Happy Anni-birth-aversary...A 33 night Celebration & HHN too.....SF & RPR September 2022 TR

[schumigirl]

Can't believe your next trip is almost here. I love reading along on your trip reports and look forward to hearing all about HHN and all your new experiences. You two have such a great eye for detail. Hope you have a great birthday celebration and Happy Anniversary as well.

back labfan........

Thank you so much, I`m so glad you enjoyed them!! And yes, we are excited for HHN again after all this time!!

And thank you again, we don`t plan to do much for birthday/anniversary except for some dinners out, but we`ll certainly celebrate, can`t let 30 years go without something!!!

Hope you enjoy this one too........

 

[schumigirl]

Lots of anniversaries in September! Happy early anniversary!
Love the ghost tour! Years ago in Portland Oregon we did a walking haunted brewery tour- way too much fun even if not too spooky
Behind in reading and coincidentally picked up with Carole’s 3 week countdown (which was yesterday for me). HoS looks so

I’m probably alone in adoring DAK. Feel it’s dismissed a lot like people dismiss UOR as “not much to do”. So many nooks and crannies and details. Once spent a morning on gorilla trail just watching the baby play. Have done the behind the scene tours there as well and love them all-the elephant tour have done a few times, and the safari jungle trek is an experience.
Anyway so excited countdowns for everyone getting closer!

back too Monyk......

Haunted brewery sounds like a hoot!!! Yes, I think we`re expecting it to be more fun than scary too.....well, hope it is!!

HoS is another that we are very much looking forward to and to experience it with keisha and her mister will be extra fun.

Yep, countdowns are getting closer every day!!! Hope you and yours are all doing well.......and glad you`ll be along for this one too.....

 

[schumigirl]

Hi Carole,

So happy to see your recent trip reports, I've read them all. The Mt. Dora haunted mansion tour looks super fun, and a good way to spend a few hours. Hope your having a wonderful time in Scotland!

Alesia

And another warm back to you Alesia.......

Good to see you here again.....and I`m so glad you enjoyed the previous TR`s!

Yes, we are excited for things we have planned this time around, it`ll be some new changes for us and that`s always fun.

We had a lovely time in Scotland thanks.......

Hope you enjoy being along on this one too.......

 

[AlostPrincess]

along AlostPrincess.......glad to see you here.....

And those days will be here before you know it......how lovely!! I`m sure you`ll have a wonderful trip.

Are you planning any HHN while you`re there?

Yes!! we now only have 30 days to go.

W normally do portofino, so very excited to do RP club level.

We have frequent fear passes so we are free to use the parks to the Max! I hope they have the little Pop figures this year, i have 3 from our previous visits.

 

[schumigirl]

​

With just under two weeks now till opening night, it`s time to think about the houses for us and which ones excite us, and which ones really excite us!!!

Overall we think this year is going to be one of the best for many, many years with so many houses seemingly being everything we enjoy in scares......well, maybe a couple that don`t automatically appeal to us, but we`ve found over the years that houses we may have slightly discounted due to the theme not appealing to us have become some of our favourites. Sometimes. Other times they have been as we expected.

The one thing we know is the SA will always put everything they have into whichever house they are chosen to perform in, they are always amazing.

So, with that.....our (my) initial thoughts and rankings for the houses, purely on first instincts and probably on what themes I enjoy to watch over other themes.

We are EXTREMELY happy there will be no Stranger Things house this year......we were bored with that after the first year and the house itself brought too many tweens along for the event. Anything that cuts those down will be a good thing!! Not all tweens of course, but it does change the dynamic of the houses and event.

I`m still voting for an Adult Only event one year.....no babies, toddlers, tweens and best of all....no strollers!!!! Wishful thinking of course on most of our parts with that thought. We`ve seen so many scared and bewildered children over the years for it to not bother us who go regularly.

But, I still think this year will be outstanding.

​

This as most of you regular folks know is my ultimate nightmare man......completely and utterly scares the bejeesus out of me, but loving it at the same time.

When they did the original Halloween house years back, based around the same movie, they did it exceptionally well and it had so many wonderful scares from beginning to end....every....single......time!!!!

I`m hoping this one is just as much a stand out as the first one was, but secretly hoping it`s better. You can`t have too much Michael Myers. This is the house we are both looking forward to the most...for differing reasons though......Tom does love to see me getting a lot of scares!!

​

As huge Classic Universal Monsters fans, and after thoroughly enjoying the previous Monster House they produced in 2019, we have serious high hopes for this one too.

You can`t really go wrong with the classics and although the Wolfman is not my favourite monster, I`d have preferred Frankensteins Monster, I still think they have a winner here with this one.

And I`m hoping these first two houses are not the two houses that we have to walk what feels like 150 miles back and forward to each one.......I`d guess they will be, but hope not as I really want to do these houses each night we go.

​

Dead Man`s Pier is a fabulous option for a house. They do spooky water themed houses very well, and I`m hoping this one resembles a wonderful scare zone they mastered in 2016, Dead Man`s Wharf.

Hopefully nothing like Depths of Fear from 2019 which was a big fat fail from us, but this one does sound similar in style to The Fog type movies which we love. Set in New England, it does sound like a whole load of laughs and scares too of course!!

​

We did enjoy Blumhouse houses on previous years so this one should be as much fun as before.

Freaky/Black Phone sounds like a decent combination, although we haven`t seen Freaky and don`t plan to either. Black Phone we did enjoy when we went to see it at the cinema. It wasn`t terrifying, nor was it overly scary, but you could see so many things that will work in a HHN house.

The idea of a double house with no connection to each other seems to make some folks think it won`t work, but when they did Happy Death Day and The Purge in the one house, it didn`t bother us you wandered from one to the other, that switch kinda worked and we enjoyed that house. Although we are not fans of The Purge at all, it was still a decent house, glad it`s gone though.

​

Love the idea of the 1920`s Speakeasy being the core of the house where the witches will entice you in to terrorise you. This is a good theme and the Scenic Decor Department who shine in every way, will completely do it justice.

Witches and covens are always fun and are a core theme to any scary event. We are looking forward to this one too.

​

The first five were easy to put in order of preference, but the next five I`m not sure which order to put them in at all, purely down to personal choice in genre specific favourites.

The Weeknd is one of those things I thought I`d never heard of, but turns out I did know who he was!!

The house sounds different......I`ll wait till we see it before making a full judgement, but I think it will be fun....I hope.

​

This is another theme I`m not thrilled about and it does make me think of La Llorona house from 2013. That was a good house!!

Chupacabras is a film genre I`d never watch based on the title, but again, what they do in a house compared to the movie is always exceptional, and for that reason, this house is not last on my list of high expectations.

​

I`m not quite sure why Hell Block Horror is so low down, as it does sound like a decent house all round. It will be intense for scares I believe and it`s one of those ones that could become a favourite, or so I hope.

​

Not a bug fan of any kind.

Especially spiders ......so I think this one will be a little hard to take this time around. I never watch any movie based on spiders, bugs or any type of creepy crawlie......so maybe this one won`t ever become a favourite.

But, still wouldn`t miss any house to be able to form an opinion on it.

​

This one does not appeal at all to me....purely for the mention of the word mutant. That just screams zombie to me......and I am completely and utterly bored by anything zombie related in movies, tv shows and for HHN.

The Walking Dead was fine for a year, but it became old quickly and I was glad to see that one go too.

I know mutants are somehow slightly different.....but it`s all the same flesh eating creatures to me. Tom will enjoy this house I think but for me, it appeals the least, even from the bug house.




That`s about the summation of our impressions of how the houses will impress us this year. I haven`t really looked at the scare zones this year, but I`m going to look at them next......from all I`ve heard through the grape vine, they also sound as if they`re going to be rather fun this year!!

We were a little disappointed in some of the scare zones in 2019, particularly the Anarch-ade and Vanity Ball zones. Although we did enjoy the Hellbilly Deluxe zone from Rob Zombie......so it`s always a real mix.

We did buy the Rush of Fear with Express Pass and we do tend to never spend a full evening from open to close at HHN. We can visit 17 nights this time, not that we will go all of those nights, but it`s also the reason we never want to do a RIP tour......it`s just not something we`d want to do, staying a whole long evening. This ticket works out well for us for the length of stay we have.

But, it`s getting closer every day........

​

 

[schumigirl]

Yes!! we now only have 30 days to go.

W normally do portofino, so very excited to do RP club level.

We have frequent fear passes so we are free to use the parks to the Max! I hope they have the little Pop figures this year, i have 3 from our previous visits.

I`m very biased towards RP Club Lounge.....never had a single complaint about it and the staff are truly wonderful.

That is a good ticket for your time frame....yep, not long to go now!

 

[schumigirl]

I forget (sorry) who wrote me a pm to ask about Mimosas.

They had read someone post on the Disney Club Level thread that you cannot get a mimosa at breakfast in a Loews hotel......well I can assure you, you do get Mimosa`s in the Club Lounge and we enjoyed one or three some days on our May trip.

Although we passed on the fruit juice and just had the fizz ......much nicer!!! But, they do offer orange, cranberry or pineapple options.

And yes, they are complimentary.

 

[disneyseniors]

Hi Carole:I am so impressed about how brave you two are! I can't imagine going to all those houses. But I don't like anyone coming up behind me. Just ask my husband, LOL. It creeps me out. When I was a kid I saw Frankenstein and have always been freaked out by that monster. If he was in one of the houses I would probably have a heart attack. I am a fan of the classic monsters too! I have a love/hate relationship with dear ole Frankenstein. I am scared of him but love him as a classic monster!

But they do sound like a lot of fun, and I do hope to visit at HHN one day. I know you will have a blast Can't wait for the TR in 2. weeks. !!!

ruth

 

[SCDizFan]

I`m more a lion and elephant lover, but in their natural habitat. We donate to Daphne Sheldrick`s Wildlife Fund, their work with elephants is amazing and the other, not sure if you`ve ever heard of the Lion Whisperer, Kevin Richardson....that guy is God like with the lions! If you`re ever bored Google him and watch him with those lions, he is one of their own. He sleeps in the grass with them and they worship him, it brings tears to your eyes at times how much they adore him and he them.

We are really looking forward to Howl O Scream.......and yes, I`ll keep notes on the cocktails too!!! I suggested a cab to Tom then he could enjoy the cocktails too, as he won`t touch even one drink if he`s driving, so it should be fun!!

The house I saw pictures of from last year did look good and head loads of praise for the SA enthusiasm, so that works for us. So, yes, we are so looking forward to something new to us too

I LOVE Sheldrick The Sheldrick Trust and follow them in Instagram! They do such amazing work with wildlife and I love following the elephants!

Yay! I love your trip reports! Now you have me looking at SeaWorld also for the fall! We are also doing London and Edinburgh! Hoping to get there late enough to see the Christmas decorations!

Happy Early Double Nickel Birthday and Anniversary!

 

[queenofthehill]

Whoo Hooo. So excited for this! I think we'll be there at the same time in September. If I see you again that will be 2x in 1 year

 

[Raeven]

With just under two weeks now till opening night, it`s time to think about the houses for us and which ones excite us, and which ones really excite us!!!

We're so close!

Overall we think this year is going to be one of the best for many, many years with so many houses seemingly being everything we enjoy in scares......well, maybe a couple that don`t automatically appeal to us, but we`ve found over the years that houses we may have slightly discounted due to the theme not appealing to us have become some of our favourites. Sometimes. Other times they have been as we expected.

I think so too! I had trouble ranking them because so many sound like they would be good.

I`m still voting for an Adult Only event one year.

Same

This one does not appeal at all to me....purely for the mention of the word mutant. That just screams zombie to me

This is bottom of my list too for the same reason!

We were a little disappointed in some of the scare zones in 2019, particularly the Anarch-ade and Vanity Ball zones. Although we did enjoy the Hellbilly Deluxe zone from Rob Zombie......so it`s always a real mix.

Yes I felt the same way about the scare zones in 2019. This year they all sound really good.

 

[schumigirl]

Hi Carole:I am so impressed about how brave you two are! I can't imagine going to all those houses. But I don't like anyone coming up behind me. Just ask my husband, LOL. It creeps me out. When I was a kid I saw Frankenstein and have always been freaked out by that monster. If he was in one of the houses I would probably have a heart attack. I am a fan of the classic monsters too! I have a love/hate relationship with dear ole Frankenstein. I am scared of him but love him as a classic monster!

But they do sound like a lot of fun, and I do hope to visit at HHN one day. I know you will have a blast Can't wait for the TR in 2. weeks. !!!

ruth

lol......I love being spooked!! I am a jumper though even in every day things like the way you describe you are too......

Frankenstein was very misunderstood wasn`t he .......he really didn`t mean to hurt anyone did he and was a product of his environment......lol.....yes, those movies are true classics and now I love watching them, but as a child I was terrified of them all.

You would love HHN!! It is very addictive and so unbelievably well done......yep, we are so excited, especially after the enforced break we had.

 

[schumigirl]

I LOVE Sheldrick The Sheldrick Trust and follow them in Instagram! They do such amazing work with wildlife and I love following the elephants!

Yay! I love your trip reports! Now you have me looking at SeaWorld also for the fall! We are also doing London and Edinburgh! Hoping to get there late enough to see the Christmas decorations!

Happy Early Double Nickel Birthday and Anniversary!

along to this one too SCDizFan


You know the Sheldrick Trust!!!! I think you are one of the few that have heard of them......yes, they do amazing work and such dedication to those beautiful elephants. Have a look at Kevin Richardson`s instagram too......OMG!!!! I love that guy and those lions are incredible with him, I think you`d enjoy seeing his work too, not in it for an ego trip, he cares deeply about those lions.

Thank you....I`m always glad to read you enjoy them......and Edinburgh/London trip will be so lovely! London at Christmas is stunning, haven`t been to Edinburgh at that time before, it`s usually too cold for me......lol......you`ll have a blast though!

And thank you for the good wishes.....and you just reminded me I need to get Tom an anniversary card before we leave, I`ve been thinking of his birthday and put the anniversary out of my mind for now.....lol.....oops!!

Glad to see you here again.......

 

[schumigirl]

Whoo Hooo. So excited for this! I think we'll be there at the same time in September. If I see you again that will be 2x in 1 year

back queenofthehill.....

Yes, if you see us, please give us a shout out again......it would be lovely to say Hi twice in the same year......lol.....

Glad you made it along for this one too, hope you like it too.....

 

[schumigirl]

We're so close!

I think so too! I had trouble ranking them because so many sound like they would be good.

Same

This is bottom of my list too for the same reason!

Yes I felt the same way about the scare zones in 2019. This year they all sound really good.

lol.....we do have very similar thoughts on the event every year don`t we!!

I still haven`t looked at the list of scare zones (I know ) but, I will. At first glance without reading about them, they do look fabulous and I have seen some pictures of the zones setting up already......they look as if they have really put a lot of thought into them.

I think I think I`ll be loving the look of the one that`s Graveyard themed, I saw some pictures from AliciaStella.....now I`d love to run into her one visit, she is fabulous!!!

 

[schumigirl]

After a busy day helping a friend shop for clothes.....worst nightmare as she is a shopaholic .....I finally got round to reading into the scare zones for this year`s event.

At first glance I think this sounds like the best set of scare zones they have had in years.

I do love they seem to have a lot of pumpkins this year again.....pumpkins kind of scream Halloween......


It`s quite hard to rank them really as four out of five to me, all sound amazing and I do think they all deserve to be up there as a first choice.

But, like the houses....here are my initial thoughts of which ones we`ll love the most.

​

The one I think we`ll enjoy the most is Graveyard, Deadly Unrest.

The Scare Zone in that area is usually very special, except for Vanity Ball 2019, but every other year the Hollywood area zone along with Central Park are usually the highlights of the event for us.

Looking at pictures on social media from AliciaStella and similar, aesthetically it looks very pleasing to the eye and when darkness falls, it will shine I`m sure with screams and lots of fun.

I do worry I build some of these zones up too much, but I don`t think we`ll be disappointed in this zone.

​

I love the sound of the haunted and deserted farm with the huge barn where you will experience all kinds of scares and spooks!! They have done the dilapidated barn before, and they did it very well, so I know this one is going to be quite spectacular visually. And thinking back to previous years where the theme has been similar, they have always been perfectly executed.

So Scarecrow, Cursed Soil is my second favourite choice on first impressions.

​

Conjure the Dark is a magical name for a scare zone. It inspires all kinds of thoughts and images in your mind as to how it will all appear on the nights themselves during the event.

Having an evil sorceress as the main character in a zone immediately conjures up a certain image and if you have been to many HHN`s, you`ll have an idea of the type of creatures you`ll encounter through this zone.

Genuinely looking forward to this one.

​

I`m wondering if Horrors of Halloween should be higher on the list, maybe third instead of fourth as it sounds an absolute gem of a zone.

Again, from many previous years this will be an extraordinary theme for a zone and will be a lot of fun.

​

I think this last zone is going to be my Killer Klown zone from previous years......

That zone took a lot to get me to enjoy it, and finally I did kinda get how funny they were and appreciated it for what it was.

I`m not getting the scare part so far on this one, but I do trust Universal HHN creators and the scenic decore team who are truly amazing anyway, that I will end up enjoying this zone a whole lot.

But, it had to go last as early indications are it`s not going to be a favourite of mine.

​

The shows do look as though they`ll be rather "Excellent".....and yes of course we`d all love Bill & Ted to come back, that show was so much fun and when the writers were in full force, it was a wicked show!! But, no sign of it coming back soon sadly.

I did wonder as the Classic Monsters are being given the attention and credit they deserve if they wouldn`t bring back Beetlejuice.

The Classics were all in there.....these pictures are from 2008 when Beetlejuice was still a show and these characters roamed certain areas of the park.

Sorry Tom knocked the top of Frankenstein`s Monster`s head off!!

Of course it wouldn`t have it`s own building now as that was replaced by the dreadful Fast & Furious. Shame.

But.......9 more sleeps for us till we leave for our overnight at the airport......not that I`m counting......lol........getting closer!!!!

​

 

[schumigirl]

​

Yep......one week to go till we leave for the airport overnight stay.......and we are so excited!!!!

The visit to Scotland last week certainly took some of the wait time off our minds and we did have a lovely visit. I did tell Maria, I would post some pictures, but we really didn`t take too many as it was all about family time, however we did take a couple on one of the days.

Culzean Castle which is not far from where we grew up. Beautiful castle in stunning grounds and it was one place my cousin wanted to go back to as she has fond memories of going with her parents, sister and an aunt and uncle as a 10 year old when she came over for her first visit.

We hit it off so well as children back then, we were the same age and bonded immediately for that whole summer in the late 1970`s they were here.

Going to NY for the first time in 2013, we hadn`t seen each other in all that time, but we met and it was as if we had just seen each other the week before. So, being able to see her back here was lovely and quite an emotional visit for her as it brought back lots of lovely memories.

The view from the Castle over the water to close to where I grew up.

This Castle is one of the standard places you went to as a child on school trips, whether you wanted to or not. I didn`t remember anything about it until I walked in the first room and it all came flooding back to me. I did remember running around the vast gardens with friends on that visit, but the memories of the Castle were so vague....well, it was 45 years ago!!!! Heck......

Definitely got a Titanic impression from this staircase.

And this was the office Eisenhower used as part of his base here in the Castle during the war. We didn`t get to see the private apartments he stayed in during the war up on the top floor, but the family still live in the castle, so I guess it`s part of their private living areas now. Not a bad place to be based!

This was from the beach I played on as a child. That sunset is one of the most beautiful you can ever see and changes nightly, no two are ever the same. Our home was a 2-3 minute walk from this beach, so we were very lucky having such a gorgeous playground on our doorstep.

I love this place.

So, not too many pictures from our recent trip. We go back up for Christmas again this year and staying at the same hotel we always stay in which has this same view that we so love to see when we go back. When I think of my childhood, this Island is a large part of my memories.

​

 

[Monykalyn]

My gosh those pictures are stunning!! Sounds like such a lovely family visit too.

Woohoo for ONE WEEK

 

[Cara]

So beautiful! Scotland is on my (very long) bucket list! I know you have traveled extensively, so I'm interested to hear what's on your own bucket list.

 

[Deb1993]

Gorgeous photos!!! So excited for your trip!

I am OUT for that bug house. I did the bug thing inside the tree at DAK years ago - I think before kids - and I went hysterical and they had to let me out. EMBARRASSING.