Just back from HHN 17...Report & Reviews

[Metro West]

I just got home from opening night of HHN 17 and I can tell you all...it's A LOT better than last year...IMHO.

Here's how the evening went:

Arrived at the Studios around 3:30pm and had a bite to eat at Louie's before they closed. Around 5pm, security was sweeping the park for day guests and letting the HHN guests know where we were to go. The HUGE S & S area is the large concert space beside Jimmy Neutron where the Mardi Gras concerts are staged. There is several drink vendors and amusement games to help pass the time.

Around 6pm...they let us loose and the first house we did was A Nightmare On Elm Street: Dreamwalkers. I was one of the first 15 people in the house so I didn't use my Express Pass. The next house was Psychoscareapy: Home For The Holidays. These were two of the soundstage houses that were VERY detailed and appropriately themed. The houses were also VERY cold. Then...I headed for Friday The 13th: Camp Blood which is in the Jaws queue. I didn't really like this one as much mainly because there was no A/C and too many "counselors" were running around doing nothing. Next was Jack's Funhouse In Clown-O-Vision. This is beside MIB and it's really cool! It's a 3-D type of experience and loads of fun. I then headed to The Thing:Assimilation which is located beside Jack's Funhouse BUT the entrance is through the Barney theatre. I then headed to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh Wounds which is located in the Earthquake queue and another house that didn't have A/C. Next was Vampyr: Blood Bath which is located across from Finnegan's...which is why the S & S area was moved. This is the one house that has a lot of skin...there's always one house. Lastly...I went to Dead Silence: The Curse Of Mary Shaw which was the last soundstage house and was really neat...like the others. I didn't do any of the show tonight since the timing didn't work out but I'll hit the shows next week with Macraven. I then purchased my annual t-shirt and shot glass...stopped by and chatted with Phamton for a bit and then headed home. It was pretty crowded...the longest wait time I noticed was 60 minutes for Dead Silence. Now for the reviews:

Here's how I would rate the houses...and let me say that this year, I liked all of the houses so it's tough job to rank them. But...here we go:

1. Dead Silence: The Curse Of Mary Shaw - soundstage house...very well themed...lots of props from the film...theming was incredible...overall...excellent!
2. Psychoscareapy: Home For The Holidays - soundstage house...VERY cold but excellent theming and scareactors were great!
3. Jack's Funhouse - lots of fun...3-D glasses provided...great house!
4. A Nightmare On Elm Street: Dreamwalkers - one of the soundstage houses...very detailed and very chilly.
5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh Wounds - another house that didn't have A/C...otherwise very scary.
6. The Thing: Assimilation - well themed and effects were great!
7. Vampyr: Blood Bath - just didn't like the loud club music and the house didn't seem very scary.
8. Friday The 13th: Camp Blood - mainly because of lack of A/C and too many people running around inside the house not doing much.

Those are my views from opening night. I'm sure others will have their own favs but those are mine.

The participating rides that were open are: Jimmy Neutron, Shrek 4-D, Twister, ROTM, Jaws, Earthquake and MIB. Express Passes can be used on all.

Here are a few pix I took of various things that people had asked about on the boards.

Hope you like the pix and my review and if you have any questions...just let me know!

 

[ToGreen78]

Great report, Great pics, THANKS. I can't wait till 10/24, have been lookin forward to it since I was in the parking garage leaving HHN16

 

[ToGreen78]

I knew there was something I forgot, do you possibly know showtimes for the nights HHN closes at midnight. Thanks!!!!

 

[Metro West]

I knew there was something I forgot, do you possibly know showtimes for the nights HHN closes at midnight. Thanks!!!!

The map I have is for the this weekend and next...which closes at midnight.

Here are the showtimes listed:

Jack's Carnival of Carnage - 6:30, 7:45, 9:15 and 10:45

Rocky Horror Picture Show Tribute - 7:00, 8:15, 9:45 and 11:00

Freak Show - 7:00, 8:30, 10:00 and 11:15

Bill & Ted - 7:30, 8:45, 10:00 and 11:15

 

[ToGreen78]

Thank you sooooo much, I really appreciate it!!!

 

[Metallicat]

Looks and sounds good.
DD and I are going on 10/18 with express passes in hand. can't wait. this will be our 8th year going to HHN. nothing much scares us anymore.

 

[nodoubtrock]

nice report. you got on everything and home by now. thats fast. I'll have to go early and stay and scream one night. I didn't go to your top 2 houses last night. The ferris wheel was neat by MIB but I wanted to ride it instead of it just being for looks.

 

[Strawman]

Better than last year? Are you kidding me? Maybe, MAYBE, if all you are interested in is the houses. I only made 6 of eight and the were some good houses, but otherwise this event sucked.

 

[Melisa1]

Great report Metro!!! Pics were great too!!!!!!
Sounds like you had a great time!!

 

[yaytezIOA]

Quick Review: Vids and pictures coming soon.
First of all we had a tour.....Bill was all kinds of awesome....he was our tour guide, RIP way to go.
I was with the media event, so we were held inside The Groove until it stopped raining, then we were let out into the event where we had to watch the Opening Scaremonies......so we started doing things at about 9....three hours, and we did all the houses twice, and Bill and Ted.....didnt see the other three shows though
Houses:
Dead Silence-Not bad, the visuals were amazing, and when the scareactors were on they were brilliant.
NMOES: Probably my second favorite house. The visuals were amazing, the scenes were great, and the damn scareactors were intense in EVERYONES face..it was so great.
Pyshoscarepy Home for the Holidays: My favorite "themed" house. It was brilliantly done, the streets were awesome, just wasnt a lot of scareactors, or so it felt.
Vampyre:Hot as hell...least favorite house.
Clownovision:2nd least favorite house....just didnt work, though it was better than another 3D themed house in the area.
Friday the 13th:Good house. Loved seeing Jason in my face.
TCM: Was ready to write it off, but it came through with some really well placed scares.
Thing:FAVORITE HOUSE!! Very impressed, great effects, great cast, great everything.

Shows:
Opening Scaremonies: Not bad....very entertaining.
Bill and Ted:Liked it better last year, though when it hit, it hit BIG....it just didnt hit as often as last year.

Scare zones: What was there, was themed nicely....some scares, but not a lot. The whole englufing scare zone, yeah...didnt happen as much.

I missed all other shows but BnT.
Overall, great event...little things here and there,and lines are always an issue.....but thats the nature of the beast. Go to HHN.

 

[PoohnPglet]

I also went last night. We saw all the shows plus 4 of the houses:

1) Jack's Funhouse - I liked Jack's a little bit better than Dead Silence only because I really like the 3-D thing they did. Plus the exit "thing" was different too.
2) Dead Silence: The Curse Of Mary Shaw - Dolls creep me out anyway, so this house really worked for me.
3) Vampyr: Blood Bath - This one was alright. There were some scareactors up on the second level. I kept hoping they were up there cause they had the bungee stuff. But none ever jumped down - so I guess not. But something like that would have made it better.
4) Friday The 13th: Camp Blood - I'm gonna give this one another shot because we saw this first and there was still daylight streaming through everywhere. And it did seem like there were too many counselors about.


As for the shows, they were pretty good.

1) Rocky Horror Picture Show Tribute - This was amazing! If you are a fan you MUST see. The performers were incredible and it was just great! (Can you tell I really liked it?)
2) Bill & Ted - I have to say I disagree with the pp and say that it was a huge improvement over last year. They hit quite a bit of the current pop culture and I am not gonna say too much except "Leave Britney Alone!!"
3) Freak Show - Fairly interesting, but more of "gee-what can I do while I sit down and rest" kinda thing. Not a must see for me and mine at all.
4) Jack's Carnival of Carnage - Kind of the same as the welcome show last year only Jack themed.

Also, there were no real scare zones. Where Harvest of the Souls was last year they had some dead clown like things walking around with fog. And there were some evil clowns riding around on motorcycles but that was it. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Without the scare zones, it really did not have the same HHN feel.

And another down note, we purchased the Ultimate Party passes for Annual Pass holders and this was a total and complete waste of money. Part of what we were supposed to get for purchasing these event tickets was express entrance into Bill & Ted, Friday The 13th: Camp Blood and Jack's Funhouse. Apparently, no one told the operators of these areas and we were forced to wait in the regular lines. And because they had put us in a "special" holding area next to the Bill & Ted stage, by the time they released us there were huge lines everywhere. There were a lot of very unhappy people over that event.

Anyway - we have the Frequent Fear passes so we are heading back tonight!

 

[lorax123]

I'm disappointed I expected to hear more and see more pics the next day!!!

Especially since we aren't going this year. I have to live vicariously through everybody else.

has the lack of scarezones hindered the feel? Last years scarezones were some of the best, in my opinion. scare zones are one of the best things about HHN to me and wifey.

so how was the Thing? I love that movie and have been waiting for years to see a house based on it.

 

[Metro West]

nice report. you got on everything and home by now. thats fast. I'll have to go early and stay and scream one night. I didn't go to your top 2 houses last night. The ferris wheel was neat by MIB but I wanted to ride it instead of it just being for looks.

I know..I wanted to ride the ferris wheel too. I LOVE the S & S and EP for the event. Last night I stuck with getting the houses done and Thursday night I'll concentrate more on the shows this time.

I'm disappointed I expected to hear more and see more pics the next day!!!

Especially since we aren't going this year. I have to live vicariously through everybody else.

has the lack of scarezones hindered the feel? Last years scarezones were some of the best, in my opinion. scare zones are one of the best things about HHN to me and wifey.

so how was the Thing? I love that movie and have been waiting for years to see a house based on it.

Sorry...I took a few pix but I'm sure others will have more to post. I miss the true scarezones like Fright Yard and Field of Screams from the past but I don't think the mood is any worse for the wear. I liked The Thing house...but that's JMHO.

 

[lorax123]

I know..I wanted to ride the ferris wheel too. I LOVE the S & S and EP for the event. Last night I stuck with getting the houses done and Thursday night I'll concentrate more on the shows this time.

Sorry...I took a few pix but I'm sure others will have more to post. I miss the true scarezones like Fright Yard and Field of Screams from the past but I don't think the mood is any worse for the wear. I liked The Thing house...but that's JMHO.

It does seem like the Thing is getting great reviews. That's good. Maybe it will get an encore next year!

The reviews don't seem bad, just typical 1st night reviews. So much anticipation building up to the event, unless it's perfect right away, some fans just get disappointed and start the bashing that 'this is the worst HHN EVER!'

It takes a week for the actors and everything else to mesh. I'd love to go opening night sometime, but I know you really don't see the event at it's peek.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We are going tonight. Good to read some insight beforehand. Thanks!

 

[yaytezIOA]

I will have a full video podcast up in the next few days, loads of pictures and videos......its just been a rough night
Tonight we'll be doing HOS.

 

[phamton]

And another down note, we purchased the Ultimate Party passes for Annual Pass holders and this was a total and complete waste of money. Part of what we were supposed to get for purchasing these event tickets was express entrance into Bill & Ted, Friday The 13th: Camp Blood and Jack's Funhouse. Apparently, no one told the operators of these areas and we were forced to wait in the regular lines. And because they had put us in a "special" holding area next to the Bill & Ted stage, by the time they released us there were huge lines everywhere. There were a lot of very unhappy people over that event.

There was a screw-up yesterday with the AP party. It will be fixed today.

 

[Minniespal]

Great report, looking forward to seeing it for myself on the 31st!!!!

 

[Akdar]

I will have a full video podcast up in the next few days, loads of pictures and videos......its just been a rough night
Tonight we'll be doing HOS.

Can't wait yaytezIOA!

 

[Melisa1]

great reports from everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!