Let's Hear Some HHN Reviews!

[BigTiggerGuy]

OK everyone, I have been patiently waiting but nobody seems to be posting anything. I'm going to my first HHN on Oct. 12 with about 6 friends(staying at the Portofino) and I've been anxiously waiting to hear some reviews....the good, the bad and the ugly!

So how about it......did anybody go this past weekend????

 

[OKWMom]

DH and I went on Friday and Saturday with friends. The lines for the houses grew very long, I think one was 75 minutes. I thought the theming was wonderful and the costumes were just amazing. We walked through all of the scarezones and only 3 of the houses. We saw the Bill and Ted show and thought it was really good.

I think if this is your sort of thing, you will really enjoy it. That being said, it wasn't really my sort of thing. After the third house, everything started to look the same....round the corner, someone jumps out at you, repeat. I think if it weren't so crowded, it would have been more frightening. As it was, we were front to back with people, like a large snake winding through each house. It was hot and crowded and you could see the actors scare the people in front of you, so it was difficult to be startled when it was your turn. If we hadn't been so rushed, I think we could have enjoyed the scenery/theming a little more.

I know we are in the minority as the huge crowds proved this weekend, but DH even said he had no desire to go again and I thought he would really enjoy it. He did like riding MIB over and over again as there wasn't a wait, but it broke down for a while on Saturday night and the Mummy wasn't running when we were there on Saturday. We did ride Jaws in the dark which is a completely different experience. We even left early on Saturday night and gave our express passes (which we had only used once on MIB and not for any of the houses) to a couple who was entering as we left.

 

[AdioSkater]

I went on Friday Night.

My group got there around 6 and we waited at the front gates. The arrival show was scheduled to start at 630 so we waited for that to start. After waiting for twenty minutes, it finally started. The show was ok. The best part was Jack's part. I won't give away what they did exactly but the four icons were just introduced.

After watching the arrival, my group walked through Harvest of the Souls. At the time we went through it, it was very foggy, but no scareactors at this time.

After walking past HOS, We went back to physcopath. The queue was incredibly long. The sign said about 30 minutes but we waited at least an hour. This house was not bad, but very repetitive. I started to feel very sick when they had the multi colored tunnel spinning around me like in Poseidons furry. This was not a great house but it wasn't the bottom of my list.

Next up, People Under the Stairs. I had often heard this house being compared to Terror Mines of last year. I was a big fan of terror mines last year even though it didn't have much theming. The theming in this house was pretty good, but I didn't get many scares. Although, the nail guns making the floor jolt, was pretty cool.

Next up, DeadTroppollis. I thought this scarezone had the most potential and it was my most anticipated scare zone. I thought the theming was great, but the scareactors were just not doing it for me. The costumes made them seem like regular people until they started walking. When the zombies started to move, they would drag their legs and move very slow. I know this is how most zombies are, but I would have like to have seen a 28 days later type of zombie.

We did All Nite Die in next. This house was awesome. The theming was great, the scares were great, it was just overall a great house. The only part that I didn't like, was not being targeted for scares. My two friends were getting targeted. Overall, great house.

Right next to die in, was Physco Scarapy. I really liked this house. I was looking forward to this because I have a fear of clowns, and there were plenty of clowns to go around. All of the scare actors did a great job in trying to scare everyone. The theming was great. The only part I really did not like was the poop room. It was a bathroom that smelled absolutley disgusting. I got my best scare of the night in this house. I am not going to ruin the scare for others. All I am going to say is that it involved lights. Jack was supposed to be in this house but I did not see him anywhere. One of my friends told me that Jack had jumped out at me towards the end, but I did not see him.

After Scarapy I did Bill and Ted. Bill and Ted was not bad this year but it did not live up to last years show for me. It had some good moments, it had some silly moments. It was the show that we all love.

After doing the BaT show, I went back to the other scare zones that I had missed. I went throught Blood Masquerade and I did not get any scares. I think this scare zone is way too small. For what the scare actors have to work with, they did great.

I revisted HOS. This was by far the best scare zone for me. This seemed to be the only scare zone that actually tried to scare people. The costumes were great and the theming was awesome.

On a side note, I loved seeing all of the old costumes from the houses and other scarezones from previous years at the front of the park, later in the evening.

I am going to rank the houses and Scares zones

Houses
Tied for first is
All night Die in and Physco Scarapy
3. People under the stairs
4. Physcopath

I only did four houses so I can't say anything about the others.

Scare Zones
1. Harvest of the Souls
2. Deadtroppollis
3. Blood Masquerade.

 

[Melisa1]

We went on 9/30. This was our first visit to HHN. We loved it!!!! We arrived back at USF around 4:30pm and went to the Annual Pass area in New York. They had music and a bar (with no bathroom! ) some scareactors on stilts which I thought were really good! Around 5:30 pm they released us into our first house and off we went. We ended up doing 6 of the 7 houses and did not get to see Bill & Ted. But I thought it was awesome!!!!!! I will go back as often as possible now! The crowds weren't as bad as I expected, The Arrival was neat as well as Sweet 16 Directors cut. The scare zones were really fun too!
I will rank the house starting from my favorite
1. Run
2. All Nite Die In
3. Screamhouse
4 Dungeon of Terror
5. People under the stairs
6. Psychopath

We did not get to see Psycoscareapy due to the lines.
Any Questions???

 

[F-L-A]

Scream House and PsychoScareapy both have great theming but the casts need some more practice. All Nite Die-In was house of the night. Already close to perfection. Run felt more like "the line ride" than a haunted house. Hope that gets sorted out. Psychopath was decent. I'm not very fond of Dungeon of Terror or People Under the Stairs. Those two need a lot of improvements. While I favor last year's show, Bill & Ted is still hilarious. A don't miss. The Arrival is decent. Didn't like the bad lip synching. The Director's Cut lagoon show is boring and not worth the time. Overall, the event needs improvement but it should be better later in the month.

Houses, from best to worst:

1.) All Nite Die-In
2.) Scream House
3.) PsychoScareapy
4.) Psychopath
5.) Run
6.) Dungeon of Terror
7.) People Under the Stairs

 

[Jimemo]

My list always changes after each HHN, but...

Best to worst houses:
1. All Nite Die-In
2. Psychoscareapy
3. Run
4. Screamhouse
5. Psycho Path
6. PUTS - I had the hat though... 7 without it
7. Dungeon of Terror

I'm positive this will change considering this was the first day.

HOUSES
Run:
I was really surprised by Run this year. I loathed the original Run. But this year, the new storyline for the house and the theming are pretty awesome. The first time through was awesome, but the second time we kept stopping, and I actually noticed a lack of scareactors in the house. A few complaints...there was too much hanging crap... but Universal always puts too much hanging crap in the houses every year imo. AND there was no Eddie. Eddie is my favorite Icon. and he was supposed to make a big comeback in Run... But there was no Eddie. at all.

All Nite Die-In:
Not too bad. One of the first people through. It was pretty long. You go through The Ring, Texas Chainsaw(I think), Hellraiser and Silence of the Lambs. The Ring scenes were awesome and very creepy. I wasn't a very big fan of the Silence of the Lamb part. I didn't think the movie was even that scary. Could easily become my #1 house of the year though.

Screamhouse:
Because Adam is awesome, he took us a super secret way, and we were the first people of the night to go through Screamhouse! yay. I liked it a lot. Not all that much different than the other 2 times they did Screamhouse. I don't remember the greenhouse scene though. Smelled like... a greenhouse, which was a nice little detail. There weren't enough Scareactors at all. Although they may just have not been ready yet. There were also too many Caretakers. Still pretty good.

Psychoscareapy:
I was soooo looking forward to Psychoscareapy. The original is my favorite house of all time. Unfortunately, it was pretty crappy. (and it wasn't because of the bathroom scene... haha. get it? crappy? bathroom?) No one jumped out or even attempted to be a little bit scary. and I thought Jack was supposed to have taken over? I think I saw him in there once, but I'm not sure. (P.S. I talked to the house coordinator, and supposedly Jack isn't even supposed to be in the house. He was supposed to have rubbed off on all the patients so they all "have a little bit of Jack.")

Psycho Path:
So first of all, the fire alarms went off in PUTS and Psycho House, so we had to stand outside for like 15 minutes. haha. Once we got inside, It was just blah. You know how every year, they have to have a house with the vortex tunnel, and stupid tricks with people blending into the walls? That would be this house. Stupid Vortex. Stupid blending into walls. Stupid neon paint and black lights. Nothing really memorable.

Dungeon of Terror:
So Universal was like, "We spent all our money on People Under the Stairs (More about that in a minute) so we're just going to give you all masks and fake teeth.... ummm, act like rednecks." Dungeon of Terror was pretty terrible. The theming and scenery weren't so bad. It was mostly that the scareactors and their costumes were terrible. Red necks are annoying. not scary. There was a preacher outside who was really entertaining... and a drunk woman dancing in the middle of the queue.

People Under the Stairs:
"OMG we need to make a 7th house! Think of something quick!... I've got it! A house that is under construction..." Is what PUTS is. It was so bad. It was like they ran out of time and money, and made this house. First of all, This and Pscycho Path were built in tents behind MiB. So there were parts in both houses where you could look up and see the top of the stupid tents. It was basically wall frames with plastic over them. and then they splattered red paint randomly. The scareactors weren't that bad, it was just the house. So bad. To make things worse, they are using the flashlight hats from Terror Mines last year... The house is not dark at all, so the mining hats are pretty useless. The scareactors pretty much only jumped out for the guy behind us with the light.

This year has potential. We'll see...
Pretty much my biggest complaints this year are that while all of the houses have a storyline, they all don't have movies explaining them like the past couple years. I really like houses that have a cool storyline. AND THERE IS TOO MUCH EFFING HANGY STUFF. I'm too busy pushing fiberouse materials and body parts out of my face to notice any of the scareators popping out.

Scare Zones:
Blood Masquerade:
It was pretty nifty, unfortunately the only time we went through there, the scareactors were not out. Lots of electric candles and fog.

Harvest of Souls:
Best scare zone. It was like the corn fields from a couple years ago... but less crappy. Random pumpkin headed people and scarecrows.

Deadtropolis:
I liked the scareactors. zombie tourists. lol, a zombie riding a bike and random stripper zombies.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We really enjoyed HHN Saturday. Like someone else posted, after awhile all the houses kind of run together. But it is like that for me every year.
We went through all but two of the houses, and did not see Bill & Ted's. We have Frequent Fear Passes so will be going again Sunday.
USO excels at HHN. That is obviously their passion and money maker.
I want to be sure to see there 360 show too. We did not stay around for that as we had been there since early afternoon and can see it some other night, and probably when it is less crowded.
One haunted house (I think the caretaker) did not have any scaractors in almost the first half. It was just like a long que area. Not disappointing. Just odd.
We also took an afternoon tour where we toured two of the houses. Even during the day, it was fairly dark and we needed flashlights. We were able to take some photos inside the houses in restricted areas. It is very nice to be able to see details you would otherwise miss.
I will post some pictures once I get them loaded into photobucket.
Overall a big thumbs up!

 

[robvia]

Went Saturday night.

Will have my web site up later in the week.

If you are going, BUY THE EXPRESS PASS.

Gosh the lines were long. I got there early and went to the Stay and Scream area. It was in front of the NY section where the old Ghost Busters show was. They have the street dancers out doing their thing, with a DJ up on the steps playing music. They bring some people from the crowd down to dance, and they make fools of themselves. Some people can actually dance and do the robot. The music is cool and everyone has a great time.

The entrance to ScreamHouse is in this area, and it opened at 05:30pm. So if you're there early, you get a head start, but it doesn't last for long.

The crowd outside is let in at 06:30pm, and they are told to head to the right towards T2. There is a stage set up in front of Mels Diner. Past that near MIB are 3 houses. The people outside end up here first. There are the two houses that are made up of tents. These houses suck, one is a building of a frame house that isn't completed yet. One person wears a hard hat with a light on top. It's stupid.

The lines were so long that I only got thru 4 houses. The wait times were 90 minutes by 8pm. The people in the Stay and Scream area can go thru the houses in the sound stages fairly quickly, and these are the best houses. That's the advantage to those arriving early, you get 3 houses done fast, then the rest are going to be 90 minutes.

Again, if you're going to HHN16, and want to see every house, then you need to spend the $50 and buy the express passes.

Bill and Ted show was ok, I'd call it average. The theme was 24, but it kinda got lost in the shuffle. The show ended with "sand man" by Metallica, which I hated because they're pissed about people downloading their music. I'd change that song to something else.

The Director's Cut show in the lagoon was cool. It recapped all the previous events. This is the one where they play movies on the globes in the lagoon with some fireworks going off.

I'd say Universal has a hit on their hands judging by the crowds. The houses had 90 minute waits, which is brutal. My feet and back were hurting from waiting so long.

Buy the express passes, even if they cost $50 a person.

 

[MartDM]

Thank for all the reviews! And thanks for the S&S touring info Robvia...it's a huge help for us as we'll be going this weekend & are trying to formulate a plan of attack.

 

[robvia]

Oh yeah, go to the S&S area on time. The dancers are cool to watch, you'll enjoy it. They have characters in costume walking around, and it's very cool to see. The street dancers and fun to watch, and the music is great.

Now, the first house you can go thru is in this area (Screamhouse). At 04:45pm, there's no one standing in front of the display. But at 05:00pm, everyone figures out what's going on, and they line up. Go into the S&S area, and GET IN LINE for Screamhouse first thing. You'll be able to see the dancers and the characters will walk over to take pictures.

Once you go thru Screamhouse, you'll head to All Nite Die-In which is in a soundstage. You have to walk thru the boneyard area to get to the entrance of this house. It's kinda weird, you come out of ScreamHouse and have to walk thru the boneyard to get in line. You'll see the line of people waiting. After All Nite Die-In, you can do Psychoscareapy next, which is right next to Jimmy Neutron.

After this, the waits for the houses will be 90 minutes. You might be able to make it to RUN, which is next to BeatleJuice's Graveyard Review, but the other 3 houses are near MIB, and the GP (General Public) crowd is sent there to start their night. So by 8pm, all the houses have a wait of 90 minutes.

The people in the S&S area will be able to do 4 houses with a fairly short wait. The people who are outside are steered to MIB, where there are 3 houses and the B&T show (Fear Factor). That's right, people who are at the gate are told to go RIGHT towards MIB, where there are 3 houses. This makes sense, because you have all the S&S people doing the soundstage houses, and the GP doing the houses near MIB. But it doesn't matter, the wait times after 8pm are 90 minutes.

I'd say the attack plan is to be in the S&S area, do the 3 soundstage houses, then go to RUN. After that, check out the scare zones, the Arrival area (across from Mel's), and the B&T show. If you want to do the houses near MIB then you'll have to wait until the end of the night, or just forget them. The soundstage houses are the best, so you'll get to see them.

ScreamHouse is in the Ghost Busters area, only S&S people can get there at 05:30pm. They have barracades set up. When you exit ScreamHouse, you end up in the bone yard. All-Nite-Die-In is across from the exit of Twister. It's at the corner of the boneyard area where Twister exits. Go there next. After that, you exit at the Boneyard area again. Head towards Jimmy Neutron, and the entrance to Psychoscareapy is there. After that, you head towards the Mummy, keep walking towards BeetleJiuice, and you'll find Run.

Bottom line. Be in the S&S area early, get in line for ScreamHouse early, do All Nite Die-In, Psychoscareapy, Run, watch B&T (At Fear Factor), Directors Cut (in the lagoon), The Arrival (across from Mels), scare zones.

Bottom Bottom Line, If you don't have Express, then you'll only get thru 4 houses if you are in the S&S area. Don't worry about the houses near MIB.
The scarezones are good, the B&T show is average, the lagoon show is cool. I give it a thumbs up, but they have to figure out a way to move the people thru the houses faster.

 

[Jimemo]

Everyone seems to be complaining that they didn't get to do everything. I went friday night. We got in the park at around 7:00. We went straight to Psychoscarepy... knew someone there so didn't have to wait in line... haha. Only line we got backdoored through. After that we went straight to Die-In. No line. Then to Screamhouse. No line again. Then to Run, 15 minute wait. Dungeons of Terror, 30 minutes. Next we took a break and ate dinner. We then went back to do the last 2 houses. PsychoPath was about a 25 minute wait. PUTS was about 20. We then went back and did Die-In, Run and Psychoscareapy a 2nd time. We left around 11:00 because I had to work saturday morning.

Because they make everyone go to The Arrival at 6:30, DO NOT go to Dungeons of Terror, PUTS and PsychoPath first.

 

[Slacking]

They MAKE everyone go to The Arrival at 6:30? How do they manage to do that? Can people not do the soundstage houses around that time?

 

[F-L-A]

Production Central is roped off as you enter the park. The only place to go is down Hollywood Boulevard. This is nothing new for USF HHN's. Opening ceremonies, which The Arrival basically acts as, have been done this way before. I guess were sheep, because we went through (an empty) Harvest and did the crappy houses first, so I'm not actually sure whether or not they have the soundstage houses closed at the beginning of the event, but I seriously doubt it. You just have to go the long way to get to them.

 

[robvia]

That is correct. I had two friends who waited outside. We were talking to each other by cell phone. They came in and I said where you are? They told me people were waving them to the right as they came in. These people walk past "The Arrival" which is a stage in front of Mel's. Then they continue towards "Psychopath" which is next to BTTF. Next to that is "People Under the Stairs" next to MIB. Both of these houses are the ones that are made out of tent buildings behind BTTF.

You can get to the soundstage houses from the start. But you'd have to walk towards the Arrival, then make a left at Mels, go thru a scare zone, and then walk towards Twister. That's the best plan of attack for the GP (general public), but they don't know this. They walk like sheep towards MIB and by the time they make it to the soundstage houses, the wait times are 60 minutes, going up to 90.

This is really too bad, because the GP start at the tent houses, and won't get to see the soundstage houses, maybe 1 and that's a 60 minute wait. The soundstage houses are open at 05:30pm, and everyone can get to them. It would be best to walk towards Twister and go thru "Screamhouse" which is the first.

 

[phamton]

Everyone seems to be complaining that they didn't get to do everything. I went friday night. We got in the park at around 7:00. We went straight to Psychoscarepy... knew someone there so didn't have to wait in line... haha. Only line we got backdoored through. After that we went straight to Die-In. No line. Then to Screamhouse. No line again. Then to Run, 15 minute wait. Dungeons of Terror, 30 minutes. Next we took a break and ate dinner. We then went back to do the last 2 houses. PsychoPath was about a 25 minute wait. PUTS was about 20. We then went back and did Die-In, Run and Psychoscareapy a 2nd time. We left around 11:00 because I had to work saturday morning.

You went Friday but Robvia went on Saturday---big difference. Friday wasn't very busy but Saturday was very, very crowded. I would estimate that Saturday had twice as many people there as on Friday. They even ended up extending the hours on Saturday.

 

[LEO_Magic]

That is correct. I had two friends who waited outside. We were talking to each other by cell phone. They came in and I said where you are? They told me people were waving them to the right as they came in. These people walk past "The Arrival" which is a stage in front of Mel's. Then they continue towards "Psychopath" which is next to BTTF. Next to that is "People Under the Stairs" next to MIB. Both of these houses are the ones that are made out of tent buildings behind BTTF.

You can get to the soundstage houses from the start. But you'd have to walk towards the Arrival, then make a left at Mels, go thru a scare zone, and then walk towards Twister. That's the best plan of attack for the GP (general public), but they don't know this. They walk like sheep towards MIB and by the time they make it to the soundstage houses, the wait times are 60 minutes, going up to 90.

This is really too bad, because the GP start at the tent houses, and won't get to see the soundstage houses, maybe 1 and that's a 60 minute wait. The soundstage houses are open at 05:30pm, and everyone can get to them. It would be best to walk towards Twister and go thru "Screamhouse" which is the first.

I gotta give credit where's due & Robvia takes it all. Awsome plan I will follow this. Thank you much

 

[cricket1997]

I went on 9/29 and was a little disappointed. Maybe I didn't enjoy it as much because this was the last thing we did on our trip and my husband and I were both dead tired. We did get the Fastpass, so we did all the houses, scare zones, and the Bill and Ted show. Along with a few rides. (twister, jaws, and earthquake) The houses didn't scare me at all, because they were so crowded you saw what was happening up ahead. It might have taken a little longer, but it would of been better is they didn't have crowds in back to back. HNH was so hyped up to me so I was expecting alot from this, and this event didn't justify the $200 paid for my husband and I to get in. I wished I had done Mickey's not so scary Halloween, because we had such a good time at Disney. (I am under 30 and was thinking this!) I am glad I went, but I wouldn't do it again.

 

[Disneyhappy]

OMG!!!! We had a blast!!!! It was my DS14 and I. He was scared silly to begin with and wasn't sure he would like it. He wanted to leave after the 1st house but I got him to continue on. After the 5th house, he wanted to repeat houses! He loved the scare zones. This was our first HHN so we had nothing to compare it to. I will say it was extremely crowded on Saturday night and I'm glad I sprung for the express passes before we left on Friday AM (glad they were still available, too!). Since we were new to this, we were sort of winging it with the help of other guests. Being preferred annual pass holders seemed to give us a head start in the NY area. We saw Scream House, All nite Die In, and Run before other guests entered the park. Then the lines started to get very long for the houses. I don't know about other years but we thought Bill & Ted's was absolutely hilarious. DS14 only had to help me out with a couple of characters but otherwise I seemed to know all the other characters and themes. I had to help him out on a few as well. I guess I like that kind of humor even at my age!

Other posters already did a good job explaining the houses. Our favs were Scream House, All Nite Die In, Psycho/Bates Motel and Psyhcoscarapy. We did not like Run (cheesy) or the Terror Under the Stairs nearly as much as the others.

Surprises? The crowds! Boy, was it crowded. We were in the parks all weekend and it seemed like a ghost town in the AMs. Afternoon in the Studios really picked up Saturday PM. The Another surprise was the amount of alcohol being sold and consumed. I am 40 something and was there with DS14 so I had to be a bit responsible. My thought was that I was probably a bit too old for all the alcohol party atmosphere taking place because I could not do all of that drinking and stay up that late at the same time! I noticed that around 10 PM things started to get a bit rowdy and took that as a queue to get DS out of there. If he had not been there, I would have had no problem staying as it wasn't that bad - just not for a 14 year old. But by that time, DS got his additional education to make up for the 1/2 day of school he missed on Friday! He kept trying to get me to buy a shot. I was tempted but remained a mom! I did buy the liquid lobotomy in the light up glass for $9. It was really watered down so I didn't even get a slight buzz.

We have promised ourselves that if DS's school schedule next year permits, we are definitely doing HHN again and DH will come along this time. Even if DS's schedule does not permit, DH and I are still going to go (much to DS's chagrin!).The day before we left DH admitted he was bummed he decided not to come when we arranged our flights. He was really bummed when he heard us talking about the great time we had! I cannot wait until next year.

I hope everyone who is going this year has as much fun as we did. In a moment of weakness and out of the blue, DS told me I was a cool mom and he would remember this weekend forever. Now that is priceless!!!!

 

[thrillriderbb]

I went on 9/29 and was a little disappointed. Maybe I didn't enjoy it as much because this was the last thing we did on our trip and my husband and I were both dead tired. We did get the Fastpass, so we did all the houses, scare zones, and the Bill and Ted show. Along with a few rides. (twister, jaws, and earthquake) The houses didn't scare me at all, because they were so crowded you saw what was happening up ahead. It might have taken a little longer, but it would of been better is they didn't have crowds in back to back. HNH was so hyped up to me so I was expecting alot from this, and this event didn't justify the $200 paid for my husband and I to get in. I wished I had done Mickey's not so scary Halloween, because we had such a good time at Disney. (I am under 30 and was thinking this!) I am glad I went, but I wouldn't do it again.

What I do not understand is how popular MNSSHP is compared to HHN. HHN is an entirely different event where as the Not So Scary is the EXACT same MK park just with some deco thrown up and free candy with a diff parade and fireworks. To me a Halloween event needs to have haunted houses and so forth like HHN presents. Until Disney does something like this I will never go to MNSSHP unless it's free sorry to say.

 

[F-L-A]

What I do not understand is how popular MNSSHP is compared to HHN.

Popular with who? Disney fans? HHN garners a much larger attendance than MNSSHP (and likely any other special event you can name.) There's no comparison.