Hellraiser (HHN 2026)

[Touchdown]

I went to Hollywood in 2024, a week after doing HHN in Orlando. The tram was neat and something missing from Orlando as was having the monsters maze in the soundstage that once held Castle Frankenstein, but the quality was night and day, there were no giant black curtains, every scene (except the facade) was 1 story high, there was no stilt actors, no flying apparatuses, everything was ground level. It was incredibly disappointing, I deal with the negatives of HHN in Orlando (conga line, expensive, rigid rules for scare actors and scares, long lines) because the positives (intricate sets, creative multi level scares, impeccable craftsmanship and IP) outweigh the negatives. HHN Hollywood has but one positive (IP) but has every single one of HHN Orlando’s negatives. For my money and time, I think Knotts puts out a better product, not to mention it’s cheaper and closer to DL (which is where I spend a majority of my days on a LA park trip.)

It will be a long time before I consider going to HHN Hollywood again, if I’m paying premium prices I expect a premium product. HHN Orlando has never failed to deliver that, but HHN Hollywood let me down.

 

[wedgeskywalker9]

With similar ticket prices, does anyone know Hollywood vs. Orlando's attendance on average? I get Orlando has been running longer, but I figured by now we'd have caught up in budget because this is clearly an event that's going to stick around and no longer just a test run or an experiment for Hollywood.

I always figured actual capacity was irrelevant and Orlando will always have a sizable multiplier compared to Hollywood because it fills the hotels.

 

[rageofthegods]

"Purpose-built theme park" versus "theme park that was built in a working film studio." Hollywood has much more limited access to soundstages for example.

 

[Ball Don't Lie]

I love going to Orlando for HHN -- basically an every other year trip us for now, and this will be an off year unfortunately. The biggest thing that HHN Hollywood has over Orlando (and I don't think it get talks about very much) is the actors in Hollywood are SO MUCH BETTER. Prolly because they are much more experienced performers than the Orlando ones. There are people with legit screen credits in those costumes. IMO that really goes a long way in creating a unique and charged atmosphere.

Orlando is great but sometimes it's too....idk, subdued? Like I remember walking through El Artista last year and thinking it was gorgeous but there was barely any energy. It was more just kind of a walkthrough than a haunt. And maybe people prefer that over getting those more visceral thrills, but idk, the Hollywood houses may not have the same scale but it's not like they're all amateurly designed AND they are often legit scary, and you don't get that combo often in Orlando, IMO.

 

[Rideguy70]

I agree. While I've only done Orlando HHN twice, I totally feel that overall, we have the far superior scareactors. There are a few isolated standouts there, but it can be really hit and miss.

I'm more awed by the Orlando maze because of their set design, but I ultimately have more fun at Hollywood because of the talent.

 

[Brian G.]

The two events have totally different cultures, both internally and externally.

Either way, we should keep this about Hellraiser. If you would like to continue the talk, please take it to the HHN spec and news thread.

 

[chris.g]

Oh my God. This may be, the best house, HHN Hollywood has ever done?!? I’m not even exaggerating. My mouth was on the floor with just how more and more impressive every room got. And the scares!

 

[rageofthegods]

The Dr Chanard room was jawdropping.