The "REAL" 2010 HHN

[Hauntfan]

In 2010, as we all remember, the announcements were taking forever to come out. Spoiled by the previous year's announcements we were expecting announcements early-mid summer. But instead they came later. I know we were excited when they announced HOTC, La Llorona, Klownz and I believe Vampyre was in that string of announcements as well. I remember thinking that we would get an all new event like the previous year. So, I remember, checking my computer one day and seeing, Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees would return to HHN 2010. I said "WTF!", we had them in 2007/2008 we get one year of all new and then go straight back to those properties. I couldn't believe it. Okay, now to the point of this topic, I realized earlier this year, this is not what they were planning. Using my logic and speculation, I think I may have a feeling of what they were going to do in 2010. I know for a fact Vampyre: Castle of the Undead was planned in the Shrek Venue. So obviously that ruled out a Freddy maze, so they weren't originally planning to have Freddy and Jason. Here's what I think that year was supposed to be.

Mazes

The Wolfman (WWW Venue)

HOTC (T2/JP Queue) There was a change of Venue's

Vampyre: Castle of the Undead (Shrek Queue)

TBD (Mummy Venue)

TBD (HOH)

Obviously Wolfman was already planned for 2009 but the release date got pushed back, to which John responded by replacing it with MBV. So, I believe John wanted to do The Wolfman in 2010, before the decision to bring Jason and Freddy back. More supporting this logic, I realized that The Wolfman came to the event in 2011, obviously means John really wanted to do it, got pushed back again last year, and eventually got pushed to HOH.

These 3 mazes have something that ties them together. They are all Urban Legends, even La Llorona. In its simplest form, Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts and a local urban legend Dr. Satan. I wonder if they had planned to do an Urban Legend type event in 2010, with an Icon? Maybe Sam? La Llorona? All I know is, whatever was originally planned was better than management wanting to bring back Freddy Jason and SAW. Who else feels this way?

Edited August 1, 2012 by Hauntfan

[Kurseddragon]

That'd be a major motivation loss if that were true.

I kinda don't want it to be true, 'cause in my opinion, 2010 was the worst out of the three years I've gone.

If it had the ability to be more organized, but didn't, it just saddens me especially knowing that it kind of affected the following year with Wolfman and possibly the loss of Trick 'r Treat altogether.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Kurseddragon

[Hauntfan]

^This is all just reverse speculation if that's a thing, lol. But I've kind of been researching 2010 and finding clues to point to different things. This is what it ended up as. I only did this because I too think 2010 was the worst year of HHN in Hollywood and I wish we had this event instead.

[DTH316]

I loved 2010. My second favorite year behind 2008 (oddly, another year of repeats). All the repeat mazes were much more amped up. If you listen to those podcasts (which I know Hauntfan has), you'll hear Murdy's dismay for the F13: Camp Blood maze. It was a good maze but it wasn't necessarily scary. Mostly fun for the details and throwbacks. NOES wasn't very scary either in 07 until it got some major upgrades in 08 (again, my main reason for loving that year because the upgrades were miles beyond). However, both of the remake versions of those mazes in 2010 were 5 times better than their 07 or 08 versions which were already pretty damn good. F13 was finally intense AND scary. NOES dropped the "slasher angle" and made YOU, the guest, the victim instead, which made it personal, scarier and unique to HHN at the time. Saw's added rooms were better too, except for getting rid of the operating room, which was my favorite from before and switched it with pigs and the Rack. Then the best HOH yet with Vampyre and despite the stupid Zs, some great scarezones. Only downfalls were, imho, the TT and HOTC but everything else made up for it with the uber intense vibe all the mazes had that year, which I don't think has been matched. HOTC might've failed for me but it at least tried to be very scary in it's final 2/3 of the maze. Only thing I consider a freakin' joke about that year was the Terror Tram. But in retrospect, 2010 was like we basically had 3 or 4 TCMs, which is HHNs granddaddy maze. All the other years have had just one or two uber intense, gritty and super scary mazes.

As for Wolfman, I doubt he was going to throw it in the WWW. That's a VERY big space in comparison to Shrek. I doubt he would've remade the entire maze for a bigger space. Murdy often says he creates the mazes specifically for a certain space and they get specific layouts. A new treatment and a new layout is 1/4 the way to starting over from scratch. I know on this site, that location is what we hoped and wanted the maze to go in but I don't think that was the reality (unless you have some evidence Murdy was bringing it back for '10 in the WWW venue). HOTC being switched from JP to T2 was different. I think they were told they couldn't use that space early on and had to find another spot for a 5th maze.

2010 must've been a very frustrating year for the creative team. All the crap that went wrong, switched around, postponed, replaced, and the criticism from the fans before (I know I was VERY skeptical) and the criticism from the fans after who couldn't get over the fact the mazes were repeated themes and just couldn't see beyond that.

[Hauntfan]

^I liked 2010, the atmosphere was the second best, but the mazes fell flat for me. Just because even though Friday the 13th and NOES were the original slashers, so many haunts copy that, it felt repetitive. Oddly, my favorite year of mazes 2011, didn't have this atmosfear. But the mazes were outstanding.

About Kong, I believe they were designing HOTC for the JP Queue, when management realized how much popularity Kong would have, so they would need him at the event. If I had to guess, they were about 2 1/2-3 weeks or so into the design, considering the HOTC in the Terminator Queue, started about 3 weeks late on construction.

Wolfman, I can't remember where, but I read somewhere of plans for the Wolfman in the WWW Venue, which could be a reason they kept the trees from the original F13, for Wolfman in 2009, that got pushed back, they figured Wolfman would appear in 2010, but got replaced by F13 again. Which could explain why there was a lot of immersive forest sets in F13, there seemed to be a heck of a lot more trees and forest scenes in the new maze, based on videos I'd seen for the old.

So yeah, 2010 was a good year, for me the atmosphere was great, mazes not as much, but if we didn't get the NLC characters return, we could've, in my opinion, had a much better event.

Edit: I think one of the reasons the Wolfman may have gone in the WWW Venue, if the source I read from was correct, could have been the fact that John would want an original maze (Vampyre) in the smallest venue (Shrek) and a big movie (Wolfman) in a larger venue (WWW Venue).

Edited August 1, 2012 by Hauntfan

[Kurseddragon]

So, I recall asking John which maze had been cut after the event ended that year.

He said "Nicasio? I think a famous album was recorded there. Hmmm...."

No idea what exactly he meant by it, but I tried looking up anything horror related recorded there and I stumbled upon Dracula.

Maybe it meant Vampyres? Or I was completely off and missed whatever he was trying to get through completely.

[Hauntfan]

Nicasio was supposed to be a maze last year. The album recorded was Pearl Jam's VS, the maze, which was confirmed by John, as Freddy V.S Jason, get it, VS. .

It was replaced by Alice Cooper. Could you imagine though having Freddy and Jason again last year. Granted it was a different setting and only 1 maze, but I swear, if that happened last year, I may have never attended HHN again, lol.

[DTH316]

^I liked 2010, the atmosphere was the second best, but the mazes fell flat for me. Just because even though Friday the 13th and NOES were the original slashers, so many haunts copy that, it felt repetitive. Oddly, my favorite year of mazes 2011, didn't have this atmosfear. But the mazes were outstanding.

About Kong, I believe they were designing HOTC for the JP Queue, when management realized how much popularity Kong would have, so they would need him at the event. If I had to guess, they were about 2 1/2-3 weeks or so into the design, considering the HOTC in the Terminator Queue, started about 3 weeks late on construction.

Wolfman, I can't remember where, but I read somewhere of plans for the Wolfman in the WWW Venue, which could be a reason they kept the trees from the original F13, for Wolfman in 2009, that got pushed back, they figured Wolfman would appear in 2010, but got replaced by F13 again. Which could explain why there was a lot of immersive forest sets in F13, there seemed to be a heck of a lot more trees and forest scenes in the new maze, based on videos I'd seen for the old.

So yeah, 2010 was a good year, for me the atmosphere was great, mazes not as much, but if we didn't get the NLC characters return, we could've, in my opinion, had a much better event.

Edit: I think one of the reasons the Wolfman may have gone in the WWW Venue, if the source I read from was correct, could have been the fact that John would want an original maze (Vampyre) in the smallest venue (Shrek) and a big movie (Wolfman) in a larger venue (WWW Venue).

The forest is actually something they have just laying around from the ET queue. Any maze with shrubbery, it's from that ride. Some of it's in the HOH now but a lot of it is put in storage and used for a maze EVERY year.

It was replaced by Alice Cooper. Could you imagine though having Freddy and Jason again last year. Granted it was a different setting and only 1 maze, but I swear, if that happened last year, I may have never attended HHN again, lol.

I can't remember. The Steven codename popped up after Nicasio was eliminated?

[Hauntfan]

^I'm pretty sure that John said Steven replaced Nicasio.

The crates that the trees came in were labeled Jason Trees or something, so some of those trees may have been specifically for F13 in 2007. I know that E.T has a lot of trees left over, there were a ton in that ride, but I think there were some specifically for the maze, but I might be wrong.

[Freak]

2010...oooohhhhh boy. What a year of disappointment. I had a good time at the event, but I could never get over the heartbreak from the repeats being dropped on us. To make up for it, that was the year I went to HHN Orlando.

Hauntfan, you are right. There was LOTS of stuff planned for HHN 2010 that got cut. Murdy did say himself on Twitter that HoTC was originally planned to go in the JP venue. Due to Kong's popularity, management told him to relocate it somewhere else. Apparently, Murdy wanted to go for a Myths and Legends theme which would have been AMAZING....but turned into an example of corporate screwing things up. I believe this is what the line-up would have been:

-????? (In HoH) Maybe Frankenstein was supposed to be in there?

-The Wolfman (WWW)

-Vampyre: Castle of the Undead (Shrek)

-House of 1000 Corpses (JP queue)

-Saw with brand-new layout (Mummy)

It's really frustrating to consider that had it not been for the stupid remake of NoES, 2010 would have been an event for the books. Now it's remembered as one of the low-points for many HHN fans like me. If only I had eight pounds of plutonium, a flux capacitor, and a Deloreon to stop Michale Bay from coming up with that NoES remake....

[Hauntfan]

^NOES remake ruined HHN 2010. You know, management also screwed 2008 as well. I think I heard somewhere, we were supposed to get a dual park Orlando/Hollywood event like in 2007 but management insisted on the NLC properties. So, right there, 2 awesome events ruined because of Freddy and Jason.

I wonder if either of those events worked with an Icon and became a success, would we have a tradition of an Icon/Theme each year? Because management seems to decide stuff based on when the event was successful.

[Freak]

^NOES remake ruined HHN 2010. You know, management also screwed 2008 as well. I think I heard somewhere, we were supposed to get a dual park Orlando/Hollywood event like in 2007 but management insisted on the NLC properties. So, right there, 2 awesome events ruined because of Freddy and Jason.

Unfortunately, this was true as well. As a matter of fact, they sold Bloody Mary t-shirts in the stores since they wanted to just get rid of them even though the event changed.

I wonder if either of those events worked with an Icon and became a success, would we have a tradition of an Icon/Theme each year? Because management seems to decide stuff based on when the event was successful.

Who knows. This probably would have been the case.

[Hauntfan]

^That is truly a disappointment. Man if only we could visit the "Alternate Universe" where the 2008 and 2010 events were the way they were supposed to be!

Edit: But I can't completely blame management for 2008, the make-up artist of Bloody Mary did sue Orlando, Hollywood probably didn't want to get caught up in that mess, so they brought back the NLC properties. And that showed management that people will come even if there are repeats, no real "theme/icon" and no original ideas. Seems they haven't gotten out of that mindset.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Hauntfan

[DTH316]

Oddly enough, 2008 and 2010 are probably why HHN has grown to what it is now.

Personally, I heard of 06 after the event had already passed and didn't care too much due to the lack of mazes. 2007, I just HAD to go for Freddy, Jason and Leatherface. 2008, I wanted to go again JUST to see them one more time, plus alot of people at that point still hadn't heard of HHN and didn't even know of the NLC mazes (still, to this day, I bump into a few people who don't know what HHN is). By 2010, the popularity had peaked but there were still a lot of people who missed 07/08. A lot of people were already fans from 09 and were going regardless or had heard enough positive word of mouth to go that year for a first time and were glad to see Jason and Freddy pop up. Last year, I kept hearing people say, "I came here because I thought there was a Freddy maze!" or variations of that. We STILL hear demand for it. Freddy and Jason have made HHN a popular Halloween event, and will continue to expand the event in the future whenever they do them next. Be grateful for 08 and 10, or who knows, maybe we'd be heading into another hiatus at this point! Same goes for the Hanging at Knotts. People LOVED Freddy and that show thrived more and more each year he was around. It honestly hasn't been the same since he's been gone but it still has a legion of fans who've become fans of the show because they've grown to know it due to Freddy's presence.

Edited August 1, 2012 by DTH316

[Kurseddragon]

^ I agree with DTH.

I was completely oblivious to every single one of these events until '09.

I had no idea any theme park in the world had any Halloween event.

I learned about HHN and just had to go. I was a fan of Saw, so I was excited for that.

In 2010, when I learned Freddy was coming and there was the new movie, I decided to watch the remake, then go back and watch every single Freddy movie I could find on Youtube.

Also, after learning about the event and looking up previous years, I was pretty sad (And still am) that I never got to attend '07 and '08. Especially knowing TCM is (in most opinions) the best maze they've ever had.

I wasn't mad that they brought Freddy and Jason in 2010, even though it's a repeat, 'cause I wanted to experience it for myself.

Maybe we're all just too greedy about the repeats and should have sympathy for those who couldn't attend the maze the first time. ;D

So, yeah, I'd agree that '08 and 2010 definitely brought expansion to the event.

(Sorry, I kinda went off topic)

Edited August 1, 2012 by Kurseddragon

[Hauntfan]

^^That's all true. But... and this is a big but, we may have never known how the success would have played out those years. No doubt NLC characters helped our event get awareness, but Bloody Mary worked well for Orlando in 2008, if I'm not mistaken, they had a very successful year in 08. So we will never know what would have happened, but you're probably right. Although, I doubt having a more original event in 08 would have thrust us into hiatus .

[DTH316]

Orlando is way different. They're already the biggest Halloween event on the east coast, despite what the theme or properties are with little competition. In fact, repeats are sudden death from fans over there. They get new stuff EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I bet 10% of the new people who went to HHNO went solely for the NLC 3. But I can almost guarantee that about 90% of people were introduced to HHNH because of the NLC 3.

[Ridesandstuff]

^I'm pretty sure that John said Steven replaced Nicasio.

The crates that the trees came in were labeled Jason Trees or something, so some of those trees may have been specifically for F13 in 2007. I know that E.T has a lot of trees left over, there were a ton in that ride, but I think there were some specifically for the maze, but I might be wrong.

I think Soap Opera (La Llorona) replaced Nicasio

[WESKER69]

Okay i want to clear up a few things...

But I can't completely blame management for 2008, the make-up artist of Bloody Mary did sue Orlando, Hollywood probably didn't want to get caught up in that mess

This is completely 100% false. Bobby Wiener (yes that is her name), did not copyright the makeup design of Bloody Mary until AFTER HHN. She did not sue Universal. The issues in 2008 regarding Bloody Mary were the soccer moms complaining that the lackluster uninspired mediocre billboard was "too scary & giving their children nightmares" Universal's response to the complaints- they put up even more billboards. The character of Bloody Mary was a UNI created creation, but due to the evil Wiener, UNI only has control over Dr Mary Agana (Bloody Mary's alter-ego), who did make a cameo appearance in 2010's PsychoScareapy house.

Despite the copyright, La Llorona's first appearance at HHNH WAS technically Bloody Mary. Thankfully the look of her was changed the following year.

Bloody Mary worked well for Orlando in 2008, if I'm not mistaken, they had a very successful year in 08.

It was a successful year, but it was also an event that was really geared heavily towards the fans. Especially with the Legendary Truth in-park/online activity. And Bloody Mary was actually NOT the original icon for 2008. They were originally supposed to have an evil fairytale queen, however marketing felt that it was "too similar to the nieghbors" (disney), so they wanted Lizzie Borden. But she already has a backstory, so A&D (art & design) suggested Bloody Mary, since she was known, but had no actual backstory...

In fact, repeats are sudden death from fans over there. They get new stuff EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

That's not entirely true. The younger fanboys have an anneurysm when it comes to repeats (and anything that could be considered Hollywood related, but yet they're the same ones that beg for IPs/repeats... go figure). But for the rest of us, repeats aren't always a bad thing because they're sometimes better than the originals. We don't always get "new" every year, sure to an extent we do, but Orlando has its fair share of repeats. A good example of a repeat is 2002's Screamhouse which was brought back in 2003, with very minimal changes.

[Hauntfan]

^Oh, I see. I'm still pretty sure that could have been a reason Hollywood didn't want to use Bloody Mary.

^^DTH, while Orlando gets a largely new event each year, we get repeats. But, I think 2008 was supposed to be an all new year and so was 2010. Call me crazy but I'm pretty sure their original plans were the ALL-NEW gimmick.

[DTH316]

Well my point was, despite its plans to possibly be all new in 08 and 10, those were the years that surged HHN to become a mainstay popular event.

[Hauntfan]

^I disagree, somewhat. I believe 2008/2009 is when the popularity really surged toward HHN. I could be wrong though as I don't have official numbers to back that up, just my opinion on crowds.

[DTH316]

Murdy once said 2010 was their biggest year. And if you compare the sold out nights in 2010 to the sold out nights of last year, 2010 had way more (that they advertised as sold out at least). And 2009's popularity could be contributed to the word of mouth of 07&08's quality. 07 brought a lot of people in, 08 brought a lot of people back. If 08 was all new, those numbers probably wouldn't have increased the same. Without 08 being that transitioning year, 09 would've never been the lift off event it was.Thus, 08 and 10 being it's defining years!

[Trevler]

I wonder if either of those events worked with an Icon and became a success, would we have a tradition of an Icon/Theme each year? Because management seems to decide stuff based on when the event was successful.

You have no idea how right this quote is.

[Trevler]

Murdy once said 2010 was their biggest year. And if you compare the sold out nights in 2010 to the sold out nights of last year, 2010 had way more (that they advertised as sold out at least).

The change to the Frequent Fear Pass is also a big part of this.