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Sinfear

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    Halloween Horror Nights 33 Speculation & Discussion

    in Halloween Horror Nights 33

    Posted

    On 11/8/2024 at 3:26 PM, MGregorio594 said:

    This is telling to how off this year was for people, lol. My list below is much different than yours.

     

    For background, I've been attending HHN in Orlando each year since 2016, only missing HHN Lite. I don't live in Florida but love the event so much that I take two trips each HHN season, one in early September and one in early/mid October. I've always gotten FFP+, and starting in HHN 30, I added express. This year, I only attended closing week on 10/27 and 10/30-11/3 & I got the FFP+ without express. If I was able to go in September, I likely wouldn't of returned in October.

     

    I am glad I attended HHN 33. There were bright spots to the event. However, this was my least favorite year attending for a multitude of reasons:

    • Weak scare zones
      • See my comments below on scare zones.
    • Next to no HHN vibe/atmosphere, specifically from a music standpoint
      • Music is one of the most important aspects of HHN. It brings an ambience to the park that is needed for the overall experience and theme of the event. The parkwide loop was utter garbage this year. Every year, I look forward to what songs I'll be adding to my library based on what Universal plays in the houses, zones, shows, etc. I added two songs to my Apple Music this year. For reference, I added 24 songs to my library based off music from HHN 32. Since 2016, I think I've added over 200 songs that were used at HHN. Because of the mediocre music, the event lacked the usual vibe it has and it suffered because of it. 
    • Lack of offerings outside the houses & insane wait times
      • Nightmare Fuel 4 was the only entertainment offering at HHN 33. It was also one of their weaker shows, especially in comparison to last year which was, imo, the best theme park show I've ever experienced.
      • There was no lagoon show, even though it was fully functional unlike previous years.
      • There is so much empty space that could have been utilized throughout Studios. It hasn't returned in a bit but there was no Simpsons hoard/ HHN presence from the entrance of Museum all the way to Central Park. I don't think they were playing HHN music near Dreamworks & the lights were turned on in that area. This was probably due to there being no parade houses this year, but I can't recall an event year where there was an HHN free zone outside at the park. 
      • In past years, The Simpsons Ride would be open on busier nights but it was never utilized. This year Transformers wasn't open at all, only leaving four attractions to experience (Gringotts closes at midnight every night, so there's only three rides to go on from 12-2am). 
      • A Quiet Place, Ghostbusters, and Insidious were the only IPs at the event this year (I don't count Universal Monsters because it is an original concept houses just with the use of IP characters). None of these are at the popularity level of Stranger Things, American Horror Story, etc. from years past, so there was crazy wait times spread between all the houses & rides (although, Rip Ride Rockit had shockingly low waits this year every time I looked).
    • Meh food & specialty drinks
      • I did enjoy food at the Monstrous booth, Triplets booth, & the Ghostbusters s'more was certainly a hit for Universal. Nothing really stood out, though, that I hope they bring back. This year, I didn't even bother with drinks at any booths. The drinks at the event since HHN 30 are just sugar bombs or thick in consistency, which is f'ing gross. Word of advice, just go to Finnegans, Chez, or leave for CityWalk if you're looking for a good cocktail. Even if the lines are long, the drinks are a million times better & stronger. I also love beer and they haven't changed the offerings since HHN 30. They added one new pumpkin beer this year that didn't taste like pumpkin at all. The canned cocktail actually wasn't bad. Still, the beverage team needs to give the offerings a major facelift for next year. 
    • Not being spoiled with express
      • Not having express is awful haha. I understand why this event is not everyone's cup of tea. To go from open to close and not accomplish everything would leave a terrible taste in my mouth if I were a first time visitor or casual guest. Being able to speed run the event makes it a million times more enjoyable. It gives you more time to relax, enjoy the zones, grab a nice meal on CityWalk, not have to get to a stay and scream holding area by 5pm or stay till close, show up early for a show and get a good seat, enjoy the rides, not have to stand for so long. I could keep going...
        • My group and I caved on closing night and we bought the after 11pm express. Was $117 after tax each. We ran all 10 houses while also stopping for food, drinks, bathroom breaks, and doing a ride or two before the event ended. If you are a diehard HHN fan & can swing it, get whichever FFP suits you best + express. It's so very worth it. Based on how quickly it sold out this year, make sure to purchase it as soon as it becomes available in 2025.   

    I firmly believe the creative team, scare actors, service workers, etc. really give it their all and deserve praise for the event this year, even with it being below average in comparison to other years. It's not for a lack of effort or care, HHN 33 just didn't hit for me, as it didn't with the majority of fans.  

     

    With that being said, the following are my rankings. None of the houses were strong enough to enter my top 10 all time. Usually each year, there's a standout house that makes the list, but that didn't happen for HHN 33:

     

    House Rankings -

    1. A Quiet Place
      • One of the coolest houses I've ever done. Sound design/how they somehow made the house low volume, puppets, and large room scenes were all awesome. Surprised with how longtime HHN fans don't view this in a brighter light. Universal tried something new with this one and, I believe, delivered on a difficult concept.
    2. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
      • Very fun and had some awesome rooms. Always love a cold house, even though some rooms weren't as cold as others. Stilt walkers were great and it was a much better house than I expected. The movie was one of the worst pieces of dog shit I've ever seen, so I had no expectations this would be enjoyable at all going in. 
    3. Slaughter Sinema 2
      • Good ode to the original which is one of my favorite houses ever. Enjoyed all my runs of this and loved the movie ideas. 
    4. Major Sweets Candy Factory 
      • Best F&F house we've gotten yet. Incredible detail and delivered a fun factor with a lot of quotable lines.
    5. Goblin’s Feast
      • Same comments as Sweets. Also enjoyed the location of this and the easy access to Bloodlines. 
    6. The Museum: Deadly Exhibits
      • I don't think this wasn't as bad as people said it was, but this is where the events houses went into meh territory for me. Cool costumes & big scare actors in the last few rooms. Clearly repurposed Bloater outfits from Last of Us from HHN 32. 
    7. Triplets of Terror
      • Cool it got a soundstage & the concept is good. The one scare I really liked was the one in the kitchen where the beep from the oven goes off and the huge dude pops out on the left side. Other than those things, this was a whatever house.  
    8. Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines
      • Great sets & rooms. Always happy to see any of the Universal Monsters represented at the event, and I was hyped for this one based on the story/concept of all female characters. That being said, the dialogue was hard to follow. The audio may of just been low in the five or so times I ran this. There was also too much empty space in the house.
    9. Insidious: The Further
      • Definitely scary, detailed, and long, but I think people thought this was so good because nothing else was scarier or strong enough to say it wasn't #1 overall. Because of the waits, I only ran this twice, and one was during stay and scream so I couldn't see anything. 
    10. Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America
      • First run through was easily the worst I've ever had in any house across the eight event years I've attended. It was around 1030pm on 10/27 and there was like two scare actors in the whole house. It was better my other four or five runs, but I still thought this was the weakest house at the event. The huge animatronic bird was cool.

    Scare zone Rankings -

    1. Torture Faire 
      • Well themed and the scare actors were having fun. The only true enjoyable zone this year.
    2. Swamp of the Undead
      • Central Park always has a great zone. They must've had a humidifier running at the entrance and exit of this zone because I would leave wet every time I walked through. It was a cool touch I hadn't seen before. Also, cool to learn a prodigy scare actor in Mike Aiello's son was working this zone.  
    3. Demon Queens
      • Props were fine. I liked that Surr3al was interactive and had a show of sorts. Nothing special about this, though.
    4. Enter the Blumhouse
      • Whatever.
    5. Duality of Fear
      • Moving forward, they shouldn't even call this a zone. 

    That’s one of the things I love about this event is the fact that rankings are very different among everyone. I agree with the scarezones being lackluster and this is my least favourite year I’ve attended. Overall, I enjoyed it but it could’ve been better. 

    Halloween Horror Nights 33 Speculation & Discussion

    in Halloween Horror Nights 33

    Posted

    I figured with the end of this year’s event coming very soon it would be interesting to see everyone’s rankings of houses and scarezones. I’ll start:

     

    Houses-

    10. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

    9. Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines

    8. A Quiet Place

    7. The Museum: Deadly Exhibits

    6. Goblin’s Feast

    5. Insidious: The Further

    4. Major Sweets Candy Factory 

    3. Slaughter Sinema 2

    2. Triplets of Terror

    1. Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America 

     

    Scarezones-

    5. Duality of Fear

    4. Enter the Blumhouse

    3. Swamp of the Undead

    2. Demon Queens

    1. Torture Faire

     

    Ideas for Houses (Get Ready to Hate Me)

    in Your Nightmares

    Posted

    On 9/14/2023 at 9:32 AM, Fear2010 said:

    @Sinfear

     

    Recently got my newest house concept done for the Jungles of Fear themed event that I’m really proud of after all the hard work. This is my take of doing a Caveman house that represents many different eras of the Stone Age and all kinds of the Homo human species with the inclusion of some extinct animals. I hope you guys enjoy this piece of mine. 

     

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NaujgCZzVNYsdJUcOgtK4K31rJ9cwbq-GAsQBNrVm6k/edit

    As someone who took a class on this type of stuff, this is a great house concept. Just imagining the set design while reading through is awesome 

    • Like 1

    Halloween Horror Nights 32 Speculation

    in Halloween Horror Nights 32

    Posted

    After a day of taking everything in from all the houses and scarezones announced, I have finally put together my personal hype list for HHN 32. 


    Houses-

    10 The Exorcist: Believer

    9 Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate

    8 Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count

    7 Blood Moon: Dark Offerings

    6 The Last of Us

    5 The Darkest Deal

    4 Yeti: Campground Kills

    3 Stranger Things 4

    2 Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins

    1 Universal Monsters: Unmasked


    Scarezones-

    5 Shipyard 32: Horrors Unhinged

    4 Dr. Oddfellow’s Collection of Horror

    3 Dark Zodiac

    2 Vamp ‘69: Summer of Blood

    1 Jungle of Doom: Expedition Horror

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