First things first; I LOVE HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO.
There will never, ever be anything like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando. There are older events, sister events, competition and local haunts to love and respect, but HHN has more magic than any other place you will find. There is a reason all other events from all over the world are held up to its standards. Through economic woes, management upheaval, even the threat of violent weather and the horror of true mindless violence, it has upheld its integrity and its creativity. There is practical knowledge in discovering what frightens us and release in the act for both the scarer and the scaree (so to speak). It's a fantastical catharsis for its visitors, much needed in an increasingly nightmarish reality. It's what Halloween was created for; a shared experience to celebrate the harvest, release the tension of everyday life and steel the soul and mind against the dark of the coming season.
Now, if you think that I am too biased to give a straight up review you've been officially warned. Please don't try to change my mind. You won't.
I wanted to wait until my 3rd visit to make a review, as my thoughts wouldn't align and I became a blithering idiot when I tried to tell people about this year's event. Said visit was last night, 10/17. I went in with the crowd again, through the big gates right in the middle, just like old times! We weren't blessed with scareactors to entertain us as we waited, but it was so neat to be the first one through that gate one more time that I didn't mind so much. The CDT came out as we entered and we were treated to their introductory 'melee scare'. We went to the right, heading for Hallow'd Past and passing through the sublimely foggy and totally empty 20 Years of Fear. This zone is a wonder, even when no scares are there. We spent a few minutes running from prop to prop and taking the silliest photos ever. For a moment, we considered just staying there to see the cast come out and get their first scares of the night, but we had a couple of one-time visitors this trip and needed to move on for their sake.
6:15 PM - Hallow'd Past did not disappoint; the choices of houses to recreate makes sense to me. There are things that are proven to scare a large cross-section of people; darkness, zombies, and clowns. This explains Jack's house and the Treak (or is it Foon? I can't ever tell) and Dead Exposure. The Scary Tales room has that freaky carnival atmosphere and it's gory and disturbing and still works like a charm. The Body Collectors have become these crazy, creepy sex symbols...chicks dig them! (Just ask around!) I think Frightanic was put there for us addicts and diehards and for a little touch of class. The old (and beloved) characters, the props that are the world's greatest distractions, and the manic pace of the 'revisit' rooms make this a house for the ages. That we may not be seeing some of these items for a while, if at all, in the future makes it especially bittersweet.
6:35 PM - Catacombs is a fantastic concept and it worked for me, but I know what the house was based around and why it's so scary. The average HHN-goer probably doesn't, so the idea doesn't chill them to the bone. Cool, let them go to Bill and Ted and Brushwood and give me more room and more time. It's a work-in-progress excavation, per the official concept, not a never-opened Cavern of Doom. The educational material was perfectly appropriate, as was the enterance (I never thought of myself as worldly, but am I the only person that's ever been to an excavation site?). Maybe, as has been suggested (and not by me), Universal was reaching a little too high intellectually, but you can only make discoveries by exploring something new. The allegory here is almost existential. Anyway, I saw several things in this house that I'd missed that first weekend; the children's skeletons moving their little heads, the body twitching and coughing above your very narrow walkway, the echoing coughs and gagging noises over the loudspeakers...this has become one of my new favorites. It's dark, it's tight, and it's loud. It's scary.
7:00 PM - The supersoldier thing has been done, of course, but that doesn't stop the actors from making Havoc a very 'intimate' experience. You're going to get screamed at, you'll have things swinging at you and pointing at you and you might even get touched (on accident, of course!). You'll feel them yell at you and the vibrations sort of dance over your 'flight or fight' response which provokes, in most cases, 'flight'. It's another dark and loud haunt; it's very disorienting and that's why it works. This is a strong, actor driven house. Who cares if it's been done before? Let the scareactors do their job, they really, really know what they're doing!
7:45 PM - The Orfanage is another house that I caught things I'd missed. I finally felt and saw the falling ash. I saw the floating little girl and was momentarily spellbound by her, offering the live person in that room the best scare they'd had yet that night. I ran into a wall, tripped over something, and got tangled up in what ever was hanging from the ceiling! (It was awesome!) I finally saw the fire, all of the actors in their masks, and dear darling Cindy. I offered to adopt her and she screamed. I have that affect on my kids, too, so I took that as a yes. (I would like to introduce Cindy to Rowan, my daughter. I think they would get along, famously. If you knew Rowan, you'd know just how scary that thought is!)
It was time for a break, but all of my compatriots were wandering off to ride The Mummy and The Simpsons. I chose to wander the scarezones, starting with Saws N Steam. Chainsaw Men, you are absolute ROCK STARS. I saw one go after a girl in a wheelchair and he scared her so bad that she got up and ran for the sidewalk. He was laughing the whole time. "You're a fake!!!" Priceless. I wish I'd had my video camera. I think I sat there for about 45 minutes, occasionally attempting a picture with my phone. I got to see Wolf and Giant's cast come out, and it's pretty darned cool when all of the chainsaws are revving at once. I moved over to Fear Revealed and enjoyed a moment or two of Jack, Elsa, Paulo, and Jullian. (No Albert?) The 20 Years of Fear was busy and active, the cheerleader led me in a little cheer "Give me a 'D'! Give me an 'I'! Give me an 'E'! What's that spell? DIE!!!!" Fun. Escueleto Muertas is just lovely; it's spooky and so quiet, a stark contrast with most of the other park areas. I find the calaveras quite dashing...is that weird? The witches had no Puritans to burn, which meant that they had more time to pay attention to the guests. I made my way back up to Saws N Steam and rejoined my motley crew to guide them through the zones I'd just left.
10:20 PM - Before we left we waited in line for Wyandot. I knew for sure that at least one member of the party would be in love with it so I dragged the gang to the line and we just stuck it out. The movie was a nice distraction for the time we were there. I got the right timing for this house, at last! So cool. I love the floor ghost, the glowing masks (they do grow on you...and they're pretty darned creepy) THE CHAIR (almost fell down again!), and even though I still don't get the end, the rest of the house was so great that I really didn't care. There seemed to be twice as many actors as there were opening weekend. My friend confirmed my thought that this would be her favorite house this year, and that she would come back just for that house, if she could.
(to be continued)
Mae
I did Zombiegeddon, Hades, and Psychoscarepy that first weekend, but I don't want to review those until I can make it back down there. I'm aiming for the 21st and the 24th and will offer reviews for those houses then.
