So the event with more houses than ever, double the scare actors in the streets, and a new show year over year is now being called out for cuts and declining by degrees because they didn't release scare zone logos.
Ok then.
Adding a 9th house was a good move and I'm happy they finally did it. The encore of AWIL and the reliance on a cheaper 3D house with Asylum was possibly a move to allow for the super Anniversary house, which is a choice I'm personally happy they made.
"Double the scare actors in the streets" is a buzz phrase and no one should be falling for that without hard numbers. Double from what, exactly? The amount of actors in the streets has fluctuated wildly over the last few years. We're down to 5 zones and 2 hordes, which is pretty solid, but again the street program at its peak was 6 zones with 3 hordes in 2008. Unless there's more actors per zone/horde than there were in that year, I don't see how "double the actors" is really all that momentous a claim.
The event used to have four shows at its peak, and we're finally getting a second show that will be worth watching multiple times. I'm really happy about that - icon shows are usually great - but I'm not going to pretend it's a gift from god.
Look, like I said before, I think this is the strongest house lineup we've seen since 2011. I also think it's the strongest street lineup since 2008. I'm pointing out that the presentation of these elements has been exceedingly poor. Ultimately, at the event I'll almost certainly have tons of fun, especially if the attractions are well executed (sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't, for a menagerie of reasons). But presentation is important, and we've fallen a long way from the run of 2004-2009 (debatably up to 2011).
There are some good steps in the right direction (restoring the street program, adding a 9th house, doing an icon with an actual event presence and show), and then there are some steps back. The lack of street art was a little thing that helped define each zone and helped build anticipation for the event. It's a detail that's now gone. I think cutting those little things has hurt the event a lot over time, that's all.