The *OFFICIAL* HHN Review Thread

[inkkognito]

I can't believe there are only three more Frequent Fear nights (unless they add like last year but I'm not holding my breath). We are going tonight and Thurs., and possibly Weds. if we have the energy...the usual stay & scream, and we have EP for tonight. Thank goodness the weather looks clear as a bell. We'll do what we can as soon as we're released from the holding area, then turn to EP if/when it starts to get crowded. So far this year that's been a good plan and we've been getting a LOT done. I just hope that Dead Exposure is back up to par.

 

[Steady Riot]

I can't believe there are only three more Frequent Fear nights (unless they add like last year but I'm not holding my breath). We are going tonight and Thurs., and possibly Weds. if we have the energy...the usual stay & scream, and we have EP for tonight. Thank goodness the weather looks clear as a bell. We'll do what we can as soon as we're released from the holding area, then turn to EP if/when it starts to get crowded. So far this year that's been a good plan and we've been getting a LOT done. I just hope that Dead Exposure is back up to par.

Maybe I'll see you there my father and I are going to be there on wednesday and thursday with stay and scream this week and I can't wait!!!

 

[Metro West]

I can't believe there are only three more Frequent Fear nights (unless they add like last year but I'm not holding my breath). We are going tonight and Thurs., and possibly Weds. if we have the energy...the usual stay & scream, and we have EP for tonight. Thank goodness the weather looks clear as a bell. We'll do what we can as soon as we're released from the holding area, then turn to EP if/when it starts to get crowded. So far this year that's been a good plan and we've been getting a LOT done. I just hope that Dead Exposure is back up to par.

I'm done for this year...five visits was enough for me and I definately got my money's worth again.

 

[Rockstar mentality]

I am going to the last day and 3rd to last day of hhn and bill and ted is always my favorite show and i know its a few of yours out there too. If any of you would like i will post what they do different in the last show (they always change it a crazy ammount to go out with a bang) because i go on the last night just to see the last show.

 

[inkkognito]

Maybe I'll see you there my father and I are going to be there on wednesday and thursday with stay and scream this week and I can't wait!!!

We'll be hanging out by Finnegans...that's me in the red hat in my siggie pic so give us a holler if you see us.

Last night was CRAZY CRAZY CROWDED! And I do mean crazy! S&S area wasn't bad, and we got a lot done right after the 6 p.m. release. But suddenly it was like they poured instant-grow on the crowd. I have literally never seen so many people at HHN in all the times I've been there, especially on a Sun. We had EPs, but even those waits were 30 mins. which I guess was good compared to the 1-2 hour wait in standby. Problem is, some people can't stand more than five mins. without lighting up so today I am congested and horking big phlegm wads as a consequence. We did manage to do everything, and some things a couple times, due to S&S and Express. Saw Dark Maurader briefly too.

It's funny how my opinion of the houses has changed over the course of the season. Dead Exposure used to be my favorite by a wide margin, but it's falling fast. I don't know if they lost a lot of scareactors or what, but lately it's been flat. Meanwhile Doomsday, which prettty much bored us early on, has rocketed up in our favorites list. Great quality scares...they got DH in there last right real good! Our very early-season experiences with Body Collectors were just meh, but that one has rocketed up too. I used to like Creatures, but it hasn't really wowed me lately and overall Intersellar Terror has remained weak, with very few exceptions. Hallow was flat last night...Scary Tales was good and Mary was mid-range. It seems like the only way you get to see the inflatable walls working is if you go through very early.

We haven't been bothering with the shows because Bill & Ted is dissapointing this year and even tho' I love Rocky, I can always see it at Citywalk so I don't want to use up the valuable house time. That's quite a contrast to last year, when we saw B&T at least once each trip and where DH was in love with Jack's show. They needed an icon show or something else to showcase Mary more this year...for an icon, they really don't do much with her in concrete ways like they did with Jack. He was even out for photos last year.

I ended up carrying a giant Gingy (from Shrek) around all night because I won it at the goblet toss game. I actually somehow won a small, medium and large prize so we had a little menagerie to carry.

Looking forward to Weds. and Thurs. and hoping the EP lines aren't as bad!!

 

[macraven]

I am going to the last day and 3rd to last day of hhn and bill and ted is always my favorite show and i know its a few of yours out there too. If any of you would like i will post what they do different in the last show (they always change it a crazy ammount to go out with a bang) because i go on the last night just to see the last show.

Please do fill me in on the bill and teds show.

i know it changes towards the end of the run.

i go the third week and after that, have to read about the changes.


post the changes for that show.


i did read that last week they had the palin character out in the ending dance routine with john m.

 

[girli565]

Ok, so we went on Friday night. I was there for 3 hours, we got there when it opened at 6ish and I left at around 9:30. It was crowded and I don't like the hovering by the scareactors so when our friends arrived at around 9:30 my DFi walked me back to the car and he stayed with the friends till 2am.

I can't believe I wimped out!! I did walk through 4 scare zones but that was enough for me. The chainsaw dudes were cool, I got a pic with them. I went through Path of the Wicked, Streets of Blood, the fairy tales one and the one next to that with the school bus. It was enough for me.

The DFi said he had a good time but that he expected scarier. He loved Interstellar and Fractured Tales. The rest he was disappointed in, especially Reflections of Fear, he said there were no Mary's anywhere!

 

[macraven]

Problem is, some people can't stand more than five mins. without lighting up so today I am congested and horking big phlegm wads as a consequence.

next year i'll give you a squirt gun to take with you to hhn.

you won't have to worry about the ones that light up in the lines.

you can help put them out with the water gun.....

name your color of squirt gun you want.








thanks for the reviews of last night.

it only re-enforces my decision not to go to hhn at the end of the run.
the crowds on sundays have grown over the past years.

even on the 3rd weekend run, that sunday is packed.....

 

[inkkognito]

next year i'll give you a squirt gun to take with you to hhn.

I was joking with DH that I should just carry a portable fire extinguisher! Even tho' smoking is technically banned in line, the rising alcohol level as the night goes on makes people more and more belligerent if you ask them to put it out. We saw a lot of people getting hauled off for goodness knows what too (probably touching scareactors since most were by houses). The arrests/removals seem to be a lot more prevalent this year than last. There were some happy drunks too...one guy with a blood bag kept running up behind DH and then saying, "I scared you!" Then he thought he was slick because he hid it in his pocket at the entrance when told to throw it out, but the worker by the door said, "I saw what you did...I'm not stupid! Just don't take it out in the house." Then he nearly got busted for touching a scareactor inside...I'd lay money that the poor dude ended up getting kicked out before the end of the night. I think he was a happy, harmless sort but had lost all judgment due to alcohol (he proudly told us he'd had five blood bags).

 

[Timmy Boy]

^Oh yea, they're great. Last night working the event I got called an a$$hole because I wouldn't let some drunks in the Express Line when they showed me their credit cards. I believe in Karma...

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

^Oh yea, they're great. Last night working the event I got called an a$$hole because I wouldn't let some drunks in the Express Line when they showed me their credit cards. I believe in Karma...

(showing the credit card part - not you getting called an a**hole)

 

[inkkognito]

^Oh yea, they're great. Last night working the event I got called an a$$hole because I wouldn't let some drunks in the Express Line when they showed me their credit cards. I believe in Karma...

And you can help karma along if you made a note of their names and the cc numbers...time to do some internet shopping!

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Ok, so we went on Friday night. I was there for 3 hours, we got there when it opened at 6ish and I left at around 9:30. It was crowded and I don't like the hovering by the scareactors so when our friends arrived at around 9:30 my DFi walked me back to the car and he stayed with the friends till 2am.

I can't believe I wimped out!! I did walk through 4 scare zones but that was enough for me. The chainsaw dudes were cool, I got a pic with them. I went through Path of the Wicked, Streets of Blood, the fairy tales one and the one next to that with the school bus. It was enough for me.

The DFi said he had a good time but that he expected scarier. He loved Interstellar and Fractured Tales. The rest he was disappointed in, especially Reflections of Fear, he said there were no Mary's anywhere!

Did he not see the females in the tight grey/silver dress killing people? Or the lady getting killed in the electrocution room?

In the last room, there's a Mary Agana on the left and a Bloody Mary on the right.

So many people exit that house saying "Where was Bloody Mary?"

She's not hard to find. And many of them are attractive. I can think of a few in Cast A and a few in Cast B.

 

[Funky_dino]

your wait times were so small compared to ours. we couldn't do 3 of the houses as we ran out of time. at gone 11am (on a thurs) dead exposure had a 120 min wait still.
the 120 min wait for body collectors was teh worst as the house was dissapointing

 

[Dax]

First, let me preface in saying I have been going to HHN every year since 1999. I have NEVER missed a year since moving here. Some years I have been scared silly and felt I got my moneys worth, and others years..not so much...this year was a not so much year.

I had been anticipating going this year, especially after the really bad year that was last year. I had read what I could, seen good reviews and felt good about the event.

DH and I went on Thursday 10/23. I was a bit worried as this was also dubbed "Hell Day" because of the local kids being off school on Friday. We typically do NOT by express passes, as they are over priced and I will NOT inflate the HHN profit even more(seriously, $70 for a Sat night!).

We have passes, and stopped it IOA for a bit to get some Potter area pics, then moved on to the Studios around 4:45p. We walked around a bit, and got in line for Simpsons just as the park was closing. We then were ushered to the S&S area in the kiddie area. There was maybe a total of about 100-150 ppl here, and they opened up Scary Tales for us. We waited about 5m, and because it was still light out, we could not see ANYTHING in the house. We lucked out, and there was zero line when we exited, so we ducked under the rope, and went through again...ALONE! I was scared NUMEROUS times and had a great experience. From there, The Hallowed was open, so that was next on the list.

Again, a 5m wait, and again, hard to see ANYTHING. Also there seemed to be a lack of actors in the house. It just felt empty. It looked like they had let the gate people in early, so we walked on to Dead Exposure. It was not open yet, so we waited till 6:30p when it opened. Again, the early hour, and lack of people in this house, just made it...dumb.

By now, I needed a drink, so I got the overpriced HHN official drink cup filled with rum, juice and an energy drink. I had to chug it, because we had stepped into line again, and it was a walk on for the Reflections of Fear house. This house was just dumb. Again, lack of actors. BOO!

We walked through Amityville, and past Disaster! into the un-official scare zone filled with chainsaw gangs. All 3 of them...sigh...and right to Doomsday. At this point, the sky was getting very very dark, due to the oncoming rain. It held out for the BEST house of the night for me. I am a sucker for chainsaw guys, and they cornered me thanks to my loving DH. I was laughing the entire way, and the actors preyed on my weakness. Great scares, GREAT HOUSE! As we exited, it started to rain, so we grabbed some food at the pizza place before it got busy.

After food, we walked through the scare zone outside of Mummy..yeah..except for the guy trying to steal my water in my $10 cup...pretty much a non event. We stepped in line for Body Collectors which was posted for 20m at about 7:40p, not bad. I enjoyed the house a lot, good scares, and good scenery. We decided to check out the park at this point, and hit up the scare zones.

Now here is where my major issues begin to arise. I FULLY understand US is building a new coaster. I also understand that most construction projects happen in the evening, but my question is, WHY do they need to do this on HHN event nights? The ENTIRE park was lit up with the GIANT spotlights, causing the scarezones to be lit up as well. The whole thing about HHN is the dimly lit park mixed with fog, and people coming up and scaring you outta nowhere. This was NOT the atmosphere. The fog was having issues because of the weather, that is understandable, but the lights, ruined the effect.

So we walked through the last of the scarezones, hanging out and listening to the caterpillar insult passers by for a while, then got in line for Interstellar Terror. Nice set, lack of scares again. We hit Creatures as our last house and came out completely confused...to me it was a bunch of redneck types..LOL..I see that all the time in my county..LOL. We decided to call it a night, and after one final sweep of the few scarezones nearby, and hanging out with a different caterpiller, we called it a night at about 10:15p, the very first time we left HHN early. We normally stay till it ends. We used our Citywalk option, and caught the end of the World Series game(Go Rays!) and headed home.

Final Thoughts-
*Where were the actors in the houses? We saw more security than actual scareactors.
*The LIGHTS..SHUT EM OFF!!
*I loved the lines in the soundstage, but they should have added more screens, and turned up the volume a tad...Highlight was watching the US employees doing the Thriller dance!
*Is HHN really worth my money anymore? Are my expectations set to high?

I am going to HOS 10/30, I hope it makes up for this bad experience. Sorry Universal, you are slipping in my book.

 

[Metro West]

Now here is where my major issues begin to arise. I FULLY understand US is building a new coaster. I also understand that most construction projects happen in the evening, but my question is, WHY do they need to do this on HHN event nights? The ENTIRE park was lit up with the GIANT spotlights, causing the scarezones to be lit up as well. The whole thing about HHN is the dimly lit park mixed with fog, and people coming up and scaring you outta nowhere. This was NOT the atmosphere. The fog was having issues because of the weather, that is understandable, but the lights, ruined the effect.

You know...I never thought of that when I was over there and I can see where the atmosphere was ruined by the construction lights. Personally...I thought the houses were the darkest they'd ever been this year.

Let me know how HOS is...I want to get over there one year.

 

[girli565]

Did he not see the females in the tight grey/silver dress killing people? Or the lady getting killed in the electrocution room?

In the last room, there's a Mary Agana on the left and a Bloody Mary on the right.

So many people exit that house saying "Where was Bloody Mary?"

She's not hard to find. And many of them are attractive. I can think of a few in Cast A and a few in Cast B.

I wasn't there so I really can't say what he saw but I know that the friends we went with said the same thing about not seeing Mary. I don't walk the houses so I don't know what they saw. I know he did say the spine thing was awesome so he did enjoy some things.

They went to Howl-O-Scream the next night and said it was amazing!

 

[inkkognito]

I'm annoyed by the lights too, not so much because they light up the area but because they are really blinding when you are walking towards them. Very irritating!

In comparing this year to last, I preferred last year's houses (Psychoscarapy, Freddy, and Jack's particularly) but this year's scare zones are definitely better. But Bill & Ted is worse so I guess overall I'd have to say I preferred last year. If I could time-warp the zombie drill team and Streets of Blood to 2007, it would be perfect.

I'm really shocked at how Dead Exposure is going downhill in terms of scares. That started out as my fave but on the last two visits it's been pointless. At least Doomsday has rocketed up in scare factor to make up for it, and I've really developed a fondness for Body Collectors.

I've been seeing lots of Marys in her house, but it still doesn't quite reach the level of what the icon house should be. The concept is fine, but maybe it needs to be in a soundstage so they could have done more detail.

 

[cmmickey]

So the DH and I went last friday (10/24) and let me tell you it was better than i ever thought. Ive been hovering around these boards since it opened and all of your reviews really pumped me up for it and I was not let down at all. We both had never been to US before so we spent the ENTIRE day. It worked out perfectly though. It was rainy in the morning and I guess that stopped alot of people from going to the parks so we got on all of the rides and shows with hardly any wait. Then we had dinner and drinks at Finnegans and by the time we came out of there the park was completely transformed! It was incredible! It was a little early still and I didnt want to go to the scarezones first when it was light out so we hit up a ride or two and started going through the houses.
Now I honestly cannot rate the houses, I thought each and every one was so well done. Even the DH who loves to act tough and manly (haha) was so impressed. The scareactors were so wonderful the scenery and lighting and props and all that made up the houses were just right. Now i'm quite a wimp so I scare easily. I love though how i'd be looking in one direction getting scared and suddenly I turn around and there is somone coming at me in another end! Also I have to say and stress more than anything how amazing and essential the EP was, especially for that night I believe. We were able to take our time and go through to each house instead of trying to jam in as many as we could before it got to crowded. By around 930-10pm it was insane over an hour wait and the best feeling was by passing ALL of the people and going straight into the houses. It was expensive but worth EVERY penny. I dont know what we would have done without it. I was also suprised by the amount of alcohol. Everywhere we turned there were sexy girls with IVS and the blood bags which we definetely took advantage of. As well as plently of stations selling shots and blood marys etc. The scarezones once it got really dark were also incredible. BUt as it got more crowded it was harder to get scared since there were sooo many people. But the costumes and actors really took everything seriously which only added to the effect. All in all it was a really wonderful expereince and I only wish i lived closer to Florida so I could have gone again and again.

 

[geeksbsmrt]

I'm really shocked at how Dead Exposure is going downhill in terms of scares. That started out as my fave but on the last two visits it's been pointless.

Do you know what times you've gone through? I'm seeing a lot of posts like this and can't quite figure out why. We really haven't changed out acting style.....