ThreeCircles

I'm amazed that people actually continued to think this event was going to happen. Perhaps it was unrealistic hopeful thinking? We have witnessed situations in the world that have never been seen in most of our lifetimes, if ever, before. The Walt Disney Company with all of their parks closed worldwide for months at a time. Entire seasons of sports being cancelled. Mega-cities literally devoid of anyone on the streets and in public week after week after week. Tens of thousands dead each month and hundreds of thousands infected. Economies in shambles. And some thought a company was going to cram pack a Halloween event with night after night of crowds?

From CNN: A second round of Covid-19 cases is "inevitable" come fall, the nation's top infectious disease doctor said, as people increasingly try to resume regular life and more states ease or lift their stay-at-home orders. "I'm almost certain it will come back, because the virus is so transmissible and it's globally spread," said Dr. Anthony Fauci during an Economic Club of Washington webinar earlier this week. Americans could be in for "a bad fall and a bad winter" if the country is unprepared, said Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Does anyone know if they opened tonight to FFP?

The answer to this question is, of course, a very personal one but you're probably going to get a pretty biased response yield coming to a HHN focused forum. This will be the first year since 2005 that I will not be attending. This is due to a multitude of reasons, too many to list here, but the primary ones are cost, over-capacity crowds, and redundancy. The event is obnoxiously priced and that is compounded by the fact that if you actual want to experience all the houses at an enjoyable pace you have no option but to buy an Express Pass (or Fast Pass, as virtually everyone calls them). The event is absolutely over-sold to the point that it's miserable. In past years I've generally went the first opening weekend and then on the subsequent Sundays for the run, so my experience is based on that. I'm frightened to imagine what Friday and Saturday nights look like. When you have half of your attractions with wait times of 120-180 minutes, you're over selling the event. That's greed at it's worst but even more so it ruins the atmosphere and enjoyment. More times than not, scare zones are packed with people and everything is list until that one, lone scare-employee lunges out at you and shakes some pennies in their can. The houses also move in the ever-present conga line so don't expect individual scares. The event has also become way too redundant from year to year, likely as a way of cutting costs and increasing margins. The Walking Dead was around how many years? Chainsaws? Again? Really? It's not scary but rather comical. This, honestly, would be much less of an issue, for me, if the costs were more realistic. But, they're not. People often compare HHN to HOS which in some ways is fair and in others not so much. HOS is much more cost friendly with their most expensive ticket being around $110 for admission during *every* night of the event. Now, you can also buy front of the lines passes which would indeed add cost. HOS also is a much more Halloween festive atmosphere. The entire park is done up and is much less crowded. They're houses, especially the ones of the last few years are just as good in all aspects as anything HHN throws up. And, considering they likely work with a fraction of the budget, they're that much more impressive for what they accomplish. The big draw back is that HOS houses do have runs of three years with some staying even longer. Overall, I'm going with HOS this year (skipped it last year) and skipping HHN. And maybe try Scream-A-Geddon too.

Huge fan of the zombie genre from when I was a kid and I enjoy the show. The house is nothing more than a poor rehash of sets from the prior years. A means to save some dollars, I'd guess.

Don't bother. The app doesn't have wait times for the houses. Welcome to the digital age, Universal.

Cold. Blind. Terror. Simply the best house ever.

Anyone who is actually scared at an event like HHN probably shouldn't be attending. I'm not talking about a startle or jump reflex but rather being actually scared. Of course those chain-less chainsaws and pennies in a tin can being vigorously shaken, well, they are indeed pretty terrifying. Not so much as those amazing movie projections in Jason Vs. Freddy or those zombies in the hot tubs, but, none the less. Seriously? It's fucking fake and if you're truly scared or terrified then you must have a hard time making it through life. I think a large part of the problem lies with the company who's bottom line is dollars. The event is flat out over sold and the alcohol is a bit excessive. And, trust me, I enjoy a drink or two at HHN, but do we really need alcohol carts *in* every line?

That's pretty much my take on the entire event this year. So much so, in fact, that this may well be my last HHN. Not sure who the forum member was, JWD, _mz, someone well known here, who opted to skip this year, well, smart move. So many dissapointments and just in your face, obnoxious details but here are some that really stand out: Loud does not equal scary. Unless you're an infant. Universal seems to think that just blaring loud sounds and music mixed together somehow is scary. Um, it isn't and certainly shows lack of creativity. That goes for the "25" images projected onto buildings. Really? Talk about a lack of theme. Here's a news flash too: No one fucking cares. 13, 21, 24 or 25, just stick to a theme. Even obnoxious Jack images would have been better. Thanks for bringing back, and creating new, AMAZING effects for TWD. That water scene, you know, a garden hose emptying into some type of plastic bucket, wow! Mind blown! And the shit-tastic zombie group from last year? Thank you! Purge? Yeah, spray painted hallways and strobe lights. AWIL is, granted, a great house but, let's be real, it's no different than last year. Certainly not better. In fact, I think it lost some detail. RUN? WTF. Just, WTF. I could go on, but, why? The fanboi "everything is amazing and I'll pay any amount and stand in any wait times for it" mentality is what's likely most detrimental to the event. I dare say, HHN may well have passed it's prime.

Oh, so awesome! Now they can bring back some of those stunningly realistic and phenomenal special effects like the running zombie hoard with flashing strobe light! Those masterminds!

I, too, had never bothered to see the Insidious films. After having watched the first two I realize I missed nothing by not watching them. The first was mediocre at best. The second, garbage. Won't bother with the third. Our journey into the further may well prove to be the furthest thing from scary...

Like they really have to do anything. Every year is always "The biggest! The Scariest! The most intense! The most amazing year at Halloween Horror Nights that you'll ever, ever, ever experience!" And the really scary things is: Many people actually buy it.

Um, I didn't. Care to share where I did?

Supposedly you can go to HalloweenHorrorNights.com/wait-times from a mobile device and see official wait times. Never worked once tonight. Just get a message "Wait times are currently unavailable. Please see an in-park display." Just the usual crap-tastic show from Universal.

I think it had to do with the rain and not wanting to get the scanners wet. I did see them checking tickets closely however and for those using just a single night express they were marking houses on them. Those with Frequent Fear passes were not being marked on for obvious reasons.

Walking through a house and making a statement to a worker is not "provoking" anyone. And if a worker feels they're being provoked by that they need to find a new job. Again, I certainly don't mean that it's OK to harass anyone or to disrupt the flow and function of the house, but, saying "nice makeup" to a Giggles & Gore worker to "get a reaction or interaction" isn't provocation by any stretch of the imagination.

Don't be obnoxious. Do you even know what he meant by "provoking"? Sure, if he meant screaming in someone's face or physical interaction, that, of course is uncalled for, but, I doubt he meant that. My guess is he meant making a comment to one of the workers.

So, online wait times this year?

I wouldn't be too excited over the series. I made it through the first five episodes watching it online. It's pretty weak.

I'd very much doubt you're going to see "Titty Twister" up in neon in an Orlando family theme park.

Maybe, we'll be lucky enough to get a return of those damn-awesome lady luck masks for the DTD house.

Perhaps California has had that experience but we've had many bad mazes in Florida. And bad scare zones too.

People stay up for these announcements? That's funny.

Death Row Vengeance at HOS focused on, well, execution. Lethal injection, hanging, electric chair, firing range, gas chamber, and more, all done. Well done, too.

Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it. They have the best prices on craft beer drafts anywhere. DFH 120 at $4.75? Lots of CCB for $4.50. And, best of all, you can pick any of their single bottles from the cooler and enjoy them at the bar for the same price. A bottle that would run you $8.50 at WOB will cost you $4.50 at Whole Foods. Not to mention all the great food choices right there and the service is top notch. Try it. You'll never look back. Cheers!