How Scary is Halloween Nights?

[keishashadow]

We're on the fence as to whether we're interested in the Halloween events. Already there appears to be some availability issues on weekends for on-site hotels - not sure if it's due to the Halloween nights or conventions.

Watched an old, taped program from the Travel Channel, haunted houses looked pretty bloody and WAY scarier than any I've been in . . Do the CM's follow the general rule of "not touching you"? Do the mazes have lurking CM's also?

I love haunted houses, but hate when the chain-saw weilding maniac repeatedly gets in your face - how much of this happens? From the program it seemed as though CM's were jumping out from every nook & cranny in the park. I won't even comment about the clowns, yikes!

Lastly, are any of the regular rides open during the event or, closed during regular a.m. park hours for event staging? I know the parks close early, can I assume @ 5 or 6 p.m.?

Thanks.

 

[Metro West]

We're on the fence as to whether we're interested in the Halloween events. Already there appears to be some availability issues on weekends for on-site hotels - not sure if it's due to the Halloween nights or conventions.

Watched an old, taped program from the Travel Channel, haunted houses looked pretty bloody and WAY scarier than any I've been in . . Do the CM's follow the general rule of "not touching you"? Do the mazes have lurking CM's also?

I love haunted houses, but hate when the chain-saw weilding maniac repeatedly gets in your face - how much of this happens? From the program it seemed as though CM's were jumping out from every nook & cranny in the park. I won't even comment about the clowns, yikes!

Lastly, are any of the regular rides open during the event or, closed during regular a.m. park hours for event staging? I know the parks close early, can I assume @ 5 or 6 p.m.?

Thanks.

The haunted houses are very detailed in the themeing...some more than others. Last year, my two favs were Hellgate Prison and Castle Vampyr. Those two houses were really decorated well. Most of the houses either had people jumping out of a door or looking through a window so there is a lot of constant stopping and screaming from the guests. As far as the "don't touch" rule goes, I never saw any of the scarecters touch anyone. The scare zones are where the scarecters get in your face with the chainsaws and such. But again, they won't touch you. They have some of the rides open. Last year, they had most of the studios open with the park being closed off at Earthquake on one side and just past the Horror Make-up show on the other. As far as IOA goes, that was the only entrance to HHN. They had Hulk, Doctor Doom and Spiderman open but you could only use the EP if you purchased the EP Plus for $20 (which is well worth it). They opened the rest of the park on weekend nights because of the crowds. I went on Sunday and Thursday with the Frequent Fear Pass which I'll get again this year. As most anyone will tell you about HHN, it's a lot of fun and you should definately check it out!

 

[keishashadow]

Thanks - are the "scare zones" what I've seen referred to as the mazes? Also, probably stupid questions, but what's an EP/EP Plus?

 

[Slacking]

Thanks - are the "scare zones" what I've seen referred to as the mazes? Also, probably stupid questions, but what's an EP/EP Plus?

Sacre Zones are themed walkways around the park where scareactors inhabit and try to scare the guests. These are scattered around the park and you have to walk through them to get to other areas of the park. They're usually not too scary. The Houses are a group of Haunted Houses scattered in differen't buiuldings around the park(s) that you have to queue up for in order to go through. So, scare zones and the houses, are separate things.

Express Pass Plus is a ticket you can purchase (on top of park admission) that will give you little to no wait for each house (once) and most rides (once).

If you arrive to the event early (and use stay and Scream- don't leave the park after it closes, and wait in a designated area) and hit all the houses first, or as they open, the Express Pass isn't quite necessary.

 

[MartDM]

I was hesitant to go myself last year for fear of it being total overload. I've been to some haunted events where it is just non-stop people jumping out at you to startle you and it becomes unenjoyable after a bit, so I can relate to your remarks. I must say though, even though I was really nervous going in that it wouldn't be fun so much as just adrenaline overload from being jumped at, I ended up having a fantastic time.

The spooky atmosphere alone is a fun scare and the theming of the houses is great too. Yes, some scaractors jumped at me but it wasn't constant - just enough to be fun. Others just played mind games with you - for example clowns freak me out too, so when I turned the corner in one house to find several, it caused me to involuntarily say to my husband in fear "oh my god clowns! I hate clowns", at which point one stepped in front of me, looked me square in the eye, and in a completely evil voice state "WE HATE YOU TOO!!!". Scared the heck out of me but in a fun way because it played on my irrational fear.

So, in short, all the scareactors are there to scare you but it happens in both startling and very subtle ways. Sometimes you are just viewing a scary scene, sometimes they are calmly saying scary things to you, and sometimes a chainsaw wielding maniac makes you jump and scream when he fires up his chainsaw behind you. Is it scary, you bet! Is it fun, absolutely! You can't be a total wuss and enjoy yourself but it isn't so hard core that the average joe who likes a good scare can't appreciate it and have fun.

 

[keishashadow]

Thanks - Guess we'll give it a try if our plans work out. I always thought clowns were creepy, never thought they'd be in a haunted house. Keep the clowns, give me Leatherface.

 

[Coach Mike]

Halloween Nights was very scary. I loved it. My DW and DD walked it front of me. I stayed about ten feet behind them. I got to watch them hug each other and scared all night. The scareactors jump in front of them, with chain saws, hiding as rock formations, scarecrows etc. The Clowns were scary. The one thing I remember was they were playing the song "You should be in pictures" with the strobe lights on. Very, very scary. Luckily I was standing behind them.

It was definity a "Drinkfeast" for older kids. My DD who is 13 thought she was too old for Disney and too young for Halloween Nights.

 

[F-L-A]

Keep the clowns, give me Leatherface.

You missed him by 2 years. He got a little too hyper and almost burned my eyebrows off with the chainsaw exhaust. And Freddy almost poked me in the eye with his claw. Good times.

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

You can't be a total wuss and enjoy yourself

Actually, this isn't always true. I *hate* getting scared. I'm THE wuss. I can't watch scary movies...no matter if it's rated R or PG-13...they are all too creepy for my liking. BUT I had a blast at HHN. I enjoyed watching the shows, and tried to keep from getting scared by interacting back with the scareactors (do something, or say something to throw them off IE - I was tempted to say "Save a horse; ride a cowboy!" to one of the dudes in the Cornfield, just to see their reaction.)

The biggest scares were staring at the 'creature'...not realizing it's there, or that it's real...and THEN after a few seconds, they jump. But some of my encounters weren't scary...more.... 'strange'...people going "Boo----OH! Hi!!" or "Heeeeeey!!" Huh??? or can't forget "Is your name Clare?" (okay, one person in my group told the guy to do that to me...scared the crap outta me!!) But overall, there were a LOT of good scares. I did cry once..screamed at a scareactor (didn't know he was trying to calm me down...I took it as him being sarcastic and trying to scare me more...oops....)...but would I go again? Heck yes! By myself? Noooooooo way! I'm still going to be in the middle of a group of at least 5.


As for the "No Touch" rule...I don't know how forced that was? I thought sometimes I was touched...not in a grabby way, but enough to spook you. Too long ago..I don't remember. They do have blasts of air, so maybe that's all it was...or the people behind me were trying to scare me further (like the young British guys who wanted to hold on because they were "scared" (Uhuh...suuuuure buddy.)

 

[keishashadow]

Thanks again to all for responding, really sounds like a great experience, hope we get to see it. Wish we lived closer to FL!

 

[robvia]

You have to think of it as entertainment.

Here's my site with a few more videos. In many of them, I'm laughing.

http://www.nogodforme.com/HHN14.htm

 

[Lemur]

After 3 years of HHN I took 2 years off, so that I wouldn't get tired of it, and also coz I found it so scary in parts I almost messed myself !



Anyway, going back his year.

It can get scary. You can avoid most aspects and watch from a safe distance. It's worth doing. No doubt.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Depends on the maze/zone. To me the zones are more frightening than the houses since they are so wide open and not as easy to predict as the houses. I will walk around a zone to the best of my ability because I am scared of the fog/strobes they use. I'm a chicken but I can handle HHN, I just laugh through it all.