HHN Was A Total Letdown...

[DOOM1001]

I've gone to 18 of the 22 years of HHN as well as like the past 13-15 years of the Food and Wine festival at Epcot and sure that people drink,but I've rarely seen incidents that get out of control.These events are obviously more geared to draw a wilder crowd than what you'll see at the parks during the day but you must have known that before you visited,especially since you've wanted to visit it for 15 years,I mean the shows over the years at HHN include foul language and sexual innuendo,this event is not meant for young kids and families,it is what it is.I hear a lot of people complain about the behavior that they encounter at both of these events and I honestly believe these people are not knowing what to expect and this behavior might shock them when they encounter it.All I can say is I visit these events year after year and aside from the ocassional incident 98%-99% of the visitors behave fine.

 

[Redarrow5150]

It was ok and if we ever visited during this time of year I would pass on HHN. We went on 10/27 (SS) and the houses were nothing special with maybe the exception of Silent Hill. I had read the crowds would get busy at 10pm and they most certainly did!

 

[Planogirl]

We saw several smokers but no drunks luckily. I keep hearing about all of the drunks at HHN and Epcot's Food and Wine but I must be oblivious because I never see any of it!

 

[re121258]

We just returned home today from a 4 day trip. We did HHN last evening and had a really good time. This was our 3rd HHN - 2002 was our first and then 2007 our second. We took advantage of the S&S with an early dinner reservation at Finnegan's. We managed to do all of the houses and a couple of rides with no problem. We did purchase express passes and were very glad we did because the lines did become long very quickly.

After reading the boards for reviews of the houses and with the lack of scare zones we thought we might be disappointed but in actuality we had a better then expected time. We really enjoyed all the houses except for The Walking Dead which we thought was a disappointment - not enough zombies. We thought Dead End and Gothic were the best two with Silent Hill a close third. Unfortunately our experience in House of Horrors was affected by the fact we were directly behind a group that had a baby and 3 year old with them so the scare-actors seem to take it easy on them which made for a boring walk through.

Didn't really see any outrageously drunk, rude or obnoxious people --- just lots of people having a good time.

We did do the exit survey and gave our two cents worth.

Thanks to all the folks here on the board for all the great tips and tricks - the advice made our trip better for it.

 

[Planogirl]

Thanks to all the folks here on the board for all the great tips and tricks - the advice made our trip better for it.

That helped us too and I think that this is a key element to making any trip better. I research everywhere in detail before I go and I'm still surprised when I read that some people don't.

 

[beaprn]

My nephew and I went to this event last Wed evening. We were fortunate enough to have Express passes or we would not have crowds were crazy for a Wed night. They had sold out of all of the express passes two weeks ago even the ones they hold back for the hotels, fortunately ( for us) they added some more for the hotels. Which of course made the express lines longer, some were at least 30min long and the regular lines were over 1.5 hrs long. USF needs to add more houses ,add more nights and spread this over both parks to avoid the bottlenecks that occur. Even after getting into the houses we were herded through like cattle so real scares were few and far between. People were pissed at the lines and the crowds. After spending the money to go to this event and not being able to see all the house unless you pay an upgrade for express passes and still feeling hurried through is wrong. Even Bill and Ted was a huge let down this time (always one of my favorites) , the whole event was just not up to snuff. They should also go back to the scare zones and do away with the street experiences My nephew and I visited Netheworld in Atlanta and Spookywoods (NC) on the way down to FL and these events while not even a fraction and price of the size of the HHN events blew HHN away. I hope USF get their stuff together and come up with a better experience for next year because this year just did not come up to their standards.

 

[Metro West]

Yeah...I agree this year wasn't up to the usual standard of years past and I understand your frustrations. I did an online survey and pretty much told them they needed to rethink the whole HHN formula for next year.

I'm not sure if we'll see an eighth house next year because of the construction around HP2 but I certainly hope so...it would help with the wait times for the other houses.

Since many of the islands can't have HHN in them (Suess Landing, Marvel Super Hero Island and HP),we doubt we'll see HHN in both parks ever again.

The interesting thing is...Rowling didn't want HP to participate in HHN and now that HP will be at the Studios as well, what does that do for future events?

Since the event is held every night except Monday and Tuesday, I don't see them adding more dates...HHN has only extended past Halloween night once in my memory.

I hope Universal really listens to the feedback from the surveys and takes some action for next year.

 

[macraven]

after getting into the houses we were herded through like cattle so real scares were few and far between. People were pissed at the lines and the crowds. After spending the money to go to this event and not being able to see all the house unless you pay an upgrade for express passes and still feeling hurried through is wrong. .

i feel your pain.

when i started doing hhn back in 1999, the lines were pulsed for the houses.
it changed when the crowds started to grow.


the conga line style of doing the houses takes away scares from many while in the house.
i don't see that changing in the future.


not one scare this year for me either.
even with doing the private rip tour, no scares........
just how it was.


but, i am completely and totally addicted to HHN so i will be returning again next year for it.
i attend for at least 4 nights in a row and do enjoy my time there.

 

[Lorrained]

Hi. I stumbled across these boards trying to find out about HHN so I thought I'd come back and let you know how it went, and this thread is as good as any I suppose.

We actually went on Halloween night. Ill be honest I'd got really scared and didn't want to go, but also felt that maybe Halloween night would be really busy. We did a pool day that day and ate near our hotel and I was getting stressy *** it was getting nearer and nearer HHN open time and we needed a taxi. We actually got up there and onto city walk by about 6.15 and I thought we would have no chance. It wasn't busy at all, it actually took longer to get through the security areas than anything else. We were herded to the right when we got there and I was glad I got to encounter the zombies in daylight, ill admit yeah they freaked me out but I managed to control my emotions and they didn't really bother me *** I didn't react, though my daughter screamed and so got chased a few times.
When we got to the first houses they were 5 minutes wait time, my 2 kids were a little unsure what to expect so didn't feel ready and opted for going on the second time around. We got to the Walking Dead and it was a 20 minute wait (20 minutes me sat outside the pizza restaurant trying to blend into the woodwork), so they went in and came out BUZZING.
We went on The Mummy and I was a bit freaked out by the big vampire guy (Nosferatu?) hanging around me trying to unlock my locker.
We went around a few more times but the houses did get a lot busier and they didn't really want to leave me for over an hour (well that was their excuse) and so they didn't do any more houses and we just soaked up the atmosphere.
I get the impression that its not lived up to expectations of die hard HHN fans, but I have to say I loved being there. I'm from UK and Halloween annoys me, you get big kids you don't know from Adam, buying a cheap mask and then knocking on your door expecting money!! I liked being in the country which I believe Trick or treating originated from and enjoying the Halloween atmosphere.
The only thing I wasn't overly keen on was the chainsaw gang, and that was purely *** the chainsaws freaked me out, and I'd have liked to see some silent hill people on the street apart from a couple of girls dressed as nurses selling stuff that didn't really seem to be anything???
But all in all big thumbs up from us and would definitely go again if we ever go to Florida at this time of year again.

 

[keishashadow]

My nephew and I went to this event last Wed evening. We were fortunate enough to have Express passes or we would not have crowds were crazy for a Wed night. They had sold out of all of the express passes two weeks ago even the ones they hold back for the hotels, fortunately ( for us) they added some more for the hotels. Which of course made the express lines longer, some were at least 30min long and the regular lines were over 1.5 hrs long. USF needs to add more houses ,add more nights and spread this over both parks to avoid the bottlenecks that occur. Even after getting into the houses we were herded through like cattle so real scares were few and far between. People were pissed at the lines and the crowds. After spending the money to go to this event and not being able to see all the house unless you pay an upgrade for express passes and still feeling hurried through is wrong. Even Bill and Ted was a huge let down this time (always one of my favorites) , the whole event was just not up to snuff. They should also go back to the scare zones and do away with the street experiences My nephew and I visited Netheworld in Atlanta and Spookywoods (NC) on the way down to FL and these events while not even a fraction and price of the size of the HHN events blew HHN away. I hope USF get their stuff together and come up with a better experience for next year because this year just did not come up to their standards.

seems to be a recurring comment as to the number of express passes sold this year combined with construction/less houses/traffic flow.

probably one of those proprietary secrets but does anybody know how many EPs universal will sell for any given HHN night?

 

[cbsnyber1]

And everyone was very intoxicated in all the lines we were in and smoking like no tomorrow, line cutters, bad language.

I find it hard to believe "everyone was very intoxicated in all the lines and smoking like no tomorrow". I saw a couple of people with a beer here and there, a couple of smokers, out of thousands of people in line (and you pass those same people several times while in line). I mean, at $6 a pop for a beer or blood bag (not that strong, either) in the parks, it would take a small fortune to get smashed. And I never saw any line cutters; bad language, yes, but you get that on most TV shows today.

I saw way more people looking at their phones while in line as opposed to drinking.

You might see some "intoxicants" later on in the night (not "everyone"), but after only an hour?

Anyway, sorry you didn't enjoy your time. It's a unique event that not everyone is going to enjoy. Our party of eight ranged in age from 12 - 60, and we all had a good time with a minimum of hassle - other than the gigantic lines.

 

[LMO429]

I have to agree that Halloween Horror Nights this year was not that good.

They def need to bring back scare zones and add an additional house or two.

and im sorry girls with chainsaws are not scary lol

thank god for express passes I would personally never do the party without it.

we did the walking dead house before the sun went down and it was a big mistake. I think we lost alot of the effect because the day light was breaking through i think if we had done it during the nighttime it would have been far better.

 

[Metallicat]

I went on Halloween night. it was my 13th year of attending. maybe its because I'm not as scared as I used to be, but I found it to be very lame this year. nothing stood out as being special or scary. thank goodness we didn't have a problem with the smokers, but there was a lot of obnoxious people drinking and talking REALLY LOUD and stumbling around. I did like the Silent Hill house and the shrill screaming noises and found that to be pretty creepy. I missed the scare zones, but found they had plenty of scare actors walking around anyways. the crowds was awful. even with express passes. I hope it is better next year. still I'll be going back. I love HHN's.

 

[SgtClaymore]

Sounds like you didn't have a touring plan to begin with.

If you come to vacation with no set in stone agenda especially here, you find yourself overwhelmed and lost.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

Count me in the camp that found it just so-so.

Not bad but not great - I still felt like the lines were really long even with the express pass - but of course, the regular lines were all around 150-180 minutes (and this was on a Thursday night).

I did Howl-O-Scream for the first time this year, and I have to say it felt scarier than HHN. It's less expensive as well.

None of the houses stood out for me - except maybe Gothic. I did like the puking animatronic in front of Nuked Vegas though. (And the girl with the three...)

I've been a regular since the Director was the host (missed a host this year as well) and think I may lay off for a year or three until the craving comes back.

 

[beaprn]

My niece and friends drove up from Jacksonville and spent the night for this event on Sun Oct 14. They know the drill about arriving early , etc. They did not have express passes did not have passes because usually Sun nights are okay and they did not want to pay an additional $60 pp ( I think they were mistaken about the price), they only got into two mazes and the Bill an Ted show. They left pissed, she said she had never seen crowds of this size on a Sun. She said everyone was complaining all around them. I told her that unless they make changes she may as well budget an express pass into the trip price next year.

 

[Planogirl]

It sounds like the crowds are getting worse and worse. Universal may have to limit the number of passes sold.

 

[donaldduck352]

I must admit also,this year was boring.We only went one night doing the RIP tour with the Dis crew.Alot of good sets but the feel of fear was not there for us.Having no theme did not help either.

The last time they had a great theme,imo,was fractred tails(sp-so what).Since then its been downhill to me.I think Universal needs to bring back some of that HHN magic I have come to love>>RODDY,that would help.

This brings me on another story on my night there.Doing the private RIP tour,I dropped a big dime on doing this.We are giving glow sticks to wear around our necks.Now turns the end of the night I left the group 'cuase my back was hurting and I needed to sit down for a spell.Cuaght up with DW and DD outside RRR.I was feeling better and asked DD if she wanted to ride it with me,the answer was yes.Walked up to a TM,showed our glowsticks and he said go in this way.Kool<I thought.Got to the top and another TM said "that glowstick means what to me,you have to get in the reg line."Very angry I got and went to GS,they said the samething.

On that note,thank you Uni for ruining a already ha-hum night!!!Not the peeps I was with,I love you all,the tude I got From that TM and GS!!!

 

[Jason71]

It sounds like the crowds are getting worse and worse. Universal may have to limit the number of passes sold.

Crowds were the worst I've seen consistently in 11 years. I think it was a combination of reasons--they went from 8 houses to 7, closed Jaws (a people-eater, no pun intended, that drew a crowd during HHN), and did away with Scare Zones, which kept people in the streets longer. Plus, despite what the news says, the economy in Orlando seems to be in full recovery (Food & Wine had record crowds, as well).

Next year, Transformers will be open, which will help a lot, and I imagine at least some traditional Scare Zones will return given the number of complaints this year. Still, an 8th house would be huge, as would an extra show in Animal Actors (or even Horror & Make-Up).