Halloween Horror Nights 25 Discussion

[Cole]

Joe you brought up a great counter argument, totally right. I'm sure they'd find an alternative to it if they think about it but then again, I don't think anything will change unless something horrendous happens.

I think 25 has it's share of glaring problems. I mean I seriously have no idea how people can call this "a perfect year" when some are saying TWD is one of the worst houses of all time. Not to mention scurge, screampunk, and B&T. It's just when its good, it's the best it's ever been. 2011 may have had a solid line up but very few were 10/10 amazing. 25 has 4 houses that are arguably some of the best of all time, along with a couple others being great on their own and pretty much the best show HHN has ever made. I feel like people are so into those aspects that they pretty much ignore everything else. This is a perfect example of the good outweighing the bad. I think some aspects of 24 are better but 25 has the better IPs, better zones, better designed houses and an overall theme that just gives it a better feel. I love both plain and simple, I don't think years should be compared to each other. Not only because they're radically different but because there will always be another year you'd subjectively like more. Either way it's HHN, it's improved so friggin much from 22 and I'm gonna go either way loving every second

 

[Fatality]

This is year 15 for me and I stopped comparing years long ago.

I harp on this all the time but it's all so subjective. And a lot of these houses aren't really comparable because a lot of them are thematically different and the changes from year to year.

If you have an affinity for the HALOWEEN franchise - that house is gonna take the cake for you. For me? Meh. If it didn't have The Shape and the classic sounds - it would've been some dump - Imagine the Purge overlay on Halloween.

When we talk about return to "form?" What form is that? ( Please don't say 15. Please don't say 15.)

 

[Clive]

This is year 15 for me and I stopped comparing years long ago.

I harp on this all the time but it's all so subjective. And a lot of these houses aren't really comparable because a lot of them are thematically different and the changes from year to year.

If you have an affinity for the HALOWEEN franchise - that house is gonna take the cake for you. For me? Meh. If it didn't have The Shape and the classic sounds - it would've been some dump - Imagine the Purge overlay on Halloween.

When we talk about return to "form?" What form is that? ( Please don't say 15. Please don't say 15.)

Nah, 15 had the really cool world building, Terra Queen, Body Collectors, and... end of sentence. I think 2006-2011 was the peak. Production values and overall quality consistency was lower the earlier you go, but you got more intense stuff (gore, scares, etc.) I'm of the strong opinion 2010 was an off year and overall pretty mediocre - thought this year was better. 2011 seemed to rebound and it probably would've continued to improve had Comcast/WD-Gate not happened.

But to your point on Halloween, that's true of practically anything. Remove recognizable environments and the memorable characters/kills/noises and it's nothing whole - you can't say something isn't good just because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Like it or not, Halloween has a fan base. I do agree that if you aren't a fan of the property, you don't get much out of it... which is a continuing problem with IP houses.

 

[Fatality]

Nah, 15 had the really cool world building, Terra Queen, Body Collectors, and... end of sentence. I think 2006-2011 was the peak. Production values and overall quality consistency was lower the earlier you go, but you got more intense stuff (gore, scares, etc.) I'm of the strong opinion 2010 was an off year and overall pretty mediocre - thought this year was better. 2011 seemed to rebound and it probably would've continued to improve had Comcast/WD-Gate not happened.

When looking at all those years I would probably vote that 21 was one of my most favorite from that "era." For me? 14 will always be my favorite. No contest. 15 was style over substance. Sweet 16 was all over the place.

As far as intensity goes - I feel the event has more or less stayed the same. A lot of times it changes due to complaints (which is so absurd.) I remember even at the original Castle Vampyr - the writhing girl on bed - was edited from night to night.

Naturally, it tends to go down with every year you go but it defintely went on the decline with the introduction of AATs.

Overall, I think universal has done a wonderful job of a balancing act and adjusting/adapting the event as it gets more popular.

But to your point on Halloween, that's true of practically anything. Remove recognizable environments and the memorable characters/kills/noises and it's nothing whole - you can't say something isn't good just because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Like it or not, Halloween has a fan base. I do agree that if you aren't a fan of the property, you don't get much out of it... which is a continuing problem with IP houses.

It is true of anything - but what about the dozens and dozens of original HHN haunts, that lack (instantly) recognizable and (instantly) memorable characters.

For me it boils down to much more than just scare factor. Was Halloween one of their lost intense / scariest houses? Yes. Of course. Was it a cheap and easy scare? Absolutely.

It all depends on what one judges these suckers by....scares? Atmosphere? Theme/story? All of the above?

 

[misterID]

I was there tonight and the drunken idiots, and they were everywhere, trying to antagonize, yelling profanities, smoking everywhere, and just overall douchebag behavior. It was so bad I don't think I want to go back. Drunken young adults are the worst.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

and not one single house on the level of this year's Walking Dead or even Purge.

I disagree, I thought Giggles and Gore was worse than this year's Walking Dead (not as bad as Purge though). GNG didn't have anything noteworthy and most importantly the cast was very lazy and lacking energy when I went through. At least TWD had an energetic cast.

 

[Frank Drackman]

I really only started attending with 22. I would never be any good at ranking houses for I tend to find aspects in all of them that I appreciate. For me this year, run just didn't do much for me and I think the only thing wrong with the WD is that it's the WD, I really enjoyed the rest for one reason or another.

The one thing I think that made this year better than 22 - 24 is the sound track. Of those prior years, I would point to Halloween as the 1st to get the sound track right, they built an anticipation and a tense feeling for when Myers would appear. From the other years, the only thing I recall is that I still have nightmares from hearing the Walking Dead theme music from the year the streets were turned over to the WD.

This year has a lot of throat slashing with the same occompanying sound, some folks seem to look for something to tie everything together, could this be it?

I never saw the spine rip, but the sound is unforgettable! Purge has an intensity that I feel is caused by the music...psychoscarapy has this one whacky song that sets the mode greatly for me...and in that area, if you take the time to interact with some of the characters, I mean they are so spot on in their roles!

Even the general music upfront...I just kind of enjoyed hearing Alice Coper's tonnage Frankienstien and Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's party...I just felt all in all the sound track sets so an appropriate mode this year compared to the others of the Walking Dead era.

For uniqueness, the hallway in Incidious, Felipe posted some pictures from the Body Collectors that show these walls that (to me) I would describe as mattresses or maybe padded cell walls that I found cool as scare actors would pop out one way and back in the other wall...I just found it cool how they used those as opposed to hiding places and that they were comfortable backing in through these 'doors'...if your timing was right, the 'plant' in the Purge can be a nice surprise.

Anyway, all just my take and my opinion, but I stand by the sounds this year as the item that holds the consistency of this tear's event.

 

[Cole]

I know this topic has been beaten to death but I really miss the all original events. Don't get me wrong I love the IP houses and having movie marathons, catching references and everything else is a really fantastic part of HHN for me. I just loved the box of chocolate nature of the purely original events, you never knew what you were gonna get. It was exciting as a fan because they'd announce something like "catacombs" and besides a brief description, you really had no idea what it would be like. Unlike a movie where you could watch it and get a feeling for the house, you would have to go out and experience it to know for sure. It built up mystery and tons of excitement. I know IPs are here to stay and I'm not upset by that fact, however it would be awesome if it could be like the old years where we'd get one or two solely original years and then go into a year like 17 or 19 where it was IP heavy. Good times. Also off topic but remember when everybody was dead serious about ghostbusters getting into the event this year?

 

[SeventyOne]

I've noticed a lot more kids running around this year as well. Last week in line for The Walking Dead I saw a dad with two kids still dressed in school uniforms and they held up the line in the house because they were too terrified to move. I just don't understand the stupidity of people....

Opening line for Insidious yesterday, spotted at least half a dozen kids under 7, another half dozen at least easily under 12. One was a 6ish boy behind my friend, ended up running into him multiple times in his desire to get the hell out of that house.

A lot of the kids seem to be Latino--maybe it's a cultural thing, Halloween so new to South America they aren't familiar with the idea of scary houses? But a decent percentage are from the USA, and, really, horrible parenting the only excuse.

 

[SeventyOne]

Alcohol was cutback not too long ago. I believe HHN 17 or 18 was the first year they cut a a lot of bars and shot girls. Didn't impact the event at all.

The shotgirls stayed gone that year, but the bars were back after one night. Word at the time attributed that solely to the revenue drop.

As for removing just the pop-up bars, the existing venues could not handle the crowds. Finns is often packed even with two pop-up bars in sight of it (which are also busy).

Like EPCOT, HHN has inextricably tied itself into drinking as entertainment. I don't see it undoing that in the public mind any time soon. At the same time, I've seen plenty of stupid guest tricks from sober people as well (usually high school kids, if we're being honest).

 

[SeventyOne]

I imagine that is the case as the event gets into October, my experience is with the 2nd week over the last few years (which does not have a Wendsday), but I would swear that Saturday is the slowest and Sunday is the busiest over the four nights of week two. I may be off base, but that is what it felt like to me.

Things have changed since Potter opened, and the rules of thumb for the first 15 years have shifted. I absolutely think Sundays rank as the busiest days except for the last couple Saturdays. Fridays have been strangely tolerable, especially if you get there early (usually relatively slow until after 8:30). Meanwhile, Wednesdays were always busy--they were typically only scheduled when school was out the next day--and if last night is an indication, still are.

But we're talking December 28 v. December 26 Magic Kingdom crowds here. It's "busy" by any definition every night of the event.

 

[ralphoutloud]

Things have changed since Potter opened, and the rules of thumb for the first 15 years have shifted. I absolutely think Sundays rank as the busiest days except for the last couple Saturdays. Fridays have been strangely tolerable, especially if you get there early (usually relatively slow until after 8:30). Meanwhile, Wednesdays were always busy--they were typically only scheduled when school was out the next day--and if last night is an indication, still are.

But we're talking December 28 v. December 26 Magic Kingdom crowds here. It's "busy" by any definition every night of the event.

Every weeknight is manageable because a lot of people don't get out of work until 5-6PM. By the time they get over to Universal, if you're in a S&S or at the main gate at opening, you can easily get done 4-5 houses before 7:30. Weekends, many people aren't working so, therefore it's busy from start to finish.

 

[misterID]

Every weeknight is manageable because a lot of people don't get out of work until 5-6PM. By the time they get over to Universal, if you're in a S&S or at the main gate at opening, you can easily get done 4-5 houses before 7:30. Weekends, many people aren't working so, therefore it's busy from start to finish.

It definitely got busier the later it got and the worse the crowds behavior became.

Also, I saw some Orlando united shirts in the crowd last night! Good to see it

 

[Nick]

I just sort of realized that 6 of the 9 houses are IP houses or based on existing characters with a recognizable story (Asylum). 2 out of the 3 "original" houses are consistently ranked among the best of the event this year. Jack and all of the icons' "shows" have been a huge hit with guests (and with merch). The biggest IP houses this year are Insidious and FvJ (longest waits, highest rated).

Maybe, just maybe, this will finally mean the end of TWD. I think it's finally come to the point where HHN doesn't need it anymore.

 

[Shucker]

I love the Walking Dead and thought this years house was pretty good (I know that is not the consensus). I would guess that many who came because of the WD have seen the merits of the event regardless of a WD house. I think the issue next year will be how big of a drop off will they have because of the 25 year hype and is there another IP out there that could replace the WD (other than The Fear of the WD ).

 

[Nick]

I love the Walking Dead and thought this years house was pretty good (I know that is not the consensus). I would guess that many who came because of the WD have seen the merits of the event regardless of a WD house. I think the issue next year will be how big of a drop off will they have because of the 25 year hype and is there another IP out there that could replace the WD (other than The Fear of the WD ).

TWD wasn't even big in marketing this year though, nor is it getting big waits. FvJ and Insidious along with Jack were the big marketing points. TWD was just kind of off to the side as a thing for those who will only come to HHN because of it.

 

[SeventyOne]

Every weeknight is manageable because a lot of people don't get out of work until 5-6PM. By the time they get over to Universal, if you're in a S&S or at the main gate at opening, you can easily get done 4-5 houses before 7:30. Weekends, many people aren't working so, therefore it's busy from start to finish.

Also, at least on Fridays, a surprising number are not APs, wait until 8:00 for the discounted parking. Hadn't noticed this until the Finns bartenders pointed it out, get a rush around 8:25.

 

[SeventyOne]

Jack and all of the icons' "shows" have been a huge hit with guests (and with merch).

Are you basing this off what you read on OU/Twitter? Because, sadly, I'm hearing the opposite re: Jack's show.

 

[Nick]

Also, at least on Fridays, a surprising number are not APs, wait until 8:00 for the discounted parking. Hadn't noticed this until the Finns bartenders pointed it out, get a rush around 8:25.

Well Friday's only come with FF+ now.

My memory isn't perfect, but didn't FF used to give you everything but Saturdays and FF+ gave you every day of the event?

 

[SeventyOne]

Well Friday's only come with FF+ now.

My memory isn't perfect, but didn't FF used to give you everything but Saturdays and FF+ gave you every day of the event?

Good point.

And no, FF was originally just the weeknights. When FF+ offered Fridays, a few years after, it was a HUGE deal.