Monsters, Candy Apples, Pumpkins, Vampires, Witches, Haunted Houses, Scares Zones and more. HHN 31 trip.

[Robo56]

The first house of the afternoon was “Universal Monster’s: Legends Collide” This is a Universal original house.

This is the house where the Mummy, Dracula and Werewolf battle for the magic amulet that will break their curse.




This house was very heavy on the Mummy theming.

It looked like you had entered an Archeological dig in Egypt. I studied Egyptology in high school so I really appreciated this house In the daylight.





They had some nice artifacts recreated. Like the Anubis Head. Anubis was the original god of the dead, but as he was worshiped more Osiris became the god of the dead and Anubis the Jackel-god of mummifications role was to make sure that the souls of the deceased made it smoothly to the underworld.







These Jackal headed beasts look mean and are a guarding the Mummy‘s tomb


I reached out on social media to see if any of the TM’s or HHN creative team would decipher the hieroglyphics in the house. I could not make anything from some of the symbols which were not typical shapes found in hieroglyphics..

There was a response from a lady who said she was an Egyptologist. She said the hieroglyphics were not phrases, but possibly names.

I was just courious. I’am always amazed at things the HHN creative team come up with.

 

[Robo56]

This looked like some ceremonial dagger.






To be continued

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Fantastic photos!

That doesn’t mean my take on a specific house makes it the best or anyone else’s opinion on a house makes a house the best or worst it just means that some houses speak more to them then it does to someone else.

A house should evoke the senses. I think Universals creative team did a wonderful job of that in this house. This house looked like a New England fishing town with it’s old wooden structures and Boathouse. The wrecked and sinking boat with water flowing past the portholes. The lady on the bow of the boat playing her violin and singing her song was incredible. The misty cool spray did remind me of the Ocean on a blustery wet winter’s night.

This house did have some good scares, but it was the artistry of this house that was for me a stand out.

I wouldn't be into the gore, but this house would certainly be one I would go through.

We walked past Optimus Prime as he was doing a meet and greet. My grandson educated me on the good and bad Transformers a few years ago. I remembered Optimus Prime was a good one.

OOOOOOOOOOOO I hope when we go (We are currently in talks with all family members about where we want to have a family vacation) we will get to this these guys out and about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love transformers.

This is the house where the Mummy, Dracula and Werewolf battle for the magic amulet that will break their curse.

This looks amazing also!!!!!!

 

[Robo56]

OOOOOOOOOOOO I hope when we go (We are currently in talks with all family members about where we want to have a family vacation) we will get to this these guys out and about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love transformers.

You would love it at Universal. It’s fun to watch people interact with the Transformers. I have seen Bumble Bee, Optimus Prime both are good ones and the bad Transformer Megatron.

They only come out in a special area behind the building across the street from the transformer ride. You can line up for pictures with them.

This looks amazing also!!!!!!

I was glad to see this house in the daylight because it really made more sense to me.

You would like HHN. The houses are really something to see for sure.

 

[Robo56]

Friday, September 9th continued

The next house was “Bugs: Eaten Alive” This is a Universal original house. The backstory on this house is that it is set in 1950’s home that has a special air device on the wall that is filled with a bug repellant called Exterminair that keeps bugs at bay.

The spray eventually mutates and causes the bugs to grow and consume their victims.

I had not been in this house yet during the night.

The whole Bug concept for a house was not particularly scary to me in general, but hats off to the HHN creative team for coming up with this idea for house.
I could see it being an issue for someone who does have a phobia of bugs though.

 

[Robo56]

 

[Robo56]

To be continued

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m really enjoying your report!
I was at Portofino Bay 96-9/9/22 and I also always bring a blanket from home!
I did the Unmasking the horror tour on 9/8, the 3 house one. I loved it, you really learn so much about the production of these houses!
I love all your pictures. He’ll Block is more terrifying with the lights on, lol
My favorite houses this year are Halloween, Dead Man, Universal Monsters.
We had a great time at HHN, our first visit since 2016.

 

[Robo56]

I’m really enjoying your report!
I was at Portofino Bay 96-9/9/22 and I also always bring a blanket from home!
I did the Unmasking the horror tour on 9/8, the 3 house one. I loved it, you really learn so much about the production of these houses!

Thank You disneyAndi14 so glad to have you along.

My sister has always brings a small blanket and pillow when we travel together. I finally listened this year and brought one. I like to travel pretty light and don‘t bring a lot of extra things, but the blanket came along this year. I used my blanket a lot for naps.

So nice to hear you enjoyed the 3 house tour. Yep, getting to see and hear about how those houses come together is awesome.

I love all your pictures. He’ll Block is more terrifying with the lights on, lol
My favorite houses this year are Halloween, Dead Man, Universal Monsters.
We had a great time at HHN, our first visit since 2016.

I‘am glad your joying the photos.

I agree Hell Block was pretty gruesome in the light.

Halloween House was pretty amazing as was Dead Man’s Pier and Universal Monsters. You are right on target.

Great to hear you had a nice time this year.

How would you compare your experience this year with 2016?

 

[Robo56]

Continued from Friday, September 9th

 

[Robo56]

Wow…..that was one buggy house. That was a job to glue all those bugs to the walls and mannequins in that house. I could see where people were pulling the bugs off the walls as there were a lot of them on the floor.

While were walking through the Bug House a hard rain started beating down on the building. It sounded like a gully washer. By the time we exited the house it was just barely misting. I pulled out my rain poncho for a bit. The sun came
back out again and the rain stopped.

I really wanted to see the Bug House in evening during HHN to see how it would be in the dark with the scare actors at work.

Zac our tour guide took a vote as to whether the group wanted a bathroom break. It was voted to break. So we came out of the backlot and went to the restrooms by MIB.

I walked into MIB and purchased a bottle water and found these neat bug lolly pops for sale by the cash register.





I have watched cooking shows and seen famous chefs eat seasoned crickets or chocolate covered crickets. They are interesting to look at and fun finding them after just going through the bug house, but noooooooooo.

I wanted to back track a little. By the time we had reached the Bug House I has having some issues with by back and right leg. I would discover what the issue was with my leg when I got back to the resort later.

I have back problems and it is really hard to stand in one place very long. As you go through the houses the guide stops in the rooms and talks about the house and you can be standing in one place for a bit. I was in so much pain by the time we reached The Bug House I was going to have to leave.

I noticed some of the young ones in our group were needing to sit to at every chance. I felt bad for them.

I think the fact that is was a bit hot and muggy out did not help. It can zap your energy even when you think you are well hydrated.

If I keep moving it helps. It’s the stopping and standing that was getting me and the nagging pain in my right leg. At this rate I was just not going to be able to finish the tour.

I really did not want to miss the rest of the tour. Zac and I talked and there are wheelchairs at the inside entry to the all the Houses and you can deposit them at the exit of the houses. This seemed like an easy fix.

This really helped to sit during his presentations and then get up and move to the next one. I’am always at the end of the group so this did not cause an issue. Having the ear microphones really helped.

Zac was awesome.

 

[Robo56]

After the bathroom break we were off to the next house on the Tour
“Descendants of Destruction”. This is a Universal original House. The backstory on this house is that it is set in the subway tunnels of New York. Mutants are hunting down the last remnants of humanity to feed on them.

 

[Robo56]

This one is different…LOL











What was pointed out by Zac is that the designers had gone to the trouble of building side by side train cars to make it feel more realistic as you were walking through the train. I would not have noticed this if I had not been on the day tour.

The attention to the smallest details like the advertisements in the train car was amazing.

 

[Robo56]

The design team really made it look like people had been living in this train for awhile.















My sister and I had already been through this house the night before and it was ok. I honestly appreciated it more in the daylight.

 

[Robo56]

The next and last house oh the tour was “The Horrors of Blumhouse“. This is a IP house and is actually two Houses ”Freaky” and “Black Phone”. I did not see either so I wanted to look them up so the houses made sense to me.

The back story on “Freaky” is. Four teenagers are discussing an Urban Legend about a serial killer known as the Blissfield Butcher. The Butcher breaks into the Mansion and murders them all.

The next day Millie Kessler a student that goes to Blissfield Valley High who is bullied a lot is waiting for a ride home after performing as the mascot at the homecoming football game.

The Butcher attacks Millie and stabs her in shoulder. Her older sister who is a police officer shows up and scares off the butcher. The butcher drops La Dola. The dagger used by the Butcher and it is recovered by the police.

The next morning Millie and the Butcher discover they have switched bodies. The butcher now posing as Millie enters the school the next day and kills Millie’s chief tormentor Ryler and fatally slices woodshop teacher Mr. Bernardi in half who was another of Millies tormenters.

Millie must convince her friends that it is her in the butchers body. After doing so her friends set out to help her.

Finally she must stab the butcher with the dagger by midnight or the change is permanent.











My guess is this is La Dola







To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Continued from Friday, September 9th

 

[Robo56]

The second of the two part house of ”The Horrors of Blumhouse “ was the “Black Phone“ The back story on this house is. A man called the Grabber had been snatching little boys. He has killed five boys by the time he snatches a boy named Finney. He puts Finney down in his sound proof basement and Finney tries to escape with the help of the black phone.

Through the phone the spirits of the other boys who were killed try and help Finney escape. Also Finney’s best friend Gwen discovers she can see her best friend in her dreams and helps the police try to find him.

The Grabbers brother Max discovers his basement lair and before he can free Finney the Grabber kills him with an axe.

Finney uses the helpful suggestions from the prior victims to help him kill the Grabber and escape.













I wanted to go through the ”Horrors of Blumhouse“ at night and get the feel for the house with the Scare actors. I know for sure that a lot of the wonderful theming of all the houses are definitely unappreciated in the dark.

After our group came out of the house and it was misting rain. The tour was over and It was about 3:30 pm.

Zac collected our mic packs and made sure everyone who was remaining in the park had AP’s or day tickets.

Zac had been a wonderful tour guide. I thanked him and gave him a tip. Sadly I was the only one who tipped him. I‘am not sure if people know that the guides can and do receive tips. They are awesome and really work hard to make sure everyones experience is special.

Also if a Tour Guide, TM or server at a restaurant has been awesome stop by or call guest services and let them know. Guest services 1-407-224-4233 then press 5 then 3. They are recognized for their stand out service.

It was not raining hard enough to pull my poncho out so I just did a little looking around the Scare Zones on my way out of the park.

Lil Boo has a place of honor in the middle of the netting in the “Horrors of Halloween” Scare Zone.



The Pumpkin Lords pumpkin.

 

[Robo56]

I walked through the large Universal store on the way out.



I made a stop at the sweets shop and purchased one of the Candy Corn Candy Apples and a couple cookies.





The store was busy with folks buying treats.


They had plenty of the Frankenstein popcorn containers available for sale.



After I made my purchases I headed out of the park. I was ready to get back to the resort.

The Portofino boat was still at the dock so I was able to get there and board before it left.

My sister said when she had returned from the pool there was a nice surprise on the table.





I‘am always amazed by the kindness of the Staff at Portofino. They do look after their guests.

In the evening during the duration of our stay the maids came by for turn down service and to give us water and any additional toiletries or towels we needed. We really felt cared for and appreciated the kindness and the level of service provided at Portofino.

I was tired and I took a nice long soak in tub. Then got into the some comfy clothes. The airconditioning in the room felt great.

On closer inspection of my right calf I figured out why my right leg was hurting. I had a thrombophlebitis in a surface vein on my right lateral calf. It was swollen and red.

The treatment for this is elevation, NSAIDS and warm compresses or heating pad.
My sister and I are RN’s and this was not my first rodeo with a thrombophlebitis. Although I had never had one in this area of my leg.

We enjoyed our fruit and cheese plate and sampled the Candy Corn apple. I would save the wine for later. The fruit and cheese was delicious. The Candy Corn apple was white chocolate and pretty sweet. The apple was tart and fresh.

After the snack. I elevated my leg and covered up with my HP blanket and was lulled off to sleep by the cool room and the rain that was now falling outside.


To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Friday, September 9th continued

After a good nap I checked my emails and called my sweet hubby. My sister K called her hubby. After we were caught up with our hubby‘s we decided we needed to figure out what we were going to do for dinner.

I told my sister to decide what she wanted. I would be ok with any ideas. We threw around the CityWalk options and decided on Cowfish.

Since it was Friday night I did go online and make a reservation for 9:45 pm. We were in no big hurry. We got ready and left Portofino on the water taxi about 9:15 pm.

When we arrived at CityWalk it was humming with people. We went and checked in at Cowfish and I gave my number for them to text us when our table was ready.

We went for a stroll over to Universal Legacy Store and looked around.



Scarecrow stalk vignette in the Legacy Store was of a devil pumpkin.


After a look around we decided to over to the Big Universal Store.



This was the Scarecrow Stalk vignette over at the big Universal store.



It was 10 pm and are ressie was for 9:45. I had not received a text yet so we headed back over to Cowfish and I finally received the text that our table was ready by 10:15.

Our waitress showed up fairly quick and took our drink orders. We decided to get the Crab Rangoon dip appetizer.


When my niece was down for HHN last year we ordered this and it was delicious. It was just as good this time.


We both ordered the Bento Box


It seems more often then not when I order the bento box the sweet potato fries are always barely warm. The sweet potato fries are good, but would be great if they were hot.

Our waitress was awesome and it was a relaxing meal.

My sister and I decided to walk over to Universal and have a look around and do a couple haunted houses if the wait times were low. Having ROF with EP helps a lot, but even with EP some busy weekend nights can be a little long.



There were still people streaming in from the parking garage area when we started over the bridge to Universal for HHN.


We had a stop to watch the Pumpkin Lord interacting with everyone.






I really liked the way Universal had the Pumpkins and Vines illuminated on the sides of the buildings.

 

[Robo56]

We then went over to “Sweet Revenge” Scare Zone.

Just a recap in this Scare Zone. The Sweets from the Major Sweets Candy Company have turned all the children who ate it into crazed killers.





It looked as though the tractor that pulls the floats in a Halloween parade had been attacked by the crazed kiddos and everything was in disarray.













to be continued