Convincing parent to come with to HHN

[thelondonwerecat]

Hi! I hope you are having a good day. I’m trying to convince my mom to come with me to HHN. I think she would have a great time, but she doesn’t want to go. She watched Nightmare on Elm Street when she was younger and still is scared of it.

I think that she thinks that it is as scary as the movie, but it’s conpletely different. It’s only jump scares. How do I convince her?

All tips and advice are welcomed

 

[Wigglepebbles]

Went one night with my 70 year old grandma at the event, she loved it.
Just say it's safe and has a more party ambiance rather than a disturbing one.

 

[Elegia]

My mom loves going to HHN with me, she doesn’t love the houses as much but always enjoys the scare zones. However, she isn’t bothered by horror films.

I’d honestly recommend taking her to Scareactor Dining, that was my mom’s first encounter with anything HHN related and I think that made a huge difference. The atmosphere is extremely light so it makes for a really easy introduction to the evening.

 

[biomegaceu]

I'm always cautious with who I bring to HHN. I once brought a friend who I thought would be fine. She loved horror movies and most of our time hanging out together was watching horror movies and such. SO I thought it would be perfect to go to HHN together. When we got there she could not handle it. We one house, Nevermore, and she freaked out and refused to do anything else. I had frequent fear so it didn't bother me too much to leave, but it ended up being a waste of money on her end.

I feel like going to hhn for so long and being fans for so long we can become a little desensitized to it and forget that to normal people this stuff might be way scarier to them. I also don't think its only jump scares. Even going to the event for 15 years I still find myself feeling uncomfortable in houses due to how immersive the sets are. I mean tomb of the ancients, dead exposure, scarecrow, and even insidious got me in recent years.

All that said, I also have been trying to get my mom to come with me and she also does not want to go. I got her to go to HoS one year with me and she seemed to have a good time so I honestly don't know why she wont come to HHN with me.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Hi! I hope you are having a good day. I’m trying to convince my mom to come with me to HHN. I think she would have a great time, but she doesn’t want to go. She watched Nightmare on Elm Street when she was younger and still is scared of it.

I think that she thinks that it is as scary as the movie, but it’s conpletely different. It’s only jump scares. How do I convince her?

All tips and advice are welcomed

How old is she? This event is NOT just jump scares, not at all.
It affects all your senses, even smell. Sensory overload. The noises used are very very loud. The smoke effects can affect your breathing. The strobes are disorienting
You are focusing on the actors alone but there are so many other aspects to consider.
If she got scared of a movie that much i am not sure she could fully handle the event. This could be a very bad experience for her.

I would suggest finding a local cheaper haunted house first and taking her there. Something local and smaller first.

 

[bob albert]

I know some people who nope out of similar events. I would not try to force this event on them. Someone that age probably knows their boundaries. Take your mom to the parks during the day and consider going to the magic kingdom event.

 

[rinacee]

How old is she? This event is NOT just jump scares, not at all.
It affects all your senses, even smell. Sensory overload. The noises used are very very loud. The smoke effects can affect your breathing. The strobes are disorienting
You are focusing on the actors alone but there are so many other aspects to consider.
If she got scared of a movie that much i am not sure she could fully handle the event. This could be a very bad experience for her.

I would suggest finding a local cheaper haunted house first and taking her there. Something local and smaller first.

I agree with a lot of this. My first time going to HHN I went with my then-boyfriend-now-husband and didn't want to act afraid, but I really felt uncomfortable quite a bit. We hit it hard since we were with his family and I wish we had been able to ease into it. I've gone for the last seven years and have grown to enjoy it, but I also know my limits. Like TheCode said, it really isn't just jump scares and light-hearted fun in the scare zones. We all have things that really mess with us. For me, that's zombies and certain noises. The massive Walking Dead house that felt like it would never end had me close to an anxiety attack, whereas other houses were a relative breeze for me.
For some people, certain visuals can stick with them. If that movie messed her up that bad, it may be a really hard sell. And the smells can be an issue if someone has migraines. Same with strobes.
I'd run all of this by her if you are going to try to convince her. Maybe show her a couple of videos on YouTube. Last year we went with a friend who doesn't love events like this and had only been to HoS. The YouTube videos helped her feel more comfortable and have things to look forward to (the ball drop in Vamp '85, snacks, etc) and I read up on here for reviews of houses so I knew which ones would push her limits too much.

 

[thelondonwerecat]

How old is she? This event is NOT just jump scares, not at all.
It affects all your senses, even smell. Sensory overload. The noises used are very very loud. The smoke effects can affect your breathing. The strobes are disorienting
You are focusing on the actors alone but there are so many other aspects to consider.
If she got scared of a movie that much i am not sure she could fully handle the event. This could be a very bad experience for her.

I would suggest finding a local cheaper haunted house first and taking her there. Something local and smaller first.

She is in her late 40s.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I agree with a lot of this. My first time going to HHN I went with my then-boyfriend-now-husband and didn't want to act afraid, but I really felt uncomfortable quite a bit. We hit it hard since we were with his family and I wish we had been able to ease into it. I've gone for the last seven years and have grown to enjoy it, but I also know my limits. Like TheCode said, it really isn't just jump scares and light-hearted fun in the scare zones. We all have things that really mess with us. For me, that's zombies and certain noises. The massive Walking Dead house that felt like it would never end had me close to an anxiety attack, whereas other houses were a relative breeze for me.
For some people, certain visuals can stick with them. If that movie messed her up that bad, it may be a really hard sell. And the smells can be an issue if someone has migraines. Same with strobes.
I'd run all of this by her if you are going to try to convince her. Maybe show her a couple of videos on YouTube. Last year we went with a friend who doesn't love events like this and had only been to HoS. The YouTube videos helped her feel more comfortable and have things to look forward to (the ball drop in Vamp '85, snacks, etc) and I read up on here for reviews of houses so I knew which ones would push her limits too much.

She is in her late 40s.

rinacee is right too, Something as simple as strobe lights can cause someone to freak out. You just never know. Or the darkness of a house combined with the super loud sounds can cause anxiety. It might not even be the actors but it could be the claustrophobic feeling of the narrow corridors, or the smell of burning wood or the smell of dirt.

You could try to convince her but you need to be prepared that after one house your mom might not want to continue the other houses.

 

[thelondonwerecat]

rinacee is right too, Something as simple as strobe lights can cause someone to freak out. You just never know. Or the darkness of a house combined with the super loud sounds can cause anxiety. It might not even be the actors but it could be the claustrophobic feeling of the narrow corridors, or the smell of burning wood or the smell of dirt.

You could try to convince her but you need to be prepared that after one house your mom might not want to continue the other houses.

I told her that we would only do like ghostbusters and stranger things. Then have some food and hang out.

 

[rinacee]

I told her that we would only do like ghostbusters and stranger things. Then have some food and hang out.

I think that's a good start for sure. If she ends up enjoying those maybe she'll feel like branching out.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I told her that we would only do like ghostbusters and stranger things. Then have some food and hang out.

Yeah Thats a pretty good idea. She might like them and wanna do more.
I would suggest that maybe she carries ear plugs just in case, thats how i took my first-timer friend and it wasnt as hard.

 

[Joel]

get her drunk. thats how I convince everyone to go

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

get her drunk. thats how I convince everyone to go

Not OPs mom, but I'm someone who's somewhat scared easily. That said, I plan to go to HHN, and drink. Especially knowing they have a local brewery of mine in Shipyard, I'm not too worried about enjoying my time not the first time I've heard someone describe this as a more horror party rather than a Horror zone.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Not OPs mom, but I'm someone who's somewhat scared easily. That said, I plan to go to HHN, and drink. Especially knowing they have a local brewery of mine in Shipyard, I'm not too worried about enjoying my time not the first time I've heard someone describe this as a more horror party rather than a Horror zone.

Horror party??? Who told you that? Lol

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Horror party??? Who told you that? Lol

Lol a friend of mine. Maybe bad wording but he basically described it just as everyone having a ton of creepy halloween fun so he called it a horror party.

 

[Joel]

Not OPs mom, but I'm someone who's somewhat scared easily. That said, I plan to go to HHN, and drink. Especially knowing they have a local brewery of mine in Shipyard, I'm not too worried about enjoying my time not the first time I've heard someone describe this as a more horror party rather than a Horror zone.

exactly. The first time I brought my girlfriend (who's from Maine and didn't grow up with HHN) she told me she'd only go in one house. Many drinks and one house later, she was so excited about how fun it is and with a little buzz everything turns into fun-scary vs scary scary.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Lol a friend of mine. Maybe bad wording but he basically described it just as everyone having a ton of creepy halloween fun so he called it a horror party.

The scarezones definitely are like that, yes. Lol, but the houses can be pretty pretty scary

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

The scarezones definitely are like that, yes. Lol, but the houses can be pretty pretty scary

Ya I understand that part, I’m talking about the scarezones and shows and general atmosphere since it takes up the entire park.

 

[Andysol]

Don't tell her what's going on and when she sees it's HHN, say "here is the exit" and go through a haunted house.

Once out of that house, say "I'm so sorry, that clearly wasn't the exit. Let me check my phone. Ahh, here's the exit" and go through another haunted house.