things from the orginal, but also adds a bit of new stuff. Jack was interesting 3. Screamhouse- Really well done, reminiscent of the past 2 Screamhouses, but this time with more caretaker. I kinda didn't like how he was in almost every scene. The only house we had an actual wait even with Express passes. 4. PsychoPath- I wasn't around for the orignal house way back when, but I thought it was nicely done. I liked the use of funhouse props, and it wasn't too difficult to figure out the storyline. Really hot in there though! 5. Run- I liked it, the props were great, but I really couldn't figure out the story. How am I supposed to run if I can't even walk thru the thing?? I much prefer the old Run where it was actually like a maze with chainlinked fences. This just seemed like a bunch of random stuff to torture people (and every house has that anyway!) 6. Dungeon of Terror- Hillbillies are scary, but what this had to do with anything I can't tell you. Kinda something I would expect at another park's Halloween event; ok, but Universal can do better. 7. People Under the Stairs- maybe it was because we did this one first when it wasn't even dark out, but I didn't really care for this one. It seemed really unfinished (I know its supposed to be a house under construction), it was really hot in there, and not really scary. Of course, a lot of that could have been because it was before it was even dark (and since its just a tent, all the light was let in). Maybe they should consider opening this and Psychopath AFTER its actually dark! Bill and Ted was funny as expected, making lots of cracks at this year's pop culture situations. As with recent years though, they try to cram too much into a little amount of time and the storyline is pretty much over in the first half the show. Though it was amusing how even Bill and Ted picked up on that and mentioned it. Not as much T&A as previous years, and I didn't like how there was no Universal Express reserved seating area. Onto the pics: Run, should be called "Inching your way thru random stuff" "Old and stupid" Still too light out, let's do Jaws Chainsaw guy at the end gives one last scare "Durrr, I'm a Zombie or something" A little bit darker, so let's attempt Dungeon of Terror since it also has little wait To kill some time waiting for darkness to arrive, we decided to hit MIB with a 5 minute wait Todd was special and needed to wear a helmet The "homes" of People and Psychopath. Not a good idea to do these when its still light out First up, People Under the Stairs (its based on a movie) RIP BTTF Paying last respects on the way Trekking thru the Harvest of the Souls when its still light out isn't very scary All the main icons showed up (except for Eddie) and tortured someone The big horny dude welcomes us all again and tells a poem about recent years as Horror Comes Home The Arrival begins My rubber face/ Sammy Davis Jr impersonation Todd gives it a go Time to blow some fog! Oooh! Fog machines, that can only mean one thing... But this time Todd actually made it! Another year, another Horror Nights! Finally, fighting the Sea of Humanity to get to Universal Studios Popping shrimp I got the world's most expensive Shrimp Po'boy Todd enjoys some hushpuppies filled with shrimp and corn and stuff First, we need some vittles! May as well try out the new Bubba Gump's in CityWalk Down there be a amusement park about to close its doors forever. But I'm going to start Halloween! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share Posted October 2, 2006 More of HHN: After a long wait for Mummy (even with the Express passes, it went out the entrance) it was time to call it a night (because it was closing time) Had fun, looking forward to next years! It was kinda Bill and Ted-ish, like Bill and Ted Lite Since I've never done it, we decided to see Beetlejuice Another thing from the past: the chainsaw drill team! At least this tent has a fake fascade Final new house to get, thank goodness for express passes! Harvest is a bit cooler now that its dark and the characters have come out, but its still kinda meh. Horny dude and his tall chicks mingle at the arrival stage thoughout the night The blood masquerade scare zone brings new meaning to the term "bridezilla" Kinda cool how they bring back homages to the past with the old parade floats and stuff Another stinking good house, I may have liked this more because of the grandmother who went thru right in front of us and waved at everyone My favorite house, great themes, nice rooms, fantastic scares Screamhouse was pretty good, nice theming, cool soundtrack, but a bit too much Caretaker Finally its dark enough and time to go do some houses! First, a walk thru Deadtropolis. No one can save you, not even Jesus Now is the time on Sprockets where we dance! And then there's some fighting, dancing, and some T&A and has some good pop culture rips tied into the plot (when there still is one) Bill and Ted starts with the usual montage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share Posted October 2, 2006 Part 2: Epcot's Food and Wine Festival Probably my favorite time of year to visit Epcot is in October and early November when they're hosting their annual Food and Wine Festival. All the normal World Showcase places have little appetizer portions of some of their foods for purchase and there are some more countries not usually displayed. Oh yeah, they've got beer too, and some of it is free! We figured since we were in the area and this was the first weekend of it, we may as well do it. Besides that, Todd hadn't been on Soarin yet, and since it was the 35th Anniversary of WDW that day, we decided it'd be a good time to visit. The new celebration started that day as well, but sadly we didn't win anything. Countries represented for food and wine: Florida Argentina Mexico Chile Scandinavia China Thailand South Africa Australia Germany Italy USA Sam Adams Japan India Morocco Spain Turkey France Great Beers of the World Ireland Poland Canada Greece New Zealand The trolls tried to make us disappear, but they failed. They did help me remove a blemish though, so thanks for that guys! We followed that up with some Maelstrom It started to get hot, so we decided it was time for the Rio del Tiempo! We even won our own boat! Thailand also looked pretty interesting, but I didn't want the weight to go straight to my thais, err thighs And Reed enjoyed the meerkat custard Next up, South Africa. Instead of Malaria, I picked up a bobotie, a sorta meat pie, almost like Sheppard's Pie with a mango salsa When in Germany, its law that you must find Soren! Reed craved that pretzel filled with sausage and sauerkraught too And then a pretzel And of course, Tons of Fun had to get something to snack on, this time pizza Next up, back to Oktoberfest to finish off my last liter! Start out the day with a Sam Adam's 11th Anniversary Festival Ale, brewed just for the event Welcome to my little kiosk of heaven Here's Lunchbox eating a BBQ pork rib and corn on the cob Strangely, they didn't have the poultry there Spain, once again gazpacho-less. booo!! France, with escargot and some other foofoo things Now that's what I'm talking about! Too bad I don't really consider those beers served there to be that great, just marketed well Ewwww, Ireland, like goats stomachs and stuff No Poland for me, I've got a flight tonight! Reed also enjoyed the soup, while I went with the maple custard. Tasted like flan Todd couldn't pass on Canada though and its beer and cheese soup. (you'll see a lot of Todd eating in this update!) Greece is the word, but we didn't care to dance around on lightposts, so we skipped this too Just around 11am the kiosks started opening up. Here's New Zealand, they probably served sheep or photographs We'll skip Journey this time, we're still bitter about the old old Figment going. Bring back Dreamfinder and small sized Figment!! Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown The prairie dog wanted to say hi to Elissa Our first stop was the Land pavilion because we wanted to ride the new Living with the Land without castmember. Even Reed came out for the festivities! Todd says "look at me, I'm at Disney again, and I hate Disney!" Here's Epcot, in case you can't tell by the giant golfball and the word 'Epcot' above said ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share Posted October 2, 2006 More photos: And that was our 4 hours at Epcot, or at least the Cliffs Notes version. I'll be back, don't worry! Here's the little bit of stuff up so far for the new celebration I'm sorry. The fountain, its just so beautiful, I can't help it. After consuming mass amounts of beer, it was time to ride Soarin, which Lunchbox loved. He's such a softie Even the non-beer drinkers can enjoy a Sam Adams My chick wasn't there, but my beer still was! Free Sam Adams, not much else is better than that! Finally, the first seminar of the day was ready, and so was I! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Why isn't Sam Adams it's own country. It damn well should be!!! Can't wait to partake in the food and beer (no wine for me thank you) in 18 days!!! Thanks for the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECZenith Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Great photos, Derek, wish I could have checked out PsychoPath and PUTS but the express passes were sold out. Looks like I at least got through most of the better ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Great TR Derek. You just made my wife jump with glee (literally) when she saw that Sam Adams was a "country." T-minus 5 days..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Ewwww, Ireland, like goats stomachs and stuff Are ye sure it wasn't Scotland and haggis ye were raggin' on, laddie? Yep--I'm looking forward to checking this out in a few weeks (along with HHN). Good to see Norman Bates is back in action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Sorry your Sam Adams Chick wasn't there...maybe in two weeks??? I know someone mentioned they did a little something about seating, but what did you guys notice? So, did they fix this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan King Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 All Nite Die In...Take 2 Im REALLY looking forward to this one, you sasid you enjoyed it..anything to add? -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan1313 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 There are quite a bit more tables around world showcase this year. But they are the standing kind...not the sitting kind.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexTitan01 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I always like those multicultural festivals. Whether it be like food, entertainment, culture, its always fun to feel like I'm not one of many poor souls who hasnt left American soil I have that same shirt Todd wore for Universal Orlando! Too bad I wont be doing any horror night stuff this year, maybe next time... Nice TR Derek, -Tex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niiicolaaah Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 You guys rode Living with the Land??? lame. (I thought that ride was boring back in 1991. ) I wanted to ride Maelstrom really bad, but couldn't find it (I guess I was pretty stupid back in 1991 also!) Great pics.. I wish I could go to HHN, I love all that Halloweeny haunted stuff. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 Are ye sure it wasn't Scotland and haggis ye were raggin' on, laddie? Yep--I'm looking forward to checking this out in a few weeks (along with HHN). Good to see Norman Bates is back in action. Maybe I am thinking of Scotland and haggis, but the bacon, lamb, and cabbage stew served in Ireland isn't much better! Not without like 9 shots of Bailey's first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStig Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Alright Im soooooo ready for HHN this year! And I miss that cheese soup from Epcot, that stuff was awsome! Ill have to get some this year, along with a bunch of other food. Colin C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doitdumont1128 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I have a question, isn't Run based off Hostel, because if it is, i would love it. Even though hostel scared the crap out of me lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Are ye sure it wasn't Scotland and haggis ye were raggin' on, laddie? Yep--I'm looking forward to checking this out in a few weeks (along with HHN). Good to see Norman Bates is back in action. Maybe I am thinking of Scotland and haggis, but the bacon, lamb, and cabbage stew served in Ireland isn't much better! Not without like 9 shots of Bailey's first! Aye--Bailey's and Guinness can help you stomach anything. I actually tried a bit of haggis in Scotland a few years ago--tasted like particularly salty corned beef hash. By the way, Happy Birthday, Derek. I know it isn't the "official" b'day thread, but what the hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 When did Florida become a country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissie Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I hate all you people in Florida...... Great TR tho!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worm Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 NICE! hey how was tha South African food? for me, bobotie tastes horrible and i was just wondering, did they have any 'biltong'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT3000 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 When did Florida become a country? When the Cubans invaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 So, did they fix this problem? Sorry. Fixing Robb's problem with civilized eating is your issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabid disney Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Thanks for the awesome photo tr. Im so excited in a week Im leaving from Aussie for my 1st ever orlando time cant wait. Just around 11am the kiosks started opening up. Here's New Zealand, they probably served sheep or photographs we have good beer to dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obeygiant Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Nice pics as always.. What movie is People Under the Stairs based on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 ^People Under the Stairs is based on the movie People Under the Stairs. Movie came out in the early 1990s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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