HHN Hollywood General Discussion - 2017

[DTH]

HHNH is def in it's worst year, but it's quality/experience is consistent, which I can't say about other Haunts. KSF was hyped to all hell this year in comparison to HHN and I thought it was decent at best. I'm sure other nights were way better, and I'm willing to bet other nights were worse. And that's the problem. I know HHNH will provide the same-ish experience for everyone.

 

[k_peek_2000]

And that's the problem. I know HHNH will provide the same-ish experience for everyone.

That's can also be seen as a negative. The fact that it hasn't really changed drastically (apart from moving to the backlot), is putting itself at risk of becoming stale, if it hasn't already. Each maze, each year rely on similar set design, similar scares, the same IP repeated time and time again, ect. Without knowing any of next year's properties I have a pretty darn good idea what next years event will be like just basing it on the past 3-4 years.

 

[DTH]

That's can also be seen as a negative. The fact that it hasn't really changed drastically (apart from moving to the backlot), is putting itself at risk of becoming stale, if it hasn't already. Each maze, each year rely on similar set design, similar scares, the same IP repeated time and time again, ect. Without knowing any of next year's properties I have a pretty darn good idea what next years event will be like just basing it on the past 3-4 years.

I agree that can be a negative, and I've always noted that in my reviews, but on the same token, I'll take a good-stale over a bad-fresh. In other words, I'd rather watch the familiar nostalgia ridden Friday the 13th films over the crappy new Happy Death Day.

 

[horrornights789]

Just finished watching Trick R Treat; if it doesn’t come next year I’m gonna be pissed.

 

[MacMillian Crew]

Just finished watching Trick R Treat; if it doesn’t come next year I’m gonna be pissed.

 

[Freak]

...yet he has no problem doing Insidious 4, months before it’s release. If awareness is an issue, Orlando’s SZ was a huge success. Can you please just do it? We’ve been requesting this for nearly a decade.

 

[ush.hacker]

...yet he has no problem doing Insidious 4, months before it’s release. If awareness is an issue, Orlando’s SZ was a huge success. Can you please just do it? We’ve been requesting this for nearly a decade.

No poop because it's one big advertisement for a well known series that attracts teenagers.

By we you mean the 100 massive HHN fans and not the general HHN population/guests....?

I am very "mad" in die hard HHN fans ranting and complaining on this year. I understand you're speaking your opinion but enough is enough. Then some of you are so butt hurt you talk about never returning and never covering again

 

[Freak]

No poop because it's one big advertisement for a well known series that attracts teenagers.

By we you mean the 100 massive HHN fans and not the general HHN population/guests....?

I am very "mad" in die hard HHN fans ranting and complaining on this year. I understand you're speaking your opinion but enough is enough. Then some of you are so butt hurt you talk about never returning and never covering again

Do yourself a favor mate. Save up some smackaroos, fly to Florida and check their event out. Then we’ll talk.

If only you saw their Shining. Even though Ash and Saw were the weakest houses over there, they were still better than the black walls we got.

 

[LAfiend]

Hi all! New member here! We do HHN here in Orlando every year, but two years ago (Oct 2015) while visiting LA, we decided to check out HHN Hollywood with a FOTL pass (worth every penny) and had the time of our lives. We still talk about it.

We're going to be in LA this weekend and want to hit up HHN Hollywood again on Saturday, but I'm hearing so so reviews. Would you recommend buying the FOTL pass for Saturday Nov 4 this year? Or should we save our money and do regular admission?

Thanks everyone. Gonna go read some more of this thread.

 

[HHNManics]

No poop because it's one big advertisement for a well known series that attracts teenagers.

By we you mean the 100 massive HHN fans and not the general HHN population/guests....?

I am very "mad" in die hard HHN fans ranting and complaining on this year. I understand you're speaking your opinion but enough is enough. Then some of you are so butt hurt you talk about never returning and never covering again

Actually the reason why People are complaining is because this year is not good. I think this year is Ok. But it's a fact that HHN2017 is kinda a bad year.

You really can't deny the lack of charm or tones from previous years. What is funny about 2017 is that it is a Carbon Copy of 2016 but in a different way.

2016: Every maze was incredible. Everyone had diverse opinions and it was to choose a favorite and least favorite because everything was so good.

2017: Every maze had Black Walls and a lack of charm or innovation. Nothing seemed incredible or different, just a bunch of reused stuff from previous years. It's hard to choose a favorite and least favorite because everything was very lackluster.

When you go to other haunts you start to realize "Wow HHN is really bad this year".

For example I went to Knotts for the 3rd last night and they change so much. Every maze was incredible and had a great amount of innovation. New Ideas or additions that may not work but hey! They tried something new. As a result Knotts was incredible and was highly praised. You can't deny how Innovative Mazes like Trick or Treat: Lights Out with the flashlight idea, Dark Ride with the Abandoned Theme Park idea and effects, And Pumpkin Eater visually throughout the Maze. Knotts innovated and I can't praise them enough.

Even Queen Mary had some incredible Scares where the Scare Actors were mostly given free roam and as a result... Terrifying Mazes! What did HHN have this year? Boo holes and open walls/doors you can see from a Mile away.

I even got a Behind the Scenes tour with Six Flags on their Makeup and Costumes and how they have to recreate the masks each night. The Costumes there are nothing short of incredible. What did HHN have? Reused Insidious Masks, reused Saw Masks, Terrible Ash Masks, reused Purge Masks, and reused Exterminatorz costumes for Toxic Tunnel. The only one that had "Costumes" was American Horror Story and they were incredible.

Adding to what @Freak said Orlando looks incredible. No black walls, Incredible scares, Great endings, and awesome Moments in the Mazes. Making for a solid event. Orlando had Irma and a ton of issues and it still looks like they pulled off a solid event. And Hollywood couldn't.

Why we do this and point out each flaw is that if people don't point out flaws the event won't change and we will have more years like this. Truly people want HHN to be great. All this flaws we point out are so that the creators and studio know that we are saying "You messed up this year. We pointed out the flaws. Please fix them to make next year better." That's it. I don't want to be mean to a Event that I love and I cover but I have to for it to get better and it's just the truth. It just wasn't a good year. It was kinda a bad one.

 

[BullMoose716]

Hey everyone, quick merchandise question. Is there a place in USH to buy HHN merch after the event is over? I'm interested in the Terror Tram Hoodie/Tervis, but I won't be back to USH until after the event is over. Thanks!

 

[MacMillian Crew]

This year for me was fine, more like a "B" rating as I thought of my experience on Opening night these past weeks. Yet, criticisms are crucial, as they bring attention to elements that many on the creative team assumed were effective, but clearly guests feel aren't. If no one brought stuff up like this, the mistakes will be reoccurring into the future. Nobody wants to see Pennywise, Sam, the Demigorgon, Pinhead, Bathsheba or Valak popping out of a window hole in a black room repeatedly; they'll want to see them immersed in their respected environments with mostly new props. Even comparing this years yelp reviews to last years, which is a good place to get the opinion of regular fans and not the die hard ones you find on these kind of websites, the reviews for this year were more 3-4 stars with similar phrases like "fine", "alright", "pretty good", as opposed to last years glowing reviews. This year seemed to be like 2010, in that it felt like they were also playing it safe with several properties, simply because those IPs did well in the past. Even though I commend USH for being able to adapt to the changes like the budget cuts and switching IPs so close to the event, taking Manics statement with Orlando's performance, despite Hurricane Irma, this year was not as great as it was being hyped to be, but of course next year has a lot of room for improvement. Remembering how Murdy said that enough fans complained about the disappearance of the VIP experience to bring it back this year gives me hope that the major criticisms of this year can be made apparent to both the creative team and the higher ups.

 

[marip123]

Hey everyone, quick merchandise question. Is there a place in USH to buy HHN merch after the event is over? I'm interested in the Terror Tram Hoodie/Tervis, but I won't be back to USH until after the event is over. Thanks!

They usually sell old hhn merchandise in production central store right in front of WWoHP and next to the special effects store

 

[BullMoose716]

They usually sell old hhn merchandise in production central store right in front of WWoHP and next to the special effects store

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[Timberfellingrobot]

I've meme'd and went off about this year a bit but I still don't think it's bad... just very weak year especially when compared to it's competitors and years before. Universal is clearly aware of the problems this year hence the surveys sent out a few weeks ago to guests and the supposed increase in budget for next year. I believe I said this on here but I'll say it again, HHN this year was a clear victim of circumstances and we all know why. (Construction in the upper lot, removal of certain IPs, having to remodel a property,ect). The HHN magic is still present in this year (Roanoke, Shining, Titans) it's just not present enough. All of this is a good thing though. Like some of you said, it shows that there's room for improvement and an overall more enjoyable experience for everyone's tastes.

 

[DTH]

Anyone know about any price drops for the final weekend? I know Thursday went all the way down to $59, so I'm hoping Friday and Saturday may look similar. Or any other special last weekend surprises?

 

[HorrorNightsFan13]

This year is not a terrible year of HHN. I haven’t written my review yet because I’d like to factor in both trips, however from my first experience I didn’t think this year was that terrible.
I said it in my vlog, and I’ll say it on here Incase nobody watched it (shameless plug?) But this year, in my opinion, reminded me of 2015
We had two mazes that were incredible,
2015: Halloween and Insidious
2017: The Shining and Titans

Mazes that were pretty good-great range
2015: Crimson Peak and The Walking Dead
2017: Saw and Insidious and AHS

Meh mazes,
2015: AVP (exact repeat, meh)
2017: Blumhouse

And mazes that are so bad we don’t wanna talk about them
2015: This is The End 3D
2017: Ash vs. Evil Dead

Overall, it’s not a terrible year, nowhere near as incredible as 2016, but it’s still pretty good. The worst year of the event, for me, has been 2014 and this is much much better than 2014. All of this is opinion though, there are ALOT of negatives to this year though, the excessive black walls have become a constant problem, but without ridicule the event will never improve. I love this event with all of my heart, it’s the best thing that’s happened to my life because it’s pretty much influenced every aspect of my life to make me who I am today, but I’m still gonna go and I’m still gonna critique everything but I’m also going to enjoy everything (okay most of everything). As much as I appreciate what John has done for this event, it does show this year that the scares are somewhat stale. Hopefully, if he reads any of our complaints, he’ll take them into account for 2018, if not I think it’s time for new blood to take over which is painful to say since I have idolized John and his work for years, but sometimes changing things up isn’t a bad idea

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Aight, so I've attended this year's event 9 times so far and I have to say that it is definitely not horrible. It's certainly not great, but it is absolutely a solid year overall. The event has gotten a lot thrown at it for repeated themes and lack of atmosphere, but I really don't think this was the fault of anybody in particular or any group of people. My current hypothesis after looking at this year's sort of muddled execution in comparison to last year's grandeur is probably due to a massively slashed budget. I wouldn't be surprised if last year they went waaaay over budget with everything and were forced to majorly scale back this year. The usage of themes we've seen in the past suggest to me that they were forced to go with the easiest possible choices, the inside sources during actor initiation claiming the existence of maze elements that were nowhere to be seen, and the abundance of black walls make it very clear to me that this year's follies were a budget issue. The addition of an eighth maze could have been to supplement what they knew was going to be a shaky year. I still have massive respect for the entire team behind the event for powering through all the hurtles that have been in the way this year, and I hope I've been able to rationalize the advocates for the quality of this year's event.

 

[DTH]

To follow up my question about any additional discounts, Universal just sent me an email to return to HHN for only... $49!!!! That's the cheapest it's been in almost decade.

 

[Freak]

They only sold out eight nights. They definitely sold out more than that last year.