duh1011's Review

[duh1011]

Wow. This year was better than the other years, even if I couldn't get into every house (lines were CRAZY!) Knowing that, this can't be a full review, since AvP was ridiculously crowded since the moment it opened, Giggles was down half the event, and there was no time for FDtD. However, these are my opinions on what I did go through, in order of having done them.

TWD: 7/10 this house was pretty good. I'm a huge fan of TWD, and I loved all the details in it. Some scares were really cool, and the horde room was especially unnerving (they're all just THERE, in your face. Super nice). However, it did get pretty receptive at some parts, and the terminus people weren't, well, scary, and they didn't do much. I had to provoke one of them into doing something (I do this a lot ). All in all, it was a pretty good house, but needed improvement.

Roanoke: 7/10 pretty good. It starts out on a high note, and some disembodied people were cool, but the actual cannibals were kinda lame. Also, the ending was.... meh. It has a short line all of the time though, and it'll be worth your time to check it out

Halloween: 10/10 Wow. This house rocked my socks off. As I was halfway in line, I got really quiet and mad at my group for making me wait so long for a movie I didn't see (don't kill me guise). However, when I got in, my whole outlook on the house changed. It is extremely fast-paced, there were scares around every corner and then some, and it never lets up. There are also some cool parts that represent some parts of the movie that makes me want to watch it lol. But the scare actors were perfect and on the dot with their timing, I was legitametely scared in this house because of them. I wanted to get out ASAP because it was frightening, and I can handle almost every scare. The actors also work very well with one another. All in all, this house surprised me in a very good way, and it's worth a 2-hour wait. Go !

Dollhouse: 666/10 Please get me out. Those were my thoughts as I was going through this house. It was extremely disturbing in almost every room (one room has cute characters-that's all I'll say about it), and it progressively got creepier and creepier. Every room was unique, and had its own thing to it, and each new thing was progressively disturbing. I loved/hated this house, because it was the creepiest thing I've experienced. I don't know what was going through the creative teams' heads when this happened, but it was just plain... disturbing, for lack of a better word. Also, the scareactors all did their jobs perfectly and were extremely creepy, especially one certain ballerina. Page made this house probably my favorite!

Dracula: 7.5/10 Not much I'll say about this one. I loved the atmosphere, thought there were some unique things going on in there, but it tried to tell a story, and that story didn't make sense. I bet it would make sense if I saw the movie first, but the movie isn't out yet. Still a good maze, tho.

Scare Zones

MASK: 5/10 I was excited for this one. However, there's not much in the way of design for the environment, and the actors didn't do much when I went through. It's a cool idea, and the fact that it still has potential is why it gets a five. I was disappointed, though.

Purge: 6/10 Nothing about this scared me at all. Once again, I had to really provoke the actors in a way that they would try to scare (I scared one of THEM-that's how it went). However, I love the props and details all around the scare zone, and the auctioning was great. The acting could've been a bit better, however.

Face-Off: 4/10 I have the same complaints for this one, except this zone doesn't seem to be designed to scare people. These cool costumes from the show, sure, but they're just on display, and the minions Were ehhh at best.

Bayou: 8/10 This one was great. The actors did their job well, the costumes were great, the effects made it feel like the Bayou, and the various voodoo things scattered were really neat. I had, sadly, missed a sacrifice, but if it went like the rest of the zone, it would've been great. The only problem

Is that there were a few parts with no actors there. This zone needed either more actors or to have the actors spread out. It could change to a 9 or 10, depending on how the event goes.

I hope you all made it through my long novel of a review. This year was great, and the houses were spectacular. Halloween in particular was just fantastic. This might even be my favorite house ever! The scare zones felt lacking, however. The shows were what you would expect, so I don't feel the need to review those lol. I wish AvP had a wait that was at least nearly tolerable, but it was ridiculously crowded the whole time. Also, G&G got crowded, but that was partly because it wasn't open the whole time. I hope you guys enjoyed, and that I didn't make too many typos (it's 1:40 in the morning), and I hope you all have fun this year, because it sure did!

Edit: Oh, I knew I screwed something up. I misnamed this topic lol and called it duh101 2. Oh well, thems the breaks

Edited September 26, 2017 by duh1011

[King_K.]

Once again, I had to really provoke the actors in a way that they would try to scare (I scared one of THEM-that's how it went).

Don't be that guy. No one likes that guy. Seriously.

[Mrevio]

I wouldn't judge the scarezones based on tonight of all nights. It rained constantly and enough to keep the ground wet. Too slippery for the scareactors and ESPECIALLY for the stilt-walkers. Also the Makeup Crew would go on strike if their canvases got washed clean every thirty minutes.

[ForeverEvil1]

Giggles was down half the event.

So that's why the line was an hour. Agreed with your Halloween and Dollhouse. Dracula not really having a story oddly enough didn't really affect it to much for me. Also, why do I feel like Dracula is going to get hella long lines after the movie actually releases?

[Michaelz]

Giggles opened at 8:00. I'd hardly call that half the event.

[duh1011]

Please keep in mind that these are my OPINIONS, and they're based on what I did see. Yours might not be the same as mine, and in that case, I do like to hear what you guys thought about the event! Now, I went to G&G at a couple minutes past eight, and I don't remember seeing it open for a while but that's when I was in line for Halloween. One more thing, I didn't know my behavior was so despicable. I'll make sure to correct it before I go next time, so that I don't offend anybody! Thanks for the tip, and for everybody's opinions!

[ThreeCircles]

Don't be that guy. No one likes that guy. Seriously.

Don't be obnoxious. Do you even know what he meant by "provoking"? Sure, if he meant screaming in someone's face or physical interaction, that, of course is uncalled for, but, I doubt he meant that.

My guess is he meant making a comment to one of the workers.

Edited September 20, 2014 by ThreeCircles

[Ande]

Don't be that guy. No one likes that guy. Seriously.

Don't be that guy who tells people not to be that guy. No one likes that guy. Seriously.

[Legacy]

Personally, any action that could even be perceived as "provoking" a scareactor is a bit obnoxious. There are the obvious things, like screaming in a scareactor's face or trying to scare them. But from my perspective, those acts were JUST as obnoxious as the people who would walk through saying, "Why doesn't somebody scare me," or standing in front of me waiting for me to jump at them.

There are so many things that happen to scareactors on a nightly basis, and opening night can be a massive system shock to rookies. While it's possible this scareactor was tired or just didn't care, it's just as likely they were punched the set prior and the last thing they want to do is scare someone. "Provoking" them in any way, doesn't really help them as people.

While I completely understand the guests' desire for high energy, all the time, that's easier said than done. Let the scareactors be scareactors and enjoy what you can of the event. If the energy is really that bad, find a coordinator and say something. But remember that the coordinators and stage managers are constantly in the scarezone/going through houses. So they see exactly what is going on.

[kelise]

Also, please remember it was raining all night and the streets were slick, so the aggressiveness in all the streets was significantly toned down last night. No one wanted an injury on the first night. Plus many elements if the streets were downed due to the rain.

[ThreeCircles]

Walking through a house and making a statement to a worker is not "provoking" anyone. And if a worker feels they're being provoked by that they need to find a new job. Again, I certainly don't mean that it's OK to harass anyone or to disrupt the flow and function of the house, but, saying "nice makeup" to a Giggles & Gore worker to "get a reaction or interaction" isn't provocation by any stretch of the imagination.

[SeventyOne]

Giggles opened at 8:00. I'd hardly call that half the event.

For those of us APs who got in at 4:00, close to it.

[duh1011]

Yeah, I wasn't being completely obnoxious, but I guess the interaction wasn't really called for. I mostly just had stare-off and said something that wasn't at all rude lol, but hey, it still wasn't right of me

[King_K.]

Don't be that guy who tells people not to be that guy. No one likes that guy. Seriously.

Ande, don't be a smartass. We're the ones getting paid to scare you.

Talking to us is fine, there's no issue with that. Provoking in any malicious way or attempting to scare us/ scare us back is just a dick move.

Seeing as the first house opened at 5:45 for AP'ers. Still not half the event.

[Legacy]

Walking through a house and making a statement to a worker is not "provoking" anyone. And if a worker feels they're being provoked by that they need to find a new job. Again, I certainly don't mean that it's OK to harass anyone or to disrupt the flow and function of the house, but, saying "nice makeup" to a Giggles & Gore worker to "get a reaction or interaction" isn't provocation by any stretch of the imagination.

He said that that he, "provoke them in a way that they would try to scare," and then said the result was that he "scared them." It doesn't take too much deciphering to see it wasn't a complement or a casual exchange like you describe. Scareactors will accept complements, gladly. But stare-offs (which he later described it as) legitimately pull a scareactor's attention, especially when they don't initiate it. While they are many times used as a distraction for another scare, when a guest starts it it's a lose-lose. If the scareactor breaks first, then the guest assumes they "won" (or scared the actor). But because the actor didn't start it, there's no scare actually set to distract for. If I were the scareactor, I would be mumbling "Asshole" under my mask if this happened to me.

Scaring is a job that people do because they love it. That's the only reason why they scare. They don't get paid much and the amount of abuse the typical scareactor takes on a given night damn sure isn't worth what they do get paid. Until you do it, don't assume you have any idea what the job is like. There is so much more to it than wearing a mask and yelling, "Boo." You wouldn't tell a mechanic they're doing it wrong (unless you're a mechanic also), so don't do the same to a scareactor. Doing so makes you, yes, obnoxious.

[Cody]

Again, I certainly don't mean that it's OK to harass anyone or to disrupt the flow and function of the house

Then don't try to defend it.

[duh1011]

Geez, this has gotten way out of hand, and it's my fault. I'm so sorry to have made you all upset, I had no idea that what I had done was wrong. I didn't mean to make anybody's night any worse. I do respect scare actors, and I've actually viewed it as a dream job. I didn't even stop to think about the downsides, and especially how the public would treat you. I swear I'll never do what I did again, and I'll only say nice things or scream when I interact with those in costume from now on. Once again, I did not know that what I was doing was rude to them, and it don't want to be a jerk to those who spend all their time and energy making us normal people entertained for long amounts of time. You guys rule, and I'm sorry to have made you all upset. I do hope that other people look at this post and know not to make the mistake that I've made, and that it makes you guys' shifts just a little better
Note: I've never interrupted the flow of a house. I know how bad the lines are, and I don't stop to look longer or to say something, I've only ever disrespected the scare zones. I don't think I'm dumb enough to do that in a house, tho

One more thing: if you have any more complaints against what I've said, just PM me. I don't think this thread, which started as a review, should get any more off topic

[ThreeCircles]

Then don't try to defend it.

Um, I didn't. Care to share where I did?

[duh1011]

Guise, pl0x not this anymore

[armyofrobots]

I just run through all of the houses and yell at every actor I see...

...I mean, that's not provoking. I'm JUST HAVING FUN GUISE.

[duh1011]

Lol if you're not interrupting the flow or being rude in your yelling then it's actually probably amusing for everybody involved; I personally would like to see that in action

[duh1011]

While I did get to go on November the First, I will not update my review based on it since outside factors prohibited my enjoyment of the event that last night. However, I will state that Dollhouse is still my favorite!