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HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr

*yawn*

HHN 25. Congratulations, Horror Nights! You now have the opportunity for cheaper car insurance. It's all down hill from here. The next thing you have to look forward to is your receding hairline, and remembering "the good ol' days." FORTUNATELY. I will remember 25 as the good ol' days, because HHN 25...OOOOHHHH...you were good. Man. What a fantastic year. It really felt like a 17, or 19 for me. Those were my golden years; 17-20. WOOF. You didn't get any better than that. The themeing. The houses. The twisted taters (you always have to say taters in a Gollum voice...well, I do...). Those were the YEARS. And honesly, 25 felt like one of those YEARS. It was fantastic. Except for that damn firework in the beginning. It's the return of the DUD. HAHA. You guys. That firework. IT'S BACK. That had more of an impact on me than JACK. It's like last year's fireworks lame cousin who drives a truck and loves ICP. You're lame, firework. Go back to the other fireworks and feel bad. Okay. Okay. Let's get to it. LAAAAAAADIES and Gentlemen, in this corner, from the binary planet of one-zero-one-one-zero, weighing in at 250 tons, the robot that just cannot stop...ARMYOFROBUTTS!! HEY! EVERY YEAR. EVERY YEAR YOU SHOW UP. AND YOU DO THIS. IT HURTS. It hurts every year. You can't say that about people. LET'S GO. FORGET IT YOU JERK, YOU DO THIS EVERY YEAR. THE REVIEW. Spoilers, fun, and nonsense awaits you, my little Greedos. New paragraph. Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem Sweet mother of ZEUS. Who titled this house? Might as well start this off right. AND WE HAVE OUR HOUSE OF THE YEAR. Seriously. There's no contender. This is the best of the best. From design, to length (*wink*), scareactors, content...this house is EVERYTHING. This house could come back every year and I woudln't be mad...I'm looking at you WEREWOLF. LOOKING. AT. YOU. The facade is fantastic and is so ominous. Seeing more of those portraits, and they are awesome, was really cool. CINDY! She has a portrait. But poor B-Mare. She has nothing. She was even taken off the shirt. Poor, poor B-Mare. You were the best, and now you're loam. Going into the house, you don't know really what to expect. Was it going to be like the "best of house" in 20? Well, kinda? But WAY more original content, which is great. And no Dead Exposure...which is even better. Just KIDDING. No I'm not. I loved the scene transitions with the Jacks, and they certainly did some great spoops, too. Right away, I knew this was THE house. The bear puppet? Fantastic. And then seeing poppa bear..it brought a grizzly sized tear to my eye. I LOVED it. Going into The Forsaken, with the best scene. GREAT. And they got rid of those glowing eyes, which is a plus, honestly. Because they can actually HIDE and SCARE. Kudos to whoever thought of that gem. And then stuff just gets better from there. My favorite part of the house was with the classic monsters. I like seeing the Monster, AND EBENIZER WULFMN. Me and him go WAY back. I hope you're still studying law, friendo. How's the family, Sam and Barbara? I hope they're great. Miss you buddy....ahem. Seeing the Bride was great. Really great stu---*HUMMMMMMMMM* OH MY LORDY LOU, PHANTOM JUST SCARED THE PANTS OFF OF ME. Literally. They ran off without me. Now I'm just walking around looking for my pants...no, I'm not trying to pick you up, vampire ladies of the night. My pants ran away. Oh, haHA. Yeah, it IS a little cold in here. grumble grumble. Okay. Found my pants. You know what was really supremely great about this house? I LOVED seeing the tank at the bottom of the cathederal during the Gothic scene. When you peeped over? That was AWESOME. I saw that and said..."TANKS. TANKS A LOT, HHN." And then, of couse that signaled that my little ladies are back. I missed you...EWWWW. SO BALD. So bald you tiny creepy nurses. <3 <3. Please come back in form of a street next year. I jumped for joy when I saw those little bald, Baraka looking ladies. They makes me so happy, but instantly creep me out when I focus on them. UGH. GROSS. And then, you keep winding through and there's just so many more surprises I won't get into. The finale was great. Just great. GREAT. GRATE. GR8. What a great house. Exiting through all of those black curtains, I knew this was it. Going outside, seeing the soundstag--*VROOOOM*. EDDIE. WHAT THE EFF. Where did you--*VROOOOM*. Oh. Your. God. MEATY MEETZ. HE'S BACK. HE'S BACK. HE'S BACK. HE'S BACK. HE'S BACK. HE'S BACK. HE'S BACK. excuse me...I have *sniff*...I have dust in my eye. House Count: 5 House Rating: 1 Meaty Meetz out of 1 My Life is Whole Again. The "Z" stands for "I miss you" An American Werewolf in London I must've jumped in that TARDIS, because I SWEAR I've seen this before. Honestly, if you want my thoughts on this house, read my review from 2013. It still stands, but it's not my House of the Year. Everything is still great. After experiencing it 2 years ago in Orlando, and last year in Hollywood, it did lose some shine..but it's still great and you can tell it's a labor of love. House Count: 4 House Rating: 1 We Need to Talk out of 3 It's Not Me, It's You. Freddy vs. Jason Dawn of Slashers and the First Time I saw Boobs on Film. Thanks, 80's. This was a VERY close contender for House of the Year. Really. It's fantastic. I may be a liiiitttlllle biased because Freddy was my first role in 2007, but none the less, it's a FANTASTIC house. It really felt like 2007 all over again, not just for Freddy, but also going back to Camp Crystal Lake...also, RIP Jaws queue. Just kidding, BYE JAWS. Also, second year of a versus house. Glad to see we got more "versus" this time around, but I hope this isn't a trend. Next year "Sharkando versus Sharktopus"...actually, that sounds badass. DIBS. MY IDEA. DIBS. Going in, you knew two things..Freddy, Jason. How those were going to play out, I really had no idea. I kind of had an idea...that film from 2003 or whatever. But apparently it's nothing like that, so I was intrigued. I do know this...QUEUE VIDEO, PLEASE. Man, what an opportunity for a queue video. AND IT'S GONE. POOF.../sigh....Jumping into the soundstage, you're instantly taken to Camp Crystal lake, and Jason has already started his Purge. RELEASE THE BEAST. DIBS. MY IDEA. JASON vs. The PURGE. Take that, horny teenagers...and your sex. That'll teach you. Really classic scares, and really effective. Jason was at every freaking turn. And he was PISSED. It was awesome. Winding through the cabin, and camp...And then...well...magic happened. 1...2....Freddy's coming for you... You're on Elm Street. You're in the dream. And it just becomes legendary at this point. Seeing the classic kills from the films, translated into real life was great. It was DIFFERENT than 2007, and I'm SO happy, because I just expected it to be the same. But you're seieng all new stuff. Going through the boiler room, seeing all of that iconic scenery. And then, if I may take a quote from Ken Wantanabe..."Let them fight" and they DID. You actually saw them brawling. It was GREAT. Some of the gags were LEGIT, too. Freddy stabbing Jason and stuff, and vice versa? So cool. Winding through the coor--did...what was that? Was that a roid-raged Freddy? Hold on... ... hahahaha. It was. Freddy, you been working out man. Looking..you're looking good, man. I laughed so hard I ran into the sweaty back of the guy in front of me. Gross. Now I have beer flavored sweat all over me. Ugh..this is the worst. Thanks. Thanks a lot roid-raged, Freddy. This IS a nightmare. Nightmare in Soundstage 24. Going underwater, seeing Freddy in a Camp Crystal Lake shift, all gold. The finale was great. Man, what a great freaking house. I, for one, will take a Freddy and Jason house every year. House Count: 5 House Rating: 1 Roid Raged Freddy out of 72 High School Students. (they'll never have a chance) Body Collectors: Recollections One thing is for sure, those Collectors aim for the throat. Hello, old friend. Great to see another Body Collectors house. It has a great history within HHN, and honestly, it has a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, for me, this house was kind of a little boring for me? Definitely wasn't bad, but it lacked some CHUTZPAH. Yeah, yeah, you're yelling at your computer screen. Just...listen. Or read. Read and listen..RESTEN. Facade? Check? Ominous setting? Check. Person in the fire place? Check. The setup was great. Great mood going into the house and it really sets itself up. *SHNIK* Man, how can you not cheer at the slit throat? Great setup, moving along...where..how..I'm lost. CURSES. WHY DID I ENTER A SOUNDSTAGE DURING THE DAY? I CAN'T SEE SQUAT. Table. Table in my way. Desk, chairs. I just whammied my knee on this table, guests are so angry. WHERE. WHERE DO I GO. *SHNIK* "YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY". HEY HEY HEY. Listen, lady! You're dead! I can see that. Oh...the door to my left? That very obvious door that I completely missed because my eyes hadn't adjusted yet? Yeah..thanks. /tail between legs. Ew, gross. I'm not a furry. No, I won't give you a hug. Get away from me, guy dressed as Star Fox. NO, I won't be your Slippy. LEAVE. Geez. How did that guy get in here? But yeah, I seriously got lost in this house. It was awful. Moving along...! Nice wintery set up, and people in the snow? Am I going through the Shining? I'm not sure what's happening here, but it looks nice, so I accept it. And from here...? Catacombs and jail cells. Not really doing much for me in terms of scares, but it looks pretty, I guess. Some guy growling like a dog, walking around like Gollum (HUZZAH. Second Gollum reference!) and some basic scares. As always, the Spine Girl scene is great, although nothing too new, and the scene where the Collectors making the bodies? That was pretty great. And some really epic music, too. And then we go back through some catacombs and cells, and a guy gnashing his teeth at the end. That guy makes me laugh. He was great. Good job, dude. You made me sincerely laugh because you just hammed up the scene so well...but then it ends. I guess it just falls a little flat for me. Not terrible, but really middle of the road for me. As always, great to see the Collectors, but this time, they're a little more forgetable. House Count: 4 House Rating: 4 Chairs in My Way (WHERE DO I GO?) out of 1 Man Gnashing his Teeth. RUN: BLOOD, SWEAT, AND FEARS One Country to Rule Them All (note: It's Germany) Okay. This house was middle of the road, but I had probably some of the best interactions in this house. And that puts it in my Top 3. Crazy, right? This house was AWESOME because the actors are having FUN. Funactors? Maybe? But, let me tell you, I haven't laughed this hard in a house in a LONG time. First off, queue video is FANTASTIC. Second off, GREAT facade. Third off...uh...look at all of those ropes? Entering the house is pretty great. Really good set up, very Hunger Game-ish (OH GHAD, I made a Hunger Games reference), like you're being forced into the game. That count down really got me pumped. And the Police? Policia? Armed Forces? Master Chiefs? Did a great job moving you along into the game. Going into the steam zone thing was cool, and I met Jaden Smith from After Earth. He gave me a piece of his face; good jorb, Jaden. AND THEN YA GET THE STEAM. And you're on your way. Loved the mirror gag with the Samurai guy, you're just waiting for, OH SWEET JESUS. Little fan lady came out of nowhere. Where'd you come from, Kitana? Good spoop. And you pass her and KAPOWI, Samurai guy is right there. My buddy and I had a good chuckle when he got spooked by him and he yelled out, ME SO SORRY. In which Samurai Guy comes back and has a great chuckle. I laugh, my friend laughs, Samurai laughs, Samurai kills friend; it was a great time. Moving along, getting SO pumped after that. Loved going through Canada and singing O CANADA with those crazy Canadians. It was a blast. And then singing Carmena Burana with those gladiators. Just so much fun. And then...then here they are. DAS BLITZKRIEG BROTHERS. We started a chant "DEUTSCHLAND! DEUTSCHLAND!" And the brothers kick in "DEUTSCHLAND!DEUTSCHLAND!" We're all shouting, chanting! The whole room is going nuts. SO. MUCH. FUN. Really. This house is great. Kudos to every funactor involved. You made a pretty boring house so much fun. I went through 5 times in one night because you guys were killing it. DEUTSCHLAND! House Count: 9 House Rating: 3 BLITZKRIEG BROTHERS out of 2 Canadians, eh? Insidious HE'S GOT YER BABY. HE'S GOT YER BABY. I wish I could say I've seen the first Insidious, but I have not. I saw the second film, and that was a mistake. But hey- we learn. And I learned by not seeing the third OR the first. Because, man. I did not enjoy the second one, and it wasn't because I was lost...I was not. The house was...okay? I guess. People were saying this was the most intense house of the run, but it just kind of falls flat. The facade was great, a nice colonial type of house, in which we enter through the side, and then we encounter Darth Maul, scary ladies in wedding dresses, and sheets that stand up *insert boner joke here.* I did not understand what was happening here, and probably shame on me for that, so I really can't discredit what was happening. There were some okay scares, though. And the sets were really great. Darth Maul was particuarly scary, and there were some great moments with him. I liked seeing the return of the claustrophobic hallway..I guess that was us going into the Dark World? What's it called? I don't remember. So, I'll just got it Dark World. Dark World was pretty effective, and kind of tonally different. The "funeral" scene was really great, too. The house was also decently long (that's what she said) and people all over were getting spooked. It was like I was not a part of the spook, but I did like seeing the other get scared, so it was worth the wait. Again, I probably should have seen the film, and I probably would have liked this house a little more, just because I can understand the story of it. But, here we are. It just falls middle of the road for me. It also doesn't help that this house was always insanely busy. House Count: 1 House Rating: 3 Boner Jokes out for 2 Sith Lords (No More and No Less) The Purge Let us SCREAM from the rooftops, RELEASE THE BEAST I'm basing this soley on what we had, not what could have been. Honestly, I'm a big fan of The Purge films, and I have no idea why. I mean, really, they're okay. But I find the idea so much fun, and it's really probably just the IDEA of the Purge of what tickles my Beast Bone *insert second boner joke here.* Either way, I find this house REALLY enjoyable, and it's for ONE reason...well...15-20 reasons. THE PURGERS. Man, you guys kept this house alive. The sets were pretty mediocre, and that's nobody's fault, but The Purgers were awesome. There were some pretty awesome things going on here. Firstly, having the nicely dressed Purger out front talking to folks really set the mood, and then...BWURRRR....BWURRRR. God, I love that siren. Seeing the screens with the rest of the Purgers happening around the country, that was pretty fantastic. And then going through the house was great. Aw, man. Jiffy Pop! I haven't seen Jiffy Pop since it was in this movie about a guy running around in a mask murdering teenagers. I can't remember what it was called.... anyway. Lots of guns blowing people away in this. I will say I wish I saw more unique kills, but you know..that's a minor gripe. Going through the garage and...oh, somebody got lost. Let me help you little, tiny girl. It's okay. Come with us, we'll meet your family outside. How did yo--OH NO. SHE'S DEAD. A PURGER TOOK HER AND MURDERED HER. that. was awesome. I love seeing that stuff. It really ties it all together, like this one rug I had in this room. I wish there were more gags like that. And we finish it out with STROBES STROBES STROBES STROBES STROBES. Lady murder on bed. STROBES STROBES STROBES. Sweet Jesus who steals hubcaps from cars, I'm flopping like fish out of this house. Somebody put a plank in my mouth so I don't swallow my tongue. As I seizured out of the house, I reflected back on what happened, and really, I give kudos. They really turned around a crappy situation and not only turned it into something that worked, but something that worked effectively. Job great, work good. House Count: 5 House Rating: 45 Gun Shots to the Face out of 0 Sidney Prescotts. The Walking Dead: The Living and the Dead something something Walking Dead something something WOOF. Here we are. The RETURN OF. I don't watch the Walking Dead, nor do I watch FEAR the Walking Dead...but I DO watch The Walken Dead *insert Disaster joke here*. I have no clue what is happening here. We have Walkers, and we have people, living in harmony. And then we have sleepy time for me. I just kind of wander through this house, just trying to wrap my head around everything. The sets are very impressive, as they usually are with these DEAD houses. But, everything else falls flat for me, unfortunately. Really, I don't have much else to say. I think it just falls under fatigue for me. Oh well. Maybe next year. House Count: 2 House Rating: 7 Zoombies, Coral out of 1 Coon Tombstone (that's racist) Asylum in Wonderland 3D Wait...I have to go ALL THE WAY AROUND TO GET HERE? Hey! This is pretty neat! Using the Shrek building for a house? That's pretty cool they were able to pull it off. That's really impressive. The Shrek building and all. I mean, to build a house in one of the theaters was really cool...can't talk more enough about buidling a house in there...because..well...womp womp. Alice isn't looking too fine. I think the idea was taking Alice from 2008, from that awesome Street, and then basing a house around it, but man, it doesn't really translate. I will say, best use of the vortex, and I really liked the sets, they were all pretty good. I did not like the costumes too much, and the scares didn't play into the scenery very well. The 3D was some of the better uses, but what was that one house a couple years ago...what was it called? The one about the serial killer. Let me check my old review: oh yeaaah. Afterlife. That was it. Definitely some things from Afterlife here. This house wasn't as good as Afterlife. And that says it all. House Count: 3 House Rating: 2 Checkered Unitards out of 1 Underage Alice HOUSE RANKZ: 1. Jack Presents: DON'T TALK ABOUT BLOODY MARY. 2. Pepperoni Face versus The Goalie from The Mighty Ducks 3. JOG: TEARS FOR FEARS. 4. The Purge: Totally Not Scream 5. Tax Collectors: What the IRS Thinks of You 6. Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace 7. The Return of the Werewolf Bar Mitzvah 8. Alice in WonderDuloc 9. The Snoring Dead STREET RANKS: 1. All Nite Die-In: GRAYSCALE EDITION 2. What Evil has Taken Root? 3. Saws n' Clowns: Into the Circus 4. Psychoscareapy: Get it? It's like THERAPY, but it's SCARY 5. HHN Icons: DON'T TALK ABOUT BLOODY MARY. 6. Chainsaw Drill Team: TIME TO GET DRILLED *insert boner joke here* 7. All Nite Die-In: NOW IN TECHNICOLOR 8. Kids Like the Steam and the Punks Still, RIGHT?

Just returned from my annual sabbatical to Orlando. Attended HHN on the 1st and 2nd (and HHN Hollywood a couple of times before that). What a difference a day makes! I'd give the overall event a 3 out of 10 based on my experience on 10/1, but the next day everything was MUCH better, raising my rating to a 7 out of 10. On Thursday, everything just seemed off. The actors were not into it. Timing was off. Effects were not working properly. Friday was a completely different event. So in every case, Friday had better scores than Thursday. Let's get to it, in no particular order: I need to start with something new at HHN this year that is truly ruining the event - the overly aggressive/obnoxious ops in and outside of the houses. These are the people who stand there for a 45 minute shift, moving their hand to point the way. Well, that's what they used to do. This year they are yelling "keep it moving" and flailing both arms to move you in what is CLEARLY the only direction to go. They are breaking every aspect of the spell of the houses. They are droning on telling you to keep moving even when you are 2 inches from the person in front of you. It is completely out of hand this year. And the spiel of the ops as you enter the house is a new world of WTF. At every house they are screaming things like "Keep up with the group in front of you. Do not wander off from your group. If you leave your group, [Freddy/Jason/Body Collectors/monsters/Mad Hatter/walkers] will find you." Seriously? We really need this? I am certain that this is all the brainchild of one new talent coordinator at HHN. I would like to find that person and tell them to "untrain" staff, because they are damaging the event. AWIL (Thursday: D, Friday C ). I have despised pure IP houses since forever. My complaint is simple and has never been refuted - Since creative is firmly handcuffed to a narrow script, how is it in any way scary to go through a house knowing exactly what you are going to experience? That being said, AWIL in 2013 was one of the few IP houses that I enjoyed. Went through it half a dozen times that year. The Orlando version stands on its own as a great house; Hollywood's was terrible. My Thursday visit suffered from few actors, and unenthusiastic ones at that. I always seemed to get the "reset portion" of scares. Friday's visit was far better. Even so, I cannot justify a grade better than a C when HHN decides to bring back a house in its original form. Sadly, I called this "synergy" effect between the two parks several years ago; Orlando is adopting (or being told to adopt) Hollywood's bad habit of repeating houses. Less and less of a reason for me to be flying across the country to see HHN Orlando... Insidious (Thursday C, Friday B). Hollywood has done this three times now, and it has been a huge favorite every year. I never really saw a firm connection to the movies. To me, the houses were decent classic haunted house style presentations. Usually, Orlando versions of houses are far better than Hollywood's (AWIL being a prime example). In the case of Indisious, Hollywood's were all far better than this Orlando hodgepodge. I think it's because the movies have such different villains, and trying to stuff three iterations of the film into one house doesn't make sense. Orlando's comes across as a series of three teeny tiny houses. And for the first time I can recall, the Orlando sets were really poor in comparison to Hollywood's. Orlando's seemed thrown together. Alice in Wonderland (Thursday B-, Friday A-) Like most Orlando 3D houses, this is either a love it or hate it. To me, it comes closest to matching the intensity and beauty of the In Between. I do not enjoy 3D houses, but Orlando has proven it can be executed to near perfection. This year was possibly the most effective vortex tunnel yet. I cannot tell you how much the Unmasking tour helps explain this house. It also lets you really take in the beauty of the fabrication of this house. As it exists in another land, many of the walls in the house are curved rather than straight. Also, every leaf, petal and stem of the jungle/flowers are also curved. This detail is easily missed as you walk the house. I urge you to go to the UTH tour and really take in the beautiful set construction. Freddy Vs Jason (Thursday B-, Friday B+) As I mentioned earlier, my main gripe with IP is that A&D is handcuffed by contractual obligations to present the IP in specific and limiting ways. In this house, those handcuffs were noticeably looser. Hell, Jason appeared in a photo-op scarezone for the first time. The presentation here had typical movie-based sets, but for the last third of the maze, it seemed like A&D got to do what they wanted. And that was the fun part. The dual ending was also fun (but if you don't get to experience both endings, know that you won't miss much). The ending changes every 45 minutes. I'm not sure the video walls worked well. Walking Dead (Thursday F, Friday D-) I think this was the weakest version of the WD houses yet. Don't need to say much. We are all over it. It's laughable that I have now taken two HHN surveys that practically ask "We all know you are sick of Walking Dead at HHN. How much would you like to see it back in 2016?" Comcast Synergy at work... But you want to know something really weird? Hollywood's Walking Dead house was actually not bad this year. Everything Orlando represented Hollywood did much better. They didn't have some dumb walker in a hot tub scene. Hollywood's revolving door was light years better. Mind you - WD should have been gone from Hollywood, too, but I'm just saying it was not bad this year. And I feel dirty just typing that. Purge (Thursday D-, Friday D) I don't care that this was intended to be Scream, and I hope we never have to sit through Scream at HHN. I love the Purge as a concept, but the movies were just bad. I wouldn't even call this an IP house, because it was IP in name only. Only the costumes and the Purse message were from any of the movies. The death metal music was awful. The sets were awful. The scares were ok. Even if they had called this an original house based on a concept of random thugs attacking you for no reason, it falls flat. Run (Thursday C+, Friday D+ ) As this is probably the final house that will appear in this location, I was hoping for a huge send-off like they did with Saws and Steam. This was a good concept but just did not do it for me. For the life of me, I don't know why they picked Run as one of the original concepts to use for the 25th. I think people would have preferred to see the next chapter of Nightengales, or Ship of Screams. I missed out on the first Run house, but thought the next two versions were not good (I'm including 2004's Rat Run mini-maze), so after two poorly received sequels why they for a third? I'll share a freebie I learned from the UTH tour. I don't consider this to be a spoiler: This house has the only discovered Guest Activated Trigger (so far). It is located at the end of the Canadian room. Just before you exit the room, there is a storage rack on your left. At waist level there is a bright yellow chainsaw. There is a button on the chainsaw itself that can be pressed. I was unable to locate the button any of my times going through. Body Collectors (Thursday A-, Friday A) An amazing, must-see house. A&D's mastery of original content is the thing that separates HHN from all others. You can just feel the creative juices flowing from this house. You know they had fun doing this one. Like Gothic, it was a joy to walk through. See if you can locate Jack and Eddie in this house. You are unlikely to find them, but they are there... Let's just say it helps explain Jacks & Eddie's origin. Anniversary House (Thursday A+, Friday A+) I don't know if it was the best HHN house ever, because it is technically presenting a sliver of the best of the best, and not advancing any original storylines. But it was stunning in detail and presentation. From the moment I walked in and got a whiff of The Hallow, I was instantly transported into a world I love. There is no sense that brings back memories like smell, and A&D knew this. Every walkthru I had a stupid grin from ear to ear. There were no dead spots in this house. It was packed wall to wall and floor to ceiling with greatness. With one exception. The Christmas scene near the end. I don't get it. It was not from Blood N Gutz. Not from Home for the Holidays. Even as an original standalone scene, it seemed unfinished. If anyone knows what it was supposed to be, I'm all ears. Scarezones I was underwhelmed by the Steampunk area. Had high hopes, but it fell flat. Really, the only area I truly enjoyed was Shadybrook. I spent over an hour there just watching it all. LOVED the little performances at the various booths. LOVED that they used older actors for the cast. They were really more enjoyable than the younger ones. LOVED that they used older music here. Probably my favorite scarezone of all time. Cannot think of a thing I could change to make it better. Shows Carnival of Carnage (B) Too long of a show for me. Was surprised to see how similar it was to the last Jack show. Same kills. LOVED Chance. Really enjoyed Jack. Wouldn't mind this being a yearly show, but needs new content. Bill & Ted (B) Very happy to see B&T return. Very happy to see they have not succumbed to PC. Middling show for me. Hope to see it return next year. Overall As an "Anniversary Year", HHN 2010 blew the doors off of HHN 2015... 2010 had all original content. It had fan favorites (Hades, Catacombs, Havoc, Legendary Truth, Zombiegeddon). It had its own excellent anniversary house. It had the awesome Saws & Steam scarezone. This year we have a whole lot of IP - which did nothing to enhance an anniversary theme. We had a complete copy house repeated in its entirety. We had yet another awful year of Walking Dead. Just a yuck year compared to 2010. And compared to any other specific year, it falls squarely in the middle - not awful and yet not great. 2015 was an OK year. I can't blame it on Jack, because he delivered. I can't blame it on poor original content, because it delivered. I can't blame it on scarezones or shows. To me, this year was held back because of all the damned IP - two of them that should not have returned (AWIL/WD) and one that was so God awful (Purge) that it should have been scrapped when Scream fell through. These three left a bad taste in my mouth. They do not give me hope for the future of HHN. We shall see. Next year will be very important. Will they finally put Walking Dead out of our misery? Will they shove another unchanged fan favorite down our throat because the think we want to see it again? Are they hopefully running out of IP? Seems like the well is going dry to me unless they start repeating those, too. So how was HHN Orlando compared to HHN Hollywood this year? Well, Hollywood was 100% IP. So you can guess my feelings about it. Of the IP in Hollywood, over half was repeats from previous years (AVP - unchanged, Insidious - same theme, Walking Dead, Halloween - people are eating it up for some reason, and Purge in the Terror Tram (yawn). The only "new IP" we had was Crimson Peak and This is the End (in 3D). TITE was a piss-poor house on any level. I could write a thesis on how Crimson Peak is the personification of how IP detracts from a house. Let me give you a synopsis, though. Crimson Peak will not hit theaters until mid October. So for all intents and purposes, the house is a complete unknown to all but a tiny few. So how does that house come across for the masses who have no idea what Crimson Peak is about? After all, IP houses present key moments from the film. These moments are either the most memorable kills or otherwise creepiest moments. So let's see what is presented in the house... We repeatedly hear a female voice talking about how her mother died of some terrible disease and how sad she is. We hear (presumably) her mother telling her to "beware of Crimson Peak". We are told during the Tram ride over that the real main character of Crimson Peak is the house. That the house is alive and the walls bleed. Jeez, sounds a bit like The Shining. So we enter the house and it looks pretty cool. Nice sets. And some lady in black is popping out at us from boo-holes. Reminds me of Insidious, actually. But the "house" isn't really doing anything at HHN. There is a stretch wall on one hallway. I guess that's some creepy thing from the movie. Don't see any bleeding walls. Oh look, there's some naked lady in a bathtub with an axe in her head. I'm sure that must be in the movie - bet it was a scary scene, too. Means absolutely nothing to me, though. Just a random thing. Ok, we're going into a bedroom now, and it looks like a nice set. Cool video projections in the window. But nothing's happening in the room. No idea what this must represent. But I'm sure it's something really important in the movie. Oh well. Ooooh, the finale room. They mentioned this in the Tram movie. Something about "Blood Clay" that the house is built on. Yup, well it's a hallway with bubbling clay pits and some pop scares. No idea as to why that exists in this house or why I'm supposed to be scared of it. So, as we exit the house, guillermo del Toro and John Murdy and Universal are all anxiously hoping we want to plop down $18 to see Crimson Peak. I for one will wait for Netflix because this looks like a stinker if the "best scenes" have just been presented to me. What a disaster of a house. So overall, 2015 Orlando kicked butt over 2015 Hollywood. 2015 for Hollywood was one of the weakest years ever. And I'm sitting here thinking back to how cool 2010 and 2011 were in Orlando... Hoping for a better 2016.

I think they were just trying to say Freddy and Jason would fight, in a very weird way.

I don't think they meant literally flying.

Are you talking about the big screen above the stage where the AWIL queue goes in and also exits? We DID stop and watch the whole video because it was an AWESOME video on the history of Cindy. It caught our eye because, at first, I thought they put up something about "The Halloween Tree" - it was done in what looked like the pages of a book. OUTSTANDING video! I am hoping to catch it again when we get back down there next week. Also, I was told by one of the guys in A&D that there are no GATs this year. I asked this question in scareactor appreciation, but I am not sure how many actually read the posts there, so I am going to ask here: Does anyone know the scareactor who is playing the pumpkinhead with the curved machete in Evil's Roots? We had SUCH FUN with him last weekend, and I know it's because we had our Nightmares shirts on. Hoping to find him again next weekend. I know he's a Forum member, and I'd love to know who he is.

Here's to hoping for the morning lineup HHNUK witnessed. I would love to see the Insidious house and my wife is dying to see TWD. Asylum will be cool because of the 3D concept. I'll be sure to report back with the lineup we witnessed.

Yep. Surprised this glaring flaw wasn't fixed.

My pics aren't nearly as good as Mark, but I think I got some good ones.. More later

Can anyone elaborate why the order of the house was how it was? Why did we jump right into the conjuring/seance scene? Why were there no twin girls appearing? Why was the lady in black's makeup so terrible? Why didn't we see her in the facade, outside a kitchen window following like the intro of Insidios 1, etc?

My review will have spoilers, so be warned. I also rate on a scale of 5- 5 being great 1 being poor. Also, I visited the event from the 24th to the 27th, so this review is a tad late but better late than never! HHN 25 is only my third time attending the event. The other two years were 2009, and 2013.But I’ve followed the event for many years and consider myself a “fan from afar.” When it was decided that I’d be attending this year I was excited. I’ve never been present during an anniversary year nor a year that Jack was present and he, as clichéd and typical as it is, is my favorite icon. So, truthfully, I was more than excited for this year. I was excited for the shows, the number of houses as well as the type of houses we were getting this year (save for one,) and I was excited because my girlfriend would be attending with me and she’s never experienced anything like HHN before. Sure, we go to plenty of haunts in our area (suburbs of Chicago) but she had no idea what an event like HHN entailed. So when we got there on the 24th and waited in line and watched those actors walk up to the gate, I could barely contain myself. When we first entered we made a B-line for FvJ, which I knew, based on people’s experiences the weekend before, would be a very busy house. So I wanted to get my first walkthrough out of the way as I felt like I’d defiantly want to do it at least twice during our trip. Freddy vs. Jason We did end up doing this house twice during our trip. The first time we went through it was still fairly early, and we had only waited in line for ten minutes. The second time was on or second to last night I believe, the 26th, and we did it fairly early as well due to the fact that on Friday it had gotten up to about a 100 min wait time at one point! I was hearing nothing but good things about this house so I had some really high hopes, and boy was I not let down. Doing this house first was a great way to kick off the event for us. Upon entering and feeling that cold Crystal Lake air hit my face I couldn’t help but smile. My girlfriend latched on to my backpack and tagged behind me, not wanting to go first. Right off the bat, the first Jason got me. As we continued on several more of the hockey masked killers got me. Entering into Freddy’s world was awesome and there were some really cool “kill” scenes (including one of my favorites- “prime time.”) It seems like, in general, the house starts off wanting to scare you with Jason and then turns in to eye candy and less focused on scares during Freddy’s part then ends with a mixture- which makes perfect sense. The dream/woods area was such a trip, and by far my most favorite section of the house. Defiantly harkens back to La Lloroa but still just as effective. In fact it’s in this area that I got my biggest scare. The last Jason in this area got me really good both times I went through. The final battle scenes were fun, especially with Freddy’s dialogue going on in the background. Both times we went through Jason was the victor, and that final Jason got us good as well. The sets were amazing, especially once we got to 1428. The woodsy smell pumped in in Crystal Lake and the dream sequence was a nice touch, and (once again) the call backs to some of the best kills in both franchises as well as some great moments from the FvJ film itself really make this a slasher fans dream come true. Scares: 4/5 Atmosphere: 4/5 Overall: 4/5 Right after FvJ we hopped in line for Body Collectors, since it was right next door. We ended up doing this house twice during our trip as well Body Collectors: Recollections I have never experienced a Collectors house and was highly anticipating this one. It ended up being my second favorite house of the event! Upon entering I just stood in awe of the façade. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, and the snow effect just really was the icing on the cake. But… damn it, why haven’t they done a 30 Days of Night house yet!?... I digress. Anyway, the mood was set before you even enter and once you enter your skin is crawling from start to finish. The atmosphere in this house was nonstop amazing and really made this a complete world for me. There were startles aplenty to be found here, but the scare that really got me the best was the assistant in the room with the spine. So to your right when you turn you will see one of the Gentlemen ripping out the spine of a poor victim. While you pass by gawking at the act there is one of the assistants who comes out snapping at you. Jesus, those actors got me good both times we walked through. I will say in general I experienced fewer scares the second time I went through, but I feel like timing had a lot to do with it. It’s fine though because the second time going through I got to experience a lot more of the scenery and set which was equally as chilling as the actors. Another note is the theatrical techniques used in this house are absolutely splendid. This is actually across the board true at HHN but there were some real stand out moments in the event this year and BC has some of those moments. The shadow and scrim work in various points of the house along with the audio tracks on top of all of the splendid acting just sold this house for me. There was no weak link in this house. Also- that opening music at the façade, the edited version of Voca Me sends chills down my spine, I love it. I wish I could find it some place. Scares: 4/5 Atmosphere: 5/5 Overall: 4/5 After leaving Body Collectors we decided to take a walk through some of the street zones since it was getting later and the sun was finally starting to go down. PsychoScareapy: Unleashed This was probably the zone we spent the most time in during our four days, as was my second favorite scarezone. While actors are obviously the key element to all of HHN, the actors really sold this zone for me. Especially on the stages where they would ask people from the crowd to come closer and tell them very intimate, deranged stories. It was freaking fantastic and if you have an opportunity, listen. Also the actors in the street were just plain fun. They were scary, but they were fun at the same time. They actually acted along with you a lot of times, building a really nice sense of security that they weren’t going to “do anything” but then when you least expect it is when they’d absolutely turn or come at you with a weapon. It was great. And the set pieces, especially the flaming gazebo were also really nice and helped set a mood for the area. Scares: 3/5 Atmosphere: 3/5 Overall: 3/5 Scary Tales: ScreamPunk This is the first scarezone you encounter once you enter the park. While the centerpiece and the gobos (once it’s actually dark outside) offer some great sources of atmosphere this zone offered very little for me. It really depended on the actors for me as far as my level of enjoyment of the zone. My favorite one by far was the Wicked Witch whenever she was out. The costumes and makeup is gorgeous, it’s just that the actors seemed to do nothing but roam around, and only really ever tried to scare you if a.) you had a camera, or b.) already looked scared. Scares: 1/5 (I will give kudos to a Wicked Witch at around 9 on the 25th though because as I came through the fog she leapt out at me and startled me) Atmosphere: 2/5 Overall 2.5/5 RUN: Blood, Sweat, and Fears This was the third house we did, and we only ended up doing it once. We could’ve easily had done it two or three times during our visit and a little part of me wishes we had been able to but at the same time it’s not that big of a deal for me. I was excited for this house just because, once again, I had never experienced a RUN house. Judging by what others had said RUN was either a love or hate house in the past. Houses that have been in this location (Disaster) before in years that I’ve attended (which would be Havoc: Derailed and Leave it to Cleaver) were never houses that I enjoyed so I tried to remain neutral overall, and I’m glad I did. By not really expecting much I think I had a better time but this still proved to be the first house of the event to fall a little flat for me. The sets were amazing, and the actors looked intimidating and great… there just weren’t a lot of scares going on. It was a lot of noise in this house and it just got to the point of a sensory overload for me so I kind of shut down during my walk through of it. While I loved the premise of it being in Hellgate and the general idea of the house I couldn’t help but feel like sections were simply just recycled scares from when the prison was used for TWD in HHN 23. Not a big gripe though as, once again, the sets are stellar to look at and the same thing was kind of done in FvJ as I’ve mentioned before. The actors though, for me, really lacked the energy that I was expecting- which is exactly what happened in Derailed a few years ago. In a house like this the actor energy is going to be everything and most of the time they just seemed to stand there. The only ones that seemed active to me were the ones you experienced once you got “outside” in the fenced area. Scares: 2-2.5/5 Atmosphere: 3/5 Overall: 2.5-3/5 All Night Die-In: Double Feature Once you leave RUN you enter the Double Feature. This is probably my third favorite scarezone and while it does offer up many a chance for pictures, the actors do a brilliant job of scaring as well. Never once did I see one break character. I keep going back and forth about which “feature” I like more, the old or the new but I think ultimately I have to go with the new. While I LOVE the costumes and makeup of the classic monsters and seeing so many of them in one place, the new slashers and monsters are obviously more vivacious and active. There are some really good moments here like Jason trying to kill a young girl who then runs away in terror, and others. I always seem to get scared the worse in street zones when I try and take pictures. That’d probably because I’m so preoccupied trying to snap the shot that for a few seconds I don’t mind my surroundings. In the middle of trying to snap a shot of one of the Strangers one of the female vampires snuck up behind me and hissed. I nearly toppled over. The same thing happened to me at a zone in HHN 23! My girlfriend had a good laugh! Scares: 2.5-3/5 Atmosphere: 3/5 Overall: 3/5 After this point the rest of the event and the order we did things kind of becomes a big jumble to me, so the rest happened in no particular order. American Werewolf in London This was my favorite house in HHN 23 and while obviously I’d love for newer things I was still excited to experience this house again. My girlfriend and I had watched the film a few days before hand (her first time seeing it.) Not a whole lot to say about this house other than it’s still great for all the same reasons it was before, and the few added scares were a welcomed change. Another welcomed change was the size of the wolves… just… wow. I loved the puppets from HHN 23 but these new puppets made those old ones look like puppies. While I did coax her in to doing it twice, this was my girlfriend’s most “hated” house just because it freaked her out so much. Seriously. After the second time through she B-lined it out of the exit to the nearest bench and said “we’re sitting until I’m ready.” She refused to do it a third time, although wait times would have easily permitted a third walkthrough. Scares: 4/5 Atmosphere: 5/5 Overall: 4.5/5 Asylum in Wonderland 3D I’m not a fan of 3D houses. Never have been and don’t think I ever will be. I don’t know but I just feel like the sensory overload that I experience when walking through these houses just makes it impossible for scares to really be effective in any way. I will say though that AiW3D had some really awesome costumes and characters so even if 3D houses aren’t your thing there is plenty to at least look at in this house. It’s better than Afterlife, for me at least, which was probably the house I like the least in HHN 23. But still I only hit AiW once and that’s okay with me, although my girlfriend actually loved this house. Scares: 0/5 Atmosphere: 3/5 Overall: 2/5 The Purge I was torn when what happened, well… happened to this house. I was looking forward to a house based off the Scream films but not the show. But a Purge house was something I always thought could work well and I was very interested to see what A&D did to the house post-debacle to turn it in to the Purge and to see if I could make out any of Scream influence anywhere. You defiantly can, if you know the films and that’s all I’ll really say on the matter. As far as it being a Purge house I thought that the creative team did a good job of changing things up. While I really disliked the constant gratified on the walls (some would have been okay but to me it was just absolute overload) other changes such as “purge security systems,” anti-NFA members, and other things here and there were welcomed additions. Something that people who have seen the Purge films would recognize and obviously something that really had to be worked on and added to the house. Also the actor energy seemed to always be really good in this house, although the scares really depended on timing (although that’s really true of any house at HHN.) While this house wasn’t my favorite house I will say that it probably incorporated one of my most favorite elements of ANY haunted house I have ever visited (or been a part of for that matter, since I’ve worked haunts for ten years.) That actually threw in “victims” into the crowd of guests who would then be taken by the purgers and killed. While this sort of thing has happened plenty of times before at HHN (see All Night Die-In: Double Feature review, as well as throwing in civilians into other street zones this year and past years) this was the first time that I ever really experienced it very intimately in a house setting. The first time it happened was the first time we went through the house and this young woman came out of a corner and cut us (my girlfriend actually went in before me our first time through.) This young woman said “sorry and she had gotten cut off from her group” and was wearing a Universal Orlando hoodie so we said it was no problem and that she could go in front of us. As soon as we rounded a corner a purger grabbed hold of this girl with a knife and dragged her screaming into a closet and slammed the door. My girlfriend screamed and had reached out for a second and I was just dumbfounded at what had just happened. We looked at each other and it had taken a full moment to realize that it was a part of the show. It happened again when were outside waiting in line to do the house a second time, only this time to the people in front of us. Another lady with a Universal hoodie, without asking, just cut them and they were all like “hey, what the hell” and the male purger with the mic outside noticed and said “Oh, you think it’s okay to cut in line?” and that started a back and forth between them which eventually ended with him saying “I think it’s time to purge. What do you people think?” I looked around and the crowed was all kind of looking at one another or awkwardly smiling so… I yelled out “PURGE!” This actress spun around and looked at me in shock (whether she was simply acting or just not used to people saying anything I don’t know) but that’s all the purger needed to start his advance towards her and then they ended “off stage” and we heard a big bang. This kind of visceral interaction is exactly what I want to see more of from HHN and the haunt industry in general. We’re starting to see it more and more with houses but I was glad that Universal’s creative team added that in because it was such a huge thing to me and just made the experience that much better for me. Scares:3/5 Atmosphere: 3/5 Overall: 3/5 The Walking Dead: The Living and the Dead This was the worst house for me, as it was for many other people. It also consistently, during or visit, had the lowest wait time of any of the houses at the event at any one time. I think the longest I saw it get was around 35 minutes on Saturday, but in general I don’t remember seeing it going about 25 most of the time we were at the event. While the sets looked great and some of the gags were cool in the house (the slit throat at the beginning was probably the most wet I ever got in a blood gag in a house, and that poor horse (although awesome looking) was a low blow) in general there was just nothing. No energy from the actors and most of the other effects that were there just didn’t work… it just felt like it was thrown together because it “had to be there” (which depending on who you ask, that may be the case.) Scares: 0/5 Atmosphere: 2/5 Overall: 1/5 Evil’s Roots This was by far my favorite scarezone. Full of creepy atmosphere and amazing imagery it’s really what I wished HHN 23: Evil Takes Root was instead of full on Walking Dead fest (while I love the show it was just too much that year.) The actors in this zone were really spot on for the most part really playing into the darkness and fog. During the day it’s not as powerful or intense as it is as night progresses. It’s really a zone made by Halloween lovers for Halloween lovers. Scares: 3.5/5 Atmosphere: 5/5 Overall: 4/5 INSIDIOUS This house… I only got to do this house once during our visit, and it was on the last day, and it frustrates me to no end. It was a great house, and I mean absolutely great in every way. The problem was everyone else seemed to think so too as the wait times typically ranged between 45 min to an hour or more while we were there. On our last day we B-lined it to this house wanted were some of the first people to go through it that Sunday. The sets were amazing and intricate and there were a lot of really great memorable moments from the films present in this house. Now typically when there are “scenes” from the films being staged the scares (for me) generally lack in those moments in the past, but that was not the case here. Even though you were watching the scene played out the scares were perfectly positioned to get you at exactly the right moments. The timing is EVERYTHING in this house and every single actor was spot on from start to finish. Some hard work from the creative team and the actors was put into this house, and it pays off. Scares: 4/5 Atmosphere: 4/5 Overall: 4/5 ICONS- HHN This scarezone may not have been the scariest one but it had some really great atmosphere and some amazing vignettes by the main icons from Horror Nights past. My biggest gripe… where the hell is Bloody Mary!? Defiantly spend some time here if you can, just to watch the stage shows. I wasn’t able to catch them all but I’m sure eventually they’ll all pop up on YouTube. Also it’s great to see a bunch of lesser known characters and icons traveling around in the streets as well. Scares: 2.5-3/5 Atmosphere: 3-4/5 Overall: 3.5/5 Jack Presents 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem My absolutely favorite house at HHN25. It’s funny to me because really this is the kind of haunted house I’m used to- the kind where it’s mainly a bunch of random rooms thrown together that cover a wide range of fears and characters. From start to finish this house oozes atmosphere and character. Some really great moments and characters that I have never experienced before were all present in this house and it made me so happy as a Horror Nights fan. I loved how it not only covered the history of HHN but also, in part, the horror history of Universal- including monsters such as The Wolfman, Hunchback, and Frankenstein. This house reminded me a lot of Silver Screams which is one of my favorite houses from 2009. A lot of actors got me good in this house, but the one that consistently got be both times I went through was the first Ringmaster Jack, so kudos. This house, on top of some spot on acting and breathtaking sets had some really neat effects as well- my favorite one being the scrim used in the picture hallway. As you walk towards the picture of Jack, if you look to your right there will be a ghost which appears through the wall and seemingly floats by you. As you’re distracted of course there is a scare (which admittedly got me as well.) But that effect is just brilliant and absolutely amazing. That was one of those moments that will be engrained into my memory forever. Scares: 4.5/5 Atmosphere: 5/5 Overall: 4.5-5/5 The shows this year are amazing. Bill and Ted I don’t have much to say about other than it was funny as per usual, and The Carnage Returns was just plain fun. Defiantly hope that Universal decides to keep doing shows like Carnage because it’s incredibly obvious that the creative team loves putting them on. The number of inside jokes was well appreciated and the kills were brilliant. Wish that there was more of a “big finish” like there was in the original Carnival of Carnage show, but beggars can’t be choosers and overall the show was really entertaining. I loved this event overall. I felt like there was a real return to some great creativity as well as a ton of callbacks to various things that has made this event so great for the past 25 years. Universal’s creative team really went all in with this year and it shows. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to another 25 years of this horrific event.

It's been going on two weeks since I came home from the event. I still really liked this house but it it was missing a few things: 1) A better ending. What we saw was extremely weak. 2) More grand sets with the continued vibe of the first few rooms. 3) I thought the facade needed to be larger.

I wanted to just put this out there.... Although they aren't listed anywhere, there are two/three groups (Clowns, Inmates & Traditionals) of chainsaws in the park. I realize that most people don't have a reason to walk by Transformers to see the Inmates or Traditionals, but I think they are worth a walk by just to experience the interaction. I have heard some amazing one-liners and crazy tactics from the female prisoners as well as with the Traditionals. In the course of the night you should make your way by Transformers as well as Animal Actors to visit these "non-zones".

Why can't Ops at least wear hooded cloaks like HHNH? Do something to at least try to keep the general ambiance of the house. Surely there's a way to combine safety along with preserving the house integrity. And separately, as a Disney AP holder, I got that email about the price hike and shit a brick. Disney has never been a local friendly park. They do the absolute bare minimum for locals, and that's not much anyway. Unfortunately Disney is its own separate economy and can do this type of stuff simply because they can, and get away with it.

A-Fricking-Men! They ruin the houses. It's already bad that you are practically dry humping the person in front of you with how close they are packing people in, but then they have to go on and on endlessly. Oh and the ones that think they are part of the experience or need to be your narrator need to be fired. I was in M&M and this chick while I'm gawking at the beautiful facade starts saying: "Look guys I want you to survive this house so here are some things you need to do in order.. blah blah blah" I'm sorry... Shut the hell up! I didn't pay these ridiculous prices to hear some stupid OP, who thinks they are God's gift to the house, ruin it for me. Great review. I agree with a lot of your sentiment. It was a "meh" year... But, for the price hikes and crowds I had to put up with, I didn't pay for that. It would have been nice if I could have had another day to form an opinion but the event is so inconsistent in experience there is no guarantee a second day would have made anything better. I know I am and have harped on the price here but it has gotten out of hand... I had AP discount and $60.00 in gift cards and I still paid over $60.00 for two people. No express, no frill, no UMTH... and it isn't just Universal either. Disney's new AP restructure is just obscene... and there is no way in hell I'm paying for MNSS at $80.00 a pop to stand in candy lines (Even if my daughter would love it). Then you have parking raising to 20.00 yesterday... PARKING... when you are already paying 100 bucks or more just to go to their stupid parks. I know they are building and bettering their parks... but since when is it my job to flip the bill for it? If anything they should be charging the international tourist for it as they clearly have no qualms with paying it. Then give bigger discounts for FL residents and AP holders who are their loyal patrons. But that would mean either park caring about their AP members and they clearly don't. I guess they both forget how the AP's kept them a float after 911 when tourism took a huge hit. Anyway, rant over. It's good to see someone who doesn't think everything Universal craps out is gold. I love the work A&D does. Just wish I could see it through all the red tape.

Here are some photos my girlfriend took. It was her first time playing around with night time photography, and I think they came out pretty well for her first time!

This is my first time uploading pics, i hope you all enjoy what I keep posting

Compared to the other pictures, these suck...but what the hell, sharing them anyway. There are a few decent ones in there OK, still trying to figure this Flickr linking thing out... https://www.flickr.com/photos/132902777@N08/albums/72157659142598069

Mark, I need a copy of that picture of the scarecrows in the pumpkin patch on the hill. Do you sell your work?

HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr HHN 25 by Mark Walter, on Flickr

All pictures taken by myself. Fun fact, right as I took this pic one of the vampires crept up behind me and hissed and I nearly toppled over. Man, my girlfriend had a good laugh.

You'll love it, my friend. But bring your walking shoes. Universal Orlando is much larger than Universal Hollywood. I haven't been to HHN out there but I've been to the park itself.

Also, I was sent a survey yesterday from universal to give opinions of the event the opening weekend. There were two or three questions asking about bringing back The Walking Dead in 2016. I made sure to mention in every comment section that The Walking Dead is DONE. Anyone else get this survey?

We are due to arrive October 13th from the Uk. My mate is scared of clowns. He is screwed...