Grindhousehero13 In....Bogus Halloween Journey or.... Grind's Finest Hour...A Review

[Grindhousehero13]

Well guys the last man is finally out of 'Nam and let me say outside of maze quaility, property, ect this has been my favorite year in terms of how much fun I had... also considering the day started off stressful as f**k this is saying a lot. NOw as you guys recall I found out yesterday morning that everything sold out so since only 4 out of 10 of our group was smart enough to buy tickets ahead of time and my girlfriend had to back out due to work and borrowed my car me and 2 of my friends embarked early in the morning took the Metro Train from Atalntic (Gold Line to the Red Line) all the way to Studio City and went to the ticket booth and played dumb and surprised when they said they sold out the night before and I asked to talk to guest relation and it turns out the lady behind the ticket vendor was the head of guest relations and I asked if something could be done and explained that only half of my group could'nt get tickets and were on their way so the lady was nice enough and told us they had a few FOTL pass tickets they stashed away in emergency and that if we were willing to pay full price she would escourt into the park to purches them. I really left it to fate with this one and looks like the HHN gods smiled on me. So Props to universal for really helping us out with that. Spent the rest of the day in city walk and nerded out when I saw Larry Bones walking threw city walk, got a snicker's cnady apple from Popcornopolis and waited to go in.

Now time for the reveiw,

Ok So I bought my merch early very glad they still had ton of merch and 50% off!!! I going closing weekend from now on! got myself a Rick Grimes uniform tee put it on and we hit up the lines for early entry.....WISE choice I can not stress this enough. Funny moment I know you guys would love, while we were waiting by the purge SZ to be released to the backlot their was a girl there trying to pump up the crowd yelling "Give it up for * Insert Maze*" and the crowd goes wild, you know that whole stick. Now the crowd was supper pumped and when the girl got to "Give it up for Universal Monsters Remixed" the crowd went dead you could litteraly hear a cricket. I was the only person cracking up. Now they let us go finaly at 6:30 on the dot and we ran down to the lower lot and took the tram to the backlot.

The Walking Dead: Dead On Arrival- We were the second tram to hit the backlot so their were people there before us but non the less pretty much empty, The gauntlet was full of fog and you can barly make out human figures and as it turns out all of the Walkers and wow were they on top of things. they did a realy good job being aggressive really getting in your face they got our group pretty good since we had 3 screaming girls we were targeted by every walker in the gauntlet so it was pretty epic then we enter the city set and WOW talk about nestolgia it really felt like the first time I did Terror Tram it was breath taking and felt like walking down the street in a big city it was good that that the HHN first timers that came with us thought it was a maze and when we explained it was only a scarezone they had their minds blown....the only thing is I wished they had more walkers by the queue enterence but in hindsight it would probably get ugly when the lines got long

Enviroment: 10/10

Talent: 10/10

Scareactors Ratio: 10/10

Scares: 8/10

Interactive: 10/10

Award: Best/Most Impressive Scarezone

Over all: A+

The Walking Dead: No Safe Haven- First maze of the night and it really set the mood for the night. We went straight in, the walkers in front were great and the facade was extreamly impressive, and I love the iconic scenery as a fan of the show. The scareactors were great but since I was way in front of the girls of the group I did not I did not get target too much but from what I seen the actors were doing their job and doing it well. My favorite room was C-block since that was the one room I was nervouse in, the lighting were you can see the room itself but you can't see inside the cells were I knew the walkers were just did'nt know which cell very unnerving besides that I got a good scare from the Walker Wall which is weird cuz I knew it was there I saw them scare the people in front of me but it still got me, well played walker wall! wll played. Also I have to mention Michone's pets they got the movement down creepily perfect and reacted to me when I asked "Where's Michone?" very well done. This would have to be one of the greatest houses of the night but I would rank it number two as I had a few gripes but they are minor. I wished they had more Scare actors in this one it kinda seemed empty at some points. Also I don't get the hanging pig part there were no walkers, I don't remember if it was from the show and I can't think of a purpose for it beside the trademark "Body Bag Hang" room but again minor things.

Facade: 10/10

Enviroment: 9/10

Talent: 10/10

Scares: 8/10

interactive: 7/10

Award: Best Facade

Overall: A-

Black Sabbath: 13 3D-So I'm one of the few people here who love the 3D mazes, that being said I really thought I was'nt gonna like this one since it got some pretty bad feed back here, but I ended up liking it a lot. I like this better then Goes To Hell last year. I only kinda wish there was more of a story to it. It did feel like a random series of rooms themed to songs like Welcome to my nightmare in 2011, also story telling was kinda needed here since it's not based on a story line driven IP it got confusing at points as to what was going I even heard someone later on that night calling the ironman an alien. This house would of really benifitted from story telling. That being said what set it apart from WTMN is that it perfectly mixed fun and scary though the scares were kinda a few apart they were excellent scares and once again Scare Actors were very energetic, though I did not see Iron man in his room we did start to sing "Iron Man". The Radioactive Demon was the best scare in the maze could liiteraly not tell where he was and he got me and my friend good as we walked through the curtain into that room. 3D was well done in my opinion and to be honest beside the head tank really did'nt see any other reused props.

Facade: 7/10

Enviroment: 7/10

Talent: 10/10

Scares: 7/10

Interactive: 10/10

Award: Most Fun

Overall: B

After that we headed back to the lowerlot litteraly at opening so we had record time so far and took a quick bathroom break and refueled with some Monster Energy and enjoyed the area for a bit. Also was tottally weird the mens bathroom by the Insidious exit was filled with fog don't know why I found that cool.

Scarecrowz- Ok first I think the Z bit is done with, and two this zone really REALLY needs some enivroment I mean how hard would it be to put some cornstalks. I gotta say thought the Scarecrows really saved this zone and this was 100% better than Silent Hill ZS last year they were extreamly aggressive and it is amazing what they can do on those stilts. I also love how they would would mess with EVERYONE if you were waiting for the bathroom, ordering food or even exiting a ride they would get you. I seen a scarecrow make a girl, I seen one completely crouch behind a dumpster and stand up super fast and made some dude trip in sure terror, they preyed on the ones not paying attention, they got my friend pretty good so it was great. The major problem being they seemed more like a mobile group then a scarezone since you know it is not themed what so ever but I think they saved the zone.

Scare Actor Ratio: 7/10

Enivroment: 0/10

Scares: 10/10

Talent: 10/10

Interactive: 10/10

Award: Best Scarezone Scare Actors

Overall: C

Evil Dead: Book Of The Dead- I loved the orignal series, I loved the remake this is based on so I really wanted to love this maze, sadly I did'nt I liked it but it did not live up to my expectations. First off again no facade but after last year it did'nt really bother me this time around and the manican of Tree Rape Mia did'nt bother me at all what was a let down was I thought the scrim demon Mia's in the opening and tree rape scene were actors so I was let down when I saw they were manicans, I saw no point in that at all maybe if it was a pepper's ghost kinda thing which would of made more sense. It did pick up in the cabin though and the actors were more than excellent I must say, I did totaly forget to look at the cards until I was leaving the room so kinda bummed about that. The Vomiting Mia again what point was it that it had to be a manican? but it did vomit on my friend so that was funny. Split tounge Mia was super creepy she ran up and tryed to lick me with the split tounge. Also the water glide Mia was working better then the videos from opening weekend she out and in fast and I actualy liked it. Then came my favorite part two of the girls from our group were right behind me and twords the blood rain part they were doubled team by chainsaw Mia and Abomination Mia for a good 3 minutes what was funny was they did'nt know they were doubled teamed one only saw Chainsaw Mia and the other only saw Abomination Mia and they freaked out when they realized this haha so kudos to Abomination Mia and his partner in crime well done! I should add one thing that bothered me were the black walls in the begining, but this maze was way better then the video from opening night.

Facade 4/10

Enviroment: 7/10

scares: 10/10

Interactive: 10/10

Talent 10/10

Award: Most Improved

Overall: B- (If I was'nt bias it'd be a C+)

Next we got out to no wait for Transformers, did that and walked ove to Insidious

Insidious: Into The Further- The line was shown to be 55 minutes but it was litteraly like a 15 minute wait, the scream patrol were there and my friends little brother won a glowstick for dancing to "Royal" by Lorde they were giving away actual good prizes later on in the line to people who would have to act possesed and "Kill' their best friend so it was cool, I really liked this idea of the Scream patrol hope they keep this up! We got to Tucker and Specs and first off loved these guys too funny well first they made a joke to 2 of my friends because (and it's funny I did'nt notice it tell then) they looked exactly like Tucker and Specs! They stoped in the middle of there speach and stared at my two friends and specs says "there is diffently something paranormal going on here" and scaned my friend it was hilarious. So then I asked if by chance they had any business card since I was interested in their services, he told me it depends and my whole group gave him the "shhhh" and we all got cards! after which Specs says "I like you guys very inconspicuous" and as we we left into the maze Tucker tell my friend who looks like him "Respect the beard!" and went on to tell us how his beard used to be longer but he shaved it cuz it was a magnet for spirit activity. Now onto the maze itself...let me just say I developed a taste for crows! This had to of been not only the best maze of the year but the best maze since Back In Business! This maze was legitimately terrifying my and the actors were extreamly aggressive I loved it! We were litteraly running through this maze cuz they were after us with a passion left and right!. The Darth Maul Demon had tons of energy and overshadow the static figures in that room, the old lady smell made the maze just so creepy and nerve wrecking. A big props to the further ghosts they just were so relentless the dark room with the static or real scares was the most nerve wrecking you thought one was real and scare yourself cuz it was fake you think it was fake and then it jumped at you just so crazy! Realy great maze our whole group came out with our hearts racing have never been this scared since BIB in fact I dare to say scarier than BIB. Well Done Murdy Well Done! Also The Fog was working when I went threw, I remember someone saying it was scraped.

Facade: 9/10

Enviroment: 10/10

Scares: 10/10

Talent: 10/10

Award: Scariest Maze...Ever

Overall: A+

ok it was litterlay 8:30 when we got out of Insidious and then went on to do Juraasic park and the Mummy with a decent wait time they were posted with 45 minutes wait time but they were not that long so we ended the lower lot around 9:30 then got some snacks, Lard Lad Donut, churro and more monster lol and I got my HHN sipper (glad it was not only WD) then felt the need to work off the abnormal ammoutn of Junk food we craved and consumed and decieded to run up the star way stairs......bad move on our part so after we caught our breath we hit Terror Tram!

Terror Tram Invaded by the Walking Dead part Duex-Again it was posted at a 50 minute wait but it lasted 20 minutes, first on I want to say no story at al this year, BUT way better then last year. It felt like just a walk through of Walking Dead season 3, but I liked it a lot. First I thought they did a good job of hiding Whoville and the riot gear Chainsaw were pretty awesome and on their game one did the old Give and Take High Five trick on my friend too funny. the only thing after the riot gear guys there were no scare actor what so ever till we got to the Bates Motel. Speaking of so glad we did'nt have to walk through it saved us from the huge cluster F that happens there every year, So many good scares from Walkers here a girl walker got me good by the bus. The Deer Locker scene was pretty neat and again the guys who play Michone's pets gotthe role down to an art they got that creepy swaying motion down and can change in an instant into scare mode, it was refreshing. To be honest I realized once we got into the dark woods part that zombies realy lend themselves to the Terror Tram espeacialy on dark part they blend perfectly with other guests and set up well for scares once again high energy. The Walker Pit was well done and the chared walkers got us pretty good, but then at the cages and the pulling teeth scene seemed empty I wonder if it was a shift change but anyways the hecklers at the Woodburry great were great one told my friend "Boy you better turn your hat the right way before the governer sees it" then we boo'd and said "Screw the governer! Team Rick!" in which he pointed his axe to my shirt and said "Should of known you guys were friends with that pansy ass sheriff" this made my day! Other then that the clear was pretty cool at the end Walkers were all over the place very cool! The only thing I have to complain is you know the same path but it really did'nt ruin the moment but I will say although this was a awesome TT is Walking Dead has to return next year...I rather it not be a part of the terror tram.

Story: 5/10

Enviroment: 7/10

Scare Actor Ratio: 7/10

Scares: 9/10

Talent: 10/10

Interactive: 10/10

Award: surpassing Invaded by WD part 1

Overall: B+

Back at the park since we had no B&T we had time to sit and have dinner at Louie's, their Veggie Pizza is too good! My friend's girlfriend got motion sickness off of simpsons (they used their FOTL for it while we were eating) so they decided to sit out while we finished up so we headed to Monster Remix since it was only 10 minutes. oh and not before another can of monster (god I'm surprised we did'nt have a heart attack)

Universal Monsters Remix: Ressurection-Okay I loved it last year, I loved it this year, but umm why the name change? it was exactly the same maze? Anyways I know it gets alot of hate but I like Figure and this maze is fun not the scariest but it's the best that HOH has ever done, so I take it for what it's worth. 1 thing that bugged me I hated the Face/Off Franksenstien Monster and Bride HATE! I like them lat year but honestly they look just plain silly espeacialy the bride since she was go-going ugh! Though I like the invisible man DJ and glad that won the fan contest since I think the creature or hunchback would of been way too silly as DJ's btw DJ Invisable man? I found my costume for next halloween!. So this was fun I still liked but I liked last year's better mostly cuz of the god awfull Face/Off design...anyways will just give an overall grade and scareactor scores since this si just HOH.

Scares: 6/10

Talent: 10/10

Overall: C+

after that it was midnight and every started leaving in hordes so since we really did'nt use the five FOTL passes we tryed to sell them but no one wanted them unless we gave them for free....so we decided since El Cucuy was 75 minutes and people were leaving we just wait for the lines the thin out and spit the five passes and take turns going into everything again so while other were revisitng other mazes I did some shopping and refilled my sipper and enjoyed the scarezones.

The Purge: Survive The Night- Loved this scarezone and would'nt mind it being repeated to be honest, did'nt think it would be good but it was excellent! The Polite Stranger was as funny as the Ringmaster and the Scareactors were really high energy with or without chainsaws this was a great SZ Sirens, fire and all! weird moment was I was by the Cucuy enterence and looked up and saw Chris Williams in a window eating dinner watching the scarezone...surreal moment.

Scare Actor Ratio: 10/10

Enviroment: 9/10

Scares: I did'nt get targeted at all here so can't say but people were scared.

Talent: 10/10

Interactive: 10/10

Award: Great Opening

Overall: A-

Cirqu De Klown-Not much difference from Freakz but this was a great scarezones the Klowns were really great when we got out of El Cucuy at the end of the night the Bear would not leave my friend alone and chased her around for like 5 minute while we and the other Klowns laughed at her well done guys! I just wished there were more Klowns

Scare Actor Ratio: 6/10

Enviroment: 6/10

Scares: 8/10

Interactive: 8/10

Talent: 10/10

Award: Blend of scary and laughing at other's missery

Overall: C+

Curse Of Chucky-To be honest only went through this once and went by pretty fast did'nt see chucky insult show did'nt really experience it but others said it was good so I'll take their word on it.

at 1:00 the line for for El Cucuy was 65 so we deicded to end the night with it. This was my first go but second for some us who used their FOTL earlier while we split up and and we told two others to go ahead and use their FOTL pass and we would meet up at the maze exit.

El Cucuy: The Boogieman-Last maze and a great way to end the night, went threw the first half fast so between the theater scene and the birthday scene we saw NO scare actors don't know if they were not there since it was late or we missed them but it started off slow but it picked up fast at this point El Cucuy was always energetic and scary. The Abuela Cucuy did this jump out of the boo hole straight in front of my friend and scared the living shit out of her it was awesome! but then sadly it kinda ended on a low note and realy did'nt feel finished when we exited so sad the final form was cut but non the less a great maze! I was looking for Kursed but I think both Pumpkin cage kids were girls. Ironicly I finally tried the Chimichuanga in line for this maze...it was good!

Facade: 9/10

Enviroment: 9/10

Scares: 7/10

Talent: 9/10

Interactive: 5/10

Award: The little maze that could

Overall: B

Ok so we got out around 2:00 just in time for the chainsaw chaseout which was already in progress as we passed the statue a guy with aclipbaord came up and asked me if I was in College and my age when I said 23 he seemed happy and asked me if I wanted to take a survey and of course I agreed and he took me and some of my friends into the VIP office took us in the elevator and over us water and coffee as I took the survey which was a basic "Exceelent to poor" scale survey. They asked about the mazes what were my favorite parts and why, my knowledge of the properties how long I have been coming to HHN, a few questions about Knotts, some questions about Bill and Ted, and if anybody I know worked for Knotts Universal or Disneyland. Then a lot about the Terror Tram and Backlot experience.

Final Thoughts: Honestly this was one of the best years so far considering how much bad luck the event has gathered this year, although it was kinda sad walking by Bill & Ted and seeing it all empty and dark there were actuall a few people outside standing there to explain to guests that Bill and Ted was closed for the season and the reaction was not well recieved, it just not the same without the show so I really do hope they bring it back next year all the drama aside I dont want to get into. It is normaly a awesome show that made a dumb choice in writting this year so I hope its not gone for good. Also we need more scarezones in the upperlot it seems so empty at some parts or at least come up with roaming SZ or Sliders or something. I also hope they keep the Backlot section it was a great addition. So this was a great year and now Im gonna head closing weekend every year cuz this was the most fun I ever had at HHN so the final verdict.........

Overall Event Grade: A-

[DTH316]

Glad you liked it Grind!

And Insidious... best maze ever? That's a mighty big statement! I loved it too, nowhere near that much, but I can see it back next year.

Sounds like you had a blast.

And yeah, HHN isn't the same without Bill and Ted.

[Grindhousehero13]

Glad you liked it Grind!

And Insidious... best maze ever? That's a mighty big statement! I loved it too, nowhere near that much, but I can see it back next year.

Sounds like you had a blast.

And yeah, HHN isn't the same without Bill and Ted.

haha over exgerated for effect but it was a great maze but mostly cuz how much the cast rocked it, plus Im normaly desenseitized and dont really get scared but that was the first time my heart raced since BIB.

[Kurseddragon]

Seems like you had fun like when I was a guest on opening weekend (Second day).

Sad you experienced Cucuy like that. Didn't seem like you had a great run-through. And tbh, if you walk even slightly faster than you should in a maze, no scare actor will try and get you. Having to pop out less than every 10 seconds, it's not even worth trying to go after the people that won't even see you 'cause they just ran by.

Closing weekend is a hit or miss for scare actors. They're either too tired, or really pumped up. Especially closing day. That'll either be the worst or the best day to go 'cause none of them give a fuck. Which can be good or bad, you decide.

[Grindhousehero13]

Seems like you had fun like when I was a guest on opening weekend (Second day).

Sad you experienced Cucuy like that. Didn't seem like you had a great run-through. And tbh, if you walk even slightly faster than you should in a maze, no scare actor will try and get you. Having to pop out less than every 10 seconds, it's not even worth trying to go after the people that won't even see you 'cause they just ran by.

Closing weekend is a hit or miss for scare actors. They're either too tired, or really pumped up. Especially closing day. That'll either be the worst or the best day to go 'cause none of them give a fuck. Which can be good or bad, you decide.

Yeah I wish we could of took more time but the black outs in those rooms kinda rushed us since we were kinda the last people in, there were maybe 20 to 30 people behind us and it was almost 2am, but then again once we exited we saw a lot of cucuys walking out with backpacks so either or would be my guess.

But every Scareactor that night seemed super energetic and I liked that, the Grandma El Cucuy was jumping all over the room it was awesome!

[Kurseddragon]

Yeah I wish we could of took more time but the black outs in those rooms kinda rushed us since we were kinda the last people in, there were maybe 20 to 30 people behind us and it was almost 2am, but then again once we exited we saw a lot of cucuys walking out with backpacks so either or would be my guess.

But every Scareactor that night seemed super energetic and I liked that, the Grandma El Cucuy was jumping all over the room it was awesome!

Ah yeah, they REALLY shove people through the maze at the end. Probably the worst time to go. D: At least you enjoyed some parts. I was probably in the crappy cell if it was after 2 am. If not, then it wasn't me.

[Grindhousehero13]

Ah yeah, they REALLY shove people through the maze at the end. Probably the worst time to go. D: At least you enjoyed some parts. I was probably in the crappy cell if it was after 2 am. If not, then it wasn't me.

I exited the maze exactly at 2:00 thats all I know.

[Kurseddragon]

I exited the maze exactly at 2:00 thats all I know.

Ah, I wasn't there. Might've been on my way or just getting into the spot as you left.

[Grindhousehero13]

Ah, I wasn't there. Might've been on my way or just getting into the spot as you left.

yeah I'm pretty sure they were both girls too Im curious as to how long your shifts and breaks were I was wondering this seeing how much I seen the scarecrows going back and forth

[Kurseddragon]

yeah I'm pretty sure they were both girls too Im curious as to how long your shifts and breaks were I was wondering this seeing how much I seen the scarecrows going back and forth

Pretty sure scarecrowz have different break schedules.

Mine personally, are one hour on, 30 minutes off.

Except when I played the Toothless Zombie, that was 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off.

Also when I played the Pumpkin on the table in Cucuy, that was one hour on, one hour off.

The street scareactors for the Chucky and Frenchiez were all 45 minutes on, 45 minutes off.

Really depends on the role.

[Grindhousehero13]

Pretty sure scarecrowz have different break schedules.

Mine personally, are one hour on, 30 minutes off.

Except when I played the Toothless Zombie, that was 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off.

Also when I played the Pumpkin on the table in Cucuy, that was one hour on, one hour off.

The street scareactors for the Chucky and Frenchiez were all 45 minutes on, 45 minutes off.

Really depends on the role.

ahhhhh I assume The stilts have shorter times in the game cuz it's a harder role......

but anyways your cast was great!

[mrarbeezy]

Then came my favorite part two of the girls from our group were right behind me and twords the blood rain part they were doubled team by chainsaw Mia and Abomination Mia for a good 3 minutes what was funny was they did'nt know they were doubled teamed one only saw Chainsaw Mia and the other only saw Abomination Mia and they freaked out when they realized this haha so kudos to Abomination Mia and his partner in crime well done!

Now this made my morning! thanks Grind for coming. Wished I scared you though. Anyways hoped you enjoyed HHN this year. Quick question though, what time did you go through evil dead?

[Grindhousehero13]

it was around 7:30ish if you remember a dude with the sheirff Rick shirt and a leather jacket and a girl with brown hair tyed up in zebra print head band holding onto a girl with glasses and black hair that was us

but you guys did great work to make up for being put down by the manicans a very excellent cast...and dont worry tounge split Mia got me hella good lol.