[HHN 25 Discussion]

Bored at work  on a Friday so figured I'd share a quick review of HHN Hollywood with some of the Orlando folks. For some background - I make the trip down to Orlando once a year for HHN and this year went two nights while I was down there since it was so freaking incredible.

Anyways, I've been going to HHN in Orlando for the past four years and have become quite the die hard fan. Since I started going, I've always been curious as to what it was like out in Hollywood. After my amazing experience in Orlando this year, I got the fever and the only prescription was more Horror Nights. Booked a last minute flight out to Cali and did HHN Hollywood last Saturday.

It was great but I decided to share my experience on this thread in case anyone has ever or is currently experiencing the HHN fever. Where do I begin.....well, in summary, it just doesn't hold a candle to the overall Orlando experience and atmosphere. I think this stems from a couple of factors including the layout of the two parks, the history element in Orlando (especially this year), and weak scare zones. The layout of the park makes the whole event feel disconnected and fails to create the same atmosphere that you find in Orlando. I go to HHN in Orlando for the scares but the atmosphere is also half the fun. I'll attempt a very high level review below - please ask any questions you may have!

Scare Zones - small, boring, and just not effective. Not even really worth giving you a full review. Dark Christmas was the best but not by far. Not enough scare actors to be effective

Houses

The Walking Dead: Wolves Not Far - my favorite Walking Dead house to date - lots of scares throughout - very similar layout to Orlando's but actually had the cool TERMINUS facade

Insidious: Return to the Further - much better than the Orlando house - weak facade but so many incredible scares! The red demon was literally around every corner - no gun shot scene which I wasn't a fan of anyway in Orlando.

Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home - not as good as last year's Halloween house in Orlando - room with all the Michael's not as effective

AVP - pretty much identical to the Orlando version, eh

Crimson Peak: Maze of Madness - talk about set design - even though I heard the movie is terrible, I can see this coming to Orlando next year for the awe factor - it had some good scares but was literally like being in a gothic castle with blood flowing around every corner

This is the End 3D - I'm a big fan of the movie and took the glass half full approach to it. Not scary at all but had a few funny moments for fans of the film, especially Michael Cera outside the house with a streetlight going through him. 3D was pretty ineffective and the demons were not what I was hoping for, very weak puppets. I wasn't that big of a fan of Asylum but This is the End doesn't even belong in the same conversation.

Terror Tram: Survive the Purge: This was one of the things I was looking forward to most. Curiosity for the most part but really enjoyed the Purge in Orlando so was hoping for more of the same in Hollywood. Boy was I disappointed. In summary, it was a walk past people standing directly in front of you with knives. How is that scary? Since it's on the back lot, it was also hard to take these guys seriously as we walked through the How the Grinch Stole Christmas set.

I didn't do The Jabbawockeez show because well, why would i? So there you have it. Hopefully I saved some people some cash through this review. It's still a great event on the west coast but if you're in the Orlando area - no need to ever make the trip. And if you're going to make one trip a year, make it Orlando. OH AND DID I MENTION THERE IS NO ALCOHOL???????????????????????

[HHN 25 Merchandise]

Here are pictures of the hoodie. The back only has the Jack graphic, so its better than the blood lettering with "zombie club" or whatever it said from past years. 

Thanks! I wish it didn't have that on the back because that's still a little much for me but it's probably going to have to do!

[HHN 25 Merchandise]

Thanks for posting the merchandise pics!

Has anyone seen any generic HHN shirts or hoodies? I've never been a fan of the house shirts or anything with IP's on them. Honestly, all I'm looking for is a hoodie or t-shirt that says "Halloween Horror Nights". Did anyone see anything like that?

[Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem]

Can anyone share which past HHN monsters/icons we can expect to see in this maze? Of course I have heard of Rat Lady but what else?!?!?! Having only been going since 2012, I want to study up so I can appreciate the icons as I make my way through this house on October 3rd! 

[American Werewolf In London]

AWIL was the first of its kind in the event's 25 year history. Makes perfect sense to bring it back for the 25th. It paved the path for AVP and many more great houses to come in the future. It was my favorite house in 2013 and I'll be surprised if any of this year's can top it (maybe the anniversary house). 

And when Universal offers you a ninth house, you take it. Crowds are going to be HUGE this year and having a ninth house will at least help spread out the crowd.

[HHN 25 Tickets, Pricing, and General Event Operation Questions]

Anyone knows if there is something special on October 3rd?

I had booked the UTH tour two weeks ago on that date and got a call that there will be no tours on that day and I had to choose a different date.

Additionally, it is not in the list of dates for the RIP tours (although it says its sold out in the line above, the other dates mentioned there are still in the general date list)

Seems odd that its the only event night where there are no tours?

I was able to book by UTH tour for the 3rd earlier this week.

[The Purge]

Posting a video for the maze now makes it kind of obvious this was a last minute replacement doesn't it? Regardless, this has a lot more potential than Scream IMO so I can't wait to see how it turns out. 

Couldn't agree more with it being a couple days late. However, hopefully it shouldn't be too too difficult to transition since they still have a bunch of Purge costumes, sets, etc. left over from last year. If we were talking original Scream, there'd be a lot more disappointment on this thread.