Yeah, after thinking about it and peeking at the reviews for last year's HHN, I've decided that I'm just not in love with this year like you guys are. I much preferred last year. I'd say 25 is on par with 23. Hopefully a second visit and getting to go through Insidious will change my mind. Am I completely alone? Or is everyone else pretty much in agreement that this is a return to form?
2013 was what made me take a year off. I was deeply disappointed. I don't think it's really accurate to compare houses based on the venues they were in... but generally, the only houses in 2013 I thought were worth anything were Evil Dead, AWIL and Cabin. Afterlife was the biggest joke of a house I've ever seen - my local carnival has done better. HAVOC, Resident Evil, and Walking Dead were bad. La Llorona was mediocre and a far cry from the Hollywood iteration. Walking Dead streets... well. That year did have a good Bill & Ted, at least, and I liked 20 Penny Circus.
This year has a very strong house lineup - arguably 4 superior houses (FvJ, BC, M&M, Insidious), 2 excellents (Asylum, AWIL), 2 decents (Purge, Run) and 1 outright stinker (WD). That's a really good lineup and comparable to 2011's unthinkably great lineup. Zones are also really comparable to that year, and the shows are better, to boot. (I'm in the minority of liking [though not loving] Bill and Ted this year.)
It isn't a complete return to form. The ops have gotten worse and worse and worse. The build-up to the event and presentation of elements was piss poor. There's a notable lack of "place" throughout the park, something we saw more in the Roddy years (and is especially apparent since so much of this year draws from 2007's Carnival of Carnage). And the Streets program, though improving, is still a shell of its former shelf (Unleashed notwithstanding).
There's a lot of great things happening, though. Actors *everywhere* in the streets, even if some of the zones are shallow. More actors in the houses, to the point where conga lines can actually be scary. An overall good park atmosphere. An icon show, a real icon in general, even if it's Jack! Actual capacity increases in the 9th house and Diagon! Better designed scares in most houses. Removal of obnoxious upsell "glow light" carts that ruin areas outside of zones.
It isn't back to the "glory days" yet, but this is a huge stride forward, and I'm happy to reward them where it's warranted.
No way liquor gets cut until there is a huge, public incident that makes national news. Universal will bow to pressure. I will note it didn't seem that the alcohol wasn't pushed as hard this year, and I was looking for it (this being my first event of legal age). Way fewer blood bag girls and pop-up bars, though that shift might have started last year, perhaps?