TeenagerFromMars Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I wonder what that doll faced thing is for? Island of the Dolls/El Cucuy? Curse of Chucky? It's for BS 13:3D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 Moved the Universal Plaza posts to the random news threat at the USH subforum. Any discussions about the park on general please discuss there. Thanks. I went to the park today and got some good shots of some construction going on. I'm working on posting them now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UniversalStudiosGeek Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Wonder if the UP will be open during HHN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 Wonder if the UP will be open during HHN Murdy said it will be used for the queue line for El Cucuy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.HHN Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Since nothing is really going on in this thread, I am deciding to pose a question (Maybe this should be made into a sub topic on the forums): Which will be better this year? Knott's or Universal? I have never been to Knott's so wouldn't know, but there was a big debate last year when Knott's surprised everyone with better mazes. As far as scarezones are concerned, apparently Knott's is better, but will that be the case with the new Walking Dead scarezone? Universal has always had higher quality mazes, but will that still be true now that Knott's has less mazes and can focus more on detail? How will the crowds compare? Knott's has shorter lines, but will Universal's get shorter now that the park has expanded to the backlot? How will the scares be? Universal has the classic distract and scare, but Knott's seems to have more of a variety of scares. Will the new soundstage maze at Universal allow for more creative scares (i.e. bungie scares)? Just a thought of something we can maybe discuss (even though, as previously mentioned, I've never been to Knott's.). Try not to use confirmation bias when responding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevler Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I love Knott's. You should totally go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I love Knott's. You should totally go. Trust me, I want to. It's just that Universal is closer for me. Which do you think is more enjoyable as an event? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevler Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Well, I've never gone to Universal as a guest, so I don't have good perspective there, but I think Knott's is a lot of fun. Sometimes, Universal seems so focused on being "scary" they lose sight that it should be "fun" too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Despite whatever opinions you get here, I highly urge you to go to Knotts and see it for yourself. If you're a fan of HHN and a fan of haunts, mazes, scarezones, Halloween, etc. then I see no reason why you shouldn't at least go and try it for yourself; more than likely you'll have the time of your life. HOWEVER -- now this is my humble opinion, Knotts is crap. And I think I only started to notice this after I started going to HHN because I used to love Knotts with all my heart. Then once I started going to HHN in 07, Knotts just seemed to really go down in quality from 08 and on. However, last year, they brought it up a major notch with quality, but the inconsistency is still a major problem for me. As much as I love the random and numerous possibilities, the very fact that the person behind or in front of me could experience the scariest maze ever while I'm standing there unmoved because nobody is going for me just doesn't sit well with me. That's why I love HHN -- it's the same show for everyone, just sometimes you're late or you moved too fast (something I really hope they fix). HHN has the trigger, set-scares, that use the distraction psychology. Haunt, however, just throws whatever they can out and 90% of it is just a random monster staring you in the face, shaking a can, and slamming their hand on the wall. I find this to be very un-scary. However, they do have more tactics than HHN, BUT they are very far and few in between, and quite honestly, these effects or tactics aren't always in working condition. Another major problem is you might go in a maze at Knotts and nobody will be in there because everyone will be on break -- I believe they started to fix this last year since all the mazes seemed to be fully staffed, just I hated it because nobody was scaring. They really wear down their monsters there and it seems only fitting that they're a bit sluggish as the event goes on. However, I've been at the beginning of the season and the end, and sometimes they're really on and sometimes they're really off -- mostly off, but that's just the nature of the beast that is Knotts. You really don't know what you're going to get on a literal per-second basis. The monster that had no energy as you pass by them might get a random charge of energy and scare the crap out of the people who enter the room next. There's been times where I've seen monsters both in the mazes and the streets just talking to each other or even talking to guests (hitting on girls, mostly), or even worse, monsters who just sit back texting. I've never experienced this at HHN, although I'm sure it happens and often, just I've never seen it and it must be hidden pretty well. For the monsters that do make an effort, I truly appreciate them, but you're only as good as your weakest link and Knotts has many weak links roaming that park. Scarezone-wise, Knotts does really well here. Ghost Town is a classic. CarnEvil can be a bit annoying, but it's still fun. Necropolis is a decent zone. All of these areas are BIG. Some spots are cramped and some are wide open areas. At HHN, it's all cramped and that really, um, cramps their style. The possibilities in the scarezones are great. Plus the fog is WAY thicker. Only spot there's no fog is CarnEvil and it's way too bright over there. Every once and awhile, they'll add in a new scarezone and those usually turn out pretty good too. As for the set quality, masks, and props -- again, it's horrible. Sets look beyond cheap in comparison to HHN, it honestly isn't even fair. Most of the masks are off the shelf. And props are usually just shaker cans or clicker gloves. However, they've taken major steps in all these things last year -- except they're not being utilized properly. They're not strict enough to make sure the scares are happening. And the scares aren't built into the maze. They just build something and throw monsters in there, give little direction, and say "go scare." I think if Knotts added 2 or 3 trigger, set-scares to every maze, it'd really amp up scare-factor in the mazes. Oh, and 3D mazes at Knotts are just horrible. That's when you can really tell everything is fake. Forget about suspension of belief, everything looks like they were hand molded on the walls instead of letting a machine do the work. Stuff is oddly clumpy -- I don't know how to describe it. Also, if you see any animatronics or puppets, they're going to look not even a tiny bit realistic. Knotts does have many rides though and lines are very short for them as well as the mazes. You can easily do every maze in one night and hit a half a dozen rides if you play your cards right. Ghost Rider and Xcelerator may be the only things that'll eat up a major chunk of your time. Also you'll have time to see shows. The Hanging used to be really funny but the humor has just gotten so stupid, and again, it's not even fair to compare it to Bill and Ted which seems like a classy show when watched side by side. I do love that the Hanging has blood and major stunts though. However, it's all fun. There's been 1 or 2 times where I was just not having any fun. Last year was one of those times because the performances were soooo bad that it actually emotionally affected me to be bothered by it. And another time was when a monster literally yelled in my ear for filming a maze and was very rude about it, which kinda brought down my mood for the rest of the night (luckily I was only there for another hour or two after that). But even with those times mentioned, it's still great to be with friends, scream your head off, joke around, run around a theme park, and watch the mayhem happen. It truly is a magical feeling that you only get at Haunt. HHN has a different feeling that gets me excited, but Haunt's feeling is a bit more unique. This will be my 13th year this year (started in 2000, missed 2007), so hopefully this'll be the "lucky" number to get things back on track. I truly do want things to get better and it looks very possible that could be the case. Most of the crappy mazes are now gone, there's no 3D mazes, and there's been promises of stuff being more new. They're being innovative as much as possible with the Skeleton Key, Trapped, and hopefully with scare tactics, so we'll just have to see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Thanks a lot, I think I'm gonna get some people together and finally try it out this year. This'll be my 4th year at HHN, so maybe it's about time to check out Knott's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Thanks a lot, I think I'm gonna get some people together and finally try it out this year. This'll be my 4th year at HHN, so maybe it's about time to check out Knott's. Definitely go. They stepped it up last year and they're stepping up the quality big-time, once again. I honestly had more fun there than HHN last year! Be sure to go through Trapped. It should be really good. They'll have six new houses and I'm hearing that they'll all have Trick-or-Treat level quality sets in them (Youtube the maze). Trick-or-Treat will also be completely different so in a sense, that's seven new houses. Give it a shot. I'll be going on Sept. 27h (Friday) If you want to meet up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Definitely go. They stepped it up last year and they're stepping up the quality big-time, once again. I honestly had more fun there than HHN last year! Be sure to go through Trapped. It should be really good. They'll have six new houses and I'm hearing that they'll all have Trick-or-Treat level quality sets in them (Youtube the maze). Trick-or-Treat will also be completely different so in a sense, that's seven new houses. Give it a shot. I'll be going on Sept. 27h (Friday) If you want to meet up. Thanks. Yeah, I've seen Trick or Treat and was really impressed. I have a group willing to go as of now. As far as meeting up on Sept. 27th, that's when I'm going to HHN. Anyone know the best days to go to KSF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Whenever. Its never crowded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Whenever. Its never crowded. I think we're going Halloween night. It's teacher development day at our school on November 1st, so I don't have to worry about the lack of sleep. Do you think the characters will be too tired by that point or will they have some added energy since the event would be coming to a close? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 They'll definitely be worn out by than and a lot of the cast will have quit. Okay, maybe not whenever. Anytime between the second and forth week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Alright, our next option is to go opening night. There are 2 slight issues with that. The cast may not have had enough practice in scaring yet, and I'm going to HHN the next night and I'm worried it will take some of the "bang" out of the evening. Whaddya guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hmmmmmmm. I say do it. The cast will be hyped up that its the first night nd that should make up for some inexperience or groove issues. Its a lot better than them all getting lazy on ya. And ya can bill it as THE WEEKEND OF HAUNT with your friends and it'll forever be remembered as that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hmmmmmmm. I say do it. The cast will be hyped up that its the first night nd that should make up for some inexperience or groove issues. Its a lot better than them all getting lazy on ya. And ya can bill it as THE WEEKEND OF HAUNT with your friends and it'll forever be remembered as that The Weekend of Haunt it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightEdge Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I was watching last years Terror Tram video on YouTube, and damn it looked like it sucked real bad. The TT seems boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGmoney1996 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I was watching last years Terror Tram video on YouTube, and damn it looked like it sucked real bad. The TT seems boring. It's pretty exciting at least for your first time. Being able to walk on those sets, etc. lasts as a gimmick for a little while. If you're in the right mindset, you'll enjoy it. That being said, once you've done it once it's up to the event to up the ante. I think last year they did, even though I didn't get the full experience as I was stuck in a mob of people. You should try it out though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I just noticed something. I figured the top price was $69. It made sense and fell in line with the prices from last year with inflation. But then I clicked Oct 19th and 26th... those days are $74! No discounts either! And its only those two days. I feel bad for the ppl that attend that weekend. So in reality, all the other "undiscounted" Fridays and Saturdays at $69 are $5 off, while the days already claiming to be discounted are an extra $5 off from what is advertised. Was the price always like that or did it bump up under our noses? Either way - that is such a horrendous price. I love HHN but its hardly worth that, especially on a day like that where it'll be horribly crowded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JillValentine Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Definitely go. They stepped it up last year and they're stepping up the quality big-time, once again. I honestly had more fun there than HHN last year! Be sure to go through Trapped. It should be really good. They'll have six new houses and I'm hearing that they'll all have Trick-or-Treat level quality sets in them (Youtube the maze). Trick-or-Treat will also be completely different so in a sense, that's seven new houses. Give it a shot. I'll be going on Sept. 27h (Friday) If you want to meet up. Hey Freak, we were driving down on the 27th and I was considering finding something do to that night... maybe we could meet up with you! Were you planning on doing Trapped? And if you are, do you have room for 2 more in your party? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurseddragon Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I'll be going to HHN on the 20th and 21st. I remember two years ago, I was sore the first time I went, so I gotta make sure to take it fairly easy the next day if I wanna make it through the next. I've never done two days in a row. Gonna be a fun experience. I really wanted to do VIP, but the price is just too much. I got my KDP, and I'm satisfied with that. As for Knotts, I don't know when I'm going, but I am, but that's not what this thread is for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hey Freak, we were driving down on the 27th and I was considering finding something do to that night... maybe we could meet up with you! Were you planning on doing Trapped? And if you are, do you have room for 2 more in your party? That would be most excellent! *Guitar solo* That would put us up to six people in our group. Haven't made reservations yet though. But as for HHN prices, $76 is a bit steep for those nights. That's not too terribly far from Orlando's $92. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts