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Halloween Horror Nights 28 General Discussion

Sorry for the double post, but I do find it interesting how at HHN it is acceptable to have such long reset times for scares...There are some elements that you wont see until your 3rd or 4th walkthrough because they take so long to reset/sound effects to finish/strobe to shut off

I also find it interesting that many of the houses suffer from a "hallway, scene, scare, hallway, scene, scare, etc" type of set up this year...quite forumlaic

I think that's why I find Seeds so fascinating and amazing and even Scarecrow last year...They didn't necessarily feel like the run of the mill HHN houses to me

I really hate that and it makes me sad. I get to go multiple times but i legitimately get sad and feel bad when a friend of family member goes and they miss all the scares.
I feel bad because they dont get to see what i have been talking about for days before going, and i feel bad because it feels like in a way i let them down by hyping the event or because they went in a house and only saw two scares.
sometimes i honestly felt embarrassed for hyping up a house so much and then people go and they are like.... "well, those sets were....nice.... and the one demon that came at us was scary..."
that happened in Krampus, made me feel so awkward i will never forget it. I dont know if it was cast change or what was going on but we only saw 3, 4 scares.

It also depresses me to see people that paid so much for express and they paid so much for one of those private tours and i see those people enter in front of me and then sometimes even they dont see the scares. Ive done house runs in front of the private tour people or express people and they see maybe, 3 or 4 scares? I personally dont care having to go back to visit the houses, but it just feels really bad. I know the amount of people make it impossible to pulse the lines. I know the actors are doing the best they can, i know they have to keep resetting and wait for the next group,

but with an event as expensive as HHN and with the amount of money it brings in, Im still baffled that they haven't found a way to be more innovative in their scares. HHN is still using a scare system that is 20 years old. I mean, think about it, have the scares changed in 20 years? I know the sets have, the sound system has changed, the lighting has changed, the special effects have definitely changed

but the boo hole system.... is it not the same it has been for decades now?

Thats one thing i love about all the halloween houses over the years, Michael Myers was rather quick, i never had a disappointing run on a halloween house, (except for a cast change) I dont know if the guys in those houses are really quick or if their set up is easy to reset, but ive never had a bad run as far as the actors go.

Thank God Poltergeist has those giant puppets and special effects, that's another house that will show people something every time.
cant say the same for trick r treat. im really really happy we got to see trick r treat as a zone first, the house is getting disappointing. I've done it 4 times and every time ive missed stuff,

Too late.

It is what it is. There’s a formula, of course, but it has the same casting, operational, marketing, and design issues that it’s had for nearly a decade.

The one thing the event needs is probably the one thing the event won’t get for a long time - outside blood. Mike and Patrick do a fine job, and they engage well with fans, but Mike has only ever worked at Universal. His team has been at Universal (various Uni parks), but mostly Orlando for a decade. And, when you realize that Mike was apprentice to Roddy, who was apprentice to Timon, who started the event, you start to understand why Universal always feels a bit behind the gun on design. All they really know is how Orlando does it.

If you compare that to how the various California haunts rotate lead designers around (Knotts to Queen Mary’s, etc), and how cutting edge a lot of regional haunts are (Netherworld), the design aspects of the event start drifting from fine and edging to disappointing.


I don't think its the blood issue.

I think its constraints placed from how early they are allowed to utilize spaces, amount of dedicated budget for design, and the temporariness of structures. The Darkness (St Louis) can afford to be cutting edge with moving platforms and motion bases in their houses because the buildings are only used for their haunted house. Netherworld can spend all year adding effects into their spaces which HHN does not have the time and ability to necessarily do. HHN can't do that because of the temporariness of the sound stages which get used for other things during the year.

Even by changing a lead designer doesn't necessarily mean a event will be better.

wasn't 2012 when we got new people from Hollywood? I recall reading about how that's when the two HHN events kind of merged and we had some new people working on our HHN, (As well as people that design the rides helping in the designing of the houses? )
Im sure Legacy knows this a lot better than what i am trying to say, im sure im butchering the story lol. but I distinctively recall a lot of the complaining (on other hhn sites) of the lack of quality of 2012 due to the new people.
a lot of people can regard 2012 as one of the worst years we have had (and maybe 2013 as well) and how a lot of people hated the houses in 2012, and how that was the same time we got new people working on the houses.
I mean, if that's wrong then sorry for bringing it up, but i remember the drama about it.

I think they need to reevaluate the feasibility of a two park event. If the zones are suffering, if the event as a whole (even if this is one of the best years in recent memory) coming up close to suffering, they need to expand the event and utilize all possible space. Spreading crowds between two parks can alieveate a lot of concerns.

Islands of fear and HHN could even be billed as two separate events, and they can use the Potter ticketing tactic to get people to pay more for the tickets.


the biggest reason to not ever use Islands is the size of that park. everyone always brings up how the HHN crowds cant fit in islands, the park cant handle that much people

As well as not being able to use Dr Seuss and Potter and marvel areas. so Islands is really really not ever going to be used for those reasons
 
wasn't 2012 when we got new people from Hollywood? I recall reading about how that's when the two HHN events kind of merged and we had some new people working on our HHN, (As well as people that design the rides helping in the designing of the houses? )
Im sure Legacy knows this a lot better than what i am trying to say, im sure im butchering the story lol. but I distinctively recall a lot of the complaining (on other hhn sites) of the lack of quality of 2012 due to the new people.
a lot of people can regard 2012 as one of the worst years we have had (and maybe 2013 as well) and how a lot of people hated the houses in 2012, and how that was the same time we got new people working on the houses.
I mean, if that's wrong then sorry for bringing it up, but i remember the drama about it.

the biggest reason to not ever use Islands is the size of that park. everyone always brings up how the HHN crowds cant fit in islands, the park cant handle that much people

As well as not being able to use Dr Seuss and Potter and marvel areas. so Islands is really really not ever going to be used for those reasons
They can use Marvel, just not Marvel's characters. And they've never asked if they could use Potter (but they had permission to develop a HHN show for it). Seuss is the only "off-limits" area, and they always succeeded in making that area legitimately creepy with nothing in it.

And 2012 had new people designing specific things, but it was more the first year of Patrick as the lead. It also suffered from a drastic structure change midway through development (it was originally under development as a "two-park" event because "22" and ten year anniversary of Islands of Fear. That shifted in March/April, which is a huge operational adjustment.

Ironically, 22 was probably one of the more creative years. A lot of people trash it because it started TWD and had no theme, but it has some stuff HHN should probably revisit (Street experiences instead of zones chief among them).
 
They can use Marvel, just not Marvel's characters. And they've never asked if they could use Potter (but they had permission to develop a HHN show for it). Seuss is the only "off-limits" area, and they always succeeded in making that area legitimately creepy with nothing in it.

And 2012 had new people designing specific things, but it was more the first year of Patrick as the lead. It also suffered from a drastic structure change midway through development (it was originally under development as a "two-park" event because "22" and ten year anniversary of Islands of Fear. That shifted in March/April, which is a huge operational adjustment.

Ironically, 22 was probably one of the more creative years. A lot of people trash it because it started TWD and had no theme, but it has some stuff HHN should probably revisit (Street experiences instead of zones chief among them).

Let me guess, was that when TWD et al. was forced on them?

Great to hear about the drop clown. (Wow, I spelled it "here". Oops.)
 
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I think they need to reevaluate the feasibility of a two park event. If the zones are suffering, if the event as a whole (even if this is one of the best years in recent memory) coming up close to suffering, they need to expand the event and utilize all possible space. Spreading crowds between two parks can alieveate a lot of concerns.

Islands of fear and HHN could even be billed as two separate events, and they can use the Potter ticketing tactic to get people to pay more for the tickets.
The problem is, IOA is even worse when it comes to handeling crowds...I'm not sure what the answer is really

On the subject of competing haunts, is it true that HoS has fallen off in recent years?
It has...Due to Blackstone's ineptness and general indifference by executives...I'm surprised they even bother at this point...Just start Christmastown in October
 
They can use Marvel, just not Marvel's characters. And they've never asked if they could use Potter (but they had permission to develop a HHN show for it). Seuss is the only "off-limits" area, and they always succeeded in making that area legitimately creepy with nothing in it.

And 2012 had new people designing specific things, but it was more the first year of Patrick as the lead. It also suffered from a drastic structure change midway through development (it was originally under development as a "two-park" event because "22" and ten year anniversary of Islands of Fear. That shifted in March/April, which is a huge operational adjustment.

Ironically, 22 was probably one of the more creative years. A lot of people trash it because it started TWD and had no theme, but it has some stuff HHN should probably revisit (Street experiences instead of zones chief among them).

Thank you, I knew you would know about this, now i am more informed about it lol, Im glad you said it better,

Although I dont think the street hordes were that liked, I cant remember anyone loving them (Even the actors, I remember a couple of actors that really didn't like having to change streets so often) I cant say i remember anyone liking that, people missed proper sets and a lot of people complained of missing a specific horde because they kept moving.
 
I acknowledge 21 (2011).

I think HHN suffers from recency bias for a lot of people. Next year, unless they pull off a perfect event, will not be as well received as this year only because so many people like this year. Then 30 will be huge, because 1) it’s an anniversary year and 2) 2019 will be a “down” year.

From the outside (where I sit), this actually isn’t a strong year. The praise isn’t there. Glancing at social media, 3 zones and about 7 houses are non-existent. The conversation is about Stranger Things, Poltergeist, occasionally Trick R Treat, Vamp and Klowns. Everything else rarely gets mentioned. That’s... not great.
Literally no houses are on the level of Scarecrow from last year, either. The houses this year are for the most part "solid" (with the exception of Blumhouse and Halloween), but none of them are what I would consider "Great". Poltergeist is the closest that gets to great, but I still personally think it's just at the "really good" level.

Nothing is overly special about the zones imo. Actually, I personally feel like Chucky is probably the most well-rounded and it doesn't seem to be getting recognized as much. It has a good dose of scares throughout, but also some comedy to take in.

I feel like people are most CERTAINLY over-hyping this year since we are currently living through it.
 
I think they need to reevaluate the feasibility of a two park event. If the zones are suffering, if the event as a whole (even if this is one of the best years in recent memory) coming up close to suffering, they need to expand the event and utilize all possible space. Spreading crowds between two parks can alieveate a lot of concerns.

Islands of fear and HHN could even be billed as two separate events, and they can use the Potter ticketing tactic to get people to pay more for the tickets.

It’s not suffering not sure where this is coming from.
 
It’s not suffering not sure where this is coming from.

Lines and Scarezones and congestion is where I see a lot of complaints, and personally while HHN definitely has the best mazes in the park haunt industry it seems, The in-park atmosphere is definitely lacking compared to other haunts, and I think more care needs to be given to the scarezones and overall atmosphere, but as far as I am aware, The type of Scarezone layouts I'm looking for are simply not possible due how crowded the event is.

So looking towards the future, this can be an argument for bringing back two parks and allowing them to do some truly fantastic stuff with the SZ's.

Also dispersing the total audience across two parks would do wonders for some of the lines.
 
Lines and Scarezones and congestion is where I see a lot of complaints, and personally while HHN definitely has the best mazes in the park haunt industry it seems, The in-park atmosphere is definitely lacking compared to other haunts, and I think more care needs to be given to the scarezones and overall atmosphere, but as far as I am aware, The type of Scarezone layouts I'm looking for are simply not possible due how crowded the event is.

So looking towards the future, this can be an argument for bringing back two parks and allowing them to do some truly fantastic stuff with the SZ's.

Also dispersing the total audience across two parks would do wonders for some of the lines.
Field of Screams was absolutely phenomenal back in the day...I don't know how possible it is to walk across these days though...It might be an exit and re-enter type thing
 
I think IOA is ideal for Scarezones scares and atmosphere but the studios has the infrastructure for the houses.

However, I don't think the event will ever make its way back to IOA simply due to the fact that Suess, Marvel and Potter will probably not allow a scare zone in their lands and unfortunately these are the three lands w/ direct access to the sound stages and connecting the parks. Maybe if Toon Lagoon or JP were next to the sound stages we would see the even cross both parks but I just don't see it happening again unfortunately.
 
I think IOA is ideal for Scarezones scares and atmosphere but the studios has the infrastructure for the houses.

However, I don't think the event will ever make its way back to IOA simply due to the fact that Suess, Marvel and Potter will probably not allow a scare zone in their lands and unfortunately these are the three lands w/ direct access to the sound stages and connecting the parks. Maybe if Toon Lagoon or JP were next to the sound stages we would see the even cross both parks but I just don't see it happening again unfortunately.



Well @Legacy said a few pages back they can use marvel for a SZ, just not their characters. Dr.Doom's Alley would be a fantastic SZ, and as far as I know Doom stays pretty empty unless the park is packed so if there is a conflict with characters and the like they could possibly close that whole area down once summer crowds start to die down and do who knows what with it. I've always assumed since they've done it before they can do it again... With some caveats. I remember hearing through the grapevine that Stan Lee and Marvel was furious they had dead superheroes in Maximum Carnage, but only that and a few minor details had them really irate.


Also, Seuss doesn't need to open during an event spanned over two parks aimed at teens and adults.


Potter, Considering they use it for HHNJ I can't imagine the rights are restricted in the U.S... I'm sure how they haunt potter is a big deal and I doubt a maze or SZ would really take place... And also considering this rumored stage show they developed with Death Eaters, that also apparently takes place in Japan... Is probably being saved for when they do shoot for two parks again...

I mean really, even with ST apparently having these massive lines, can you imagine if they announced potter as a part of HHN UO? Even in an extremely limited capacity, It would do gangbusters and it would be absolutely slammed. I don't want to see a 1 park HHN with potter anything.


Also, LC is essentially dead now, If they aren't immediately gutting it, I'm sure it has space that can be used in the next year or two. You have JP,Kong area, TL, POE and LC available essentially with no limitations. Carnage building still stands.
 
Literally no houses are on the level of Scarecrow from last year, either. The houses this year are for the most part "solid" (with the exception of Blumhouse and Halloween), but none of them are what I would consider "Great". Poltergeist is the closest that gets to great, but I still personally think it's just at the "really good" level.

Nothing is overly special about the zones imo. Actually, I personally feel like Chucky is probably the most well-rounded and it doesn't seem to be getting recognized as much. It has a good dose of scares throughout, but also some comedy to take in.

I feel like people are most CERTAINLY over-hyping this year since we are currently living through it.

IDK - a lot of people are very high on Poltergeist.

I've been going to HHN since 2002, and I definitely think it's one of their strongest years. Best ever? That remains to be seen, but I legitimately enjoy 9 of the houses - with Scary Tales, Poltergeist, Trick R Treat, Seeds, and Graveyard being on another level.

Ultimately though, does it matter if people feel it's the best ever?
 
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