Halloween Horror Nights 2018 (USH) General Discussion

[DTH]

Spoiler: H 2018 spoilers!

- Gas station facade (would love Smith's Grove or the Bus crash, but given the sheer number of locations, sacrifices need to be made...)
--The front is covered with police tape. In the front, you see the front counter with the bald guy; as people walk by, you see the guy had his jaw bashed in...
--Then, you go through the mechanic's room (with dead mechanic) and just hear this banging sound, with Dana screaming in the background. Then comes the bathroom, with a dead Aaron and a Michael strangling a Dana puppet.
-Go past some halloween-decorated picket fences (or handy dandy black wallz). Obligatory H3 cameo.
- mini house facade
--enter someone's room with the poor woman's skull bashed in, hearing the crying baby in the background, then into another room where a woman's throat has been stabbed. There's a michael or two around.
- Go past some SHEETZ where there are Michaels everywhere. You hear Laurie Strode and the police officers arguing, Laurie shouting things like "GO HOME, GET INSIDE," and Julian (best character in the movie) shouting about the boogieman.
- House facade! In one window, you see a shadow projection of the boyfriend getting stabbed...
--Into the house, where there's a dead boyfriend stabbed to the walls.
--Into a bedroom where there's a mannequin with a ghost costume. In the closet, there's one of those H4 audio triggers with a Michael mannequin standing there; a knife sound plays, but he's a distraction. The real Michael pops out and scares the bejeezus out of people. Double distraction!
-Past some more Black Wallz and into a room with strobe lightz. There's a Michael or two in those strobe lightz (supposed to represent the motion lights).
--Aaaaaaand past some more picket fences, where there's a giant spikey gate with poor ol' Oscar skewered on top. Michael pops out from the left side. Allison is heard in the background screaming.
-- Past some more chain link fences, with a blackout car-scare and not-Loomis trying to stab guests. There's a dead Sheriff on the floor, Allison screaming "That's him!" and Sartrain saying "That's what if feels like."
-Finally, into the woods for the finale. there's a cop car with a cop-o-lantern, and Sartrain's smashed in body. Michael hides among the woods, while you hear Michael's breathing. He's getting close now...
--This would be a highly unnecessary room, but one with those creepy mannequins and some of them are living would be pretty cool. Allison could be sitting around screaming.
-Facade of Laurie's house! Of course, there's a Michael hanging around the side...
--Into Laurie's bedroom, where Ray is in the closet and Michael is among the Mannequins. You hear the Shape's breathing, and Laurie saying "Michaeeeeellll..."
--Into the kitchen, where a fire is starting. The place is trashed, there's a fire starting, Laurie and her family are cowering, and Michael reaches out from below...
--Aaaaaaaand grand finale. Maybe something to do with the inflating pumpkin at the opening credits? Or back at Smith's Grove again, where Aaron is shouting "say something" and the dogs are going wild, and it's just white-jumpsuited Michaels everywhere...

That'd be a great maze, I'm ready!!!

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Thur October 19

A noticeable increase in crowds this Thursday. Early entry still got you ST and TrT and the lower lot with minimal wait times. Stranger Things opened late due to Celebrities/Youtubers/media getting private runs. Poltergeist was down 25 min at around 6:00pm. The wait time jumped from 10 min (it looked like a walk on when I got in line) to 60 min when I exited the maze. I am not sure if there were technical issues or celebrity runs? The Purge and Blumhouse were both 15 - 20 but by 7:00 they did tick up a little. I had a really great run through on Universal monsters which was only a 15 min wait at 7:30. I was in middle of a cabal of girls and the scare actors really hammed it up. Halloween seems like it gets slammed from opening and it was 50 min when I walked by. I skipped it this time around and left early. Of course still have not done walking dead in the 5 times I've been. I wonder how many frequent Horror nights goers do the Walking Dead. I have express during the day so I will do it if I don't have to wait. All in all another great night at Horror Nights.

On the topic of going through the Walking Dead, in my 11 trips, Ive only gone through once

 

[AlexanderMBush]

HHN is apparently sold out tonight for not just Orlando..but Hollywood.

 

[LeakerFromTheInside]

Do you guys think the dates in November will be crowded? Specifically, Saturday November 3rd?

 

[horrornights789]

Do you guys think the dates in November will be crowded? Specifically, Saturday November 3rd?

Yes, this whole year has been really crowded

 

[LeakerFromTheInside]

Yes, this whole year has been really crowded

Sorry for the questions, this will be my first time.
Does Universal Express help? I heard the lines are still long even with Universal Express.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I'd think that the least crowded would be the 4th, due to the suddenity of it's addition, but the most crowded would be the intended final day of the third.

As for express, and I'm sure someone can correct me; but the intended goal should be to cut your amount of time in half.

 

[horrornights789]

Sorry for the questions, this will be my first time.
Does Universal Express help? I heard the lines are still long even with Universal Express.

Express is a HUGE help. Like I cannot praise it enough. I got out of a 120 Minute wait for The Purge by only waiting 10 Minutes in Express

 

[DTH]

From my experience, anything after Halloween has been beyond empty. I love the "after-party" dates, having the whole park to myself, and it usually being the cheapest time to go. I'm hoping those prices drop to $40-50 like before, or I won't be making a second trip back, sadly.

 

[Rideguy70]

^I don't know if I'd say it was "beyond empty" after Halloween. More like early to mid October crowds. On the low side, but not insignificant. Lines can still get to an hour for major mazes by later in the evening.

Does Universal Express help? I heard the lines are still long even with Universal Express.

You're probably thinking of Orlando, where Express lines are only half the regular line--which is to say, still incredibly long. In Hollywood, the Express Lines are much, much better. Generally 10 minutes or less. So it's a good deal. Keep in mind, though, unless you get the unlimited version, you only get to go through each maze once with the Express. My advice: still get there for early entry, do the mazes in the regular lines while most are still low, and then use Express for a 2nd time through.

 

[Rideguy70]

On a side note, I do have an update for my comp ticket from the Friday, Oct 12 rainstorm fiasco (I was there that night).

First, I did send an email to the address that they tweeted out. Sent it on Saturday the 13th. By Monday, I (and my husband) got an email back from Universal saying that we'd be getting further instructions for a comp ticket within the next 5 days. We were feeling a bit optimistic, as we were maybe hoping to go this weekend.

Come Friday night, still no follow up. I then tweeted at Universal that night. They replied later that night asking me to DM them. I did early the next morning around 7am, and after a bit of back and forth, they asked for our ticket info, email, etc. We sent them all that info by around 11am, then heard nothing. Around 4pm, I DM "Any update?" and still heard nothing back. We were semi-hoping we'd be able to go that night, but it was starting to look a little dim.

So we took matters into our own hands and called GR ourselves. We explained our situation to Jen, who apologized, basically said they have been still overwhelmed and understaffed about that matter (mentioned something about only having a single person keeping up with all the social media interactions), and set us up for comp passes. Unfortunately, they will have to be for next weekend, because by the time this was all sorted out, this current weekend had sold out.

Jen was great, and we were very kind to her and not belligerent in any way. After all, it's not her fault all this is happening. At the same time, I do feel Universal is still overall dropping the ball on this. I suspect if I hadn't called them directly, I still wouldn't have any comp passes at all. I did send another DM tweet to Universal saying our situation got handled by GR already, and they replied "Excellent" (we are not trying to "scam" Universal by getting extra comps... besides, even if they did, our schedule wouldn't really allow us to use an 2nd extra ticket this late in the game). Still have not gotten any further email follow up at all (and neither has my husband), so have no idea what happened there.

 

[Rideguy70]

I do have a question... when we do early entry, we (obviously) head down to the lower and metro lots. But we'd also once like to head back up in time to catch the opening Scaremony and/or get in line for Halloween. However, the two times we tried, we already found they had cut off the access to those areas at Springfield as early as 6:15pm. What time should we be back up their so we can make it? Do they close access with the park at 6pm?

 

[Rideguy70]

Further update: literally just about 10 minutes ago, I finally got this email from Universal:

Please choose one of the following dates* by October 29, 2018, for up to the total number of tickets purchased for your original visit.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Friday, November 2, 2018
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Sunday, November 4, 2018

I guess I'm glad I called ahead and got my tickets for this upcoming weekend, because I can't make any of those dates (except Nov 1, which is already on my FFP anyway). I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it's kinda low they timed it so that this upcoming weekend was not an option. Though I can also imagine this upcoming weekend is probably going to be likely to sell out... but still, they could've even offered Thurs Oct 25 to spread out the crowds a little more (not that that would've made a difference to me either, as that's also on my FFP).

On another side note, anyone know more about my post above situation to get to Scaremony/Halloween maze from metro lot early entry? I did hear that other people got through as late as 6:40, but it's never happened that way for me. :/

 

[Clive]

Further update: literally just about 10 minutes ago, I finally got this email from Universal:

Please choose one of the following dates* by October 29, 2018, for up to the total number of tickets purchased for your original visit.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Friday, November 2, 2018
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Sunday, November 4, 2018

I guess I'm glad I called ahead and got my tickets for this upcoming weekend, because I can't make any of those dates (except Nov 1, which is already on my FFP anyway). I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it's kinda low they timed it so that this upcoming weekend was not an option. Though I can also imagine this upcoming weekend is probably going to be likely to sell out... but still, they could've even offered Thurs Oct 25 to spread out the crowds a little more (not that that would've made a difference to me either, as that's also on my FFP).

On another side note, anyone know more about my post above situation to get to Scaremony/Halloween maze from metro lot early entry? I did hear that other people got through as late as 6:40, but it's never happened that way for me. :/

That's crummy. I know it's because this week is supposed to be slammed and next week is soft (as always), but it's still not good service and certainly not in good faith.

As for Scaremonies, it really varies. It's "supposed" to happen at 7, but a lot of factors (mostly relating to crowding on Hollywood Blvd & readiness of performers) determine when the show actually triggers... the barker at the front of the park on Sunday was saying those trying to watch Scaremonies should be past Hollywood & Vine by 6:30pm, but it could indeed shift earlier if conditions warrant it.

 

[DTH]

On this day, 5 years ago, the Bill and Ted show was cancelled forever in Hollywood. Never forget. Always remember. RIP and stay excellent!

 

[rageofthegods]

On an unrelated note, I just saw the new Suspiria.

Loved it.

Yeah that's not gonna be a maze anytime soon.

 

[Horror Lover]

On this day, 5 years ago, the Bill and Ted show was cancelled forever in Hollywood. Never forget. Always remember. RIP and stay excellent!

I remember this day all too well.. EVERYONE I knew who was an HHN fan on here, HHN Nightmares, FB was beyond angry.. I remember all the HHN fans sending death threats to the journalist from Vice and cussing him out on both the Vice article and his Twitter account.. such dark days.. RIP Bill and Ted.. your memory forever lives on in the hearts of HHN fans EVERYWHERE.. Be excellent to one another and party on, dudes!

 

[Rideguy70]

I enjoyed B&T mostly for the gratuitous eye/man candy, lol, but the show's laughs were always very hit and miss to me (much like the Hanging at Knotts). I personally feel it's better in people's memories than it actually was as a real show. We remember the good stuff, but kinda "conveniently" forget all the bits that didn't land... and there usually a lot of them. Just my opinion. I realize many will disagree.

 

[Clive]

I enjoyed B&T mostly for the gratuitous eye/man candy, lol, but the show's laughs were always very hit and miss to me (much like the Hanging at Knotts). I personally feel it's better in people's memories than it actually was as a real show. We remember the good stuff, but kinda "conveniently" forget all the bits that didn't land... and there usually a lot of them. Just my opinion. I realize many will disagree.

They weren't very good. There was just a fun novelty of seeing such a raunchy/risque performance at a major theme park, regardless of the content's quality.

 

[horrornights789]

On an unrelated note, I just saw the new Suspiria.

Loved it.

Yeah that's not gonna be a maze anytime soon.

If they combined it with the original would it fit a maze? That property’s theme music just translates directly to a haunt

Edit: On another after rewatching H2018 they could’ve easily done the maze this year. The trailers showed just enough to where it would’ve not spoiled the ending but the maze would be pretty confusing. If it comes next year though, we’re in for a treat