Halloween Horror Nights 24 Discussion

[Dann93]

Just went last night with express pass. It was definitely worth it. I really felt bad for the people waiting in line for over an hour, though later on during the night I noticed the Express lines being longer, so I figure a lot of them got sick of waiting and went to buy express passes too.

They should improve their scanners too. I saw them really struggling to get the machine to pick up the bar code at many of the houses, and sometimes just giving up and letting us pass because they couldn't get it to work.

[JackTheREAPER]

Yeah I went last night as well, and the express lines were pretty unorganized. I'm just happy I didn't have to wait 2 hours for Halloween. And it really was 2 hours.

[Rikku]

TWD Show replacing RHPS

Actually that could be a really great idea. Haven't been yet this year but with all the hype of the mega house I don't know how they could top themselves next year although I am sure they could come up with something or at least meet this year. But seriously if we must have TWD again I think the show idea could really be creative although still brings up the concern of how we could smash in all the character drama in a short stage show. Love RHPS but a TWD replacement could be a nice refresher to the lineup. Idk the chances of it are basically 0% if not 0% but I personally am interested by the idea if we are to continue TWD just not in addition to a TWD house.

[clash]

i know express is more important and people do pay a lot for it, I understand express people are priority and the express lines are getting longer...
but It just sucks when they completely stop the regular line for like half an hour just to let express pass, I wish they would at least let one group of regulars go in between express people, just one group here and there,
it sucks that the regular line is being treated like filthy peasants now. The other day in dusk it said 20 minutes, the line was not really that long at all but I swear the regular line had to wait 35 extra minutes to let express pass, we must have walked a total of 15 minutes in line (that's how close we were) while we waited standing still 35 minutes without moving at all...
It doesn't sound like much but it became a 50 min wait when we were so close to the house... I dont mind waiting for precious express to keep going but i hate standing still for so long. Even if we were walking at a snail's pace at least you're moving a little bit.... end of rant

[duh1011]

That's exactly what the line for Halloween was on opening night >.>

[ghostdude]

No need to feel sorry for people waiting in regular lines. I meet so many people along the way it makes it tolerable for me.

[IheartNARWHALS]

I felt bad for people waiting for The Walking Meh (JDW's perfect name for it). Last night I saw it hit 120 mins. I would have died if I waited that long for that house.

[SirOwenDisney]

I only went into it 4 times due to its line, most times I was just Walking Past.

[Ande]

I still don't know why i waited 90 mins for giggles. So...many...switchbacks....

[ghostdude]

I waited 120 minutes, and I'm still alive. The Walking "meh", that's cute. Last night i did it before closing so...

I still don't know why i waited 90 mins for giggles. So...many...switchbacks....

HEY!!! Only bash The Walking Dead, it's the cool thing lol.

[ForeverEvil1]

I love Giggles, but GODDAMN is the Disaster line the worst. 2nd Place goes to Halloween/Tent 2. Walking Dead's line is good for the part on the grass since it was pretty wide in my opinion, then it just gets cramped once you leave that. Luckily that the quickest part of the line to me.

[IheartNARWHALS]

I mean I'm not hoping on TWD hating bandwagon. I did it before it was cool. xD

[Coast]

Before the event started, I had this feeling that it was going to be a special one..

After two "down" years, Halloween Horror Nights is firing on all cylinders! None of the houses are duds, and the set design, set dressing, themeing, detailing, costuming, and makeup are all at a ridiculously high level. Everything looks like it should from a "movie park". The way I'd explain it is HHN 22 and 23 were teams with all star houses but they really lacked depth. This year, the role player houses carried the event. Having the scarezones back made it feel like HHN again and I hope they are done with the hordes. Bill and Ted is the best one I have seen by far. Everything just clicked.

My favorite year before this was 21 and while the scarezones were way better that year, I think 24 takes the cake. Mike Aiello, his team, and all involved really knocked this out of the park.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Coast

[AsylumSB]

I felt bad for people waiting for The Walking Meh (JDW's perfect name for it). Last night I saw it hit 120 mins. I would have died if I waited that long for that house.

I know a lot of folks think the Walking Dead house is the devil's concubine, but I thought it was excellent. It blows away any version that Hollywood has offered over the past three years (scareactors were awesome regardless). The Orlando house was firing on all cylinders on Sunday, October 5th.

[Arsik_22]

I know a lot of folks think the Walking Dead house is the devil's concubine, but I thought it was excellent. It blows away any version that Hollywood has offered over the past three years (scareactors were awesome regardless). The Orlando house was firing on all cylinders on Sunday, October 5th.

Agreed! Went through it three times (Sept. 25, 26 and 28) and it was amazing each walkthrough. I've never seen this many scare actors from one maze be so consistent, they were all so aggressive it blew me away. I enjoyed Hollywood's 2012 and 2013 TWD mazes, but this maze was a 1000 times better.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Arsik_22

[King_K.]

^ I agree too. I'm a big fan of the house this year.

[foREVer56]

This year's house is excellent, no doubt. Great size/sets/etc. but that's not what most people are talking about when they don't want the property back. For me, at least, it's just that no one wants that property to be continuously utilized as it's exhausted itself to the point where when all you have in a house is a different zombie, it gets boring. Another thing is the way it bombards every other aspect of the event. Main arch, merch, ads, barstands, EVERYTHING is centered around it, and it's been that way for 3 years. i barely have any selection for merch and none at all for a hoodie as all of it is centered around TWD. I really loved the house my first walkthrough. It was relentless. After that first walkthrough it was seriously boring when the same character kept popping out at me room after room. Inversely, I've done Dollhouse 12 times and I still love the hell out of every single walkthrough I have through that house. I did AWiL 24 times and CitW 18 times last year and felt the same way about those houses. I'm seriously tired of the property and can't stand the fact that it keeps taking over so much of something so amazing.

/endrant

One thing that stands out to me this year is that they went complete apeshit on set design this year. I mean it's always great, but this year is another level of insanity. Every house looks absolutely stunning. AvP is their greatest achievement in set design of all time. Dracula/AvP/Dollhouse/TWD facades, FDTD ruins, Big Spot in TWD, everything in AvP, the second house in Halloween, Roanoke finale, etc. etc. So many shining examples. A lot of the costume/makeup design is awesome too. The masks in Dollhouse are perfect. The Aliens and Predators are next level amazing. Some of the clowns in Giggles are really creatively designed. They knocked it out of the park this year on both of those levels.

As for houses, the lineup doesn't beat 2011 to me but it's not too far behind it. Probably my second favorite year for houses since 05. Dollhouse is a 2011 original house. Creative, gorgeous, scary. Absolutely top tier perfect. AvP is even better in set design, just needs some more scares. Halloween has the scares and the sets. Giggles is another top tier original in vein of the 2011 lineup. TWD's scale is MASSIVE. FDTD is fun and has great set design. Dracula is...confusing. lol. But it still isn't terrible. Roanoke is at the low end of all the houses but I still enjoy walking through them (MEEEAT). Really solid lineup.

[IheartNARWHALS]

I'm not saying it was a horrible house. It just feels like if you don't watch the show, you're shit out of luck. The amount of scare actors in each room were great and I can admit that. Maybe it's just me tired of seeing the same thing over and over. What used to separate HHN from every other haunt anywhere was the original content and that is slowly drifting away. Orlando is slowly morphing to Hollywood in my opinion. I hate change xD

[clash]

No need to feel sorry for people waiting in regular lines. I meet so many people along the way it makes it tolerable for me.

There is no way in hell I could stand for 120 minutes in a line that is barely moving... no matter how pleasant the conversation with a stranger is. My legs couldn't take it.

If the line was moving at a good pace however, maybe.

Dracula is pretty much a dud not just for me but for more than a few people. So is Roanoke, (Again, not just for me, but for more than a few)

now I know someone will just say that they are being "haters" but even some online blogs and some online reviews have talked about this. not just "haters" there are definitely some problems this year.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that you had a great time at the event. But I disagree about the houses from 2013 not being as good, both 2013 and 2014 feel kind of the same to me. Both had really good houses and some not so good houses. ( 4 good and 4 not so good houses in both years actually) American Werewolf, Evil Dead, Cabin and walking Dead were really excellent houses. just as good if not better than the ones from this year.

As for the streets, I do agree that having zones back is nice, but they really are not that great either seeing how much dead space is in the park this year. (the walkers might have sucked taking over the streets last year... but at least they were everywhere. now they bring back the zones but most of the park is deserted. It's like Universal puts out a fire and then starts another one lol)

I will agree that both years are a lot better than 2012, but that's not saying much.

Edited October 8, 2014 by clash

[IheartNARWHALS]

That is true about the dead space but everything back there is so tight and cramped already, putting a scarezone in there would make it hell trying to get to the sprung tent house (talking from Kid Zone to MIB being cramped). They should have a clown scarezone outside of Disaster to fill that dead space from Kid Zone all around to Disaster.

[UniversalStudiosGeek]

One thing that stands out to me this year is that they went complete apeshit on set design this year. I mean it's always great, but this year is another level of insanity. Every house looks absolutely stunning. AvP is their greatest achievement in set design of all time. Dracula/AvP/Dollhouse/TWD facades, FDTD ruins, Big Spot in TWD, everything in AvP, the second house in Halloween, Roanoke finale, etc. etc. So many shining examples. A lot of the costume/makeup design is awesome too. The masks in Dollhouse are perfect. The Aliens and Predators are next level amazing. Some of the clowns in Giggles are really creatively designed. They knocked it out of the park this year on both of those levels.

I agree on so many levels. AVP was the BEST maze in set design I've ever seen. Better than any maze Hollywood and probably Orlando has ever done. Halloween was very true to movies and I felt right at the Myers house. TWD was great and beats any version of TWD hollywood has done. The set design was amazing overall.

[JDW]

Setwise TWD is really nice. I enjoyed the lights on walkthrough. The scareactors do their best too. In fact every single house my last night was on point with the scareactors trying.

I call it "The Walking Meh" because I am sick of the show, the merchandise, Romero zombies, and the zombie culture in general.

It's played, it's boring, it's way too trendy, and I personally would like to see it end. I know it's not ending and, based on the lines and various reviews, I doubt it will ever end at this point. They are going to milk that puppy as long as they can.

You can call that being a "hater" if you want (and I'm sure a few will) but I enjoyed the house this year the first time I went through, I used to like the show, and I even bought some of the merchandise in previous years. I'm just over it now and would like it to stop is all. It hit it's peak and the only place to go with it is downhill from here so it should end on a high note... or at the very least push it to a scarezone or a show.

I loved the houses (even my least favorites were good), I was happy to see the scarezones back (even if it rained pretty much the entire time and I didn't get to see them), AVP is my top house ever at this point, and in general had a good time. But something is just missing for me personally. Something I just can't pinpoint. A feeling? An interest? I'm not really sure what. It left me wanting and has left me wanting for three years now. Maybe it's the lack of time I get to go. Maybe I don't like the formula anymore. Maybe I don't like the lack of build up and excitement. Maybe I just need a break from the whole 365 days of being involved in it. IDK but this year is the first time in 24 years of HHN I've really started looking into other haunts and wishing I could have gone to them.

[duh1011]

Well, I think it would be a good idea to take a break if it doesn't quite feel the same way it did before, and maybe just do a few local haunts or something. If you do take the break, we will miss you though, but don't let us influence your decision. My word probably doesn't even mean much but I think I speak on behalf of most of us, you deserve this break. You've done plenty for us, and we can (most likely) stand on our own two feet and, you know, do all that other stuff. We would hate to see you gone forever tho, so make sure to check in every now and again!

Edit: Of course, you don't have to take a break, but I feel it'll be better if you do. And again, that's just my opinion

Edited October 8, 2014 by duh1011

[N i c k]

I had a great time this year. I think some of the event will be really forgettable, but it is like that every year. As long as the highs are high, the lows can be low too.(Really deep stuff, guys) I am hoping for better scarezones next year and possibly some way to keep the lines down. I think another show would help, but only so much.

[clash]

That is true about the dead space but everything back there is so tight and cramped already, putting a scarezone in there would make it hell trying to get to the sprung tent house (talking from Kid Zone to MIB being cramped). They should have a clown scarezone outside of Disaster to fill that dead space from Kid Zone all around to Disaster.

that's why I am not so sure why the hordes were so badly received. All you need for those areas like Kid zone or disaster is some actors scaring people. Obviously no props or anything would fit, but i don't see what would the problem be with having some hordes in the back. specially if they did a Simpsons horror based horde.

for all the hate walking dead got last year at least the streets were covered better than now