Halloween Horror Nights 29 General Discussion

[JungleSkip]

I just think it was hyped too much. Advertised too much.

What i meant was that even with the flaws it had, if it wasnt a headliner house and if this year had a stronger IP house, maybe expectations on it wouldnt be as high

Im not denying the flaws it had, but if we had IT or something big like that, i think some guests might have given ghostbusters a little bit of a pass

The problem was we had 4 of the same type of house. ST2, Ghostbusters, Killer Klownz, and US were all houses trying harder to retell their stories than scare people. You can maybe have 2 houses like that, but 4 was overkill

 

[WasabiRyo]

I just think it was hyped too much. Advertised too much.

What i meant was that even with the flaws it had, if it wasnt a headliner house and if this year had a stronger IP house, maybe expectations on it wouldnt be as high

Im not denying the flaws it had, but if we had IT or something big like that, i think some guests might have given ghostbusters a little bit of a pass

Ghostbusters was going to get all the hype no matter what. It's ridiculously popular. Everyone know of it. Even if it was secondary on marketing it still would have drawn and suffered the same scrutiny. Design is design.

But there was no way it could even be considered to not be central to marketing. Especially considering the Aiello and the white whale factor. And probably the demands of the license-holder.

 

[Lucky Planet]

The problem was we had 4 of the same type of house. ST2, Ghostbusters, Killer Klownz, and US were all houses trying harder to retell their stories than scare people. You can maybe have 2 houses like that, but 4 was overkill

Yeah thats true. And they were all the front houses lol.

 

[SeventyOne]

Right. It all came down to the execution; and sometimes, even that’s not enough. Some things just don’t click. Nothing to do with the location or any of the things you mentioned.

A bit of reading the tea leaves (or second-hand reports of GSATs) here, but I think the noticeable influx of really young kids drove a lot of the hate. Guests see the middle school mall crowd, assume it's because the event "isn't scary anymore," then the front houses basically play right into that narrative. I also think @JungleSkip is onto something with more narrative focus v. scaring, but that again goes into the idea that these felt more Disney dark ride than haunted house.

 

[WasabiRyo]

The "dark ride" through the houses/movie story aspect comes a lot from the studios pressuring and dictating what and how A&D proceeds with designs, layouts, and functions, so there's not always anything to be done about that..

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Yeah thats true. And they were all the front houses lol.

Exactly. It's not going to matter that Vikings had a blood eagle and a guy getting his ribs ripped out. Or that Nightingales...where do I start? Or that Depths of Fear had a horrifically mutilated dog. Or that Hillbilly Deluxe had strippers. Or that HotC had Dwight sown with a fish. The front, big IP houses are going to be what colors most peoples' opinion of the event.

 

[WasabiRyo]

And truth be told, in the 20 years I've been going to the event, the young audience is not a new thing. It might be skewing slightly younger a bit, but it's always been there. In saw strollers back at 13, littlest kids in the corn maze during 14.

I do wish however, that UO needs to reinstate the CLEAR AND PRESENT disclaimer about it being primarily for 13(?) and up. It's still there, but much more "fine print" than it used to be. Gives management something to point to when there's complaints if they take the step to go back to a more intense overall feel.

 

[horrornights789]

The front, big IP houses are going to be what colors most peoples' opinion of the event.

What I find interesting about this is that 2/3 of the headliners could have been really scary houses. If done right I think Stranger Things could’ve been a terrifying house but they avoided some of the really scary scenes from both seasons(Possession + Hopper’s Cabin scenes from 2’s ending episodes, Basement + Sauna + Fair in season 3). Us was just a problem of Orlando not knowing how to approach the psychological aspect, as they went for an atmospheric house while Hollywood’s was more played straight.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

What I find interesting about this is that 2/3 of the headliners could have been really scary houses. If done right I think Stranger Things could’ve been a terrifying house but they avoided some of the really scary scenes from both seasons(Possession + Hopper’s Cabin scenes from 2’s ending episodes, Basement + Sauna + Fair in season 3). Us was just a problem of Orlando not knowing how to approach the psychological aspect, as they went for an atmospheric house while Hollywood’s was more played straight.

I get why they did it, but man they should've given 2 the entire house and saved 3 for next year.

 

[WasabiRyo]

What I find interesting about this is that 2/3 of the headliners could have been really scary houses. If done right I think Stranger Things could’ve been a terrifying house but they avoided some of the really scary scenes from both seasons(Possession + Hopper’s Cabin scenes from 2’s ending episodes, Basement + Sauna + Fair in season 3). Us was just a problem of Orlando not knowing how to approach the psychological aspect, as they went for an atmospheric house while Hollywood’s was more played straight.

These scenes are really what I was expecting to see in the ST house more. I expected the opening scene. I expected the portal scene, I expected the lab. The Mindflayer breaking into the cabin is a very underrated scene. But I could've done with less arcade, less endless basically empty Upside-down halls with dudes with guns. Thebbus was cool but pointless and half the time I went thorough , Dustin's (very quick looped) dialogue would play with no SA. And No Hawkins fair. No Russian lab. Billy looked like a Warriors reject... I mean, I get it. Netflix was very heavy-handed. But yeah, it really had more potential than was explored.

 

[Darko]

Man that tunnel scene in the ST house dragged on for way too long. Should have been cut in half at least.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Man that tunnel scene in the ST house dragged on for way too long. Should have been cut in half at least.

From what I've heard, (and I know Legacy is just waiting to pounce on this if I'm wrong ), the tunnel is actually encircling a whole portion of the house dubbed "The Island". It's excessively long but I believe that's because it's the only thing that A&D could've fit in that space with the scenes they wanted done.

Well actually, they might've been able to do different (read: better) scenes than they did and made the loop run a little shorter as a result but whatcha gonna do?

 

[SeventyOne]

The "dark ride" through the houses/movie story aspect comes a lot from the studios pressuring and dictating what and how A&D proceeds with designs, layouts, and functions, so there's not always anything to be done about that..

I mean, not using the IP because it's not going to make a satisfying maze is always an option. But a fair point nonetheless.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I mean, not using the IP because it's not going to make a satisfying maze is always an option. But a fair point nonetheless.

This is why i want WDW to try their hand at Halloween mazes, let that contingent have those mazes and leave HHN to be more intense.

 

[Nick]

This is why i want WDW to try their hand at Halloween mazes, let that contingent have those mazes and leave HHN to be more intense.

Disney did try their hand a "maze" (sort of) at DCA this year, but it was mostly just a walking path with light Halloween theming and ambiance. That's about as far as i'm expecting them to ever go as far as Halloween mazes go. It's just not really their "thing" (Granted, HKDL does some great stuff when it comes to mazes).

 

[Legacy]

From what I've heard, (and I know Legacy is just waiting to pounce on this if I'm wrong ), the tunnel is actually encircling a whole portion of the house dubbed "The Island". It's excessively long but I believe that's because it's the only thing that A&D could've fit in that space with the scenes they wanted done.

Well actually, they might've been able to do different (read: better) scenes than they did and made the loop run a little shorter as a result but whatcha gonna do?

Kinda? A lot houses have an "island," where the performers are on the inside of the house path (meaning you can't get out of the house without crossing a guest area). I think they wasted a lot of space on the tunnels, personally. Spatially, they took up about as much space as the Russian Tunnels and Starcourt.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

For anyone who ever wanted to see what a HHN house layout looks likes.

 

[shiekra38]

For anyone who ever wanted to see what a HHN house layout looks likes.

This is so cool to see honestly

 

[Brian G.]

For anyone who ever wanted to see what a HHN house layout looks likes.

I can see where Otis brought the Christmas candy.

 

[Pedro Navarro]

I think people with Stranger Things in all honesty really wanted to see The Mindflayer, got what they wanted, I remember being in line for both GB and ST and I heard the same thing from people where they only wanted to see the main thing they wanted out of the movie, some people wanted The Mindflayer which I admit was the one thing I wanted to see in the house and they didn't disappoint, everything fell by the way side, GB sorta disappointed with Stay Puft and thought they could have done more with it but all in all they did what they could because they were strong-armed by the higher ups, People wanted to see Otis, Baby and Spaulding in House of course because of the recent sequel to both House, & Devil's Rejects Three From Hell, also the fact that Sid Haig passed away on Sept. 21st which made House Of 1000 Corpses a homage house in a way for him. Us, I'm not sure they really hit the nail on the head, Hollywood's did a bit a better but then again this house was just something that could have not happened, Universal Monsters I thought was awesome, the transitions were cool, of course it wasn't like Scarecrow or other stuff but that didn't matter to me, I knew wanted to see Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman and etc. and I'm sure a lot of Universal Monster fans wanted that too and really didn't care as long as Universal really stuck to bringing the monsters and making the house elaborate and the sets awesome. I never had a bad run with neither of the originals so I really have nothing bad to say about any of em except them limiting the creatures in Depths, they had put all their chips down the first week and then afterward immediately back out and changed things up.