Freakazoid's Review of HHN XX

[Freak]

I am going to HHN Hollywood this Friday and if I do, I will post a comparison review.

The first night I went was on a Thursday thinking that it wouldn't be very crowded. It actually turned out to be very crowded.So much so where I spent the majority of that time waiting in line and only getting to do seven out of the eight mazes (Missed out on Havoc.) Thankfully, I got the privilege of being able to go a second night, allowing me to enjoy the scarezones more, getting to do Havoc, seeing Brian Brushwood and riding a couple of rides. I am about to individually rate the mazes, scarezones, rides and shows and then rate the event as a whole and weigh out the likes and dislikes for the event.

Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate: This was the first maze of the night I hit since there was still daylight outside and I was advised to avoid Zombie, Orfanage, or sprung tent mazes because the daylight would interfere with the experience. The facade for this haunted attraction was just awesome! I loved walking up the steps into a large craftman-style house with all of the wires and computers around the opening room. The distraction in the first hallway scene was just amazing even though I never really got scared from it. I was glad I got to go in in the second time because I missed the cool scrim effect in the same hallway. There were some really, really cool scares that just scared the crap out of me pretty badly! Including (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!) The unexpected chair scare. That caught me completely off-guard! The environment was also awesome since it really felt as if I was walking through a haunted estate.

Scares: B Details/Environment: B Overall: B

PsychoScareapy: Echos of Shadybrook: I hit this maze next since this was right close to where I exited. This was a pretty cool maze in that it was dark, creepy, and had that abandoned asylum feel. The finale room was really trippy and freaked me out pretty bad!

Scares: B- Details/Environment: B+ Overall: B

Hades: Gates of Ruin: I'm sure you could tell already that I was working my way around the park. Let me say that this was second favorite maze of the event as this was my most anticipated maze. The facade was pretty intimidating, I loved the fog running through Hades' nose as you entered through his mouth, the set design and the environment was amazing, and on top of that the scareacotrs were at me at every corner! (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) The "butcher shop" scene fraked me out pretty badly since I had to squeeze past some severed body parts and then a seven-foot tall Cyclops scared the crap out of me! Man alive! This maze was flippin' scary! The only thing it lacked was the scent of fire, brimstone, and the scent of rotting meat that really vould have made this realistic and awesome. Plus, I thought there were too darn many sheets to have to walk through.

Scares: A Details/Environment: A+ Overall: A

ZombieGeddon: It was completely dark by the time I got out of Hades so I thought it would be safe to check this out. Although I thought the queue video was kinda cheesy, I did appreciate it very much since it builds up anticipation. For some reason, I thought zombies were cool, but were never really scared by them (I think Knott's is to blame for this after that terrible Quarantine maze.) but man did this maze renew the intimidation of zombies! One towards the end sneaked up right behind me (To the point of touching my clothes!) and snarled really loud in my ear! Scared me half to death! The baby also scared the wha-hoo out of me and that was a prop! The plastic room was pretty freaky. There was one scene where this zombie jumped out in this guy in from of me and as soon as he was done with his scare, he said, "Hey Jake what's up man!" and the gust replied, "Hey nice to see you man!" It kind of annoys me when scareactors do that since it completely takes me out of the moment. He could have at least growled his name and that would have been a lot better. Another thing that ticked me was this guy pushing his old wife in a wheelchair. I honestly want to know how they got out of there without getting a heart attack. I did like the carnival game stand though since it, to me, seemed like a nod to Zombieland.

Scares: B+ Details/Environment: B-

The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes: I had to wait a stinking hour for this maze when the wait time said it was fourty-five minutes. Just like the drunk guy colorfully pointed out behind me: "(Beep) this (Beep)! Fourty-five minutes my (Beep)!" So after I have waited over an hour in line with two drunk couples singing, then bickering, then cussing and complaining about the line, I finally made into this maze. Even though they didn't do very much to the facade (Just added burnt doors, burnt sign, and falling ashes from the roof), I thought it was cool how much it fit in with the Jaws queue. I liked the swing set and the see-saw. The environment was just awesome! It really felt like I was in a burnt orphanage with ruined walls and rooms. As for the scares itself, I only got one or two really good scares so it was kinda meh to me on that. I guess it was just an issue of timing for the most part. Again, I'm still surprised they lacked smells for this maze. Hollywood would have filled your nostrils with ash and ember if John Murdy had done this (He's the creative director for HHN Hollywood in case you didn't know.) Also, I don't understand why the place was populated with pigs? That didn't quite make any sense to me.

Scares: C Details/Environment: A Overall: C+

Catacombs: The Death Rising: I was going to do Havoc next, but after looking at the sign I didn't want to have to wait in another hour-long line so I moved over to Horror Nights. That line was moving so ridiculously slow so I migrated to Catacombs. The facade was kinda weak, but it did work as you transitioned into a black-death ridden catacomb tomb. The first room with the dead skeletons next to you reminded me very much of the House of Horrors back in Hollywood, especially with the musty tomb smell thrown in there. The scares were great and the costumes were flippin' awesome! The only thing that threw me out of the environment a bit was going through those bare-walled rooms with messages on there that I didn't have time to stop for a second and read.

Scares: A Details/Environment: B+ Overall: A-

Horror Nights: The Hallowed Past: Wow, Wow, WOW! This has to be by far the best maze of the event for me! Even though there was pretty much no facade, it worked fine since you were supposed to be in the Universal prop warehouse. I thought it was cool admiring all of the props and sets from the past. The spinning tunnel was great because it really made me feel dizzy which would set you up for an awesome scare as soon as you get out of there! The three trippy rooms in there almost made me crap my pants it was so darn scary! I liked how a lot of the rooms was an homage to the past so I could see what all of the past mazes were kind of like. I wished they made a room from the Wolfman maze in 2009. I would have loved that since I was disappointed to find that Hollywood was not doing a WM maze this year.

Scares: A Details/Environment: A+ Overall: A+ (Perfect score! Do NOT miss this!)

Havoc: Dogs of War: This was the maze I didn't have time for so I hit it first the second night. The facade was just awesome! I loved the machine gun that fired every ten minutes! That really added a lot! I thought this movie was going to have some influence from the movie, "The Crazies", but sure enough, nothing in the maze reminded me of that movie. A lot of obstacles in there freaked me out along with all of the bald guys. I was scared but annoyed when I had water randomly sprayed in my face. This maze was loud and scary, but didn't quite understand the story.

Scares: B+ Details/Environment: B+ Overall: B+

I don't really have a whole lot to say about the scarezomes so I won't review them individually. I will say that they were all awesome! Saws n' Steam being my favorite since it was really cool being stalked by steampunk killers in a dark and foggy ally way. I loved the neon stuff in Esquito and the music in Zombie Gras reminded me very much of Knott's Scary Farm for some reason. Also, I never saw Fear in Fear Revealed, but oh well.

Revenge of the Mummy: I freaking LOVED this ride! It's far superior to our Hollywood version. The only thing I miss from Hollywood was that the backwards section was a lot longer and more thrilling where here in Orlando it was just a small drop and you turn forwards for the remainder. The launch uphill didn't quite have have the force like in Hollywood. Pretty odd since the launch in Florida goes uphill. Very fast and very spectacular. The lava pit was just EPIC.

Rating: A+ (Best coaster PERIOD. Better than Rockin or Space Mountain at Disney World for sure!)

Jaws: Shark in the Dark: I think this ride is a classic and I'm very glad this was saved from the three times Universal has tried to remove this. It's just a lot scarier at night since I have a fear of swimming in dark water...especially since I was sitting at the edge! Man that boathouse scene was great! I wish I could have been seated at the left though since that's where the majority of the action goes on. Some guy who finished up his huge can of bear while in line was sitting behind me yelling, "It's Jaws! I told you it was him!" the whole time which was annoying. At least the ride was great.

Rating: B+

Men in Black: Alien Attack!: Another awesome ride. I love how you it's part dark ride, part shooting gallery, and part tilt-a-whirl. This ride is just so darn fun it's always a pleasure to be able to ride this and hope Hollywood puts something like this but with Ghostbusters or something like that someday after Transformers opens.

Rating: A

Brian Brushwood: Menace and Malice: I liked both shows even though I liked Menace better (That's the show with Mr. Happy Pants, right?) I thought the opening videos to both shows were kinda dumb, but the tricks and the dark humor used in both shows were great.It was a nice way to kill time and enjoy a cool show.

Rating: B

Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure: I should have seen it but decided not to because of all of the horrible reviews I've been hearing about the show. Decided to save it for Hollywood since I heard it was better.

Rating: N/A

Now as for the event as a whole, I think HHNO is definitely the premire Halloween event of this country. I probably would have enjoyed it more getting to go with someone, but my parents are not into this stuff and I don't know anybody in Florida so I had to go by myself. Is this better than Hollywood? Well, in terms of what they offer, yes. Was the event more enjoyable than Hollywood? I would say probably not. While I did have the time of my life having the crap scared out of me and being immersed in unique environments in the mazes, it was kind of hard since I was struggling to keep awake later since I couldn't find any energy drinks anywhere. Plus, I had to deal with those annoying drunks. Now to weigh out the pros and cons:

Pros:

-There are a good number of mazes to do

-Actors were top-notch and showed no mercy

-Scarezones were awesomely decorated

Cons:

-Way too much dead space

-Park closed at midnight on Thursdays whereas the West Coast Events close at one on non-peak nights

-There were almost no energy drinks being sold. On the WC, they would sell those things any moment they could!

-Alcohol being served deterred the event with lots of drunks.

Edited October 17, 2010 by Freakazoid

[Creeper06]

Good review, man. Again, sorry I missed you. Was this your first time going to HHN Orlando?

I still think it's the best Halloween event in the country and kicks the crap out of ours here in Hollywood (which in turn kicks the crap out of Knott's... it's all relative). This was my 10th year at HHN Orlando and I would put it pretty much in the middle. It was solid all around but not nearly as amazing as some past years. Last year's triple whammy of Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein was freaking EPIC!

[Freak]

Good review, man. Again, sorry I missed you. Was this your first time going to HHN Orlando?

I still think it's the best Halloween event in the country and kicks the crap out of ours here in Hollywood (which in turn kicks the crap out of Knott's... it's all relative). This was my 10th year at HHN Orlando and I would put it pretty much in the middle. It was solid all around but not nearly as amazing as some past years. Last year's triple whammy of Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein was freaking EPIC!

I wish I could've seen you but I was waiting in all of the lines! Why didn't I buy a FotL pass!? I guess I'll do that next time I go. Also, this was my first time to go to HHNO so his was a big treat for me!

I so wish I could've seen the Wolfman maze! Just reminds me of what we could've had for Hollywood this year!

[Creeper06]

I wish I could've seen you but I was waiting in all of the lines! Why didn't I buy a FotL pass!? I guess I'll do that next time I go. Also, this was my first time to go to HHNO so his was a big treat for me!

I so wish I could've seen the Wolfman maze! Just reminds me of what we could've had for Hollywood this year!

I never buy Express for Orlando and always get all 8 mazes, all scarezones, AND Bill & Ted done. But I always go on a Thursday or Sunday and I'm there right when it opens. You can do it but you have to keeping moving and know where you're going! This year I did it all with 90 minutes left to spare.

BTW- you're totally fine to have missed Bill & Ted in Orlando this year. It was BAD. Our version here in Holywood is so much better!

However- I still think the houses and scarezones in Orlando have it all over Hollywood.

[xdarling_dearx]

Man, you think the drunks are annoying? The first year I went to the event, in 2006, I went on MIB with my friends and there were beer bottles everywhere on the floor while waiting in line. My friend sat in her seat and discovered that someone had poured beer on it. Talk about nasty. Since then, they have cleaned the parks up a lot. I went on MIB this year and it was spotless and quiet inside since I went on a non-peak night. The drunks can be annoying for the most part except for some funny moments which make waiting in line a little less boring. What can I say, drunk people generally are entertaining to me.