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The Darkest Deal (HHN 32)

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My own words: If Wicked Growth and Graveyard Games had a baby.
It kinda reminded me of Graveyard Games and the beginning of Poltergeist.

THIS HOUSE IS SO CRAZY.
oh my God! It's so demonic. I LOVE IT. full demonic :lmao: it's literally a satanic graveyard house.... I could not believe how far they pushed it! Wow....... they went full in
It's such an incredible concept. I was so afraid it was gonna be like coven from last year.
But it's full of scary creatures. It didn't have that much music related about it. It's full demonic.
I was speechless at the costumes they used. I had a giant smile by the end. I love it so much.
 
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Doing this house completely by yourself at 1 am is gonna be super easy, barely an inconvenience. Thursday night the line was pretty deserted by the end. I might try it. Everyone runs to do THE LAST OF US and you could definitely get some alone runs in this. Very very easy.
I did this last year with Descendants. 2 hours before the event closed, it would practically be a walk-on. It was already very high on my rankings, but when I started marathon-running it, it became my favorite house last year.

It also became my favorite house of all time! I got so many good run-throughs by myself.
 
This house is one of the best I’ve done at either event. Telling a story in a haunted house is extremely difficult and it’s very impressive that they’ve been able to do it here.

Agreed that the exit situation isn’t good enough, though. Feels like a crush waiting to happen.
 
#1 house for me this year. Some of the scare actors don't care about personal space.

They need to fix this exit situation though, having god knows how many guests in a confined space surrounded by chainlink fencing is a safety hazard waiting to happen.

This house is one of the best I’ve done at either event. Telling a story in a haunted house is extremely difficult and it’s very impressive that they’ve been able to do it here.

Agreed that the exit situation isn’t good enough, though. Feels like a crush waiting to happen.


Oh oh........I wasn't that worried about those exists yet. But a group of people crushing each other if people had to run out sounds kinda scary. I didn't even think of that. It's a pretty tight space. It just felt like a nuisance before.
I don't know what universal can do to fix it. But it's kinda scary. I don't see how it can be changed.
 
This house is one of the best I’ve done at either event. Telling a story in a haunted house is extremely difficult and it’s very impressive that they’ve been able to do it here.

Agreed that the exit situation isn’t good enough, though. Feels like a crush waiting to happen.
Agreed. This house is definitely an all-timer and remains my #1 house for the year so far and I really don't see it changing. This is a year of, aside from Chucky, all pretty good to great houses too so to stand out amongst this group of houses is impressive.
 
Even though this is my second year, I’ve seen a pattern with houses in that it is hard to nail two main categories at the same time. A clear storyline from walking through the house, and frightening scares. This house hits both seamlessly. For patrons who don’t dig into lore, listen to podcasts, or even read website descriptions, this house is so incredibly clear of the selling your soul for fame and tells such a well woven story from room to room. For example, last year’s UM house’s story of fighting for the amulet was sooo unclear. You never see or hear about the amulet, Dracula wasn’t in it enough, they felt out of place in the set, and even though I loved that house, this house hit narrative right on the head. This next sentence could get spoilery and will be sectioned with parentheses: (starting right from the get go with the clear contract imagery, seeing the rise to fame, and then the hell that follows is amazing.) The actors are also doing an AMAZING job. I’ve gone through 3 times and each time the cast is SELLING it!! Plus the sets are truly immersive and really pretty. It really transports you to right where they want you. Again spoilers next sentence in the parentheses: (The shadow effects behind the actors, the effects on their costumes, and the clear voice lines are perfection.) Also the devil design is one of the more unique I’ve seen. It’s not the same old red horns or goat man deal and that creativity and execution is super well done. A quick warning. This house’s lighting effects are DARK! If you go when it’s still light outside and your eyes don’t adjust, you may be blind in a few corners. I got lost at one point and panicked, not fun. BUT! This is an amazing house.
 
Would pulsing the tent houses help at all?Maybe a drastic solution especially for wait times but if it help curb the potential issues.
Nope. Unfortunately, with the crowds the way they are, and the shortness and design of Universal houses, pulsing would be almost impossible. Universal would have to put at least 1 minute between groups of eight in order to prevent running into the group ahead. That would increase wait times by about a third.
 
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Would pulsing the tent houses help at all?Maybe a drastic solution especially for wait times but if it help curb the potential issues.

No, unless you are a $CMCSA investor and want to see those express pass sales skyrocket.

All Universal has to do is expand the exit area as it's basically a single file line at the moment.
 
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No, unless you are a $CMCSA investor and want to see those express pass sales skyrocket.

All Universal has to do is expand the exit area as it's basically a single file line at the moment
It’s 2 single file lines. 1 for Oddfellow and 1 for Darkest Deal. There’s really no space for a wider walkway.
 
It’s 2 single file lines. 1 for Oddfellow and 1 for Darkest Deal. There’s really no space for a wider walkway.

The exit for the sprung tents merges into a walkway barely able to accommodate 2 guests next to each other until you get to the MIB courtyard. Obviously, TLOU entering the same walkway doesn't help, but this is a large company with the resources to do something about it.
 
It is so incredibly hard to see in this house coming out of stay and scream, I got lost a few times and it makes for absolutely terrifying runs. Love this house.

Same here I went on a Friday after stay and scream, and I did it twice the night before when it was 1:00 am. After doing stay and scream, you cannot see anything in this house, ran into like 6 walls, a truly terrifying experience.
 
Loved the music and setting. I've always enjoyed "make a deal with the devil" stories and the concept of the crossroads demon from Supernatural. Really well executed, aggressive cast, great sets. Only issue story-wise for me was to maybe establish in the first scene that the musician wants to be famous/is contemplating making a deal/summoning the devil etc. instead of the first scene we actually got which mushes these concepts together in a way that the guests can't fully experience. Again, design intention is lessened by operations and logistics.