UniversalStudiosGeek Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 (edited) HHN Review: 10/05/2013 7 PM-2 AM This year coming to HHN I my hopes were down a bit because of negative-mixed reviews it was getting so far. I couldnt have been more surprised! Grading System Grades in categories will be out of 10, grade of the maze will be out of 100. 90-100: A 80-89: B 70-79: C 60-69: D 0-59: F This year my grading system for each maze is similar to last year: Scares: How scary was the maze? Sets: How detailed were the sets? Costumes: Do the costumes look realistic? Facade: Was the facade well detailed/intricate? (HoH maze exempt from this category) Fun: Did I enjoy the maze a lot? Immersion: Did you feel as though you were actually in the setting True to the Movies/Games/TV Show (IPs only): Did the maze actually follow the movie/games? Creativity to the idea (Originals only): Did the maze have creative concepts? Extra Credit: Did the maze do something truly innovative? Do the maze do something in terms of making it exceptional? (out of 1 point) Getting There Leaving from Riverside at around 3:45 PM got us there at about 5 PM (Yay no traffic ) so we had plenty of time on our hands. We came to to the very right of the gates to get our VIP lanyards and wristbands (Blue: Under 21, Yellow: Over 21). We standed in that line for 45 minutes-1 hour but we passed the time by talking about how excited we were for each maze. At 6:30 they let us in the VIP Lounge (the one in the front of the park). VIP Experience Once we entered the lounge downstairs we were given a lanyard that said our tour was at 7:10. They said we would meet upstairs where we would begin our tour. We waited in the balcony watching over to the people running towards the Purge. Too bad that a building was blocking the opening scaremonies . After hearing the Scaremonies we came into the Lounge and went on our tour. The tour guide (her name was Joanna? Cant remember too well.) walked us through The Purge Scarezone to the Terror Tram area. There we went inside a trolley and introduced us to that spectral sightings stuff (things you probably have seen on YouTube already). The trolley stopped into Old Mexico and we walked out through the sets. While we were walking the OLD LADY WAS STALKING US WHILE HOLDING A CANDLE. The tour guide said to ignore her and walk away. The group went into the Amity area as usual and the projection show happened and the old lady jumped out. The part that followed was one the most intense moments I have had at HHN, we walked away quickly to our trolley and scareactors were EVERYWHERE! The trolley took us to the Backlot Experience where we did No Safe Haven and BS (Ill talk about these later). Then the trolley finally took us to the Terror Tram and back to the theme park. Overall the tour was BY FAR THE BEST VIP TOUR SINCE 2011. The VIP Horror Lounge was in the same place as last year but had a bigger selection of food, but I prefer 2011s Vampire Lounge (it was awesome). The perks were the same as last year so itll get a similar grade. Grades: Tour: A Lounge: A- Perks: A Overall: A (If you have the money/chance to do this DO IT!) Maze Reviews The Walking Dead: No Safe Haven Going to HHN this year I expected this maze to have detailed sets and be up to par with the scariness last years version presented. The sets were fantastic and the first prison ACTUALLY looked like a prison. Unfortunately I was disappointed by the scare factor of this maze as it does not compare to last year. The iconic scenes were awesome and I liked the scene with the no jaw or arm walkers (how did they do that?) And I also was pissed that they used SAW Pigs! Overall a very, very detailed maze but did not hold up to Dead Inside. Scares: 8.5 B (The scares in this house were very well done and I loved the zombie horde scare, but it wasnt as in Sets: 10 A+ (Definitely the strong point of this maze it was INCREDIBLY detailed Amazing.) Costumes: 9 A- (Same as last year so it gets a similar grade.) Facade: 10 A+ (Deciding whether this years was better than last years, I have to give the edge to this year.) Fun: 8.5 B (It was pretty enjoyable except for some parts with a conga line.) Immersion: 10 A+ (I did feel like I was in a prison and woodbury and couldnt escape!) True to the Source Material: 9 A- (The SAW Pigs lowered this to a 9 ) Extra Credit: .25 (of 1) (This years Walking Dead presented an entirely new version based on Season 3 but was disappointing compared to Dead Inside. Overall: 93 out of 100 A (A great maze, very detailed and beautiful.) Black Sabbath 13 3D I actually thought this maze would be the worst (besides UMR) I was BLOWN away by this maze. The facade: beautiful, the sets were fantastic! Scares were spot on (camo people got me good). 3D was great, about on par with ACGTH. Scarier than the Walking Dead, they made this maze so good (I wonder what it wouldve have been if the construction started earlier..) The costumes were awesome and unique, the sets were easily distinguishable from HOTC and ACGTH. Overall, an impressive maze. Scares: 9 A- (Scary maze but we all know 3D mazes arent the scariest Sets: 10 A+ (BEAUTIFUL Set design) Costumes: 10 A+ (Costumes were original, unique, and scary) Facade: 10 A+ (Do I really need to explain?) Fun: 10 A+ (A ton of fun) Immersion: 8 B- (Didnt fully utilise the soundstage) True to the Source Material: 10 A+ (Very true to the source material with a new creative take.) Extra Credit: .25 (of 1) Overall: 96 out of 100 A (Very, very great maze) After the encounters we had with the two awesome mazes we were taken to the Terror Tram! Terror Tram: Invaded by The Walking Dead Part 2 Ah, the infamous Terror Tram! You may ask does it add up to previous great years like 06, 07, 08, or 09? Yes and no, the Terror Tram was definitely an improvement over 2012, with all the sets correlating with season 3. Why cant they have a compelling story like 06-09? If its because of AMC then the Terror Tram needs to do a new property. Anyways, I really liked this Terror Tram but it suffers the same thing the maze does, its not scary. They NEED to bring back the sheet maze, and dont say it cant come back because the budget. Its only sheets and a a couple scareactors, but it was so effective (TCM, Halloween). Anyways, the burning walker pit, and prison tower was nice. Scares: 8 B- (As I said, not that scary) Sets: 9 A- (Very nice sets.) Costumes: 9 A- (Most of the costumes actually looked like walkers.) Fun: 10 A+ (Its the Terror Tram.) Immersion: 9 A- (Felt like I was in Woodsbury, but the Psycho and Whoville sets docked it down.) True to the Source Material: 10 A+ (Great recreations of the famous scenes.) Extra Credit: .25 (of 1) Overall: 92 out of 100 A- After the Terror Tram we were dropped back of at the park to go do what we want, we hit up the VIP Lounge for food, and we went into the depths of El Cucuys lair El Cucuy: The Boogeyman Not really enjoying La Llorona (11,12) I didnt know what to expect from this maze. The maze starts with a good facade and a scareactor in the window to the right. The maze felt like it was somewhat roomy having no tarp at times The scares were pretty awesome, there was one scene where there was a dark hallway and Cucuy was disguised as one of the black robed workers, didnt expect that. The sets were pretty detailed for the most part and at the end he got me three times in a row after that we were in the Cirque de Klownz scarezone and I was telling my friend Cucuy got me 3 times, and then a devil jester clown scares me and raises up his hand to 4, that scareactor needs a raise. Scares: 9.5 A (Cucuy was pretty scary) Sets: 8.5 B (Sets were ok) Costumes: 9.5 A (Cucuys costumes was awesome) Facade: 9 A- Fun: 9 A- Immersion: 8 B- True to the Source Material: 9 A- Extra Credit: .25 (of 1) Overall: 90 out of 100 A- After Cucuy we headed to party at Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection! Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection Last year this maze was easily the worst maze I have been to at HHN, the sound was too loud and it just didnt feel fun. Now I have to say this was definitely an improvement from last year. Cant really say much this except it was better than last year. Scares: 7.5 C (not really scary) Sets: 7.5 C Costumes: 9 A- (I liked the contest with FaceOff) Facade: N/A Fun: 8.5 B Immersion: 8 B- True to the Source Material: 5 F Extra Credit: 1 (of 1) (to boost its mediocre grade.) Overall: 76 out of 100 C After the OK Monster Remix, we went down to lower lot and the starway music (Black Sabbath) and the rude starway man were pretty cool. Finally reaching down to the lower lot I decided to hit my most anticipated Evil Dead: Book of the Dead and Insidious. Evil Dead: Book of the Dead This maze I dont know what to say. Murdy you could have made this maze EPIC one of the best! Sadly this maze just is FULL of DUMMYS! Tree rape: dummy, Basement scene: Dummy, We gonna get you: Dummy! The only one dummy I could excuse is the raining blood scene and thats it. Imagine if SAW, The Thing, or TCM was done this year, it would have been awful! This wasnt as bad as UMR but Im just angry because they could have made this maze awesome. Scares: 8 B- (Its not too scary when a dummy/animatronic pops out.) Sets: 8.5 B (Black walls) Costumes: 8.5 B Facade: 7 C- (This facade was worse than Silent Hills) Fun: 9 A- Immersion: 8 B- True to the Source Material: 8.5 B Extra Credit: .25 (of 1) (to boost its mediocre grade.) Overall: 82 out of 100 B- Insidious: Into the Further Going into this maze a pair of girls were grabbing onto us getting scared each time Darth Maul popped out. I LOVED this maze it represented the movies so well! It was pretty scary but it was kinda ruined when I cant take Darth Maul seriously. I loved his lair, and this maze was just pure awesome. Best maze of the night! Strange, 3 years in a row now the JP Que has held my maze of the year. Scares: 8.5 B (Its kinda hard to take Darth Maul seriously lol) Sets: 10 A+ (Looked VERY realistic) Costumes: 10 A+ Facade: 9.5 A (The facade actually looked like a house and the voice in it was pretty cool!) Fun: 10 A+ (You had to be there when these girls were!) Immersion: 9.5 A True to the Source Material: 10 A + Extra Credit: 1 (of 1) (It deserves the full point because its epicness.) Overall: 98 out of 100 A+ Scarezone Reviews The Purge: Survive the Night I am sooooo glad we got away from Klownz in NY street. This movie definitely fits with this scarezone. The scares are effective and the sets are great. Its no Welcome to Hell or Freakz but its still satisfactory. 85 out of 100 B The Walking Dead: Dead on Arrival Pretty awesome scarezone the idea of this was FANTASTIC! The backlot sets were so great! Walkers arent as scary as Purgers or Klownz though. Nothing else to say. 95 out of 100 A Cirque de Klownz I liked this scarezone, we would always pass by it when we hit up the VIP Lounge. The scares were great and the scareactors had so much personality (See Cucuy review). Overall a pretty solid scarezone. 90 out of 100 A- Curse of Chucky The scarezone was pretty cool, and I pointed out that Charles Lee Ray was here and he came up to me and said Youre the one of four people that knows who I am. LOL! The Insult Emporium was pretty funny but the voice sounded different than 08/09. 90 out of 100 A- Bill and Teds Excellent Halloween Adventure Before I saw this show my expectations were down I was hearing the was the worst B&T by far. I thought the jokes were pretty funny and they did utilise the limited number of pop culture things this year. The villain was an okay idea but hes kind of old now. This show wasnt the worst (11) but definetly not the best (12) 80 out of 100 B- Overview of this year This year brought a lot of new things to the table, probably the most innovative year. HHN 2013 brought the long awaited (but dissapointing) Evil Dead, brang a new rock icon maze, and did their first Paranormal maze (and its amazing). This year is definitely one of the best years in my book. This year is a year not to miss! Insidious Black Sabbath Walking Dead El Cucuy Evil Dead UMR:R Overall best: 09 [A+] > 12 [A] > 13 [A-] > 11/08 [b+] > 10 Best Mazes: 09 [A] > 08 [A-] > 12 [A-] > 13 [b+] > 10 > 11 Best Scarezones: 09 [A++] > 13 [A+] > 08 [A] > 10 [A-] > 11 > 12 [b-/C+] Bill and Ted 12 [A+++] > 10 [A-] > 09 [b+] > 13 > 11 [C+] Terror Tram 08/09 [A++] > 13 [A-] > 12 [A-/B+] > 11 [C+] > 10 [D+] Edited October 30, 2013 by UniversalStudiosGeek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.HHN Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Nice review! I could have seen you lol we went the same night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Hey! I was there too! I LOVE the guy that plays Charles Lee Ray. He's always awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.HHN Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Hey! I was there too! I LOVE the guy that plays Charles Lee Ray. He's always awesome. He told me to strangle my friend with the bag I had my t-shirt in lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Great review. The VIP part with a bunch of scareactors after seeing the old lady sounds very different from what we've seen so far of that; mustve been a nice surprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UniversalStudiosGeek Posted October 16, 2013 Author Share Posted October 16, 2013 Great review. The VIP part with a bunch of scareactors after seeing the old lady sounds very different from what we've seen so far of that; mustve been a nice surprise. Yeah it was pretty surprising. We were in the front of the tour group so we saw where most of the scareactors were. The bushman got me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I really liked the angles played with the war pigs scene. From above on the right, from above on the right, right in front, from above on the right, from above on the left. The characters looked pretty cool too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UniversalStudiosGeek Posted October 16, 2013 Author Share Posted October 16, 2013 I really liked the angles played with the war pigs scene. From above on the right, from above on the right, right in front, from above on the right, from above on the left. The characters looked pretty cool too. That scene reminded me of Hostel in 2011. It was basically the same thing except it was those Torture people with giant scissors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I think the war pigs setup had a better job of surprising you rather than reaching out. Although I do like a good "reach out" scare when the angles are worked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsylumSB Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Great review USG! You did an awesome job summarizing and scoring the event. I agree that the Insidious Experience was done well and seemed more like an interactive scarezone. Much improved from last year. There was a little snafu with VIP that I will cover in my review....your post had given me the motivation to complete it soon. Ha! Oh, and I love how you rated the attractions by year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UniversalStudiosGeek Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 BTW I didn't review Scarecrowz simply because it doesn't deserve the title of being a scarezone. Great review USG! You did an awesome job summarizing and scoring the event. I agree that the Insidious Experience was done well and seemed more like an interactive scarezone. Much improved from last year. There was a little snafu with VIP that I will cover in my review....your post had given me the motivation to complete it soon. Ha! Oh, and I love how you rated the attractions by year. I agree, this VIP was more like an interactive scarezone. Comparing last years is night and day, this year actually tried to scare us, not make little noises. Anyway thanks for the feedback and I look forward to see your review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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