zombieman Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 (edited) This comparison is based on opening night at Hollywood vs two nights (10/3 & 10/4) In Orlando. EDIT - I returned to HHN Hollywood on 10/19 so I am adding the updates accordingly Although the events shared a few IPs this year, if we count prior years at both parks, there are more overlaps with themes, so I will try to compare apples to apples whenever possible. And yeah, there are spoilers. Houses AVP Comparison Both parks used puppets but the storyline between the parks was vastly different. Hollywood had you entering an alien ship and you only encountered Aliens and Predators. Orlando had you entering a research facility in South America, in which the two races were fighting. The last half of the house adds Marines, who fight the creatures and attempt to lead you to safety. Neither coast ever had the two alien races physically touch each other in battle; Orlando came closer with projections suggesting fighting. Orlando used a Pepper's Ghost to simulate the Predator's cloaking ability. Hollywood referenced the Predator's shoulder-mounted tracking device. Orlando had a crawlspace exit with a final (easily missed) alien attack. Orlando had a chest burst scene with puppet alien (I don't recall what Hollywood did). Hollywood had multiple face-hugger attacks; Orlando had one attack. Hollywood had the more impressive facade; Orlando's was technically larger but more ordinary. Impression There was so much anticipation for AVP on the message boards. Knowing puppets would be utilized and the glowing reviews of said puppets in last year's AWIL in Orlando, the bar was indeed set high. I was not greatly impressed with either coast's version of the house. For me, the Alien puppets were VERY well done in Orlando, but not performed well in Hollywood (I will agree to chalk that up to opening night). If I had to choose one as a better house, it would be Orlando, but I wouldn't go out of my way to revisit either one unless there was a really small wait. I know I am in the minority here, but I paid close attention to people as they exited the houses, and on both coasts the conversation was almost always that of disappointment. Even the Behind the Scenes guide in Orlando volunteered that guests were not impressed with AVP, saying it was not scary. Survey takers also said AVP was nowhere near the top of anyone's list. Hollywood: C [10/19 was a B-] - the puppet work was a BIT better, but they are still thrashing the alien puppets back and forth. Orlando puppets are still far better. Orlando: C Dusk Till Dawn Comparison Orlando had only the barker out front; Hollywood had the barker and Geckos out front. Orlando had the Geckos inside the house in the bar fight scene. Hollywood had the more impressive facade; Orlando's was surprisingly small. Robert Rodriguez designed a unique room just for Orlando's house. It was a snake room that was not mentioned in the series. (It was tiny and not that impressive.) Hollywood visited the bar room scene pre- and post- battle. Orlando strangely only visited it at the END of the house, which is strange since you enter the house at the Twister entrance. Orlando's bar scene was huge - two stories. Corpses in Orlando had faces painted so as to show the beginning of transformation into the snake demons. The ONLY way you could actually see this detail was during the lights-on tour. Both houses had the corpse-guitar. Hollywood featured the dining room scene. Orlando featured the Santanico dressing room. Both houses were very repetitive. Orlando featured Sex Machine dead on a slab. I don't recall seeing him at all in Hollywood. Orlando featured Kate with a chainsaw in the bar. Hollywood reused the Evil Dead chainsaw scene for Kate. Orlando featured Scott attacking the crowd - with no indication it was Scott. I don't recall Hollywood featuring Scott. Impression I have to give this one squarely to Hollywood. It was just more entertaining. The Geckos out front are a huge plus, even though they are not part of any scares. Orlando's just seemed more generic - as if it could have been any vampire maze. Neither was bad, but Hollywood's was more enjoyable. Hollywood: B+ [10/19 was still a B+. Did get the Santanico card from the doorman, so that was a plus. Looked again for Sex Machine and could not find him] Orlando: B- Walking Dead Comparison Orlando's facade was massive. Larger than anything either coast has ever done. Maybe 60 feet wide. Orlando's house was massive - about 2x longer than anything either coast has done. Bigger rooms and more room. Orlando's house had 2x the staff of any other house in the past. Both houses used the "advancing horde" prop that Hollywood used last year. Orlando's use was not well hidden and very slow. Made no sense to see zombies walking backward. Orlando's facade featured baby seat, samurai sword, and Hershel's head (they're allowed to do that once a character is dead). They used his leg last year - though they weren't allowed to say it because his character was not dead yet. Both houses used the Big Spot. Hollywood used it better, but Orlando's included the helicopter. Neither set had an animated walker dangling from the Big Spot ceiling. The prison portion of each house was straight out of last year - and the year before. Orlando's representation of the burning bootlegger house was very poor. Orlando's had a scareactor in the Country Club scene that was a hanged walker. Good scare. Orlando's featured two rooms for Terminus, the first of which is more or less an entry point. Of interest to everyone should be all of the Easter eggs posted on the walls which name the "businesses" that used to be there: "Caine Embalming", "Schmidt Hardware", "Strict Paint", "Ravinski Film", "Browning Lumber" - for Orlando fans, these should me immediately recognizable tributes to past icons. This should be a big hint as to what we can expect for the 25th anniversary of HHN Orlando. Orlando's house had a lackluster ending of a short chain link "maze", but they had an excellent room filled with live actors and static zombies and mirrors on the walls to give you a sense of being completely surrounded by walkers. Hollywood presented Terminus by using the backlot itself, but came across very much like last year's. It hurt the chronological story in that you enter Terminus and then go to the prison. Hollywood had a long walk to the backlot where you pass through a tunnel that screamed for a Walking Dead overlay. There was none at the opening night, but that may have changed since. Hollywood included Terror Tram, which would be impressive as hell - unless you had been through the same experience in the preceding 8 years... Impression With the Walking Dead overload of the past years, it's hard to give the medal to either park. On the one hand you've got a giant-ass house in Orlando that (to me) seemed very long mainly because I'm so tired of the franchise rather than because it was just a long house. Had one of the original houses been this long, I'd be wetting my pants in glee. On the other hand you've got the backlot used as Terminus, followed by a house that was not appreciably different than last year, except for the addition of some season 4 elements. I think Orlando's was the best house of all the WD houses of all years. Hollywood's was also probably the best version of the house in its three year run. Unfortunately, a giant-ass house cannot save us from the fact that the franchise needs to be retired. The VERY good news is that this really feels like it's truly the last year for WD at HHN. I mean, when you add up the tagline "End of the Line", the 2x sized house, backlot experience, Terror Tram, and the icon tribute, it's as if the designers are saying "this is it. Don't expect more next year unless you want to top this year in size and scope". I think the designers are deliberately TRYING to paint themselves into a corner so that there's no possible way WD can return unless it is used in a comparatively small fashion - which is what the general public would not want. Hollywood: C [Had zero interest in returning to this one on 10/19] Orlando: C+ Dracula Untold Comparison Orlando's in in a soundstage. Hollywood's is in the Parisian area, and therefore suffers from the long black hallway of no theme. Orlando's has an amazing facade very similar to Frankenstein. Hollywood's facade consists of an arch and a faux rock. Both houses feature a witch that was cut from the movie at the last minute. While this would normally confuse patrons, there is no chance of that because no one will be able to figure out what the plot is anyway. If the houses did not have the name Dracula in the title, no would would think either had anything to do with vampires. Even with the word Dracula in the title, people are hard pressed to find a connection to vampires in either house. Hollywood's theme is simply incoherent. Orlando's "theme" is a village being attacked by monsters. Orlando's sets are incredibly detailed and well done. Hollywood's sets are nowhere near as good in comparison. Hollywood inexplicably features the exact same walker attack as in WD (the advancing hordes) not once - but twice - one from each side. Hollywood inexplicably features charred walkers in the burning village scene. Hollywood uses a monitor to represent a fire effect (Orlando uses this effect in a different house). Both houses feature living "statues". Impression These houses could not have been more different. Hollywood's comes across as a last-minute addition. Orlando's feels like it was planned a year ago. In fact, Orlando's feels so complete that it's as if they put a Dracula Untold overlay on top of a fully fleshed out original house. Hollywood's was the worst house this year by a mile. Orlando's was one of the top houses this year. Go figure... Hollywood: F [Had zero interest in returning to this one on 10/19. DTH, you are out of your mind if you thought Dracula was good] Orlando: A- (yes, I actually put it above Dusk till Dawn and AVP) American Werewolf in London Comparison Orlando's benefited from being in a Soundstage - where it belongs. Hollywood's was crammed into the JP overflow queue. Orlando's presented the Piccadilly Circus scene. It was massive, and was really the only scene that was not represented at both parks. Orlando's presented an amazing transformation scene. Hollywood had the transformation across two rooms, and neither was impressive (in comparison to Orlando). Each of Orlando's rooms had a ton more detail than Hollywood's. Both houses featured the nightmare scene. Both houses featured the adult theater scene. Orlando's transitions were flawless - they introduced the new location and then dedicated a room to the scare. Hollywood thrust you from scene to scene abruptly. The Orlando puppets were spread out through the house and were each showcased and startling. The Hollywood puppets were clumped together at the end, like a hallway of werewolves. The Orlando facade was far more impressive because it was able to be housed in a soundstage. As such, it had much more detail. Impression I gave the Hollywood version of the house a very hard time - mainly because Orlando left so much to live up to. Had Hollywood's been presented last year and Orlando's this year, maybe I would have been quite impressed, then blown away by Orlando. As it was, Hollywood never had a chance. Orlando's was so far and away better in every single sense imaginable. If you're going to do a property that you've been begging to do for a decade, then it should be given the best possible venue possible. Hollywood should have demanded a soundstage or nothing. Hollywood: B- [10/19 revisit showed a LOT better puppetry. I gave that pass-through a B+. Had I never visited Orlando's, I'd give this house an A. If you could see Orlando's you'd know exactly what I mean] Orlando: A+ Halloween Comparison Neither were in a soundstage. Both facades featured the Meyers house and used projections in the windows. Both started out inside the Meyers house and ended in a room with Dr. Loomis. Both featured a tribute to Halloween 3. Both featured almost identical scenes (I'm not a huge fan so I cannot name them). Orlando's featured the scene in the garage - in a room made to look like a full sized garage with a full sized car. Both featured a closet. Orlando's closet had Freddy's sweater and Leatherface's shirt hanging in it (neither is recognizable unless the lights are on). Orlando's featured a room full of Michaels. Both featured the clown costume. Impression I don't have the "Halloween" gene; the movie just never did it for me, so it's not fair for me to judge (heck, I thought Rob Zombie's version was pretty darn good, so my opinion is therefore invalid). They were both "ok". Which was "better"? I dunno. Hollywood: B Orlando: B Clowns 3D vs Giggles and Gore Comparison Both original houses, both had elaborate backstories. Hollywood was centered around Sweet Licks the clown and his family, who lure people into their ice cream factory with free goodies - only to end up in the recipe. Orlando was centered around a clown factory where the clowns are remanufactured people. Hollywood's is advertised as a 3D house, yet Orlando's uses equally bright florouescent colors, yet is not advertised as 3D. Hollywood's music for the house was composed by Slash - and it truly does enhance the experience (any music composed specifically for a house would do so). Orlando's house would be assumed to be the light-hearted house, but it is not. Both the Hollywood and Orlando houses are very high on the gore scale. Hollywood's house has a mirror hallway in which Sweet Lick's family members are introduced. Orlando's house has a mirror hallway which is lined with funhouse type mirrors. Orlando's characters are generic clowns, yet they have specific roles (i.e. the clown doctor, etc). Both houses use the same type of prop in one room - a corpse with open abdomen, and actor pulls an endless set (a big loop) of intestines. It's a good gag. Hollywood's winds through a freezer and eventually into the sewer. Hollywood has the scent machine on full blast, ranging from cotton candy at the start, transitioning to excrement in the latter half. Orlando's is low on scents. Hollywood has a hallway that features a large vehicle rushing at you. Impression Hollywood has an icon on their hands in Sweet Licks, but unfortunately does not focus on him, and instead dilutes his appeal by adding secondary family members. Further, the house is advertised as "SLASH presents", so there is no opportunity to brand an icon here. That's a shame, because Hollywood has created something that is distinctly different than Jack, yet could be just as recognizable. There is no way to look at Sweet Licks and think "Jack". Hollywood really has it all in this house - the sights, theme, smell, and sounds all come together to make an excellent house. Orlando's is good, but is in no way a standout. In my opinion, this is the best house at Hollywood this year, and one of the best between the two events this year. Hollywood: A [The 10/19 visit was a B. May have been the cast. May have been that the opening night run was just that good. DTH, you are NUTS to call this the worst HHN house ever] Orlando: B Dollhouse of the Damned vs The Doll Factory (I know that was Knotts...) Comparison Since HHN Hollywood has never had a comparable house, why not compare it against one of the Knotts classics? Both houses tell a creepy story about creepy dolls. Both houses are very dark and very disturbing. Both houses feature a nice facade - Knotts suggests the dolls are partly a mechanical nature and we will learn how they are "made", while Orlando's facade is that of a house whose owner has a very unhealthy fascination with dolls. Knotts features adult sized "dolls" that run the factory. The actors have oversized porcelain doll head masks. Deeper into the factory, we see robotic dolls being made, and finally living dolls. Orlando features the house of a hoarder of dolls. We learn the house itself is constructed of doll parts, and piles of dolls come to life. We finally meet the hoarder herself who tries to make us part of her collection. Orlando features a room with giant cribs and adult men with baby masks and wearing diapers. Streaks of feces line the walls and are splattered everywhere. A very disturbing man-baby sits in a high chair and talk to you. Knotts feature the black-eyed living dolls who were the runaway stars of the house. These girls had porcelain skin and would make doll-like movements and just stare at you creepily. Orlando features a tribute to "Human Centipede", with tiny dolls end-to-end along the walls. Very disturbing. Orlando features a "living doll" room where a live ballerina dances with ballerina dolls. A giant music box plays in the corner, with the rotating drum having human hands that hit the music tines. Both houses feature a marionette room with live marionettes as scareactors. Impression While Knotts presented a surprisingly disturbing house, Orlando takes it to a new level of creepy. The diapered actors were just too much. Detail-wise, HHN Orlando vs Knotts is no contest; HHN will always have the budget advantage. These are both outstanding themes. It is impressive to know that Orlando will not repeat this theme ever again, while Knotts cheapened the theme by repeating it so many times. My pick for best house at HHN Orlando this year. Knotts: A Orlando: A Roanoke vs ...? Impression What do you compare a historical cannibal house to? The Inquisition maybe? Uncle Ernie's? Honestly, Blood Runes from 2005 is probably the best comparison. In any event, this was my most highly anticipated houses this year, and it did not deliver. It didn't fail - it just didn't blow my socks off. It was just OK. The house looked pretty impressive although housed in a tent. It was just repetitive. And then Windego was thrown in at the end for no apparent reason. It was cool that they did a house based on the lost colony of Roanoke - which is a really interesting Google. Cannibals? Why not? Orlando: B Face-Off vs Face-Off? Impression You cannot compare a scarezone with a house. Well, maybe you can if that house is House of Horrors. But while Face-Off (the scarezone) was a misfire in Orlando, it was a home run in Hollywood (in my opinion). The reason Orlando failed is that it was nothing more than a photo-opp scarezone. Pretty much free of scares by definition. You couldn't even get close to the actor to see the makeup because of the endless string of selfies being taken. Now, I know people have vehemently disagreed that Face-Off (the house) was even decent this year, let alone excellent as I claim. But I stick with my opinion. Face-Off (the house) was for all intents the first "original" house in the HoH venue. We know the house layout like the back of our hand, but we don't know what to expect this year, and we don't know how the monsters will act. The Face-Off characters added the refreshing change we so desperately needed in this venue. Walking into the toy area and NOT finding the midget in the Chucky costume is worth the wait time alone. It's a good send-off to an attraction that needed to go. Plus, it means that next year they will have to have a REAL house as a replacement for HoH! Orlando (scarezone): D Hollywood (house): B+ [Did not re-visit 10/19. Line was too long all night] Scarezones The Purge vs The Purge Comparison Both parks allocated the largest areas for their version of The Purge. Both parks used the flame cannons in their version. Hollywood had the auctioneer on duty continuously, taunting people. Orlando used the auctioneer every 15 minutes for a 5-minute show, during which three captured people were auctioned off to be killed. In addition, a van was driven into the scene that contained the victims. It was an elaborate show. Hollywood had static vehicles that were not otherwise used. Both parks had roaming "Purgers". Both parks used emergency broadcasts announcing commencement of the Purge. Both parks used TV monitors announcing said messages. Impression Orlando has always benefited from size, and this was no exception. Hollywood simply cannot handle moving vehicles in its area because it is a choke point for crowds. Although Orlando has done similar "shows" in the past with the same van, it still works well. It is a show that Hollywood simply cannot provide. Orlando: B+ Hollywood: B- MASKerade vs Mask-A-Raid Comparison Both parks ended up with pretty poor names for their scarezones. Although the theme is identical, Hollywood's was chosen by the fans (I have a distinct feeling that Orlando's theme would have matched whatever the Hollywood fans picked...). Both themes centered around powder-wigged aristocrats with ballroom masks dancing in celebration of their kills. Orlando, having the benefit of size, had an enormous chandelier overhead and two equally enormous "candles" with human faces embedded in them. Hollywood made use of the natural Parisian themed streets that existed. Impression Orlando was simply a larger version of what Hollywood did with a few giant props in a giant area, but Hollywood had more props in a smaller area. Neither was particularly scary. Orlando: C Hollywood: C Skullz Impression Throw away zone that is only there because they need something there... Hollywood: D- Bayou of Blood Impression There used to be a show in this zone. In fact, there was just a couple of days before I went. Some say it was cancelled because it was "too intense". The tour guide (who I trust more) said it was cancelled because it was like a 30 minute show that dragged on too long in a rather small area, and it may or may not come back as a much shorter show. For now, they have this great voodoo hut that is not used and have characters roaming the zone. Orlando: B- Dark Christmas Impression Best. Scarezone. Ever. - at Hollywood. This one needs to be turned into a house. Not a very large zone, but it's as twisted as it needs to be. LOVE this zone. Hollywood: A+ [spent a good 45 minutes here on 10/19. What a joy this zone is. John Murdy, PLEASE give us a Dark Christmas house next year] Shows Rocky Horror Picture Show Impression Still a very good show that pulls people away from the house lines. I'm glad to see Orlando continuing to do this. Orlando: B+ Bill & Ted vs The Hanging Impression Thanks to an unapologetic complete asshat at vice.com along with Political Correctness run amok at Universal, Hollywood has no Bill & Ted this year. We are to somehow believe that the reporter at Vice who has reported on so many city events over the years "suddenly noticed" that Bill & Ted is offensive to every group imaginable. While Bill & Ted has shown the same schtick for countless years and told the same gay jokes ad nauseam, the "sissified Superman" last year was somehow the straw that broke the camel's back, and dozens of people needed to be put out of work. The writers should have been put out of work because the 2013 show was about as unfunny as could be. For the very few people who are offended by B&T, you want to see the boring Heckles & Twitch come back? Huh? I didn't think so. Fortunately, intelligent people work in the Orlando offices, and they have B&T. So yay for that. The show was mediocre this year, but still a welcome and needed venue. And the actors certainly thank Orlando for the paychecks. Hats off to Knotts for lambasting Universal during the entire course of The Hanging. In fact, the entire theme was censorship (and Frozen, of course). Orlando: B Knotts: B+ Hollywood: F (for over-reacting to idiots who over-react) [Each time I passed by the Special Effects stage on 10/19, I had to face-palm at the fact that this show is absent this year. Jamie Lee Curtis Taete, you are a moron and are to blame for this] Overall Impression An average year at Hollywood and a very below average year at Orlando. Throwing Knotts into the mix, I'd have to say that Knotts was better than both.... And I heard that Howl O Scream in Tampa was really good this year. It's not that Knott's was that much better this year, but that the other two were just not very good. I was looking at past park maps the other day and came across HHN 20 and HHN 21 for Orlando. These were the last years of almost exclusively original content - before the event was "Hollywoodized" with the IP themes. And damn, I miss some of those great houses we used to get: Legendary Truth, Havoc:Dogs of War, Nevermore, Winter's Night, Nightengales, Saws & Steam, Zombiegeddon, Blood N Gutz... Yes, we did get Gothic and Dead End, but those were the last of the really great original houses, intermixed with a bunch of IP dreck. I will admit, though, that AWIL (in Orlando) was an amazing instant-classic of a house, and I really enjoyed Cabin in the Woods. Hollywood has consistently impressed me with its original content, and almost consistently bored me with its IP content. It seems like Knotts and Howl O Scream are the last remaining all-original content events. As long as Knotts is putting out good stuff like Black Magic, Pinocchio Unstrung, and the Tooth Fairy, I'll get my "original fix" from them. [10/19: Man, oh man! I showed up early (5:45) so I could get down to the backlot and avoid the lines. I was lucky enough to be at the front of the "rope drop", and heard the announcer do a verbal "survey" of what people were most excited to see. Hands-down, the top two were the Walking Dead house and the Walking Dead Terror Tram. A DISTANT third was AVP, with Dusk Till Dawn following behind. Face Off and Clowns were about the same, behind FDTD. AWIL was surprisingly a big "meh" to the crowd, and crickets were heard chirping at the mention of Dracula. It's not as if they just called out these random names. They kept putting two choices at a time to the people, and Walking Dead led the way by a mile very time. I listened for groans and boos for WD, but there was none... So, what was the make-up of this crowd of people who went out of their way to be at the event early? Is this predominantly General Public? I'd kind of think there would be a pretty large number of HHN veterans who - like us - are sick to death of three years of Walking Dead. But I was taken aback by the cheers for that property. They simply ate it up. I now fully believe it when Murdy and Aiello say that WD is at the top of surveys this year. While I shudder to think of WD at HHN 2015, I have to believe it could be possible... But you know what? If we got a Black Christmas house in 2015, I'd put up with WD for another year. I want a Black Christmas house that badly.] Hollywood: C+ [The 10/19 visit was better. I still think this year is not as good as average, so I'll keep it at a C+.] Orlando: C- Knotts: B Edited October 22, 2014 by zombieman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horror lover Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Great review as usual, Zombieman... btw, your summarizing of the Bill & Ted fiasco was spot-on and quite honestly, it was funnier than 2013's show... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duh1011 Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I find it funny that you had to compare some houses to ones in Knott's, and then Roanoke was just there : P still, I like reading the differences between the houses and your opinions on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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