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Never been. Is it worth it?


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Granted this is just my thoughts but in a short answer it is a yes. I love going to theme parks for their Halloween events especially Universal and Busch Gardens because it is more than just a single haunt it truly is an event and experience. If we are comparing one single HHN house to an independent haunt then the independent haunt is more likely to win usually because they are longer, you shouldn't experience the conga lines of HHN when going through the house thus providing a more personal experience and there are many haunts with detail that can be on par with an HHN house. However you just go through the one haunt and it is done. HHN makes it a whole night and for many of us multiple nights as there are so many houses, the zones, shows, and just so much to take in that you can keep going back and find something new. If you love haunts then HHN is something you need to check off your bucket list at least once and just see for yourself. I have been going since 2008 and I live in Virginia and I make it a point each year to have an HHN fund and save and go each year and I bet when you go you'll be hooked too. 

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12 hours ago, magilla guerilla said:

I've been to a lot of haunts. Many are good, well-budgeted attractions. I've been to many in NYC, Philadelphia, etc. Are the Orlando haunts that much better than a good haunt elsewhere? Is it worth it for someone who has some pretty good Halloween attractions in their area to fly down to Florida, rent a hotel, etc.?

 

If you're talking about stuff like Blood Manor, Headless Horseman there's really no comparison.  HHN is sooooo much better.  I haven't done the Eastern State Penn or Pennhurst ones yet (but have toured both during the day), but have heard that they are great, but not not nearly as good as the HHN or even Howl O Scream.  It sounds crazy to say since those take place in a real prison and mental health facility, but the houses here feel no less realistic.

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I Live in South Carolina and have been going since 2015 for 25 and I'm hooked. I've moved things around and budgeted just to go back every year. The experience is worth it because I'm not able to go down to the parks often so I get to do a full haunt event and ride most of the attractions as a walk on so it's the best of both world for one price. Plus coming in out of state on a multi night pass let's me explore the park multiple times while I'm on vacation so I don't feel rushed through the experience! 

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14 hours ago, magilla guerilla said:

I've been to a lot of haunts. Many are good, well-budgeted attractions. I've been to many in NYC, Philadelphia, etc. Are the Orlando haunts that much better than a good haunt elsewhere? Is it worth it for someone who has some pretty good Halloween attractions in their area to fly down to Florida, rent a hotel, etc.?

 

depends on what you like, or what you expect from a haunt. Universal gets big budgets and they do big elaborate sets with a lot of attention to detail. sometimes it almost looks like you are in a movie set. Also the costumes are always pretty detail and really nice to see. Sometimes they use really cool props and some animatronics but not all the time. 

 

Scares wise it tends to be your typical common "Boo hole" kind of scares. it is not that advanced or anything like that. just your regular haunted house scares. I still love the event but if you are hoping for NETHERWORLD type of animatronics or scares then it wont be like that at all. HHN sometimes is more like doing a tour of a Museum or a movie set with actors scaring you. You go for the great attention to detail and work on the environments 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The answer to this question is, of course, a very personal one but you're probably going to get a pretty biased response yield coming to a HHN focused forum.

 

This will be the first year since 2005 that I will not be attending.  This is due to a multitude of reasons, too many to list here, but the primary ones are cost, over-capacity crowds, and redundancy.

 

The event is obnoxiously priced and that is compounded by the fact that if you actual want to experience all the houses at an enjoyable pace you have no option but to buy an Express Pass (or Fast Pass, as virtually everyone calls them).  

 

The event is absolutely over-sold to the point that it's miserable.  In past years I've generally went the first opening weekend and then on the subsequent Sundays for the run, so my experience is based on that.  I'm frightened to imagine what Friday and Saturday nights look like.  When you have half of your attractions with wait times of 120-180 minutes, you're over selling the event.  That's greed at it's worst but even more so it ruins the atmosphere and enjoyment.  More times than not, scare zones are packed with people and everything is list until that one, lone scare-employee lunges out at you and shakes some pennies in their can.  The houses also move in the ever-present conga line so don't expect individual scares.

 

The event has also become way too redundant from year to year, likely as a way of cutting costs and increasing margins.  The Walking Dead was around how many years?  Chainsaws?  Again?  Really?  It's not scary but rather comical.  This, honestly, would be much less of an issue, for me, if the costs were more realistic.  But, they're not.

 

People often compare HHN to HOS which in some ways is fair and in others not so much.  HOS is much more cost friendly with their most expensive ticket being around $110 for admission during *every* night of the event.  Now, you can also buy front of the lines passes which would indeed add cost.  HOS also is a much more Halloween festive atmosphere.  The entire park is done up and is much less crowded.  They're houses, especially the ones of the last few years are just as good in all aspects as anything HHN throws up.  And, considering they likely work with a fraction of the budget, they're that much more impressive for what they accomplish.  The big draw back is that HOS houses do have runs of three years with some staying even longer. 

 

Overall, I'm going with HOS this year (skipped it last year) and skipping HHN.  And maybe try Scream-A-Geddon too.

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