Bowie

Unfortunately, that's the way it works. If you're a guy, you're not going to get as many scares as the girls... I tend to have a calm personality. It is very difficult to scare me. The best scares for me come from when I'm looking at what I think is a prop and then it moves! A monster jumping out and yelling at me usually doesn't get much of a reaction at all unless they can get really close before I notice them. My main problem is that it is hard to get really scared when you're in a conga line and you know the scareactors can't touch you.

I would think that I would be better off starting at the front of the park and going clockwise. Since that's where the majority of people head from the main gate, I should be able to stay ahead of the crowds at least for the first 3 houses or so. If you start with Walking Dead and Llorna, the lines will already be built up by the time you get back to the front of the park. Since I'm not going until next weekend, I guess I'll wait and see what I hear about crowd patterns and wait times from the people who are going this weekend. I know some houses will open early for SaS and others will sometimes not open until after 6:00. Does anyone know the opening times of the houses?

I just read the touringplans.com blog post giving tips on HHN. They mention a holding area for stay and scream in the KidZone area. I've always stayed in the New York area. Are there any advantages to being in KidZone rather than New York?

I can't imagine there would be enough room for a van to drive around given how crowded the park gets during HHN.

I have never seen TWD. Not even part of an episode. That being said, I still think TWD house might be good. Sure, I'm not going to recognise props and locations from the show, but if the house is done well, I should still enjoy the sets and scares. There has been a lot of discussion about whether there are too many IP houses. From my point of view, it shouldn't make any difference. Whether the idea comes from a movie, video game, urban legend, or is an original idea, the end result should be a house with interesting environments and costumes, and well-designed scares. The main difference with an IP house is that the GP will recognise elements from the house and that can be used to improve the environment for people familiar with it, but if done right, shouldn't take away from the enjoyment by people unfamiliar with the IP. Of course, they can also advertise it and use it to draw more people... All in all, I'm looking forward to all of the houses this year. And watching Cabin in the Woods and Evil Dead, and re-watching American Werewolf in London only made me more excited to see how they integrate the movies into the houses.

I've always liked the less serious houses such as "Holidays of Horror". The scare with the mirror at the end of the house has always been one of my favorites. "Asylum in Wonderland" is my all-time favorite scare zone for much the same reason. It's scary, but at the same time very imaginative and fun.

I'll be doing the UMTH tour at 10:30 on 9/26.

I think it's more of a CYA than anything else. So that if someone is being truly obnoxious they can point to the "no swearing" rule as their grounds for ejecting them. Cursing as an exclamation when you get scared shouldn't be an issue. Cussing out the scareactor afterwards might be...

I tried this on the ticket website and it seems like the website will only sell the express pass along with an event ticket. You may be able to do this if you place the order via phone. You'll have to call and ask. Express Passes for daytime use are available in the park as long as they don't sell out. I'm not sure if this is true for HHN Express or not.

I always get the express pass and do the stay-and-scream. I didn't make it last year, but for the 2010 and 2011, I didn't have much problem getting all of the houses done on ether a Thursday or Friday night in September/early-October. You just have to hoof it to all of the houses as soon as possible to get through them before the lines start building. After that, I'll grab something to eat, see a show, and then use the express pass to see the houses again. I sometimes get through the less popular houses 3 or 4 times depending on my luck with the lines. The only thing you have to watch is the opening times for the houses. They don't open them all at the same time. The house at the front of the park (line entrance to the left of the bandshell area) is usually the first to open. You don't want to get stuck standing in a line for a house that's not open.

But keep in mind that that was an offer from a few years ago. They haven't done the direct access from IOA for the past year or two. I asked someone about it and was told that they stopped doing it because the direct path from IOA to US crossed some backstage utility roads and there were safety concerns. When they were doing it, the access was through a gate in Seuss Landing across from the Caro-Seuss-el and next to Circus McGurkus. If they are doing the cross-over, they should have a sandwich board sign advertising it in that area. Of course, if you have a park-to-park ticket, you can head over to US 30 minutes to an hour or so before closing time, catch a ride or two, and then head to the holding area.