Halloween Horror Nights 30 (UO): Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[Bort]

On night 4/4, so I guess I can share some thoughts on the event:

• First time leaving the north since pre-covid. Not to derail this too much, but wow Florida (or at least the guests coming to UOR/HHN) have completely given up on covid. I’d say it’s something like 80-85% no masks inside and 10-15% masks on inside. For that, I’m glad they put up the vinyl to at least protect the actors. I’m comfortable with the health and safety of those who I went with this year, but would’ve had a guilty conscious if I dragged my parents/older family members out this year.

• The vinyl doesn’t make the scare impossible, but if you see it too early, it tips the potential of a scare. I still got scared a good amount of times even when I saw vinyl. Think the scareactors are doing a good job of working with what they’ve got. Does it make the overall house a little less scary? Yeah, but not enough that you don’t enjoy it.

• Hill House feels like the clear winner of the IP houses this year. It was a beautiful, scenic house, with some great scares. Public seemed to really respond to it well too.

• 2 of the 3 drinks I enjoyed (Ghoul Juice and Wicked Old Fashioned). The one I didn’t care for was the Poison Tea Party, but that’s more because I don’t like tea.

• Eddie’s zone is the runaway winner in my opinion. Good combo of actors, props, fog, music. Seek & Destroy was enjoyable for the couple mins that I saw a cast change happening. Crypt was full of guests just taking pictures of the stage characters, energy wasn’t there for me. 30 years is the same song and dance of all entrance zones. Gorewood is a double edged sword: go early to see the scareactors and actually get to walk, but it’s bright. Go late, and it looks good lit up, but you can’t move cause it’s so crowded.

• Marathon of Mayhem was good for one viewing, enjoyed it for what it was. Halloween Nightmare Fuel was great! Saw it a couple times, really enjoyed the magic tricks. The music again was top notch — my favorite part with all the Fear Factor stage shows. They do a phenomenal job selecting music.

• Crowds are really wonky. From what I understand, TMs had comps available for Wednesday/Thursday which led to a really busy Wednesday. I’d definitely look at express if you can’t do Stay n Scream and only have a night or two. Thankfully I had 4 days to do this, so I broke it up into ~3-5 houses a night.

Looking to finish up some second runs through houses later tonight, should have a full ranking and review coming mid-week.

Overall
1. 29
2. 28
3. 30

 

[ssirin88]

So I'm five nights into HHN with two left to go. I don't have too many large-scale thoughts like before but here are some bullet points as I drink a Jai Alai in my Aventura room listening to MONTERO.

• The food and drinks are the unquestionable winner of this event and has been stellar. Bravo to the food team at UOR.
• Scare zones are rarely scary for anyone who's been in the event for more than a few hours their whole lives and this year's zones are fine. They are usually the best when the zone is a PARTY which is why I think 30 and Eddie are the 'best' this year. The drumbeat of "the scare zones are terrible this year" happens all the time to the point where I doubt they have ever been amazing since like the early 2010s.
• Houses this year feel like they had a good concept that got up-ended at least half a dozen times due to COVID, staffing, and other changes due to *waves arms*. We're paying good money to go to this event so and Comcast is a huge company that makes billions a year, I don't need to excuse or defend them which is why I think the housing lineup this year is the lower middle of the events I've been to. I don't think it's the fault of anyone but the world we have to deal with until we hit the endemic state of COVID-19.
• Shows this year are good, Marathon of Mayhem never stood a chance against 29's version simply because of the amount of iconic music and visuals plus a killer concept for the show. Nightmare Fuel is a worthy successor to B&T and does what AoV never could do: add more acts than just group dancing to a show. I think the show is creative and really combines several wild concepts into a whole that works very well, easily one of the best things offered this year. Plus bonus points for hiring locally.
• Crowds have been unpredictable this year due to a locals focus, odd TM blackouts, comp ticket dates, and more. Weirdly enough the crowds seem to be OPPOSITE of what normally happens: if the only want to get into HHN is to buy a single-day admission the event is WAY less crowded.
• I think tweaks are still happening in all the houses for nearly every aspect of the experience, this event was not the one i attended two weeks ago and will not be the same event two weeks from now. While that's always true in a way it's even more so this year.
• Merch has taken a step back into the realm of black tshirt designs. Please for the love of god open up to some more new concepts next year. Bonus points for some fun other items like coffee, candles, and drink coasters for us millennials.
• Bring back Original Sin Black Widow cider and High Noons, you cowards

1. 28
2. 25
3. 29
4. 27
5. 30
6. 26
7. 24

OMG this. So tired of everything being some form of a black shirt. This is Florida, it's freaking hot every day and I prefer lighter color shirts to stay comfortable in the heat. But nevermind, here's a freaking denim jacket lol.

I mostly agree with your points. We're going back this coming Friday and Saturday, so it'll be interesting to see what's already changed. I wasn't expecting anything "major" until at least October.

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

Ight here we go....
My opening thoughts here is that HHN this year was pretty good, I would rate this above 29 but below 28 and 27. Plexi had me dazzed through some of the houses, I would look at one side where Plexi was and then get jumped by the other side and miss the scare, call it bad luck but I ran through most of the houses more than once and that tendency of mine was consistent.

Scarezones this year were a slight improvement from 2019's, but still need some work. This is how I would rate them....
1. LIGHTS CAMERA HACKTION EDDIES REVENGE
2. GoreWood Forest
3. Seek and destroy
4. Crypt Tv
5. 30 Years 30 fears

So houses, pretty good year this year. They were better than 2019's for me for sure.

1. Wicked Growth realm of the pumpkin
2. HHN Icons Captured
3. Bride of Frankenstein Lives
4. Beetlejuice
5. Haunting Of hill house
6. Case files Unearthed
7. Revenge of the tooth fairy
8. TCM
9. Scarey
10. Puppet Theatre Captive audience

Marathon of mayhem was ok, missing the 2019 version, but hey that year had to have something better than this one right?

This was definitely HHN and it's good to be back.

 

[Captain Tragedy]

I’ll have more complete thoughts later on but here’s my hot take(s): prices are still too low for RoF and other multi night tickets with express. My group waited almost half an hour in Beetlejuice’s express line at about 12:30 am last night which is egregious. Ops in general might just be really bad due to staffing, but if everyone has express, no one does. Also we shouldn’t have to be walking a half mile to get to the express scanner. *looking at you Wicked Growth*
Edit: should say waking a half mile when there’s no one in the express line. Do you even queue manage, bro?

Also one in my group cannot walk far (he can usually walk through the houses) and we’ve had many instances where either a wheelchair was not available at entrance or for some reason it was not waiting for us at the exit. Whether it was due to someone not being able to bring it to the exit or it was taken by a different party (is it just me or has the general public’s behavior been absolutely horrid this year?), I’ve had to take the wheelchair into the houses with us so we actually have it at the exit.

I dunno, a lot of weirdness has really made me consider skipping a year, tho i know pert near all that weirdness has been due to covid issues. Definitely a middle to low point for the 10 years I’ve been. Shows and food have been great and I don’t *hate* any of the houses. Scarezones are scarezones and I usually just hang around for people watching.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Scare zones are rarely scary for anyone who's been in the event for more than a few hours their whole lives and this year's zones are fine. They are usually the best when the zone is a PARTY which is why I think 30 and Eddie are the 'best' this year. The drumbeat of "the scare zones are terrible this year" happens all the time to the point where I doubt they have ever been amazing since like the early 2010s

Agreed. My theory is that scarezones of the past get put on pedestals by people who didn’t actually experience them. 2008 was heralded as the standard to which all scarezones should be held…they were okay. They still were never “scary” and the decor amounted to a lot of trusses, wires, and one larger “cool” prop here and there. I wouldn’t say anything in the zones this year is significantly worse than anything we used to get before.

I guess I came to 24 from the POV of 22 and 23 and finally getting a real HHN. IMO the highs of 24 vastly outweighed those 3 houses and even Giggles and Gore and AvP were a lot of fun.

I also loved 24. I’ve been going since 07 and think it’s definitely in my top half.

 

[Nick]

The gates have opened and at long last the fog is back after a 668 day slumber.

Got to the park nice and early - before 4pm actually. I figured there’d be traffic coming in later and I still hadn’t seen Free Guy, so I took the time to go so a matinee for $5.50. Well worth it. But you don’t care about me seeing a three week old movie, you want to know some thoughts on HHN. After leaving the theater, I was able to get all the way to the front of the line to get in with some friends. I’m normally working the event as a scareactor on preview night, so I’ve never really had this experience or been so close up for an opening ceremony. Jack’s opening was a great way to get pumped for the event.

Anyway, i'll try to keep this semi-quick...

Zones
The zones were the only thing that were an easy to point to weak part of the event. Seek & Destroy had no redeeming quality to it whatsoever, Gorewood really wasn't much of anything to write home about (Terra does literally nothing but walk back and forth and the rest of the zone is cramped to the point where on the slowest day of the year there was bottlenecks all night and generally not all that scary.

The 30 years zone had not much to it but some stages, stilts and a few people in the streets. My issue isn't that there's stages though, it's that they aren't doing anything of worth on the stages. They're just sort of.... there. It was also weird how Bone was the biggest "icon" that was actually in the Icon zone and he was never even an official icon.

Crypt Tv didn't work for me, but with many ground level scares (most you won't know are coming), this zone could turn out to be a big hit during crowded nights when the streets are more active. Many of the TM's had to work tomorrow, so by 10PM, the park started to thin. Hollywood was probably the best street sort of by default. Not saying it wasn't good. The chainsaws definitely took it up a notch for me and gave it something the other zones were missing. The zone was also just a hive of activity whereas I felt most of the other zones were fairly stagnant.

Shows
I also ready liked Marathon of Mayhem in 2019, so to see it back and all jack'd up was exactly what I was hoping for out of a version of this show with Icons in it. And honestly, if you can help it, watch it from Central park, don't try to watch it from somewhere just outside or across over by the Crypt zone. The speakers really hit you in the face with this show in a way that can only be experienced by being in Central Park.

As for Halloween Nightmare Fuel - overall, it was a solid show. Not better than the first AoV in HHN 26 imo (and far too sex'd up for my personal care), however it was better than both AOV's that were in FF Stadium, definitely. My biggest problem with the show was that it rarely took time to breathe. It was go go go the whole show when I think the show actually could've benefitted from maybe a few comedic moments or something. Also, as others have said, ops squeezed us in soooooo freaking tightly for what seemed like no reason. We went to the 8PM show and only about half the arena was filled but they squeezed us all into a small area packed on top of each other.

Houses
Before I start this, I just need to say that almost across the board, this event is PAINFULLY hurting from lack of queue videos to give a brief synopsis of what the house is about and the backstory, specifically the originals. Like, for example, I had no idea that Bride of Frankenstein is actually technically a sequel to Bride of Frankenstein and the house itself is a completely original concept. With the originals this year, half the time, I feel like i'm lost in what the plot is supposed to be because they didn't give a queue video to explain anything.

Bride & Tooth Fairy - Both better than I remembered from last year and the casts had a ton of energy. I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed these houses given I already had seen them.

Texas Chainsaw - Considering I don't like the franchise all that much, I liked the house enough. Nothing mind blowing, but it was okay.

Beetlejuice - Now i'm not the target audience for this house as i've never seen the movie, so if you have seen the movie and are a fan, you'll probably enjoy. But just as a pure haunt, it reminded me of Ghostbusters... to a slightly lesser extent as I feel the sets weren't quite on par with GB.

Haunting of Hill House - Strong start to this house. Haven't seen the series, but everything about it is really top notch, down to the little details that really don't need to be there and few will notice, but they still put in the house anyway.

Icons - This was one of those houses that could've used a preshow, but the house will get by based on recognizable Icons among the fans. For the average guest, good luck discerning what is happening here. Personally, I didn't think the house was all that special, but, as @Disneyhead said, it was fun to see them all together again. It's easy to take advantage of the fact that we're in a year that has all of the Icons represented in one way or another, especially when we've known pretty much about most of this whole lineup for over a year now. But it's also easy to forget that we don't get this often anymore, even if this house isn't on the same caliber of 25 Years of Mayhem.

SCary - Another case of "could've used a preshow". Once again, the big HHN fans will get all the references, but the average park goer will be lost. Points for a HIVE scene!

Legendary Truth - Another case of... well you get it. But this is the most egregious case. When it comes to LT, it was mostly just a viral marketing campaign that they've now turned into a house. FUN! Except, while this house is good and makes nice use of the Shrek building, unless you're a Legendary Truth fan, this house is going to make zero sense. I thought I followed along pretty well, but still wound up having questions by the end.

Puppet Theater - Eh. Didn't really care for this house. That's about all I have to say.

Wicked Growth - Just ahead of Hill House, this is my favorite so far. Best of all, I still feel like it has a lot of room to improve. Now is this on the level of Scarecrow (as i've seen some compare it to)? No. But it's possible the cast could take it to that level by the end of the event. Although with the way the houses are designed, they feel very paint by the numbers and there's no house that feels like it has that "special sauce" thrown in.

On Masks, vinyl coverings, etc - Masks are all themed to the specific character and most of the time you hardly even notice they have a mask on. The vinyl coverings work for the most part, especially in low-lit rooms. It's not a full covering either, just half. I did notice though as the night wore on that many of the vinyl coverings are already taking an EXTREMELY noticeable beating from scareactors and we aren't even at Guest opening day yet.

About time to do an update on this review three weeks in.

Tonight was a rough one, first of all. Freakin' rained like nobody's business for about 3-4 hours and of course I was in line for Puppet Theater when it started to come down, of course the queue line flooded and of course the house shut down due to flooding. Honestly, we should've had those houses done with a more refined plan by that time, but i've already done everything and we were extremely hungry (had barely eaten all day), so we stopped at FFB after BJ and HoHH. Still got all the houses done on the night even with it being a 1 am closure and the two sprungs being flooded for close to two hours, leading to higher lines at other houses.

A few thoughts/notes and then i'll get into my almost mid-way rankings...
- Sooooo many holes. It got better as the night went on (naturally), but for instance, Hill House was probably half empty when we walked through (20 mins after a cast change) and walking through Gorewood felt empty both times I did it and this was after the rain and there were actors in the streets, so it wasn't like they were empty because the casts were pulled.
- Vinyl is definitely playing a major factor in why this year seems a bit toned down. I can feel a lot of potential in some of these, but we just aren't getting the full experience.
- I owe an apology at the very least to the victims in Seek & Destroy. They do a great job and really commit to their role. The masked scareactors do the best with what they have, but they don't have a lot. The one thing I did see tonight was a few moments where they would actually attack the victims, which is fun to watch.
- ICONS was on fire tonight. Every single person in that house was giving it their all and it was way more intense than prior times through. I'd say it was my best house run of the year.
- Was here with some family who went for their first and only time this year. Their favorites were Icons, Wicked Growth and were pretty disappointed in BJ and HoHH, although it didn't help that Hill House was so understaffed at the start of the night.

House rankings:
1. Wicked Growth
2. HHN Icons
3. Bride of Frankenstein
4. Case Study: Legendary Truth
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
6. Puppet Theater
7. Hill House
8. Revenge of the Tooth Fairy
9. sCarey
10. Beetlejuice

Street Rankings:
1. Lights, Camera, Hacktion

(Large Gap)

2. Seek & Destroy
3. Gorewood Forest
4. 30 Years 30 Fears
5. Crypt Tv

2-5 are very interchangeable for the scarezones on any given night. None of them are consistent enough like Eddie's zone is. I've never really had all that much fun in any of the zones except for Eddie and S&D on occasion. 30 Years I put above Crypt Tv only because it it gets points for having some recognizable faces from HHN's past. Nothing too much special about either zone though.

Overall:
1. 25
2. 28
3. 27
4. 29
5. 26
6. 30
7. 24
8. 22

 

[jseal777]

Wicked GOAT

 

[ReelJustice]

This is a tough year to grade because we will never get the event that was intended, and two of the houses (technically three) debuted last year. However, there are criticisms that I think are valid regardless of the pandemic.

First and foremost being that this event, being an anniversary year, is heavily rooted in nostalgia, but lacking any appreciable representation of the past 10 years. By their own admission, the designers made no effort to advance the canon, so you are left with a very weird mashup house in SCarey Ohio, a poorly designed Icons house, a bizarre Terra Cruentus zone, and a very tired Jack. The exception to this is Case Files, but as it is hard to follow by even the most ardent of fans, it is probably a whiff as well. What do the Gen-Z's and post-HHN 25 millennials make of any of this?

The masks and vinyl do detract from the experience. The mother in Hill House looks downright terrifying. Terra Queen looks silly. I appreciate the actors that go around the vinyl or attack the vinyl.

Icons Captured
The gimmick of having a different Icon win at the end makes this house repeatable and exciting. I could see Covid having an impact on this house, but in its current form, it suffers. They put Chance in very weird positions to where you can never really appreciate her without Ops berating you with their wands. They give Lady Luck two rooms to...stand in the very beginning of the room to menace you? I think there may have been another actor in one of the Luck scenes (but they never came out). Storyteller, Director, and Caretaker are the big winners in this house. Storyteller is the only Icon to have her story advanced? We got Jack at the end way too many times. This house really suffers from its layout. Ops practically tackles you and drags you through the weirdly laid out (but huge) Jack/Chance scene if you dare look around.

Beetlejuice
A good third of this house is hallways with no possible scares. The Beetlejuice actors are good; the barker especially. I think, in the future, houses like this, Ghostbusters, and Stranger Things would be better served as daytime offerings.

Hill House
Some decent scares in this house. Bent Neck Lady is a whiff IMO.

SCarey Ohio
Probably should have had more recent event representation or just brought back Hive or Scarecrow or done "Hive 2"

Puppet Theatre
I guess this one is my favorite. I am sad that I will never get to see it as intended. This one is bonkers.

The Wicked Growth
This year's Graveyard Games. Locals love it. I want to love it but cannot. I did have one good run at 1 AM. Pumpkin Lord is a letdown, IMO. Big shoutout to the scares through vinyl made to look like lattice and fence boards, very effective!

Texas Chainsaw
A house that no one really wanted, but it is well done. The waits are consistently low. But who cares?

Case Files
This house is so packed with lore and detail that you can never hope to understand what is going on. Some decent scares to be had.

The Bride of Frankenstein Lives
If this had not been open last year, and Covid was not a thing, this clearly would have been the star of the show. There are more actors this year (more vampires). This house actually features a scene with three living actors together (the bar is low folks).

Revenge of the Toothfairy
I was a big proponent of it for HHN Lite. It is virtually the same; however, I think this year's cast just gives zero effs. Both Toothfairy and Brides suffer from "been there, done that".

Marathon of Mayhem: Carnage Factory
Music and fountains are fun. The Jack portion is...not great. Lacks the energy of Carnival of Carnage, and just comes across as...sad?

Halloween Nightmare Fuel
The star of the event. It plays to crowded theaters and has a rock concert atmosphere. I do worry about how they follow it up next year. Treasure it while it lasts.

____

So, where do we go from here? Unlike 25, this event does not tee up a Chance icon year, nor does it give you the warm and fuzzies for Jack. I don't know if I want to see Jack for 35 or 40, the idea just depresses me. Universal is virtually out of IPs to mine. Next year is very interesting for me.

 

[jseal777]

First and foremost being that this event, being an anniversary year, is heavily rooted in nostalgia, but lacking any appreciable representation of the past 10 years. By their own admission, the designers made no effort to advance the canon, so you are left with a very weird mashup house in SCarey Ohio, a poorly designed Icons house, a bizarre Terra Cruentus zone, and a very tired Jack. The exception to this is Case Files, but as it is hard to follow by even the most ardent of fans, it is probably a whiff as well. What do the Gen-Z's and post-HHN 25 millennials make of any of this?

As somebody who started going in 28 but sort of followed the event for a while until I got the nerve (and extra $) to actually go, I wish they had used this year to celebrate past lore and almost RETELL a lot of the original lore. Not dissimilar to how some of these remakes, reboots have treated horror properties if that makes any sense. Like a HHN 30 would be the HALLOWEEN 2018 to earlier HHN's Halloween (1978).

maybe that was what they were going for but it does not feel like it landed.

Instead it looks like they both didn't advance the lore but also did not do enough to celebrate years past outwardly.

maybe that all sounds very stupid and doesn't make sense, but that is sort of how I felt this year after being excited about finally seeing Jack. (I did get to see the Keaton Jack which was very fun)

all in all, after covid and everything else, this HHN trip was still the highlight of the past 2 and a half years for me and I had an absolute blast!

 

[Bort]

FULL REVIEW

All in all, it was a blast to be back at HHN for my 3rd year. Walking in at night with the music pumping and the fire blasting above the “HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS” letters was an image that I’ll remember for awhile.

I think I saw some of the IU/Parkscope/HHN Twitter gang while I mooched off the Sapphire Falls boat all week (instead of bussing back to Cabana like the value hotel peasant I am) and throughout the park, but wasn’t sure so I didn’t want to have an awkward encounter with some guys who had no clue what I was talking about. If that was any of you, then “hello!”, except now I’m saying it from New England instead of in-person.

Merch: I really thought there was some great stuff out there this year. The Ringmaster Jack t-shirt might be my favorite HHN item I’ve ever purchased, as was the Coke Freestyle mug. If I didn’t blow so much money on booze, I’d have probably bought more merch. I wish they could’ve brought back some of the HHN Lite merch (like they had with the “old HHN” shirts and such), as I would’ve definitely found room in the budget for those.

Food/Drink: Mentioned this in my shorter review, but thought 2 of the 3 blinky cup drinks were good (Ghoul Juice and whatever the Jack & Coke is called). I bought the donut burger thing too, and it was alright. A lot smaller than I anticipated. Lines looked really long for a lot of the stands so I’d suggest gameplanning if you know you want to hit certain food stands at the event.

Houses

1. Hill House: Think this house consistently held the longest wait time of the night, aside from Beetlejuice and Wicked Growth who would sometimes leap frog it. It checks off all the boxes before you even enter (IP, Netflix, cool logo, etc) so it’s easy to see why the public gravitates towards it. The good thing is that unlike another big-name IP at the event, this house DELIVERS. You don’t need to know a ton about the show to appreciate this house. The facade is beautiful, the Tall Man scares we’re bringing people to the ground, and it feels like it goes on forever. Clear cut #1 for me this year.
2. Welcome to SCarey: When first announced this was one I really looked forward too, but then was a bit disappointed when I saw less than stellar reviews opening weekend. Luckily, I got two great runs through this. My first was pretty close to solo, as most of the crowds were too busy sheltering from rain to run to any houses. It was still bright outside so I could barely see where I was going, or what was going on, but I caught some solid scares. The second run through was about a 30 minute wait, and because it was actually at night I could see better. My knock is that there’s almost too much going on — a prevalent theme at this years event —so it becomes hard to know what the story is. But overall what it struggles with in storytelling, it makes up with in scares.
3. Wicked Growth: The opposite of SCarey, I didn’t have crazy expectations pre-event, but the buzz on social media made me incredibly excited for this house. First run through didn’t blow me away, since I missed a bunch of scares, but enjoyed some of the rooms within this house. On my second run however, this place was rocking! They got me good and I liked how the story continues to build and build as you move room to room. Really enjoyed the part where you’re inside the pumpkin, did not expect that.
4. Puppet Theater: When I look back at houses that would’ve been rocking sans covid, this feels like the one. I had a lot of fun, one of the makeup mirror scares got me good.
5. Icons: Despite not being in attendance for any Icon years, I knew the backstory of them all thanks to watching on YouTube for a decade. In that sense, this was a fun environment. If you don’t have much knowledge of the icons, then your mileage may vary. I didn’t get scared a lot in my trips, but had enough fun seeing these characters in person to make up for it.
6. Case Files LT: Less informed on LT than I am on Icons, so I’m sure I missed out on tons of details, but still thought this was a solid house. I only got one run through, so the story was hard to keep up with (re: my complaint about too much jammed into one house like with SCarey). The Kitty Kat lounge was a really nice scene (both the exterior and interior) and that’ll make for a cool memory of the house anytime I’m walking through New York during future Universal trips. My group all enjoyed the scares we got in here enough to cover the convoluted plot.
7. Beetlejuice: I feel a bit bad for anyone coming in who doesn’t know that this is going to be more of a comedy house than a scary one. I still think there’s plenty to enjoy within it, the opening barker is a lot of fun, and some cool set pieces, but overall not something I’d put as a priority. This holds a strong line for most of the night, so if you can S&S this, I’d suggest doing so.
8. Texas Chainsaw: I really thought this would turn out to be better, but I guess chainsaws either lost their effect on me, or just don’t hit the same after seeing the 10th one within the house. Only memorable parts to me are the awful smelling scene with the pigs, and when you’re by the staircase in the family home.
9. Bride of Frankenstein: The facade is one of my personal favorites this year, but not much else I have to say about it. It’s one highlight is there being a scene with multiple real people in it, something other houses lacked.
10. Tooth Fairy: It just never clicked for me. Gave it two runs, and neither left a good impression. For a house that I had heard rumblings of since 2019, this felt weak.

Shows

1. Halloween Nightmare Fuel: OOOOOOHHHH BOY, that was a show. I stayed pretty much spoiler free going into it, and it made it so much better because of it. The music was top notch (shoutout to whoever already built the full playlist on Spotify). The people who were doing tricks with fire were great, and the crowd ate up some of the more provocative scenes, if you’ve seen it you’ll know which ones I’m talking about. Excited to see what’s in store for that stage in 2022.
2. Marathon of Mayhem: A fun show because you don’t have to line up super early to see it. Jack’s inclusion didn’t really feel like it did much to add to the story, and that’s my one gripe with it. I honestly enjoy the energy it provides to non-viewers almost as much as it does to those watching in Central Park. When I was walking around the park mid-show the bass and music is so strong that it heightens the whole mood of the park.

Zones: I’m not going to go in crazy detail with these. Outside of Lights, Camera, Hacktion, the rest are easily forgettable, and suffer the same problems as previous zones in their area.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Agreed. My theory is that scarezones of the past get put on pedestals by people who didn’t actually experience them. 2008 was heralded as the standard to which all scarezones should be held…they were okay. They still were never “scary” and the decor amounted to a lot of trusses, wires, and one larger “cool” prop here and there. I wouldn’t say anything in the zones this year is significantly worse than anything we used to get before.



I also loved 24. I’ve been going since 07 and think it’s definitely in my top half.

Both the tent houses that year looked great! Dollhouse looked really scary to me. That's the kind of maze HHN needs to strive for--since they can't really rely on effectively jumpscaring most people, stick with imagery and an atmosphere that will leave them shaking. Wish they could've actually done the original Alien.

 

[jseal777]

Both the tent houses that year looked great! Dollhouse looked really scary to me. That's the kind of maze HHN needs to strive for--since they can't really rely on effectively jumpscaring most people, stick with imagery and an atmosphere that will leave them shaking. Wish they could've actually done the original Alien.

First time I went through the dark hallway in graveyard games without knowing what was about to happen scared the crap out of me lol

 

[johnathanm]

Yikes! 24 is really that low for you? Halloween and Dollhouse of the damned were masterpieces from that year! Not to mention one of the best scarezones, Bayou of Blood (when they had the sacrifice show).

I have been going since 23, and while Joe and I differ somewhat notably in our rankings, we both agree that 24 is the bottom of the bunch despite Halloween's perfection. Is that not widely considered a weak year?

P.S. My ranking would probably be:

1. 30
2. 28
3. 25
4. 29
5. 27
6. 26
7. 23
8. 24

Only been going multiple nights since 27 though, so years prior to that may be weaker than would be otherwise. I think 30 stands over 28 because its weakest house (Tooth Fairy imo) has more redeeming qualities than 28's (BH Volume: 2 imo).

 

[ssirin88]

I have been going since 23, and while Joe and I differ somewhat notably in our rankings, we both agree that 24 is the bottom of the bunch despite Halloween's perfection. Is that not widely considered a weak year?

P.S. My ranking would probably be:

1. 30
2. 28
3. 25
4. 29
5. 27
6. 26
7. 23
8. 24

Only been going multiple nights since 27 though, so years prior to that may be weaker than would be otherwise. I think 30 stands over 28 because its weakest house (Tooth Fairy imo) has more redeeming qualities than 28's (BH Volume: 2 imo).

30 is your top? That's interesting, I don't think I've seen anyone else say that lol. Not knocking your opinion or anything, I'm glad this year is great for you.

 

[johnathanm]

30 is your top? That's interesting, I don't think I've seen anyone else say that lol. Not knocking your opinion or anything, I'm glad this year is great for you.

Ya, I imagine 25 would be had I gone to that event more than once. And I think 30’s house lineup is very similar to 28’s in quality where I don’t really believe there are any bad houses. But I think Wicked Growth beats out Poltergeist and Seeds which were my top two that year, and I think this year has a stronger “supporting” cast of houses than 28 as well with the only underwhelming (but still great) ones for me being Beetlejuice and Tooth Fairy.

EDIT: I do think 28’s zones were much stronger and I could have 30 at the top cuz I waited so long for it, so we’ll see how my opinions change haha

 

[Mr_Sparkle]

Im heading to FL tonight for my HHN trip this year. I was unable to attend in '18 so I have no opinion on how that year was, but to me if a year has a couple duds but some houses that are top tier then that year is ranked high on my list. for example 2013 is prob my 3rd fav year since I've been attending (even if the all WD SZ got old quick). There were some ok houses (looking at you Resident Evil), but there were many that I absolutely loved. So while yes '14 had the 3 duds listed prior, for me Halloween, Dollhouse, and even Giggles were great.
My list:
1: 20
2:25
3:23
4:27
5:24
6:29
7:26
30:TBD

 

[JawsVictim]

I have been going since 23, and while Joe and I differ somewhat notably in our rankings, we both agree that 24 is the bottom of the bunch despite Halloween's perfection. Is that not widely considered a weak year?

P.S. My ranking would probably be:

1. 30
2. 28
3. 25
4. 29
5. 27
6. 26
7. 23
8. 24

Only been going multiple nights since 27 though, so years prior to that may be weaker than would be otherwise. I think 30 stands over 28 because its weakest house (Tooth Fairy imo) has more redeeming qualities than 28's (BH Volume: 2 imo).

Wow, I’m surprised 30 is listed that high and 23 isn't lower than 24! Guess I gotta lay my cards out on the table…

1. 29
2. 28
3. 26
4. 24
5. 27
6. 25
7. 30
8. 23
9. 22

 

[Brian G.]

Guys… HHN 30 reviews… with limited small talk. Please take event rankings to its appropriate thread.

 

[Brian G.]

After 3 weekends:

1. Wicked Growth
2. Bride
3. Puppet Theater
4. Hill House
5. Icons
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
7. Case Files
8. SCarey
9. Tooth Fairy
10. Beetlejuice

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Random stream of conscious thoughts incoming:

-I don’t think they’ve decreased the amount of plexiglass but actors that wear full masks (like, as part of their costume) are fully embracing being able to jump out in front of people where they can. It’s like the obstacle of the glass makes it more fun for them, so when a good scare hits, it hits really hard.

-A few nights in and the food is….okay? I haven’t had anything bad, but nothing great either. Best I can say is “oh, that was good” (with the gyoza and brisket sandwich being my favorite but not outstanding or particularly unique). It’s also overpriced.

-Crowds this year have been incredible. Haven’t spent a single full night there yet already have multiple runs through houses. Hope this is just a result of great capacity/operations but I’m sure next year once tourism gets back to normal it’ll be insane again.

-Though nothing blew me away the first couple nights, I think Pumpkin and Hill House are really separating themselves from the pack as top notch of all time. Really only Beetlejuice is a dud, and 4-9 are nearly interchangeable.

-Feel like nobody talks about Frankenstein because so many people did it last year…but this is an incredible house. Just so well done in terms of storytelling, scenic design, etc. Sucks that some people are burned out from it already but if the novelty is still there, it’s an amazing experience that gets slept on too much.

After tempering expectations post-night 1, this isn’t a bad year. Still not a world-beater but the house lineup is top notch and the scarezones aren’t as bad as people are saying. The food tents and expanded drink options really hammer home the party atmosphere they’re going for more than ever before and I’ve honestly embraced the change. I’d say in the years I’ve been going, this is top of the middle pack.