HHN Opening night report

[Metro West]

Hey gang...

Just spent another fun time at HHN opening night and although it rained the whole night, I enjoyed myself. Here goes...

I got to the Studios right around 3:45pm...saw Phamton on her way to work. The weather was gorgeous. Nice and sunny...not too humid. I went to Louie's and grabbed a bite to eat and then just walked around a bit.

Around 4:45pm I decided to head over to the holding area but they weren't letting anyone in yet. There was a huge group of people waiting to get into Finnegan's that slowed everyone else down. Once their tickets were all scanned, they let the rest of us in, scanning tickets as we went. There was only one entrance and exit because of the construction. The holding area was a train wreck from the work go. No one seemed to know what was going on with the people going into Finnegan's (they kept coming and coming) and blocked the entrance to the holding area. There were no drinks or snacks available which is not usual but I guess it had something to do with the weather coming into the area. I staked out a nice spot that was covered in case of rain which came in handy. It started raining around 5:30pm and everyone was running for cover...which was in short supply. Around 5:45pm or so, a Team Member yelled "Are you guys ready for the first house"? Well...it was still raining but everyone was psyched to be released. Five minutes later, we're still standing there but then finally we were released about 5:55pm.

This year, the houses have VERY LONG queues...much longer than in the past. The S & S house is Silent Hill so that's where everyone went. It started raining harder while we were walking through the stage area of the Universal Music Plaza. Once through the house, we came out and it was raining pretty hard. I got soaked on the way out and ended up buying a poncho for $7.20 (with AP discount) at the Despicable Me store. I'd already toured two houses Wednesday night (The Walking Dead and Alice Cooper) so I didn't need to do those again. Since I was already soaked to the bone, I decided to knock out the other two soundstage houses and then head home. My next house was Gothic. The queue was long...I mean long. Once out of that house, I then went to Dead End. That queue was even longer! Once those houses were done, I decided to see what the wait times were for the other two houses. I headed towards House of Horrors and walked right into that one with only a ten minute wait. The last house was P & T's New(KD) Vegas. There was a 30 minute wait for that one but I knew that was the last house I had to do.

It's still raining as I headed towards the front of the park to purchase my annual trinkets (t-shirt and tall shot glass). I then headed for Spiderman 456 where the car was parked and headed for home...still raining the whole time.

Here are my opinions on the houses from best to worst:

• 1. Gothic - themeing was excellent...scares were good.
• 2. The Walking Dead - great house...themeing was great...excellent scares.
• 3. Dead End - themeing was excellent...scares were excellent as well.
• 4. Silent Hill - great themeing...good scares...could have been better.
• 5. House of Horrors - mostly black lit but good scares and you DO crouch down but only for a couple of minutes.
• 6. P & T New(KD) Vegas - not much of a fan of theirs but still entertaining. It's more of a fun house type atmosphere than really scary. Still...the scares were decent.
• 7. Alice Cooper - just wasn't impressed by this house...random scenes that made no sense.

So to sum it up...all houses were enjoyable to me except Alice Cooper but maybe it will get better as the event wears on. This is also the first year that I've had all the houses done the first weekend...in recent memory.

I do not know if they did the lagoon show but I heard fireworks when I got home so maybe they did.

Unfortunately because of the rain, not many scareactors were running around the streets tonight so that was a let down.

Parking was $15.00 until 8pm...8-10pm was $5.00 and free after 10pm.

The one thing I noticed that was different from previous years was the length of the queues. They are much longer this year than I've ever seen them. Some were the same but several (House of Horrors, Gothic and Dead End) were super long. So get ready to walk a LOT at HHN.

I'll probably go back tomorrow night for a while and do some of the houses again but I wanted to share my experience with you all.

If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer.

[cbsnyber1]

Originally Posted by Metro West

The one thing I noticed that was different from previous years was the length of the queues. They are much longer this year than I've ever seen them. Some were the same but several (House of Horrors, Gothic and Dead End) were super long. So get ready to walk a LOT at HHN.

Metro - your opinion, why were the queues so long? One less house? Opening night crowd? Slow movement through the houses?

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by cbsnyber1

Metro - your opinion, why were the queues so long? One less house? Opening night crowd? Slow movement through the houses?

Sorry...it wasn't the line length but the queue length itself. I can't imagine how long it's going to take when the queues are full! It wasn't all that busy because of the weather but still a fair number of people were there.

[cbsnyber1]

Originally Posted by Metro West

Sorry...it wasn't the line length but the queue length itself. I can't imagine how long it's going to take when the queues are full! It wasn't all that busy because of the weather but still a fair number of people were there.

Ah...length vs. number of people in queue, big difference. Glad you cleared that up, I was starting to worry HHN was going to be overrun this year even on crappy nights. Sorry you had to wade through the rain.

[Rip]

Originally Posted by Metro West

Hey gang...

Just spent another fun time at HHN opening night and although it rained the whole night, I enjoyed myself. Here goes...

I got to the Studios right around 3:45pm...saw Phamton on her way to work. The weather was gorgeous. Nice and sunny...not too humid. I went to Louie's and grabbed a bite to eat and then just walked around a bit.

Around 4:45pm I decided to head over to the holding area but they weren't letting anyone in yet. There was a huge group of people waiting to get into Finnegan's that slowed everyone else down. Once their tickets were all scanned, they let the rest of us in, scanning tickets as we went. There was only one entrance and exit because of the construction. The holding area was a train wreck from the work go. No one seemed to know what was going on with the people going into Finnegan's (they kept coming and coming) and blocked the entrance to the holding area. There were no drinks or snacks available which is not usual but I guess it had something to do with the weather coming into the area. I staked out a nice spot that was covered in case of rain which came in handy. It started raining around 5:30pm and everyone was running for cover...which was in short supply. Around 5:45pm or so, a Team Member yelled "Are you guys ready for the first house"? Well...it was still raining but everyone was psyched to be released. Five minutes later, we're still standing there but then finally we were released about 5:55pm.

This year, the houses have VERY LONG queues...much longer than in the past. The S & S house is Silent Hill so that's where everyone went. It started raining harder while we were walking through the stage area of the Universal Music Plaza. Once through the house, we came out and it was raining pretty hard. I got soaked on the way out and ended up buying a poncho for $7.20 (with AP discount) at the Despicable Me store. I'd already toured two houses Wednesday night (The Walking Dead and Alice Cooper) so I didn't need to do those again. Since I was already soaked to the bone, I decided to knock out the other two soundstage houses and then head home. My next house was Gothic. The queue was long...I mean long. Once out of that house, I then went to Dead End. That queue was even longer! Once those houses were done, I decided to see what the wait times were for the other two houses. I headed towards House of Horrors and walked right into that one with only a ten minute wait. The last house was P & T's New(KD) Vegas. There was a 30 minute wait for that one but I knew that was the last house I had to do.

It's still raining as I headed towards the front of the park to purchase my annual trinkets (t-shirt and tall shot glass). I then headed for Spiderman 456 where the car was parked and headed for home...still raining the whole time.

Here are my opinions on the houses from best to worst:

• 1. Gothic - themeing was excellent...scares were good.
• 2. The Walking Dead - great house...themeing was great...excellent scares.
• 3. Dead End - themeing was excellent...scares were excellent as well.
• 4. Silent Hill - great themeing...good scares...could have been better.
• 5. House of Horrors - mostly black lit but good scares and you DO crouch down but only for a couple of minutes.
• 6. P & T New(KD) Vegas - not much of a fan of theirs but still entertaining. It's more of a fun house type atmosphere than really scary. Still...the scares were decent.
• 7. Alice Cooper - just wasn't impressed by this house...random scenes that made no sense.

So to sum it up...all houses were enjoyable to me except Alice Cooper but maybe it will get better as the event wears on. This is also the first year that I've had all the houses done the first weekend...in recent memory.

I do not know if they did the lagoon show but I heard fireworks when I got home so maybe they did.

Unfortunately because of the rain, not many scareactors were running around the streets tonight so that was a let down.

Parking was $15.00 until 8pm...8-10pm was $5.00 and free after 10pm.

The one thing I noticed that was different from previous years was the length of the queues. They are much longer this year than I've ever seen them. Some were the same but several (House of Horrors, Gothic and Dead End) were super long. So get ready to walk a LOT at HHN.

I'll probably go back tomorrow night for a while and do some of the houses again but I wanted to share my experience with you all.

If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer.

I have 2 related questions and you can PM me the answers if you don't want any spoilers.

Have you ever been a fan of Alice Cooper's music and what were the scenes?

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by Rip

Have you ever been a fan of Alice Cooper's music and what were the scenes?

Never been a fan of his music but I guess the scenes will make sense to a fan...they sure didn't to me.

[Rip]

Originally Posted by Metro West

Never been a fan of his music but I guess the scenes will make sense to a fan...they sure didn't to me.

Thanks bro. You've alleviated some of my initial sense of disappointment!

(I got something similar from the Poe house I guess last year or the year before - they all run together. I loved it but the initial thing I got from a buddy of mine was that it performed oral surgery on a bendy straw. He wasn't familiar with the source material.)

Man, I hope that doesn't come across wrong. I just meant that I am cautiously optimistic and hopefully agreeing with you. I might get the scenes as they likely correlate with his music.

[Marquibiri]

Thank you Todd!

I've been waiting all night for your review. Most likely I will have the same thoughts, especially for Alice Cooper house. I know nothing about him.

I feel pretty sad I am not there for opening weekend, after four years doing it that way I feel down. Oh well, my plane leaves on Monday so I will be there Friday, Sat, and Sun. Hope to greet you on Sunday!

I am really worried about these queue thingy.. Was it worse than ever? Sounded awful, and with rain OMG!

Marquibiri

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by Marquibiri

I am really worried about these queue thingy.. Was it worse than ever? Sounded awful, and with rain OMG!

Marquibiri

I'll be there Sunday night and will be looking for you.

Remember last year when the storm came through...it rained for an hour but that was pretty much it? Well...not tonight. It rained all night.

If you'll have Express, I wouldn't worry about the queue lengths. Still...it's a lot of walking though.

[macraven]

i asked you a question in another thread before i saw your new thread.

so glad you created this thread for the homies!


i am guessing that long queues will prevent congestions in the open areas like it has in the past for some house areas.



wish it hadn't rained for you tonight.
i've done hhn in the rain and downpours and it isn't fun.


hope you get better clear weather for the rest of this weekend.


would you say that it was a larger crowd based on the years you have attended hhn?

are the express lines running parellel to the regular lines?

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by macraven

would you say that it was a larger crowd based on the years you have attended hhn?

are the express lines running parellel to the regular lines?

The Express lines were very short from what I could see but yes...they are side by side. I think the rain really kept a lot of people away tonight...I expect bigger crowds tomorrow night if the weather cooperates.

[macraven]

Metro, what is your recommendation of house order?


for sNs holdees, is it still a good idea to do the early houses before the crowds
come in?


then start the rest of the houses by distance to where you are after the 3rd house or hit certain houses next?



do you think the zig zagging to one section in the park for a house then backtracking later will be a decent way to get all the houses in during one evening?

[xApril]

I was there as well and felt the event has definitely improved since Wednesday, which of course, was to be expected.

Gothic/Dead End had quite the cluster today. Lines were both pretty long and going through the house, it was quite slow moving.

Bill and Ted had some changes which has definitely improved the show, but I still prefer last year's.

I had to work till 7pm, so I didn't get to catch everything, but I plan on doing Kidzone's holding area tomorrow to see how that goes.

I really like all the houses right now for the most part. Alice Cooper is still confusing and Walking Dead kinda confuses me as well, since I've never seen the show. I've only made one run through TWD on preview, so I'm gonna have to go through again and see how I feel.

Only got to see a little bit of the street experience tonight. They weren't really out until the end of the night when it *finally* stopped raining. Hoping to see more tomorrow, as Wednesday was a bit ehh.

I'm excited for this year!

[Planogirl]

I'm loving these reviews and hope to see more as time goes on. I'm getting really interested in Gothic now.

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by macraven

Metro, what is your recommendation of house order?


for sNs holdees, is it still a good idea to do the early houses before the crowds
come in?


then start the rest of the houses by distance to where you are after the 3rd house or hit certain houses next?



do you think the zig zagging to one section in the park for a house then backtracking later will be a decent way to get all the houses in during one evening?

For the order...I would say do Silent Hill, Gothic and Dead End first...which are the soundstage houses. Then head to The Walking Dead since that one is very popular. Then do P & T, House of Horrors and finally Alice Cooper. House of Horrors should be done before Alice Cooper since the exit of one is right beside the entrance to the other.