[The Walking Dead: End of the Line]
Advertised Wait: 25 minutes
In Line At: 7:19 PM
Actual Wait: 13 minutes
In Maze At: 7:32 PM
This is where I first encountered the new TICKET SYSTEM. Is this really necessary? You're given a ticket to avoid cutting, or something, I'm not quite sure. Maybe it's so you can go to the bathroom or something, I don't know, but it was annoying having to dig back into my pocket and finding it just so I can go in the maze.
TWD is a very strong property and it seems to get great scares. In my humble opinion, The Walking Dead still gots it! We were kinda held up in the gates before entering the prison, which kinda made it awkward to have these walkers thrash onto the fence trying to scare us, but I mean... it's not scary when you see them plain as day. I noticed tiny chunks of human meat on the fence, which was a nice detail. I also noticed a lot of the new sets out front, such as the dinner table and tiny farm with the pig. Oh, and the tank. How could I forget that? I think there should've been some smoke coming from the tank and the guard tower, as well as some sounds of a battle or something with more bullet holes. I don't know, the facade didn't fully convey "there was a war here" to me.
Most of the beginning is the same, including Cell Block C. Once exiting that scene, things get a bit different. However, why did it seem so short? There were maybe 3 or 4 scenes after that, and it was done! I remember last year's maze being twice as long. The new scenes that I was looking forward to were pulled off well in terms of the look and some of the scares, but they seemed short-sided instead of living up to their full potential. For example, only ONE hanging walker in the store? C'mon. I could live with the "size" of this scene, but there should've been more going on for such an iconic and cool scene in the show. And why was the tunnel scene so BRIGHT and QUICK? I was looking forward to this moment the most, and it was like 3 rows and that was it. That part should've been doubled. Every walker was way too visible in there and it was clear which ones were real (to me, at least).
The scenes were good, they just weren't amazing like they could've been. The ending scare is a re-hash of one of my favorite scares from last year, but I'm not sure exactly what it's trying to say story-wise in the maze about what happened on this journey. I know a lot of people are tired of this property, but I'm not entirely just yet. However, I do think it's time to let it go just so we can get something new like AMERICAN HORROR STORY. If this was the last time we get TWD, it could've been given more justice, but for now, it was at least decent enough.
Facade - 8.
Set Design - 9. Lighting was a bit too bright in some scenes.
Sound Design - 9.
Scareactor Design - 9.
Special Props & Design - 9.
Immersion - 6. At some point, I was really thrown out of the action because I began to critique and trying to find differences between this one and last year, instead of being fully engrossed in it.
Length - 7. They should've nixed the prison completely, it brought nothing new or special.
Scare Level - 8. I got some good scares in here, especially ones that would double up with the charred walkers. Great teamwork.
Fun Level - 10.
Story Comprehension - 7. I'm not sure if it makes sense that we leave the prison and we know where we're going or why. Only reason I know is because I watch the show, but I feel like it's not fully conveyed here.
Personal Bias Points - 8. I love TWD and its return could've been a bit better, but I give them props for still making a solid maze.
90 out of 100. 'A'-
[From Dusk Till Dawn]
Advertised Wait: 25 minutes
In Line At: 7:35 PM
Actual Wait: 13 minutes
In Maze At: 7:48 PM
With Early Access, I was fully expecting to be on the lower lot by now. It was SUPER crowded and all the lines on the backlot were getting longer, except for this one, so we quickly did it. Got the card from the Doorman as he was walking by with the codeword. He was very cool in our quick chat. Richie and Seth were arguing outside, but I didn't get to hear much of their conversation, and I didn't care much to see inside Richie's book, so I didn't tell him the codeword.
Entered the maze, and I felt like the scareactors were very on their game and it seemed like a huge cast -- but the maze itself isn't scary. I didn't get a sense of dread going from one room to the next. I want to fully emphasize that the cast was rocking, getting very in our faces, and seemed to be enjoying their roles -- but it was almost a stroll through the park in the design. Another problem in all the mazes this year, is they're all too dang bright, especially this one for its entirety.
I loved the use of the song for the first scene. Santanico was fairly good looking as well, so she works as a good distraction for a few of the scares in here. I think the snake around her body could be puppeteered somehow though, because it just seems really fake. I love the "girl behind the curtain" scene, as it's so simple but effective. It was around this point of the maze that I was disappointed in the design of all the scareactors. None of them LOOKED scary, in fact, they were kinda boring and might as well have been regular people until they opened their mouths to reveal fangs.
The second time through the main room is fun, but you can easily see every scare coming. And a certain gag from Evil Dead's maze last year is oddly placed, repurposed, and in my opinion, doesn't fit. Shortly after this, the maze is over and once you're out, it's merely something you can shrug off and continue on with your day. The only time I wanted to leave a room is when they used "open buttcheeks" smell. Not poop, or a fart... but a butt, open wide. We now joke, "it smells like the Twister/From Dusk Till Dawn" whenever it smells bad.
It was a decent maze, but one of my least favorites of the night. Unless you're terrified of vampires or a huge fan of the show, I can't imagine this being a favorite of many people. Ofcourse, it'll have its fans, but I definitely would've preferred so many other properties over this one. However, I must say, for this to be one of my least favorites is a sign of how good HHN is this year.
Facade - 9. I'm taking a point off for not saying Titty. It's an adult event. I mean, C'MON.
Set Design - 6. The sets themselves looked great, but I don't know... just wasn't scared by them. Could use something with variety or maybe lower the light... I don't know.
Sound Design - 6. I heard a lot of stuff from the show, but it wasn't scary stuff. Not a lot worked in this maze's favor for being scary. For example, the "giant people juicer" line just sounds freakin' dumb and they really could do without it.
Scareactor Design - 7. Nothing stood out for me. A lot of the vampires had the snake like teeth, but they didn't look very snake-y other than that. Meh, none of them scared me.
Special Props & Design - 5.
Immersion - 4.
Length - 10.
Scare Level - 8.
Fun Level - 8.
Story Comprehension - 10.
Personal Bias Points - 3. I would've preferred so many other things over this. And my only love for this property is from the movie, but it all felt very much like the show and I couldn't boogey with it.
76 out of 100. 'C'
[Transformers]
After trekking back to the park, Transformers said NO WAIT! So we did it anddddd there was actually a wait. I wanna say this put a pretty big wrench into our plans since I was counting on that sign being accurate. I think during this time, AWIL went from 40 - 70 minutes. If I would've known it'd actually be 10 minutes, I would've skipped it since we were pressed for time already since it was 8:15.
[Clowns 3D: Music by Slash]
Advertised Wait: 40 minutes
In Line At: 8:21 PM
Actual Wait: 21 minutes
In Maze At: 8:42 PM
.... I don't even wanna talk about this. I am so sorry... but this is the worst maze in the history of HHN. Even worse than the HOH overlays and UMR. Absolutely NOTHING worked. No scares landed. The music was too loud. Lighting was too bright. Scareactors were meh and looked bored as hell with no energy. And the actual "scare design" just flat out sucked. I swear to God, I thought I was at Knotts at one point.
Quickly, I just want to say the beginning 1/3 of the maze is terrible. 3 or 4 mirrors, okay -- but this section went on forever with very little pay off and I think maybe 1 or 2 scares. It started off on the wrong foot from the get go and just pissed me off more and more as I went in. If they shut this maze down for the rest of the run, I wouldn't even care. It doesn't help that I'm not scared of clowns, I dislike most 3D mazes, I've hated all the musician mazes, and a huge peeve of mine is bright mazes -- so this was an all around fail for me from beginning to end.
Facade - 7. This is maybe actually only a 3 of a facade, but since they gave this location an actual facade, I give them extra points.
Set Design - 1. Knotts-quality sets. It had that funky, bubbly look to it that Knotts clown mazes always have. HHN could've done so much better than this. It's a damn shame. Not to mention, practically everything was re-used from past mazes.
Sound Design - 3. I honestly wasn't even paying attention, just in shock the whole time.
Scareactor Design - 6. I liked a few of the characters.
Special Props & Design - 3. I liked the clown car.
Immersion - 0.
Length - 8. I wanted it over quicker, honestly.
Scare Level - 0. Nothing. Not a single hiccup from me or anyone I was with.
Fun Level - 0. This made me so depressed. At Knotts, I could deal with this, but I expect so much more from HHN.
Story Comprehension - 3. Who the hell knows, really? All I know was it was an ice cream factory.
Personal Bias Points - 0. UGH. Waste of a perfectly good original maze slot.
31 out of 100. 'F'