HHH Hollywood or Orlando?

[thedman]

HHH Hollywood or Orlando?

Hi All! We are looking to organise a really special trip: has anyone been to both? Which would you recommend if you had to choose? Would you also take into account Knotts Scary Farm and Howl O Scream? Anyone able to compare these as well? Thanks so much and looking forward to your thoughts!

[Cody]

I haven't been to Hollywood yet, but I've seen hours and hours of video and read many paragraphs of reviews on the houses, shows, and streets. I can say that I definitely prefer Orlando.

One point to note is the Hollywood Bill & Ted show. I'm an actor myself, and I've done plenty of rigorous training in theatre, including the Suzuki Method. I've watched shows from both parks, including the entirety of the 2008 Hollywood Bill & Ted and every show since 2006 at Orlando. The Hollywood B&T, in all honesty, is terrible. A lot of the jokes are exactly the same as the ones in Orlando (and sometimes they take jokes from previous Orlando years and mix them in, like the Love Guru floating on a CGI cart), but the actors are nowhere near as talented. The biggest problem is horrendous overacting. It's bad enough that their celebrity and character impressions are just plain inferior, but the expressions, movements, and dialogue are all overblown to the point of making me facepalm.

Had I been directing the Hollywood show, to put it simply, I would have shot everyone.

But they DO have better pyrotechnics!

[LV-426]

Orlando is bigger, we get around 7-8 houses Hollywood does 3 mazes I think, i think Hollywood mazes are longer,

[Onca]

Hollywood is severely limited to the amount of mazes that are present in the event, although one thing it does have over Orlando is the Terror Tram which lets you walk on the porch of the Bates Motel, past (or sometimes in) the small street of Whoville, past the Psycho house, and through the War of the Worlds set with scareactors set in. There's not a lot they have shown us, and typically there are zombies, clowns, and killers in respective sets. As Black7Mask mentioned USH has about three mazes, although there's supposed to be one more maze this year. It does not seem to me like USH's are longer though, I think USO had longer mazes.

I liked Orlando a lot more. So I'd say go there. Besides, Orlando has original content as the majority of their mazes... Hollywood is all movie based.

[Cody]

Also, Hollywood's done quite a few repeats in the past few years, especially in terms of scarezones.

[Onca]

That's true as well. During the usage of the New Line Cinema characters, they were used two years in a row with nothing new to add to it. It wa just a cut version of Carnival of Carnage, with Jack taken away.

Last year was showing a step in the right direction with new scarezones, but there was also an obnoxious number of chainsaws present in the scarezones as well. If there's one thing that Hollywood can copy from Orlando, it's the usage of the CDT.

I don't think I've ever seen an actor almost break character in a show until last year during B&T, though. It was during the Twilight Bella & Edward scene, the girl playing Bella almost broke out into laughter during her lines... it was a little, odd to see. The Orlando cast seemed a lot more into their roles, and the show flowed more naturally.

[Leonardo Van IcePickasso]

Haven't been to Hollywood but the replies here and the things I've seen make me happy that I'm not missing much!

[jek]

I'm a long time HHN Orlando regular, but last year decided to do both (actually I did Knott's and HowlOScream as well). First thing you should know--HHN Hollywood is much cheaper. I did the VIP tour last year at Hollywood for about the same price as a Peak night and Express Pass at Orlando. In Hollywood last year, the VIP Tour included admission as well as some other special perks. As far as comparing the two experiences, Orlando has more mazes, but Hollywood has the Terror Tram (where last year on the VIP tour they let you out to explore some set areas with nothing but a flashlight). Some of the mazes seemed longer at Hollywood, but Orlando had 3 more than them last year. I actually probably enjoyed Hollywood better last year, as I hadn't been before and everything was new to me which added to the excitement and disorientation. I'm going back to both this year.

As far as Knott's, it's even larger than HHN Orlando, but the atmosphere is different. For example, some of the sccareactors in the scare zones would talk to you and pose for pictures. Don't get me wrong, I still loved it, but it had more of a carnival like feel. HowlOScream is an event I'm enjoying more and more each year. To me it's about on par with HHN Orlando, except the crowds aren't as large or unruly. They also have really cool scarezones and still use sliders.

Long story short, if I had to choose only one location, it would still be Orlando/Tampa. Aside from HHN admission, transportation, hotels, directions, etc... are so much less expensive and easier in Orlando. The distance is about the same between HHN Orlando and HowlOScream and HHN Hollywood and Knott's Berry Farm, but LA traffic is a nightmare. You've got to really know your traffic patterns and routes. Either way you decide however, you're in for a great time.

[Cody]

I don't think I've ever seen an actor almost break character in a show until last year during B&T, though. It was during the Twilight Bella & Edward scene, the girl playing Bella almost broke out into laughter during her lines... it was a little, odd to see. The Orlando cast seemed a lot more into their roles, and the show flowed more naturally.

Breaking character is one of the worst things an actor can do. I'm doing my final high school performance as Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing tonight and tomorrow, and breaking character is extremely rare even among high school actors. Keep in mind, our show is hilarious and even got laughs and cheers from the summer school kids who were forced to go see it. There's a lot of scenes with actors doing some hilarious physical acting while maintaining a totally straight face. I had to struggle in rehearsals when the actors would do something unexpectedly hilarious, but I just bit the inside of my cheek and kept my jaw stiff. Even when Claudio and Don Pedro came out in jogging outfits and practically molested me during our scene together (based on a joking note about their speed in one scene), Benedick and I had to remain totally stonefaced and serious.

In other words, it's not hard to keep in character if you know what you're doing and honestly want to perform well. You'll notice during each year's final show down here in Orlando, the cast and crew love to do the unexpected and pull as many pranks and jokes as possible, including involving Roddy and Aiello. Jesse, who played Edward, is one of the best comedic actors I know, and he pulled a few jokes of his own on that night. All the actors on stage with him still managed to do their job.

Funny, they're in Hollywood and they can't find any good actors.

[electro_killer]

Way to throw HHNH to wolves guys. Yeah HHNH is not up to par with HHNO, But we're only in our 5th year. Not to mention we're completely restrained to how many mazes and scarzones we can have due to space constrictions. But as I always say to someone who asks, if youve gone to HHNO before, we're pretty different. I wouldnt go out of my way to come to our event just yet, But if youre in town, def check it out. We have some things that Orlando doesnt like Terror Tram, and actually being gory and dirty.

[Cody]

Technically, 5th after a hiatus. You had, what, 7 or 8 years in the 90's, not including the one in the 80's?

[Cody]

And to clarify, I only have a problem with the shows. I've seen footage of most of your houses, and they're definitely quality.

[LV-426]

Way to throw HHNH to wolves guys. Yeah HHNH is not up to par with HHNO, But we're only in our 5th year. Not to mention we're completely restrained to how many mazes and scarzones we can have due to space constrictions. But as I always say to someone who asks, if youve gone to HHNO before, we're pretty different. I wouldnt go out of my way to come to our event just yet, But if youre in town, def check it out. We have some things that Orlando doesnt like Terror Tram, and actually being gory and dirty.

I definitely want to check out HHNH, I want to go one day, I have seen pictures and the scarezones look pretty cool, besides you guys have pretty girls in the event, I remember seeing some girls dressed with freddy Krueger stuff, and the houses seemed to have nicer details, oh and I really want to see the Terror tram!

[Halloween Blues]

I love HHNH, but Orlando just looks so much bigger and epic. I never been to Orlando though, so maybe it's just a case of "The grass is greener on the other side."

[MrBungle]

orlando is a solid event. you really cant go wrong coming over here, so come visit!