Since I already decided I'm not going, I caved and watched the videos since ThemeParkHD uploaded. I have some thoughts...
Arkham - Far and away the coolest thing they did, but it still leaves something to be desired. I feel like it's missing that gothic tone the first video game has, and there's some hokey bits. Like Poison Ivy's lair should 1) look more realistic 2) should be way more elaborate. I think this has some of the better acting of all the mazes, but it's also kinda easy to act crazy. The interactivity is a nice touch but it needs more scares, and the intro stuff is pretty dang cool. And there's something missing from the set design, in all of the mazes actually, I just can't quite put my finger on it. What I do like though is that they design the mazes in a 360 degrees sense. I think they're meant to have a little more breathing room in where you look, so down a random hallway there may be some set pieces, or even behind you after you've already entered a room against the wall. Maybe it's not the most elaborate set design, but it looks realistic enough. The Joker is so on point it's insane, their voices sound 100% like Mark Hamill. I'm glad they found these guys. I was hoping for a few more of the Rogue's Gallery to appear (although didn't I read something like some characters switch out?), but they did well with the cast they chose. It definitely looks fun, but doesn't look all that scary. Maybe the atmosphere will be different with a more crowded maze?
7 out of 10
Nightmare on Camp Crystal Lake - This actually looks really awesome at some points and flat boring in others. The acting is the best on the entire lot and there's quite a few surprises. There's a scare that I've been waiting to see for years and they finally did it
a real hanging person among hanging bodies that jolts alive as you walk pass
. The first bit with the lake is a nice big open area, but not enough actors to make it work, which is basically how I would describe most scenes. However, I guess there is a certain eerieness to walking in the dark for a whole 30 seconds with nothing coming at you, so when something finally does, it's a big scare. Could it have a better tone and build suspense in a much more senses-overload way? Sure, but if they're going for realism, I guess they went for it. I suppose we'll see how the masses respond to this approach, I'm personally not a fan of waiting an entire minute for a scare then walking another minute stretch for another scare. If you have a 10 minute attraction with only 10 scares, I'd say there's something off. Others might say that immerses them better. Maybe I'm spoiled.
6.5 out of 10
The Conjuring Universe - I am definitely not a fan of whatever this is. I hate guided tours in mazes and this does all the cardinal sins of that style. Acting is rough and the interactivity is shoddy at best. The effects are good and some of the surprises work, but I imagine I'd be bored majority of the time. The sense of disbelief is also hard to keep. Walking into a room and your guide going "oh no, we gotta go, there's an exorcism going on in here" is some of the laziest story telling I've ever seen. I do like how some things are tiny details that you have to look for. Like the backyard has a lot going on and even a scare if you're one of the last ones out, but this spot suffers from noise bleed outside the venue. I think my main gripes are the guided tours stuff, I just hate that so much.
4 out of 10
IT - I'd say this is the scariest maze they have, for sure and very different from last year. If only this had double the amount of talent on the inside, it could be something really special. In my opinion, they did just enough to kinda do it justice, and the scares hit pretty hard even without a trigger scare mostly because they actually have boo holes. They utilize alot of elements in here with sound, screens, animatronics, and special effects, but it's missing a certain... claustrophobia. I imagine I'd come out of this one the most happy with what I just saw and say it'd be worth a $7-10 e-ticket. But since this is only 1 of 4 scary attractions, divided up, this is basically supposed to be worth nearly $20, depending how much you value the Exorcist and that Demon Drop. However, I have big faith that an IT maze would be absolutely insanely scary if done right, preferably by HHN. Also, this is the only maze that had a constant soundtrack throughout the entire thing, that I can think of, and to me that goes leaps and bounds.
7.5 out of 10
Lost Boys arcade looks smaller than I thought. The Exorcist screening has a really small screen and I know that wouldn't be at all effective for me. The Tim Burton Exhibit looks AWESOME, I might have to go just to get a picture with a Mars Attacks martian. The Front Entry looks cool, but all the videos I saw didn't have any scares going on, so I can't really comment on that -- or that's just how it is, can't say for sure. Again, this is the perspective of just videos, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.
I would like to go get the in-person experience, just the price tag is insane for the quality. I urge WB to re-think their strategy with this one if they want to survive. I truly hope half the cast was missing or something. Literally every maze could use double the amount of people in there. IMO, it's nowhere near HHN, a step below KSF, but nowhere near as bad as FF.