HHN 25 Discussion

[MissBA]

If you manage to read some of the fan groups it's starting to divide the scareactors who openly post in them which is sad. The veterans are like "this always happens this is nothing new. I've been doing this for ___ years and some of you are complaining about nothing" 

New or old each actor should still respect each others concerns especially if it's about harassment and safety. So what if things have been happening since year 1. Changing something to make an event safer to work at wouldn't be a bad thing in my eyes. Disregarding a newer actors concerns (in public mind you) is just... Not the way to support fellow co-workers and probably reduces their morale and will make them more likely to quit if they don't feel safe and be made fun of or disregarded amongst co-workers for expressing their feelings with getting "people have it worse than you".

Any violence or harassment towards any actor is bad. No matter how big or small, it's still bad.

Reading all of that just makes me sooo happy with my own work place and co-workers. If anyone at my job belittled a newer persons concerns or even a veterans concerns over safety and harassment they would probably have a chat with the manager. 

 

Here is a post from a fan page.

I'm really not sure if telling people to "accept it" is the right thing to say about the situation. A few people who have done it for years and say this was the worst year to date so who knows. 

This is for the people who want to become ScareActors. If you'd like to become one please note that every year if not everyday you'll be hit, groped, and assaulted. This is a job for people with thick skin, that can take abuse for the little pay the company or place offers. I became "The Heckler" because of these people. The guests come to me looking for a fight and I give it back to them 10x over, with only a verbal assault. If you walk up to a monster friend of mine I'm watching your back, waiting for you to step out of line. This comes from many years experience, 24 to be exact, Knott's Scary Farm and 2 years at HHN USH.
If you can't Handle the heat don't bother going into the kitchen. 
This will happen to you! Get over it and move on. Some of the best couldn't take it and left it. The others grew to accept it and figured out how to see it before it happened. 
This happens at every park or house with or without alcohol.
My one piece of advice to you is Get In and Get Out! Never stay in someone's personal space for more then a second or two. This gives the guest time to re act and retaliate against you.

[Legacy]

http://behindthethrills.com/2015/10/is-halloween-horror-nights-safe-an-open-letter-to-scareactors-and-fans/

I dont know if this has been shared yet but I feel so bad for the actors. I am probably one of HHN's biggest fans, and I also enjoy alcohol  (safely) as much as the next person but I think it's either time for it to go or to put a drink limit into effect. I've been going at least four times a year for the past 5 years, I'm still a noob, and at least once a year I see a drunk idiot "tough guy" try to fight someone who has scared him. I hate that the event is a bravery pissing contest for some people, because for me and my group of friends I traditionally go with its about being in movie quality sets and getting a fun scare. I also think they should cut down on the amount of people they let in the event.

If you manage to read some of the fan groups it's starting to divide the scareactors who openly post in them which is sad. The veterans are like "this always happens this is nothing new. I've been doing this for ___ years and some of you are complaining about nothing" 

New or old each actor should still respect each others concerns especially if it's about harassment and safety. So what if things have been happening since year 1. Changing something to make an event safer to work at wouldn't be a bad thing in my eyes. Disregarding a newer actors concerns (in public mind you) is just... Not the way to support fellow co-workers and probably reduces their morale and will make them more likely to quit if they don't feel safe and be made fun of or disregarded amongst co-workers for expressing their feelings with getting "people have it worse than you".

Any violence or harassment towards any actor is bad. No matter how big or small, it's still bad.

Reading all of that just makes me sooo happy with my own work place and co-workers. If anyone at my job belittled a newer persons concerns or even a veterans concerns over safety and harassment they would probably have a chat with the manager. 

 

Here is a post from a fan page.

I'm really not sure if telling people to "accept it" is the right thing to say about the situation. A few people who have done it for years and say this was the worst year to date so who knows. 

 

Imagine seeing that drunken tough guy two or three times a set. 

That has been fascinating for me to watch this year. The fans are seeing and hearing about so many things for the first time that scareactors see several times a night. Not even the violence and harassment, but things like delays in the houses and broken props. There are so many, "This  has never happened before." The disconnect between guest and actor is real and massive.

That said, I've heard some things that puts part of this blame on management. Some. They promote and preach safety when scaring isn't safe. They can and should do more, but sometimes they literally cannot. Most of the blame is squarely on the guests. 

The biggest issue, to me, is the fact that scareactors are announcing publicly they're quitting and why. It's severely tainting the perception of the event. Maybe that's what they want, and that's fine. But I take umbrage to it. Veteran scareactors know what to expect. Professional scarers don't quit, and then draw attention to the fact they're quitting over what everyone else is experiencing.

Scaring isn't for everyone. Period. I empathize when anyone who tries it, success or failure. But don't drag the whole thing into the dregs, during its final week, on your way out the door.

[MissBA]

That is true. It reminds me of when a customer tries to do something and are told no and then they go tell the world how horrible they were treated when all they were told is no. Nobody likes people like that who try to make a scene. 

Honestly I don't think there's any specific thing or person to blame. There's too many factors to pinpoint from reading a bunch of stuff online. Hopefully the event can pull it around and figure out a solution either with more training next year or eliminating roles that might get targeted easily. Honestly there's only one week to go. As long as this stays out of the major news outlets and just stays in all the niche theme park fan blogs then it should be ok overall in terms of the event reputation. The minute a news source brings it up then that'll be a real problem I bet.

[Johnny Topside]

 

Imagine seeing that drunken tough guy two or three times a set. 

That has been fascinating for me to watch this year. The fans are seeing and hearing about so many things for the first time that scareactors see several times a night. Not even the violence and harassment, but things like delays in the houses and broken props. There are so many, "This  has never happened before." The disconnect between guest and actor is real and massive.

That said, I've heard some things that puts part of this blame on management. Some. They promote and preach safety when scaring isn't safe. They can and should do more, but sometimes they literally cannot. Most of the blame is squarely on the guests. 

The biggest issue, to me, is the fact that scareactors are announcing publicly they're quitting and why. It's severely tainting the perception of the event. Maybe that's what they want, and that's fine. But I take umbrage to it. Veteran scareactors know what to expect. Professional scarers don't quit, and then draw attention to the fact they're quitting over what everyone else is experiencing.

Scaring isn't for everyone. Period. I empathize when anyone who tries it, success or failure. But don't drag the whole thing into the dregs, during its final week, on your way out the door.

I definitely see the point you are making, I also don't want to see the event dragged through the mud. I know there are so many factors that are beyond anyone's control, like human stupidity, I just wish people wouldn't try to ruin shit for other people. I see it more and more now at any theme park or any event, blatant disregard for cast memebers and other guest. I hate that "vacation mindset" makes people feel like they are the center of the world.

[ampt808]

Legacy stated: The biggest issue... is the fact that scareactors are announcing publicly they're quitting...

Isn't that what social media is for? LOL I agree 100% with Legacy... Welcome to 2015.

[Sir2lazyThe2nd]

I Do think that not selling alcohol would probably stop lots of the harassment. Not saying that it will stop it completely but I think if they stopped selling it or if they limited the usage of alcohol, Some of the harassment would stop. Hollywood's event did this and the harassment isn't as bad in Hollywood's event, so I think they should either get rid of alcohol completely or limit it.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Sir2lazyThe2nd
I cant grammers

[ForeverEvil1]

I Do think that not selling alcohol would probably stop lots of the harassment. Not saying that it will stop it completely but I think if they stopped selling it or if they limited the usage of alcohol, Some of the harassment would stop. Hollywood's event did this and the harassment isn't as bad in Hollywood's event, so I think they should either get rid of alcohol completely or limit it.

Apparently they did stop selling alcohol one night in 2006 (I recall someone had died in a drunk driving accident?), but it's been said they lost a lot of customers that one day.

[Sir2lazyThe2nd]

Apparently they did stop selling alcohol one night in 2006 (I recall someone had died in a drunk driving accident?), but it's been said they lost a lot of customers that one day.

Guess the only way to maybe tone down the harassment is to limit the usage of alcohol. But if they did loose lots of customers that day, guess it must have been a good to day to have been there. No lines, No lines. also hey 200 pots.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Sir2lazyThe2nd

[HHN_jsg277]

I think 18+ needs to happen more than eliminating alcohol or even 21+ for that matter.

Part of what makes HHN so great is the atmosphere. I recently went to the Hollywood event and it seemed almost boring compared to the atmosphere created in Orlando.

Eliminating alcohol punishes the general public for the mistakes of a few idiots. If alcohol is banned, it will only make people drink harder at City Walk or even at their hotel or house before attending the event. I feel terribly that scareactors are getting abused but I trust the team at Universal to make the necessary changes to keep the event running properly. 

HHN is my favorite party of the year, hands down. I'll be upset to see that change.

[Sir2lazyThe2nd]

I think 18+ needs to happen more than eliminating alcohol or even 21+ for that matter.

Part of what makes HHN so great is the atmosphere. I recently went to the Hollywood event and it seemed almost boring compared to the atmosphere created in Orlando.

Eliminating alcohol punishes the general public for the mistakes of a few idiots. If alcohol is banned, it will only make people drink harder at City Walk or even at their hotel or house before attending the event. I feel terribly that scareactors are getting abused but I trust the team at Universal to make the necessary changes to keep the event running properly. 

HHN is my favorite party of the year, hands down. I'll be upset to see that change.

I don't think making the event 18+  would help at all. In fact, I actually think it would make things worse. Universal is a big business, so money means a lot. Making the event 18 and up would actually make them loose money, and like you said, it would punish the GP for a few mistakes of a few idiots. So in the long run, there is no way to stop the harassment. The only possible solution would to tighten up the security at the event, but other than that, nothing else comes to mind. It sucks, it truly fucking sucks.

On a more positive note, I'm leaving to go to Florida tomorrow. I'm gonna be going this Thursday.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Sir2lazyThe2nd
I cant grammers

[MissBA]

I don't even know if more security helps; no one really respects them. 

I can say that I don't think posting the rules in more visible places hurts. They basically use fine print in the maps and barely have any other signage out. Just a small standard paper size of all the rules at each bar location/cart, in stores, before houses and scarezones, bigger fonts maybe a whole dedicated flap in the map on the same page as the actual map and not on a page no one looks at and so forth. Honestly I don't think many even see the rules so making them more noticeable to where you have to be truly oblivious or blind to miss them could hurts less having them more prominent than changing the event to no alcohol or 18+.

[Johnny Topside]

I don't think making the event 18+  would help at all. In fact, I actually think it would make things worse. Universal is a big business, so money means a lot. Making the event 18 and up would actually make them loose money, and like you said, it would punish the GP for a few mistakes of a few idiots. So in the long run, there is no way to stop the harassment. The only possible solution would to tighten up the security at the event, but other than that, nothing else comes to mind. It sucks, it truly fucking sucks.

On a more positive note, I'm leaving to go to Florida tomorrow. I'm gonna be going this Thursday.

First time going this year? Thursday will be my fourth and final time going this year, I'm both super excited and bummed that it's going to be over for me after this trip. I guess it's almost time to look towards HHN26.

[Sir2lazyThe2nd]

First time going this year? Thursday will be my fourth and final time going this year, I'm both super excited and bummed that it's going to be over for me after this trip. I guess it's almost time to look towards HHN26.

I actually went in 2013. I couldn't make it to 2014. I was supposed to go that year but we missed the flight.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Sir2lazyThe2nd

[clash]

If you manage to read some of the fan groups it's starting to divide the scareactors who openly post in them which is sad. The veterans are like "this always happens this is nothing new. I've been doing this for ___ years and some of you are complaining about nothing" 

New or old each actor should still respect each others concerns especially if it's about harassment and safety. So what if things have been happening since year 1. Changing something to make an event safer to work at wouldn't be a bad thing in my eyes. Disregarding a newer actors concerns (in public mind you) is just... Not the way to support fellow co-workers and probably reduces their morale and will make them more likely to quit if they don't feel safe and be made fun of or disregarded amongst co-workers for expressing their feelings with getting "people have it worse than you".

Any violence or harassment towards any actor is bad. No matter how big or small, it's still bad.

Reading all of that just makes me sooo happy with my own work place and co-workers. If anyone at my job belittled a newer persons concerns or even a veterans concerns over safety and harassment they would probably have a chat with the manager. 

 

Here is a post from a fan page.

I'm really not sure if telling people to "accept it" is the right thing to say about the situation. A few people who have done it for years and say this was the worst year to date so who knows. 

 

 

Imagine seeing that drunken tough guy two or three times a set. 

That has been fascinating for me to watch this year. The fans are seeing and hearing about so many things for the first time that scareactors see several times a night. Not even the violence and harassment, but things like delays in the houses and broken props. There are so many, "This  has never happened before." The disconnect between guest and actor is real and massive.

That said, I've heard some things that puts part of this blame on management. Some. They promote and preach safety when scaring isn't safe. They can and should do more, but sometimes they literally cannot. Most of the blame is squarely on the guests. 

The biggest issue, to me, is the fact that scareactors are announcing publicly they're quitting and why. It's severely tainting the perception of the event. Maybe that's what they want, and that's fine. But I take umbrage to it. Veteran scareactors know what to expect. Professional scarers don't quit, and then draw attention to the fact they're quitting over what everyone else is experiencing.

Scaring isn't for everyone. Period. I empathize when anyone who tries it, success or failure. But don't drag the whole thing into the dregs, during its final week, on your way out the door.

Well, the girls just wrote a post on a facebook fan group. (i think the groups are closed) 

I don't know if they ever expected their posts to start being shared and even used on local park websites. Maybe they did, but I don't think so. from what I could tell they were just sharing with the fans of the groups about why they quit. It always gave me the feeling that it wasn't meant to leave those groups, but who knows.

Something else that is interesting is that all the posts are from girls that were attacked by male guests which makes me wonder, are like 90% of attacks by men? I Know male actors get attacked and punched and stuff as well, but again... are all the actors getting hurt by male guests? just made me wonder. 

I do agree that Uni could be a little stronger when they deal with people doing things. Sometimes I see actors pointing out people that touch them, and the security just tells them to not do it again. That seems kind of light for someone that just tried to take the mask out of an actor's head. (maybe not kick them out, but something else than a "Hey, don't do that again")  I don't know, I have seen people mess with actors and most of the time they just get told not to do it, then they go and do it again since they don't care. 

 

and it seems like the Orlando Sentinel is on the case as well lol

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-universal-orlando-battery-halloween-20151027-story.html

[Nightshade]

You may not like the arguably unsupportive approach some actors are taking to this issue, but they are right. Just like with any other profession, if you can't handle being a scareactor, don't be a scareactor. It's really that simple, because the nature of the event, ugly side included, is NOT going to change in order to accommodate the newbies. Yeah, it sucks, but it's been like this for 25 years. ALL haunted attractions have these same problems, albeit on different scales. 

And some of the suggestions I'm seeing to try to "fix" the event are, quite frankly, completely inane and just bad business acumen. You can't always make everything perfect. If there were some magic bullet that could make HHN all rainbows and unicorns for everyone involved, Universal would have already used it. Also, many newer guests don't seem to realize how much the event has already  been affected (for the worse) by increased security measures and policies. They can only do so much.

Just be thankful Fox News doesn't get a hold of this story, or the scareactors will be rolling around in protective bubbles next year.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Nightshade

[clash]

 

Just be thankful Fox News doesn't get a hold of this story, or the scareactors will be rolling around in protective bubbles next year.

they might lol, this is picking up more steam every day. couple of days before it was only park blogs talking about it, now it is the actual news. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up showing on Fox News

[Legacy]

Supposedly, Local 6 did a story on it last night as well.

[clash]

Supposedly, Local 6 did a story on it last night as well.

where did you hear this? is there video? 

[Legacy]

where did you hear this? is there video? 

A video was posted in one of the closed fan groups. I couldn't find a public link though.

We need a general discussion thread.

[Sir2lazyThe2nd]

Atm I am driving to the airport  to go to Florida :).

[Legacy]

Safety discussion thread: http://www.horrornightnightmares.com/forums/topic/4869-scareactor-safety-abuse-and-the-future-of-horror-nights/

[darkdelusions]

Supposedly, Local 6 did a story on it last night as well.

http://m.clickorlando.com/news/halloween-horror-nights-actors-quit-after-being-assaulted/36085060

[Sir2lazyThe2nd]

I just got onto the second plane to actually go to Orlando.We ended up stopping at Denver and now im actually going to go to Orlando. I'll let you guys know when I land.

[Sir2lazyThe2nd]

Sorry about double posting but im now in the hotel room. I am really excited to to be going tommorow

[Eckert]

Sorry about double posting but im now in the hotel room. I am really excited to to be going tommorow

What are you going to eat for dinner tonight?