Heard from someone that there were some wind effects to simulate you getting sucked up by Jean Jacket. Can anyone confirm because I didn't experience that on opening night.
Halloween Horror Nights 2022 (USH): Reviews, Photos, & Videos
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- Sep 16, 2021
- 525
- 506
I don’t think it’s bad, just scenically repetitive and a little lacking in scares in places. It’s like what hill house was to me last year (a tad better though). It’s been better since my first run but i’ve been kinda unlucky with timing still. I put it above blumhouse (and maybe the weeknd) now.
- Sep 8, 2021
- 74
- 70
I was really excited for this one, but our run was just not timed well. They were doing multiple shift changes and some scenes were missing actors entirely. No fault to the house, as that does sometimes happen. I just didn't have a chance to do it a second time. I loved the theme and the story. I also couldn't help but think about what a great space that will be for HHN moving forward, too.
- Nov 7, 2016
- 1,584
- 1,742
Going to supplement my reviews by breaking them down by element, like I did in my reviews of years passed. I won't be doing the repeats (Halloween or La Llorona). My scores for the mazes have changed some. I've also had the benefit of now being able to rewatch the mazes on YouTube. I look forward to seeing the mazes on repeat visits, but the scores won't change much from there. Will update as the year progresses.
THE WEEKND
FACADE - 5. Nothing special, but at least it’s there. I do think it’s cool that his eyes glow sometimes.
SET DESIGN - 8. This is easily one of the best sets that HHNH has ever done. Lots of detail, plus fun projections to enhance the areas. It’s just too bad I felt the other stuff didn’t supplement it well and that the set itself doesn’t necessarily lend itself to be scary. For that, I can’t give it a 10.
SOUND DESIGN - 6. I honestly wasn’t impressed with the horror remixes. There’s also some grating sound bytes like the “he’s so hot” that replays over and over again like 20 times even if you’re fast walking out of that room. Must drive the actors insane to be in there.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 5. If people running around in red jackets is your thing, then this should be a real winner for you. Unfortunately, it’s not for me. Only thing semi-saving this is the toad people.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 6. I feel like half the cast are mannequin people. They’re doing great. Everyone else is doing fine, but I feel like it’s the story itself bringing this down for me.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 2. I don’t find this scary, not one bit. I found myself questioning everything while in there.
LENGTH - 10. There’s actually a really great length to this maze. Feels like one of the longest HHNH has done.
SCARES - 3. Nothing really scared me in here, if I am being completely honest. I might’ve got a jolt from a toad person.
STORY - 6. There is a loose story of vanity and Los Angeles dreams gone wrong in here, but it almost becomes too stupid for its own self by the end.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 3. I love The Weeknd, so I really wanted this to work, but I just had a feeling it wouldn’t from the get go. I’m glad other people like it, but if it weren’t for the set design, this would be the antithesis of what I think a HHNH maze should be.
54 out of 100. F
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS
FACADE - 10. One of the best facades HHNH has ever done. So immersive and cool. The only thing it’s missing would be the smell of the ocean.
SET DESIGN - 9. Great sets, it just feels a bit derivative of the other mazes in this series so far. If this came out 4 years ago, I’d praise it a bit more, but at this point, I am used to these mazes looking this good.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. Music is great in here.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 6. Wolfman and Mummy look great, but holy crap, does Dracula look freakin terrible.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 7. I think they could be more aggressive. I look forward to this one later in the run.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 8. I think this one could’ve utilized smells a bit more or some elements of fog.
LENGTH - 8. It feels like it could’ve been a bit longer with a cooler finale moment.
SCARES - 7. Not super scary, but feels on par with the House of Horrors. I think for this being part 4 in this maze series, they really needed to turn up the notch.
STORY - 7. I follow the story for the most part, but I think it could’ve been more clear. It’s not as clear as Bride of Frankenstein Lives, as you’ll have to question some elements, but it’s good enough.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 9. I love the UCM and I hope they are staple of the event in some capacity going forward. We waited so long for them to be utilized and I feel they are finally getting their due. I just wish they kicked it up a notch with this one. In a weird way, the biggest problem with this maze is in its in a long line of sequels now and they really have to make it unique each time for it to be a total slam dunk.
79 out of 100. C+
SCARECROW
FACADE - 10. A very close tie for best facade of the year.
SET DESIGN - 7. I think this maze could’ve gone to much more interesting depths of the imagination, but instead, it kept a grounded approach. That’s just my own personal tastes though.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. There’s a nice spookiness to everything.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 7. The Scarecrows could use some wider variation, to be more demented as we go along, but they mostly look the same.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 10. These guys were on fire when I went through, absolutely tearing it up all the way. Major props to them and my personal award for best cast of the night.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 9. I love the feeling of being in here but like I mentioned, I wish it got a bit more surreal about half way through for that added creep factor. They did utilize the elements well with the smells.
LENGTH - 10. Honestly, it ended when it should have. The story had run its course.
SCARES - 8. The scares are a bit repetitive and could’ve used some imagination. They just constantly pop out behind curtains or from doors. Variation would’ve worked wonders for this maze to make the scares less predictable.
STORY - 8. Again, I wish this got surreal, but it took a fairly normal approach to the idea. Maybe next year they will expand upon it.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 10. I love scarecrows and I am glad HHNH finally did a maze of this sort. While they didn’t completely knock it out of the park, at least they gave it a good try.
87 out of 100. B+
UNIVERSAL HORROR HOTEL
FACADE - 7. Not much of a facade to speak of, but I think the pre-show will be good enough to judge here. I loved the pre-show, just wish there was a bit more to it other than someone being hung. With that said, they did great with the pre-show videos of telling the story.
SET DESIGN - 10. I think the sets in here were super grand and hit all the right notes. I do wish there was a big scene to take my breath away, but it did its job. Maybe if we get a sequel house. I will say I need to go through it again because I feel like I missed so much in terms of detail. This didn’t feel like an overlay to another maze at all and the remnants of The Walking Dead fit just fine.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. They did get the vibe right, but the music could’ve been more immersive. There was some cool chanting at the end for the cult vibes.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 6. I think if there’s one major flaw here, is we are bombarded by the same character over and over again, who honestly just looks like Two-Face. There should be more variations of him, at the least.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 10. When I went through, they were on full throttle. I haven’t heard the same for everyone else’s trips through, but hopefully they crank it up a notch for others in coming weeks.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 10. I loved the hotel setting as it honestly worked really well and looked pretty real to me.
LENGTH - 10. Definitely one of the longer feeling mazes of the year and I liked that it even went to the basement at a point where it honestly felt like it may end.
SCARES - 9. Scares could be more inventive, but at least they tried some new tactics in here.
STORY - 10. I think the story is very cool to follow and I would’ve gave this a 10 even from the pre-show elements, but the fact that it keeps unfolding as we go through is great work.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 10. I had low expectations for this maze and it blew right through them. It truly did catch me off guard with how much I ended up loving it. I loved the idea, but was worried about the execution — and I think it pulled it off fairly well considering the circumstances. I love an underdog story!
90 out of 100. A-
BLUMHOUSE
FACADE - 8. I like the idea and I think it was executed well, but something is off about it for me. I think the windows could show more movies.
SET DESIGN - 7. Unfortunately there’s a lot of dead scenes with title card moments. They help tell the story, but they drive the scares to a halt each time.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. I think each film is represented pretty well and enhances the story forward with the sound bytes.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 8. I think the Black Phone segment’s masks are spot on. The Freaky section does a good job as well with matching to the film. Could it be scarier? Yes, but that’s just the themes this maze was stuck with.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 8. I think everyone did a very good job in here, especially for when I went through after closing, which is always the time that I get the cast being their most lazy. I think these guys and gals will really amp up throughout the event, so I am excited to go through again,
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 7. Unfortunately the title cards ruin the immersion, especially with no scares involved in them. The switch to The Black Phone could’ve been a lot smoother as well. There should’ve been a cool transition scenes that utilized the video rental scene.
LENGTH - 7. Freaky is a decent length, but Black Phone is abornmally short.
SCARES - 7. Considering Freaky as a concept is not scary at all, I think they did great for what they had to work with. Black Phone is mostly pop out scares in the dark, but it did okay.
STORY - 10. Great storytelling to a fault as Freaky stalls for it and Black Phone is oddly faithful to the movie without much liberties. The sound bytes for both really enhance the story though.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 8. I wasn’t looking forward to this one, but it turned out to be a whole lot of fun. It could be better, but considering the movies they used, they did a very good job. I wasn’t expecting this to work at all and it worked fine.
78 out of 100. C+
THE WEEKND
FACADE - 5. Nothing special, but at least it’s there. I do think it’s cool that his eyes glow sometimes.
SET DESIGN - 8. This is easily one of the best sets that HHNH has ever done. Lots of detail, plus fun projections to enhance the areas. It’s just too bad I felt the other stuff didn’t supplement it well and that the set itself doesn’t necessarily lend itself to be scary. For that, I can’t give it a 10.
SOUND DESIGN - 6. I honestly wasn’t impressed with the horror remixes. There’s also some grating sound bytes like the “he’s so hot” that replays over and over again like 20 times even if you’re fast walking out of that room. Must drive the actors insane to be in there.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 5. If people running around in red jackets is your thing, then this should be a real winner for you. Unfortunately, it’s not for me. Only thing semi-saving this is the toad people.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 6. I feel like half the cast are mannequin people. They’re doing great. Everyone else is doing fine, but I feel like it’s the story itself bringing this down for me.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 2. I don’t find this scary, not one bit. I found myself questioning everything while in there.
LENGTH - 10. There’s actually a really great length to this maze. Feels like one of the longest HHNH has done.
SCARES - 3. Nothing really scared me in here, if I am being completely honest. I might’ve got a jolt from a toad person.
STORY - 6. There is a loose story of vanity and Los Angeles dreams gone wrong in here, but it almost becomes too stupid for its own self by the end.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 3. I love The Weeknd, so I really wanted this to work, but I just had a feeling it wouldn’t from the get go. I’m glad other people like it, but if it weren’t for the set design, this would be the antithesis of what I think a HHNH maze should be.
54 out of 100. F
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS
FACADE - 10. One of the best facades HHNH has ever done. So immersive and cool. The only thing it’s missing would be the smell of the ocean.
SET DESIGN - 9. Great sets, it just feels a bit derivative of the other mazes in this series so far. If this came out 4 years ago, I’d praise it a bit more, but at this point, I am used to these mazes looking this good.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. Music is great in here.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 6. Wolfman and Mummy look great, but holy crap, does Dracula look freakin terrible.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 7. I think they could be more aggressive. I look forward to this one later in the run.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 8. I think this one could’ve utilized smells a bit more or some elements of fog.
LENGTH - 8. It feels like it could’ve been a bit longer with a cooler finale moment.
SCARES - 7. Not super scary, but feels on par with the House of Horrors. I think for this being part 4 in this maze series, they really needed to turn up the notch.
STORY - 7. I follow the story for the most part, but I think it could’ve been more clear. It’s not as clear as Bride of Frankenstein Lives, as you’ll have to question some elements, but it’s good enough.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 9. I love the UCM and I hope they are staple of the event in some capacity going forward. We waited so long for them to be utilized and I feel they are finally getting their due. I just wish they kicked it up a notch with this one. In a weird way, the biggest problem with this maze is in its in a long line of sequels now and they really have to make it unique each time for it to be a total slam dunk.
79 out of 100. C+
SCARECROW
FACADE - 10. A very close tie for best facade of the year.
SET DESIGN - 7. I think this maze could’ve gone to much more interesting depths of the imagination, but instead, it kept a grounded approach. That’s just my own personal tastes though.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. There’s a nice spookiness to everything.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 7. The Scarecrows could use some wider variation, to be more demented as we go along, but they mostly look the same.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 10. These guys were on fire when I went through, absolutely tearing it up all the way. Major props to them and my personal award for best cast of the night.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 9. I love the feeling of being in here but like I mentioned, I wish it got a bit more surreal about half way through for that added creep factor. They did utilize the elements well with the smells.
LENGTH - 10. Honestly, it ended when it should have. The story had run its course.
SCARES - 8. The scares are a bit repetitive and could’ve used some imagination. They just constantly pop out behind curtains or from doors. Variation would’ve worked wonders for this maze to make the scares less predictable.
STORY - 8. Again, I wish this got surreal, but it took a fairly normal approach to the idea. Maybe next year they will expand upon it.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 10. I love scarecrows and I am glad HHNH finally did a maze of this sort. While they didn’t completely knock it out of the park, at least they gave it a good try.
87 out of 100. B+
UNIVERSAL HORROR HOTEL
FACADE - 7. Not much of a facade to speak of, but I think the pre-show will be good enough to judge here. I loved the pre-show, just wish there was a bit more to it other than someone being hung. With that said, they did great with the pre-show videos of telling the story.
SET DESIGN - 10. I think the sets in here were super grand and hit all the right notes. I do wish there was a big scene to take my breath away, but it did its job. Maybe if we get a sequel house. I will say I need to go through it again because I feel like I missed so much in terms of detail. This didn’t feel like an overlay to another maze at all and the remnants of The Walking Dead fit just fine.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. They did get the vibe right, but the music could’ve been more immersive. There was some cool chanting at the end for the cult vibes.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 6. I think if there’s one major flaw here, is we are bombarded by the same character over and over again, who honestly just looks like Two-Face. There should be more variations of him, at the least.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 10. When I went through, they were on full throttle. I haven’t heard the same for everyone else’s trips through, but hopefully they crank it up a notch for others in coming weeks.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 10. I loved the hotel setting as it honestly worked really well and looked pretty real to me.
LENGTH - 10. Definitely one of the longer feeling mazes of the year and I liked that it even went to the basement at a point where it honestly felt like it may end.
SCARES - 9. Scares could be more inventive, but at least they tried some new tactics in here.
STORY - 10. I think the story is very cool to follow and I would’ve gave this a 10 even from the pre-show elements, but the fact that it keeps unfolding as we go through is great work.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 10. I had low expectations for this maze and it blew right through them. It truly did catch me off guard with how much I ended up loving it. I loved the idea, but was worried about the execution — and I think it pulled it off fairly well considering the circumstances. I love an underdog story!
90 out of 100. A-
BLUMHOUSE
FACADE - 8. I like the idea and I think it was executed well, but something is off about it for me. I think the windows could show more movies.
SET DESIGN - 7. Unfortunately there’s a lot of dead scenes with title card moments. They help tell the story, but they drive the scares to a halt each time.
SOUND DESIGN - 8. I think each film is represented pretty well and enhances the story forward with the sound bytes.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 8. I think the Black Phone segment’s masks are spot on. The Freaky section does a good job as well with matching to the film. Could it be scarier? Yes, but that’s just the themes this maze was stuck with.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 8. I think everyone did a very good job in here, especially for when I went through after closing, which is always the time that I get the cast being their most lazy. I think these guys and gals will really amp up throughout the event, so I am excited to go through again,
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 7. Unfortunately the title cards ruin the immersion, especially with no scares involved in them. The switch to The Black Phone could’ve been a lot smoother as well. There should’ve been a cool transition scenes that utilized the video rental scene.
LENGTH - 7. Freaky is a decent length, but Black Phone is abornmally short.
SCARES - 7. Considering Freaky as a concept is not scary at all, I think they did great for what they had to work with. Black Phone is mostly pop out scares in the dark, but it did okay.
STORY - 10. Great storytelling to a fault as Freaky stalls for it and Black Phone is oddly faithful to the movie without much liberties. The sound bytes for both really enhance the story though.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 8. I wasn’t looking forward to this one, but it turned out to be a whole lot of fun. It could be better, but considering the movies they used, they did a very good job. I wasn’t expecting this to work at all and it worked fine.
78 out of 100. C+
Check out all our maze and scare zone walk-thru videos from our Halloween Horror Nights 2022 at Universal Studios Hollywood playlist.
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Early thoughts from my first visit yesterday:
La Llorona, Scarecrow and Weeknd are my favorites; each had exactly what I'm looking for in a Haunt: A great blend of scary imagery, multi sensory experience, and storytelling. I also had terrific timing on these, for the most part, and I was very glad that ops were not yelling to keep moving the few times I lingered slightly to see a scare.
La Llorona had probably the scariest moment for me, walking over the bridge with the drowned children. I'm not scared by jump scares, but images of lifeless children left me a little shook.
I'm only a casual fan of the Weeknd, but this was what I was hoping for. A wide variety of environments, from club, to subway, to casino, to weird mirror maze, with a carpet floor in one section. I also got sprayed in the liposuction room, and the actor in there crushed the performance.
I was one of the first people to walk thru Scarecrow, and the actors were full of energy. Where this wins for me is being multi sensory. So much SIF. I got sprayed next to the outhouse. Bird "droppings" on my head. Smell of corn. The giant crow at the end was perfectly executed, with most of the body dark, but his glowing eyes plain to see.
Legends Collide would have been on that list, and possibly even first, if I hadn't been through during a cast change on my first 2 walk thru. Anubis was missing on both, as was Wolfman in the Paymaster office, and a Dracula. But I finally got full cast on my 3rd, and I love what is there. The triple team scare might very well be the best scare of the entire event. They also did a great job of balancing Monster appearances, and I enjoy the setting. The only 2 flaws are big ones, and knocks this to 4th. The long black hallway is a huge buzzkill, as is the black room for Anubis appearance. That ending really felt tacked on to me, even if the Anubis costume was fantastic. But the times he wasn't there, I could see backstage, where the actor had half the costume on.
The Death Eaters were also a highlight, they crushed it in the back alley, with heavy fog effects and creepy green lighting. But they also wandered around other parts of the land, and double teamed me at one point. Great costume design as well.
Operations also ran fairly smooth. Staff kept a great balance of Express to standby, and no lines were beyond an hour for most of the night. Only once, on the NOPE set, did I hear "Keep it moving!"
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this event, and look forward to seeing how it evolves throughout the season.
La Llorona, Scarecrow and Weeknd are my favorites; each had exactly what I'm looking for in a Haunt: A great blend of scary imagery, multi sensory experience, and storytelling. I also had terrific timing on these, for the most part, and I was very glad that ops were not yelling to keep moving the few times I lingered slightly to see a scare.
La Llorona had probably the scariest moment for me, walking over the bridge with the drowned children. I'm not scared by jump scares, but images of lifeless children left me a little shook.
I'm only a casual fan of the Weeknd, but this was what I was hoping for. A wide variety of environments, from club, to subway, to casino, to weird mirror maze, with a carpet floor in one section. I also got sprayed in the liposuction room, and the actor in there crushed the performance.
I was one of the first people to walk thru Scarecrow, and the actors were full of energy. Where this wins for me is being multi sensory. So much SIF. I got sprayed next to the outhouse. Bird "droppings" on my head. Smell of corn. The giant crow at the end was perfectly executed, with most of the body dark, but his glowing eyes plain to see.
Legends Collide would have been on that list, and possibly even first, if I hadn't been through during a cast change on my first 2 walk thru. Anubis was missing on both, as was Wolfman in the Paymaster office, and a Dracula. But I finally got full cast on my 3rd, and I love what is there. The triple team scare might very well be the best scare of the entire event. They also did a great job of balancing Monster appearances, and I enjoy the setting. The only 2 flaws are big ones, and knocks this to 4th. The long black hallway is a huge buzzkill, as is the black room for Anubis appearance. That ending really felt tacked on to me, even if the Anubis costume was fantastic. But the times he wasn't there, I could see backstage, where the actor had half the costume on.
The Death Eaters were also a highlight, they crushed it in the back alley, with heavy fog effects and creepy green lighting. But they also wandered around other parts of the land, and double teamed me at one point. Great costume design as well.
Operations also ran fairly smooth. Staff kept a great balance of Express to standby, and no lines were beyond an hour for most of the night. Only once, on the NOPE set, did I hear "Keep it moving!"
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this event, and look forward to seeing how it evolves throughout the season.
I was also there last night! Missed Blumhouse and Halloween as I got there later than I would've preferred but still managed to do everything else as well as Monsters twice!
Got the best scare of the year in La Llorona! Was trying to look back at the end to see the big puppet scare in action. With paying no attention to the front of me, by the time I turned around, the last La Llorona had her hand in my face while the scare trigger was blasting. Almost fell to the floor. LOL
Got my best runthrough of Monsters overall the second run. Unfortunately my first run-through of the night both Wolfman in the office and Anubis were missing, and my second runthrough, only Wolfman (Again) was missing. The one-two-three scare towards the end was really effective!
Hotel gave me a few scares but there was a couple intentionally slowly walking in front of me to film the whole house and get most of the scares. Really hated that. Now I see why they hate filming in the houses.
Looking forward to attending again soon!
Got the best scare of the year in La Llorona! Was trying to look back at the end to see the big puppet scare in action. With paying no attention to the front of me, by the time I turned around, the last La Llorona had her hand in my face while the scare trigger was blasting. Almost fell to the floor. LOL
Got my best runthrough of Monsters overall the second run. Unfortunately my first run-through of the night both Wolfman in the office and Anubis were missing, and my second runthrough, only Wolfman (Again) was missing. The one-two-three scare towards the end was really effective!
Hotel gave me a few scares but there was a couple intentionally slowly walking in front of me to film the whole house and get most of the scares. Really hated that. Now I see why they hate filming in the houses.
Looking forward to attending again soon!
- Apr 2, 2019
- 107
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I'm going to talk about this here and not on the HHN forum because I'm not a horror nights regular. I know this is a scary farm forum but I went to hhn for the first time (yesterday, a Thursday) and Jesus.. universal monsters was great, killer klownz I waited AN HOUR AND A HALF FOR and the maze was my second least favorite (coulda done La Llorona, Halloween, and Scarecrow in that time, all of which I didn't get to) they even gave us compensation at the end of the line with a Blumhouse express pass. The I did the weekend which the line was half the wait for Killer klownz but the queue was actually really fun and the maze was the best of the night I loved it. Like literally the music before we entered combined with the spectacle of it all made me feel like i was gonna cry. Terror tram was fun, Universal Horror hotel was ummm... Had so much potential but like dude... That was like cardboard box the maze, just felt like they did what they had to do and that was it. Then Blumhouse was good and that was the last thing we did. I was in the front so got all the scares but I liked how they told the story of the movies. So essentially, in my opinion, Horror Nights will never come close (at least in Hollywood) to Scary Farm. It doesn't have half the charm, ambience, or seemingly care put into it as scary farm. Yes I had a good time even though wtf r these crowds it's a Thursday mid September? I hate killer klownz tho I will not forgive what that line did to me.. Will I continue to go for years to come? Probably yes.. but ain't nothing gonna come close to my Scary Farm. A few more things I will say, the mazes never felt empty at hhn which unfortunately is something ksf can struggle with. And the thing about the over reliance on jumpscares is definitely there, but, I really have a hard time getting startled in ksf mazes, but when a person jumps out at you accompanied by a loud sound and strobe.. you're gonna get scared. So it can come off as a little tired but it kept me on edge. I definitely want scary farm to include a little more of those types of scares but definitely stay to their roaming scares for the most part. The best scare of the night was a triple scare in universal monsters. That was incredible lol. One last point.. it's crazy how much of the park at hhn DOESN'T matter. Like, we're here for the houses and nothing else. I don't care about the Jabbawokeez and what even are these scare zones? ENTIRE streets are used as queuing for houses. Also it's really weird to have most of the park with this loud intense horror action music but literally nothing is going on interesting visually. Also maybe it's just that this was my first event of the season but Jesus Christ why is it so loud? First walking into the park and the first maze I did was crazy loud. I mean honestly I didn't really mind it but it was just something I noticed. At the end of the day I understand that they are different events and I still really appreciate the creative aspects of Horror Nights
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- May 26, 2010
- 5,823
- 16,240
This thread belongs in the Horror Nights reviews thread, not Scary Farm, so I am moving it. I would also encourage you to use paragraph breaks so it's a bit easier to read your review.
Halloween Horror Nights has returned to Universal Studios Hollywood, and this year truly feels like Hollywood is going all in and bringing the heat.
www.insideuniversal.net
As an aside as I didn't wanna do Orlando vs Hollywood in this review; but as a collective, I feel Hollywood has 2 of the Top 3 mazes this year with Scarecrow and La Llorona.
REVIEW: Halloween Horror Nights 2022 at Universal Studios Hollywood
Halloween Horror Nights has returned to Universal Studios Hollywood, and this year truly feels like Hollywood is going all in. “This year, we’re just kind of going mad.” John Murdy, Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights Creative Director, made this comment during our behind-the-scenes previews a
www.insideuniversal.net
As an aside as I didn't wanna do Orlando vs Hollywood in this review; but as a collective, I feel Hollywood has 2 of the Top 3 mazes this year with Scarecrow and La Llorona.
1st night impressions:
Weekend was more like Weakend. No impressed. Glad I was 20 deep when they opened and not wait 75 min for it.
Killer Klowns - I was hoping for some changes instead of a repeat. Good maze but probably wont redo with FFP unless it is not busy.
Universal Monsters - solid effort great facade and like the animatronic Seagull. Overall good theming but the scares seemed sparse. Need to do a redo but really liked it.
Terror Tram - Great fun liked everything about it. Near the top of my list. Minimal wait early on so I jumped on as it was getting dark.
Scarecrow - Top of the list next to LLA. Really enjoyed everything about this one. The only issue is the Express to Standby ratio. This year it is bad. I sat in line for 20 min without any standby going in. Express was nuts too. At the end of the day either they need to charge more for express and offer less or build 2 houses. 1 for express and 1 for standby.
Halloween - Was not expecting much but I did enjoy this. This was actually the longest wait at 80 min and it was hell. Stuck in the basement of Curious George parking lot is not fun.
Night rides on Hippogriff - Bliss
Death eaters in PotterLand - Really good. Adds a lot to the land at night.
Universal Hotel - was not expecting much and didn't not have a long wait. Actually came out as one of my favorites. They did a good job of transforming TWD to the Hotel. Hopefully I can get some more runs in with low waits.
La Llorona - My top maze of this year so far. Really enjoyed it. Particularly like the horse poo smell. 100/100
Blumhouse - Wasn't expecting much and it really didn't deliver for me. Just not a Blumhouse kind of guy. Probably skip it unless it is super low wait.
I was able to do everything without express but I lined up for Weekend at 5. I would say even on Thursday's it seems busy but not super crazy like the weekend. Express being sold out for basically the first 3 weeks does not bode well for anybody in Standby. I have FFp and I may do an RIP tour at some time so I will go and have fun. I was glad I was able to get 1st runs in yesterday.
Overall a great event.
Weekend was more like Weakend. No impressed. Glad I was 20 deep when they opened and not wait 75 min for it.
Killer Klowns - I was hoping for some changes instead of a repeat. Good maze but probably wont redo with FFP unless it is not busy.
Universal Monsters - solid effort great facade and like the animatronic Seagull. Overall good theming but the scares seemed sparse. Need to do a redo but really liked it.
Terror Tram - Great fun liked everything about it. Near the top of my list. Minimal wait early on so I jumped on as it was getting dark.
Scarecrow - Top of the list next to LLA. Really enjoyed everything about this one. The only issue is the Express to Standby ratio. This year it is bad. I sat in line for 20 min without any standby going in. Express was nuts too. At the end of the day either they need to charge more for express and offer less or build 2 houses. 1 for express and 1 for standby.
Halloween - Was not expecting much but I did enjoy this. This was actually the longest wait at 80 min and it was hell. Stuck in the basement of Curious George parking lot is not fun.
Night rides on Hippogriff - Bliss
Death eaters in PotterLand - Really good. Adds a lot to the land at night.
Universal Hotel - was not expecting much and didn't not have a long wait. Actually came out as one of my favorites. They did a good job of transforming TWD to the Hotel. Hopefully I can get some more runs in with low waits.
La Llorona - My top maze of this year so far. Really enjoyed it. Particularly like the horse poo smell. 100/100
Blumhouse - Wasn't expecting much and it really didn't deliver for me. Just not a Blumhouse kind of guy. Probably skip it unless it is super low wait.
I was able to do everything without express but I lined up for Weekend at 5. I would say even on Thursday's it seems busy but not super crazy like the weekend. Express being sold out for basically the first 3 weeks does not bode well for anybody in Standby. I have FFp and I may do an RIP tour at some time so I will go and have fun. I was glad I was able to get 1st runs in yesterday.
Overall a great event.
- Jun 27, 2017
- 8,043
- 5,225
From my two Weekends going
1) Clowns (went on it twice) was fun, while i would not have been upset with them updating or doing another kinda colorful maze this one to me really works. Its got a lot of fun rooms like the bathroom with all the little babies jumping out and the smells are fun unlike other mazes, lol. Solid maze that I'm glad seems to be popular this year. 8/10
2) Monsters Collide (went on 3 times) - While on paper I'm never very excited about these old school themes. This mazes was lot of fun and enjoyed a few rooms like the one with all the artifacts in it and the moon (outside) room. Also thought the outside of this one was pretty cool. A fun maze that is great to go on after riding the mummy, like the attractions are linked. 8/10
3) The weekend (went on once) This one feels like it should be a meme maze but it has some cool designs that remind me of other great mazes like the nurses felt like Silent Hill to me. Seeing people getting attacked by "the weekend" to me is kinda hilarious but overall had fun in this maze as well and honestly if it had a normal wait would go on again but in no...nooooo way is it worth 90+ mins of my time. Another 8/10 maze
4) La Llorona (went on twice) This one was fun, went on it when it opened and then later. So got to see the sets in the day and at night. It shines at night but was still had good scares in the day. The big scare at the end and the two AA's they have make it stand out and honestly the opening church room is great and because of the sounds everywhere makes it harder to tell where the scares are coming from. 8/10
5) Hotel (went on it twice) This was a cool idea for a maze but it just didn't click with me like I wanted it to. Its not a bad maze but its to me the weakest one but thats just me if you enjoy it, enjoy. It had actors on it but just not as many scares as i'd like and besides the one room where the lights dimmed and you could see the story/art most of the maze just didn't have that X factor to make it more up to Universal Quality for me. 6/10
6) Halloween - (Maze count 3) I saw lots of people upset this maze was returning but I had a blast on this all three times I went on it. The Michael's for me didn't rush at you and felt more like the character then other reviews were leading me to believe. While weekends mirror room is more fun, I still liked this mirror room as well. I liked the outside part where you see michael behind the hanging towels and walk though, that s fun. Overall I just enjoyed this maze a good deal. 8.5/10
7) Scarecrow - (maze count 3) - I have heard nothing but great things about this maze but....i just didn't love it like everyone else. Its a cool theme and i like the house as you walk in but besides the one room with all the hanging scarecrows, I just didn't see much else I loved. Its is fun maze and better then hotel but I just enjoyed other mazes more and went on it 3 times and not one time did the maze ever just click with me. 7/10
8) Terror Tram - (Maze count 3) - This was my favorite thing at the event. The classic Halloween theme just worked well and walking on the set of NOPE was fantatic, 5 stars angel! My biggest complaint of the maze is the walk between the motel and Cat Ally, it just doesn't have any scares and hope they change the path next year. The Clowns all seemed ready to smile or attack you at any moment. The maze had sooo many themes, clowns, party, cats, dead baseball players?, bikers, pumpkins and then Nope.
Nope area was pretty great, the actors did have a disadvantage many people like myself wanted to take pictures of the area but they still were in character the entire time. 9/10
9) Blum House - The Freaky stuff was fun and it sucks the Black Phone just was maybe 1/3 the maze I did like this one more then hotel but less then scarecrow. Wish they had the van out front for pictures because..why not? 6/5/10
The new Crow Character walking around is soooo much fun and hope we see it or something like it next year. The Death eaters just killed it everytime I went thought it (4 times) they were in your face and it was just....so much fun. I'm really glad we finally got death eaters. Overall the event was a 8/10 I dont know if its as great as 2019/2012 which are two times I really had the best time but for general waits? I've never had better luck then this before. So go on a Sunday or Thursday
1) Clowns (went on it twice) was fun, while i would not have been upset with them updating or doing another kinda colorful maze this one to me really works. Its got a lot of fun rooms like the bathroom with all the little babies jumping out and the smells are fun unlike other mazes, lol. Solid maze that I'm glad seems to be popular this year. 8/10
2) Monsters Collide (went on 3 times) - While on paper I'm never very excited about these old school themes. This mazes was lot of fun and enjoyed a few rooms like the one with all the artifacts in it and the moon (outside) room. Also thought the outside of this one was pretty cool. A fun maze that is great to go on after riding the mummy, like the attractions are linked. 8/10
3) The weekend (went on once) This one feels like it should be a meme maze but it has some cool designs that remind me of other great mazes like the nurses felt like Silent Hill to me. Seeing people getting attacked by "the weekend" to me is kinda hilarious but overall had fun in this maze as well and honestly if it had a normal wait would go on again but in no...nooooo way is it worth 90+ mins of my time. Another 8/10 maze
4) La Llorona (went on twice) This one was fun, went on it when it opened and then later. So got to see the sets in the day and at night. It shines at night but was still had good scares in the day. The big scare at the end and the two AA's they have make it stand out and honestly the opening church room is great and because of the sounds everywhere makes it harder to tell where the scares are coming from. 8/10
5) Hotel (went on it twice) This was a cool idea for a maze but it just didn't click with me like I wanted it to. Its not a bad maze but its to me the weakest one but thats just me if you enjoy it, enjoy. It had actors on it but just not as many scares as i'd like and besides the one room where the lights dimmed and you could see the story/art most of the maze just didn't have that X factor to make it more up to Universal Quality for me. 6/10
6) Halloween - (Maze count 3) I saw lots of people upset this maze was returning but I had a blast on this all three times I went on it. The Michael's for me didn't rush at you and felt more like the character then other reviews were leading me to believe. While weekends mirror room is more fun, I still liked this mirror room as well. I liked the outside part where you see michael behind the hanging towels and walk though, that s fun. Overall I just enjoyed this maze a good deal. 8.5/10
7) Scarecrow - (maze count 3) - I have heard nothing but great things about this maze but....i just didn't love it like everyone else. Its a cool theme and i like the house as you walk in but besides the one room with all the hanging scarecrows, I just didn't see much else I loved. Its is fun maze and better then hotel but I just enjoyed other mazes more and went on it 3 times and not one time did the maze ever just click with me. 7/10
8) Terror Tram - (Maze count 3) - This was my favorite thing at the event. The classic Halloween theme just worked well and walking on the set of NOPE was fantatic, 5 stars angel! My biggest complaint of the maze is the walk between the motel and Cat Ally, it just doesn't have any scares and hope they change the path next year. The Clowns all seemed ready to smile or attack you at any moment. The maze had sooo many themes, clowns, party, cats, dead baseball players?, bikers, pumpkins and then Nope.
Nope area was pretty great, the actors did have a disadvantage many people like myself wanted to take pictures of the area but they still were in character the entire time. 9/10
9) Blum House - The Freaky stuff was fun and it sucks the Black Phone just was maybe 1/3 the maze I did like this one more then hotel but less then scarecrow. Wish they had the van out front for pictures because..why not? 6/5/10
The new Crow Character walking around is soooo much fun and hope we see it or something like it next year. The Death eaters just killed it everytime I went thought it (4 times) they were in your face and it was just....so much fun. I'm really glad we finally got death eaters. Overall the event was a 8/10 I dont know if its as great as 2019/2012 which are two times I really had the best time but for general waits? I've never had better luck then this before. So go on a Sunday or Thursday
Update after a few more visits.
Thursday I had express but was with a friend who was working on the lot and had a 6 am call time so he wanted to leave by 11. We didn't start till 8 but we got everything done with a few rides. He really liked the weekend, Scarecrow and La Llorona. The weekend is growing on me after a few more runs. Scarecrow's express was ridiculous. I don't understand how it gets so backed up. Maybe they need 3 mazes to handle the flow like the backlot.
Sunday
La Llorona opens at 6:30 but I would hold off until it is dark. I did it at open last night and because there are a lot of open air spots there was a ton of light leak. Not a great run but still my favorite maze. So my plan was to skip the lower lot for early entry and do LL, UH and then Scarecrow and Halloween and then see what was not so busy. Got in line for LL at 6:20 and they opened right at 6:30. after dumping express I was in by 6:35. Made my way to Potter and waited to 6:45 when they opened the area. Made it to Halloween and waited about 15 min. Scarecrow was way shorter than Halloween but has a listed wait of 45 min, I only waited about 5 min for that. Had a really good run and lots of scares. Went back up to Blumhouse which had a 25 min wait but real time was closer to 15. Then back to Universal Horror Hotel that had a 30 min wait closer to 20. At that point I wanted to hit Terror tram and call it a night but even Terror tram was at 60 min by that point. I figured I had a good night so I singled ridered Potter and shopped for some merch. So 5 mazes in under 2 hours was good for me.
The crowd level seemed busy for a Sunday but this year everyday feels busy. If I was only doing it 1 day I would definitely buy express or do RIP.
Thursday I had express but was with a friend who was working on the lot and had a 6 am call time so he wanted to leave by 11. We didn't start till 8 but we got everything done with a few rides. He really liked the weekend, Scarecrow and La Llorona. The weekend is growing on me after a few more runs. Scarecrow's express was ridiculous. I don't understand how it gets so backed up. Maybe they need 3 mazes to handle the flow like the backlot.
Sunday
La Llorona opens at 6:30 but I would hold off until it is dark. I did it at open last night and because there are a lot of open air spots there was a ton of light leak. Not a great run but still my favorite maze. So my plan was to skip the lower lot for early entry and do LL, UH and then Scarecrow and Halloween and then see what was not so busy. Got in line for LL at 6:20 and they opened right at 6:30. after dumping express I was in by 6:35. Made my way to Potter and waited to 6:45 when they opened the area. Made it to Halloween and waited about 15 min. Scarecrow was way shorter than Halloween but has a listed wait of 45 min, I only waited about 5 min for that. Had a really good run and lots of scares. Went back up to Blumhouse which had a 25 min wait but real time was closer to 15. Then back to Universal Horror Hotel that had a 30 min wait closer to 20. At that point I wanted to hit Terror tram and call it a night but even Terror tram was at 60 min by that point. I figured I had a good night so I singled ridered Potter and shopped for some merch. So 5 mazes in under 2 hours was good for me.
The crowd level seemed busy for a Sunday but this year everyday feels busy. If I was only doing it 1 day I would definitely buy express or do RIP.
So I went to the event yesterday. This is my 13th year going to the event; at this point, it's part of my annual ritual, one I look forward to every year. This year, however, was also my first year finally being able to go to the event in Orlando, which I thought was fantastic, and I talked about it in the Orlando thread here if anyone is interested on my thoughts!
Anyway, having been gone opening weekend for our event to be at Orlando's, and being generally busy last weekend, this was my weekend to finally go. In years past, we've always tried to go Thursdays or Sundays to avoid the Friday/Saturday crowds, which has always worked, and utilizing Early Entry just became second nature, where the routine worked almost flawlessly (IE starting at the lower lot/backlot mazes first, etc.) down to a science. It was never a problem until last year, which I talked about in the 2021 thread here; that night turned out to be my least favorite night going to the event. Ever. And a lot of it was due to the Express issue we all know well now.
Got into the park around 3, hung out for a bit, then went and were literally almost the first people in line for The Weeknd at around 4:20ish. Thought, "Sweet, we're gonna be able to blow through this no problem." Nope. By the time we were in the soundstage, so close I could reach and touch the facade, the Express line was full and out of the soundstage as well, and once the maze opened shortly after 6:00... They just let the Express people go. And go. And go. Someone even asked the line operator why we weren't being allowed in and the guy said, straight up, "You're in for a long wait," which is just... appalling. It wasn't until someone in Express came through with a drink they hadn't finished, arguing with the line op, that we were even allowed to go in just because of the unexpected holdup, otherwise we could've been waiting who knows how long.
After that, we hopped over to Klowns for what ended up being a 20-25ish minute wait (mainly because The Weeknd was still being piled up on) and then we hit up Monsters. By the time we were done, it was already pushing 7:30 (again, which is wild, because you used to be able to do a bunch of mazes before the event even "started.") We went upstairs and Terror Tram had a 10 minute wait and Scarecrow had a 45 minute wait, so we made a judgment call to do Scarecrow knowing how bad it's been getting. By the time we got there, it had jumped to 55 minutes, but overall the wait ended up being just under 40. (Awesome maze, though!)
From there, it was just downhill, however. Got out, Halloween was at 70 minutes (and we skipped it having done it in Orlando and wanting to do stuff like La Llorona or the Tram first). But by the time we had passed through Wizarding World, Terror Tram was at 80-90 minutes, La Llorona was at 75, Blumhouse was at 65, and so on, with stuff like The Weeknd at a flat 120 minutes. We were already getting disheartened, not wanting to wait after being spoiled by Orlando never having these issues on any of the five nights we went, so we ate real quick to recover some energy before committing to a lengthy stand, but by the time we were done, La Llorona was at 95 minutes, Halloween had hit 120, etc. The shortest wait was the Hotel at 55, so we went and did it, thought it was okay but nothing special, and by the time we're done, it's 10:00/10:15.
La Llorona at that point was 115 minutes long. The Tram was still an hour and a half. Across the board, everything else was between 80 to 140 minutes long. Even Jurassic, which has been part of my HHN ritual from the beginning, was at an hour wait. And having flashbacks to last year, of waiting over an hour and a half at Halloween 4 despite a 50-minute posted wait time at midnight, all while Express was poured in, we both stopped, looked at each other, and said, "Let's just go." In all my years, this was the first time I've ever straight up left early on "my first night," and I left just bummed, not entirely because we didn't get everything done (at least we can come back with our FFP) but just because the event just doesn't feel the same anymore. And even when we were leaving, passing by the security checkpoints outside the park, a bunch of cops were there arresting three people, and suddenly I felt like I was at Dark Harbor again. And when I checked the app from home at midnight and 1:00, none of the waits had really gone down; stuff was still posting 120+ minute waits.
As for the mazes themselves, I thought The Weeknd was slightly better than Orlando's. I loved Klowns the first time it was at the event, but it felt so disappointing this time; the entire carnival section at the end was 90% black walls and lifeless. Monsters was neat, especially near the end, but the first half was just devoid of scares because actors weren't there, and having been blown away by Orlando's version, I just came out underwhelmed. Scarecrow, oddly enough, was really cool, and I loved the crow room, but then it was tempered by Hotel, which, again, just felt... off. The one maze I was looking most forward to, La Llorona - which was one of my favorite mazes of the event ever the first time we'd had it - we didn't even do, as I said, so I'm hoping to give it a shot next time, but overall, of what we did do, I just wasn't wowed. (Admittedly, though, I did like the presence of the Death Eaters, but even then, I was like, "That's it?")
And like last year, the amount of people I saw treating others (and staff) like garbage was just insane. So couple all that - people being awful, mazes underwhelming - with things like lack of shows, scare zones might as well being nonexistent now, awful crowding, and, of course, this horrible, HORRIBLE Express issue, I'm worried I'm falling out of love with the Hollywood event. (I also may be crazy, but it felt like there were more rowdy preteens/teens here than ever before, perhaps because places like Knott's are cracking down?) So many corners have been cut over the years, so many concessions made for complainers, like the death of B&T or Chucky/the Purge barker, and so on that it's gone from a fun experience to one of pure frustration, which is sad, because going to Orlando's event this year was like night and day, especially in terms of how much better they manage the Express/standby situation.
All in all, something needs to change. I know it won't, but I'm tired of feeling disillusioned by the event. Early Entry doesn't even feel like it matters anymore, and even if they just disallowed Express from being used until 7 when the event actually starts, that'd at least be something that could help, but Universal's making that paper, so it clearly won't ever change. Oh well... At least we braced for it this year after last year's experience, but I can't say I'm still not disappointed.
Anyway, having been gone opening weekend for our event to be at Orlando's, and being generally busy last weekend, this was my weekend to finally go. In years past, we've always tried to go Thursdays or Sundays to avoid the Friday/Saturday crowds, which has always worked, and utilizing Early Entry just became second nature, where the routine worked almost flawlessly (IE starting at the lower lot/backlot mazes first, etc.) down to a science. It was never a problem until last year, which I talked about in the 2021 thread here; that night turned out to be my least favorite night going to the event. Ever. And a lot of it was due to the Express issue we all know well now.
Got into the park around 3, hung out for a bit, then went and were literally almost the first people in line for The Weeknd at around 4:20ish. Thought, "Sweet, we're gonna be able to blow through this no problem." Nope. By the time we were in the soundstage, so close I could reach and touch the facade, the Express line was full and out of the soundstage as well, and once the maze opened shortly after 6:00... They just let the Express people go. And go. And go. Someone even asked the line operator why we weren't being allowed in and the guy said, straight up, "You're in for a long wait," which is just... appalling. It wasn't until someone in Express came through with a drink they hadn't finished, arguing with the line op, that we were even allowed to go in just because of the unexpected holdup, otherwise we could've been waiting who knows how long.
After that, we hopped over to Klowns for what ended up being a 20-25ish minute wait (mainly because The Weeknd was still being piled up on) and then we hit up Monsters. By the time we were done, it was already pushing 7:30 (again, which is wild, because you used to be able to do a bunch of mazes before the event even "started.") We went upstairs and Terror Tram had a 10 minute wait and Scarecrow had a 45 minute wait, so we made a judgment call to do Scarecrow knowing how bad it's been getting. By the time we got there, it had jumped to 55 minutes, but overall the wait ended up being just under 40. (Awesome maze, though!)
From there, it was just downhill, however. Got out, Halloween was at 70 minutes (and we skipped it having done it in Orlando and wanting to do stuff like La Llorona or the Tram first). But by the time we had passed through Wizarding World, Terror Tram was at 80-90 minutes, La Llorona was at 75, Blumhouse was at 65, and so on, with stuff like The Weeknd at a flat 120 minutes. We were already getting disheartened, not wanting to wait after being spoiled by Orlando never having these issues on any of the five nights we went, so we ate real quick to recover some energy before committing to a lengthy stand, but by the time we were done, La Llorona was at 95 minutes, Halloween had hit 120, etc. The shortest wait was the Hotel at 55, so we went and did it, thought it was okay but nothing special, and by the time we're done, it's 10:00/10:15.
La Llorona at that point was 115 minutes long. The Tram was still an hour and a half. Across the board, everything else was between 80 to 140 minutes long. Even Jurassic, which has been part of my HHN ritual from the beginning, was at an hour wait. And having flashbacks to last year, of waiting over an hour and a half at Halloween 4 despite a 50-minute posted wait time at midnight, all while Express was poured in, we both stopped, looked at each other, and said, "Let's just go." In all my years, this was the first time I've ever straight up left early on "my first night," and I left just bummed, not entirely because we didn't get everything done (at least we can come back with our FFP) but just because the event just doesn't feel the same anymore. And even when we were leaving, passing by the security checkpoints outside the park, a bunch of cops were there arresting three people, and suddenly I felt like I was at Dark Harbor again. And when I checked the app from home at midnight and 1:00, none of the waits had really gone down; stuff was still posting 120+ minute waits.
As for the mazes themselves, I thought The Weeknd was slightly better than Orlando's. I loved Klowns the first time it was at the event, but it felt so disappointing this time; the entire carnival section at the end was 90% black walls and lifeless. Monsters was neat, especially near the end, but the first half was just devoid of scares because actors weren't there, and having been blown away by Orlando's version, I just came out underwhelmed. Scarecrow, oddly enough, was really cool, and I loved the crow room, but then it was tempered by Hotel, which, again, just felt... off. The one maze I was looking most forward to, La Llorona - which was one of my favorite mazes of the event ever the first time we'd had it - we didn't even do, as I said, so I'm hoping to give it a shot next time, but overall, of what we did do, I just wasn't wowed. (Admittedly, though, I did like the presence of the Death Eaters, but even then, I was like, "That's it?")
And like last year, the amount of people I saw treating others (and staff) like garbage was just insane. So couple all that - people being awful, mazes underwhelming - with things like lack of shows, scare zones might as well being nonexistent now, awful crowding, and, of course, this horrible, HORRIBLE Express issue, I'm worried I'm falling out of love with the Hollywood event. (I also may be crazy, but it felt like there were more rowdy preteens/teens here than ever before, perhaps because places like Knott's are cracking down?) So many corners have been cut over the years, so many concessions made for complainers, like the death of B&T or Chucky/the Purge barker, and so on that it's gone from a fun experience to one of pure frustration, which is sad, because going to Orlando's event this year was like night and day, especially in terms of how much better they manage the Express/standby situation.
All in all, something needs to change. I know it won't, but I'm tired of feeling disillusioned by the event. Early Entry doesn't even feel like it matters anymore, and even if they just disallowed Express from being used until 7 when the event actually starts, that'd at least be something that could help, but Universal's making that paper, so it clearly won't ever change. Oh well... At least we braced for it this year after last year's experience, but I can't say I'm still not disappointed.
- Nov 7, 2016
- 1,584
- 1,742
I agree with this review a bit. The event has been on a steady decline, imo, since 2016 which was obviously such a great year. But imo, there was 2016 level great mazes 07-12 (16 just had the MOST of them). Then you'd have maybe 1 terrible maze from 12-15, but the rest were generally still pretty good. But from 2017 and on, however, the event has had weird budget cuts, plagued by poor scenic design with the black wall issue figuring tactics that worked in The Exorcist maze should work for every maze thereafter, and operational problems like the annoying line-cutting ticketing situation and now Express.
On opening weekend, I had the epiphany -- I don't enjoy waiting in these lines anymore, even with Early Entry. I'd rather buy Express, and whoever of my friends can't, then sadly that just means my group will be smaller. But the Express line has become such a soul sucking thing for everyone else not in it. If it wasn't because I planned 2 more additional trips with GA this year, I wouldn't come back to HHN without Express. When people had said that in the past, I honestly thought they were exaggerating. And to an extent, they were -- the event was fully possible as long as you got there early. The last 2-4 years, however...not so much.
So 2023 and onward, I may be only returning to this event one time a year, but now with Express.
....watch this be when Scream happens, I will throw a tantrum lmfao
On opening weekend, I had the epiphany -- I don't enjoy waiting in these lines anymore, even with Early Entry. I'd rather buy Express, and whoever of my friends can't, then sadly that just means my group will be smaller. But the Express line has become such a soul sucking thing for everyone else not in it. If it wasn't because I planned 2 more additional trips with GA this year, I wouldn't come back to HHN without Express. When people had said that in the past, I honestly thought they were exaggerating. And to an extent, they were -- the event was fully possible as long as you got there early. The last 2-4 years, however...not so much.
So 2023 and onward, I may be only returning to this event one time a year, but now with Express.
....watch this be when Scream happens, I will throw a tantrum lmfao
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