Official 2016 HHN-26 Thread

[Sehsun]

I was wondering how this affects the scareactors in the scare zones- have not seen any pictures yet on Flikr - but it seems like it would wash off the makeup and such - I assume they don't close that down.

Not sure if anyone answered this question for you yet, but they do close the scare zones when it rains.

 

[schumigirl]

Our review of HHN 2016...........

We do HHN a little differently from a lot of people. We don`t go and spend a full night at the event as we can go so many nights. Being in the parks early morning makes it too tiring for our old bones to burn the candle at both ends for so long. We did notice this year as usual a change of thoughts from opening night till later in the event.

We buy the Rush of Fear with EP ticket which covers every night for the first 3 weeks. So spending a couple of hours each night we went was enough for us. Some nights we spent longer and just soaked up the atmosphere and people watched. That was always fun.

HOUSES

AHS...........The first night we got in the parks around 7pm and the regular queue was 135 minutes......this was obviously going to be a popular house this year. The first time we did it we were slightly underwhelmed, but as the event went on this got steadily better and became a favourite of ours. Some good scares and some fun props to see. I didn't like the Lady GaGa Hotel season, but they did that well. Most nights this queue was at least 60-95 minutes. With EP we never waited longer than 5 minutes. 9.5/10

Exorcist.........I was looking forward to this one despite thinking the movie wasn't scary at all. First night there were some issues and we didn't get the full effects.......but, later this house improved dramatically. Some decent scares and we thought the "priests" were fabulous! Almost ruined one night by a 7 year old having a meltdown right in front of us!! This was a hard house to do as it basically takes place in one room in the film, but they did it well. Again, queues were always long but every time we used EP we literally walked straight on with no stops. 9/10

Halloween..........I do have a bias for this theme, and the house didn't disappoint. There were so many Michaels in this house I was in my element!! From the beginning this house had it altogether.......excellent scares and over several nights he popped up from different locations. The theme of the hospital was limiting again, but they did it well and this was the house I got the most scares in. Repeatedly. So much fun.........Queues were short early on in the night, like 5 minutes waits so we would go through the regular queue several times and only use EP when we were either leaving or if it was longer. We had the pleasure twice of being stopped almost at the beginning for a SA change........we got prime scares those nights as we had literally no-one in front of us.......that was fabulous!!! Loved this house...........10/10

Tomb of the Ancients............This was a good house, few fun moments but first night it was so dark we couldn't see any of the SA..........but they rectified this on subsequent nights and it was a decent house. The moving floor was stopped as someone got hurt. Shame as it was fun. Not a house I would ever queue for any length of time to go in, but decent. Regular queue when we saw was always around 30-45 minutes......again, we walked on. 6/10

Ghost Town...........Not scary at all, but did get a few jumps over several nights. Fun house that didn't really seem to have a purpose. 5/10

Walking Dead.......Enjoyed this house, but not one we repeated often even if the queue was next to nothing. Couple of times was enough........couple of decent scares. 7/10

Texas Chain Saw........This is another that could have been more. Lots of fog and big guys jumping out at you with chainsaws.......feel a trick was missed here in making this better. Didn't get one scare in this house over the 4 or 5 times we did it. 4/10

Krampus............Definitely a fun house. We thought the movie sucked big time in every way, but thought they had some good things to play with in the house. They did. It was very short but a decent house. Loved the way they incorporated Krampus right at the beginning. Fun house, but too short. 6/10

Lunatics Playground..........This was the biggest disappointkent of the whole event. I should say we are not fans of 3D houses anyway, but they missed a fabulous opportunity to make a Chance house into something spectacular. She is such a good character but she was underused here..........they should have gone with a house along the lines of Psychoscareapy from a few years ago and had a proper asylum set up........Chance could have been everywhere. The icon deserved better. 2/10


SCARE ZONES

Again first night we thought some were underwhelming. But after a couple of nights we were blown away by them.........so much fun and some of the best interactions with SA. At times they called you over for pictures especially in the Survive or Die zone.......that was fun.

Chance in Hell..........This was funny. Yes, after a few nights her jokes and act became very familiar, but she was cute, funny and sassy all at the same time. She loved my husband had a Jack Tee shirt on.......funnily enough the next night she shouted to him again why he wasn't wearing her Jack and what the heck is Star Wars......lol......she wa sfunny.
Loved how she had a go at folks who had brought young children and babies to the event and challenged their parenting skills........asked why weren't they being reported to child services.....she got lots of cheers for that one. And she hit the Canadians too........very funny. All Chances were good.

Survive or Die...........This was so well done. Lots of folks were asking what the theme was though........but it was cool. This was fabulous for pictures, actually they all were this year.....and several SA stood out every night.........

Dead Man`s Wharf..........This was a short scare zone. No doubt about it. But, it was excellent and the SA were fabulous. Got some fabulous scares and at one point had 4 of them surround me at one time.......lot of fun.

Lair of the Banshee..........This is always a fun zone with brilliant picture opportunities........SA are again excellent and caught me many times with scares.

Vamp55...........Brilliant!! So much fun and we got loads of pictures here too.......SA happily pose for many pictures and again one of the footballers indicated I should get a picture..........fabulous!

SHOWS

Bill and Ted.............Truly awful. Time to retire this show or at least make it funny like it was in 2007. One joke about Avatar coming to a theme park soon in 2097 or something like that........it was the highlight joke.

Academy of Villains...........This was a fabulously entertaining high energy show that we were transfixed while watching!! Amazing..........we watched this several times over several nights and each time was as brilliant as the next. Replace Bill and Ted with this.


This wasn't the best HHN we have ever gone to. No, but it did have some fabulous elements that made it a lot of fun. Even in the houses that were less than impressive, the SA still gave 100% and have to be appreciated. Every one of them does a fabulous job.

Halloween, AHS and Exorcist became our favourites of the houses by far. They stood out head and shoulders above the rest.

It was worth the cost of the ticket, as we wouldn't do it without EP even with shorter queues, they were still lengthy at times and the heat this year was stifling at times, with even locals talking about how bad it was. So we were glad to have EP again this year.

Still our main complaint and many others were grumbling about too, was the sheer amount of young kids at this event. Pushchairs and toddlers were everywhere this year and we saw some weird discussions with TM from people who thought they could take pushchairs into the houses!! Our line was stopped in The Exorcist as a boy of around 7 had a total meltdown in one of the scenes.

But, as always we enjoyed the event tremendously and they did it well as they usually do. Looking forward to 2017.........Michael Myers again?????

 

[tony67]

Still our main complaint and many others were grumbling about too, was the sheer amount of young kids at this event. Pushchairs and toddlers were everywhere this year and we saw some weird discussions with TM from people who thought they could take pushchairs into the houses!! Our line was stopped in The Exorcist as a boy of around 7 had a total meltdown in one of the scenes.

Good info -very little I would disagree with - although I did enjoy Bill and Ted - was funny to see the parents leaving the show after a few minutes with their kids. I may have enjoyed it more because I had no idea who that main character was until I met him at a character meet the day before HHN at Disney. Not knowing the character made that a very unusual experience - so it may have made Bill and ted more amusing - I don't want to say much as it might be a spoiler. And of course lots of dancers...that always works for me

On the kid subject - I may have mentioned it earlier in the thread - but yeah this was out of hand IMO.
Yeah some of the kids can handle this and grew up watching these movies - but there were a lot who could not.
The bigger issue I had was kids who seemed to be there on their own in small groups and picking fights with the SA to show off and try to get them to touch them.
I was there for multiple nights and saw the same type of thing each night.
Was funny to see all the kids that had a crush on Chance - and the adults - and her interactions with them - although after a few visits the shtick does get old.
Then there was the one women who was convinced that Chance really "liked" her boyfriend - its the same act with everyone get a clue.

I am looking forward to next year - will definitely plan better though (tours and SA dinning etc) and not just show up.
Doing multiple nights I still don't think I'd do the EP - especially if I do a tour

 

[Metro West]

Bill and Ted.............Truly awful. Time to retire this show or at least make it funny like it was in 2007. One joke about Avatar coming to a theme park soon in 2097 or something like that........it was the highlight joke.

Agree 1000%...this show has run its course and needs to go. Put something more substantial in its place...maybe something...I don't know...Halloween related?

 

[pcstang]

Agree 1000%...this show has run its course and needs to go. Put something more substantial in its place...maybe something...I don't know...Halloween related?

Agreed! Didn't get to go this year as the park closed on our scheduled night. Last years show was garbage.

 

[Robo56]

Schumi great review of HHN. You are able to share a unique perspective on it as you have many nights to enjoy it. You have been to many HHN over the years so it's nice to get your take on it. Your critique and other veterans of HHN should be very valuable to Universal.

This being my first HHN and I will give my newbie take on things.

My favorite house was Exorcist and the addition of the smell factor was bonus although would not like to work in that house having to smell that all night. I appreciated this house even more on the UTH.

Other houses that were even more interesting that were presented on the UTH tour were AHS, Halloween, Krampus, Texas Chain Saw and Ghost Town.

Really enjoyed the scare zones. Vamp 55 and Dead Man's Wharf were my favorites.

Absolutely agree with Schumigirl. Lunatics playground was worse house.

Like most I was a little taken aback on the nights my niece and I attended to see so many children. Definitely not something I would have taken my son to when he was little.

The first evening we went was a Thursday and we had a RIP TOUR. It was pretty hot and humid that evening. When I saw the sea of humanity crossing over the bridge to come to HHN that evening I was so glad my niece and I had the tour.

The RIP TOUR was awesome. It was like being a rock star at HHN. You where checked in on the red carpet at Cafe La Bamba and treated to snacks and beverages and yummy Halloween desserts before the tour. Can't say much for the hot choices for snacks, but the veggies and dessert offerings were very good. They had Coke products and water and if you wanted cocktails were extra.

We were given HHN lanyards that had our TOUR name on it. The leader of our tour was a very nice and very knowledgeable about all the houses. She was young and she could walk pretty quick. Maybe it's just the old bones, but she was a spitfire.

We had two breaks in the tour for the private air conditioned cocktail lounges. This was very much appreciated. My only small issue was at the first lounge we bought our light up drink glasses and had them filed with our cocktail. After leaving the lounge everyone who bought drinks still had plenty in their glasses to finish. We were taken to Walking dead house that was very close by and told we could not take our drinks in. So that meant either pour out your drinks in the trash or chug them. My niece decided to chug hers and aunty decided to take the challenge.

So with a belly full of fruity alcoholic drinks we did the Walking dead. We liked it. Think I would have liked it better if I did not have a belly full of cocktail sloshing around my innards.

Did not get all the Bill and Ted show humor. My niece who is 24 and all the others I suspected that were in her age range seem to really like the show me not so much. Will not waste my time again seeing it though if it's there next year.

I enjoyed the RIP tour and the UTH tour and I will do them again in the future. It allowed us to see all the houses in one night and then go back in the light with the UTH tour and appreciate all the artistry involved in bringing the houses together that were selected for UTH.

The tours really help if you are limited in your time at HHN.

I did get my blood bag Jell-O shot. It was a hurricaine Jell-O shot. Best enjoyed when cold. Were were able to buy one after the TM had just come out with them on her the IV pole.

Also wanted to say again how nice and knowledgeable our tour guides were. Even if you had not seen some of the movies that were represented in the houses they explained them very well. You could tell they loved their jobs.

Thank you Madison for a great RIP tour and thank you Matt for a great UTH tour. You were awesome.

UNIVERSAL has the most personable nice and frendly TM's I have ever encountered. Lovely folks.

I will be back next year.

 

[schumigirl]

Good info -very little I would disagree with - although I did enjoy Bill and Ted - was funny to see the parents leaving the show after a few minutes with their kids. I may have enjoyed it more because I had no idea who that main character was until I met him at a character meet the day before HHN at Disney. Not knowing the character made that a very unusual experience - so it may have made Bill and ted more amusing - I don't want to say much as it might be a spoiler. And of course lots of dancers...that always works for me

On the kid subject - I may have mentioned it earlier in the thread - but yeah this was out of hand IMO.
Yeah some of the kids can handle this and grew up watching these movies - but there were a lot who could not.
The bigger issue I had was kids who seemed to be there on their own in small groups and picking fights with the SA to show off and try to get them to touch them.
I was there for multiple nights and saw the same type of thing each night.
Was funny to see all the kids that had a crush on Chance - and the adults - and her interactions with them - although after a few visits the shtick does get old.
Then there was the one women who was convinced that Chance really "liked" her boyfriend - its the same act with everyone get a clue.

I am looking forward to next year - will definitely plan better though (tours and SA dinning etc) and not just show up.
Doing multiple nights I still don't think I'd do the EP - especially if I do a tour

Yes, if you do the tours you probably won't need the EP. We never do them as we're not ones to do full nights, although they are excellent I hear. We just refuse to queue........EP is a must for us.

Never saw that happen with groups of kids behaving like that to SA........not good though. Would like to think they'd be removed if caught. Idiots.

Agree 1000%...this show has run its course and needs to go. Put something more substantial in its place...maybe something...I don't know...Halloween related?

Something Halloween related!!! Bet they never thought of that.......lol........it really has run its course........it's a shame as it was funny at one point, can't remember the last time we enjoyed it......I really do think it was 07/08.

Schumi great review of HHN. You are able to share a unique perspective on it as you have many nights to enjoy it. You have been to many HHN over the years so it's nice to get your take on it. Your critique and other veterans of HHN should be very valuable to Universal.

This being my first HHN and I will give my newbie take on things.

My favorite house was Exorcist and the addition of the smell factor was bonus although would not like to work in that house having to smell that all night. I appreciated this house even more on the UTH.

Other houses that were even more interesting that were presented on the UTH tour were AHS, Halloween, Krampus, Texas Chain Saw and Ghost Town.

Really enjoyed the scare zones. Vamp 55 and Dead Man's Wharf were my favorites.

Absolutely agree with Schumigirl. Lunatics playground was worse house.

Like most I was a little taken aback on the nights my niece and I attended to see so many children. Definitely not something I would have taken my son to when he was little.

The first evening we went was a Thursday and we had a RIP TOUR. It was pretty hot and humid that evening. When I saw the sea of humanity crossing over the bridge to come to HHN that evening I was so glad my niece and I had the tour.

The RIP TOUR was awesome. It was like being a rock star at HHN. You where checked in on the red carpet at Cafe La Bamba and treated to snacks and beverages and yummy Halloween deserts before the tour. Can't say much for the hot choices for snacks, but the veggies and desert offerings were very good. They had Coke products and water and if you wanted cocktails were extra.

We were given HHN lanyards that had our TOUR name on it. The leader of our tour was a very nice and very knowledgeable about all the houses. She was young and she could walk pretty quick. Maybe it's just the old bones, but she was a spitfire.

We had two breaks in the tour for the private air conditioned cocktail lounges. This was very much appreciated. My only small issue was at the first lounge we bought our light up drink glasses and had them filed with our cocktail. After leaving the lounge everyone who bought drinks still had plenty in their glasses to finish. We were taken to Walking dead house that was very close by and told we could not take our drinks in. So that meant either pour out your drinks in the trash or chug them. My niece decided to chug hers and aunty decided to take the challenge.

So with a belly full of fruity alcoholic drinks we did the Walking dead. We liked it. Think I would have liked it better if I did not have a belly full of cocktail sloshing around my inerds.

Did not get all the Bill and Ted show humor. My niece who is 24 and all the others I suspected that were in her age range seem to really like the show me not so much. Will not waste my time again seeing it though if it's there next year.

I enjoyed the RIP tour and the UTH tour and I will do them again in the future. It allowed us to see all the houses in one night and then go back in the light with the UTH tour and appreciate all the artistry involved in bringing the houses together that were selected for UTH.

The tours really help if you are limited in your time at HHN.

I did get my blood bag Jell-O shot. It was a hurricaine Jell-O shot. Best enjoyed when cold. Were were able to buy one after the TM had just come out with them on her the IV pole.

Also wanted to say again how nice and knowledgeable our tour guides were. Even if you had not seen some of the movies that were represented in the houses they explained them very well. You could tell they loved their jobs.

Thank you Madison for a great RIP tour and thank you Matt for a great UTH tour. You were awesome.

UNIVERSAL has the most personable nice and frendly TM's I have ever encountered. Lovely folks.

I will be back next year.

Belly full of cocktails.........my kinda gal!!! I liked the way they got rid of the nurses outfits for the Jell-O shot girls this year.........a much better look.......although many men were disappointed apparently.........we forgot to get one this year.......not sure how that happened!

Glad you enjoyed the tours.......they get such good reports from anyone who does them!

Nice review robo.........always interesting to hear a view from someone who hadn't gone before........

 

[CAS239]

I'm disappointed they didn't bring back the Rocky Horror show this year (or last year)

 

[avic77]

On the subject of kids at HHN: This maybe a stupid question but if they recommend 13 ando up why don't they do like Disney does with the back stage tours. I took my daughter on one last year and had to show I'd that she was 16. Uni could just up HHN to 16 plus with ID I would think.

 

[tony67]

On the subject of kids at HHN: This maybe a stupid question but if they recommend 13 ando up why don't they do like Disney does with the back stage tours. I took my daughter on one last year and had to show I'd that she was 16. Uni could just up HHN to 16 plus with ID I would think.

They recommend 13 - but they dont say you must be 13 - I guess that is the issue.
They are leaving it up to the parents to decide what is right for their kid - the issue is I dont think the parents really know what to expect at HHN and figure they are there and will do it. No doubt the people I saw that walked out on Bill and Ted after an adult joke had no idea what they were getting into.

I assume Disney says you MUST BE 16 to do the tour - either for liability reason or because they dont want a younger bored kid spoiling the tour for others.

 

[Metro West]

On the subject of kids at HHN: This maybe a stupid question but if they recommend 13 ando up why don't they do like Disney does with the back stage tours. I took my daughter on one last year and had to show I'd that she was 16. Uni could just up HHN to 16 plus with ID I would think.

I think the reason is money...Universal isn't going to turn away people willing to pay. I wish they would enforce an age limit but it won't happen.

 

[schumigirl]

I think the reason is money...Universal isn't going to turn away people willing to pay. I wish they would enforce an age limit but it won't happen.

Literally just came to post that............If people are prepared to pay for the full price ticket for a toddler/baby/kid then they`ll take the money.

Many TM we know, hate that kids are there...........yep, wish they would enforce an age limit of 13/14 at least.

 

[babesboo99]

The first time I took my twins they were 7 and they loved every minute of it. We are going this year and they will be 9 and they can't wait. I guess it depends on whether you think your child can handle it and mine can they love horror and even make their own masks at times. Since my husband and I love horror all our kids have grown up with it . My eldest daughter is going to school for make up in horror and my youngest wants to do the same.

 

[avic77]

My son is 14 and if it was enforced for 16 and up he would wait. DO got to do the Keys tour at Dis last year. She turned 16 on Tuesday did the tour on Thursday. She got her drivers permit solely to show proof of age.
If HHN is adult themed I think setting the age to a strict 16 plus could INCREASE revenue. So many more adults would find it intriguing I would think. An adult only party in a theme park sounds pretty intriguing to me take your toddlers to MNSSHP big Kids come see the real Halloween at Universal

 

[tony67]

The first time I took my twins they were 7 and they loved every minute of it. We are going this year and they will be 9 and they can't wait. I guess it depends on whether you think your child can handle it and mine can they love horror and even make their own masks at times. Since my husband and I love horror all our kids have grown up with it . My eldest daughter is going to school for make up in horror and my youngest wants to do the same.

There were kids under 10 when I was there that were perfectly fine - it all depends on the kid.

I had more of an issue with the kids that seemed to be unsupervised and showing off for their friends by basically threatening and picking fights with the SA - especially since they know they cant touch them.
I was there for four nights and saw this on more than one occasion - interestingly it was almost exclusively in the area around Chance

 

[schumigirl]

My son is 14 and if it was enforced for 16 and up he would wait. DO got to do the Keys tour at Dis last year. She turned 16 on Tuesday did the tour on Thursday. She got her drivers permit solely to show proof of age.
If HHN is adult themed I think setting the age to a strict 16 plus could INCREASE revenue. So many more adults would find it intriguing I would think. An adult only party in a theme park sounds pretty intriguing to me take your toddlers to MNSSHP big Kids come see the real Halloween at Universal

Yep adults only HHN I would pay more for..........thing a TM asked me (he wasn't working at the time) was why you would want your young children in that surrounding......you wouldn't let a young child watch or view an adult horror movie.......why take them into a house themed as such.

I doubt it will ever happen, but we were really annoyed with the parents of the kid who had a meltdown........no place for him at all. It's just not a children's event.

We never saw folks do this, but someone said people who had been in the regular queue complain about experience ruined and asked for an EP to go back through the house again. Not sure if they did or not.

 

[avic77]

I had a friend at school tell me she lets her 11 year old watch AHS now I have not watched this but the rating was MA I believe so why in the world would you let an 11 year old watch it!

 

[babesboo99]

I haven't caught up on AHS but we watch The Walking Dead etc. Like I said it depends on your child my twins are 9 and we watched Halloween and my daughters favorite is Michael Myers she loved the house in 2014 that was her favorite she can't wait for this year because of the house . I do see kids being unruly mainly teens acting all cool, as for the young children if you feel even in the slightest they won't make it then you should not go. As for my children I have no qualms in watching horror with them nor do I feel they would not make it or get scared they just love the stuff.

 

[schumigirl]

I haven't caught up on AHS but we watch The Walking Dead etc. Like I said it depends on your child my twins are 9 and we watched Halloween and my daughters favorite is Michael Myers she loved the house in 2014 that was her favorite she can't wait for this year because of the house . I do see kids being unruly mainly teens acting all cool, as for the young children if you feel even in the slightest they won't make it then you should not go. As for my children I have no qualms in watching horror with them nor do I feel they would not make it or get scared they just love the stuff.

We all have our opinions babesboo and what we allow our children..........

Please don't take my and others opinions personally.........well, I hope you don't........

I struggle with kids as young as 2 and upwards watching movies they clearly shouldn't be watching.


Avic77.......you mentioned MA as a guideline.........not sure what that is, we have ages on movies.....as in you shouldn't watch under 18 which Halloween and Exorcist and movie should like that are..........

 

[babesboo99]

We all have our opinions babesboo and what we allow our children..........

Please don't take my and others opinions personally.........well, I hope you don't........

I struggle with kids as young as 2 and upwards watching movies they clearly shouldn't be watching.


Avic77.......you mentioned MA as a guideline.........not sure what that is, we have ages on movies.....as in you shouldn't watch under 18 which Halloween and Exorcist and movie should like that are..........

Oh I agree with that. Some children should not be watching certain movies there is no question about that. I do not take any offense to anything on the boards everyone has helped me so much over the years I know this is just talk and conversation no worries here with me. MA is Mature audiences only.