9/24 HHN Experience

[TheORKINMan]

Couple of thoughts. WTF was up with it being so freaking crowded on a Sunday night? This is my third year going to the event, the previous two years I went on Saturday nights both times, on Halloween Night and the day after Halloween neither of those times was it nearly as crowded as it was this time on a Sunday night.

I got in at 6, the intro video was really well done this year IMO and I definitely enjoyed the theming and mythos behind it all. Even getting in at 6 though we only were able to hit 3 houses + Bill and Ted by 11 PM. We came out of Hallowed Past and wanted to go hit Zombiegeddon but it was a 90 minute wait at 11PM and we didn't wanna get back to the hotel at 2AM.

We went counterclockwise for the first time this year and hit Legendary Truth. I really enjoyed the intricacies of this house. If you saw a huge dude going through with his ears covered that was me. Not because of the ambient noise or the scareactors but I had the highest pitched banshee shrieking girls in front of and behind me that were making me go deaf. Despite that though I really enjoyed this house.

Next we hit Hades which was by far the "scariest" of the three houses we hit. Tons of boo holes you really cant see. The one with the guy in a lizard costume really got me.

Finally we hit Hallowed Past which was my favorite house of the three we went to. I'm not sure if the Chucky doll is automatic or triggered by a scareactor but if so it reduced a girl in front of me to the ground and then trying to run backwards to get out. The spinning blacklight room seriously nearly gave me vertigo And the mirror room definitely gave me an "oh crap" thought when we walked in because there was no telling where anything was coming from there. Unfortunately I missed whatever the big scare was at the end, it had people in front of and behind me dashing out as fast as possible.

Bill and Ted, which was one of my favorite things the past two years seemed really lame and not nearly as funny this year. I dunno what it was but it just wasn't as funny. Coming out of Bill and Ted's they actually had blocked off going right entirely back towards Orfanage and Zombie Gra. I asked people working by Men in Black wtf was up with that and they had no idea. However that definitely contributed to us wanting to head out instead of walking a long way around to get back over to Zombiegeddon.

As far as scare zones I really liked Esquelate Muerte as something different from past years. I also really liked Zombie Gras. 20 Years of Fear/Fear Revealed was my favorite section for a whole littany of reasons not the least of which was the photo oppurtunities. If the scareactor who played the Storyteller that night reads this thank you very much. I got a great picture of you stabbing me The Usher was also very amicable to pictures. Whoever was playing Jack was all over the place though and it was very difficult to get a picture of him. All in all I had a great time despite not hitting as much stuff as previous years. Will probably go back to going Halloween weekend to avoid the pre-Halloween crowd I guess.

On a final note going into Legendary Truth there was a couple that seriously tried to bring their infant in a baby carraige into the house with them. An ops person and a police officer barred them from going in so thank you very much to whoever did that. On that note the parents left the baby outside with their teenage sons while THEY went inside which really made it seem like they are just terrible parents but I digress

Edited October 26, 2010 by TheORKINMan

[Cold Dog]

Man, I agree about the crowdedness. I went yesterday as well, hoping to hit all the houses with 15-20 min wait times...but it was more crowded than when I went on a Friday! 120min wait for Orfanage? No thanks. Off peak night? Whut?

I got there at around 6:15ish...traffic and parking was horrible. Didn't actually get into the park until around 8ish because of the long metal detector lines and ticket lines. I guess because it's cheaper on Sundays more people come? Also because it was a week before Halloween I suppose. I only got to hit 3 houses. 65 min wait for Psychoscarepy, which I was surprised, I thought it was great (not the wait time though, lol). I went through Legendary Truth for a 3rd time, with a 45 min wait, and Catacombs with a 30 min wait. It was pretty ridiculous.

I'm probably going back next Friday, because I still haven't gotten into Hades or Havoc.

[Jakemeister]

Lake County had off Sunday.

[DevanLee]

If it makes you feel better I ended up leaving on Sunday (the 24th) at 9pm compared to my usual midnight or so. I have a FFP so it wasn't a complete waste besides the gas I use to drive 2 hours there and 2 hours back home. But I did not plan well, I had nooo idea schools were out on Monday. I have never gone when it was that crowded, or so many kids EVERYWHERE. But I still enjoyed what I could. I knew when I saw that houses were already a 60min wait before 730pm, it was insanely crowded.