A lurkers stab at a review (10/7)

[kwyjibo]

Howdy folks, after meeting up with some friends at Citywalk around 4ish and kicking around for a few hours we head in at around 6:30 and headed in...

We head by the Gibson in effort to ride Transformers early due to a friend wanting to ride it. After waiting 15 minutes in line it was announced that the ride was broken down. So after that waste of time.... Off to the mazes!

Welcome to Silent Hill.

Arriving at 7:10 and a 10 minute wait posted, it was practically a walk on, we gave the mailman the password but no luck. Entering the maze the scares started immediately and strong and intense. Although at times sparse and a little too heavy with the chain link fences I dug the set design. The scareactors were on their A game as well, getting attacked by multiple pyramid heads and the hallway with the nurses was intense as all get out. An awesome kick off to the night and a good omen that this year was going to surpass last years lackluster at best event.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Saw is the Law.

Directly after Silent Hill we zipped across to Texas Chainsaw. Another posted 10 minute wait, but it was essentially a walk on. I had great expectations for this maze, since Back in Business was the scariest haunt I've ever gone through and well it didn't disappoint. The actors here were on point and were aggressive, and relentless. The cook in the scene with the broom in particular was nuts and really singled me out, kept screaming Yes! Yes! Yes! At my cries of No! No! No! Another great maze and totally the strong point of the night.

Terror Tram: Invaded by The Walking Dead

Heading back to the upper lot at about 8 we decide to hit the Terror Tram which has posted a 60 minute wait. An hour and a half later we get on to the tram and head on down. There isn't a whole lot I can say here, it's the same tram as usual and aside from a few fun moments the whole thing was pretty dull and the low point of my night (This includes UMR too, but more on that later) Most scareactors here were pretty lazy, targeting only the easiest scare targets, typically packs of idiot squealing teenage girls. I liked the slightly tweaked paths but on the most eh. On the plus side (and almost ironic considering my prior complaint) the slipper girl at the exit of the tram completely terrorized me (tall husky bearded dude) and wouldn't let me go. Loved it.

Universal Monsters Remixed

Walked right onto this after Terror Tram, my expectations were low, but I figured I might as well give it a whirl. As silly as the concept was, I do have to say the scares were on, I had a few great ones. The Phantom of the Opera, the Psycho room, Tiffany and The Strangers all got good jolts out of me, which is more than I can say for Terror Tram.

Alice Cooper Goes To Hell.

Same with UMR my expectations were incredibly low here. I thought Welcome to My Nightmare was one of the stupidest mazes I've ever been in all around, from concept, theme, design, the whole package blew. So we get in line with a 45 minute posted wait. 75 annoying minutes later we get in. And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Although light on scares the maze had a fun vibe and lots of energy. The 3D effects were great, and I dug a lot of the production design, and I liked that it seemed more inspired by Cooper, than the obnoxious fan wank WTMN was.

The Walking Dead: Dead Inside

We head over here after ACGTH it was around midnight and it had an hour wait posted. We were bummed it looked like we would miss La Llorona, but we decided this would be the last maze of the night. I loved the queue and the projecting scenes from the show on the side of the building. The queue moved incredibly fast and we ended up getting inside after about 20 minutes. I loved how intense this maze was and had excellent flow, the scares were a little repetative, but I mean how much can you do with zombies anyway so I'm forgiving on that aspect, since the talent here were actually trying as opposed to what I saw on its tram counterpart. I will say I loved the barn scene, and it was intense and terrifying.

La Llorona: La Cazadora De Ninos

Thankfully due to some awesome line control at TWD we ended up being able to hit La Llorona with enough time to spare before park closing. This was my favorite maze last year, and this one turned last years strengths up to 11. Last year was spooky, this year was aggressive and terrifying. The scareactors were aggressive and I loved the new scares, I think the portrait coming to life scare was my favorite of the night.

So wrapping up I loved this year's event, after being incredibly cynical after last year. My favorite horror movie (Scream) was given the shaft, while the events creative director seemingly more interested in autographs from C level at best horror related celebrities than actually making a quality event( a common joke in my group last year was "What's next? A Bridget Marquardt maze?") but petty bitching aside I loved this years event, and I want to try to get back before the end of the event to try to see everything, included Bill & Ted, which we probably would have had time for had we not wasted a good chunk of the early part of the night and had done Terror Tram early as opposed to waiting for nothing over by Transformers. Thanks for reading guys.

[Trevler]

The little walker girl at Tram Plaza is AMAZING. I love working with her.

[DTH316]

Good read. Too bad you were disappointed by Terror Tram. It sounds like Sunday wasn't a very good visit for anyone. The lines for it sound out of control and they need to come up with a better solution: with an already overcrowded park, making what's usually a lean wait time on any other night a madhouse is just making the situation worse. Terror Tram needs to stay open until at least 10:30 or 11.

And I agree about the bunny slipper girl. She looks like an actual little kid... so that freaks me out even more lol

Edited October 9, 2012 by DTH316