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HHN 30: Beetlejuice

I think we can still expect them to tap properties like GB and BJ in the future, even if I haven't been crazy about either. Maybe in 2025 they do Jaws for its 50th?
 
I think we can still expect them to tap properties like GB and BJ in the future, even if I haven't been crazy about either. Maybe in 2025 they do Jaws for its 50th?
I could see Jaws happening at some point, though you do raise a good point. I could see similar "spooky comedy" stuff like Ghostbusters or Beetlejuice being tapped in the future as something of a standard for the event.

As a huge fan of the film, count me in as one of the disappointed ones. I wasn't expecting scares, so that wasn't a problem for me. I was let down by the scale of some of the iconic scenes: the "afterlife" offices, dinner table, Saturn and the wedding scene to name a few. Most of the film's iconic scenes are placed in corners, literally. At the end of the day through, I enjoy the walkthroughs as it gives me a form of nostalgia.
Yeah, I know they weren't going to go too big even the sets were already built, but I feel like you could have done more with some of the scenes. Like, imagine if they had scareactors dancing in the "Day-O" scene, or if the Carnival Beetlejuice scene had his mallets extended up and you walk underneath them.
 
I could see Jaws happening at some point, though you do raise a good point. I could see similar "spooky comedy" stuff like Ghostbusters or Beetlejuice being tapped in the future as something of a standard for the event.

I much prefer stuff like Killer Klownz because it's much more like original comedy houses HHN has done (Cleaver, Bloodengutz, Sinema). Though even that I like to keep it to one-two a year. I haven't seen Gremlins but it seems to be in the same vein.
 
I did this one last year and this year, and I’m incredibly surprised that they did not tweak a THING about this house. Lots of mannequins (for distancing), lots of wasted space, weird choices on how to use space (the Dante’s Inferno section really didn’t need to be a facade considering what a throwaway gag that is in the film).

I really liked the twisted hallways and the model, but the way in which they attempted to do the actual BJ scares were all telegraphed and unscary. REALLY wish Lydia had her dance in the end, that we saw both the Maitlands *in person* in their iconic scares, and for the love of GOD, that Carnival mannequin was awful. The crawling chair ought to have been a costume/puppet, there NEEDED to be a cast in the Dining Room, and… well.

When you do a book report house with rising action (Lydia getting married, the suspense of the ghosts coming back), you have to pay off an ending. The sand worm does not feel like payoff in this scene, and we do not get to see the “happy ending”. That’s my major gripe with the experience.
 
Big Question -> Which "Halloween Comedy Classic" House was Done Better: Ghostbusters or Beetlejuice?

Ghostbusters opening night > BJ opening night > GB closing night.

Last year during preview, while sparsely staffed, it felt like BJ was trying to correct the criticisms of GB. Sadly the vinyl curtains and lack of staffing hamstrings the house this year. I think a theoretical non-COVID BJ house would probably have been superior.
 
Honestly, I am in the minority. I really enjoyed BJ.
Had a ton of fun. I tampered my expectations and I just had more fun when I wasn't expecting anything to jump me and make me piss myself.

If that's the grip people have with this house than I get it, but it just didn't effect me as it did the majority of others.
 
The spinning tunnel wasn't working at all this week it seems. House already looking like it's the last weekend of the event
I went through tonight, but snuck in line at around 1:57. I gave them a pass on the spinning tunnel not working as I attributed it to be the end of the night, but if it's been all week that's unacceptable. It not only is a waste of space in the house without it working, but it looked nasty, too.

Lots of holes in all the houses I did tonight as well.
 
I went through tonight, but snuck in line at around 1:57. I gave them a pass on the spinning tunnel not working as I attributed it to be the end of the night, but if it's been all week that's unacceptable. It not only is a waste of space in the house without it working, but it looked nasty, too.

Lots of holes in all the houses I did tonight as well.

Mentioned on Twitter, couple people confirmed tunnel has been stuck all weekend. I also noticed a lot of empty boo-holes in BJ last night--but somehow the most full I've seen Tooth Fairy in 2 years. So like anywhere this year I just assume staffing the issue. In addition, the barker was the most off-brand BJ I've ever seen in the park. I mention this only because until fairly recently they had audition procedures/training that gave them a decent cast of convincing BJs. It was jarring hearing a guy not even try to do "the voice."
 
The tunnel was working the first time I went through last Thursday, but not again the rest of the weekend.

It was sad.

Also- The live Beetlejuice at the entrance made the house worthwhile anyway. Is the performer the guy who plays H. R. Bloodengutz?
 
My biggest issue is that this Beetlejuice is entirely too static. So many iconic moments are portrayed through statues and mannequins, and it's only getting worse with time. (Wedding Ghoul is no longer an actor. Just a prop standing in a doorway now.) Ghoul Adam, the modern art monsters, Big-Top BJ. The Sandworm is in a black room and moves 75% less often than the much cooler Clownzilla did 2 years ago. At least the disappointing S3 Mindflayer puppet was always visible, even if the movement was severely lacking. I go through most runs without seeing the Sandworm at all.

The finale is a letdown too, after a 25% chance of Sandworm attack, you get a single BJ out of direct guest eyesight and zero props. What happened? Anyone and their grandma could've designed a Lydia Couch room. The dinner scene feels equally empty, no dancing dinner guest or moving Shrimp hands/pig. Just some air blasts and a subtle BJ snake tail. The BJ Snake itself uses the same Big Face Scare trick as two other houses this year. Without the tunnel or a good Beetle Barker, what good is this house besides a few neat setpieces?

The waiting room, flat guy hallway, and diorama scenes, both big and small, are the best parts of this house. And there are a few fun ideas at work here, but I just wish they went crazier with it. As it is, it's an okay-to-good house, but I think it could've been great. One of the most fun houses in recent history even, or at least as memorable as something like Krampus to me. As it stands, I pick Ghostbusters over this.
 
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