Although I do agree completely with you Chris, I think in a way you're comparing apples to oranges haha
Yes, Knotts does more in terms of quantity, I promise you it's nowhere near the quality and detail that goes into HHN. Now am I saying everything that HHN does is perfect? Heck no! But I do have to say the level of detail is unmatched anywhere else. A house could completely suck but damn it'll probably look good!
The only other park-wide event I've ever been to outside of HHN is Cedar Point and Chris can contest that it's not all that great (at least I remember you saying you had been to Halloweekends). Considering that Knott's is owned by the same company, I can only assume it's probably on the same level. Perhaps I'm wrong.
But sure they have 14,000 houses but are they the same level of detail and such? I'm sure HHN could do everything you mentioned if they wanted to, but I don't think it would be up to par with what we expect from this event when it comes to quality.
Now the shows....that's a whole different story haha The shows they pump out now aren't that great....so I'm sure a few others wouldn't hurt