Scareactor Dining Experience

schumigirl · Aug 9, 2017

Raeven said:
We've actually gone both years, and are going again this year.

2015

We booked this for our first HHN so we wouldn't have to sit in the holding area.

Food:

View attachment 260038

To be honest I thought the food was not good/average. I didn't feel like they had many choices that appealed to me, but I was also sick and stuffy and couldn't taste much. My favorite was the chocolate banana bread pudding dessert, and my boyfriend (Josh) didn't really have any complaints so there was enough gluten free food for him to have a variety.

I thought the scareactor interactions were really good. They kept sneaking up behind Josh and it was pretty funny. I wasn't sure if we got to see all of them (I kind of felt like they mostly stuck to certain areas), but I think there's only 4-5. We really liked the even in 2015, and felt it was well organized and better than waiting outside so we decided to do it again the next year.

Scareactors:

View attachment 260040

View attachment 260041

View attachment 260042

View attachment 260043

View attachment 260045

2016

Food:

(Josh's plate)

(Mine)

I thought the food improved this year, but not by too much. I really liked the NY strip steak and the roasted potatoes they had, and Josh really liked the beef medallions. The one I got was dry and overcooked, but he really liked his so I must've grabbed an overcooked one. I thought they had more choices last year that had a wider appeal (like pasta that was a little plainer where the previous year it had sausage and veggies in it). They removed my favorite dessert from the year before but the cheesecake was pretty good.

I have to say that I think the overall character experience was far better in 2015. I don't know if it was the location of our table (one side being against the wall), but the characters didn't just come up and interact with us like last year. They didn't even bother to stop at the tables unless you had a camera out and were flagging them down. Also the same characters kept coming around (our area had Chance and a geisha with a chainsaw). Michael Myers did stop at a few tables in the beginning though. Before we left I went to the bathroom and that's where I saw a different character then had been in our section. As far as I could tell it was only those 4. We didn't even end up getting a picture with Chance because she wouldn't stand still at the table despite talking to us long enough for us to take one, which was a bit frustrating. But looking back at the pictures now I do think we had some pretty decent interactions with the other characters.

Scareactors:

I also thought the organization was a little off this year. As the year before it felt like the event came to a close and they dismissed people (I think we had early access to a house of our choosing), but this year we noticed people had started leaving at a certain time, so we left too. We also had a problem scanning our ticket to get in because the kiosk was on the fritz when we printed it. This isn't the fault of the staff at the dining experience, but they were really unhelpful. The guy at the door basically acted like we had fake tickets and implied even if we got it sorted out we'd completely miss dinner. (Guest services sorted it out rather quickly and we didn't).

At the end going back this year was kind of up in the air. I wasn't sure if it was worth it, but Josh really likes having a place to wait indoors and I do love air conditioning so I wasn't sure.

Because we decided to do multiple nights this year though we did ultimately decide to book this on the first day of the event so we'll be going back again. So to answer the question of "is it worth it", I think that depends. Food and character experiences can vary, but overall I think it's a fun way to eat/stay out of the heat while waiting for HHN, and you can get some good character interactions. I also feel like they are trying to improve the food choices every year, and the food choices do not stay the same from year to year. From the 3 houses they've announced already this year, I'm hoping for some fun characters for the dining experience.

Love your pictures....haven`t seen them all before...........and love the Michael Myers one.........

We certainly have had some differing opinions, the joy of forums, but we all know that........a friend asked if we wanted to do it this year, but to be honest.....so many bad reviews put us off altogether......food has never been anything to write home about in there.....

Hope you and Josh enjoy this year though.....

schumigirl · Aug 9, 2017

Chuckers said:
Sad to hear about solo diners and the scareactors. I have solo'd many character meals at Disney and was never ignored. Most characters made just as big a fuss over me, a middle aged+ man, as they did for the 3 year old at the next table.

It seems to be a common complaint for this event.

Hope they sort it.

Raeven · Aug 9, 2017

schumigirl said:
Love your pictures....haven`t seen them all before...........and love the Michael Myers one.........

We certainly have had some differing opinions, the joy of forums, but we all know that........a friend asked if we wanted to do it this year, but to be honest.....so many bad reviews put us off altogether......food has never been anything to write home about in there.....

Hope you and Josh enjoy this year though.....

Yeah I don't think I posted them all originally, and then with Photobucket not working now I've only put some back in.

Defintely. I even feel year to year like we had completely different experiences so it's hard to judge if it is worth it. Thank you I hope so too!

Brownie54 · Aug 9, 2017

Raevan, thank you for taking the time to write and post pictures in such detail. We have done this both times and I have to say our experience was also like yours. The first year seemed to be much more organized, but last year we went on the first night they had it. The scareactor interaction was less than the first year, but again I thought it may have been because it was the first night. Personally, I enjoyed the food. Wasn't great, but didn't expect it to be. So the price is $50. I would think half of that would be for the character interaction and atmosphere as it is much nicer than being in most other "holding areas". So a $25 price tag seemed reasonable considering it is all you care to eat when you compare it to prices within the park. They did have steak, pork, and chicken with some tasty desserts. Of course, this is all very subjective. Some will love it, some hate it, and some like us think it was fun and will be doing it again, just not the first week. It will be interesting to read the reviews this year. I will add mine.

Macraven, I'm surprised you went again last year when you had(and wrote about) such a bad experience the first year. Perhaps it was because you dined solo. That is certainly no excuse for Universal. EVERYone should have the same attention when paying for a premium service. BTW, I admire you for having the courage to go to something like this alone. Don't think I could do it.

Raeven · Aug 9, 2017

Brownie54 said:
Raevan, thank you for taking the time to write and post pictures in such detail. We have done this both times and I have to say our experience was also like yours. The first year seemed to be much more organized, but last year we went on the first night they had it. The scareactor interaction was less than the first year, but again I thought it may have been because it was the first night. Personally, I enjoyed the food. Wasn't great, but didn't expect it to be. So the price is $50. I would think half of that would be for the character interaction and atmosphere as it is much nicer than being in most other "holding areas". So a $25 price tag seemed reasonable considering it is all you care to eat when you compare it to prices within the park. They did have steak, pork, and chicken with some tasty desserts. Of course, this is all very subjective. Some will love it, some hate it, and some like us think it was fun and will be doing it again, just not the first week. It will be interesting to read the reviews this year. I will add mine.

You're welcome! Now that I think about it we went during the second weekend on a Fri the first year, last year we did the second night of the event a Sat which could be the difference. I hope not though because we booked the first night of the event this year.

Half the price would definitely make more sense to me. But maybe they were afraid too many people would book it just to avoid the holding areas if it were too cheap? :confused3

We did get a survey after last time asking if we'd do the dining experience "during" the event. We said no, and I'm guessing others did too since it still looks like it's before HHN starts. I think there would be no value if it was during the event since it would take time away from doing other things.

I'll let you all know how the first night goes though!

macraven · Aug 9, 2017

Brownie54 said:
Raevan, thank you for taking the time to write and post pictures in such detail. We have done this both times and I have to say our experience was also like yours. The first year seemed to be much more organized, but last year we went on the first night they had it. The scareactor interaction was less than the first year, but again I thought it may have been because it was the first night. Personally, I enjoyed the food. Wasn't great, but didn't expect it to be. So the price is $50. I would think half of that would be for the character interaction and atmosphere as it is much nicer than being in most other "holding areas". So a $25 price tag seemed reasonable considering it is all you care to eat when you compare it to prices within the park. They did have steak, pork, and chicken with some tasty desserts. Of course, this is all very subjective. Some will love it, some hate it, and some like us think it was fun and will be doing it again, just not the first week. It will be interesting to read the reviews this year. I will add mine.

Macraven, I'm surprised you went again last year when you had(and wrote about) such a bad experience the first year. Perhaps it was because you dined solo. That is certainly no excuse for Universal. EVERYone should have the same attention when paying for a premium service. BTW, I admire you for having the courage to go to something like this alone. Don't think I could do it.

went solo both times

Even if a place is a dud for me the first time, I will repeat the place or event

I never rule out anything based on a one time visit

But there will be no third time for me for the SA dining

Annchristine65 · Aug 9, 2017

schumigirl said:
Love your pictures....haven`t seen them all before...........and love the Michael Myers one.........

We certainly have had some differing opinions, the joy of forums, but we all know that........a friend asked if we wanted to do it this year, but to be honest.....so many bad reviews put us off altogether......food has never been anything to write home about in there.....

Hope you and Josh enjoy this year though.....

You are not kidding with the differing opinions!! LOL! Everytime I come on I read a reply and I say ok I'm gonna do it, then I'll come on again and I'll read another reply and say no I'm not gonna do it. So I think I'm going to just do it (gotta try something once to see if you like it or not right?) and go in with low expectations and maybe be pleasantly surprised! Thank you everyone for all of your input!!

schumigirl · Aug 9, 2017

Annchristine65 said:
You are not kidding with the differing opinions!! LOL! Everytime I come on I read a reply and I say ok I'm gonna do it, then I'll come on again and I'll read another reply and say no I'm not gonna do it. So I think I'm going to just do it (gotta try something once to see if you like it or not right?) and go in with low expectations and maybe be pleasantly surprised! Thank you everyone for all of your input!!

Lol........hope you enjoy it all the same.......If I was to go I'd eat first or later though.......

Come back and let us know how it went.......and will be nice to see some new pictures of the event.......

Annchristine65 · Aug 9, 2017

Raeven said:
We've actually gone both years, and are going again this year.

2015

We booked this for our first HHN so we wouldn't have to sit in the holding area.

Food:

View attachment 260038

To be honest I thought the food was not good/average. I didn't feel like they had many choices that appealed to me, but I was also sick and stuffy and couldn't taste much. My favorite was the chocolate banana bread pudding dessert, and my boyfriend (Josh) didn't really have any complaints so there was enough gluten free food for him to have a variety.

I thought the scareactor interactions were really good. They kept sneaking up behind Josh and it was pretty funny. I wasn't sure if we got to see all of them (I kind of felt like they mostly stuck to certain areas), but I think there's only 4-5. We really liked the event in 2015, and felt it was well organized and better than waiting outside so we decided to do it again the next year.

Scareactors:

View attachment 260040

View attachment 260041

View attachment 260042

View attachment 260043

View attachment 260045

2016

Food:

(Josh's plate)

(Mine)

I thought the food improved this year, but not by too much. I really liked the NY strip steak and the roasted potatoes they had, and Josh really liked the beef medallions. The one I got was dry and overcooked, but he really liked his so I must've grabbed an overcooked one. I thought they had more choices last year that had a wider appeal (like pasta that was a little plainer where the previous year it had sausage and veggies in it). They removed my favorite dessert from the year before but the cheesecake was pretty good.

I have to say that I think the overall character experience was far better in 2015. I don't know if it was the location of our table (one side being against the wall), but the characters didn't just come up and interact with us like last year. They didn't even bother to stop at the tables unless you had a camera out and were flagging them down. Also the same characters kept coming around (our area had Chance and a geisha with a chainsaw). Michael Myers did stop at a few tables in the beginning though. Before we left I went to the bathroom and that's where I saw a different character then had been in our section. As far as I could tell it was only those 4. We didn't even end up getting a picture with Chance because she wouldn't stand still at the table despite talking to us long enough for us to take one, which was a bit frustrating. But looking back at the pictures now I do think we had some pretty decent interactions with the other characters.

Scareactors:

I also thought the organization was a little off this year. As the year before it felt like the event came to a close and they dismissed people (I think we had early access to a house of our choosing), but this year we noticed people had started leaving at a certain time, so we left too. We also had a problem scanning our ticket to get in because the kiosk was on the fritz when we printed it. This isn't the fault of the staff at the dining experience, but they were really unhelpful. The guy at the door basically acted like we had fake tickets and implied even if we got it sorted out we'd completely miss dinner. (Guest services sorted it out rather quickly and we didn't).

At the end going back this year was kind of up in the air. I wasn't sure if it was worth it, but Josh really likes having a place to wait indoors and I do love air conditioning so I wasn't sure.

Because we decided to do multiple nights this year though we did ultimately decide to book this on the first day of the event so we'll be going back again. So to answer the question of "is it worth it", I think that depends. Food and character experiences can vary, but overall I think it's a fun way to eat/stay out of the heat while waiting for HHN, and you can get some good character interactions. I also feel like they are trying to improve the food choices every year, and the food choices do not stay the same from year to year. From the 3 houses they've announced already this year, I'm hoping for some fun characters for the dining experience.

Do you just go whenever you want or are there seatings? What time did you go that you were able to get into one of the houses early? And this is a little off topic but what happens to the scare zones if it is pouring rain?

Raeven · Aug 9, 2017

Annchristine65 said:
Do you just go whenever you want or are there seatings? What time did you go that you were able to get into one of the houses early? And this is a little off topic but what happens to the scare zones if it is pouring rain?

You have to make reservations with their dining line. They open 1 month ahead for your day. The first year it was new and only announced 2-3 weeks ahead so we picked when we booked it (I want to say 430ish), the second year we also went with the earliest which I think was closer to 5, but our ticket mix up made us a bit late. I would advise doing the earliest so you have time to eat and meet the characters. I felt kind of rushed last year.

I'm not sure if they still do the early house thing. In 2015 they let us pick Walking Dead or Freddy Vs Jason (the closest 2). But last year I noticed people already being released in the park before we left. I thought maybe the difference was they had an annual pass holding area last year so maybe they got out first? You'll still have a headstart on anyone at the gates and in certain holding areas if you head to the closest house when they start letting people into the park.

Luckily the 2 times we've gone it hasn't been raining. I'm not sure, maybe someone who's been when it's raining can answer.

HHN Fanatic · Aug 10, 2017

Was on the fence about this as a solo diner. Thanks for the replies. Heard too many negative reviews here and elsewhere. Will spend my $ at Cowfish instead.

Brownie54 · Aug 10, 2017

If it is raining the scare zones pretty much stop and all scareactors go inside.

I agree with Raevan, book the earliest time you can get. Allows you to take your time to eat and interact with the scareactors and still be ready when they open up the houses before the front gate opens.

teejay1 · Aug 11, 2017

We've decided to give the Scareactor dining a try. I've made the booking and rang Guest services to make the reservation which the guy said was all done. Does anyone know if I should have received a confirmation email after the call to guest services ? Cheers

Raeven · Aug 11, 2017

teejay1 said:
We've decided to give the Scareactor dining a try. I've made the booking and rang Guest services to make the reservation which the guy said was all done. Does anyone know if I should have received a confirmation email after the call to guest services ? Cheers

I usually do, but they should've given you a confirmation number to write down as well that's what's going to be in the email.

cemeb4dk · Aug 11, 2017

teejay1 said:
We've decided to give the Scareactor dining a try. I've made the booking and rang Guest services to make the reservation which the guy said was all done. Does anyone know if I should have received a confirmation email after the call to guest services ? Cheers

We have it booked and paid for but no dining times yet. You cannot book your seat reservation time until 30 days prior to your date.

teejay1 · Aug 11, 2017

Raeven said:
I usually do, but they should've given you a confirmation number to write down as well that's what's going to be in the email.

Thanks for the reply. He didn't give me a confirmation number , so I guess I'd better call them again to be sure the guy's done it correctly.

Scareactor Dining Experience

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