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 (first show of the event) 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 this house given I already.
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.
So much for keeping it short.
