HHN XX Rants

[Pumpkin]

Last year, I was going after a girl and didn't realize she was carrying one. Luckily, I was wearing a mask and so the sabre hit my mask and not my face. It was just jolting to be going after someone and having something you didn't see, hit you in the mask.

I had something similar happen when I was in Dead Exposure in 2008; feeling something hit your mask that you didn't see coming is such a crappy feeling.

Last year in Dracula I had a girl intentionally blindside me with one. I was the bride on the ground in the library room, and when I pounced (I had to scare straight ahead of me to keep the line moving forward) she was immediately to my left and thought it'd be fun to delay reaction a saber lunge into my ribs.

I wish they'd rethink selling some of this stuff. While the chances of use getting seriously hurt is low/circumstantial, that's what it will probably take for them to even consider the dangers.

[Stumpy]

I originally liked the idea of pulsing but I think it's going too far now. I do the nightly HHN wait time updates on my phone and every house is a 30 or 45 minute wait on a thursday early in the event. Not only that....but Hallow'd Past said 60 MINUTES.

I'm afraid to find out how much they are pulsing those lines if they got Hallow'd past up to a 60 minute wait...

THIS. I understand what they're trying to do, but it really doesn't help when one of the groups has frightened people who stop dead in their tracks, causing the other groups to run into them. I missed a lot of scares last night because of that.

[MirpleBoy]

I wonder what do the Actors think about this?

I wonder if it bothers the actors when people have those, or do they like people having them?

For me personally, I don't mind the glow sticks. I don't think they're so bright that they kill the mood or anything. But anything blinky is a target for me. Not in the sense of only scaring them, but scaring them into dropping their horns, cups, etc. What falls near my boo hole by scaring inconsiderate guests is mine.

Though so far, a good majority of guests have turned off their cups at least, but those horns are annoying.

And yes, the ops people are just as bad if not worse than last year. When I was hit, I went to the end to get my ASM or security. The ops girl at the exit wasn't even acknowledging me and taking her sweet time to call security over. They are also slow as hell for cast changes.

Edited October 8, 2010 by MirpleBoy

[JDW]

I think scareactors should have the right to break and or take any object that is of a threat to them. You want to poke a saber into a boo hole? Done it is either taken of snapped. You want to jab them in the ribs? Good it's there's now. Don't even get me starting of physical contact. I honestly think , while I know its not copacetic, if you punch, hit, or abuse an actor. The self-defense rule should come into play and you should be lying in a judo hold with your face smashed into the floor. It is COMPLETELY unacceptable to attack someone.

I don't understand how it is acceptable to Universal for idiots to beat up, molest, or harass their employees.

As for the pulsing. I haven't experience it yet this year but I from what I hear (and from my experience in the past) its absolute crap all around. Sure go in smaller groups... but is that made up for by the quadrupled line waiting? no... no it's not. I'm very thankful I've been twice now with no pulsing. I would be severely ticked if I couldn't see everything if I was going one time.

Edited October 8, 2010 by JWFearman

[HORRORLANDO]

I waited in line to see the guys from Ghost Hunters for over 40 minutes. Then while waiting in line a staff member comes over and says sorry but the first autograph session is over and the next one is at 9:30 so I had to wait another hour and 30 minutes on top of already waiting 40 minutes if I wanted to meet them. But it was still worth it...

[Skittles]

I originally liked the idea of pulsing but I think it's going too far now. I do the nightly HHN wait time updates on my phone and every house is a 30 or 45 minute wait on a thursday early in the event. Not only that....but Hallow'd Past said 60 MINUTES.

I'm afraid to find out how much they are pulsing those lines if they got Hallow'd past up to a 60 minute wait...

They were pulsing the hell out of the lines the first couple hours on Thurs. I waited in a couple lines that could have/should have been walk on's but ended up be more like 20-30 min waits due to pulsing.

[marioeliz]

I know security and police were just doing there jobs but I was stopped 8 total times in one night majority of the time asking me very rudely for my id...They were acting like they had caught another under drinker almost putting me in cuffs until I could take my id out and show them every time that I was well over 21! They all said take it as a compliment but to the point of getting grabbed aggresivley and put on the wall for assuming I was under age is ridiculous!

Edited October 9, 2010 by marioeliz

[JDW]

OK I'm am severely upset with the HHN event. Was it the crowds? nope. I am mad at Universal.

Let me summarize the train-wreck that was my HHN experience. I will preface my experience with the fact that I'm sick and my temper is short.

First off: As we into the parking garage, there were no parking attendants to be found. Mass chaos ensues. People are parking every which way, stopping the flow of traffic to let the passengers out with a line of cars behind them, and I think a small group of Hispanic guest were trying recreate a west story fight right in the flow of traffic. Seriously there was an altercations in front of the line of cars and no Universal Employees to be found.

Second: As we walk in the gate I put my fear buttons and other paraphernalia into the little dog bowls at the metal detector line. I get checked out "yes I have steel toes on" and piling all my various crap back into the pockets on my fatigues when one of the attendants points out my buttons. Suddenly, Sr. manager "Stick up his butt" security guard is demanding I take them back out of my pocket and he wants to see them. He then proceeds to examine the button... much like a monkey with a piece of electronic equipment... clasping... unclasping... clasping... unclasping. (VERY GOOD SIR you know how to operate a button!)and finally proceeds to tell me that the pin on the back is considered a weapon and they are not allowed in the park.

I looked at the guy completely dumbfounded and I explain that I hand these out every night that I come and he tells me "Well I'm here now and I'm not letting these in." I tried to reason with the guy and explain that untold number of people bring lanyards full of pins into the park. He then says "I'm trying to be nice either check them in and pick them up after the event or leave the park". Which I then tell him he is unreasonable and call him something along the lines of donkey's orifice... and he promptly escorts us out of the park...

So my wife and I walk away... I put the buttons in my wallet and come back in another gate... done... However the guy whacks my wife really hard in the elbow with the wand. Even though he didn't mean to and it was an accident... it adds to the tone of the night.

Thirdly: Pulsing. I'm confused what is the point of this? The line quadruples in wait time, I catch up with the people who were in front of me anyway in about 30 seconds, and somehow the house seems completely jammed up.... which brings to my next point...

The wonderful team members screaming at me to "keep the line moving" when there is nowhere to go

Next, while traversing the Hades queue I hit my kneecap on one of the prongs jutting out from one of the pieces of fence.

Finally, the last issue is completely befuddling.

As we are walking into the Psychoscareapy queue, We see a scene that is very odd. A girl is sprawled on the ground in the express lane with what appears to be a spilled beer by her head. she looked really messed up as she was barely moving and in a very uncomfortable position with her head up against the fencing. Five Universal team members are around her casually talking like it was no big deal. When I and the guy in front of me expressed concern for her, one of the staff waved us of flippantly and said "Oh she's fine..." So we kept moving until we hit the full on queue. We waited about 20 min and were about to get around the fence to the house when these security and staff members started running back and forth talking on their radios. Another few minutes later they were removing all the poles to the queue. When the guy in front of me asked what was going on, one particularly large security member very rudely said "you need to do a 180 and march the other way now!" so we all started walking.. not realizing we were walking out of the line and back into the the outlet for PS, Hades and LT... At which point my wife and I called it quits at 9:30.

In general, I have never been been treated so rudely by every single employee I encountered tonight. It was like they were all on high alert. Even something as simple as "No photography in the house" became accusatory and malicious... I am seriously miffed at Universal right now and debating on whether I will return to HHN this year.

Edited October 9, 2010 by JWFearman

[LV-426]

Wow, I feel really bad for you guys, I didn't know scareactors got hit by the sabers, I mean, the horns was really bad but what you guys write is horrible,

Thankfully there was a girl in the entrance of Hades this time, Thank God,

Pulsing for Havoc was ridiculous, I went at 6:30-6:40 when they opened the havoc house and they were already pulsing the line, but it was like 10 minutes, then I went around 9 pm and the lines were like 50 minutes, pulsing, and once inside, Pulsing made no difference for me at all, because you are still stuck with people in front of you and back of you, is a smaller group but is big enough to fill the rooms, so I didn't feel any difference at all as with a conga line, and what's worst is that, people are not that fast so Groups end up catching up inside the house, so makes the lines to stop inside the house

[Cody]

I would return. Don't let a few morons ruin your night.

Personally, I would have asked every single security guard and staff member I could find (after obeying the bitchtit's instructions) until one of them explained what happened. When I saw someone in LT freak out and try to beat the crap out of a scareactor and the dumbass ops chick in the next room just looked at me weird for telling her, I swear I nearly grabbed her and threw her at the dude while shouting "DO YOUR JOB!!!"

[LV-426]

OK I'm am severely upset with the HHN event. Was it the crowds? nope. I am mad at Universal.

Let me summarize the train-wreck that was my HHN experience. I will preface my experience with the fact that I'm sick and my temper is short.

First off: As we into the parking garage, there were no parking attendants to be found. Mass chaos ensues. People are parking every which way, stopping the flow of traffic to let the passengers out with a line of cars behind them, and I think a small group of Hispanic guest were trying recreate a west story fight right in the flow of traffic. Seriously there was an altercations in front of the line of cars and no Universal Employees to be found.

Second: As we walk in the gate I put my fear buttons and other paraphernalia into the little dog bowls at the metal detector line. I get checked out "yes I have steel toes on" and piling all my various crap back into the pockets on my fatigues when one of the attendants points out my buttons. Suddenly, Sr. manager "Stick up his butt" security guard is demanding I take them back out of my pocket and he wants to see them. He then proceeds to examine the button... much like a monkey with a piece of electronic equipment... clasping... unclasping... clasping... unclasping. (VERY GOOD SIR you know how to operate a button!)and finally proceeds to tell me that the pin on the back is considered a weapon and they are not allowed in the park.

I looked at the guy completely dumbfounded and I explain that I hand these out every night that I come and he tells me "Well I'm here now and I'm not letting these in." I tried to reason with the guy and explain that untold number of people bring lanyards full of pins into the park. He then says "I'm trying to be nice either check them in and pick them up after the event or leave the park". Which I then tell him he is unreasonable and call him something along the lines of donkey's orifice... and he promptly escorts us out of the park...

So my wife and I walk away... I put the buttons in my wallet and come back in another gate... done... However the guy whacks my wife really hard in the elbow with the wand. Even though he didn't mean to and it was an accident... it adds to the tone of the night.

LoL sorry, I know you had a terrible night but your comment about the west story fight and the monkey with the piece of electronic equipment really made me laugh,

ok, now, Don't stop going, we were all there, I know the day started good, the lines were ok, but like after around 7-7:30 it just became crazy, super long lines and a lot of drunks, I;m sorry to hear you had such a bad night, I know i would be really furious if all that happened to me all at once, hope you feel better,

Edited October 9, 2010 by black7mask

[gatoralex]

Please JW don't let a few incompetent TM's ruin your whole event. It sound like you encountered some horrible people mixed with you just having a very bad luck day. I will tell you what you want to hear, it is the truth too, and that in all those situations you were justifiable in your actions. I like to kill myself every night acting for the hardcore fans like all of us on here, don't stop going!!

[JDW]

LoL sorry, I know you had a terrible night but your comment about the west story fight and the monkey with the piece of electronic equipment really made me laugh,

ok, now, Don't stop going, we were all there, I know the day started good, the lines were ok, but like after around 7-7:30 it just became crazy, super long lines and a lot of drunks, I;m sorry to hear you had such a bad night, I know i would be really furious if all that happened to me all at once, hope you feel better,

Thanks I'll be fine. Naw its cool though... was me trying to inject some humor into a bad situation... although it was incredibly funny/sad to watch him clasp and unclasp that thing 12 times... like it held the secrets to the Universe or something

Please JW don't let a few incompetent TM's ruin your whole event. It sound like you encountered some horrible people mixed with you just having a very bad luck day. I will tell you what you want to hear, it is the truth too, and that in all those situations you were justifiable in your actions. I like to kill myself every night acting for the hardcore fans like all of us on here, don't stop going!!

I appreciate it... and I appreciate ALL the scareactors. You guys have all really been on your game... Now a few less ops wouldn't make me sad however. I hate it because I'm not typically the ranting type. But tonight felt so hostile. It was so different from the past two Fridays. I'm sure we will go again next Friday and give it another chance. But's a good thing I CAN go again. I still want to know what was up at PS.

My brother swore off HHN after a similar event in 2002. He had a wallet with a chain and they made him break the chain off to go into the event and told him to pick it up later... when he went... no one there. So I wasn't about to "check them in"... may never see them again.

Edited October 9, 2010 by JWFearman

[LV-426]

But's a good thing I CAN go again. I still want to know what was up at PS.

My brother swore off HHN after a similar event in 2002. He had a wallet with a chain and they made him break the chain off to go into the event and told him to pick it up later... when he went... no one there. So I wasn't about to "check them in"... may never see them again.

Yeah Thank God for FFP, the only reason I can keep my sanity, there have been little moments that are kinda bad, but I always think, I'll be back next Thursday, but, if I only had one day, and the bad things that happened to you happened, I would feel like this:

'

and about your brother, wow, that sucks! I didn't know they will just leave, so he never got the chain back?

[kimlovesfl]

Sorry you had a lousy night, Jeramy, but please do return. It's hard to explain how it can feel to work HHN and have to deal with drunks and idiots all night; it's a wonder we aren't like that all the time. Secondly, when an incident happens, no team member is under any obligation to tell any guest what is happening, and in fact, you really aren't supposed to. I can see both points here. You are understandably upset because you were treated rudely by more than one person, and I can see the other side of why people are rude because I know what it's like to work the event.

The parking thing is inexcusable.

[Legacy]

Geesh. This year strikes me a logistical nightmare and I can't figure out why. It's like they have never done this before.

I'm still a fan of pulsing, and a 45 minute wait is still par for the course on a Friday night. Does waiting suck for guess? Yeah, but a longer standby wait pushes people towards by Express passes (how's that for an epiphany). I really have no idea what the issue is with Ops this year. I realize that nobody truly likes them; they are a necessary evil. However, they do seem to be poorly managed this year, but at a higher level, because it seems to be affecting the entire part. Something needs to be addressed.

Anyway: I hate guests who don't realize that all coughing in "Catacombs: Black Plague Rising" is because of the BLACK PLAGUE,

[GrahamShazam]

Wow, that button incident grabs my attention because I'm pretty sure my belt buckle they never make me take off at security would be a more effective weapon than a button. I always take out everything in my pocket, I walk through, the detector beeps, I tell them it's my belt, and they just let me walk right through. Replace my convenient situation with someone who really DOES have a weapon hidden and then we have a problem.

[cdt.princess]

I was almost hit before and they were useless, I had to just handle it myself by getting security at the exit.

And my biggest complaints with them are:

I was a guest one night and told to move faster while there was someone in front of me and i couldnt move faster

And when they are in a room with me, they get flashlight happy and blind me or reveal Im there.

Plus if the problem gets fixed, then they just rotate in the house and the problem starts all over again

yeah they get uber flashlight happy in my house, and some were even trying to scare guests as they were walking through! it has gotten better throughout the run, but i can see how it can be a mood killer

[JDW]

Well after getting on the horn with Universal today... they were very apologetic and they're trying to make it right... So I'm happy with them as a whole. But we lodged a complaint with security.

Edited October 9, 2010 by JWFearman

[C_D]

Glad to hear you had a good resolution J.W.

Last night as a whole was "different" in the way it felt. I did hear my good friend who is Jack in Hallowed Past was jumped by 4 guys in the house, from what I have seen posted today, it was a planned attack. Why people pay good money to go to an event and be an a$$ is beyond me.

We scareactors are busting our butts for the fans, and it sucks when a few make us back off a bit. We thank all of you on the boards, and those who are not on the board that appreciate what we are doing for you. Your comments and thumbs up's we receive while on set takes away some of the edge given to us by the A$$e$.

[kimlovesfl]

Well said, Bryan. For every ass that comes through, we get guests like the man in the top hat who pushes his elderly mother in a wheelchair, every FFP night, or the teenage girls last week who each had a homemade icon t-shirt, with each girl's favorite icon on it, or someone like the person who brought Stewie through (and caught cast B Storyteller) and asks us to take silly pictures. Personally, I like stuff like this; I love the guests who have fun with the event, treat us well, and appreciate all the hard work we put into making a great experience for you all.

That being said, if you come through our house or street and find the cast is not quite on their "game", it could very well be that the cast is having a bad set because of poorly behaved guests.

[Guest]

I hate to rant, but for starters some of the lines for express were pretty long and it really bothered me. It really defeated the purpose of the express pass. One of the OP's in Catacombs told me to move faster, when I couldn't budge at all within the conga line.

[JDW]

So one of the head guys called from security and he says that buttons ARE allowed and there must be some kind of mis-communication with the company they are contracting with for security this year. But he was a very nice guy and I am very pleased with how the issue was handled on both the customer service AND the security end of things.

Edited October 10, 2010 by JWFearman

[Cramer]

Security is a joke this year. First night I didn't bring my mace or knife, as i remember my dad having a chain on his wallet and them forcing him to remove it back in like 2005...and then my dad decided to be an ass and take his sweet time removing it they let him just go with it lol....The check system is actually working, as I checked in my knife the second night I came, and retrieved it easily. Third night I came I put my knife in the bowl, expecting them to give me the coupon so I could go check it in...they said nothing. I held it up visibly, and put it in my pocket...nothing. Oh, not to mention the pepper spray I've been carrying with me ever since I started traveling on a motorcycle. Absolutely nothing. I complained about it on the survey. I understand that it made it a hell of a lot easier for me to take the knife in, but anybody easily could have snuck one in, and while I don't carry my knife with me for self defense (That's what the mace is for...the knife is a tool for when something on my 30 year old motorcycle inevitably breaks) those people may be...and they may be the type to pull a knife on a scareactor. I shudder at the thought.

Also, a lot of the staff is really awful this year. Having an ops lady point her flashlight for me to follow the quite obvious conga line makes me just want to scream "I'm not five lady! I can see those people that are one foot in front of me! I know that I need to follow them!" The guest services lady who SCREAMED at a staff member in front of everyone because he told us we didn't need a coupon for the Florida discount...and then tried arguing with us so we'd pay the full amount. Uh, yeah, NO. We were told over the damn phone that we didn't need a coupon. Anyhow, what got me the worst was the condescending voice to her underling "Just go ahead and sell it to them!" Like it was really that hard to do.

Though there are quite a lot of great staff members out there, and EVERY scareactor is awesome this year. The bad staff just make everyone look bad, I'm just happy that the hard feelings from the second to last time I went didn't stick with me (They almost did, but I forced myself to go). I'm still enjoying myself, and I plan to enjoy myself....that's how I get revenge on my antagonisers.

[Freak]

I just got back from enjoying this awesome event two nights in a row and I will do a full review as soon as I can but I had one BIG problem with the event:

*Note: I'm not sure if this should go in the alcohol at HHN thread or not, but since this is a rant thread, I'll write it here:

This is supposed to be the nation's premiere Halloween event, yet they don't sell any regular energy drinks. I was feeling kinda worn out in the evening since I spent the day at Islands so I asked where I could buy Full Throttle or something to keep me up. I was pointed to one of those bar stands and it said, "Full Throttle" on it. My first thought was "Yes! They sell energy drinks here!" When I asked for one, they asked for my ID and said they only sell alcoholic energy drinks. WTC!? Alcoholic Monster drinks! Really? Coming from the Hollywood event, I'm used to them selling energy plain ol' energy drinks every five feet you see. I really don't see why it's so cotton pickin' hard for them to just sell plain ol' Full Throttles and Monsters. I mean, why would people want to be energized and be drunk at the same time? Don't they realize some people just need energy without being drunk?

Now let's get to the alcohol itself. That really disrupted the event for me with all of those drunks around. I rode the Jaws ride since I thought it would be cool to ride at night, and some guy in the row behind me (Who I saw finish up his whopping can of beer in the line) was yelling, "It's Jaws! I told you it was him!" The whole time. I had another unpleasant experience with a couple of drunkards behind me while in the hour-long line for the Orfanage. This guy behind me with his beer was cussing his head off and complaining about how long the line was. Then he and his girlfriend started singing loudly, then make out, then bicker at each other, and bump into me the whole time we were moving in line.

Reading my rant about the alcohol and the lack of energy drinks makes me more thankful that I live close to Hollywood.