Ecto1 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I will be updating as the weekend goes on so this is just my quick first impressions after my first night. This is my 10th year of HHN Orlando and I need to preface that my main focus of HHN is set design and execution, I'm lucky to get a scare or two a year so I don't judge based on that. So on to my first impressions. 9/22 We were able to hit all 9 houses by 11 without an express pass and I think our longest wait was 35 for Exorcist. Scarezones: total flop this year. There's no theme, poor lighting effects and they all just feel like photo ops. There are so many recycled costumes and masks and it feels like there was no effort with the exception of Vamp 55, there's no good scares or places for people to hide but the costumes and theme is great. American Horror Story: all I can say is the cast of this house was incredible, they were super into their rolls and there was a lot of effort put into casting people that look just like the characters from the show. The Walking Dead: I was pleasantly surprised by this house, I shared the same hatred of everyone else but I think this house definitely outshines not only the past couple years of TWD houses but also some of the other houses I had higher hopes for. Lunatics Playground: I typically don't hate the 3D houses as much as everyone else but as someone that cares more about set design, this house is pointless, there's nothing that hasn't already been done in a 3D house and I probably won't do it again unless the wait is 5 minutes again. Halloween II: solid house all around, TONS of scareactors, really good sets and the fire was executed well. Only problem I had was there was only one person that WASNT Michael Myers and it got too repetitive. Texas Chainsaw: I loved the sets! Downside, was I got to really take in all the sets because we missed every scare. Tomb Of the Ancients: this was one of my most anticipated houses but it did disappoint. I know this house has tons of potential and I may have just had a bad run but I struggled to follow the story line throughout the house, but the set design was beautiful. Ghost Town: the set design is unbelievable! You could walk though the house 30 times and still not see everything. The scares are lacking and nothing made me feel like the scareactors were "ghosts" but wow I still can't get over how beautiful this house is. But the credit goes to Marable Studios who built this house. (They also built the anniversary house and body collectors last year) and I feel like they have more passion to detail and execution than Universal Creative The Exorcist: this is currently sitting as my number 1 house so far. The scares are ok, the sets are beautiful and they found a way to make the house not feel repetitive even though the movie takes place pretty much all in one room. Also I may have just missed the scares but in the rooms with animatronics, that's all there was, no one trying to scare us while we were distracted. Krampus: I had high hopes especially after hearing some other reviews. My all time favorite house was Psychoscarapy Home for the Holidays and I was pumped for another Christmas house but this one missed the mark. It felt like it was half the length of the other houses, it was the same characters over and over, not one scene of the little Krampus demon things attacking anyone, they were just popping out and standing there. Even the jack in the box guy in the attic was just a person in a mask when there's so much more that could have been done with that scene. I know this sounds like a negative review but it is not. I feel like the creative team was either not given the time or money to be creative. There are so many reused props and costumes so I would think it would give them more opportunities to shine in other areas but from what I've seen so far, they have not. The more IP basses houses they get, it seems like it's crushing their ability to actually be creative. Well im heading back to the park now so I will be back after tonight to give any updates after our second run through of everything. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandry Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 I share just about all your sentiments. Curious to see your thoughts as you do more runs. I know my views on certain areas have changed after doing multiple nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tich0las Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Don't know how many runs through Halloween you're currently at, but it seems like you missed a couple non Michael Myers scare actors. I believe there are 3 or 4. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 On 9/30/2016 at 3:52 PM, Tich0las said: Don't know how many runs through Halloween you're currently at, but it seems like you missed a couple non Michael Myers scare actors. I believe there are 3 or 4. To my knowledge, there are 4 non-Michael scareactors in the house. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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