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Michele

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Everything posted by Michele

  1. Yea! More vodka. Seriously, I didn't think they were going to, and I'm really happy.
  2. Michele

    Boobies are good

    Nice title! Good trip report. I have to agree about a somewhat off year. I hope they are building up to greatness for 2010, as well!
  3. Nice set up! I'm jealous. You even got two lenses! If you need a bag, I know Target has a good selection.
  4. On Saturday night, I was at CityWalk with a friend of mine from England. One of the security guards that she knows mentioned to her that she might want to check at Universal a couple of hours after HHN starts on peak nights to see if they are letting FFP people in that night. Apparently, the reason that Universal did not open up Friday night for the FFP is because their projected attendance was very high. I guess the projected numbers didn't turn out like expected so Universal opened the event up to FFP holders after a couple of hours.
  5. Last night was really, really crowded for the first Sunday of the event. Jenn, Mark, and I did the UTH tour during the day and then Stay and Scream. We did Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, and SAW for the first four houses. By the time we got over to the Spawning, it was like 45 minutes, I think. Chucky was also 45 minutes, so we just did Silver Screams (5 minutes). We were able to do Wolfman and SAW again, but the lines were too long so we just gave up after that. The rest of the night consisted of vodka and the bathroom. Heh. SAW is definitely my favorite house at this point with the Wolfman right behind. I was glad to finally see C_D's cast last night in Frankenstien and had a good trip through! Wolfman - 5 Silver Screams - 4 Frankenstein - 4 Dracula - 3 SAW - 3 Cleaver - 2 The Spawning - 2 Chucky - 2 Bill & Ted - 2 Rocky Horror - 4
  6. Hehe. I thought first set was 5:30, which is why my timing was off. I think. Maybe. Yeah, I'll go with that. C_D, I definitely have to see your cast! It's always one of the highlights of my year.
  7. This is a repost from my facebook notes if it reads funny. Last night was the third official night of Halloween Horror Nights, and my fourth time attending. I had the honor of going to Employee Preview in addition to all of the nights so far. This year, things are a bit off to me because I have to work 8:30a to 5:30p during the week and haven't worked for the company long enough to take time off to be able to get to the event early. I do have some comp time that I'll take one of these Thursdays when my coworker returns from his battle with the Swine Flu. Last night, it wasn't nearly as crowded, so it only took me 10 or 15 minutes to park and get in the park. On opening night, it had been more like a 30 or 40 minute process. Lines last night were quite manageable as well. When I got through the gates, everyone I know either wasn't there yet or was at the back of the park, so I just hung out by myself for the first bit. I went through Frankenstein alone trying to see C_D, who has been my favorite scareactor since 2005. His house has always been my favorite house. Unfortunately, I either didn't see his cast or he didn't notice me because I didn't get an extra attention and had another almost-scare-less run through of the house. I do really like the costumes, though. I hung out in my three favorite scarezones for the next little bit - Apocalypse, Hacktion, and Horrorwood. I don't know why so many people are rating Apocalypse so poorly. I think it is easily, hands down the best scarezone in the history of scarezones. Every time I go through there, I have three or four half-naked hot guys surrounding me trying to scare me. I get way more attention and scares in this area than I ever have before. Maybe they have a sixth sense about my nipple obsession, I don't know, but I love Apocalypse. (: Hackation is my next favorite scarezone. I finally got to see the guys in action last night, and WOW! Cast A rocked it. I saw one of the actors who was being attacked fall down on the ground, drag himself along over and over again. I know it had to be painful, but he did it all night long. I usually get one scare each time through, but I don't get the attention I do in Apocalypse. I went to Horrorwood to see my good friend, Bob. If one person could make a scarezone, he would! He gets around like nothing I've ever seen before. I was trying to get a picture with him last night, and I couldn't keep up. It took me five minutes to track him down. Unfortunately, he's the only person that's scared me in this area, but I'm hoping that changes. I've only had a couple of scares in Cirque and War, so I don't have high opinions of those yet. And Containment I'm just going to write off. My top two favorite houses right now are Wolfman and SAW. I've been through Wolfman three times now, and it has delivered, especially last night. I've only been through SAW once, and I'm hoping that it stays as intense. The rest of the houses have yet to deliver many scares. I'm hoping that changes as the month progresses. The creative and A&D team did an excellent job of building a storyline and set pieces this year. I'm really impressed with the way most things look, all of the houses except The Spawning, and all of the scarezones except Containment. We just need the actors to amp up the scares a bit, and we'll have one of the best years ever. Silver Screams - 3 Frankenstein - 3 Wolfman - 3 Dracula - 2 Cleaver - 2 The Spawning - 2 Chucky - 2 SAW - 1 Bill & Ted - 2 Rocky Horror - 4
  8. I hate that spinning tunnel! Drunk or sober, it makes me feel like I'm going to throw up, so I always close my eyes when I go through it. Too bad the lines are recorded. The one thing I really like about the Chucky house is the use of smells. Agreed on the lack of scares. I'm normally very easy to scare, and I have gotten some scares, but only two good ones so far. It'll get better!
  9. Now that opening weekend has past, I figured I take the time to write about my initial reaction to the houses, zones, etc. I went to Employee Preview as well as both nights of opening weekend, but I still don't really feel like I have gotten a vibe about this year. Employee Preview is always short, and my group opted to see shows instead of focusing on the houses. Friday night of opening weekend, I had to work till 5:30 and trying to park and get in the event around 6:30 is basically a nightmare, and not the good kind. Saturday, our night gotten eaten up by the rain, so we didn't have a lot of time then either. I've only been through the soundstage houses once each. I don't really feel like I can fairly rank them yet. It was too dark to see anything in Dracula and Frankenstein. I went in during daylight hours and it takes about the whole house to get your eyes adjusted. I can't remember anything about Wolfman other than I dropped my blinkie cup on the ground during the house. }: I feel like I've been through the other houses enough to have an idea of where they sit. Leave It to Cleaver started out an early favorite but hasn't been as stellar since Preview. It's the oddball house, which normally appeals to me. If they can play up that factor and amp up the scares, I'll be a raving fan again. Chucky isn't one of my favorites, but it's not horrible either. I got some decent scares in here, but it's not much to look at. Better than the "fun houses" and Cold Blind Terrors of the past, though. I hope the actors get creative and come up some good Chucky lines. The Spawning is my least favorite house right now. I couldn't really see much of anything other than strobes, and there weren't any scares. Silver Screams has potential. I like the transitions from movie-to-movie. If they could amp up the scares, they could be a top house. Right now, SAW is probably my favorite house. The dark-horse, JAWS queue, throw away house is coming out swinging. They got the sets, the lighting in right even during the day, and they have the intensity. I don't really have a good feel for the scarezones yet, either. A lot of them look pretty but don't do much at this point. Containment needs to go away, though. It feels cheap in a Cedar-Fair kind of way. Apocalypse is my early favorite, although that might have a lot to do with the fact that it's a scarezone with nipples. I like the Rocky Horror Picture Show this year. I don't love it. I may love it before it's over, but right now,the cast last year was more impressive. I'm not overly impressed with Bill and Ted this year. I haven't been since 2006, though. I miss the target audience since I don't watch tv, and I rarely see the movies they feature. It can't be funny if you don't get the jokes. As always, everything is subject to change...
  10. The two male ushers are both hot, IMO. Riff Raff can't sing as well as the guy that's done it the past two years, but he's not bad either. Frank, Magenta, and Brad are the same as last year. I had the biggest crush on Rocky last year, and I'm heartbroken that he's not coming back. At this rate, I might be on a two year program....
  11. Two more I forgot - The most important one: The facade for The Spawning
  12. Sorry, Chip, I got nothing for the manual focus. I only use that during the day because I have the problem with not being able to tell if something is comletely in focus, and I get a lot of just barely out of focus shots. Good luck! You have some good shots there! I didn't really take any time out for pictures last night. I only got one of the atmosphere, and the rest are from Rocky Horror! (: At the beginning of Bill & Ted, the preshow announcement says no flash photograhy or videotaping. Since it says "no FLASH photography," I figured I would be fine if I turned the flash off. Nope. Some angry attendent threatened to kick me out of the show if I didn't put my camera away. I was not happy about that. They need to change their preshow to say NO PHOTOGRAPHY. Anyway, here's what I did take.
  13. Agreed! Those are really great pics! (:
  14. I voted no. It's ultimately the decision of the site owner, of course, but if I owned the site, I would not allow it since the pictures are obtained illegally. I wish Universal would take better measures to protect their stuff. Knowing our society, some idiot will sneak in a house under construction, get hurt, and sue for injuries. Plus, I have absolutely no interest in seeing construction, blueprint, prop pictures ahead of time. Last year, someone sent me a bunch of stuff, and it seriously took away from opening weekend. I don't like spoiler information.
  15. I first started going to HHN in 2002, back when the event made its debut at IoA. I think that IoA made a perfect environment for the event because the small area and limited walkways made it feel as though the only safe zones were restrooms and Seuss. Obviously, it's a much smaller area to cover when compared to the Studios, so fewer scareactors have a great impact. I wasn't a fan of the split park format in 2004 because a lot of the walkways were empty and the event loss its immersive feel, which had been part of its original appeal. I think I appreciated 2005, the effect and detail that went into creating a complete experience, after being so disappointed in 2004. I was excited for a return to a Studios because I always heard from "old-timers" that the Studios was a better place for scarezones - more and better places to hide. 2006 was the second biggest disappointment in my time going to HHN (behind 2004) because I really didn't feel as though I was someplace else; I merely felt like I was walking around the Studios at night. There was so much empty and unthemed space. Same for 2007. I think the event started to get back on track last year. There were finally a proper number of scarezones to make the event feel like I think it should. Moving forward, I think they'll need to add more actors and more zones to accommodate more guests. I hope that Universal doesn't go in the direction of providing photo-op and guest interaction scarezones and keeps things more in the traditional scary sense. I was not a big fan of Asylum in Wonderland and Fractured Tales last year. I don't know if I would have eventually gotten tired of IoA. Probably. And in 2006, I thought that perhaps HHN's popularity had ruined its appeal to a certain degree. But after last year, I think Universal can find a good way to deal with the growing crowds.
  16. I use Priceline all the time. They have great deals on rental cars. Every time I have used Priceline to travel to Orlando (5 times at least), my car was rented through National or Alamo. They are owned by the same company and are located right next to each other in the airport terminal. Their rental process is quick and painless. Even though they won't tell you the name ahead of time, I'd bet that's who you'll get. Using Priceline does have a couple of negatives. They will not let you change or cancel your reservation for any reason. They are very, very strict about this and won't even let you add days to your hotel or rental car. And, if you use them for plane tickets, most airlines will NOT give you miles on a ticket booked through Priceline.
  17. I'm the only person who voted for the parade! I love the houses, but since we go so much, it's nice to have something that you can sit and watch with a nice vodka drink when the event gets more crowded. Plus, I would LOVE to ride on one of the floats, and I LOVED the parade.
  18. I like pictures of the scareactors in action, and I was upset in 2007 when people were told not to take pictures in the scarezones at all. I'm talking about taking pictures with the actor posing with guests. Like this one of me and an actor from the passholder event last year - I am not completely against taking pictures with actors, obviously. I just felt like on some of the busier nights last year, some of the scarezones had limited scares because the actors were all busy taking pictures with guests. If I have to pick, I pick scares over photo-ops, if that makes sense.
  19. I voted no. I would prefer that Universal invest their resources in actors that are hired to scare not to pose. Prior to last year, I would see actors take pictures with guests that they knew from time to time, and I think that's to be expected and fine. However, when I see a scareactor spend the majority of his/her time taking pictures, and there is a line like at a Disney character meet spot, I think a line has been crossed. I think last year crossed that line with AiW especially and Fractured Tales to a lesser degree.
  20. LOL. Your dad is so mean! (; 2002 was my first year. I went with a boyfriend, and I was going to leave because I was so scared. He convinced me to ride the Hulk before we left. I got brave enough to stay, and I'm glad I did. I still get scared, but I think I've toughened up a bit from going so much. I went once in 2002 and 2003, five times in 2004, 15+ time in 2005, 2006, and 2008, and three times in 2007.
  21. Nice! Are you getting the camera before HHN? I would recommend the 35 mm 1.8. It's easier to get closer than further away! My camera fund is completely neglected. I might have a new camera....in 40 years. Ha.
  22. Wow, "classic" find. LOL. Could they be having a Classic theme just at Hollywood this year to promote the new show? Probably not, but I know the Creatures Musical is opening soon...
  23. Oh good point! I forgot about the new stage. I haven't been to the park since it's been put up. That's my blonde moment for the day.
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