HHN 28 Attendees, Survey Says...

keishashadow

Proud Redhead...yes, I have some bananas!
Joined
Dec 30, 2004
It’s here!!! HHN is back. While there is an official thread here,

https://www.disboards.com/threads/official-2018-hhn-28-thread.3673632/

Those eagerly awaiting their turn would love to hear your take on things.

The following is an unofficial surgery, a cut & paste method if you will, to make it easy for those early attendees to share their opinions. T

Thank you in advance for paying it forward!



DAY/DATE ATTENDED



OVERALL CROWD IMPRESSION, indicate if express pass & wait times you experienced




HOUSES


1. Stranger Things


2. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero


3. Trick ‘r Treat


4. Slaughter Sinema


5. Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces


6. Scenes of Extinction aka SOX


7. Poltergeist


8. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers


9. Horror of Blumhouse (Happy Death Day & First Purge)


10. Scary Tales



SCARE ZONES


1. The Harvest


2. Vamp’ 85: New Years Eve


3. Twisted Tradition


4. Revenge of Chucky


5. Killer Klowns from Outerspace
 
Great Idea Janet...........


DAY/DATE ATTENDED

Opening night and Sunday 16th so far........



OVERALL CROWD IMPRESSION, indicate if express pass & wait times you experienced




HOUSES


1. Stranger Things

Sunday 16th.......At 6.15 regular line was 105 minutes before the house actually opened. We waited 15 minutes for Express Line.....when we came out line was 150 minutes. At 10pm regular line was 60 minutes.

House was somewhat decent, especially towards the end. But, a bit of a let down after the high expectations folks had for this one. Would not wait longer than 25 minutes for any house, and would have been annoyed if we had waited longer than we did for this one. Room for improvement, but if you haven't done HHN before you`ll probably love it. That seemed to be what we were hearing from folks.


2. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero

Haven`t done it yet.


3. Trick ‘r Treat

Sunday 16th.........lines for the houses at the rear of the park seem a lot less busy early on. Regular line was 30 minutes around 7pm. We spent longer walking than we did waiting. House was decent enough, and if you had seen the film you would probably enjoy it more. Good scare for me at the beginning when at the bottom of the staircase. I liked this one and would do it again.


4. Slaughter Sinema

Sunday 16th We walked straight on this ride when regular line was 45 minutes.

we really liked this house. Really liked it!!! Will have to see it again to decide if it is our overall favourite house.....yep, it is good. Lots of good scares for me in here and the theme could have been the overall theme for the event this year. Will happily do this one every night we go.


5. Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces

Opening night and Sunday 16th...........opening night was 60 minutes regular and we waited 20 but it felt longer with the heat of the night.....I didn't enjoy it as much first night, although it did have a few scares. Sunday night was SO much better.......loads of scares and so much fun. And this house has loads of Easter Eggs from previous events and some older rides. Up there with the best of them.


6. Scenes of Extinction aka SOX

Hated it. Dull as dishwater despite many people saying it was fabulous and akin to Dead Water last year........nope......plants aren't scary.....and the most ridiculous walk ever......will not do this house again. Once was enough. Incredibly dark in bits too.


7. Poltergeist

Opening night and Sunday 16th........loved this house. Opening night regular line was 75 minutes fairly early.....we waited 25 minutes. Sunday regular line was 60 minutes and we were on in 10 minutes. People were complaining the regular line was longer.
This house has atmosphere......good scares the second night and very true to the film.....also freezing cold!! Liked this one a lot.........


8. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Opening night and Sunday. Walked on first night with regular line 60 minutes.....didn't even stop in line......Sunday we waited maybe 15 minutes when regular line was 80 minutes.

This isn't the best house......it isn't even the best Halloween house.......but, lots of good scares and Michael is scary. You can recognize scenes from the movie, but they could have done so much more. Although we will do this house every night we go.


9. Horror of Blumhouse (Happy Death Day & First Purge)

Sunday 16th........walked straight on without stopping......regular line was 60 minutes.

I hate The Purge, find it boring and so not scary in any way. So this part was a dud for me. No scares at all. Happy Death Day was ok. We watched the film few weeks ago and it was ok too. Few decent jumps along the way, but no connection between both themes was confusing. Wouldn't go out of my way to do this one again.


10. Scary Tales

Haven`t done this one yet.



SCARE ZONES


1. The Harvest

Dull. Stilt walker characters were decent, but not scary.


2. Vamp’ 85: New Years Eve

Fabulous!!!!! Loved this one and we spent so much time in here both nights.........the most realistic Freddie Mercury since......Freddie Mercury......the music is fun and the show is excellent. Don`t miss this one..........SA are very interactive.........


3. Twisted Tradition

Second favourite scare zone........theme is excellent and well executed......SA are just fast enough to scare you good at times........and the lit up pumpkins are beautiful. In a macabre sort of way.


4. Revenge of Chucky

Dull.

5. Killer Klowns from Outerspace

Not sure the point of this one. Bit like the Alien one from previous year.


Crowds opening night were insane!!! Never in the time we have been to HHN have we seen an opening night as mobbed. And it was mobbed. Genuinely couldn't move in some places.......but we still had a blast despite the oppressive heat of the night which never seemed to ease.

Sunday night was certainly less crowded, but still so busy.

AOV opening night we didn't enjoy at all. Not as good as first year they appeared. Plus the Bill and Ted Stadium is my least favourite place in the park........so hot and airless and uncomfortable seating. It was marginally better Sunday night, but won`t watch it again.
 
Great Idea Janet...........


DAY/DATE ATTENDED

Opening night and Sunday 16th so far........



OVERALL CROWD IMPRESSION, indicate if express pass & wait times you experienced




HOUSES


1. Stranger Things

Sunday 16th.......At 6.15 regular line was 105 minutes before the house actually opened. We waited 15 minutes for Express Line.....when we came out line was 150 minutes. At 10pm regular line was 60 minutes.

House was somewhat decent, especially towards the end. But, a bit of a let down after the high expectations folks had for this one. Would not wait longer than 25 minutes for any house, and would have been annoyed if we had waited longer than we did for this one. Room for improvement, but if you haven't done HHN before you`ll probably love it. That seemed to be what we were hearing from folks.


2. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero

Haven`t done it yet.


3. Trick ‘r Treat

Sunday 16th.........lines for the houses at the rear of the park seem a lot less busy early on. Regular line was 30 minutes around 7pm. We spent longer walking than we did waiting. House was decent enough, and if you had seen the film you would probably enjoy it more. Good scare for me at the beginning when at the bottom of the staircase. I liked this one and would do it again.


4. Slaughter Sinema

Sunday 16th We walked straight on this ride when regular line was 45 minutes.

we really liked this house. Really liked it!!! Will have to see it again to decide if it is our overall favourite house.....yep, it is good. Lots of good scares for me in here and the theme could have been the overall theme for the event this year. Will happily do this one every night we go.


5. Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces

Opening night and Sunday 16th...........opening night was 60 minutes regular and we waited 20 but it felt longer with the heat of the night.....I didn't enjoy it as much first night, although it did have a few scares. Sunday night was SO much better.......loads of scares and so much fun. And this house has loads of Easter Eggs from previous events and some older rides. Up there with the best of them.


6. Scenes of Extinction aka SOX

Hated it. Dull as dishwater despite many people saying it was fabulous and akin to Dead Water last year........nope......plants aren't scary.....and the most ridiculous walk ever......will not do this house again. Once was enough. Incredibly dark in bits too.


7. Poltergeist

Opening night and Sunday 16th........loved this house. Opening night regular line was 75 minutes fairly early.....we waited 25 minutes. Sunday regular line was 60 minutes and we were on in 10 minutes. People were complaining the regular line was longer.
This house has atmosphere......good scares the second night and very true to the film.....also freezing cold!! Liked this one a lot.........


8. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Opening night and Sunday. Walked on first night with regular line 60 minutes.....didn't even stop in line......Sunday we waited maybe 15 minutes when regular line was 80 minutes.

This isn't the best house......it isn't even the best Halloween house.......but, lots of good scares and Michael is scary. You can recognize scenes from the movie, but they could have done so much more. Although we will do this house every night we go.


9. Horror of Blumhouse (Happy Death Day & First Purge)

Sunday 16th........walked straight on without stopping......regular line was 60 minutes.

I hate The Purge, find it boring and so not scary in any way. So this part was a dud for me. No scares at all. Happy Death Day was ok. We watched the film few weeks ago and it was ok too. Few decent jumps along the way, but no connection between both themes was confusing. Wouldn't go out of my way to do this one again.


10. Scary Tales

Haven`t done this one yet.



SCARE ZONES


1. The Harvest

Dull. Stilt walker characters were decent, but not scary.


2. Vamp’ 85: New Years Eve

Fabulous!!!!! Loved this one and we spent so much time in here both nights.........the most realistic Freddie Mercury since......Freddie Mercury......the music is fun and the show is excellent. Don`t miss this one..........SA are very interactive.........


3. Twisted Tradition

Second favourite scare zone........theme is excellent and well executed......SA are just fast enough to scare you good at times........and the lit up pumpkins are beautiful. In a macabre sort of way.


4. Revenge of Chucky

Dull.

5. Killer Klowns from Outerspace

Not sure the point of this one. Bit like the Alien one from previous year.


Crowds opening night were insane!!! Never in the time we have been to HHN have we seen an opening night as mobbed. And it was mobbed. Genuinely couldn't move in some places.......but we still had a blast despite the oppressive heat of the night which never seemed to ease.

Sunday night was certainly less crowded, but still so busy.

AOV opening night we didn't enjoy at all. Not as good as first year they appeared. Plus the Bill and Ted Stadium is my least favourite place in the park........so hot and airless and uncomfortable seating. It was marginally better Sunday night, but won`t watch it again.

I was here the same night and pretty much agree with all of this. My only different opinion was all scare zones were pretty bad except for the music in Vamp85. They all felt like someone forgot about them until the last minute.
 
DAY/DATE ATTENDED

Sep 14th-16th

OVERALL CROWD IMPRESSION, indicate if express pass & wait times you experienced

No Ep the 14th & 16th, had EP on the 15th

14th-Had much longer lines than any other year we've gone for opening night (the last 2 years). We were in the AP holding area, and weren't super close to the front because we tried to stay in the shade but when we got out of line Slaughter Sinema was already a 20 min wait. Usually that's a walk on but we waited more like 45 mins, and by then the event was open and everything had a big line. Since we knew we were coming back with EP we just walked around doing some shorter wait houses like Seeds of Extinction (10 mins), and Scary Tales (45 mins) before going to AOV. We walked around a bit afterwards, but since we flew in that morning we didn't stay much longer.

15th-There were pretty long lines this night too. We didn't get there till around 9 pm, and met up with some friends who also hadn't done any of the houses yet. We both had EP. We got 7 houses done (and could've done them all we just didn't want to backtrack & wasn't interested in doing Seeds of Extinction again). We did Stranger Things first the wait was around 130 mins, and it didn't feel like we waited longer than 25-30 mins. Carnival Graveyard was maybe 60 mins or so? We were breezing through the line, but then something happened when we were a little ways from the entrance and they shut down for awhile. We waited maybe 45 mins total (the house was maybe only down 25-30 mins), and then we got to go through. They gave us all an EP that was good any day of the event because of it. We got to Poltergeist and the line said 60 mins, when we got into the EP line there was a guy telling everyone "from this point it's 45 mins". We weren't going to wait almost as long as the regular line with EP so we decided we'd use our extra EP when we came back tomorrow so we didn't have to backtrack, and we'd redo Scary Tales then too.

Blumhouse and Dead Exposure were both under 60 mins, and I'd say we waited maybe 20 mins for Blumhouse and like 10 mins for Dead Exposure. Trick R Treat was around 25-30 mins when we got in line, and aside from the walking (that queue is always so long) we pretty much walked right in. Halloween 4 we got to towards the end of the night and it was about a 15 min wait for us (I don't remember the posted wait).

16th-The 16th was definitely calmer than the other days with lower wait times. It also rained for awhile that night, and I'm sure some people benefited from that in line but since it was pouring we went inside. We came to the event around 9:30 pm. Used our EP from the other night for Poltergeist. I think the posted wait was around 45-60 mins, but we waited like 10 mins. We waited in line for Scary Tales next, the wait and posted time were about 35 minutes. The only other house I wanted to redo when the line was shorter was Slaughter Sinema. We got in the line when it said 15 mins, and when we were near the door something happened again, and they shut the house down for awhile. This time they communicated nothing with the people waiting in line, in fact they didn't even mention it and there was no one working there anywhere we could see. We probably waited 30-40 mins for it to re-open.

HOUSES


1. Stranger Things-I wasn't super excited to watch this show when it came out but we watched the first season for the event, and I was surprised how much we liked it. I thought the house was really cool, and they did a great job with the locations. But this wasn't my favorite house (If I were ranking them I'd put this closer to the middle). I definitely would not have waited in the regular line for this house.


2. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero-I liked that this one had a backstory beforehand, and zombies are pretty scary usually. But I didn't really see where the backstory came into play in the house unless I was missing something. Which was possible with all the strobe lights and fog. I didn't think it was the worst, but I wasn't crazy about it because my lasting impression was how irritated our eyes were when we came out.


3. Trick ‘r Treat-I liked this house, I think I would've gone through more than once if we were going back again. The line was short enough, but walking that queue when you're feet are hurting is not a good time. I think I may have liked it better as a scarezone, but it worked as a house too.


4. Slaughter Sinema-This was my absolute favorite house! (Even though we got stuck in line for longer than we wanted to twice). I insisted on going every night we went, and I'd go through again if I could. When we got stuck in line one time we got to watch all the trailers for the B movies they created, and I thought they were really funny. We noticed a lot of little things in the house. The first time we went through there were 2 really good scares that definitely got my friend and I. I thought creating all those B movies was really creative, and I really liked everything they did with this house.


5. Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces-I liked this one, but it wasn't my favorite. I would've gone through again if we were going back. I think our in line experience being so long kind of put a damper on things before we even got in it, but other than that I did like it.


6. Scenes of Extinction aka SOX-This was probably my least favorite house. I didn't think it was scary, and I thought the story was kind of silly.


7. Poltergeist-We really loved Poltergeist (and it was great if you were sweaty :rotfl:). I wish we had gone through it more than once, but it always had a long line. To be honest I like the movie, but I don't love it. However this house was better than the movie even! Really impressive, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone else.


8. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers-Out of all the movies represented this year, this and the First Purge are the only ones I haven't seen. I felt like the Halloween 4 house still made sense without seeing it. I'm not a big fan of the Halloween movies, but I liked this one better than I thought I would.


9. Horror of Blumhouse (Happy Death Day & First Purge)-I wasn't crazy about the idea for this house because Happy Death Day didn't strike me as a horror movie, and I've never seen the First Purge (seen the first 2, wasn't too impressed). But I actually thought the Happy Death Day portion was well done and I liked it. The First Purge half was terrible though. Maybe I was missing something because I haven't seen the movie, but I just felt like I wasn't getting it? Half naked guys kept jumping out at us, and I didn't really feel like I grasped the plot of that movie from that. If that had been a house on it's own I'd say it would the worst, but the Happy Death Day portion redeemed it a little.


10. Scary Tales-We also really liked this house. After the first time we went through I knew we'd have to go back through because I missed some scares. Although some of them got my boyfriend good. The second time we went through when we walked into the first room the people in front of us looked up and their jaws just dropped. I have to agree it was a pretty impressive house. I liked the idea of the messed up fairytales from the start, but I did really like how they executed it.



SCARE ZONES


1. The Harvest-I think this was the one at the front. (I kept getting the names for this and Twisted Tradition confused because honestly the theme seems kind of similar to me). This was my least favorite scare zone. I called it the "paper people scare zone" because of the shredded paper looking guys :rotfl:


2. Vamp’ 85: New Years Eve-This one was a lot of fun. Tons of scare actors and very elaborately done. I was most looking forward to this one, but I'd have to say it was only my second favorite.


3. Twisted Tradition-I'll always like the pumpkins in the trees, although I think this scare zone may have been made exclusively so they could do that again. But I liked it better than I thought I would. There were some cool monsters in there.


4. Revenge of Chucky-I wasn't too impressed with this scare zone. I know there was an area where Chucky came out to insult people, but of all the times we walked through the scare zone (like 3-4 times on 3 different nights) this was never going on, and we felt weird standing around in the scare zone to see if it would happen soon.


5. Killer Klowns from Outerspace-I loved this scare zone! We had just watched the movie 2 days beforehand to prepare for the event so maybe that's why but I really liked the movie. I thought it was a lot of fun. I liked everything about the scare zone from the music, to the lighting, to the costumes etc. They had the shadow puppets projected on the buildings, the balloon dog from the movie, and the last day we noticed the ice cream truck guys and the girl being attacked by the smaller clown head which I hadn't seen earlier. All the clowns were fun to get pictures with, and they were really in character. A few would stand outside the storefront and hide their weapona like they were waiting for someone to come to the door which I thought was a nice touch.

Oh also just wanted to add in 4 more categories:

Merch-I thought they had so much more merch than they've had in years past. It seemed like they had something for every house. I ended up spending a lot on merch. Got the Stranger Things sweatshirt (it's cute, but it's a little tighter around the bottom than I would've thought since it seemed like a unisex size and I think it fits more like a womens size), the Killer Klowns tee, the Trick R Treat leggings (those fit better than I thought because I wasn't sure about sizing but they said I could exchange them if they didn't fit), and the Scary Tales tank (although I didn't realize there was a slit in the back until after I put it on).

Academy of Villains-I really liked the show, and would've seen it again but we didn't have time to the second night, and my boyfriend wasn't too crazy about it so we skipped it the third night too. We had the AP holder seats the first night at the 8pm showing, but I didn't think they were the greatest seats. I really love watching people dance so I think that might be part of why I liked it. I liked the theme, I thought the lead girl was a really good dancer, and I think some of the stunts were pretty impressive.

Chainsaw zones-I felt like there were less people out in these than usual. I'm also not sure entirely what the theme of their costumes were since we saw a few different types (maybe they weren't all supposed to be the same thing). In the area near Simpsons, one did come up to my friend and kind of air boop her nose (didn't touch her just kind of poked the air in front and made a noise) which was pretty hilarious.

Snacks-We didn't try any snacks this year, and most of them didn't appeal to me especially because it was hot and I was permanently covered in a layer of sweat so only water sounded good but the pizza fries and waffle on a stick sounded interesting.
 
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Thanks! Great reviews to help in planning

Putting on tin foil hat :) Wondering if U is doing the disney trick of crowd control of overstating wait times to possibly discourage more guests/steer to houses with lower wait times posted?
 
Now that we are back and somewhat caught up on sleep...

DAY/DATE ATTENDED

My daughter (DD15) and got into Orlando around 7:30p Thursday Sept 20. We attended the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd with ROF pass, and splurged for EP on the 23rd mostly because I'd said we could do a tour UtH and I procrastinated too long and it sold out.



OVERALL CROWD IMPRESSION, indicate if express pass & wait times you experienced
Thursday late-we got to park at around 10:30 (after picking up rental car, getting something to eat and quick grocery stop and checking into condo-we stayed at Marriott Vacation club resort Harbour Lake.
Thursday crowds when we got there were definitely lighter than the other nights, and the posted times this night were less in the 3 houses than we waited. Friday we did 5 houses and most wait times less than posted, did Stay n Scream from Finnegans, stayed til close to 1 am, with Saturday and Sunday wait times very close to what was posted. Sunday also was a Stay n Scream and lasted til around 12:30. We could have done every house, plus repeats (and did do repeats on 3 houses) with the EP, rode Mummy a couple times. Wait times definitely longer than Friday and Thursday.

Felt the scareactors were good Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but Saturday-whether due to crowds (or due to our fatigue lol) just didn't get alot of scares or interaction in zones or houses.

Friday without EP we did 6 houses, the AoV show, Gringotts and Mummy . We probably could have done all 10 Friday but we really took our time, enjoyed time in most of the scare zones, and shopped quite a bit as well. With a better plan and some discipline & with an eye to wait times 10 houses was likely doable.

HOUSES


1. Stranger Things-Loved this house, incredible detail. Felt like really stepping into this world. Couple decent scares, and ranks about 5 in our favorite-more for the detail and immersion than scares. Did Stay n Scream at Finnegans. Got to Finnegans around 3:30, sat to eat around 4, and done and in back of first corral around 5:10ish. Released at 5:38 and done through house at 6:35 ish. Worth the wait that early. This was only time we got to do this house.


2. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero-Would be my number 2 house (and DD #1), Did this house T/F and Sunday x2 (once with EP). So much fun! Strobes didn't bother us, and I got different scares each time we went through. Got my DD good each time and we came out laughing at ourselves from screaming every time.


3. Trick ‘r Treat-did twice, thursday and Sunday (Sunday with express). Good theming, but scares definitely switched up a bit the second time. Fun. Rank around 8


4. Slaughter Sinema-did this 2 x (Friday and Sunday with EP). Friday we did while still light, highly highly recommend waiting until dark so you can watch the movie clips. While I enjoyed it Friday, it was so good Sunday that it almost moved into top 5 for me Sunday (but is 6th). Good scares, and loved the cheesy B movie theme.


5. Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces-did 3x ( Friday, Saturday, Sunday with EP) This is my number 1 house!! I Loved it-so many great scares, and the mirrors part...let's just say they got me in different ways each time. I did get a bit annoyed Saturday as I fell I missed some better scares as the TM's were constantly waving you through - almost made me feel I had to breathe down neck of people in front and RUN to catch up if heaven forbid! You stopped for a millisecond at a scare. Definitely let GS know about that.


6. Seeds of Extinction aka SOX-did twice-once Saturday with higher than posted wait (and obnoxious drunk behind us in line) and Sunday with EP. Was OK. Probably around around rank 7. This line also had a fog machine that was putting out huge heavy clouds of fog-and when the line wouldn't move much most people around us would complain and cough. It was waaaaayyy too heavy fog for how slow the line moved (also a GS issue)


7. Poltergeist-Did this Sunday twice, once straight from Finnegan stay n scream, once with EP. So good. So much detail. Could go through 4 or 5 times I'd bet and notice new things each time. Rank #3. Good effects in parts too.


8. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Did Friday-we had some good scares but not our favorite house. Rank 9. Not worth a 75 minute wait , and we didn't even want to do it again on Sunday with EP.


9. Horror of Blumhouse (Happy Death Day & First Purge) Did Friday, low wait time one and done. Had no desire to repeat even with EP on Sunday.


10. Scary Tales-Did Thursday and Sunday x2 (once with EP). Loved this house. Definitely has a great surprise. It can be all be in the timing of the scares. So much detail and use of effects. Number 4 rank.

It is really hard to rank the top 4 or 5 of our houses we liked the most. It seriously could totally all switch around as the they are just sooo good.


SCARE ZONES


1. The Harvest-cool effects, not many scares


2. Vamp’ 85: New Years Eve-loved this zone and spent time here each night. Got pics with a few "famous" vamps. DD was almost giddy walking through this zone each night she liked it so much-and anyone who's lived through raising a teen girl knows how hard it is to get the happy/giddy reaction.


3. Twisted Tradition-also very cool effects, a few good scares.


4. Revenge of Chucky-couple nights we got some really great interaction here. Also one of DDs favorite zones.


5. Killer Klowns from Outerspace-I loved this zone simply for the attention to detail, and if you've seen the movie and appreciate the so bad its almost good cheesy B movie-well you will love it too.

AoV-we enjoyed the show-saw the 8 o'clock show on Friday-one of the last to go in just to right side of middle all way up in back-good spot to see all the effects, and had the railing to lean against so much more comfortable seating. It just didn't work out to see again.
Snacks-tried the pizza fries which we enjoyed. Too full from dinner and too hot to eat much else unfortunately
Merch-got both the zone and house shirt, a mug, the specialty drink cup (drinks were just OK).

Really great times!
 
I know my report on HHN is late, but hopefully there are some of you who have been on the fence about attending HHN who will read this and attend in 2019.

To those who attended this year hope this brings the memories back of the fun you had.

This was my third year attending HHN and I will have to say if you attend HHN once you will be hooked and want to come back again.

I love all things Halloween and having all the movie quality Houses and Scare Zones in one place is fantastic.

A special thank you to all the Scareactors who worked so hard to make sure all of us who attended had such a great time. Your time and efforts were very much appreciated.

My home away from home when vacationing at Universal is Portofino Bay. It is such a beautiful Resort. My stay there for HHN was fantastic as always. The Staff there are very welcoming and kind. Thanks so much for making my stay so special.

TO BUY or not to Buy EXPRESS PASSES

I think it comes down to.

1. WHEN YOU ATTEND- Attending during the week on Wednesday, Thursday evenings are less crowded then Friday and Saturday. That being said I watched a sea of humanity pouring in from the garage area one Wednesday evening while I was at CityWalk.

2. IF YOU HAVE A DAY TICKET AND YOU ARE AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS- You can go to a designated Stay and Scream area once the parks closes at 5 pm on HHN nights. You must have your HHN ticket or Pass with you to do this. You will be released from the Stay and Scream areas before the people who are waiting outside the gates get in. This will give you a jump on the houses closest to the Stay and Scream area you are in.

3. WHETHER THE COST OF THE EXPRESS PASS FITS YOUR BUDGET- Some choose not to purchase Express as they will be attending HHN on multiple nights and feel it’s not important. You can take a wait and see approach on the nights you attend. If crowds are huge you can purchase the Express once inside.


I would not attend HHN without Express. I’am older and can’t tolerate standing in line for long periods of time. So it is very helpful to me.


IF YOU HAVE A LIMITED TIME FOR YOUR HHN VISIT

Do a Public RIP TOUR or a Private RIP TOUR. Prices vary for these tours according to how early in the event you attend and the day of the week it is offered on.

Public RIP Tour-
You will have a tour Director that will take you to the front of the line of all the houses one time and on selected rides for the evening. You will get snacks, water and soda at La bamba Cafe. You will also get a tour lanyard and stops at air conditioned lounges for you to purchase cocktails during the tour. There is typically no more then 10-11 people on this tour. The tour last about 4 hours. There are discounts for passholders.

Private VIP Tour-
This Tour is purchased outright by someone and they help plan the tour along with the tour director for the evening. You are invited to buy into the tour by the person who bought it. The cost of the tour is divided with all participants (including the purchaser) and is paid to the person who booked the tour. There can be no more then 10 - 11. The tour director takes you to the front of the line of all the haunted houses multiple times and on rides that have been decided on by the group. You will get snacks, water and soda at Cafe La bamba. You will also receive tour lanyard and stop at air conditioned lounges during the tour to purchase cocktails. Tour can last up to 5 hours. You do get a passholder discount on the purchase of the tour.

You can return to Cafe La bamba during the evening to cool off and enjoy snacks as much as you want during either tour. Both tours also take you through the Scare Zones.


For the first time this year there were 1/2 RIP Tours offered. These tours have a tour director taking you to the front of the line of 5 houses only once and the cost was very reasonable. For someone who is on a tight budget and has time constraints this might be an option also.


These Tour options are a fantastic way to see All the houses in one night. The cost is very affordable.


Unmasking the Horror Tour-
For the true haunted house fan who wants to see select haunted houses during the day. It really gives you an artistic appreciation of what went into creating the houses when you are able to see everything with the lights on.

There is a Morning Tour option that will get you into 3 selected haunted houses and a Afternoon Tour option that will take you into 3 selected haunted houses.

I do the morning and afternoon tour and see 6 Haunted houses. You will have a tour director who will give the tour group a great background on the all the houses you visit. Worth every penny.

Bring your camera. You are allowed to take pictures in areas of the houses. Tour director will let your know where.


DAY/ATTENDED

9-30 to 10-11


OVERALL CROWD IMPRESSION, Indicate if Express Pass and wait times you Experienced.

I had the Frequent Fear Plus, Plus Express Pass.

Will say that it seems that every year I have attended and again this is only year three for me , it has definitely been more crowded.

I knew when I heard The Stranger Things House was on the list that it was going to up the crowd level as this Netflix show has fans both young and old and I’am one of them.

I attended the Q & A event on 9-30 with 3 of the creators that are responsible for the Haunted Houses at HHN. This was a nice offering for Universal Passholders holders attending HHN. I really enjoyed it. Was nice to get to hear the creators description of bringing their ideas for the houses to life.


HOUSES


1. STRANGERS THINGS - As most of you recall this was by far the busiest house. Even with Express Pass in the evening you could be looking at time 20-30 minute wait times. Friday and Saturday crowds were increased for sure.


One evening when I was getting ready to leave and I walked in with no wait with my Express Pass about 11 pm. That was a nice surprise.

I really liked this house. All the main characters were well represented in the house as well as major scenes from the series. I had wondered how they would handle the demogorgan and they did a great job. The actors they picked for the characters were fantastic.

This was one of the houses that was on the Unmasking the Horror Tour. Appreciating all the artistry that went into creating this house was amazing.

There was a blue button by the elevator that when pushed caused the legs to move in the elevator.

Had some nice scares by the Demogorgan.

I’am a fan of this show and this house was great.

Was my favorite house. 10 out of 10.

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Continued

2. Dead Exposure : Patient Zero- I’am not a big fan of the strobe lights in any house. Getting the story on this house during Unmasking the Horror Tour helped understand the concept. The initial fog mist when you entered was an interesting concept. Which if I remember correctly was some sort of decontamination spray.

This house was not on the Unmasking the Horror Tour.

I rated this house 5 out of 10.



3. TRICK ‘r TREAT-

This was a very good house. I went through it about 4 times. Always had good scares. Really liked the animatronic werewolf in the forest scene.

In the area where the puking boy scene was a little Sam popped out from behind the billowing ghost sheets and got me good.

This was on the Unmasking the Horror Tour.

This was my second favorite house. 9 out of 10.



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4. SLAUGHTER SINEMA

I enjoyed this house. I liked the outside movie trailers that were playing. It helped to pass the time. This house had some good unexpected scares.

Even with Express Pass on the nights I went this house was a 20 to 25 minutes wait.
This house was not on the Unmasking the Horror Tour.

I would rate this house 6 out of 10.

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7. Poltergeist- This House was on the Unmasking the Horror Tour. The UMH tour director pointed out some things to look for in the house. Like the meat that was moving on the counter in the kitchen. I would have never picked up on that. Not many scares.

Rated it 4 out of 10.

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8. HALLOWEEN 4- My first time through this house I think I got every Mikey Scare to be had. Was not expecting many of them. Nicely done.

Rated this house 7 out of 10

9. HORROR OF BLUMEHOUSE- I only went through this house once. Nothing really stood out to me.

I rated it 1 out of 10

10. SCARY TALES- I liked this house. At the entrance the flying witch was a nice surprise to greet you into the fairytale land. There were some nice scares with the witches and some unexpected characters popped out.

This house was on the Unmasking the Horror Tour.

I rated this house 8 out of 10.

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2. VAMP’ 85: New Years Eve- This was a very lively Scare Zone. The actors really appeared to be having fun with the crowd. Lots of vampire celebrities walking around...Prince, Run DMC, Madonna etc. The actors were happy to pose with those who wanted pictures.

This was a Scare Zone you could sit and be entertained by the actors and the stage show.

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3. TWISTED TRADITION - This was a beautiful Scare Zone. Hundreds of pumpkins lit up in the trees were really pretty. This was also the same area as the Trick ‘r Treat Scare Zone last year and it also had the pumpkins in the trees. Scareactors were great.

Visually stunning.



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4. REVENGE OF CHUCKY

This was a fun Scare Zone. As most of you remember if you were to close to the guy getting his intestines pulled out you were squirted with water unexpectedly.

Walking actors were kind enough to stop and pose for pictures.

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5. Killer Klowns from Outerspace- I did not take pictures in this Zone. Klowns costumes were well done and the actors stopped to take pictures with people.

This was a small Scare Zone. Nice walk through.


There was a nice selection of merchandise this year. I bought a lot of Stanger Things merch for all fans in my family.

This was a really nice presentation by Universal and all the house creators this year. Thank you for all your creative energy and for another great HHN.

To the scareactors thank you for your dedication and all your hard work. You bring HHN to life.

A special thanks to keishashadow for always getting the HHN sticky up and running for all us HHN fans to get our up to date fix on all things HHN.

A special thank you to Mac who is always so helpful to everyone coming to the Universal side of the boards for help on all things HHN. She is responsible for addicting many many fans of HHN including myself.

A special thanks to Schumigirl and all her trip reports and pictures that help to spread the love of Universal Orlando and HHN to all.

Looking forward to HHN 29.






 
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Thanks to all who took the time to share their thoughts on this year’s HHN.

It was fun to just go thru the thread again after two months have passed since we enjoyed it. Best effort in years IMO.

Special thanks to Robbie for all the pictures
 

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