TPR's Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2008 Update!

[robbalvey]

Hey everyone!

 

We just got back from the media day event at Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights and we have tons of photos to share!

 

Check them out here:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=63&linkid=4040

 

Post your comments here when you're done!

 

--Robb

[dandaman]

 

Not pictured: Sign leading to "FRODERICK AWARDS".

 

Awesome update. I keep wanting to go to these events just for the show elements and detail of it all, but then I realize how frickin' scared I'd get of all the scare-actors.

 

Dan "Still jumps a little when balloons pop, let alone a zombie chainsaw guy coming to hack my limbs off" Smith

[Team Thriller]

That guy singing reminds me of Freddie Mercury. But anyways, it's amazing what that place can do.

Great update. I've always wondered why just what to expect in those mazes.

 

--James

[sfmmfreak101]

Awsome update. It's so much fun to work at the park during the event.

[Guy T. Koepp]

NOT MY DOODIE!

 

Guy "I did not wreck that crapper!" Koepp

[AlexG8462]

I'm going there next Saturday so I really can't wait!

[robbalvey]

Time to unstick this. If you haven't read our HHN Hollywood Update. Do it now! Here is the link:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=63&linkid=4040

 

--Robb

[mitchelljd]

I went tonight with a friend to Universal Halloween Hollywood. had a blast.

 

One thing i will say is the Bill & Ted show is amazing!!!

 

My review:

The park needs more mazes!! the ones we have are fun, but at least 2 of them are rehashed from last year. they need to open up more mazes in the lower backlot area and take advantage of more room!

 

as is the Terror Tram, but it was greatly expanded so it was fun also. but still... not so much changed in some areas from last year. love alot of it, but hard to say it isn't too changed from last time.

 

Bill & Ted show = A+++ just great production quality. fun humor. sexy raunchy, witty. go see it.

 

Slaughter World? mildly entertaining, only so much they can rehash this set from year to year. the actors did the best they could with the set and material. nice explosions though. Universal really needs to come up with a new stunt attraction, and do it in a way that allows for creative new halloween shows each year.

 

Simpsons Ride - A+ new attraction

 

Chainsaw Massacre Maze - it is actually a fun one, but it is essentially a redress of a maze from last year. so its nice, good actors, fun pretty neat, but again, NOT really entirely new. nor was it chock full of actors.

 

Nightmare on Elm Street Maze - tons of fun. great maze. nice production. but doesn't feel new. kinda like deja vue from last year, aside from all the Nightmare on Elm stuff added.

 

Universal Horrors Maze ( aka the Gathering) (in van helsing building) its essentially a refresh on what was in here last year. its ok, would be nice if Universal did a little more to make it new. but it is entertaining, one more year of it for halloween without a real refresh will not be acceptable.

 

Mummy Ride - fun, entertaining, short

Jurrassic Park Ride- fun, entertaining, and not too wet. nice music, they added a lil guns'n'roses to the near end.

 

Scare Zones? they are pretty good. though last year the zombies at the ambulence after the national guard troopers was scarier and more fun, now they just had some soldiers and zombies. last year they had actual "violence and gore" it was more fun in this area last year. pretty happy with this, though i would love them to come up with some more narratives and such for this

 

Entertainment zone by the escalators going down and simpsons courtyard? last year they had a performance troup, Mutaytor, doing some cool DJ work with post modern performances. dancing, acrobatics and more. This year, they downgraded to a lame dj tent with the dj's and a couple of their "friends" trying to dance. sorry universal, this one is a F, last year you had better environment with this

-----------------------------------

basically, i remember the old days of Universal Hollywood, it was better a lil before, but the Bill & Ted show is pretty amazing.

 

Universal needs to add Wednesdays and Thursdays nights. Maybe this will allow them the extra money/budget to add more mazes overall and expand the halloween event into what it ought to be. Hell, Knotts Scary Farm is fun, but with Universal's production quality and design quality, Universal could easily take the lead and be THE place to go.

 

This event is very crowded, parking isn't fun, you need to know where to drive and which route to skip being routed the long way around. happily i used valet, and knew the route to get there.

 

I am honestly happy Universal is continuing to do this event, after 9/11 they stopped, last year was good, this year is similarly good. I really believe that this event could be even bigger and cooler in the future.

 

so, thats why i give this constructive criticism. just want everyone to enjoy it. a line pass is 100% recommendable. helps a huge amount!!! worth the money and you can do virtually everything, just get there early to beat traffic. try dinner at citywalk. relax then go.

 

my over-all review grade: B (maybe B- if you correct for all the old and reused stuff if you have been before) but it is very enjoyable.

[DegoRed]

I too was there last night, and one thing is for sure...I would never even attempt to go to HHN on a Friday or Saturday. The lines weren't bad at all, and we were actually able to get everything in though it was pretty tight. Kind of makes me wonder that if they did get more mazes in the future, would you really be able to fit everything in. So here's a rundown of the night.

 

We got there around opening, and my friend had not been to Universal for over 10 years, so the plan was to hit everything including rides, so first up we headed to the lower lot.

 

Mummy (10 min wait) - God does this ride suck compared to Florida's version. And especially after I had just ridden Orlando's version 2 weeks prior. Even my friend said she thought it didn't seem like a complete ride

 

Jurassic Park: Nightmare (5 min wait) - Nightmare? really? you call turning off the lights before the drop, and playing rock music a nightmare? Still...don't usually get to ride JP at night, and it's a lot more fun at night for some reason

 

Texas Chainsaw Masacre (15 min wait) - Still a really solid maze, had a good number of scare actors in it, though some stupid little brats in front of us, kept peeking their heads down the hallways and opening the doors where the actors were hiding so they pretty much ruined the scare portion of the maze

 

Bill and Ted - This show just keeps getting better every year. While lacking a few of actors and scenes from Florida's version, I liked ours better. It's funny to see the different crowd reactions to the whole Bill and Ted concept. Florida has embraced them, while I heard many people saying "Bill and Ted? That's kinda outdated" This still beats the Hanging at Knott's hands down

 

So now we come to the only WTF....Seriously guys, what happened moment of the night....

 

Friday the 13th...Camp Blood (20 min wait) - Having been through this maze last year, I was THOROUGHLY dissapointed. Key story scenes were missing actors. The vice room had the guy just sitting there, the awesome tent scene where Jason slices the body in half, the scene at the car, and the bedroom scene....he was nowhere to be found, plus many of the scares I remember from last year weren't there. I'd pretty much compare this maze to one of Knott's worst. They seriously dropped the ball on this one

 

Terror Tram (10 min wait) - There's just something so cool about getting to walk the sets, and the slightly extended path, sure didn't do any harm. Kudos also to the blackouts, for actually letting people stop and take pictures

 

Freddy's Nightmare (20 min wait) - All new maze for 2008? Hardly. They reused about 80% of that maze from last year, though there were some great story scenes in this one.

 

Didn't plan on watching Slaughterworld but since I had never seen it and they were seating I figured why the hell not. Once is definitely enough though. Yeah the pyro and jet skis are cool, and there's some great gratuitous violence and scantly clad women, but that's about it. The show lacks any depth or storyline. Time to change this one around somehow.

 

With 15 min left before closing it was on to the last maze, House of Horrors (20 min wait) - This year it was House of Horrors meets the Strangers. I wasn't really expecting too much integration, but c'mon...one room out of the whole maze had them in there. However this maze turned out to be really awesome, seeing as how it had been over a year since the last time I went through it and we managed to end up by ourselves walking through it. We literally walked room to room with no one in front and no one behind us. We got all the scares, and some were really good too. It ended up being the perfect finish to the night. Also I loved how when everyone was walking out at closing they had a good 30 or so scare actors lined up all over the street as one final scare before you left. Knott's never does anything like that.

 

Also, the street actors did amazing jobs, and there were so many of them, all over, you really couldn't be anywhere that they wouldn't have been regardless if you were in a scare zone or not. My favorite moment of that was there was a group of about 8 guys with chainsaws, and they all got together and one guy started conducting them and they made music with the chainsaws, then out of nowhere they spilt up and started terrorizing the crowd. It was so funny and cool to see.

 

So after just doing HHN in Orlando, I can say that I still like Hollywood's version. It's by no means better then Orlando's but I'm also glad that they both share different themes. We don't have nearly as many mazes and we do get re-hashed ones each year, but it's just nice that we get the higher quality mazes as opposed to the cookie cutter mazes you would see at Knotts. Our event has a lot of potential, and I just hope they keep working to improve it.

[mitchelljd]

I agree obviously, just wish Universal Studios Hollywood recognizes that after last year and this year's great crowds. It is time to Bring more nights and a bigger Halloween Horror Event for 2009.

 

They need to really do 7 mazes, not just 4. and to make good efforts at planning them ahead of time so they are not the same, they actually change sets more than putting people in a certain movie's theme in there.

 

I love what Universal Halloween should be, not what it is.

 

regarding Florida's Mummy Ride, had no idea it was bigger and longer, worth a peek when i am over there sometime.

 

Loved the Simpsons ride though. did it 2x

 

PS BEST ROUTE DIRECTIONS and PARKING:

Arrive early to avoid traffic. try going and arriving by 6pm (Really!) Have dinner somewhere at Citywalk.

Also... If you arrive off of the 101 and the side road, the universal traffic people will direct you around to the lower parking near the theme park. Line is long and not fun. best to arrive early and go over from Ventura Blvd area Take Cahuenga Blvd, then cross the bridge over towards Universal citywalk. park at valet for citywalk or their parking structure, say you are having dinner somewhere like Hard Rock Cafe.

 

it is fast, easy, but does Cost $25 by end of night. Well worth it for your sanity though.

[robbalvey]

Friday the 13th...Camp Blood (20 min wait) - Having been through this maze last year, I was THOROUGHLY dissapointed. Key story scenes were missing actors. The vice room had the guy just sitting there, the awesome tent scene where Jason slices the body in half, the scene at the car, and the bedroom scene....he was nowhere to be found, plus many of the scares I remember from last year weren't there. I'd pretty much compare this maze to one of Knott's worst. They seriously dropped the ball on this one.

See this is where I kind of wish there could be more consistency in mazes. Camp Blood was hands down the BEST maze when we were there earlier in the month. All the actors were present in the correct places and the whole maze had a great vibe to it!

 

I've been told at several Halloween events "Make sure you get the A crew..." "Make sure you get the B crew", etc, etc... for mazes, shows, scare zones, etc, because statistically you'll have one crew be better than the other.

 

I did notice that in Florida they used a lot more audio and automatic props where the actors had to sync up with. I actually thought this helped keep things consistent. While yes, some things may be predictable, but for the average person who will only run through each maze once per event, I think it's a great way to make sure everyone sees most of the gags rather than missing some key events.

 

--Robb

[mitchelljd]

any tips on how to know if A crew is on?

 

other than that Robb, Thanks for the website and all the tips!

[DegoRed]

yeah I pretty much chalked it up that we must have been there right as everyone was going on break or something, cause I know they wouldn't have intentionally left out all those parts. Still though, I would have kind of expected them to have the major scenes always covered.

[Jew]

I agree obviously, just wish Universal Studios Hollywood recognizes that after last year and this year's great crowds. It is time to Bring more nights and a bigger Halloween Horror Event for 2009.

 

They added 5 nights for 2008...I'm sure they plans for the future.

 

I too was there last night, and one thing is for sure...I would never even attempt to go to HHN on a Friday or Saturday. The lines weren't bad at all, and we were actually able to get everything in though it was pretty tight. Kind of makes me wonder that if they did get more mazes in the future, would you really be able to fit everything in. So here's a rundown of the night

 

Friday's and Saturday's at HHN are not horrible by any means. Only Texas Chainsaw gets a crazy wait, but if you hit that early on...it doesn't even matter. Everything else will post hour waits, but realistically they are around 45 minutes. There's plenty of time to do everything with the park open until 2am.

[robbalvey]

any tips on how to know if A crew is on?

 

other than that Robb, Thanks for the website and all the tips!

In Florida they told me to simply ask at the maze. Now also keep in mind we were doing an RIP Tour so we didn't have any lines to wait in so we had the opprotunity to skip the maze if it was the B crew. If you're waiting in a 45 minute line for a maze and you get to the front and ask about a certain crew I don't think it will make much difference anyway.

 

--Robb

[mitchelljd]

your right, but that is why i bought the vip front of line pass. makes a huge difference.

 

but... of course the media promotion opening must have been fun.

[JT3000]

any tips on how to know if A crew is on?

 

If Hollywood is anything like Orlando, they work 45 minute shifts with Cast A going on first. Of course, you won't know which cast is better until you see both of them, and even then, they may lack consistency.

[billybastion]

Sort of a noob here, but I just wanted to know: Are these things actually scary? They look great (what with the costumes and sets and all) but are they scary? I mean how many times can a person jumping out and screaming be scary?

[Jew]

The casts simply denote what time a person starts in Hollywood. There's tons of overlap.

[dajackson7]

Does anybody know what happened to the chucky show? It was there the first time I went and it was gone the second time. It was really popular with our group the first time so this was pretty disappointing.