Oysterhead00

Bayou sounds VERY Terra Queen-esq and I'll be spending some time there. Anarchy sounds more like the Saws and Steam minishow. I haven't seen Purge 2 yet...but assume I'll enjoy whatever they have. Face Off definitely sounds like a cool zone and an attempt to try to thin the herd in rest of the park by encouraging people to head that way and avoid the congested areas trying to catch different costumes/characters. Definitely giving the fans what they want...which gives me a ton of hope that XXV is going to be a return to traditional form with an Icon and a full compliment of zones and shows.

From what I've heard (and limited experience in a different situation) if you call this early, they should be able to fix whatever you want. Waiting until you show up at the ticket window is usually pretty successful too...but can be a time consuming pain in the @$$. If you call ASAP, they should be very helpful in upgrading/swapping tickets. No clue about full refunds though...I'd assume that would be more of a hassle.

Me +4 for Oct 4th @ 2pm. "Good thing you called today - we can just fit your party in.". Not sure how true that is, but sounds like the 10/4 pm tour is just about full. EDIT: Anybody know how many tours they are doing a day/session? I booked 5 tickets, but we have a "virgin" going who rightfully doesn't think that paying $60 to see 3 houses with lights on is worth it (and another guy who's not doing it this year). Have a feeling one or both might might change their minds after going through the houses. Only 15 per group...one tour per day (well, for each set of 3 houses) but they have to do at least 3 at a time right? So that all 3 tours do the 3 houses round robin style?

Pretty sure it's a battery powered candle jar thingie

This house is the reason I'm going. The others look great too...but work is so busy I'd skip this year again if it weren't for AvP and to a lesser extent Halloween. Hope to do it a couple times per night and see it on the Behind The Screams Tour!

That would be pretty cool...the only "plant" I've seen was the Terra Queen victim.

I hope they have a nice, subtle hat...like HHN 21. LOVE that hat and still wear it all the time. The Walking Dead hat from 2 years ago was HORRIBLE. Didn't go last year. But the lack of a key image, like the spade logo, makes me think the hat will be pretty bad. I've given up buying the houses shirts. I like the back (wish they came in a color other than black), but just can't bring myself to wear them in public with the stupid/tacky blood lettering on the front of the shirts. A Halloween or AvP shirt could be pretty cool if they don't over do it. And I agree with the Purge...the posters from the second movie are pretty awesome and if they did something like that it could be one I'd pick up. I've been picking up the cups and tumblers the last few times I went and would LOVE for them to have a branded 1L Stigg metal water bottle...or a Tervis Cup with a nice patch embedded in it.

Liking the very little snapshot of the Roanoke facade...especially if they "plant" cornstalks behind the fence. Could be pretty awesome...and it's on the same tour as AvP and The Walking Dead. Can't wait.

Screamscape has a head on shot of the Halloween house. Looks older than Ande's photo (no siding), but it's a front on / employee / trespasser photo, http://www.screamscape.com/html/universal_orlando.htm#HHN

Finally some street props! Let the fun begin....

Wow..never heard of Scream Early...but have used the IOA crossover probably the last 4 or 5 years I went. Kinda sucks they don't do a better job promoting this stuff....but also super cool we have this site to share the info while keeping the General Public in the dark and keeping the lines short. Ha ha ha!

Guess I'm the idiot as I knew there was a "last 3 hours in IOA option", but didn't know that entitled you to the early entry to HHN. Could have used that knowledge years ago (I think we bought individual nights the first 2 or 3 years...talk about flushing money down the toilet!). Rush of Fear is the greatest invention in the history of HHN in my opinion!

I'm not 100% sure, in the know, or anything else...but it's NOT a ticket you buy or anything and I'm pretty sure it will be in affect this year. Why? It has been every year I've gone. Basically, you go to Finnegans (and I think possibly somewhere near kiddie land) and they come around and X O'Clock and check for HHN tickets. If you have one, you get to stay and that's that. If not, it's time for you to leave the park. A bit later someone comes around with a mobile ticket scanner and scans your HHN ticket just to make sure you have the proper admission ticket. HOWEVER....your message makes it sound like you think this is available to anybody without a valid Universal Ticket for the day...IT'S NOT. You have to be in the park, with a valid ticket, prior to it closing to take advantage of this. The Add On Ticket you mentioned I think is just that if you don't have a HHN ticket, yet have a Universal ticket for the day, you can upgrade for like $40 - $60 (depending on the night) instead of paying $95ish for that one night. You can upgrade with an IOA ticket too...but that won't enable you to get into Universal to get the benefit. I see you've attended before so sorry if I misunderstood your question or gave you a "treat me like an idiot" answer...but just trying to be as helpful as possible to anybody who reads this

Seriously...it's my desktop wallpaper and Universal should take note and make a shirt like this WITHOUT STUPID BLOOD LETTERING AVAILABLE IN A COLOR OTHER THAN BLACK!!!! I hate people who type in all caps...but it was justified in that instance :-)

Some "fringe benefits": Pregaming for the event...with live music on the weekends. A good quality sit down meal versus standing in a hot sweaty line, waiting to go through metal detectors, and then buying some quick food during the event. If you have a camera bag with a strap (they honestly told me those are the rules, if it's a clutch or belt one that's fine, if it has a shoulder strap it's not allowed) that they might turn you away at the gate, you can easily bring it in when the park is still open and they'll never check it again. Not encouraging bringing in contraband, but I have a camera case that is about the size of a small purse that I sometimes bring...plus I'm diabetic so I have some medical supplies I need that I can tuck in there and they have been known to try to tell me I have to stuff them in my pockets and put my bag back in the car or something stupid. A purse is allowed for girls, but a bag the same size for a guy is not. SEXISTS! Ha ha ha. The metal detectors ALWAYS BREAK and they have roll it out and bring in a spare (while you stand there, unmoving, for 20min) or they go to wanding everybody. I leave my belt on and never have the walkthrough detector go off, but if they wand me, it goes crazy with the belt buckle. Meaning it takes that much longer to get through security. Then you get to the turnstiles and the people who waited in line for 45min never thought of the fact that they need their ticket to get in...and rummage through their purse for 3min. My one camera takes 4AA Batteries, so I'll have like 12-16 batteries in my bag on the night I bring my "good camera" where I focus on doing houses and taking pictures when my friends go on the ride. They assume I'm bringing them to throw at people or that I'm bringing too many...but the thing sucks batteries with its ultra zoom. Sometimes casts heading to their houses will have a little chant going or something when they march by which is always entertaining. As is a dancing park sweeper (who I haven't seen for a couple years) that would draw cheers from the patrons. There is always at least one house open as soon as they let you out of the "holding pen"...though one year, we went through the house with NO CAST. It was certainly interesting (and prior to us ever doing Behind The Screams) and we got to really check out the props/scenery. So it might not be a super advantage where you get to do 4 houses before they let anybody else in...but sitting in an air conditioned Irish Bar enjoying a frosty beverage beats the !@#$ out of any of the "alternatives" above. And a lot of the security people are good, my complaints are the exception...the rule is they are just sloooooooow but do a good job and are cool with most things...but tend to follow the rules as cut and dried, black and white situations. Supervisors have been called and when shown my stuff, have even offered to store my insulin in a fridge for me so they're really understanding and helpful. Also, a little known fact judging by the lines, you can stay at IOA and then go over to a gate in Suessland that is often not marked and cut across there. You go through a tiny security outpost by the Blue Man Group building. Usually it's a huge shortcut...but now and then someone in the park must be telling everybody they see because they'll be a huge line out of the blue some nights.

With the Rush of Fear you should be able to do every house once and do each show as well if you go from opening until close. Usually there's a house or two that early in the event that never has lines over 30min and come 11pm or so, will say 15min but you can basically just walk right in. I think the one year, we did Wolfman 4 times in one night just because we could and it had no line by 9pm. For only 2 nights right at the beginning of the year, I'd say the $50 per night for express wouldn't be worth it. We go the first weekend in October and elect to get get the Express option, but we go Thur-Sun so at $25, it's worth it to guarentee we can do every house once. Not sure if you've been there before or if you have Universal tickets for the day, but if you do go to Finnegans and enjoy an adult beverage (or a coke if you're under age) and you can get in early and knock off two houses in 30min. If you don't, get to the gates early. It sucks waiting 30min to get into the park, but that 30min will save you an hour of waiting later. Do one of the first 2 or 3 houses first. Usually starting with house 3 or 4 "on the path" they don't open them right away...they wait a bit. So don't think heading away from all the foot traffic is a good idea as you'll just be standing at the start of a queue waiting for them to open it up. Some nights are worse than others and I know I've done the first two houses and got to the 3rd in line and still had to wait. If it's open, go to the "big IP houses" first. SAW had 3 hour+ lines in the last week of Sept/first of October a few years ago. I expect Aliens vs Predator and Halloween to be like that this year. So after your first couple houses, might be a good idea to skip a couple to hit the highlights early. Having said all that, if you stay until Midnight, 1am or 2am (not sure of the first two nights schedule) you should be able to do everything once, and another key/main house a second time.

As soon as Behind The Screams says which tour this house is on, I'm booking it! In the off chance that it's one of the houses that's not included, I'll be crying until X-Mas. You mean the part from the preview that NEVER happened in the movie? Ha ha ha. I remember the Internet backlash over the "15 Predators targeting the one guy" that never happened in the movie

Sounds like there will be official tour buying options in the next few weeks....

I feel really lazy for asking this...but can't find the info to save my life. Since they have the two different Behind The Screams Tours...how do you "choose" which tour you want? I've done the single tour before, and it was all done through emails, forms, and giving credit card info. But didn't know if there was something I was missing with a more formal/official way of purchasing tickets. I see this...but "more info coming soon" this late seems a bit odd. http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/rip-tours.html Really hoping AVP is on a tour and want to book it!

Houses: AvP - I don't care about a potential lack of scares...I'll be looking at the eye candy and entranced so any loud noise will startle me! Dream come true! Giggles - Sorta Killer Klowns. Sorta 3D (even if i have to bring old glasses). Sorta humor house. Plus clowns are SCARY! Halloween - From a scares perspective, probably my most anticipated....but I was burned from my hype of the Freddy, Jason, Leatherface trifecta and felt all 3 were letdowns. So reigning in my anticipation for this one. Hope to be pleasantly surprised. Dollhouse - Just freaky. Will probably end up being my favorite house when it's all said and done...but middle of the road with limited information thus far. Walking Dead - LOVE the show and didn't go to HHN last year...so think this will be fresher for me than most, and twice the size. Have high hopes for this one. Roanoke - Don't know what to think...could be my favorite, or the worst. Dracula - The movie won't be out when I go and I pretty much never plan on seeing it...so it's basically an original house for me. Has potential, but the trailer really soured me. Dusk Til Dawn - LOVED the movie...but been there, done that. Never watched the TV show. Could be a pleasant surprise, but by far my least anticipated house. Zones: Face/Off - Never saw the show, but that pumpkin head reminds me of my second favorite scareactor (IOA Cammo Rockman is my all time fav). Maskerade - Just sounds awesome. Bayou - No real opinion could easily move up or down my post-event ratings. Purge - I think I'll love this... but it will be deja vu all over again. Will surely enjoy it, but doesn't have much of a "Wow Factor". --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update after Media Day: Houses: Alien vs Predator Halloween The Walking Dead Giggles (the props aren't what I was hoping for) Dollhouse Roanoke Dusk Till Dawn Dracula Scarezones: Bayou (Terra Queen-esq show has me sold) Face Off Purge Maskerade

I like the "cracked egg face" mask. What was once a porcelain doll having an evil entity break through it has potential. At first I thought this was a weak link, but that one picture has me thinking if they're doing that there might be a lot of other really cool things in the house I wouldn't have thought of. And again...the "is it a prop...or a person" boo scare potential has me excited.

I want a wall of Aliens, like in Aliens when the Marines have their first encounter. Where they're just kinda curled up on a wall making a kickass looking pattern. Walking through the house, hearing the motion detector with a steady beep, then every so often the beeping goes crazy and an anamatronic tail unfolds/comes down like in the movie behind Apone. The wall would be 95% static mold, and then just a tail and maybe another part or two that would move so the wall comes alive. That's one of my favorite moments in movie history and if they do that, it would be incredible.

Wow, that original design for Bloody Mary suuuuuuuuuuuure looks right out of an Evil Dead movie! And looks like a dude too.

I truly hope you get what you want. I was soooooooooooooo happy about the Nightmare on Elm Street house and.....well, realized why all the "old timers" loved the original houses more then the IPs. I LOVE the Halloween series (even the 4-6 ones...but hated H20) and have high hopes for a house (all you need is guys wearing mechanic overalls and Shatner masks and a dead topless chick in bed with a tombstone by her head and a bed sheet ghost...spend the budget making the house look amazing!) but I'm wary. Though the fact that A&D LOVE the IP and it's not hard to do...I have high hopes. Just not trying to let them get too high.

I'd say buy the Rush of Fear Express and then BOTH Behind The Scream tours...they each cover 3 different houses (at least I think so). I go about the same time every year and you really don't need the express if you're going 3 or 4 nights...but with it, you can easily do every house each night. The RIP Tour must be cool...but for the money that early in the event I think it would be a bit of a waste. Never did the RIP...but love the Rush Express and Behind the Screams.