Halloween Horror Nights 33 (UOR) - Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[Brian G.]

Okay but where's the food p0rn @Brian G. ...show us the food! (and blinky cup)

 

[Wesker69]

Is that the Slimer Korean Corndog?

Also....

View attachment 23297

"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw... she had no children, only dolls. If you see her, do not scream. Or she'll rip your tongue out ..at the seam"

 

[SixBillium]

Definitely not caught up on the threads, but just some observations after a packed weekend (rip in peace to my feet) and some time to reflect-

-I don't know if the highs this year match the highs last year- outside of potentially a well-staffed Insidious, there isn't a scene that gets my blood racing like The Darkest Deal triple-scare, Bloodmoon's church + finale and the narrative excellence of Dr. Oddfellow- but, the lows are nowhere near as low. Reminds me a lot of 2016 in a way, a lot of really solid haunts that are all within a few spots of each other in my rankings, but no definitive "Top 10" haunt.

-I think really the only "negatives" I have are that each haunt could have benefitted from an extra day with the decor team to just add that little bit more to some scenes, or maybe even just a little extra blood on blood day- but these are nitpicks from the dude who obsesses over sets so I don't think many people will notice

-Overall (not including Insidious) the haunts seem to be brighter as well- haven't done NY Stay-and-Scream, but even in broad daylight I haven't had a single issue seeing in any of the haunts, which might be the main factor people keep saying "it doesn't feel like HHN" but I'm trying to avoid the negativity

-I don't actually hate the use of TVs / screens for background effects, but I think this year may have been a little to reliant on some of them

-Goblins Feast just looks so, SO, good. I think that first scene trumps anything in Dead Man's Pier and Bloodmoon.

-I think Triplets is easily the worst- but for me it's on-par with Unmasked last year, which I ranked 7th last year and like 80th overall in my 14 years of going, and I think Goblins is my current #1- and would probably be right around a Top 20 haunt for me (Darkest Deal, Oddfellow and Bloodmoon are all in my Top 15).

Really, I think people are being way too harsh on this year, at least from what I've seen on other platforms. Lots of cool stuff that might still be rough around the edges, but at least it's not like a really good late-20s year. Those haunts all were effectively the same scare-wise with a bunch of boo boxes and maybe 2 or 3 "cool" things for variety, and that's not a knock, just an observation that HHN was very formulaic for a bit- and this year, most of the haunts feel fresh. I really didn't get much of a "it's what you've seen before at HHN, just slightly different" vibe like I've gotten a lot in the past.

Experimental, innovative, whatever you want to call it, I think this a great year with a lot of good stuff- the zones and icons on the surface are a big step back from last year after Oddfellow kind of re-ignited the Icon passion. But I have to say, Torture Faire is one of the best zones I've had the pleasure of experiencing- just not on premium night, but there always seems to be something fun going on, and the times Sinist3r and Surr3al have appeared in those respective zones have been commanding- maybe not the Oddfellow charisma, but certainly characters I'd love to see again.

I think if this year had stronger zones and a more cohesive theme from the start, people would be calling it "THE BEST YEAR EVER" or something close to it- as I said, the highs don't match the highs of last year, but the lows are FAR more managable.

Not to mention some of the best things- Major Sweets brings the 2008 vibes and is probably one of the best sleeper hits I've done, and the accessibility with the updated tent infrastructure saves us from so much pain and suffering and time loss- big, BIG wins.

We will see where the dust settles after a few more weekends and better staffing- I noticed a lot of holes on opening- but I really enjoy this year, and I like a lot of what I see.

EDIT: Can't believe I forgot to add that the IPs are like, REALLY good this year. I truly hate to hate on IPs- and when I do, it's because I know Universal can do 'em like they did this year. I could name maybe 7-or-8 IPs in 14 years that match the level of all 3 this year- Monsters doesn't count lol. And maybe as a downside that means the originals feel less-spectacular because the IPs are, for once, almost as mind-blowing as expected. I think Frozen Empire beats 2019, AQP > any Stranger Things, but I don't know if Insidious beats 2015- or some parts of Blumhouse 2017, for that matter- but it's a *different* type of haunt that I still love and appreciate.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Rankings for opening weekend (obviously, things could shift around)

Houses:

1. Slaughter Sinema 2
2. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
3. Insidious: The Further
4. Major Sweets Candy Factory
5. The Museum: Deadly Exhibits
6. Goblin's Feast
7. A Quiet Place
8. Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America
9. Triplets of Terror
10. Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines

Scare zones:

1. Torture Faire
2. Swamp of the Undead
3. Demon Queens
4. Enter The Blumhouse
5. Duality of Fear (does this one even count? It's basically non-existent lol)

 

[Bruisewayne]

After a full weekend with multiple trips through each house, here is my list:

1. Monsters EB
2. Goblin Feast
3. Monstrous
4. A Quiet Place
5. Major Sweets
6. Insidious
7. Triplets of Terror
8. Ghost Busters
9. Museum
10. Slaughtered Cinema

I enjoyed all of the houses this year, which is the first time I've ever enjoyed the entire lineup. I waited in some lines that had inflated wait times but I also waited in some that were a lot longer than posted. The event overall seemed just as busy as ever for an opening weekend. A couple of the scare zones were really enjoyable this year and a couple of them were very disappointing. Can't wait to see how the rest of the run goes.

 

[Midnight Detective]

I am loving the variations on these lists

 

[jarmor]

I attended the premium scream night and I was highly satisfied. I got to the park a little after 7 and was welcomed to no crowds. In a nutshell, I went through almost every house alone and now I have to stop saying HHN is not scary lol. I tried the more expensive food items to see if they were worth buying again during a regular night. The fish and chips were quite delicious but I cannot pay almost 20.00 for them on a regular night, but man they were good. I really hope they bring this back next year as I kinda feel I went through the houses more than enough times to reduce my HHN year down to just this one night in the future.

 

[Brian G.]

REVIEW: Haunt Season is back, and Halloween Horror Nights 33 features a great line-up - mixing up the fun aspects of horror with good old fashioned scary. #hhn33

REVIEW: Halloween Horror Nights 33 at Universal Orlando

 

[rhino4evr]

Great review Brian!

 

[Crypt Keeper]

(This drink sucked btw lol)

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Alright, 1 night down with 1 more to go Sunday.

Quick ranking as of right now:
1. Slaughter Sinema 2
2. A Quiet Place
3. Goblin's Feast
4. Insidious
5. Monstruos
6. Triplets
7. Ghostbusters
8. Major Sweets
9. Bloodlines
10. Museum

1. Torture Faire
2. Swamp
3. Demon Queens
4. Blumhouse
5. Duality of Fear

A few quick random thoughts:
- It's very obvious that house budgets were not cut at all. Sets are massive and beautiful as always.

- There is a LOT of actors this year. A ton in every zone as well as the houses, I was genuinely shocked. The first room of Goblin's Feast had 5 actors alone.

- The new tent courtyard is awesome. I hope they expand on it in the future.

- Getting in and out of Nightmare Fuel is absolute chaos. There has to be a better way.

- The best new food item is the Spinal Column Pinchos.

 

[Rikku]

As far as the negatives go for this year, does the powers that be actually get that feedback? I know there is the surveys and reviews online but do they actually get it and talk about it? But of course same thing goes for positives too like the amount of scare actors/staff and scariness of Insidious and etc. sorry if this doesn’t belong in this thread then please move it to appropriate thread. But how does Universal deal with the reviews/feedback?

 

[Lucky Planet]

As far as the negatives go for this year, does the powers that be actually get that feedback? I know there is the surveys and reviews online but do they actually get it and talk about it? But of course same thing goes for positives too like the amount of scare actors/staff and scariness of Insidious and etc. sorry if this doesn’t belong in this thread then please move it to appropriate thread. But how does Universal deal with the reviews/feedback?

the only reviews I was told that they pay close attention to was the survey at the end of the park. I think? or the most important
I'm always told that the guest survey that guests do as they leave at night are extremely important. I don't know about online. ( and I don't know what happens if you call guest services over the phone to complain. )

 

[SeventyOne]

My initial HHN 33 review…

Despite a weak line-up on paper, 2024 is better than I had feared. It feels like a return to the mid-2010s. A lot of parity in the houses: they’re all fine, nothing good enough to be GOAT, but nothing completely missed the mark like Chucky, either. Also like that era, some houses feel just a bit too short, interior Ops standing in awkward positions, and a lot of scares feel slow to re-set. Biggest surprise it’s that the B-team IPs all work, while the originals are burdened by having to re-use sets and layouts from the past.

10) Museum – liked two of the rooms quite a bit, rest sort of there. If cast steps up, could push this up a couple spots, a cast-driven house for sure.
9) Triplets – I understand it wasn’t a last minute replacement for Halloween but it sure feels like one. Short, too. FWIW cast improving.
8) Major Sweets – the costumes and cast are great, but the sets are recycled and not really on-brand.
7) Eternal Bloodlines – please let this get more actors and/or better timing. As is, one of my biggest disappointments ever—it’s only at #7 because of my residual love for Bride Lives. Pretty to look at though (even if reminiscent of Monsters Collide).
6) Monstruous – animatronics don’t work for me as the sole focus of their scenes, feels like a Chupacabra rehash without the fiesta aspects to make it more interesting. But cast good, nice variety of creatures.
5) Slaughter Sinema 2 – the good here is quite good, but compilation houses just not my thing.
4) Insidious – this IP not my thing either but house is a technical marvel. Genuinely creepy vibe, great cast.
3) AQP – monsters very effective, a note-perfect book report house. Scarier than the movie.
2) Goblins – everything I look for, clever premise, storytelling with a build to a climax, variety of monsters. Didn’t care for one effect, but overall transports you to a scary magical forest for 5 minutes.
1) Frozen Empire – yeah, I’m stunned too. Proof a mid movie can make a great house. Effects are just that good. Most aggressive cast of the year, as well.

The scare-zones are lousy, the concept needs a total overhaul.

 

[Midnight Detective]

Yikes. I am an overly positive person (so I've been told) and honestly have a hard time being critical of most things because usually I can find an aspect that I enjoy in almost anything. There were aspects of my first night this year that I enjoyed, but that being said... I'm extremely disappointed. There were a lot of factors that hurt my experience outside of Universals control: there was a parking incident involving angry guests (myself and others had to even file a report by request) and the rain cleared out the scarezones. However, without going on a tirad, holy cow Universal, how do you blunder both parking and guest services so bad. You've been in this business since before I was born, used to have the best, kindest guest services I've ever seen, and now you've overloaded unprepared, under-equipped employees during the busiest Halloween event in the world. I'm not being silly or overzealous - guest services was more upset with everything than myself and the other groups that had to a wait an hour in the rain for a simple fix. That was after waiting over an hour for parking due to poor management AND being relayed to a secondary guest services area.

Ok so in the park and it only took about 2.5 hours since arrival to an event I've gone to for over a decade. It (shouldn't but) can happen. C'est la vie. Time for a houses.

-I don't think it's fair to judge a houses scare factor the first few weeks of the event. When I come back I'm sure some houses will hit better-

Monstrous - I enjoyed it but it would greatly benefit from an explanation of the creatures outside the house. I knew what was going on because I post on here so, yeah, but so much is lost if you're unfamiliar. This isn't even an issue of a cultural gap. I asked some friends born and raised where some of these dudes are from and they had a vague familiarity at best.

Slaughter Sinema 2: Sinema Strikes Back - I'm the only person in the world that didn't appreciate Slaughter Sinema 1. That being said, Slaughter Sinema 2 has some great moments. My timing was hot garbage going through but I'd love to see some of these as full houses. I'd still prefer any of of these houses as a fully realized concept as opposed to this house. I swear I'm not a hater.

Museum - when discussing my favorite houses with friends at the end of the night I had forgotten this existed until I started writing this review. Funny enough, this houses greatest strength is explaining itself before you enter. There's a Goblin in this house making it the second best Goblin house this year.

Goblin Feast - this house slaps. It does everything great except actually being scary. Again, can't rank that factor until later in this event. For now I give it 5 out of 5 Goblins

Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines - this house is INCOMPREHENSIBLE if you didn't study for it like an SAT. I don't see how this can recover. I am literally a hype man for the Universal Monsters houses but this isn't it. Horror Nights, again, I am begging you, take $200, put out 4 or 5 signs in the line and explain the story of what's going on in high-narrative houses like this.

Insidious - I won't ever know how I got to Egypt in Eternal Bloodlines, but I do know how I got to Pee Pee Pants City in this one. Extremely good, potential to be a GOAT (Greatest of all time, NOT Goblins of all time - that goes to a different house)

This review is more than long enough but to put everything into thoughts, I strongly disagree with the idea that budget cuts were going on, but I do agree that somethings off. Tried to be unbiased but if this was my first time at the event ever, there wouldn't be a return trip Mr. Frodo.