chargersmichael Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 September 30th Trip Report: I am always excited for Halloween Horror Nights every year. I was questioning this years though without the scare zones. SCARE ZONE: I ran into two groups the whole night and probably walked the park 3 times and as there from 6:00-10:30. 2 GROUPS! The whole park seemed to have no scareactors!!! I was really disappointed! HOUSES (In order by my opinion of best) 1) Dead End 10/10-This house is a real "haunted house." The whole thing was perfect. Perfect scares, just the whole house was great! We did this twice with our HHN Express Pass (totally worth the money!!!) because their scanners were down so they couldn't really mark off on the express pass! This house was one of the best houses I personally feel HHN has made during the past three years. 2)Gothic 10/10-I enjoyed this house too but I just liked Dead End a tiny bit more because of being in a "haunted house." Gothic had really cool elements and scares! This was a great house! All of the scares were great and the detail was incredible! 3)Silent Hill 8/10-This house seemed very short to me and it didn't seem to have a lot of scareactors in it. The whole atmosphere, detail, and burning ash smell was great. The scares weren't as good as Dead End and Gothic but they were "well." A decent house. 4) House of Horrors 8/10-I know a lot of people expected this to be better, me too. I was confused on who the monster was a lot during the rooms but it did offer some great scenes and scares. I know there was a Frankenstein scene that was really cool and Dracula. Great scares, not enough detail. 5)Walking Dead 7/10-This house was just confusing with the different rooms right after another. The rooms just didn't seem tofollow. There were tons of scareactors in here but not a lot that did any scaring, just staring at you and making weird noises. This house also seemed really short and the ending was terrible. It seemed like they rushed to put this house together and just threw together an ending with the fence where you could see all of Disaster's queue. 6)Penn & Teller 5/10-The only thing I liked in this house were the one or two red buttons and the interactive things in there. The 3d just made it weird and the whole house was just stupid, didn't get it. They could've done a lot better with this and it was such a weird theme. No real scares in here too. 7)Alice Cooper 4/10-This house was just plain dumb, that's all I have to say about this. BILL & TED-I was so confused in this show, it was not funny, and was dumb. Fiends is a lot better! Overall, I feel this event this year was lacking in a lot of areas and hope that they will fix it and do something about the scarezones. I was really upset about the scarezones! They had 2 or 3 great houses but the rest were just "decent" and "ok." I did have a fun time however. Hopefully next year will be better! Howl O Scream does a lot better with the scare zone thing and their shows. HHN has better houses though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 ^That's too bad about the lack of scareactors. At BGT last year, you were bumping into roving hordes of zombie cheerleaders, doctors, lumberjacks, and other creatures all over the place. Maybe the crowds at Universal make the "roving horde" concept impractical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chargersmichael Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 ^It wasn't even that crowded last Sunday. Maybe 30 minutes maximum for every house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Sounds like the consensus is that Gothic and Dead End are stand-out houses, and the rest are average to below average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 ^It wasn't even that crowded last Sunday. Maybe 30 minutes maximum for every house. It actually did get somewhat crowded this past Sunday. Many of the mazes had a 60+ minute wait for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canobie#1 Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 During my time at the park, there were plenty of actors in silent hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 So is this years event so bad that's it's not even worth going to? I don't think I've read a single positive review of anything at the event other than Gothic and Dead End are as good as some of the better houses in recent years. I was considering hitting up the event on a Sunday in a few weeks just to keep my "event attendance streak alive" but from the sound of things I may be better off just checking out some local haunts and saving my money this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simtanic8 Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 So far from what I have read everyone has mixed feelings about each house and the street experiences. The main thing that is ruining each night is the weather. Bad weather = no streets and upset guests. I am going tonight and extremely excited. It's only my second time to any type of Halloween event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I won an radio contest for HHN tickets, paid hotel rooms, parking pass, R.I.P. tour, and 4 seperate Universal/Islands of Adventure tickets! (so excited!) I've never been to HHN, but are all the rides open throughout the whole course of the night? I really want to ride Mummy, MIB, Simpsons, Minion Mayhem and HRRR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 ^All of those rides are open during the event. That's actually all of the rides that are open for the event and no more. But honestly, the RIP tour should cover HHN for you and the day tickets should help you to get all of the normal attractions done during your visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 ^All of those rides are open during the event. That's actually all of the rides that are open for the event and no more. But honestly, the RIP tour should cover HHN for you and the day tickets should help you to get all of the normal attractions done during your visit. I know, but I'm using my HHN tickets on October 28th and then the 4 day tickets in middle to late November. I'm just hoping the R.I.P. Tour will allot me enough time to complete those rides also, hahaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 ^It depends on if it is a private RIP tour or not, as well as what time the tour starts. If it starts at the beginning of the event you normally have time for a ride or two but if it is a delayed start it may not work out as well. I've done RIPs where we've gotten rides on Rockit and Mummy but I've also done some that have given us enough time to do the houses (and this year both shows) and nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 So is this years event so bad that's it's not even worth going to? I don't think I've read a single positive review of anything at the event other than Gothic and Dead End are as good as some of the better houses in recent years. I was considering hitting up the event on a Sunday in a few weeks just to keep my "event attendance streak alive" but from the sound of things I may be better off just checking out some local haunts and saving my money this year? Two things bothered me the most about this year's event: 1. The lack of atmosphere in the park itself. The roaming hordes of scareactors were more annoying than scary, and I really missed the themed scarezones. (I understand that all the construction in the park may be a factor here.) 2. The houses were much too dependent on set scenes and effects to the detriment of any interaction with guests. It all seemed too "push button." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan1313 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 It's just pretty "meh". I have a frequent fear pass and usually would have gone a few more times just to walk around, enjoy the atmosphere, etc. This year the lack of atmosphere is really having me almost regret buying it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterJunkie Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I was at HHN nights 10/11, and I must say, as a HHN night veteran, I was highly disappointed in the whole night. The crowds for a Thursday night at early season were HORRID. Walking Dead was at a 120min wait at one point. Most houses remained at 75-90m waits all night. Though we managed to do all the houses thanks to Stay and Scream, I am not pleased with Universal basically forcing people to pay the extra money for FoTL passes...and from what I saw..they still had 30min waits...Why bother? Overall, I only loved Gothic...but Alice Copper was a close second. Dead End was neat, but there was hardly anyone inside it. While the sets in Walking Dead were neat, the lack of people in the house sucked. The walkers outside were fun to watch though. Gothic was simply AMAZING. I wanted to stand in the house and stare. Silent Hill was just OK, but after waiting an hour for it, being rushed through it by employees was not good either. The other houses were just OK...though Penn and Teller had a nice laugh. The lack of scarezones really just did not work. It was dumb really. We never did see the Beasts or the Warriors. I must say the woman chainsaw team was a welcome change though. They move MUCH more swiftly then the men, and the are much more evil and sadistic. There was one stationed in a dark corner right near the ladies room scaring people left and right. They were a highlight of the night. The construction going on also detracted from the atmosphere...nothing say spooky like the bright flood lights of an active construction zone. The park overall was lacking the normal spooky feel. Very little fog to be had. Overall I rate the night a 3 out 5 stars. I am looking much more forward to HOS in Tampa now, to get my fear fix. I am going to consider long and hard if I return to HHN next year or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmorton Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I had never been to any of these sort of Halloween events before, but I made it to HHN this year; twice. On a Thursday and then the Sunday 2 weeks ago. Well I REALLY enjoyed it. Yes, there were Qs but thats the sign of popularity isn't it - so I bought the Express pass for the second night. I encountered the roaming hoards lots of times and managed the mazes a few times each. Bill&Ted I enjoyed, thought it was a good (& quite long) show - maybe the Circus show a bit less so, but even then it was worth doing. I realise I don't have "previous HHN" to compare it to, but if that made me enjoy it and its putting other people off, more power to me I suggest! Can't control the weather, and I guess it'd be pretty meh in the rain (did get rain for an hour or so on the Sunday) - but if you can look at the weather forecast, get an express-pass and have a happy attitude, I'd expect you to have a good time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 ^I'm glad you had a good experience at HHN. I just hope the park will up its game the next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Hopefully it will be a lot of fun for me too since I've never been to HHN before! Maybe I'll post a photo trip report! So excited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 ^I think you'll enjoy this year's HHN more if you've never been before. The sets in the soundstage houses (Dead End, Silent Hill, and Gothic) are, as usual, very well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBparks57 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Well, only one week left of the event! I can't believe how fast this thing flew by. I have had the opportunity to be a part of many attractions and I've loved them all. I think this years event has been great, after finally getting to see it from a guests perspective. I also think adding 2 more legions was something they could have used from the start but they look awesome. I can't wait to see how it finishes out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan1313 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 ^ I don't feel that adding more legions is really the answer, but having actual scare zones that are themed made more of a difference than they realized! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I also like the themed scare zones better. The characters that walked around seemed out of place in some area of the park. I really like the well themed areas with the actors mixed in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Plus, the scareactors have to do more to be "scary," rather than simply "annoying." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBparks57 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Well considering how late it is in the event, I don't think they'd turn around and add theme'd scare zones. They hired on 80 more scare actors to place in the park. I feel that is a pretty good attempt at an answer to help make it feel like more is going on. I don't understand the whole "out of place" concept I keep hearing. The park dug up a dark force called the Iniquitis who than rose up several dark legions to terrorize the park. This is the first time they've had a cohesive theme through out the event in a while. Everybody talks about the "Themed" scare zones, while yes they are awesome, usually had nothing to do with anything else in the event. Lady luck had one terrible scare zone, and then there were 5 other random have nothing to do with the "theme" zones. I can't say I love the roaming legions but I do love the fact that they are all apart of the same purpose. Warriors are the only thing that I didn't fully understand but hey, they made it work. The Iniquitis prepare them before they break...and send them off. I love that! I always hated how by the time I got to Kidzone and MIB there was literally nothing going on there....and now they have scareactors there. I love it! Again though, I'm biased...sorry for the rant haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBparks57 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Park hours have been extended on Thursday and Sunday, closing time is now 2 am. Going to be a busy last week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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