2020 Haunted Houses - Reviews & Spoiler Talk

[Tylerthecreator]

Alright did bettlejuice 3 times ( I was with 3 different groups ) was my favorite house out of the 3. The actors did amazing. My favorite part was the beginning facade. Most fun I have had in a house out of the 3 years I have gone!

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Alright did bettlejuice 3 times ( I was with 3 different groups ) was my favorite house out of the 3. The actors did amazing. My favorite part was the beginning facade. Most fun I have had in a house out of the 3 years I have gone!

I doubt I'll be able to get in.

I hope they keep both it and Bride. TBH I don't care that much about Tooth Fairy--I like the story they came up with but thought the execution was meh--just not a big fan of the design of the TFs.

 

[Tylerthecreator]

I doubt I'll be able to get in.

I hope they keep both it and Bride. TBH I don't care that much about Tooth Fairy--I like the story they came up with but thought the execution was meh.

If u just chill and wait I’m front they tell u when times might drop, and they might just let u in

 

[Ringwraith]

Am I the only one that wasn't all that impressed?

I was told to keep my expectations low, then I saw people leaving and I heard it's the best house some people had seen in the past 5 years, people were crying, dancing, screaming....etc.

Has the GP become so deprived of HHN that standards have dropped? No doubt, some elements and scenes were fun and grande, but overall, I still think Brides takes the cake this year and Tooth Fairy is second. After seeing what they could do with Graveyard Games, Ash, and especially Trick r Treat in that building, I have to say it's the 4th best house to be in the parade warehouse in the past 5 years, but not the whole event.

 

[JoeCamel]

Am I the only one that wasn't all that impressed?

I was told to keep my expectations low, then I saw people leaving and I heard it's the best house some people had seen in the past 5 years, people were crying, dancing, screaming....etc.

Has the GP become so deprived of HHN that standards have dropped? No doubt, some elements and scenes were fun and grande, but overall, I still think Brides takes the cake this year and Tooth Fairy is second. After seeing what they could do with Graveyard Games, Ash, and especially Trick r Treat in that building, I have to say it's the 4th best house to be in the parade warehouse in the past 5 years, but not the whole event.

We were warned to temper our expectations

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Am I the only one that wasn't all that impressed?

I was told to keep my expectations low, then I saw people leaving and I heard it's the best house some people had seen in the past 5 years, people were crying, dancing, screaming....etc.

Has the GP become so deprived of HHN that standards have dropped? No doubt, some elements and scenes were fun and grande, but overall, I still think Brides takes the cake this year and Tooth Fairy is second. After seeing what they could do with Graveyard Games, Ash, and especially Trick r Treat in that building, I have to say it's the 4th best house to be in the parade warehouse in the past 5 years, but not the whole event.

Are you talking about BJ or all three houses? Because I was quite impressed with Bride.

But yes, I feel the psychology of getting some HHN after being told we wouldn't get any helped. That said, it neutralizes the pandemic-hampered experience of the houses (re: plexiglass and masks).

 

[Ringwraith]

Are you talking about BJ or all three houses? Because I was quite impressed with Bride.

But yes, I feel the psychology of getting some HHN after being told we wouldn't get any helped. That said, it neutralizes the pandemic-hampered experience of the houses (re: plexiglass and masks).

Oh just Beetlejuice. I like Brides' visuals a lot and I enjoy the story of Tooth Fairy.

 

[Legacy]

Am I the only one that wasn't all that impressed?

I was told to keep my expectations low, then I saw people leaving and I heard it's the best house some people had seen in the past 5 years, people were crying, dancing, screaming....etc.

Has the GP become so deprived of HHN that standards have dropped? No doubt, some elements and scenes were fun and grande, but overall, I still think Brides takes the cake this year and Tooth Fairy is second. After seeing what they could do with Graveyard Games, Ash, and especially Trick r Treat in that building, I have to say it's the 4th best house to be in the parade warehouse in the past 5 years, but not the whole event.

I was having a conversation with someone in September and made the statement, “Regardless of how good they are, all the houses this year will be GOAT by virtue of existing.”

So, yeah. I think the uber-fans are so desperately obsessed for any HHN this year that these houses, from day one, we’re getting an outsized positive reaction.

And I think Beetlejuice even more so.

EDIT - Design-wise, regarding Beetlejuice, I think my concept was a bit stronger. There were just a lot of structural decisions with the house I don’t understand.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I was having a conversation with someone in September and made the statement, “Regardless of how good they are, all the houses will be GOAT by virtue of existing.”

So, yeah. I think the uber-fans are so desperately obsessed for any HHN this year that these houses, from day one, we’re getting an outsized positive reaction.

And I think Beetlejuice even more so.

EDIT - Design-wise, regarding Beetlejuice, I think my concept was a bit stronger. There were just a lot of structural decisions with the house I don’t understand.

I still liked "Beetlejuice Does Hollywood" best.

 

[Legacy]

"Beetlejuice Does Hollywood" was still the best, though.

Let’s be honest, that would likely be a top 15 all-time house.

 

[Nick]

I feel like I’m the only one that was extremely underwhelmed by both Tooth Fairy and Bride of Frankenstein.

 

[ultimateforce]

Beetlejuice gets a really high score from me just because it had a lot of interesting ideas. I thought I had the whole house planned out in my head, as to what would translate to a house, and they went in some completely different directions I appreciate.

 

[Legacy]

I feel like I’m the only one that was extremely underwhelmed by both Tooth Fairy and Bride of Frankenstein.

There’s definitely an argument that both houses are not “true” to their design. The lack of SIF and inability for performers to move out at guests severely impacts the experiences. Which, again, is why I think the positive response from a lot of fans has been overly misplaced. It’s not fair to label any of these as “GOATs” when they’re not even the best versions of themselves.

The houses this year, experience-wise, have to be held to a different standard. They’re different experiences from a regular HHN house. While we can compare design to design, we know design does not a house make. The total experience is what matters.

For fans who *need* HHN, any house this year is a fix after a bout of expected withdrawal. They opened a sequel to a fan favorite, a house we were expected to get last year, and Beetlejuice. Any other year, those houses would top most anticipated lists. The spec around them make the houses premium cocaine, to continue the metaphor.

Fans who *simply* enjoy HHN, there’s a lot less need to hype what we got. They’re naturally going to look at things with a more critical eye. There’s also less *need* to hype and, potentially, more inclination to cynicism because of the spec.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

There’s definitely an argument that both houses are not “true” to their design. The lack of SIF and inability for performers to move out at guests severely impacts the experiences. Which, again, is why I think the positive response from a lot of fans has been overly misplaced. It’s not fair to label any of these as “GOATs” when they’re not even the best versions of themselves.

The houses this year, experience-wise, have to be held to a different standard. They’re different experiences from a regular HHN house. While we can compare design to design, we know design does not a house make. The total experience is what matters.

For fans who *need* HHN, any house this year is a fix after a bout of expected withdrawal. They opened a sequel to a fan favorite, a house we were expected to get last year, and Beetlejuice. Any other year, those houses would top most anticipated lists. The spec around them make the houses premium cocaine, to continue the metaphor.

Fans who *simply* enjoy HHN, there’s a lot less need to hype what we got. They’re naturally going to look at things with a more critical eye. There’s also less *need* to hype and, potentially, more inclination to cynicism because of the spec.

It’s hard to say how this year would’ve been received. I’ll go out on an extremely bold limb and say that some would’ve praised it as a great year and others would’ve thought it was mediocre at best. Crazy, right?

Anyhow, I was underwhelmed with Bride my first trip through but then my second trip through I was quite impressed.

 

[Legacy]

It’s hard to say how this year would’ve been received. I’ll go out on an extremely bold limb and say that some would’ve praised it as a great year and others would’ve thought it was mediocre at best. Crazy, right?

Anyhow, I was underwhelmed with Bride my first trip through but then my second trip through I was quite impressed.

I think newer fans (starting in last five years) would have widely praised the year. Icons Captured, SCarey, TCM, and the various rumored zones, are all things most of them have heard and read about for years but never experienced. SCarey could be a hot mess of a house, but if Bloodengutz and Cleaver are in it, people will vote it as the best house of the year.

Older fans, especially those who were fans since the icon years, would likely be far more measured.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I think newer fans (starting in last five years) would have widely praised the year. Icons Captured, SCarey, TCM, and the various rumored zones, are all things most of them have heard and read about for years but never experienced. SCarey could be a hot mess of a house, but if Bloodengutz and Cleaver are in it, people will vote it as the best house of the year.

Older fans, especially those who were fans since the icon years, would likely be far more measured.

Well, there’s only so many different concepts you can explore. Even if you do mostly new houses each year, there’s still going to be a ton of recycling, because that’s just what happens—so it makes sense for peoples’ first few HHNs to be their favorite. Why at a point they might as well go the HoS route. I find it interesting to think of which houses throughout their history they would make permanent in a hypothetical scenario.

FWIW, the lineup looked more appealing than 25 to me. Didn’t experience 25 (was fortunate enough to go a couple years during the icon era) but that’s just how it appeared.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

I'm likely gonna have to wait for a better pov of Beetlejuice since I'm not gonna get to experience it myself, though I will say from what I've seen it gives me Killer Klowns vibes, which isn't an especially good thing, the order of scenes seems really strange to me and it just doesnt quite jive with me, but I gotta say some of the sets do look really good in terms of actual design. Dunno how much of what doesn't jive with me can be chocked up to the circumstances in which it had to open, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I'm likely gonna have to wait for a better pov of Beetlejuice since I'm not gonna get to experience it myself, though I will say from what I've seen it gives me Killer Klowns vibes, which isn't an especially good thing, the order of scenes seems really strange to me and it just doesnt quite jive with me, but I gotta say some of the sets do look really good in terms of actual design. Dunno how much of what doesn't jive with me can be chocked up to the circumstances in which it had to open, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

I kinda wish the Klownzilla scene was the finale but with the venue layout it was understandable. I loved Klownz, easily my favorite IP last year.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

I kinda wish the Klownzilla scene was the finale but with the venue layout it was understandable. I loved Klownz, easily my favorite IP last year.

Fair enough, I just have a pet peeve for orlandos tendency to mix scenes around in a way that messes with the storys chronology. Not technically a big deal but something that just bugs me a little.

 

[kingcooger]

Fair enough, I just have a pet peeve for orlandos tendency to mix scenes around in a way that messes with the storys chronology. Not technically a big deal but something that just bugs me a little.

Messing with the chronology is something that was most apparent in Killer Klowns and Ho1C last year, but before that was usually only done if they were completely reinterpreting the idea as a fever dream or psychological house (The Shining and The Exorcist)

For me, putting scenes out of order doesn’t really matter if it works

I would say the same about putting them in order

For instance, Ghostbusters went in order of the movie, but I would have liked it more if they went out of order as I found the flow weird

Library, Firehouse, Containment Unit, City Streets, Hotel transitioning right into apartment scenes, Keymaster, Rooftop, Stay Puft, Finale

To me this makes for less jarring transitions which I prefer

I am also hearing Beetlejuice seems like it was designed with more scares in mind, which, to me, is just as important as flow