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Halloween Horror Nights XVI


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So as is my tradition for almost all of the last 16 HHN I attended opening night of this years.... Sweet Sixteen. Overall I was a bit disappointed from the last few years. I feel the event really looses quite a bit being at the Studios and the scares just really are not there. I also thought they would bring the overall theme together a bit more this year than they did. The characters had houses, but they really had nothing to do with what was in the house (besides perhaps the caretaker). The event still is one of the premier halloween events in the world... everything has off years sometimes

 

The average wait throughout the night was about 30-45 min for the houses (which is average for an opening night and a non-peak). Quite a few of the houses seem to be low capacity this year so express pass is a MUST if you even are thinking of going on a Friday or a Saturday.

 

The following are the houses in order of preference..starting with what I felt was the best.

 

All Nite Die-In: Take 2 - WOW. I very rarely have a house which I leave amazed..but this was it. It really had a cohesive theme, lots of BRAND new sets and great scares. I can't wait to go through it again!

 

Screamhouse - The Resurrection - Not really that scary, but well done. A bit gruesome but with some good visuals. The caretaker is a fun character, but it is odd how many times he appears in this.

 

Psycho Path: The Return of Norman Bates - A fun telling of the psycho story with a twist. It had some new sets and some great actors. As with the one below it is in a VERY ghetto tent behind Back to the Future.

 

People Under the Stairs: Under Construction - Perhaps it was just because I got to wear the hat (similar to last years one in Poseidons Fury) but I actually enjoyed this one. This is also in a VERY ghetto tent behind Back to the Future and is VERY short.

 

Psychoscareapy - Maximum Madness - Every year there is a house that is all style and no substance. This is it. It is almost a carbon copy of the Psychoscareapy that was in the Jurrasic Park Discovery center a few years back. Great sets, great visuals, great audio. Except this time the actors wear crappy clown makeup and it is very bright. Really - I was texting stacey on my blackberry the entire time I was in there.. that is how NOT scary it was. Jack was not even in the thing! WTF?

 

Dungeon of Terror - Retold - Kinda short, very hot and pretty lame. Its if carnies took over HHN as a roadside attraction. Really no scares.

 

RUN: Hostile Territory - WTF WAS THAT?!?!? I can't even explain it. It got you wet....multiple times. WTF WAS IT?!?! WHAT WAS THE STORY!?!? ARGH! Most frustrating, lame, no story house. EVER. I feel dirty even talking about it.

 

Entertainment:

 

Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure - As always a fun show and this year was no exception. Tried to cram in too many references and was a bit too self effacing but still fun. Not as good as last year IMHo.

 

The Arrival - this is supposed to be the welcome show which times in all the characters......kinda odd...kinda lame.

 

Sweet 16:The Directors Cut - AKA - They took Universal 360 and MADE IT WORSE! I did not think it was possible, but they took a show which was "Meh" and made it total CRAP! It was actually boring.... yep..thats right... CLIPS OF HORROR MOVIES AND FIREWORKS made us look at our email out of boredom. There is something wrong with that on many levels.

 

 

Anyways... Still a fun event and hopefully it will be back at IOA next year..

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And we ended the night with bill and ted!

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Zombie Ho's ROCK!

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I always like to include pics of food. :) Had a delicious dinner at Finnegans, which was in the middle of a scarezone and completely dead!

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The brought back the chainsaw drill team which was cool.

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One of the scarezones - it was kinda like the "Children of the Corn" one from a few years back.

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Goth Hotties at the arrival show.

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This is where the arrival show takes place. It was an interesting concept, but not very well done.

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This was as you were coming in past the brown derby, they had all the characters from past events lined up for photos...it was pretty cool!

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She was friggin HOT! ;) (get it.. she is ice...eh..nevermind.)

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Even though I prefer the event at IOA, it is nice to see the logo on the arch.

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Next time I think I am gonna Valet. Waiting 30 minutes to park....sucks.

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Just spreading the word from a cast member about HHN Etiquette:

 

I've said this before last year and I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but it still needs to be said and spread around.

 

Anyways, people are stupid and immature, I cannot do anything about this. Beer doesn't help with that either. If you have a friend who is either A) Stupid, or B) too drunk, please escort them to a less crowded area away from the scaracters, we don't need to put up with your stupidity while trying to scare everyone else. Plus, it ruins everyone else around you a chance to get scared because you're too damn stupid to know what you're doing. Another stupid thing people constantly do is try to scare the scareacters or touch them. Guess what? As much as you brag about how you scared us, you never did to begin with and chances are the reason why we backed away was to get away from you in the first place because we don't know how out of control you are. As for the trying to touch us, why? Do we go up to you and tug on your shirt or take your hat off? Absolutely not! Then why in the hell do you think it's right to do that to us? Or even better, do we ever jump on your back and try to ride you like a horse? Guys, this is simple common sense, don't touch mr. scary guy, don't give them the middle finger and tell us to f*** off, don't try to scare us because you never will and end up looking like a major loser. Oh, and on a lighter note, flash photography is a no no for several reasons, first off we're not supposted to pose for pictures, that's what the hollywood street is for. Second, you're blinding us. Third, your flash will ruin your picture, it kills all the lighting effects, the fog, and all the costuming and makeup will show up horribly and will be a wasted picture that you won't want to show everyone, so please don't take flash pictuers, ok? Now all the above doesn't really apply to me as much, this is what I've observed people have done to others, and I feel that it had to be said, because I hate seeing my other cast members getting teased and tormented by major idiots.

 

Thanks for reading and please spread the word in hopes for a better HHN experience for all.

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AHhh time for Taco's famous TR...

 

***!!! SPOILERS !!!***

 

 

As the Caretaker says, my time has come. And came it did. Well, sort of. I turned up at the park about an hour and a half, I was unable to get the GAP passes that I usually get, and the park was a lot busier this opening night than it has been in years past. Even with that, I managed to conquer 5 haunted houses, see Bill and Ted, and catch some of The Arrival. First off, from what I experienced tonight, I wasn't "blown away" by any single thing like I have been in years past, however, the houses seem to be of much better quality overall compared to years past.

 

I was expecting a lot, and didn't come away disappointed. I don't think I have been more excited for a HHN than I was for this year. Bringing back all the Icons (though some were missing) and past houses was great. Yes, three of the seven houses I have been through (the original ones at least), but the other four seemed like intense houses that would definatly give a great experience. The night didn't start off well. Got held up doing stuff back at home, so my group arrived about an hour and a half late. After the others picked up their tickets ($25 a piece - I chose something different and got the Frequent Fear pass) I realized I couldn't find my ticket, which I had printed at home. I started freaking out. I thought I had it in my wallet, so after going through the metal detectors I just picked up my wallet and cell phone and just left. I ran back to the entrance and (thank god) it turns out they kept the pass in the pile of crap that people leave. I was worried that they would have just thrown it away since it was a folded paper.

 

Anyways, finally we get in the park and I practically start running towards the Mummy (it's been some three months or something since my last ride I think). Let me say that the atmosphere is much better in Universal than it is in Islands of Adventure during Halloween Horror Nights, but that is just me. It turns out the Mummy was closed because of technical difficulties, which is the first time I had seen that in quite a while. Opened up later in the evening, but had close to an hour wait the rest of the night. So we doubled back and hit up Screamhouse Resurrection. I had insanely high hopes for this one. The orginal Screamhouse is one of my favorite houses of all time, and The Caretaker is a damn fine mascot. They said the line was 30 minutes, but we went through it all and left the house in about 20. The detail is as good as ever, with the wallpaper on the walls peeling away, the occasional bloody spots, etc etc. Seemed like your typical house, except for the fact that there was some 8 total Caretakers in the house. Normally I would be upset with something like that, but there was one room in there that was pretty sweet. It was a hallway of sorts, but everything was like a wooden door nailed together, and all the doors opened up. Four of those Caretakers where in here alone, and you had absolutly NO idea which way they would be coming from. Doesn't sound like much, but it was pretty sweet. The greenhouse at the end wasn't bad at all, either. The smell of dirt was so powerful, as if someone was jamming it up your nose and making you snort it. Voices everywhere, rotten bodies on the floor, just typical awesome Horror Nights stuff. Nice little touch worth mentioning is that at the beginning right before you enter the house there is a huge pile of mulch. Looks normal at first, but it turns out there is some dead bodies in it. There is also a shed that is in the corner of the room, and there is a person trapped in it slamming the door trying to get out. Overall I'd give the house a solid 8.25/10.

 

After that it was time for Pshyco Scarepy: Maximum Madness. This is another house that I had insanely high hopes for, it seemed like. The original was quite an attraction, and the music still haunts me to this day. Well, the music is back, and so is the crap in the bathroom. The sign out front said 30 minutes, but as with Screamhouse we went through it all in about 20. I could have sworn Jack was supposed to be in here, wasn't he? Well, there was no sign of him at all. I liked how the house seemed to get more intense as you progressed through. In the beginning you see people (insane people) with dolls and horns, then torwards the middle they are jumping around on invisible horses, then we have the infamous bathroom scene which is just incredible (complete with an actual "person" taking a crap), then at the end you have the insane people in the straight jackets that are throwing themselves around in a cell yelling madly - complete with blood all over themeselves. Nothing new, nothing improved upon from the original house, but still great entertainment. Best of the night. Overall it gets a 8.5/10 from me.

 

Then it was time to walk through the first scarezone, which was Blood Masquerade where you can find the vampires. There were some neat props, but they definatly could have used a few more and also the scarezone was extremely short. Vampires don't do much for me either, so it gets a lame 5.5/10 from me. We kept walking and saw The Arrival was going on, so we saw maybe the last half or so of it. Seemed pretty cool, got to see The Director electrocute some chick in a bathtub, that's always neat. After that was another scarezone, Havest of the Souls. Definatly the best of the night, although most of the props were used last year in Field of Screams (which is their best scare zone ever). I know they reuse props, but it just seemed like EVERYTHING was a reuse. Unlike Blood it was long, almost triple the length, there were plenty more props that had a lot more detail, but there just weren't enough scareactors in the zone. Gets a decent 7/10. If there was one thing I wish Universal would improve upon it's the scarezones, just seems like every year they take more and more out of them - with the exception being Field of Screams last year.

 

Next up for us was People Under the Stairs: Under Construction. The video playing in the queue was really lame, and didn't show much. Just people running around in a basement, for the most part. Sign in the front said 25 minutes, and that was about right. If you went through Terror Mines last year, you know about the light hat technique then. Well they brought that back this year, but the house wasn't nearly dark enough for it to be of good use. Terror Mines was almost pitch black at parts last year - so the hat was really useful and added tons to the house. Not the same this year. Most of the house was full of wooden 2x4s with bloody tarps along the wall. Nothing special. The occasional scareactor, maybe a dead body, but it just felt boring compared to the others. Nothing stuck out. If the house had been darker, it would have been much better. Also, the house seemed way too empty in terms of scareactors. A few more obviously would have helped. Worst house of the night, but still gets a 7.25/10 from me.

 

Right next door to PUTS is Pshyco Path: The Return of Norman Bates. Went into this one not expecting anything too great, but was still expecting a good time with a few scares thrown in there. The sign said 45 minutes, and it was around that - maybe a little less. I think this was the only house with a real facade in the front (excluding the soundstage houses Screamhouse, Psycho Scarepy, and All Night Die In) and it was looking pretty cool. I'd definatly stay at the Bates Motel. The house was a mix of motel styling and "crazy" stuff (think Disorientorium and Cold Blind Terror) like strange use of lighting, paint, strange objects, etc etc. The detail was nice, especially in the motel sections. The house was full of scareactors, that did manage to get a few scares in. These people seemed to take pride in their work, which is always good to see. Deserves a nice 8/10.

 

We kept walking around the park, saw that the line for Dungeon of Terror was 55 minutes. We skipped and walked to RUN, which was 60 itself. So I grabbed myself a turkey leg (which was NOT dry for once and absolutly amazing) and a coke and started waiting it out. After about 20 minutes we realized that if we waited to go through the house we would miss the last showing of Bill and Ted which was at 11:15. We left the line, hit Earthquake up on the way (no preshows thank god), and went to see Bill and Ted. One word: Laaaaaaame. I really don't want to spoil it, but the story was so lame. Come on now. I know it's not known for it's script really, but it's just sad compared to years past. Seems to be getting worse and worse each year. Still some good laughs, and they played some Metallica so it's not THAT bad.

 

After that we rushed to Dungeon of Terror which was about a 15 minute wait, and at this point there was only 3 minutes until the park closed so we just made it. Definatly better than I expected. This seemed to go all "Disorientorium" on us in some parts as well, which I hate. Doesn't scare me, it's just lame. The Storyteller they had sitting in her rocking chair in the beginning was way too fat also, so that doesn't help it. Other than that I enjoyed it quite a bit. The detail was awesome, loved the whole sideshow attraction thing it had going. Plus some lady gets stabbed and you get loaded with "blood"...so that's cool. Nice house to finish the night off with, and gets a solid 8/10 from me.

 

Had to walk through Deadtropolis Zombie Seige to get to the exit of the park. Actually I did earlier, but didn't pay attention since I was starting on my turkey led. Nice use of lights and fog, the props set up were plentiful and full of detail and there were enough scareactors for the size of the zone. Gets a good 7/10 on Taco's scale. I then got my Sweet 16 shirt and a cool light up skull cup, and I was done. I am upset that I missed two houses, but I won't throw too much of a fit since I know I am going 2 or 3 more times. I had a blast at the park. Great atmosphere, nice houses, decent scarezones...what a great time.

 

***!!! END SPOILERS !!!***

 

In Review:

 

1. Psyhco Scarepy - 8.5

2. Screamhouse - 8.25

3. Dungeon of Terror - 8

4. Psyco Path - 8

5. People Under the Stairs - 7.25

6. All Night Die In - N/A

7. RUN - N/A

 

 

As a side note, the photos will have to wait. The digital camera has gone missing, but I hope to find it before my next visits.

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Meh, I went again last night, it was crowded. Got to do "Psychopath" which was a pretty well put together house, even though it was in a tent. Did all the other same 5 houses as well, did Run again instead of All Nite Die-In, which, now after reading the reviews about it, I wish I had done that instead of Run.

 

Now I'm off to Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens, a Photo TR will be following

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Meh, I went again last night, it was crowded. Got to do "Psychopath" which was a pretty well put together house, even though it was in a tent. Did all the other same 5 houses as well, did Run again instead of All Nite Die-In, which, now after reading the reviews about it, I wish I had done that instead of Run.

 

Now I'm off to Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens, a Photo TR will be following

 

Have fun at HOS. Make sure you visit Club Muse.

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Call me old fashioned, but I LOVE HHN at the Studios.

I also went again last night, lots of improvements.

My new order for best to worst houses...

All Nite Die-In

Psychoscareapy

Run

Screamhouse

Psycho Path

PUTS - I had the hat though...

Dungeon of Terror

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Please someone explain Run to me. I feel like I am the only person who did not get it. What on earth did it have to do with the original Run and what was the storyline? It really seemed like a bunch of random leftover scenes stuck together with the only thing typing them together was people in rubber aprons with blood. What on earth am I missing?

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Please someone explain Run to me. I feel like I am the only person who did not get it. What on earth did it have to do with the original Run and what was the storyline?

 

Have you bothered to read the website?

 

I went last night. I'm not going to type up a large review, but here's my house ratings:

 

All Night Die-In - 5 stars

Scream House - 5 stars

Psycho Scareapy - 3 stars (Fantastic sets, but really lackluster cast)

PsychoPath - 3 stars

Run - 2 stars (Capable of being good, but they really need to fix their heavy traffic issues)

Dungeon of Terror - I'm not sure I can rate this one. It's purposely made to look bizarre and extremely cheap, which just isn't my thing. Others may enjoy it though.

PUTS - 1 star (What a waste of wood and plastic. The "throw away house" in every imaginable way.)

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Please someone explain Run to me. I feel like I am the only person who did not get it. What on earth did it have to do with the original Run and what was the storyline?

 

Have you bothered to read the website?

/quote]

 

Sigh. Why yes.... yes I did. The websites description describes it as a land where people will commit any act possible for you for a credit card number and that you will "Choose your way" and the "Lights will go out" . None of which happened in the maze. The description on the website does not explain any of the scenes in the maze to me.. and plus, IMHO, I should not have to read the site to have a basic understanding of what a maze is about. Every other maze had a storyline that was apparent without even reading the description in the map.

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IMHO, I should not have to read the site to have a basic understanding of what a maze is about. Every other maze had a storyline that was apparent without even reading the description in the map.

 

So you would be able to explain all the weird crap that goes on in PsychoPath had you not been told the concept? I find that very hard to believe. I could name many other examples of houses with indecernable themes from the past. Luckily, I read their descriptions first.

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^ The Ring portion of the house consists of a hallway and then an office building of some sort (lots of strobe.) Didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. A well scene would have made more sense, especially since the website hinted there would be one.

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Hey Ive bee looking at the site and had a few questions for those of you who have gone

 

Some of the Clickable items on the haunted houses have a few pictures that come up with everything eles is that actually pictures from that house?

 

How would any of the houses compare to Demon Cantina from last year?(which I didnt find scary)

 

And is that Rat Run thing back this year?

 

Sorry if these are dumb questions but thanks!

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The only thing the old Run and new Run have in common is that neither have Eddie in it... but don't get me started on that.

 

The original's plot was a game show (If I remember correctly). The new Run's plot is that there is this secret underground place where visitors can torture and kill people for a price. You begin the house as a visitor looking to torture others, but unfortunately, you become the one being tortured in the end. Does that make sense? See Hostel

 

There are three types of scareactors in there. The people being tortured, the torturers themselves and then the... clean up crew? I can't think of the right word to call them, haha. They are the ones that clean up the body parts (woodchipper where you get wet)

 

Why they didn't make it like the origional Run, I don't know. But they have nothing in common other than the name.

 

BUT. You kind of have to look at this way... The houses aren't made for us loser theme park enthusiasts. The large majority of the guests who attend HHN could care less about what themes of the houses really are... they just want to get scared and see lots of gore. Which Run has.

 

No Rat Run this year.

and nothing like Demon Cantina this year, imo.

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