Personally, I love to repeat houses. There are absolutely diminishing returns when it comes to scares after the first few runs, but there is so much more to a Universal Haunt than the scares. I could play a $5 horror game on Steam if all I wanted to do was get jumpscared repeatedly. I'd save a lot of money doing that too haha. It's about the details you couldn't possibly notice the first few times through. The thematic elements, props, posters, costumes, that have all had countless hours spent in the design and construction phases that just get lost when your brain is in fight-or-flight mode. I love appreciating the work that goes into every bit of the event.
There was an incredibly small detail on the Subway car of "Decendants of Destruction" that sticks with me to this day; it was an ad on the roof of the car advertising some kind of Green Energy company with a tagline like "Plants can power the world" or something, which is such a darkly comedic joke given that this is the same universe and apocalypse as "Seeds of Extinction". There's no way I ever would've noticed it had I only gone in once or twice, but someone on the team thought of it, went through the effort of pitching it, designing, printing, and installing it knowing that only an incredibly small percent of the people walking through would ever notice or care. I'm in that small percent! I think those details are so fun and cool!
This isn't even to mention that this is all live theatre. So sometimes you'll get an especially incredible performance from an actor on one specific run of many that sticks with you, or sometimes you'll catch a cast on a night where something just clicks with everyone and they go absolutely feral towards the conga! It's interesting to see the differences between A and B casts, and when there are big shifts in the status quo. To see quirks of the event like last year when the latex masks were cleaned improperly and most of the zones suddenly had a ton more face characters. Those two days were honestly incredible to go through, because all of the zones had such a huge surge in personality and energy that had begun to dip after the opening weeks. My ranking of houses changes a ton between opening and closing, because honestly, most houses don't close the same way they open at all. Energy levels from the cast, new scareacting positions being added or removed, effects breaking down or being installed; there are so many factors to it all and I love feeling that constant change and flux. The ebb and flow as countless hundreds of team members work together to try and keep this leviathan event afloat all at once and consistently succeed wildly, night after night.
I appreciate that these attractions are limited-time offerings, but in that same vein, I really want to appreciate them for all that they're worth too. A lot of care, work, effort is placed into the attractions from all different levels only for it all to get thrown in the dumpster come November. I personally find it incredibly enjoyable to feel the passion that the designers and casts have for their houses, zones, roles, shows, and to find all of that passion strewn through easter eggs in zone props, the different music choices that are used in certain scenes, the way that that specific actor consistently creates a memorable experience, etc. That's personally how I enjoy the event, and I really do enjoy it.
