Opening Weekend 2012 Review

[WESKER69]

OPENING WEEKEND REVIEW

Friday, September 21st, 2012

Okay so opening night sucked Shia Labouf more than EP... This was due to the rain instead of the crowds. In the words of Janet Weisz- "I'm Cold, I'm Wet & I'm just plain scared!" Anyway, since I was soaked, I had no desire to do a damn thing that night. Even though I was already wet, I was not about to wait in line for the houses only to become even wetter and then possibly end up sick. So yea, Friday night was awful.

I ended up only doing 3 houses that night. "Alice Cooper: WTMN" (twice), "Dead End" & "Penn & Teller Newkd Las Vegas".

I keep noticing new things anytime I do "AC: WTMN", so i've been enjoying the house for the most part. Its not a great house, but its not terrible either. Its just different.

Now as for "Dead End", this was the first time going through the house. Unfortunately the spinning tunnel was turned off that night when we went through, so that was disappointing. As for the house itself, it feels like 2010's LT:WE and "Screamhouse" mutated together to create this house & then filled with a random variety of scareactors. While I didn't care for the house itself, the scareactors did well... especially the 2-3 that pretty much made me nearly crap myself. I don't get scared in the houses, so getting the shit scared out of me 2-3 different times was a nice surprise.

Lastly "Penn & Teller Newkd Las Vegas"... I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this house. It actually ended up being pretty good and not completely what i expected. The houses seemed to be more about the scares than it was about being comedic. Also the 3D is definitely just a gimmick/for fun, but nothing more (which is fine). Surprisngly, I got the shit scared out of me in the Poker Chip scene & then again in the Finale. Overall, I enjoyed the house.

As for the streets, they didn't really improve due to the rain, so only saw the warriors briefly in NY at the end of the night when it had stopped raining enough for them to come out and play. Possibly saw the Traditionals over in World Expo as well.

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Saturday, September 22nd, 2012

Thankfully it did not rain and there was little to no crowds when I got there, so I was able to walk right in. I ended up dicking around for about an hour talking to TJ, Rick & Ray after getting my UH badge/card. Then I ran to Kidzone... only I ended up pausing for a brief moment in Hollywood near HMU because the Vampires were out and I saw "The Master" from Season 1 of "Buffy".

After that quick distraction I hauled ass to "Universal's House of Horrors" where I once again got the crap scared out of me by Dracula It was nice to see The Wolfman scene had been tweaked since Employee Preview. Definitely still a good house for being so last minute & incomplete. The cast does a great job for what they have to work with and will only get better.

"AC: WTMN" was another decent run-through. Like I said before, the house isnt great, but its not bad either.

I met up with Dr Jimmy got a blinky drink. Saw Lizz briefly. Then we headed over to B&T for the 8:45pm show. This was my first time seeing the show... and well, it was definitely different. Not really sure if it was different in a good way or a bad way just yet. There were good parts and there were "meh" parts. I didn't really laugh at a lot of the stuff, probably because I was just so thrown off by the show being "different". The cast was great. B&T themselves were awesome as always. I'm definitely going to need to see the show at least 2 more times before I can really say what I think of it.

After the show, Dr Jimmy and I headed over to "The Walking Dead"... personally... the house was awful to me. Which is pretty much what I expected since i've seen the show. Generic zombie house with an IP name slapped onto it. However, the ONLY redeeming quality this house has is the end.. and im not talking about the barn. I really liked how they extended the house into the exit after the barn finale. I thought that gauntlet style exit path with scareactors randomly placed was by far better than the house.

We headed to "Silent Hill" after getting drinks at Finnegans.. Unfortunately, I found the "Silent Hill" movie more creepy/scary than the house. I was really hoping for this house to scare more, but I found it to be kind of underwhelming. Definitely not the scareactors fault, the house just sort've lacked something. Pyramid Head on the other hand, he was freaking awesome! By far the best scene & coolest scareactor. It made me really wish we had a photo-op area with him.

After escaping from SH, we went over to "HoH".. another decent run-through for the house. Of course got all turned around in the finale though. lol

Next up was "P&T"... I chose to not wear the 3D glasses this time just so I could take in the house. I also stumbled upon another GAT (Guest Activated Trigger) located in the slot machine scene, or i just had really good timing with touching things lol. And of course... once again, I got the shit scared out of me in the finale.

We ended the night with "Gothic" & "Dead End"... Gothic was still not doing it for me. I know it looks good and all, but I'm still not "loving" the house like everyone else seems to. Pretty set design doesn't cut it for me, I need something more.

As for "Dead End", while I still don't care for the house itself, I was happy to see the spinning tunnel working. Unfortunately, I think I like the tunnel better when it doesn't have a box around the walkway to remove the disorienting effect. It might have been better had there been an actual strobe effect and possible audio. While I didn't get any scares this time around, I did have a scareactor in the conservatory(?) that seemed to have recognized me. They were the last one on the right, they got up in my face and stared me down while walking with me until the doorway. THAT was great. No idea who it was, but loved it. We also saw Nancy (HHNDollfie)!

As for the streets, it was a major improvement over EP. Now I still feel that there should be bigger casts since they have such larger areas to cover, but they all did really well. Matt followed Dr Jimmy all the way through Central Park, which made me & two of our friends giggle like the hyenas from Lion King. I got my leg humped by Valdez (enough said). The only real issue I have with the streets this year is the lack of lighting. I find it pointless to have these massive set pieces only for it to be too damn dark to see them. Same with the scareactors themselves, it'd be nice to have enough light to see their costumes. Especially The Iniquitus photo-ops.

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Overall, this weekend was a major improvement over Employee Preview. Now Im still not sold on the event. I do find it to be a little on the weak side, but this isn't due to the scareactors. Mostly just the presentation I guess. It will be interesting to see how the event evolves over the next few weekends.

[Chef]

I gotta say the 8:45 B&T show on Saturday had such a terrible audience. It was my first time seeing the show this year, and I thought it was great. I laughed a lot. But the rest of the audience didn't seem to be laughing or reacting with me. Nobody was stomping and clapping during We will rock you....I liked the show but the audience didn't seem to be going for it which threw me a little bit. The only reference I didn't understand was Madmen, never seen that show, so I didn't get the joke and it recurs several times, but the rest of the show I thought was most excellent!

My favorite part of this particular show was watching the sign language interpreters use several less-than-classy words. Classic.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Chef

[canesfan1356]

I gotta say the 8:45 B&T show on Saturday had such a terrible audience. It was my first time seeing the show this year, and I thought it was great. I laughed a lot. But the rest of the audience didn't seem to be laughing or reacting with me. Nobody was stomping and clapping during We will rock you....I liked the show but the audience didn't seem to be going for it which threw me a little bit. The only reference I didn't understand was Madmen, never seen that show, so I didn't get the joke and it recurs several times, but the rest of the show I thought was most excellent!

My favorite part of this particular show was watching the sign language interpreters use several less-than-classy words. Classic.

I don't usually post too much but I agree with exactly what you said so I feel the need to say something. I was also at this show and I felt the exact same way that you felt. The crowd just wasn't feeling it... It also felt like the stage-left side of the show was full of fun/liberals and the stage-right side was quiet/full of conservatives because when jokes about Mr. Mitt Romney were made, I was hearing derogatory words being used against homosexuals and I began to feel angry... I hope the next time I see the show that I am with a more welcoming crowd. Other than that, I thought the show was very entertaining!

[Cody]

I was actually very worried when I initially heard about the show, as the director/scriptwriter was unable to keep his personal views on the election out of the show and basically tried to turn Romney into a joke. I'm a democrat through and through, but the show wasn't balanced at all and just ends up pissing off all the conservatives who attend.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Cody

[canesfan1356]

I was actually very worried when I initially heard about the show, as the director/scriptwriter was unable to keep his personal views on the election out of the show and basically tried to turn Romney into a joke. I'm a democrat through and through, but the show wasn't balanced at all and just ends up pissing off all the conservatives who attend.

I agree with this statement.