One Last Review - 2PM Entry Experience (Oct 22)
Went for my last round of HHN and spoiler alert, had a total blast. Probably the best run throughs I had of any of the mazes all season. I'll try to keep this short.
2PM Entry
I had just got an annual pass but came with people who had 2PM entry, so it's basically like I had it too. Arrived and all the lines were insane. It was so crowded, it made no sense. Just for quick reference, I wouldn't say it was this crowded later in the night either. I think maybe they just oversold 2PM entry and the daytime guests intermingling with HHN folks was just insane. First, I wanna say the wristband situation is hilariously not communicated to those who have annual passes. Asked a lady at the front just for verification, and she said wristbands are at box office. Cool, went to box office. She says come back at 3:30. Uh, okay. Come back at 3:30 and now I'm in a 10 minute line. Go to the same lady, she says to just go right outside. There's a guy standing there with no signage and with only one person he's checking in and giving wristbands out. Like, literally that could've just been said from the beginning, but whatever. Unfortunately, didn't have time to plan a lunch beforehand, so figure I'd grab something quick when entering the park. Bumblebee taco truck took me 30 minutes just to get some simple, terrible tacos...there were people around me waiting 15 minutes before me and still didn't get their food until after me. For reference on how long it took, I entered at 2, ordered, finally got my tacos, ate them super quick and by the time I was finished with that, it was already the 3:30pm time to get my wristband. All the lines for food were insane, so there was no finding a quicker place. Went to get on Secret Life of Pets (never been on it and it says 35 mins on the app), and just as I got there, it switched to virtual queue with entry at 5, so that's a no go. At this point, it's almost 4 and we literally only have time for maybe 1 ride since everything is 60-90 minutes. We figure let's head to Jurassic and see if it's over exaggerating. Nope, line goes all the way back to the old Insidious location area. We turn around and head to single rider -- it's the only option at this point. Just as I get in single rider, an employee closes it off -- not sure why, but good thing I got in there. Pretty much all of my party of 6 got on the ride together in batches. Went off to do Mummy with single rider also -- same-ish thing happened, so that worked like a charm. Felt sorry for my group who got the 2PM entry and only were able to do 2 rides, but oh well, it's 5pm and it's time to line up for the first maze.
KILLER KLOWNS had nobody by it, so it was great to be maybe 5th in line. Line-up opened around 5:20ish. Maze opened promptly at 6:00 (was missing the old man out front though) and got in at 6:01 after they shuffled Express in. This was a much better run through of the maze but that's not saying much. It's still pretty lackluster performance-wise (as much as I hate to say that) and there's tons of scares missing. But at least I had a bit more fun this time because of some stand out moments. However, for tonight, I still have to give it an --
F
Lined up for UNIVERSAL MONSTERS at 6:09 and the maze opened promptly at 6:15. Was in the maze at 6:19. I have come to appreciate this maze a whole lot. Something never clicked for me on a set design level, but this time I felt fairly immersed in it. Scareactors were on point and I even got a repeat of this maze later on at 1:26am. They were still on fire then too. The threeway scare at the end is the best part, for sure. Again, I still like the other UCM mazes more, but it was still a very worthy entry.
A
Got back up the escalators and waited for Potter to open -- was basically first in front of the entry ways on the side. People were running, so there was still a huge chunk of people that got ahead of me. Went to Halloween at 6:53, maze opened at 7, and was in by 7:03. God, I am so glad I learned not to do Weeknd first -- the time you save is ASTRONOMICAL. Anyway, I had the best run through of this one than I did on any trip. Michaels were pretty in our face and a lot more aggressive. I actually didn't hate it this time and had fun. For tonight, I am going to give it a --
C
SCARECROW was sporting a 30 minute wait at 7:08, but was actually only 8 minutes, got in at 7:16. My first two runs of this maze on previous trips, the maze felt more action packed while in a conga line. This time, nobody was ahead of me, so I slowly went through and it was a much different experience, as I felt the dread build in a much different way. It was only when the scares came that it felt action packed. I'm used to these guys having tighter intervals with the scares, but this time they waited for their prey. I think I prefer overall the intense insanity of attack-attack-attack, but I sitll loved seeing it like this and it made me appreciate it in a different way. This was my group's favorite until this point, for sure. I definitely think this is maze of the year, although I still have a lot of love for Hotel which was my favorite on Night 1.
A
TRAM said 30 minutes but was only 11, got in at 7:48. The opening was rocking, but Bates Motel was kinda dead. There was only one cat in the alley area. Things didn't pick up again until the plane wreckage. The Us characters were great performance-wise in Jupiter's Claim, but I think the timing was just a bit off when we went because Jean Jacket came when we first walked through -- I think it's much better if it's time if he comes more towards the middle-end. So we weren't getting attacked until the final third of the set, so it kinda just made for a "meh" experience. Super shout out to the an US girl who I saw toward the end bend overbackwards until her head dang near touched the floor -- it was INSANE and I wish I caught it on camera. Also, thankfully they stopped the terrible Munsters trailer at the end and instead showed a villains package -- much prefarbale, but still should find something more Halloween-esque. Overall, this was my worst experience on Tram and I already had a low opinion of it. Some great scareactors here though.
D-
