Gambit Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Awesome pics to all of you. Thanks so much for taking the time! Makes me so excited to go on 10/7 and 10! It's the most wonderful time of the year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougstanton Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Thanks! Anybody have any idea what those coaster seats I mentioned are from? I just found it interesting. I'm curious about these seats as well. I saw them while in line for Havoc during the passholder event. I'll try and take a picture next time I go and see if anyone can figure it out. I saw those as well. They are actually seats from one of the original KUKA arms. If you do a quick Google image search for "kuka", you will see the purple and orange color scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CD Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 ^Yup, that's them. Thanks! That's really interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmoney422 Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Nobody mentioned if there was a "barker" this year... My favorite was when the Wicked Witch of the West was on top of her tower talking to ppl and making funny jokes at ppl's expense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 There was not one this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 ^Actually there were two of sorts, both in the scarezones. One was the main leader of Saws n' Steam who was on the stage "barking" while the other was one of the pilgrims in the Coven who was burning alive. Neither were serving purely as "barkers" but they both made personalized spiels for the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmoney422 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 That's cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBparks57 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 Thanks! Anybody have any idea what those coaster seats I mentioned are from? I just found it interesting. I'm curious about these seats as well. I saw them while in line for Havoc during the passholder event. I'll try and take a picture next time I go and see if anyone can figure it out. I saw those as well. They are actually seats from one of the original KUKA arms. If you do a quick Google image search for "kuka", you will see the purple and orange color scheme. Oh wow, thanks! Very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 So I checked out opening weekend of this year's event with Erik. Similar to last year I enjoyed this year. It was a fun event. Nothing out of the ordinary, but fun. This was my "Sweet 16" year attending, so I really appreciated seeing the older characters from the past especially, The Crypt Keeper from my second event in 1995. This year's icon, "Fear" and I go way back. We kind of got intimate back at the '96 event- Halloween Horror Nights: Journey Into Fear. So it was kind of awkward seeing an old ex. =p The Houses were all pretty good, nothing too innovative like in past years but solid. The scare zones were good for atmosphere. Not sure if I got any true scares in the scare zones. There was lots of fog, that's for sure, which is always makes things scary. I'm usually more worried I'm going to run into something! My main disappointment was with the shows. Bill and Ted was flat for me the 2nd year in a row. Don't get me wrong, the performers did a great job dancing, I just wasn't a big fan of the characters they pick to represent 2010 pop culture. And the audience just didn't seem to have the energy. Then again maybe I'm getting old and what I thought was hillarious when I was younger just doesn't do it for me now. Brian Brushwood was good for an adult magic show, but I missed Rocky this year. =( No matter what the event is like, I will always have a good time, which I did. My main appreciation of the event is how much detail goes into everything. Here are my quick thoughts on the houses. Houses: Horror Nights of Hallowd Past: A- For a HHN veteran, this is a great trip through the history of HHN. Catacombs: Black Death Rising: B Interesting house with a back story. Havoc: Dogs of War: B- Military/Sci-Fi theme. The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes: C+ Very atmospheric house, not too many scares. Zombiegeddon: B Comical house that was better than I thought it would be. Hades: Gates of Ruin: C+ I think we hit this house during a shift change. Seemed like a lot of dead spots. Looks to have lots of potential. Psychoscareapy: B- Similar to the past incarnations (except the Christmas one a few years ago, one of my top 10 favorites). The mental institution house has become a standard a most theme park haunts, so nothing really new here. Legendary Truth: B+ If there was an innovative house this would be it. We experienced the house twice. First time had awesome effects. Second time not so much - pretty dead. If all the effects are working then it is great. So this year's event lands at #10 out 16 out of my favorite events from best to worst. 1. HHN IV (1994) 2. HHN 13: The Director Will See You (2003) 3. HHN: Reflections of Fear (2008) 4. HHN V: The Curse of the Crypt Keeper (1995) 5. HHN VII: Frightmares (1997) 6. HHN: Islands of Fear (2002) 7. HHN: Sweet 16 Horror Comes Home (2006) 8. HHN: Ripped From The Silver Screen (2009) 9. HHN VI: Journey Into Fear (1996) 10. HHN XX: Twenty Years of Fear (2010) 11. HHN: Tales of Terror (2005) 12. HHN VIII: Primal Scream (1998) 13. HHN IX: Last Gasp (1999) 14. HHN X: You Don’t Know Jack (2000) 15. HHN: What’s Your Breaking Point? (2004) 16. HHN: Carnival of Carnage (2007) Onto the photos! An old pal from '95! Hanging out with Jack. Fear itself. Loved this tree guy a few years ago, and still love him! The Gentlemen, I mean Body Collector. I was scared of him A HHN staple. On the way out, Jack wished us a good night. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearbm95 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 Quick question. So I'm thinking about making the trip down to USF for HHN this year and was wondering if the experience I had last year was an anomaly or standard practice. I thought the houses were all very well done however, there were almost zero scares as the scares were all ruined by the constant stream of people that were allowed into the houses at once. I understand with the amount of people in attendance it may be counter-productive to space out the groups in the houses however, I felt like this really dampened my experience. Is it always like this? I think I would have had a much more enjoyable time waiting a little longer in line but being able to actually receive a few scares in the houses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 ^ This is pretty standard. When it is busy (which is about 95% of the time), the houses are always a steady conga line flow. This is how they try to keep the line moving. I agree with you I would much rather wait a minute to let small groups go in. I actually will slow down to give some space between the people in front of me and myself, so I won't see every scare in ahead of me. This usually helps a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 Thanks for all the reports and pictures! Sounds like they didn't use the majority of the parade house this year like it was rumored. I figured the reason they incorporated the Mardi Gras floats into a scarezone was so they could use the whole building. Or perhaps the warehouse rooms at the beginning and end take up a lot of the space? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBparks57 Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I was glad to see the one float out though, was a nice touch. Last night my buddy and I got a free night stay at the Portofino which was pretty awesome. We went to CityWalk to grab a few drinks, and I noticed HRRR running with no lights on. Later, as we kept walking, we noticed the lift hill lights were on, and they were still testing...but a few moments after a car cleared the lift, the lights shut off again. I thought it was strange, possible they are actually opening it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 (edited) So after much delay, here are the photos from my return visit this past Saturday. I'll likely be going back on Thursday as well, so expect some more photos down the road from that visit. When they say Saws n' Steam, they mean a lot of steam! If you can make it out, you can see the victim on the former Frankenstein slab. It seems Universal really upped the fog factor this year! "I've got my eye on you!" I hate to tell you this folks, but those "two brand new shows" from Brian Brushwood? They are complete rehashes of his previous show. He did two tricks that I hadn't seen him do before at Horror Nights, and I had seen those performed by him on TV several years ago. BRAINS!!! I think he's a cousin of Mustard-faced man from Containment... (If you read my trip report from last year's event, you'll know who I'm talking about.) Thumbs < Thumb (according to TPR regulars). Stop itching! It'll never heal when you keep picking at it! The parade float in Zombie Gras served as an interesting show scene with a non-zombie performer being cornered by a zombie performer. It was believable and amusing, to say the least. Wind instruments are deadly. String instruments are safe. Rat Lady returns, as always... A new shirt for this year... Too bad the show was somewhat lame this year. It never hurts to include one of these... Over in the Coven, this "barker" was getting burned alive. See? Burned alive. "Something... Something... Something... Darkside. Something... Something... Something... Complete." "Tony, stop filming me!" This witch was pulling the pilgrim's invisible leash to take him offstage. Such a creative way to go about a shift change! Esqueleto Muerte isn't really scary, just sortof cool! The costumes were creative in their designs... Look everyone, its Glowfest! Sans flash. Spooky! Hello you! Ready for the kill! I couldn't believe they actually brought back the Crypt Keeper for this event! Unfortunately, he sat right next to one of the fog machines, so he was a bit hard to get a photo with. I think most people missed seeing him because of the fog. Frankenstein from last year's house also made a return! Pigface also made an appearance! Strappingly virile, right Guy? Correction from the previous update: these are new Alices. Proceed as scheduled, but know that they are new. Either way, the Alice character is awesome, so to all who have or do play her, kudos! This pumpkinhead is better than the one of the movie namesake. Static or live? You tell me. "Beware the curse of Mary Shaw, she had no children, only dolls...." I just realized that her head looks like a certain anniversary cupcake I ate in California not too long ago. This wasn't staged. I love Chance for this very reason--she pulled a mischievous pose while I wasn't looking! Can I tell you a story? Cindy was interesting, but there didn't seem to be much to her as a character. She was almost too quiet to interact with. I heard somebody complained about one scareactor who played Eddie having blond hair. I'm just happy we have Eddie out and about at an event. I don't take it too seriously. "Why thank you for pointing me in the right direction Julian!" The things he showed me terrified me beyond words. His flashlight emitted lots of ringy-ding-ding-a-lingys and fluffy fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo! I have nothing to fear, including Fear himself. He's an interesting canvas to see in person, but you only see him here, which is a little strange. I declare thee, Darth XXus. RISE! In the plaza between E.T., Woody Woodpecker and the Animal Actors theater, icon projections depict the five tools of Fear. Chaos. Sacrifice. Death. Legend. And Vengeance. Oh, and for good measure... Enjoy! Edited September 29, 2010 by jedimaster1227 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 HAWT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Adam- the face you make in every picture makes it look like it's the happiest moment of your life. Lol. Great pictures! Thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Yeah there really seemed be an abundance of fog and chainsaws this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan1313 Posted September 30, 2010 Author Share Posted September 30, 2010 Finally have some time to give this years event a review! Some background to give my review some perspective... I've attended almost every HHN since the first one and almost always go on the first weekend. I realize the event generally improves after the first weekend but it gives you a good idea of the original intent of the event. Overall I would place this year somewhere in the middle of previous years. I think I would have been a bit more impressed if it wasn't marketed as a huge anniversary year. I love the fact that they continue to be more innovative with the houses each year and try new and improved technologies and scares but the outside scare zones seemed to me to be the weakest they have been in MANY years. As others have said, the fog was SERIOUSLY out of control.... I have never seen them use this many fog machines. Even with the downsides to this years event - it really is still the best halloween event in the country. I'm going to continue to be more critical than I would with other events because I know what they have done in the past. My thoughts on the individual houses and scare zones are below - ordered from favorite to least. Spoilers Below... Houses - - Legendary Truth - Wyandot Estate: This is not only my favorite house of this year, but one of my favorites of all time. The use of never before seen effects and a fun storyline make it an absolute winner. Make sure you look to your feet at the beginning of the house and go multiple times to catch all the hidden things. - Horror Nights : The Hallow'd Past - This is the "best of" house. I am VERY glad they didn't just make it about the icons but had some really cool scenes from lesser known by favorite houses like "Ship of Screams". The warehouse scenes in the beginning and end are amazing and really makes you want to go through again and again. - Catacombs: Black Death Rising - This had some of the only real "scares" for me at this years event. I love the museum theming and the freaky masks just creeped me out. - Hades - I think I would have rated this higher if I didn't go through during a cast change. Seemed a bit cheesy at first but the medusas gave some awesome scares and the theming is top notch. - Zombiegeddon - This years "funny" house. I love the tie in with the scare zone outside and the fact they tried to make a storyline with the Zombie Awareness Program. Fun theming outside with zombie traps as you walk in the building. - The Orfanage - I had such high hopes for this house with the promise of Cindy's appearance and REAL FIRE! The house itself is OK with some very creepy moments and good scares but is a bit crippled by being in the hot and tight jaws queue. The fire effect is exceedingly lame.. no idea why it has been hyped so much. - Psychoscareapy - This one just made me mad. The other psychoscarapy houses in the past have been AWESOME. Dark, funny and creepy. This one was just.. meh. One cool jail scene effect and the rest was a little boring. - Havoc : Dogs of War - Wha? This was bad.. really bad. Basically just "soldiers" shooting and screaming. VERY loud with almost no scares.. almost everyone who was walking out was saying how lame it was. I hope they tweak it a bit because in its current state its a little embarrassing. Scare Zones - Zombie Gras - This one was just FUN. Really no scares but great theming, fun music, great costumes and great makeup. I love the fact that it ties into the house that it is right outside. HHN 20 Years of Fear - Well put together with lots of random characters that will jar memories. Heavy on the props to give lots of good scares but all characters were very open for photos. Fear Revealed - Not a real scare zone...but the big XX logo wit the old icons and fear himself. Really well done little area with backdrops for all of the icons. You can tell there was a lot of care put into this. Esqueleto Muerte - Once again..no real scares but fun costumes and a good idea to use "Day of the Dead". The Shrek area really is a horrible place for a scare zone. Saws N Steam - So much promise! Cool steampunk theming but TINY and cramped with WAY TOO MUCH FOG! The Coven - Um. A couple of 2X4's, random "witch like" characters and some fog does not make a good scare zone. I felt like this was a last minute "lets throw together one more scare zone with the extra $100 we have laying around. LAME. Bill and Ted - Pretty slow this year. I've heard they have already tweaked it a few times and I hope they will continue. Lack of good movies to make fun of hampered their style but even the dance number was rather boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acq10uaz Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 I just found this on Youtube, I sometimes watch this guy and some other "Vloggers" (ShayCarl shout out!). Anyways, this is a great video with a look inside the houses! MOD EDIT: Links removed. Universal has a strict anti-video/photography policy within their houses and we can not display links to material that violates their rules. Universal actually hired these people to promote the event and showcase it for people who couldn't make it out to the event. But I think they were told not to show everything so people interested would come, basically like a commercial, which is how the people on YouTube make they're living, by product placements. Larry, if you don't mind could I post the videos? The had definitely had permission. They even had a tour guide that made sure that they wouldn't get in trouble for filming. Great pictures everyone. I've got to make it down there one of these days and go to HHN. It looks like an awesome event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Q Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Crazy! I've only been to the HHN in Hollywood but Orlando's looks insane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Crazy! I've only been to the HHN in Hollywood but Orlando's looks insane! As someone who has gone to the event on both coasts for many years, I can say this: HHN Hollywood is extremely well-done and tons of fun. HHN Orlando sets the bar and really is the best Halloween event in the nation. It's the best of the best!!! I couldn't recommend it more. Go. Now. Reed- thanks for the review. It's always helpful to know which houses are worth waiting for, if you have to make some tough decisions. I was in no way excited about the premise of Havoc and it sounds like the house is just as disappointing. I'll be there one week from today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Starr Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 What is it with the Haunt season that makes me all happy? HHN definitely looks like the premiere Halloween Theme Park event, and I can only hope they continue to grow for a long, long time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianojohn Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 Really quick report here! I had to work my regular job last night and didn't think I'd have enough time to make it to HHN. But I arrived at the gates around 1045pm and was able to hit 7of the 8 houses by midnight! Light crowds and perfect weather helped (as well as running from house to house!) The houses were good and there were some neat effects, but none of them really blew me away. Again, I was doing the "credit whore" tour of HHN so that could account for it. The Hades houses seemed to be in the worst shape with many of the carved set pieces broken by aggressive guests. It looks like the sets were carved out of styrofoam and then sprayed with grey paint. But you could see parts broken off and the white styrofoam sticking out. One of the houses featured bird like creatures who reminded me of Spy vs. Spy from Mad Magazine. Not really scary in my book. I will be going back to see Bill and Ted's and get that 8th credit. Also, I hope to get there when it opens so I can really see what some of the outside scare zones look like. The muerte one was cool but I felt it was too dark especially with all the bold paint colors in it. The Ghost house was by far the best. Great scenery and very cool effects. My all time fav is still the one where they had the 2 story theater balcony illusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CD Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 I went again last night and it seemed like the event took a step down. There really weren't very many scares... At first I just assumed that I had just gotten used to the layouts of the houses and the scare factor went away, but then I realized that none of the scareactors were really popping out. -Legendary Truth was still awesome, and we noticed some effects that we didn't see last time. But the ending of this house is very anticlimactic and boring. PLEASE make the ending scary Universal! 3 out of 4 times we went through there was only one scareactor in the last 30 seconds; they didn't attempt to scare anyone and the glowing costume could be seen from a far distance. -Hades got even better IMO. There are a ton of scares in this house and the minotaur effect gets me every time! I can't figure out how they do it. However, John is right about the sets. They are getting a little torn up especially the facade. -Catacombs- still one of my favorites and I love the ending, but there seemed to be fewer scareactors in the house. -Havoc- I actually really enjoyed this house a lot more than last time, and they increased the amount of scares! -All the other houses got less scary, it was fairly disappointing. Psychoscarapy was just plain bad last night, there scareactors just did not seem motivated... Though the house was literally a walk-on for most of the night so you can't really blame them. The scarezones were the same except for Saws and Steam - they must have turned off a few fog machines! I saw one of the Brian Brushwood shows... and I agree with Adam, do not waste your time with these. I have never heard of him before HHN and I don't really understand what he is. If he's a magician, then why doesn't he do magic? Aside from that he's pretty annoying to listen to. Some of the audience started booing half way through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 Very annoying that the event hasn't even been going on for a full week before set pieces are getting destroyed. Would someone mind explaining me some of the effects being used in the LT house either through spoiler tags or PM? I am really curious what they are doing to make this house so innovative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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