- Jan 30, 2013
- 85
- 28
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Here's my lengthy review for HHN 2013:
We got there around four and there were already some people lined up for the event. Me and some people in my group went for dinner on CityWalk (I had Flame Broiler). Afterwards, we went back to the gates and lined up around five. About two hours later, the gates opened, we were let in, and were up towards the front to see the Purge commence. I loved the opening ceremony and the announcement got me pumped. We headed straight for the lower lot and headed for Evil Dead.
Note that I will try to keep this review fairly spoiler-free, but I may delve into some minor spoilers that I don't think will ruin the hoses for you.
Evil Dead: Book of the Dead: We've waited years for this maze and we finally have it. I pretty much called it when I said that it would have the exact same "facade" as Silent Hill, but minus the trees. I wish they would hide the black wall a bit more with netting and vines like they did for F13, but whatever. I feel like they hid the black walls fairly well in this one for the forest scenes and loved how detailed everything was. The cabin looked very real and the details were many. The vomiting Mia looked pretty cool, but the other effects looked kind of silly; I was disappointed by those effects because I though that there would be literal simulated blood spraying everywhere. I guess that didn't work out. Overall, I got some good scares in here and saw this as a pretty solid maze. I liked Silent Hill just slightly more though. That house was gorgeous while this one was really gory.
Scares: B
Environment: B
Overall: B
Insidious: Into the Further: One of our members of the group had a guest assistance pass as she had back/knee trouble to be able to access the front of the line (Ugh, that was SO confusing how those lines were set up, but I'll talk about that towards the end of my review). So we got up to the facade and wondered where Specs and Tucker were to get to the prize. They weren't there. Later when we exited, we found out that they were standing in normal queue line. HUMPH!
No prize for me then. I'll try again when I go back later, but I never got to see how they were. Pretty retarded that they had them that far back. ANYWAY back to the house....
Everyone I knew who went to employee preview were raving about how awesome this house was. They even said that it was the best one of the event. I was really stoked for this one, but after going through it, I was let-down big time. The scenes inside of the house were alright, but the further was what really let me down. I knew ahead of time after being told by them that the Further would be mainly black walls. That's pretty much the only way to do it. But they got rid of the fog effects that Murdy kept talking about that was supposed to cover up the blank walls. Without the much-needed fog, the further looks more like the doldrums of mediocrity than the Further. I got scared maybe once or twice, but....ugh. I wanted to like this but it did absolutely nothing for me. Sorry to say that this was my least favorite next to UMR. This was *much* better than Texas though, I have to give it that.
Scares: C
Environments: C-
Overall: C-
We then headed to the tram to the "Dead on Arrival" experience. I'm not complaining, but I was surprised how long the walk was to get to the tram. It was pretty cool to get to walk around that backlot at night to load the trams. I was anticipating just a normal scarezone that we had to wonder, but when we got there, I was VERY surprised to see a "mini maze" that we had to walk through to get to the experience. THAT was really neat. I loved the immersion of the NY streets and the energy of the talent. This is definitely the best scarezone in haunt history. You just can't top this. REALLY cool experience. But, onto our third house
Black Sabbath: 13 3D: As many of you may know, this was my most-anticipated house of the event. I am a BS fan as I love their music. Add onto the fact that it's a sound stage house and that had me pretty excited. When I got in, I loved the facade and how the entrance was set-up as a pre-scare experience for going in. As I walked through, I noticed that the maze pretty much felt the same as Alice Cooper (Same walls!) but had better music and wider rooms. I was a little put off on how they reused some of the saw props as they looked very half-heartedly thrown in there and looked out-of-place as well as how the 3D paint was used to substitute the detail in the maze. This didn't really feel like a SS house as there weren't any large/tall rooms that would have loved to see. I hope that whatever goes into 747 next year will have bigger rooms and taller sets because that's what a SS is supposed to be about, no? All negativity aside, I still loved this maze and got a couple of scares in here even though they were a bit predictable. It was fun to see the rooms and hear NIB, Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, and all of my other favorite songs played in there. I just found it interesting that none of the songs from 13 were in there as it was all about 13. Oh, and I loved the nuclear explosion room. That was pretty neat.
Scares: C+
Environment: B+
Overall: B
Te Walking Dead: No Safe Haven: After seeing the show, I was looking forward to seeing the newest incarnation based on season 3. I loved the facade and how it appeared bigger than Dead Inside's last year. After walking through this, Walking Dead is probably my favorite of the event. Some of the sets in there (Cell Block C and the helicopter crash) had me in complete awe. I didn't really get any scares in the cell block room, but that's okay. The scale of that room was AWESOME! I was looking around at both of the giant rooms going, "Holy smokes this is incredible! They even put a ceiling in!" The "horde scare" and some of the other ones in there were really effective but the sets in there were grand. Someone else on here mentioned in a review mentioned how this felt more sound-stage like that BS. I would strongly agree with that. THIS is how you do a sound stage house. The only thing I was disappointed about was how brightly lit he catacombs were. I wish they could've been darker and was hoping for some "dark" walker scares, but oh well. Walking Dead still kicks a LOT of tail as the best house of the event. The line kept jamming up which annoyed me pretty bad, but that's okay. Those sets...I want to go back to HHN just to see this again and appreciate the sets.
Scares: A-
Environment: A+
Overall: A+
So we headed to the upper lot taking the handicap van back to the lower lot. We went upstairs and ate at Pink's. I wanted to get a chili cheese burger, but during HHN, they only sell chili cheese dogs. Um, WTC?! I met-up and talked with some of my more fanatical friends for HHN while eating. Afterwards, we went our ways, and my group went for the Terror Tram.
Terror Tram: Well, I haven't really enjoyed the TT since I've first gone in 2009. When the event first started, this was great to be able to experience. Now it has become a stale haunted attraction with the same routine. Seeing the additions they've made for the TT, I've still kept my expectations low, but I allowed myself to be cautiously optimistic and possibly might eat crow on Terror Tram being lame as usual. Well, after going through it, I can eat the head and throw the rest out the window. It was definitely an improvement from last year, I even got scared a couple of times! I would say that this was our best TT in years, but still not as good as 2009's. Nothing beats the sheet maze. Nothing people. Terror Tram was still a bit stale, but it was an improvement.
Overall: C+
Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure: I loved last year's show. It was great. The energy was great, the finale was awesome, and they even referenced the original movies! This year, however, was a big step down from 2012. I liked the choice for the villain but there's so much they could've done with him. Without spoiling who he is, I would've loved to see him mimic the number from a certain movie that came out in 2004. Overall, the show was alright. Got a few laughs, but nothing about it seemed epic.
Overall: C
El Cucuy: The Boogieman: All of my HHN fan-peeps absolutely HATED this maze. I mean, they despised it. They put lower that Texas 2012 and even UMR. They even compared this to a Fright Fest maze. They way they described it to me in line for Bill and Ted made it sound like that this was a giant turd that Murdy decided to hold in to save for the event. I had normal expectations for this, but after I heard about it, I had almost zero. I went through it and actually liked it! It's my top-three mazes, being third. They complained about how the mel's signage cracked through the theater sequence about the third room in and how you could see the the Persian Square surrounding you in the maze, taking you out of the environment. Well, I disagree. I think the surrounding area helped the atmosphere and put me more into it, especially the front yard sequence for the house. The whole fence path and the front yard felt like and actual neighborhood with the buildings surrounding us. The theater felt like a city with Mel's neon peering through. I think it actually helped. I liked the concept of the house and loved how they depicted him as the monster of our nightmares. The birthday scene...man, sent chills down my spine hearing the aftermath noise.
i loved the final sequence as we're going into his lair and loved the scares used in there. The whole area felt very tight and cramped increasing tension for me and making it scarier. I actually got the most scares in this maze. I noticed that in the concept art that they posted for the website, they showed the reusage of the Thing puppet for El Cucuy. He wasn't in there. I'm glad they didn't use him because I felt he had his time. I overall enjoyed this house quite a bit and loved the story and the atmosphere of it. I also liked how the maze went into the building. One thing I will say is that I HATED that black hallway. It didn't ruin it for me like it did to my friends, but yikes. For Horror Nights standards, that is AWFUL. They couldn't put anything on the walls? Even more brick walls with posters would've sufficed. Also, it would've been nice to add decor or window silhouettes to the surrounding square to enhance the feel.
I will say that I that the venue worked very much to the advantage of the atmosphere. Unless they can come up with a new suburban-themed maze for next year in that area that wouldn't require much space, the Persian venue is severely limited on what they can do. There's not a whole lot of space and the surrounding buildings can ruin the immersion if the theme isn't proper. But still, I loved this house. I still prefer La Llorona though in set design.
Scares: A
Environment: B+
Overall: B+
Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection: Our final maze of the night. We saved the worst for last. I had fun in this and still *kinda* did this year, but it's the same thing. It's House of Horrors and the House of Horrible Overlays. Man, I wish this venue can just die, but it can't. It's like the obnoxious kid that barges into your date making jokes about chickens crossing the road or about Alec Baldwin and you just can't lose him. That's what the overlays are every year. Anyway, UMR is the same as last year, with some subtle tweaks. If you have time to kill you might as well go through it but otherwise....don't bother. When I go back, I may not bother at all with this unless I want to linger.
Overall: F
So what did I think of it? Well, I would say overall that this.....would be....my favorite year. Definitely better than last year and just slightly better than 2011. I loved the Walking Dead, the availability of a sound stage, the backlot experience, the improvement of Terror Tram, and no repeating houses (Forget House of Horrors); however, I noticing the overall quality of the event starting to plateau a bit. I've noticed a lot or repurposing of sets in Black Sabbath from Alice Cooper and the same "cutting" gag be reused many times over everywhere. Also, what was up with all of the Saw props being reused?
It's apparent that the event has developed a "business as usual" mood. Just reuse a lot of stuff, reuse the same scare tactics (Someone running out of a curtain or a door can only be fresh for so long), and just stick with the same formula as always. Even though I enjoyed the event, I feel like the quality of the event is leveling out while the prices keep going up. You would think that with the increased capacity, the bombardment of advertisements and promotions, and the increase in admission price, that the event would freshen it up with new scare tactics, newer, improved, and larger sets, and immersive detail and virtually every corner. Eh, not really. Murdy has taken a few baby steps in terms of trying new things, but it's very subtle and not a significant innovation.
Another thing I want to mention: This was the worst year for crowd organization. The construction hasn't helped much at all. Granted, the upper lot crowds weren't quite as bad as I was anticipating. However, it is really annoying to have to go around that giant wall that eats a third of the upper lot to get to the Terror Tram. when we were trying to use our Guest Assistance Pass (GAP) for Insidious, the sign pointed to Gate A/GAP Access up where the normal entrance was. The attendant pointed towards the restrooms for the FoL entrance. For the backlot, the FotL entrance for BS was where the WD normal entrance was and vice versa. It was very confusing and hindered our experience for the event.
From Best to least, here's my personal list of mazes:
-Walking Dead
-Black Sabbath
-El Cucuy
-Evil Dead
-Insidious
-Terror Tram
.
.
.
-UMR
I liked the event even though there was much room for improvement, but I think Knott's has a very fair chance at being better than HHN this year. IMO, it was last year. So far, what I'm seeing with Knott's has me very excited with their original concepts and their risk-taking (I.e. a mirror maze). They're increasing their quality and being innovative yet their prices have hardly increased (At least from my standards). If Haunt really is going to be as good or even better than anticipate, HHN better take notice.
for next year, here's what I propose:
-Cabin in the Woods, Trick r Treat, and Resident Evil please. No exuses. Don't give me any nonsense about it. do it.
-No more Walking Dead. If you opt out RE for more Walking Dead.....I'm done. I love the show but the advert overload for this show is too much.
-No more rockstar or 3D houses, especially not both anymore. If we do get anymore, I know it's going to feel exactly the same as AC or BS. Just stop the 3D. PLEASE!
-Use the Sound stage for epic, and I mean HUGE sets...you know, the kind we were hoping for in the first place. More of what WD has.
-For something original, do something different besides pandering to the hispanics. Do something different.
-Stop reusing so many props. Especially retire all of the Saw props. Please.
-Give us new scare tactics. Distraction/scare is old now.
-Again. No more 3D. I've had my fill of it.
-Make sure the lines are more organized
-Don't get us excited for effects that aren't likely going to work (I.e. Blood in ED and the fog in Insidious).
We got there around four and there were already some people lined up for the event. Me and some people in my group went for dinner on CityWalk (I had Flame Broiler). Afterwards, we went back to the gates and lined up around five. About two hours later, the gates opened, we were let in, and were up towards the front to see the Purge commence. I loved the opening ceremony and the announcement got me pumped. We headed straight for the lower lot and headed for Evil Dead.
Note that I will try to keep this review fairly spoiler-free, but I may delve into some minor spoilers that I don't think will ruin the hoses for you.
Evil Dead: Book of the Dead: We've waited years for this maze and we finally have it. I pretty much called it when I said that it would have the exact same "facade" as Silent Hill, but minus the trees. I wish they would hide the black wall a bit more with netting and vines like they did for F13, but whatever. I feel like they hid the black walls fairly well in this one for the forest scenes and loved how detailed everything was. The cabin looked very real and the details were many. The vomiting Mia looked pretty cool, but the other effects looked kind of silly; I was disappointed by those effects because I though that there would be literal simulated blood spraying everywhere. I guess that didn't work out. Overall, I got some good scares in here and saw this as a pretty solid maze. I liked Silent Hill just slightly more though. That house was gorgeous while this one was really gory.
Scares: B
Environment: B
Overall: B
Insidious: Into the Further: One of our members of the group had a guest assistance pass as she had back/knee trouble to be able to access the front of the line (Ugh, that was SO confusing how those lines were set up, but I'll talk about that towards the end of my review). So we got up to the facade and wondered where Specs and Tucker were to get to the prize. They weren't there. Later when we exited, we found out that they were standing in normal queue line. HUMPH!
Everyone I knew who went to employee preview were raving about how awesome this house was. They even said that it was the best one of the event. I was really stoked for this one, but after going through it, I was let-down big time. The scenes inside of the house were alright, but the further was what really let me down. I knew ahead of time after being told by them that the Further would be mainly black walls. That's pretty much the only way to do it. But they got rid of the fog effects that Murdy kept talking about that was supposed to cover up the blank walls. Without the much-needed fog, the further looks more like the doldrums of mediocrity than the Further. I got scared maybe once or twice, but....ugh. I wanted to like this but it did absolutely nothing for me. Sorry to say that this was my least favorite next to UMR. This was *much* better than Texas though, I have to give it that.
Scares: C
Environments: C-
Overall: C-
We then headed to the tram to the "Dead on Arrival" experience. I'm not complaining, but I was surprised how long the walk was to get to the tram. It was pretty cool to get to walk around that backlot at night to load the trams. I was anticipating just a normal scarezone that we had to wonder, but when we got there, I was VERY surprised to see a "mini maze" that we had to walk through to get to the experience. THAT was really neat. I loved the immersion of the NY streets and the energy of the talent. This is definitely the best scarezone in haunt history. You just can't top this. REALLY cool experience. But, onto our third house
Black Sabbath: 13 3D: As many of you may know, this was my most-anticipated house of the event. I am a BS fan as I love their music. Add onto the fact that it's a sound stage house and that had me pretty excited. When I got in, I loved the facade and how the entrance was set-up as a pre-scare experience for going in. As I walked through, I noticed that the maze pretty much felt the same as Alice Cooper (Same walls!) but had better music and wider rooms. I was a little put off on how they reused some of the saw props as they looked very half-heartedly thrown in there and looked out-of-place as well as how the 3D paint was used to substitute the detail in the maze. This didn't really feel like a SS house as there weren't any large/tall rooms that would have loved to see. I hope that whatever goes into 747 next year will have bigger rooms and taller sets because that's what a SS is supposed to be about, no? All negativity aside, I still loved this maze and got a couple of scares in here even though they were a bit predictable. It was fun to see the rooms and hear NIB, Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, and all of my other favorite songs played in there. I just found it interesting that none of the songs from 13 were in there as it was all about 13. Oh, and I loved the nuclear explosion room. That was pretty neat.
Scares: C+
Environment: B+
Overall: B
Te Walking Dead: No Safe Haven: After seeing the show, I was looking forward to seeing the newest incarnation based on season 3. I loved the facade and how it appeared bigger than Dead Inside's last year. After walking through this, Walking Dead is probably my favorite of the event. Some of the sets in there (Cell Block C and the helicopter crash) had me in complete awe. I didn't really get any scares in the cell block room, but that's okay. The scale of that room was AWESOME! I was looking around at both of the giant rooms going, "Holy smokes this is incredible! They even put a ceiling in!" The "horde scare" and some of the other ones in there were really effective but the sets in there were grand. Someone else on here mentioned in a review mentioned how this felt more sound-stage like that BS. I would strongly agree with that. THIS is how you do a sound stage house. The only thing I was disappointed about was how brightly lit he catacombs were. I wish they could've been darker and was hoping for some "dark" walker scares, but oh well. Walking Dead still kicks a LOT of tail as the best house of the event. The line kept jamming up which annoyed me pretty bad, but that's okay. Those sets...I want to go back to HHN just to see this again and appreciate the sets.
Scares: A-
Environment: A+
Overall: A+
So we headed to the upper lot taking the handicap van back to the lower lot. We went upstairs and ate at Pink's. I wanted to get a chili cheese burger, but during HHN, they only sell chili cheese dogs. Um, WTC?! I met-up and talked with some of my more fanatical friends for HHN while eating. Afterwards, we went our ways, and my group went for the Terror Tram.
Terror Tram: Well, I haven't really enjoyed the TT since I've first gone in 2009. When the event first started, this was great to be able to experience. Now it has become a stale haunted attraction with the same routine. Seeing the additions they've made for the TT, I've still kept my expectations low, but I allowed myself to be cautiously optimistic and possibly might eat crow on Terror Tram being lame as usual. Well, after going through it, I can eat the head and throw the rest out the window. It was definitely an improvement from last year, I even got scared a couple of times! I would say that this was our best TT in years, but still not as good as 2009's. Nothing beats the sheet maze. Nothing people. Terror Tram was still a bit stale, but it was an improvement.
Overall: C+
Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure: I loved last year's show. It was great. The energy was great, the finale was awesome, and they even referenced the original movies! This year, however, was a big step down from 2012. I liked the choice for the villain but there's so much they could've done with him. Without spoiling who he is, I would've loved to see him mimic the number from a certain movie that came out in 2004. Overall, the show was alright. Got a few laughs, but nothing about it seemed epic.
Overall: C
El Cucuy: The Boogieman: All of my HHN fan-peeps absolutely HATED this maze. I mean, they despised it. They put lower that Texas 2012 and even UMR. They even compared this to a Fright Fest maze. They way they described it to me in line for Bill and Ted made it sound like that this was a giant turd that Murdy decided to hold in to save for the event. I had normal expectations for this, but after I heard about it, I had almost zero. I went through it and actually liked it! It's my top-three mazes, being third. They complained about how the mel's signage cracked through the theater sequence about the third room in and how you could see the the Persian Square surrounding you in the maze, taking you out of the environment. Well, I disagree. I think the surrounding area helped the atmosphere and put me more into it, especially the front yard sequence for the house. The whole fence path and the front yard felt like and actual neighborhood with the buildings surrounding us. The theater felt like a city with Mel's neon peering through. I think it actually helped. I liked the concept of the house and loved how they depicted him as the monster of our nightmares. The birthday scene...man, sent chills down my spine hearing the aftermath noise.
i loved the final sequence as we're going into his lair and loved the scares used in there. The whole area felt very tight and cramped increasing tension for me and making it scarier. I actually got the most scares in this maze. I noticed that in the concept art that they posted for the website, they showed the reusage of the Thing puppet for El Cucuy. He wasn't in there. I'm glad they didn't use him because I felt he had his time. I overall enjoyed this house quite a bit and loved the story and the atmosphere of it. I also liked how the maze went into the building. One thing I will say is that I HATED that black hallway. It didn't ruin it for me like it did to my friends, but yikes. For Horror Nights standards, that is AWFUL. They couldn't put anything on the walls? Even more brick walls with posters would've sufficed. Also, it would've been nice to add decor or window silhouettes to the surrounding square to enhance the feel.
I will say that I that the venue worked very much to the advantage of the atmosphere. Unless they can come up with a new suburban-themed maze for next year in that area that wouldn't require much space, the Persian venue is severely limited on what they can do. There's not a whole lot of space and the surrounding buildings can ruin the immersion if the theme isn't proper. But still, I loved this house. I still prefer La Llorona though in set design.
Scares: A
Environment: B+
Overall: B+
Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection: Our final maze of the night. We saved the worst for last. I had fun in this and still *kinda* did this year, but it's the same thing. It's House of Horrors and the House of Horrible Overlays. Man, I wish this venue can just die, but it can't. It's like the obnoxious kid that barges into your date making jokes about chickens crossing the road or about Alec Baldwin and you just can't lose him. That's what the overlays are every year. Anyway, UMR is the same as last year, with some subtle tweaks. If you have time to kill you might as well go through it but otherwise....don't bother. When I go back, I may not bother at all with this unless I want to linger.
Overall: F
So what did I think of it? Well, I would say overall that this.....would be....my favorite year. Definitely better than last year and just slightly better than 2011. I loved the Walking Dead, the availability of a sound stage, the backlot experience, the improvement of Terror Tram, and no repeating houses (Forget House of Horrors); however, I noticing the overall quality of the event starting to plateau a bit. I've noticed a lot or repurposing of sets in Black Sabbath from Alice Cooper and the same "cutting" gag be reused many times over everywhere. Also, what was up with all of the Saw props being reused?
It's apparent that the event has developed a "business as usual" mood. Just reuse a lot of stuff, reuse the same scare tactics (Someone running out of a curtain or a door can only be fresh for so long), and just stick with the same formula as always. Even though I enjoyed the event, I feel like the quality of the event is leveling out while the prices keep going up. You would think that with the increased capacity, the bombardment of advertisements and promotions, and the increase in admission price, that the event would freshen it up with new scare tactics, newer, improved, and larger sets, and immersive detail and virtually every corner. Eh, not really. Murdy has taken a few baby steps in terms of trying new things, but it's very subtle and not a significant innovation.
Another thing I want to mention: This was the worst year for crowd organization. The construction hasn't helped much at all. Granted, the upper lot crowds weren't quite as bad as I was anticipating. However, it is really annoying to have to go around that giant wall that eats a third of the upper lot to get to the Terror Tram. when we were trying to use our Guest Assistance Pass (GAP) for Insidious, the sign pointed to Gate A/GAP Access up where the normal entrance was. The attendant pointed towards the restrooms for the FoL entrance. For the backlot, the FotL entrance for BS was where the WD normal entrance was and vice versa. It was very confusing and hindered our experience for the event.
From Best to least, here's my personal list of mazes:
-Walking Dead
-Black Sabbath
-El Cucuy
-Evil Dead
-Insidious
-Terror Tram
.
.
.
-UMR
I liked the event even though there was much room for improvement, but I think Knott's has a very fair chance at being better than HHN this year. IMO, it was last year. So far, what I'm seeing with Knott's has me very excited with their original concepts and their risk-taking (I.e. a mirror maze). They're increasing their quality and being innovative yet their prices have hardly increased (At least from my standards). If Haunt really is going to be as good or even better than anticipate, HHN better take notice.
for next year, here's what I propose:
-Cabin in the Woods, Trick r Treat, and Resident Evil please. No exuses. Don't give me any nonsense about it. do it.
-No more Walking Dead. If you opt out RE for more Walking Dead.....I'm done. I love the show but the advert overload for this show is too much.
-No more rockstar or 3D houses, especially not both anymore. If we do get anymore, I know it's going to feel exactly the same as AC or BS. Just stop the 3D. PLEASE!
-Use the Sound stage for epic, and I mean HUGE sets...you know, the kind we were hoping for in the first place. More of what WD has.
-For something original, do something different besides pandering to the hispanics. Do something different.
-Stop reusing so many props. Especially retire all of the Saw props. Please.
-Give us new scare tactics. Distraction/scare is old now.
-Again. No more 3D. I've had my fill of it.
-Make sure the lines are more organized
-Don't get us excited for effects that aren't likely going to work (I.e. Blood in ED and the fog in Insidious).
- Jan 30, 2013
- 85
- 28
I agree with this list all except reverse Insidious and El Cucuy. First time I went through Insidious they had the fog effects in the further and it made it more terrifying. The prize I got was a spectral sightings card by Elise Rainer and Specs and Tucker. By far my favorite maze of the night. I wanted to like El Cucuy but I ended up being so disappointed with it. The scares were minimal and notable gaps in between, I couldn't understand what Danny Trejo was saying which was a shame because I was looking forward to hearing him narrate. Loved the sets and the concept but the execution was poor.Here's my lengthy review for HHN 2013:
We got there around four and there were already some people lined up for the event. Me and some people in my group went for dinner on CityWalk (I had Flame Broiler). Afterwards, we went back to the gates and lined up around five. About two hours later, the gates opened, we were let in, and were up towards the front to see the Purge commence. I loved the opening ceremony and the announcement got me pumped. We headed straight for the lower lot and headed for Evil Dead.
Note that I will try to keep this review fairly spoiler-free, but I may delve into some minor spoilers that I don't think will ruin the hoses for you.
Evil Dead: Book of the Dead: We've waited years for this maze and we finally have it. I pretty much called it when I said that it would have the exact same "facade" as Silent Hill, but minus the trees. I wish they would hide the black wall a bit more with netting and vines like they did for F13, but whatever. I feel like they hid the black walls fairly well in this one for the forest scenes and loved how detailed everything was. The cabin looked very real and the details were many. The vomiting Mia looked pretty cool, but the other effects looked kind of silly; I was disappointed by those effects because I though that there would be literal simulated blood spraying everywhere. I guess that didn't work out. Overall, I got some good scares in here and saw this as a pretty solid maze. I liked Silent Hill just slightly more though. That house was gorgeous while this one was really gory.
Scares: B
Environment: B
Overall: B
Insidious: Into the Further: One of our members of the group had a guest assistance pass as she had back/knee trouble to be able to access the front of the line (Ugh, that was SO confusing how those lines were set up, but I'll talk about that towards the end of my review). So we got up to the facade and wondered where Specs and Tucker were to get to the prize. They weren't there. Later when we exited, we found out that they were standing in normal queue line. HUMPH!No prize for me then. I'll try again when I go back later, but I never got to see how they were. Pretty retarded that they had them that far back. ANYWAY back to the house....
Everyone I knew who went to employee preview were raving about how awesome this house was. They even said that it was the best one of the event. I was really stoked for this one, but after going through it, I was let-down big time. The scenes inside of the house were alright, but the further was what really let me down. I knew ahead of time after being told by them that the Further would be mainly black walls. That's pretty much the only way to do it. But they got rid of the fog effects that Murdy kept talking about that was supposed to cover up the blank walls. Without the much-needed fog, the further looks more like the doldrums of mediocrity than the Further. I got scared maybe once or twice, but....ugh. I wanted to like this but it did absolutely nothing for me. Sorry to say that this was my least favorite next to UMR. This was *much* better than Texas though, I have to give it that.
Scares: C
Environments: C-
Overall: C-
We then headed to the tram to the "Dead on Arrival" experience. I'm not complaining, but I was surprised how long the walk was to get to the tram. It was pretty cool to get to walk around that backlot at night to load the trams. I was anticipating just a normal scarezone that we had to wonder, but when we got there, I was VERY surprised to see a "mini maze" that we had to walk through to get to the experience. THAT was really neat. I loved the immersion of the NY streets and the energy of the talent. This is definitely the best scarezone in haunt history. You just can't top this. REALLY cool experience. But, onto our third house
Black Sabbath: 13 3D: As many of you may know, this was my most-anticipated house of the event. I am a BS fan as I love their music. Add onto the fact that it's a sound stage house and that had me pretty excited. When I got in, I loved the facade and how the entrance was set-up as a pre-scare experience for going in. As I walked through, I noticed that the maze pretty much felt the same as Alice Cooper (Same walls!) but had better music and wider rooms. I was a little put off on how they reused some of the saw props as they looked very half-heartedly thrown in there and looked out-of-place as well as how the 3D paint was used to substitute the detail in the maze. This didn't really feel like a SS house as there weren't any large/tall rooms that would have loved to see. I hope that whatever goes into 747 next year will have bigger rooms and taller sets because that's what a SS is supposed to be about, no? All negativity aside, I still loved this maze and got a couple of scares in here even though they were a bit predictable. It was fun to see the rooms and hear NIB, Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, and all of my other favorite songs played in there. I just found it interesting that none of the songs from 13 were in there as it was all about 13. Oh, and I loved the nuclear explosion room. That was pretty neat.
Scares: C+
Environment: B+
Overall: B
Te Walking Dead: No Safe Haven: After seeing the show, I was looking forward to seeing the newest incarnation based on season 3. I loved the facade and how it appeared bigger than Dead Inside's last year. After walking through this, Walking Dead is probably my favorite of the event. Some of the sets in there (Cell Block C and the helicopter crash) had me in complete awe. I didn't really get any scares in the cell block room, but that's okay. The scale of that room was AWESOME! I was looking around at both of the giant rooms going, "Holy smokes this is incredible! They even put a ceiling in!" The "horde scare" and some of the other ones in there were really effective but the sets in there were grand. Someone else on here mentioned in a review mentioned how this felt more sound-stage like that BS. I would strongly agree with that. THIS is how you do a sound stage house. The only thing I was disappointed about was how brightly lit he catacombs were. I wish they could've been darker and was hoping for some "dark" walker scares, but oh well. Walking Dead still kicks a LOT of tail as the best house of the event. The line kept jamming up which annoyed me pretty bad, but that's okay. Those sets...I want to go back to HHN just to see this again and appreciate the sets.
Scares: A-
Environment: A+
Overall: A+
So we headed to the upper lot taking the handicap van back to the lower lot. We went upstairs and ate at Pink's. I wanted to get a chili cheese burger, but during HHN, they only sell chili cheese dogs. Um, WTC?! I met-up and talked with some of my more fanatical friends for HHN while eating. Afterwards, we went our ways, and my group went for the Terror Tram.
Terror Tram: Well, I haven't really enjoyed the TT since I've first gone in 2009. When the event first started, this was great to be able to experience. Now it has become a stale haunted attraction with the same routine. Seeing the additions they've made for the TT, I've still kept my expectations low, but I allowed myself to be cautiously optimistic and possibly might eat crow on Terror Tram being lame as usual. Well, after going through it, I can eat the head and throw the rest out the window. It was definitely an improvement from last year, I even got scared a couple of times! I would say that this was our best TT in years, but still not as good as 2009's. Nothing beats the sheet maze. Nothing people. Terror Tram was still a bit stale, but it was an improvement.
Overall: C+
Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure: I loved last year's show. It was great. The energy was great, the finale was awesome, and they even referenced the original movies! This year, however, was a big step down from 2012. I liked the choice for the villain but there's so much they could've done with him. Without spoiling who he is, I would've loved to see him mimic the number from a certain movie that came out in 2004. Overall, the show was alright. Got a few laughs, but nothing about it seemed epic.
Overall: C
El Cucuy: The Boogieman: All of my HHN fan-peeps absolutely HATED this maze. I mean, they despised it. They put lower that Texas 2012 and even UMR. They even compared this to a Fright Fest maze. They way they described it to me in line for Bill and Ted made it sound like that this was a giant turd that Murdy decided to hold in to save for the event. I had normal expectations for this, but after I heard about it, I had almost zero. I went through it and actually liked it! It's my top-three mazes, being third. They complained about how the mel's signage cracked through the theater sequence about the third room in and how you could see the the Persian Square surrounding you in the maze, taking you out of the environment. Well, I disagree. I think the surrounding area helped the atmosphere and put me more into it, especially the front yard sequence for the house. The whole fence path and the front yard felt like and actual neighborhood with the buildings surrounding us. The theater felt like a city with Mel's neon peering through. I think it actually helped. I liked the concept of the house and loved how they depicted him as the monster of our nightmares. The birthday scene...man, sent chills down my spine hearing the aftermath noise.
i loved the final sequence as we're going into his lair and loved the scares used in there. The whole area felt very tight and cramped increasing tension for me and making it scarier. I actually got the most scares in this maze. I noticed that in the concept art that they posted for the website, they showed the reusage of the Thing puppet for El Cucuy. He wasn't in there. I'm glad they didn't use him because I felt he had his time. I overall enjoyed this house quite a bit and loved the story and the atmosphere of it. I also liked how the maze went into the building. One thing I will say is that I HATED that black hallway. It didn't ruin it for me like it did to my friends, but yikes. For Horror Nights standards, that is AWFUL. They couldn't put anything on the walls? Even more brick walls with posters would've sufficed. Also, it would've been nice to add decor or window silhouettes to the surrounding square to enhance the feel.
I will say that I that the venue worked very much to the advantage of the atmosphere. Unless they can come up with a new suburban-themed maze for next year in that area that wouldn't require much space, the Persian venue is severely limited on what they can do. There's not a whole lot of space and the surrounding buildings can ruin the immersion if the theme isn't proper. But still, I loved this house. I still prefer La Llorona though in set design.
Scares: A
Environment: B+
Overall: B+
Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection: Our final maze of the night. We saved the worst for last. I had fun in this and still *kinda* did this year, but it's the same thing. It's House of Horrors and the House of Horrible Overlays. Man, I wish this venue can just die, but it can't. It's like the obnoxious kid that barges into your date making jokes about chickens crossing the road or about Alec Baldwin and you just can't lose him. That's what the overlays are every year. Anyway, UMR is the same as last year, with some subtle tweaks. If you have time to kill you might as well go through it but otherwise....don't bother. When I go back, I may not bother at all with this unless I want to linger.
Overall: F
So what did I think of it? Well, I would say overall that this.....would be....my favorite year. Definitely better than last year and just slightly better than 2011. I loved the Walking Dead, the availability of a sound stage, the backlot experience, the improvement of Terror Tram, and no repeating houses (Forget House of Horrors); however, I noticing the overall quality of the event starting to plateau a bit. I've noticed a lot or repurposing of sets in Black Sabbath from Alice Cooper and the same "cutting" gag be reused many times over everywhere. Also, what was up with all of the Saw props being reused?
It's apparent that the event has developed a "business as usual" mood. Just reuse a lot of stuff, reuse the same scare tactics (Someone running out of a curtain or a door can only be fresh for so long), and just stick with the same formula as always. Even though I enjoyed the event, I feel like the quality of the event is leveling out while the prices keep going up. You would think that with the increased capacity, the bombardment of advertisements and promotions, and the increase in admission price, that the event would freshen it up with new scare tactics, newer, improved, and larger sets, and immersive detail and virtually every corner. Eh, not really. Murdy has taken a few baby steps in terms of trying new things, but it's very subtle and not a significant innovation.
Another thing I want to mention: This was the worst year for crowd organization. The construction hasn't helped much at all. Granted, the upper lot crowds weren't quite as bad as I was anticipating. However, it is really annoying to have to go around that giant wall that eats a third of the upper lot to get to the Terror Tram. when we were trying to use our Guest Assistance Pass (GAP) for Insidious, the sign pointed to Gate A/GAP Access up where the normal entrance was. The attendant pointed towards the restrooms for the FoL entrance. For the backlot, the FotL entrance for BS was where the WD normal entrance was and vice versa. It was very confusing and hindered our experience for the event.
From Best to least, here's my personal list of mazes:
-Walking Dead
-Black Sabbath
-El Cucuy
-Evil Dead
-Insidious
-Terror Tram
.
.
.
-UMR
I liked the event even though there was much room for improvement, but I think Knott's has a very fair chance at being better than HHN this year. IMO, it was last year. So far, what I'm seeing with Knott's has me very excited with their original concepts and their risk-taking (I.e. a mirror maze). They're increasing their quality and being innovative yet their prices have hardly increased (At least from my standards). If Haunt really is going to be as good or even better than anticipate, HHN better take notice.
for next year, here's what I propose:
-Cabin in the Woods, Trick r Treat, and Resident Evil please. No exuses. Don't give me any nonsense about it. do it.
-No more Walking Dead. If you opt out RE for more Walking Dead.....I'm done. I love the show but the advert overload for this show is too much.
-No more rockstar or 3D houses, especially not both anymore. If we do get anymore, I know it's going to feel exactly the same as AC or BS. Just stop the 3D. PLEASE!
-Use the Sound stage for epic, and I mean HUGE sets...you know, the kind we were hoping for in the first place. More of what WD has.
-For something original, do something different besides pandering to the hispanics. Do something different.
-Stop reusing so many props. Especially retire all of the Saw props. Please.
-Give us new scare tactics. Distraction/scare is old now.
-Again. No more 3D. I've had my fill of it.
-Make sure the lines are more organized
-Don't get us excited for effects that aren't likely going to work (I.e. Blood in ED and the fog in Insidious).
Last edited by a moderator:
Jon Fu
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
Review and photos for this year's Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure are both up: http://insideuniversal.net/2013/09/bill-teds-excellent-halloween-adventure-2013/
I think it depends on the time of day. If you start out with El Cucuy early in the night when there's still some sunlight, the extra lightening from the sky could ruin a bit of the atmosphere.
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey everyone! Here are the photos and review for Evil Dead: Book of the Dead: http://insideuniversal.net/2013/09/evil-dead-book-of-the-dead-2013/
So I finally experienced HHN for the first time last night, and I had an awesome time. Though I wish there was a bit more to do, I loved the mazes and scarezones. I don't want to spoil too much, but here are my ratings for what's offered this year at HHN:
- Walking Dead: No Safe Haven --- 9/10
- Black Sabbath: 13-3D --- 7/10
- Evil Dead: Book of the Dead --- 9/10
- Insidious: Into the Further --- 9/10
- El Cucuy: The Boogeyman --- 9/10
- Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection --- 6/10
- Terror Tram: Invaded by The Walking Dead --- 8/10
- The Curse of Chucky --- 3/5
- The Purge: Survive the Night --- 4/5
- Cirque Du Klownz --- 4/5
- Scarecrowz --- 2/5
- The Walking Dead: Dead on Arrival --- 4/5
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure --- 7/10
- Walking Dead: No Safe Haven --- 9/10
- Black Sabbath: 13-3D --- 7/10
- Evil Dead: Book of the Dead --- 9/10
- Insidious: Into the Further --- 9/10
- El Cucuy: The Boogeyman --- 9/10
- Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection --- 6/10
- Terror Tram: Invaded by The Walking Dead --- 8/10
- The Curse of Chucky --- 3/5
- The Purge: Survive the Night --- 4/5
- Cirque Du Klownz --- 4/5
- Scarecrowz --- 2/5
- The Walking Dead: Dead on Arrival --- 4/5
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure --- 7/10
they wont do the same as that 2004 movie, since thats the guys son (jeeze its hard to believe that the movie came out that long ago!)Here's my lengthy review for HHN 2013:
We got there around four and there were already some people lined up for the event. Me and some people in my group went for dinner on CityWalk (I had Flame Broiler). Afterwards, we went back to the gates and lined up around five. About two hours later, the gates opened, we were let in, and were up towards the front to see the Purge commence. I loved the opening ceremony and the announcement got me pumped. We headed straight for the lower lot and headed for Evil Dead.
Note that I will try to keep this review fairly spoiler-free, but I may delve into some minor spoilers that I don't think will ruin the hoses for you.
Evil Dead: Book of the Dead: We've waited years for this maze and we finally have it. I pretty much called it when I said that it would have the exact same "facade" as Silent Hill, but minus the trees. I wish they would hide the black wall a bit more with netting and vines like they did for F13, but whatever. I feel like they hid the black walls fairly well in this one for the forest scenes and loved how detailed everything was. The cabin looked very real and the details were many. The vomiting Mia looked pretty cool, but the other effects looked kind of silly; I was disappointed by those effects because I though that there would be literal simulated blood spraying everywhere. I guess that didn't work out. Overall, I got some good scares in here and saw this as a pretty solid maze. I liked Silent Hill just slightly more though. That house was gorgeous while this one was really gory.
Scares: B
Environment: B
Overall: B
Insidious: Into the Further: One of our members of the group had a guest assistance pass as she had back/knee trouble to be able to access the front of the line (Ugh, that was SO confusing how those lines were set up, but I'll talk about that towards the end of my review). So we got up to the facade and wondered where Specs and Tucker were to get to the prize. They weren't there. Later when we exited, we found out that they were standing in normal queue line. HUMPH!No prize for me then. I'll try again when I go back later, but I never got to see how they were. Pretty retarded that they had them that far back. ANYWAY back to the house....
Everyone I knew who went to employee preview were raving about how awesome this house was. They even said that it was the best one of the event. I was really stoked for this one, but after going through it, I was let-down big time. The scenes inside of the house were alright, but the further was what really let me down. I knew ahead of time after being told by them that the Further would be mainly black walls. That's pretty much the only way to do it. But they got rid of the fog effects that Murdy kept talking about that was supposed to cover up the blank walls. Without the much-needed fog, the further looks more like the doldrums of mediocrity than the Further. I got scared maybe once or twice, but....ugh. I wanted to like this but it did absolutely nothing for me. Sorry to say that this was my least favorite next to UMR. This was *much* better than Texas though, I have to give it that.
Scares: C
Environments: C-
Overall: C-
We then headed to the tram to the "Dead on Arrival" experience. I'm not complaining, but I was surprised how long the walk was to get to the tram. It was pretty cool to get to walk around that backlot at night to load the trams. I was anticipating just a normal scarezone that we had to wonder, but when we got there, I was VERY surprised to see a "mini maze" that we had to walk through to get to the experience. THAT was really neat. I loved the immersion of the NY streets and the energy of the talent. This is definitely the best scarezone in haunt history. You just can't top this. REALLY cool experience. But, onto our third house
Black Sabbath: 13 3D: As many of you may know, this was my most-anticipated house of the event. I am a BS fan as I love their music. Add onto the fact that it's a sound stage house and that had me pretty excited. When I got in, I loved the facade and how the entrance was set-up as a pre-scare experience for going in. As I walked through, I noticed that the maze pretty much felt the same as Alice Cooper (Same walls!) but had better music and wider rooms. I was a little put off on how they reused some of the saw props as they looked very half-heartedly thrown in there and looked out-of-place as well as how the 3D paint was used to substitute the detail in the maze. This didn't really feel like a SS house as there weren't any large/tall rooms that would have loved to see. I hope that whatever goes into 747 next year will have bigger rooms and taller sets because that's what a SS is supposed to be about, no? All negativity aside, I still loved this maze and got a couple of scares in here even though they were a bit predictable. It was fun to see the rooms and hear NIB, Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, and all of my other favorite songs played in there. I just found it interesting that none of the songs from 13 were in there as it was all about 13. Oh, and I loved the nuclear explosion room. That was pretty neat.
Scares: C+
Environment: B+
Overall: B
Te Walking Dead: No Safe Haven: After seeing the show, I was looking forward to seeing the newest incarnation based on season 3. I loved the facade and how it appeared bigger than Dead Inside's last year. After walking through this, Walking Dead is probably my favorite of the event. Some of the sets in there (Cell Block C and the helicopter crash) had me in complete awe. I didn't really get any scares in the cell block room, but that's okay. The scale of that room was AWESOME! I was looking around at both of the giant rooms going, "Holy smokes this is incredible! They even put a ceiling in!" The "horde scare" and some of the other ones in there were really effective but the sets in there were grand. Someone else on here mentioned in a review mentioned how this felt more sound-stage like that BS. I would strongly agree with that. THIS is how you do a sound stage house. The only thing I was disappointed about was how brightly lit he catacombs were. I wish they could've been darker and was hoping for some "dark" walker scares, but oh well. Walking Dead still kicks a LOT of tail as the best house of the event. The line kept jamming up which annoyed me pretty bad, but that's okay. Those sets...I want to go back to HHN just to see this again and appreciate the sets.
Scares: A-
Environment: A+
Overall: A+
So we headed to the upper lot taking the handicap van back to the lower lot. We went upstairs and ate at Pink's. I wanted to get a chili cheese burger, but during HHN, they only sell chili cheese dogs. Um, WTC?! I met-up and talked with some of my more fanatical friends for HHN while eating. Afterwards, we went our ways, and my group went for the Terror Tram.
Terror Tram: Well, I haven't really enjoyed the TT since I've first gone in 2009. When the event first started, this was great to be able to experience. Now it has become a stale haunted attraction with the same routine. Seeing the additions they've made for the TT, I've still kept my expectations low, but I allowed myself to be cautiously optimistic and possibly might eat crow on Terror Tram being lame as usual. Well, after going through it, I can eat the head and throw the rest out the window. It was definitely an improvement from last year, I even got scared a couple of times! I would say that this was our best TT in years, but still not as good as 2009's. Nothing beats the sheet maze. Nothing people. Terror Tram was still a bit stale, but it was an improvement.
Overall: C+
Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure: I loved last year's show. It was great. The energy was great, the finale was awesome, and they even referenced the original movies! This year, however, was a big step down from 2012. I liked the choice for the villain but there's so much they could've done with him. Without spoiling who he is, I would've loved to see him mimic the number from a certain movie that came out in 2004. Overall, the show was alright. Got a few laughs, but nothing about it seemed epic.
Overall: C
El Cucuy: The Boogieman: All of my HHN fan-peeps absolutely HATED this maze. I mean, they despised it. They put lower that Texas 2012 and even UMR. They even compared this to a Fright Fest maze. They way they described it to me in line for Bill and Ted made it sound like that this was a giant turd that Murdy decided to hold in to save for the event. I had normal expectations for this, but after I heard about it, I had almost zero. I went through it and actually liked it! It's my top-three mazes, being third. They complained about how the mel's signage cracked through the theater sequence about the third room in and how you could see the the Persian Square surrounding you in the maze, taking you out of the environment. Well, I disagree. I think the surrounding area helped the atmosphere and put me more into it, especially the front yard sequence for the house. The whole fence path and the front yard felt like and actual neighborhood with the buildings surrounding us. The theater felt like a city with Mel's neon peering through. I think it actually helped. I liked the concept of the house and loved how they depicted him as the monster of our nightmares. The birthday scene...man, sent chills down my spine hearing the aftermath noise.
i loved the final sequence as we're going into his lair and loved the scares used in there. The whole area felt very tight and cramped increasing tension for me and making it scarier. I actually got the most scares in this maze. I noticed that in the concept art that they posted for the website, they showed the reusage of the Thing puppet for El Cucuy. He wasn't in there. I'm glad they didn't use him because I felt he had his time. I overall enjoyed this house quite a bit and loved the story and the atmosphere of it. I also liked how the maze went into the building. One thing I will say is that I HATED that black hallway. It didn't ruin it for me like it did to my friends, but yikes. For Horror Nights standards, that is AWFUL. They couldn't put anything on the walls? Even more brick walls with posters would've sufficed. Also, it would've been nice to add decor or window silhouettes to the surrounding square to enhance the feel.
I will say that I that the venue worked very much to the advantage of the atmosphere. Unless they can come up with a new suburban-themed maze for next year in that area that wouldn't require much space, the Persian venue is severely limited on what they can do. There's not a whole lot of space and the surrounding buildings can ruin the immersion if the theme isn't proper. But still, I loved this house. I still prefer La Llorona though in set design.
Scares: A
Environment: B+
Overall: B+
Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection: Our final maze of the night. We saved the worst for last. I had fun in this and still *kinda* did this year, but it's the same thing. It's House of Horrors and the House of Horrible Overlays. Man, I wish this venue can just die, but it can't. It's like the obnoxious kid that barges into your date making jokes about chickens crossing the road or about Alec Baldwin and you just can't lose him. That's what the overlays are every year. Anyway, UMR is the same as last year, with some subtle tweaks. If you have time to kill you might as well go through it but otherwise....don't bother. When I go back, I may not bother at all with this unless I want to linger.
Overall: F
So what did I think of it? Well, I would say overall that this.....would be....my favorite year. Definitely better than last year and just slightly better than 2011. I loved the Walking Dead, the availability of a sound stage, the backlot experience, the improvement of Terror Tram, and no repeating houses (Forget House of Horrors); however, I noticing the overall quality of the event starting to plateau a bit. I've noticed a lot or repurposing of sets in Black Sabbath from Alice Cooper and the same "cutting" gag be reused many times over everywhere. Also, what was up with all of the Saw props being reused?
It's apparent that the event has developed a "business as usual" mood. Just reuse a lot of stuff, reuse the same scare tactics (Someone running out of a curtain or a door can only be fresh for so long), and just stick with the same formula as always. Even though I enjoyed the event, I feel like the quality of the event is leveling out while the prices keep going up. You would think that with the increased capacity, the bombardment of advertisements and promotions, and the increase in admission price, that the event would freshen it up with new scare tactics, newer, improved, and larger sets, and immersive detail and virtually every corner. Eh, not really. Murdy has taken a few baby steps in terms of trying new things, but it's very subtle and not a significant innovation.
Another thing I want to mention: This was the worst year for crowd organization. The construction hasn't helped much at all. Granted, the upper lot crowds weren't quite as bad as I was anticipating. However, it is really annoying to have to go around that giant wall that eats a third of the upper lot to get to the Terror Tram. when we were trying to use our Guest Assistance Pass (GAP) for Insidious, the sign pointed to Gate A/GAP Access up where the normal entrance was. The attendant pointed towards the restrooms for the FoL entrance. For the backlot, the FotL entrance for BS was where the WD normal entrance was and vice versa. It was very confusing and hindered our experience for the event.
From Best to least, here's my personal list of mazes:
-Walking Dead
-Black Sabbath
-El Cucuy
-Evil Dead
-Insidious
-Terror Tram
.
.
.
-UMR
I liked the event even though there was much room for improvement, but I think Knott's has a very fair chance at being better than HHN this year. IMO, it was last year. So far, what I'm seeing with Knott's has me very excited with their original concepts and their risk-taking (I.e. a mirror maze). They're increasing their quality and being innovative yet their prices have hardly increased (At least from my standards). If Haunt really is going to be as good or even better than anticipate, HHN better take notice.
for next year, here's what I propose:
-Cabin in the Woods, Trick r Treat, and Resident Evil please. No exuses. Don't give me any nonsense about it. do it.
-No more Walking Dead. If you opt out RE for more Walking Dead.....I'm done. I love the show but the advert overload for this show is too much.
-No more rockstar or 3D houses, especially not both anymore. If we do get anymore, I know it's going to feel exactly the same as AC or BS. Just stop the 3D. PLEASE!
-Use the Sound stage for epic, and I mean HUGE sets...you know, the kind we were hoping for in the first place. More of what WD has.
-For something original, do something different besides pandering to the hispanics. Do something different.
-Stop reusing so many props. Especially retire all of the Saw props. Please.
-Give us new scare tactics. Distraction/scare is old now.
-Again. No more 3D. I've had my fill of it.
-Make sure the lines are more organized
-Don't get us excited for effects that aren't likely going to work (I.e. Blood in ED and the fog in Insidious).
Jon Fu
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
Into the Further you go...
Photos and commentary from this year's Insidious: Into the Further maze: http://insideuniversal.net/2013/09/insidious-into-the-further-2013/
Photos and commentary from this year's Insidious: Into the Further maze: http://insideuniversal.net/2013/09/insidious-into-the-further-2013/
By the way, I never mentioned, but two of my old friends are Scare Actors this year, with one of them being a scare actor for a few years now 
Insidious happened to be the first maze my group went in, and it creeped the hell out of me. I had to go in it again later that night to fully appreciate it. It was really cool seeing things they pulled out of the films, and you could tell a lot of work went into this maze. From the seance to the red-faced demon, to the women in body bags and Parker Crane's mother, everything was impressively terrifying.
Jon Fu
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
Just noticed I didn't do a proper recap, so let me try to hammer out my thoughts:
Keeping in mind that I haven't been able to watch many of the franchises featured (with the obligatory spoilers warning)...
Black Sabbath 3D: seemed like a poor rehash of Alice Cooper. It's a fun maze, don't get me wrong, but everything just screamed "Alice Cooper." The choice of venue was also very odd, considering they didn't even take advantage of the expansive sound stage. If anything, looking up was a depressing sight to know this building wasn't being used to its full potential. There is also supposed to be a nice nuclear explosion scene, but I never found it. Easy to take photos of though!
Universal's Monster Remix: boring. Sorry, I wasn't amused. I get that this is a rehash of Universal's House of Horrors, but the dubstep overlay is getting old and I found myself getting very bitter walking through. I kept thinking "what exactly is new" as I neared towards the exit.
The Walking Dead: No Safe Haven: probably the best maze of the night for me. The scale and environment of this experience was spectacular, and they definitely went all out trying to make this as maze elaborate as possible. Definitely the highlight of the night, despite the fact that we actually backed up in the prison scene.
Terror Tram: better than last year, but not exactly new. I guess there's only so much you can do with the format and venue, but here's hoping for something different next year.
Evil Dead: very, very gory. It's a solid maze, but it wasn't exactly memorable for me. Seeing how I didn't watch the remake of the movie, I walked in pretty clueless.
Insidious: psychological. Nice attention to detail, and the eerie children's music really throws you off. Unfortunately, like Evil Dead, I really had no idea what was going on.
El Cucuy: a nice contender for second place. Really impressed with the bed scene, and Danny Trejo was the perfect choice to provide narration. A nice successor to La Llorona, and easily one of the highlights of the night.
Bill and Ted: eh. Without repeating myself too much, I thought it was a fine show. Had no idea what was happening (notice the trend), but it made me laugh here and there. I'm glad they took away some of the more offensive bits from employee preview night, but there were a few questionable zingers here and there. I still can't figure why they decided to run with the Wizard of Oz. Is there something about the movie that's I'm not missing? Overall, the Gatsby scene saved the show for me, and I was off.
Now here's how my night played out: arrived at around 5:00 PM and met up with Jonathan (jmills) to grab a bite to eat at Tommy's. Entered the front entrance at around 6:00 PM, and begun queuing up for the opening ceremonies about a half an hour later (managed to stand directly in front of Plaza). I've personally never been, so this was quite an interesting scene. Of course, once the ceremony began, there was a stampede of people rushing God knows where. I took refuge near Blues Brothers and waited the entire thing out. I'm not a fan of running and I definitely wasn't to start changing my mind here.
Ten minutes later, I began hanging around the Purge scare area taking photos and whatnot. Press check in for the site was at 8:30 PM, so I literally had two hours to kill. Seeing how I didn't want to take maze photos without a proper lanyard, I just continuously walked from the Purge to Chucky to Klownz taking photos and changing lens. By the time 8:30 PM rolled around, I entered through the Globe (had no idea how to leave the park then) and received my credentials. Seeing how I was already behind and lines were ballooning, I decided to axe my game plan and go for the most inefficient route possible. I do not recommend doing what I did on Friday night.
So, what did I do first? Terror Tram. That's right, Terror Tram. Took photos, walked around, saw Norman and left. Not much I can say here.
Next up: the Lower Lot. Took the tram to the metropolitan sets and was immediately impressed. The Walking Dead scare zone was pretty intense (I was the last one to leave the area, and I had four to five walkers trying to hump me out) and the sets just added another expansive dimension. Of course, when it came time to find Black Sabbath and the Walking Dead maze, I was completely lost. They apparently combined the entrance for Black Sabbath/Walking Dead for Gate A/Front of Line, and it took be 15 minutes to figure this out. Also, if there were restrooms, I couldn't find them. Walking Dead was the highlight, and Black Sabbath was...Black Sabbath.
Proceeded back and headed towards Insidious with the same confusing queue as last year. Finished that and wizzed over to Evil Dead. Finally, after taking a few photos of scare crows, I headed back up to catch El Cucuy. Took photos, and rushed over to Bill and Ted. By this time, it's already 12:00 and I'm completely exhausted. Queued up for Bill and Ted and walked in feeling like a ghost. Chuckled here and left and did Universal's Monster Remix as my concluding maze (which was a bad choice in hindsight). By this time (1:30), I'm completely done and decide to take the train back home.
In all, I can earnestly say that I enjoyed myself. I had a much better experience this time around and left feeling pretty satisfied.
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- Jan 30, 2013
- 85
- 28
I went day one and barring the house of horrors (which never really changes) the biggest disappointment for me was El Cucuy. Having loved La Llorona the past two years I had high hopes for it. Strong concept, interesting designs it had a lot going for it. However I came walking out so let down, the scares if they came at all were far between and spaced out and they had a massive waste of space of just a black corridor with absolutely nothing in it! If I had to say which scare actor was the scariest I'd have to say the Pumpkin people, not even El Cucuy himself was very frighting. Any positives at all were from the sets, there was not one part of that maze I felt paranoid about being jumped out at. This was a maze I was really looking forward to and wanted to like however I can't lie and say it was good. I'm going again and I'm hoping a second visit will change my mind. This is just my opinion as I know others have enjoyed the maze but I know I'm not the only one let down by it.
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- Jan 14, 2013
- 28
- 9
Just got this last night! I'm going to take advantage of this!Has anyone else bought tickets for this coming Friday? I bought mine a couple of days ago and just got an email from USH for an even bigger discount. I payed $53.99 each for 2 tickets. I really wish I would have waited. lol
Jon Fu
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
Photos and commentary from El Cucuy: The Boogeyman are up at this link: http://insideuniversal.net/2013/09/el-cucuy-the-boogeyman-2013/
Jon Fu
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
The Los Angeles Times posted a pretty scathing review of this year's event: http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/themeparks/la-trb-universal-studios-hollywood-halloween-horror-nights-review-20130922,0,165996.story
I have to admit that I'm usually pretty shielded from the long wait times during my visits to Horror Nights, but this year seemed especially bad.
I had someone arrive at around 9:30 PM on opening night and she only managed to get through two mazes - Black Sabbath and Waking Dead: No Safe Haven. Both mazes had wait times exceeding an hour and a half. I'm not sure about you, but that must be a mediocre experience no matter how you spin it.
Having said that, I didn't find this year's roster to be particularly weak. Rehashed, sure, but props and themes have always been recycled. But his criticisms on the wait times are completely valid, I'm sad to say.
I have to admit that I'm usually pretty shielded from the long wait times during my visits to Horror Nights, but this year seemed especially bad.
I had someone arrive at around 9:30 PM on opening night and she only managed to get through two mazes - Black Sabbath and Waking Dead: No Safe Haven. Both mazes had wait times exceeding an hour and a half. I'm not sure about you, but that must be a mediocre experience no matter how you spin it.
Having said that, I didn't find this year's roster to be particularly weak. Rehashed, sure, but props and themes have always been recycled. But his criticisms on the wait times are completely valid, I'm sad to say.
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