clash
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Posts posted by clash
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11 hours ago, criticalanalysis said:
Full review will come in time but I'll summarize. I don't like the direction he took the event in. Sure, Corporate has their say, but their original content is honestly weak compared to how it used to be.
* Tomb of the Ancients would be considered an average house compared to years ago
* Ghost Town fell way short of what the original was and was in no way comparable to some stellar original houses in recent years
* Chance's house was outrageously bad
* Lair of the Banshees was awful
* Vamp 1955 was terrific and had seemingly had the lowest budget out of any zone
* Chance ruined her zone with her cheesy talk, the set pieces were static (and weren't kills like I thought they would be)
* Awful party music played throughout
* Express lines becoming awfully long, overly crowded event to the point where in certain sections staff are ushering you around
* Zero memorable music besides Vamp 1955
* Rehasing of New York zone as usual with terrible costumes
* Dead Man's Wharf was GREAT but was so congested and lacked scares
* Roaming hordes were a complete waste of money
* Lighting should be scarier throughout the park
* Extremely bad website
* Hollywood's IP centric event is getting way too much influence here
* In certain houses I totally disagree with their design choices (eg: The Exorcist, while a good house, felt too empty and wasn't "scary" enough, had useless black hallways)
* Holy god why are all the colors so monotone? Their promo shots of the houses look better! Keep it dark but add color, please.
* Chance is a terrible "icon" - she should've been absolutely eerie.
* No queue videos, again
* Weird facade choices (Halloween 2 poster, Chance's newspaper, AHS just going straight into the basement, TCM's outside felt bare)
* Annoying employees waving lights at you to keep moving god forbid you slowed down in a house for a second
* Outrageous crowds
* No notable increase in event quality for the increased prices
* No front gate facade
* Store was 10x worse than last year
* Why are they wasting money on the dumb dance show?
* The houses actually don't feel detailed enough. Motel Hell at Howl-o-Scream looked incredible this year. Check out Trick of Treat at Knotts Scary Farm. Let alone compared to other local haunts.
* Effects they tried to accomplish looked half assed.
* Krampus was not very well done compared to what it should've looked like
* Little use of technology
* Continuing with TWD and now it'll be AHS nonsense.
* It didn't feel "adult" like it used to
* Completely devoid of a Halloween feel
Much more to come. There is a girl they hired who I believe they put in charge of the scare zones who has consistently dropped the ball the last few years. She has to go.
Like I've always said, an ideal event is:
* HHN 15's overarching story
* HHN 14's inspiration/atmosphere
* HHN 12's icon
* HHN 18's creativity
* HHN 26's budget
I am glad they had a spine and kept firearms in the event, though.
I never understand why the hordes get such hate (not just here but everywhere) they are there to fill the dead space, that's it. they are there to make the Simpsons area not feel so empty and dead.....
how is it a "Waste of money" when they are making a dead area fun to walk around? on FB i saw a lot of hate for the hordes and people saying it was a waste, a waste of what? The cheerleaders are awesome and a lot of fun to watch. Their attitude is great and they are great at working the saw. it's fun to see them work. The Scarecrows are creepy and make the Transformers area better.
the other points I can see but the hate for the hordes is ridiculous. the Geishas might not be the best idea but I remember so many of you in here BEGGING Universal to create the Geisha scarezone. (When it was rumored they will have Geishas last year so many of you guys were SO happy about it...) they don't look as cool but they STILL are just filling in a dead area. i really dont get it5 hours ago, Vampyr said:Who else is going to brave the "heavy" rain and "strong" winds on Thursday night at HHN? Obviously none of the scarezones will be in place, but I don't see any reason for them to close any haunted houses besides a possible power outage or leak. Anyone been to HHN in the past during a hurricane?
if the Tents flooded with just a little bit of rain from Saturday, I cannot imagine what a full out hurricane will do to the houses. I wouldn't be surprised if they have to close at least 4 houses. (the soundstages flood previous years too)
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5 hours ago, matthhn said:
I agree with the OP and some others. The event has lost its appeal for me. I noticed this a few years ago and stopped going but decided to take a trip with my girlfriend on Sunday night. Mostly because of the Krampus house (I loved the movie).
To clash, who said it feels more like a "night club/dance party" - I think that's 100% accurate. The core atmosphere no longer feels like a horror event to me. It's hard to describe but it just feels like something was lost over the years.
Some perspective: I've been going since 1997 way back when I was a kid. Back then the event wasn't well known and they limited crowds to a small amount of people. Ever since then I went every single year up until 2013.
Back in the early years the event seemed special. I can't put my finger on it. It's as if the quality was on another level. It was also far more intense. You would actually get a feeling of impending doom walking into the park with Midnight Syndicate playing in the background. The entire park would be lit up in different lighting. The environment felt very creepy. The sound effects they would play while walking through the park would send a chill up your spine. Crowds were sparse so you could really take in the atmosphere and get a lot of interaction from the scare actors walking around. At times you felt really alone. It was very eerie.
The lines would be no longer than 45 minutes at the most (peak times). They would only let small groups through the houses at a time (no slow moving conga line effect). Often you had to navigate the houses on your own since no one was in front of you. I remember getting freaked out before some intense houses, hoping they wouldn't cut the line off in front of me as I didn't want to go through on my own, lol.
Back to Sunday night....
We get there early and the crowds are out of control. I'm not exaggerating. I expected it to be pretty crowded since it was a Sunday night but not like this. I'd describe my entire night more as a cattle simulator. I actually felt like livestock being herded around.
Walking in I hear pop & hip hop music blaring with Chance talking in the background. As we walk toward the back of the park I notice there's a lot of people taking selfies with the scare actors on the streets.
At one point through the Dead Mans Wharf scare zone it became a bottle neck and the crowd was at a stand still. Think of one giant mass of people not moving (I have no idea what was going on). People squished up against each other. I heard a few girls panicking because they were claustrophobic. We got stuck like this and couldn't move for 20 minutes. We couldn't even go back since the crowd piled up behind us, trapping us in the middle. People were starting to shove through other people and yelling was ensuing. This felt like a HUGE safety hazard.
We got about half of the houses in. I had no complaints about the houses, they were really well done and the actors did a great job. I especially liked Krampus.
Bill & Ted's was a huge disappointment. No surprise there. I checked the review thread for it and everyone seems to agree. It was horrid. People were even leaving early. Apparently in 2012 they got a new writer. It's become even worse since then. A complete incoherent mess. There is no longer any discernible plot. I think I only chuckled once or twice during the whole show.
After that we left.
I don't see myself coming back anytime soon. The feel is different, the crowds are different (I'm in my early 30s along with my girlfriend and we felt old there. I couldn't believe how young the crowd was. At one point I commented to my girlfriend that this feels like a "Grad Night" type event), the music is different. Maybe the event just isn't targeted for people like me.
What would I like to see different? I would like to see them going back to limiting crowds to a smaller amount of people. I'd love them to partition the crowds going through the houses. I'd love for Bill & Ted's to go back to its roots. I'd love them to bring back the creepy atmosphere instead of the dance party vibe.
However, it seems like corporate sees it as a money making machine and are milking it for all it's worth. Those changes would hit their bottom line.
As I mentioned, something happened in 2012 that really changed the event. Maybe new management? Trying to pinpoint it (using HHNCrypt) matches to around 2012 when they started to push the IP stuff.
I felt bad for my girlfriend because it was her first time going. She didn't enjoy it. I wish I could take her back to experience the past days of HHN.
Guess it's just different times for different people. Maybe I'm just getting old (and cranky) haha. Based off last night it felt like they are primarily targeting younger Millennials. And the crowd reflected that. Like the OP said, not bad, not good, I appreciate all the work that went into the event and the job done by the scare actors...but it just isn't for me anymore...time to branch out and try new things.
If I remember well, 2012 was when management decided to combine the event more with Hollywood instead of letting Orlando do their thing. (I think I remember someone mentioned that some new people came from over there to work in this event to unite them more.
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7 hours ago, HHNFreak2006 said:
The reason from what I know is that the old loop resembled too much of Jack's Loop from HHN 25 and they wanted to steer it off in a different direction this year for Chance! Which if you ask me, the new loop fits her personality as well as her event much better.
so the guest feedack had nothing to do with it?
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13 minutes ago, Cody said:
Okay, this was interesting. It's not a 100% VR experience, nor is it a traditional house or escape room. It's a somewhat unique experience that combines elements of everything.
The VR section is surprisingly short. You actually spend more time in the real world than in the alternate dimension, and you're limited in where you can go with the headset on by the size of the room. They do their best for immersion, though; the graphics aren't exactly photorealistic, but you wear headphones so you only hear what you're seeing and there are some physical effects that I won't openly spoil which help sell the environment. Also keep in mind that this is a very contact-friendly house; you'll be grabbed, dragged around, and generally have your personal space invaded regularly.
The few flaws I can immediately see:
1. The puzzles can be pretty difficult to solve in such a short time span. The first one with the safe at least lets you progress whether or not you complete it, but I found it virtually impossible to find any meaningful clues. The experience is only about 30 minutes long, so you only get 2 or 3 minutes to solve a puzzle. The final one was easier, but we were stymied in part by technical difficulties.
2. The house shares space with AHS and the noises of that one leak into the Repository. The headphones help with the VR section, but the rest of the house is still just as loud as any typical HHN house even during speaking sections. The actors with speaking parts even get microphones so they can be easily heard. The Repository could definitely use its own independent location away from other houses, where noise can be controlled.
3. The relatively short experience means that it's very rushed. Instructions are essentially yelled at you very quickly and the actors often have to repeat them several times to make sure you fully understand what's being thrown at you. There's very little time for story building, so the subtler stuff gets easily lost. And as I said earlier, the puzzles give you such a limited amount of time to solve them that you have little chance to stop and think. I'd honestly be surprised if anybody completed the safe puzzle at the beginning, since the room is so cluttered with false clues and papers that you simply can't figure out what has meaning.
Overall, I think the experience was worth the money but I'm hesitant to repeat without friends who are new to it. In such an abbreviated state, it doesn't feel like I'd get a ton out of a repeat play. That said, I did get the opportunity to speak with a creative team member at the end and he said that they're definitely planning on doing more interactive experiences like the Repository in the future. Hopefully this acts as a test bed for a bigger and better one.
can you do a spoiler review spoiling everything? (just because i will never go and want to know)
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On 9/22/2016 at 8:55 PM, SawsNSteamMan said:
Yeah they completely switched up some of the parkwide loop tonight. Odd.
On 9/22/2016 at 8:58 PM, ForeverEvil1 said:They must have got enough complaints about the more modern esque sound track.
I know that on FB I saw a bunch of posts of people saying how terrible the first music was. how a lot of people went to do the surveys to complain about all the rock and dubstep.
seems like it was more than enough that Universal would actually change the entire park music.
I personally am incredibly grateful they changed all the rock, it feels much better with the darker music in place now. I was not a big fan of the first music.
but, Whats going to happen to the list here? will it be all mixed or will it be separate from first weekend to the rest of the event? -
On 9/28/2016 at 10:48 AM, hunnylvr said:
I thought it was just me who thought B&T was stupid.. and I chalked it up to being much older than most of you. However, I actually didn't miss a single reference - it's just that I thought it was all stupid. I was also kind of annoyed that they chose to spend several minutes making fun of Hillary but probably less than a minute making fun of Trump. Totally didn't expect that since the man practically writes the jokes for them. So, yeah, that was annoying.
I have only seen the show once, but I'm sure I'll have to see twice more because of people we are bringing along who haven't seen it yet on two different weekends. Hopefully, it will improve. I did not see the other show yet , but I plan on making that a priority tomorrow night!
trump gets the biggest laughs and he is literally the villain of the show lol, i dont know what you mean. did you wish they didn't make fun of her? I actually loved that they made fun of both, I love that Hillary was made fun of, as someone that was pro bernie I loved that they both got their share of jokes. I think Trump was made fun of worse because he comes of as a weirdo while she doesnt. Like I said i don't care about either and im not voting at all but I dont think they made worse fun of her, she even got the cool actress to play her while he got some horrible weird creepy face on screen haha -
On 9/29/2016 at 6:54 AM, Tich0las said:
I doubt it. Universal showed some real backbone using guns in the event this year. These situations that pop up in Cali (i.e. Bill and Ted) don't normally affect Florida.
I always get a kick and get a laugh out of being directly shot at by a ghost in ghost town and by the girl in Halloween lol. I love that they didn't take that stuff out. The halloween one specially got me so good the first time, I didn't expect that girl to point it at me. (I cant believe ghost town has a cannon LOL)
On 9/29/2016 at 1:48 PM, Pandry said:I can understand certain peoples feelings towards various attractions, etc. I'd never want to minimize someone's stance and opinion. But if they have issue with what's being presented at these events, don't go. It's just that simple. This country has become so P.C. I didn't read that Knott's article. But most of the past Psychoscarepy and other mental institution houses are themed towards how they were way back in the old days - with some HHN creativity added! I pay a lot of money each year to come to this event and experience effed up she-yat!
its all the fault of the social justice warriors, they are ruining everything fun, they started with ruining games and now they are trying to ruin halloween and everything else that brings people some joy..... people always say how the country is becoming PC but it is just that group of SJW that look for things to get offended and complain. I hope Universal and HHN can stand up to them,
(well at least Orlando because SJW already took out Bill and Ted and the scareactors in the Purge) so in a way HHN has already been affected by them getting offended in Cali....-
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Thank the lord! lol
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on repeat visits this house sucks. Yeah sure the sets are great but it feels very repetitive (And that's saying something when the Exorcist doesn't feel as repetitive in contrast.) the same scares over and over and feels monotonous. The elves were cool at first but after a while they just become a little bit too much
It is amazing what they did set wise in this small location but the house itself is not that great anymore-
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On 9/25/2016 at 2:49 PM, Primusjim said:
Wow, I couldn't possibly disagree with everyone more. Academy of Villains is terrible and Bill and Ted is alot of fun. I just don't get a Halloween theme from a just a dance show with the most generic song choices possible. The shadow portion was kind of neat, but the rest was not. I especially hated the part where it was like, "Hey check out this guy! He can do backflips while holding a skateboard for some reason! Also, he can play a rudimentary hard rock drumbeat for twelve seconds! And he can do this..." No thanks.
The fun in the Bill and Ted show is seeing what the actors you've been watching for years get to do this year. It's kind of like American Horror Story in that respect. Yes, it is sometimes disappointing when they don't get a role that really showcases their talent. "Do you want to eat a snow cone?" brought the house down every show in 2014, this year that actress only gets to do Chewbacca Mom and Melissa McCarthy. But she still finds a way to make those short scenes with those characters as awesome as possible. This years standouts have been Rylo and Hillary so far
I think this years show does have about the same amount of plot as the last 15 years of the show I have seen. It's so strange people's tendency to think something used to be amazing but now it's just crap. There have been some real awful years of this show, but I don't think this is one of them.
The avatar joke has to keep happening at least until the land opens. That's the whole point. "If anyone still gives a shit!"
you are blinded by bill and ted nostalgia then lol
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20 hours ago, ashman said:
anyone know if their actually checking ID's for the florida resident discount. My parents live down here and i've been coming down the last couple years for HHN, saw this year they changed the rules for the discount, but was wondering if they were actually being militant about it. He already bought 2 tickets with the resident discount so at this point going and getting in is going to be a crap shoot really
I guess you could say you lost it or you are getting a replacement if they ask? if he has fl id and his address maybe they let u in
11 hours ago, Ragnar said:Have to say I really enjoyed this year! Was there 22-25 and had a great time with my gf. On our first night (Thursday) by 10:30 we saw both shows and Went through 5 houses. My only complaint was the people themselves, way too many drunk idiots running amuck, my gf is really petite and if I didn't have her right Infront of me people would just run into her because they weren't paying attention. As the days went on we left earlier and earlier because the crowds seemed to get hammered earlier everyday, heck at our Bill and Ted show some guy was escorted out by the cops because he was black out drunk and passing out. We happened to get the last AP HHN t-shirt off the mannequin, do they run out quickly every year? Already looking forward to next year!
i tend to leave before 10 now. it is not fun after that.
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very dull show. it almost feels like a high school play in terms of jokes. There was so much stuff to make fun of (That is not related to movies) I know they have to be careful on what they make fun of but.... seems like they left so much stuff out. Last year was better. There were dozens of things that happened this year that should have made it into the show.
Academy of villains is a much more enjoyable and more entertaining show. I wish Academy of Villains had chairs to sit because I could do that show 20 times (if I wasn't tired of standing) But Bill and Ted.... wow.-
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Hollywood did a better job with some of the variety in costumes. they have 2 or 3 Krampus actors as well.
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4 hours ago, Arsik_22 said:
Quickie review!
Lunatics Playground - Worst maze of the event. Definitely could tell they wanted to save money by reusing Alice 3D props.
TCM - The leatherface scare actors were HUGE. I thought I was legitimately going to die when he came charging at me during the metal door scene.
Halloween - More faithful to the second movie compared to Hollywood's event, but it was less intense and creative. Lots of repeating hallways/rooms. Michael scare actors were also very small. Hollywood is miles ahead on this one.
Exorcist - Orlando's version is SO MUCH better. Scared me a lot, and the transition rooms and effects looked much better than ours.
AHS - One really damn good scare with the freak under the wooden wagon before the Freakshow facade. Overall solid maze but Hollywoods was much better.
Tomb of the Ancients - WOW! Could've been really cheesy but ended up being in my top 3. Felt more claustrophobic than it was because of the crap hanging everywhere and the scared were firing on all cylinders everywhere.
Ghost Town - Air blast gun scare made me poop myself. Great sets, fun maze overall. Not super scary though.
Krampus - Assuming we went through during a cast change, but majority of the scared were from elves. Hollywood's facade, puppets, scares and set design was much better. Still will give this another shot tomorrow.
The Walking Dead - Enjoyed this years version a lot , especially compared to last year which I hated. Loved the sewers segment and thought all the scare actors were on point.
Krampus is just like that. 90% is elves. there is one room with some of the toys but thats the only one. Hollywood has a more complete house. I dont think you went during cast change.
Ive done it different days and it's mostly elves.-
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i heard some Nox Arcana playing in the park today, around the front store. i wonder was that song always planned or was it added ? i wonder how the music works at hhn, can they add stuff after it has opened? I dont recall nox arcana in the park opening weekend at all (I dont think Ive ever heard nox arcana in the park in the past, only midnight syndicate) that was a nice change
Ever since you guys mentioned hearing Bart Simpson, that's all i can think of lol..... -
wait is the hate from ranking stuff too high?
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is not really the sexualizing but just her jokes and attitude. when she was with jack she was different.
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and i kinda hate to say this but shes a little... annoying. previous years like 2007 or 2015 she was funny but a little naive and crazy but fun. this year some of the chance stuff is still fun but... i dont know, it is not the same.
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2 hours ago, Arsik_22 said:
Lol oh geez that bad ? I guess I'll find out on Thursday! Finally some time out of LA. =D
I dont think you can walk more than a couple of steps without those roots hitting your head, the other problem is that the people in front of you will hold on to it and then let go (as they are passing by it) and when they let go it hits you with more strength. half my attention was spent trying to catch the swing from when people in front let go of it. I think I only remember half the house because i was so busy trying to not get hit in the eyes by the swinging roots.-
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59 minutes ago, Arsik_22 said:
Makes for a good distraction. They're just trying to capitalize on the fact people are focused on moving random crap out of their face. Lol
they totally over did it lol. I cant be scared by an actor when things are poking my face.
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7 hours ago, Neko said:
First trip through this house was during the day and I could not see much of anything because my eyes couldn't adjust quickly enough. Second trip at night was MUCH better, able to take in the details and I am looking forward to revisiting this one a lot. Only complaint would be there was way too much hanging stuff in this house, got a bit annoying.
That hanging stuff is becoming a problem for a lot of people it seems. I have also noticed complaining about it on fb.
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7 hours ago, Neko said:
Chance deserved a better house.
Chance deserved a better event...
Everyone was so excited and hyped up but both her zone and her house are kinda bad. Plus her commercial wasnt good, her presence in the event has not beennthe best.
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6 hours ago, Arsik_22 said:
It is really strange, I don't understand why they wouldn't allow that. I'll just try to be sneaky about it and see if I get away with it. Lol At least there's booze though. X)
The only reason ive heard that recording is not allowed is because people will stop the line take pics and hold the line.
But that seems pretty dumb and Hollywood doesnt seem to have that problem .
Thats really the only reason they banned recording ( that i know of)
Halloween Horror Nights 26 Discussion
in Halloween Horror Nights 26
Posted
when was this actually released? Saturday?
did any FFP people here went Saturday? I saw this on facebook as well but it felt like they showed it too late.