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Halloween Horror Nights 22 Reviews & Photos

So you guys think the lack of scarezones has the general public feeling the same way? Im curious to see how the average park goer feels and whether it has translated over to any surveys Uni is doing for the event. I for one love having the sacrezones :saw:
 
The true "Walking Dead"
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I'd say that's approaching 90-120 mins right their but thanks anyways :thumbs:
 
It wasn't as busy as this past Thursday and lines didn't seem to go over 45 mins from what I saw. Did 5 houses and took off. My wife was pretty disappointed with the event overall so far, and she is far from a "fan". She enjoys the event a bunch but has no idea if its even in IOA or the Studios before we get there let alone any details outside of a commercial. So I use her opinions like the general public to a point.

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Tonight consisted of mostly Rockit (5x), but I did manage to get a walk through Alice Cooper and Gothic as well. I enjoyed Alice Cooper even more this time through, and picked up on some details that I missed before (mostly "story" elements and figuring out more of the point to each room), as well as a few scares I didn't get/notice on my initial run through back on preview night. Gothic was just as good as my last time through it, just a great house all around. I did notice a scare in the scene where you look down that I hadn't gotten previously, so that was a nice touch as well.
 
was there Saturday night with my wife and son got in early and did all but 2 houses silent hill and dead end. my wife also was not to impressed with everything she only liked Gothic and she said that the actors acted cold like they were too good to take pictures she went as far as saying that last year at bush gardens was better. but i have to say the production value on gothic was the best i have ever seen
 
Right, I totally forgot our conversation. :doh: Glad you guys liked Gothic but as far as production value and overall design and satisfaction it doesn't crack my top ten HHN houses. Actually none of them do. I will easily say at this point Gothic is the best house this year and I would rate it in my top 15 or so.
 
My review so far ( Ive done everything except TWD and the shows )
Street Experiencee- I want scarezones back. I like that the sound effects travel with the hoards but it seems like I would always run into the same hoards all night. I do like the semi-free roaming, I had some good scares and is it me or did anyone notice street actors really getting close to peoples face compared to other years. I thought it was pretty cool.

House ratings (1 being the best)
1) Gothic- Overall an amazing house detail and scare wise, I had numbers of amazing scares an I normally don't get scared easily.
2) P&T- I have always been a huge fan of P&T. I like the concept of the house being bright in colors, semi comedic but still had that scare factor.
3) Alice Cooper- I love his music an the scenes make sense if your a fan an know a lot about him. I had some good scares but cast A seems to me more energetic an into their role more than cast B.
4) Dead End- The facade reminds me of Legendarty Truth but the inside is really cool. I like the sound effects from some of the trigger buttons (the lould high pitch scream)
5) House Of Horrors- definitly tell this was a last minute house an they sort of pulled it off but I see numerous ares for actors to be an would give an amazing scare but never seem to be there.
6) Silent Hill- this was my most anticipated house but it was BORING. Yes it had good scenes from the movie but just not scary at all. I wish they had more nurses and the sirens going off more than once.
 
Here's my short and sweet review with some added commentary. I will say overall I really enjoyed the event. I, like others, don't get to do this every year so I am not going in looking for something to criticize (why waste energy on that?) but am there to just have fun. Some on here just seemed to have a self-fulfilling prophecy thing going on since the rumors started.

Houses (in no particular ranking)
Gothic - Really cool house. The sets were amazing and I loved the "outside" portion of it. Did not get scared that much except from one gargoyle that seemed to come out of nowhere. 9/10

The Walking Dead - Love the show and I was able to pick out a lot of the "easter eggs" from it. The actor's were amazing in my walk-throughs. Not as scary as the other ones but still enjoyed it. 7/10

Dead End - The most terrifying house of the event IMO. Every single person in my group got at least 1 huge scare. The effects were awesome and the sound effects were equally so. So good. The best one. 10/10

Penn and Teller - Super fun and silly house. Also got in a few good scares as well. The 3-d wasn't used all that much though. What made it was Penn's commentary. 7/10

Alice Cooper - Love his music. The house was really well done and I caught most of the references. The music playing at the entrance got me super pumped for the house. 8/10

Silent Hill - Grew up playing the games and was my most anticipated house. It lived up to my expectations but did not really exceed them. The costumes were phenomenal. Got some really good scares in this one. 8/10

House of Horrors - Definitely the weakest of the bunch. Not terrible, but not great either. 6/10


Street Experiences - The only thing I liked about the dedicated scares zones were their sets. I never get really scared but was missing the set design of the zones. The actors still did a fantastic job of creeping a lot of people out. Even saw some genuine terror with some guests. I had one follow me for a good 50 feet and found myself trying to outpace him. Hope they bring back the zones just for the themeing. 6/10

Shows
Bill & Ted - Always enjoy this show. The only qualm I had about it was the abrupt ending. 8/10
20 Penny Circus - I love these old-timey gags and tricks. Had a really good time with this one. Also helps when the audience gets into it too, which they did. Also Penny is ridiculously hot. Holy smokes! 8/10
Lagoon Show - Saw the Alfred Hitchcock one, the Frankenstein/classic monster show and the tail end of the Chucky show. Very impressive. Well done with this Universal! Really wish I could have seen CineSpec in its original form. 10/10

Last thoughts - We went this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Have never been to a Thursday night HHN but have to figure that it is supposed to be less crowded than what it was. Saturday was even a bit more manageable. Thinking it's a mixture of front loading the park with the premiere houses, the lack of Jaws and the 8th house. Overall, while not as well done thematically, I still had an amazing time with my family. All of us enjoyed it and that's all you can really ask for in a once every few years vacation.
 
Time to put my grades to the event.

Houses

Gothic 8/10
Great looking house, some good effects, but the gargoyles were repetitve.

Dead End 7.5/10
Another great looking house and good effects, looses a half a point for the lame spinning tunnel.

Walking Dead 5/10
A nice tribute to the show and sets... but thats it.

House of Horrors 3/10
One bland and ugly house.

Alice Cooper 3/10
Too much sound bleed and just uninterersting.

Silent Hill 2/10
Bland is the only way to discribe this house. Looses half a point for stupidly blasting air at you head and face.

Penn and Teller 1.5/10
Poor execution on a tired cliche with terrible 3-D. It gets one point, solely for the light room.

Bill and Ted 5.5/10
Lawyers have ruined this show.

Hordes 7.5/10
Some were good, some not so much. The ones that were working were fun to watch.

Overall event score 4/10

Didn't care for the construction, ruined the flow of the park and the Amity bypass was a dead zone. The placement of some vendors this year was pretty annoying and created some congestion and traffic flow problems when leaving the houses.

The event started out with Universal dropping the ball with my ticket, making me leave the stay n scream area, and worst of all having to go through security again, to get their ticket issue fixxed. After 10 minute in line I reach a window to be told she needed to call someone... 25 minutes later (after a manger spoke to her and a "oh you can do that" look on her face and I read her lips) I finally got my ticket and could enter the park which needlesss to say was after the general public was already in. So not only my start to the night ruined but two others as well.
My strongly worded letter to USOR will be sent tonight
 
was there Saturday night with my wife and son got in early and did all but 2 houses silent hill and dead end. my wife also was not to impressed with everything she only liked Gothic and she said that the actors acted cold like they were too good to take pictures she went as far as saying that last year at bush gardens was better. but i have to say the production value on gothic was the best i have ever seen
Scareactors aren't allowed to pose for photos
 
^^ What was the mix up with your stay and scream ticket if you don't mind me asking?

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^ I have never had a problem taking pictures with scare actors out and about in the park over the years. In the houses though photography is a big no no.
 
Yes an I was always curious why it was a big deal to take pics/videos in the house besides the privacy thing but I went in Silent Hill an the A** hole kept taking pictures stopping an going throughout the whole house. I wanted to deck the guy.
 
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