The *OFFICIAL* HHN Review Thread

[PatriciaH]

They really, really, REALLY need to do something about the smoking in the queues tho'. Last night I was ready to complain to security, even if it meant I would have to stand among disgruntled people, but there was no one in proximity to complain to when it happened at three of the houses. I'm sick of coming home with a sore throat and barely able to breath. The brochure explicitly says it's forbidden in the queues, so the guards really need to be walking up and down to actually enforce it.

Other than that, another great night at HHN. I never had pizza at Luigis before and it was awesome!

That is one of the big reasons we only go to HHN on a WED or THURS now (less smoking and drunks.) I will also only go with an Express Pass. We got the FF Pass 2 years ago and could not stand standing in lines with all the smokers.

I really like their pizza!

 

[inkkognito]

That is one of the big reasons we only go to HHN on a WED or THURS now (less smoking and drunks.) I will also only go with an Express Pass. We got the FF Pass 2 years ago and could not stand standing in lines with all the smokers.

I really like their pizza!

Yep, we ALWAYS get express. We hustle through the houses without it before the lines get long, use the pass up, see the shows, then do a few more standby lines if things have thinned out. For some reason I've never encountered a smoker in the express lines...maybe because it moves too fast and they don't want to waste the cigarette?

I think the pizza place is actually Louie's... I can't believe I never tried it before. It is most definitely a new favorite.

 

[donaldduck352]

Louie's is a rare find for a really good pizza at US or any theme park..

Smokers in line-Humm,I'm guilty but when I done it in the past if someone would give me a look or said something I was saying sorry and put it out.I have seen people just ignore others(I've never done this-I would put it out with respect of others)and blow thier smoke right in thier face.Which really p#$*@ me off. But what can you say at 11pm too someone that had way too much too drink.They are not going to listen unless security steps in!!

I remember staying at HRH,relaxing poolside and smoking a cigg.The person behind me was downwind and getting evrything I was exhaling.She asked me (in a rude way mind you)too take it somewere else..I appoligized and moved to the other side of the pool(it was the bar)and had a good conversation with a good looking women-till her boyfriend showed up Then I got real queit..

Point bieng have respect for people that donn't smoke..

 

[jeslynhat]

Make sure you let them know that everyone thinks their Express Pass prices are outrageous and is giving them a bad reputation, maybe they will make some adjustments if they get enough feedback.

TrueDat homey! I don' go until Sun the 5th, but I already let them know that 30 bux to get in on a sun was awesome but the express passes costing MORE than the entrance pass?! Not too happy about that and now they know!

I AM SOOOO EXCITED FOR SUNDAY the 5TH !!!! CAN'T WAIT !!!!

 

[NotAmused]

I went Saturday night and had a blast! We have gone opening weekend for the last 3 or 4 years and I was quite shocked at how empty the park was this year (Okay, not empty, but 30 mins for a house is nothing compared to the usual 60-120 minutes we usually deal with). I was also pleased with the passholder party. We checked in around 4:45 with our guests and were near the front of the line for The Hallow. That opened within about 30 mins and we were able to hit that house and Scary Tales. Then we got some drinks and watched the scareactors in the area til they opened the rest of the park.

The Hollow-Wait time: 0 mins. We did this house first and I somehow got stuck being in the front (I'm a chicken, so I'm never first). It was way too dark since our eyes couldn't adjust and there weren't many scares. I was also too busy complaining that I didn't know where to go and my group was telling me to grab onto the guy in front of me, but I couldn't even find him.

Scary Tales-Wait time: 0 mins. We did this second and it was definitely one of the best houses of the night! Lots of scares and it just looked very cool. I even got invited to the tea party and chased out of the room for saying no.

Dead Exposure-We were got in line for this as our third house but then one of the TMs told us it wasn't opening for awhile but the other houses were open so we ditched it. Unfortunately, we never made it back to this house.

Doomsday-Wait time: 2 mins. We did this house around 6 or 6:30. It was either just opening or it was a cast change because we saw the actors enter the house and they were even in their roles then. They were acting all mean and pointing at us as if to say "you're mine". The guy who is in all blue/black with his face covered was cracking us up because he was skipping/dancing. When we went through, the cast was full of energy and it was just a really cool house. We got some scares, too. We went back later in the night hoping it was even better now that it was dark out, but we were disappointed. I recognized the cast from earlier as they were leaving the house so the other cast was in the house while we went through. No scares and not as much energy that time.

Creatures-Wait time: 0 mins. This house was fourth. I wasn't expecting much from this house, but it turned out to be awesome! I jumped many times in this house and we were greeted with jello shots when we exited

Body Collectors-Wait time: 10 mins. After getting a drink, we headed to Body Collectors. I did not get to go in the original one a few years ago and I now feel like I missed out on that one. This house was amazing! The Gentlemen really freak me out so I got a lot of scares here. Some of the scenes were gross, but definitely cool.

Interstellar Terror-Wait time: 5 mins. Again, I wasn't expecting much from this house but I was pleasantly surprised. I liked it.

Reflections of Fear-Wait time: I don't remember, but not very long. I really don't even remember when we did this house, but it was pretty good. Got a few scares.

We managed to hit all the scarezones as well and I was very impressed with HHN this year. Normally there is one or two "dud" houses or scarezones, but this year, it seems like every house is pretty awesome. I'm sure they will improve even more as the event goes on. We didn't get to see Bill and Ted as we tried to get into the 10pm show at about 9:50 and it was full Rocky Horror was amazing, though!

I'm really hoping I get to go back another night this month. Most of the people I know here are afraid so I'm not sure I will get a chance to go back.

 

[macraven]

We just got back. My boyfriend and I went on Friday night (26th) and got the express pass. (We knew we would only be able to go the one night, and didn't want to miss anything.) Overall, we thought last year's was better, though this year's was still good.

Bill and Ted Show: Not as good as last year. This could be because I didn't really get all of the pop culture references (Didn't see Hellboy, Speed Racer, or Batman). The audience didn't seem as into it as it was in the past either. It had its moments, but overal it was just OK. Finale was just "eh".

Scarezones: Generally excellent. The Path of the Wicked was the best, by far.

Houses: (Favorite to Least Favorite) *the boyfriend and I try to bait the scareactors into scaring us. I clutch onto him and pretend to hide. It really works. We usually get about 75%+ of the scareactors to "get" us*

Reflections of Fear: My one and only complaint was that I wished it was longer. The Marys did a good job of scaring, and worked together to have things coming from all angles. I am predisposed to being scared, though, as Bloody Mary was the terror of my elementary school years.

Dead Exposure: Great use of strobe and blacklight effects. It seemed to have people every which way you turned. The strobe helped to make things look less fake because you only saw them for a snatch of time and then it was dark again.

Scary Tales: Great themeing, good scares. The Evil Queens part was the best.

Doomsday: Went through this one twice. The first time was just "ok" but the second time was great! the cast seemed more into it.

The Hallow: Good theming. The cornfield was a nice touch. Not as scary as some others, but good.

Body Collectors: Twice again. It was ok the first time and better the second time. I didn't love it, but it was still good. The theming and costuming was excellent.

Interstellar Terror: Just did this one once. I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as scary as others, but I thought the themeing was neat. It was at the same level as Body Collectors.

Unpopular opinion time!

Creatures!: Ugh. Worst house by FAR. There was nothing scary. The rednecks were comical. The creature was so fake looking as to be dull. I was bored. We went through twice, and it was (if anything) worse the second time. I got tired of even trying to bait scareactors into scaring me and just wanted to get out. There's a reason it always had a 5 minute wait... If you have to skip a house, make it this one.

when you did repeat on some of the houses and enjoyed the second time better, it was probably due to the other team being in place.
Team A has a 45 minute set on and then Team B takes over for 45 minutes.
The alternate shifts throughout the entire evening.

i always try to time it and catch both Team A & B in action.

a lot of the thrill in the houses and zones are based on the scareactors.
some teams treat the role different than the other team.

 

[ligirlz]

The Hollow-Wait time: 0 mins. We did this house first and I somehow got stuck being in the front (I'm a chicken, so I'm never first). It was way too dark since our eyes couldn't adjust and there weren't many scares. I was also too busy complaining that I didn't know where to go and my group was telling me to grab onto the guy in front of me, but I couldn't even find him.

That so sounds like me. My husband was like feel for the person in front of you and I had to yell back I can't find him. The guy in front of us had a backpack so it was easy to follow I would just feel for that but I almost made a wrong turn and lost him for a few and panicked. I totally agree that this house was just to dark. They need something helping us out like "This Way" signs as part of the deco. But alteast I was not the only one.

 

[jcapizzi]

I haven't read this whole thread so maybe I missed it. Has anyone seen the new show, I think it's a magician. Please let us know how it was it you have seen it. TIA

 

[donaldduck352]

I haven't read this whole thread so maybe I missed it. Has anyone seen the new show, I think it's a magician. Please let us know how it was it you have seen it. TIA

The name is Brian Brushwood Show.I have not heard anyone talking about it yet eitgher.Kinda wondering this myself.Someone must of seen it by now!!

 

[iluvcarolina]

We are suppose to go tomorrow night. But way back in the beginning of this thread I read that someone's glasses got broken. Is that an issue? I *have* to have my glasses. I am worried now that I shouldn't go. Thoughts?

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We are suppose to go tomorrow night. But way back in the beginning of this thread I read that someone's glasses got broken. Is that an issue? I *have* to have my glasses. I am worried now that I shouldn't go. Thoughts?

Maybe I missed it but I don't recall reading anything about glasses being broken which post was that???

... I wore glasses every year we've attended and had no problem with them getting broken.

Bonny

 

[iluvcarolina]

It was post number 27 in this thread.

6- Dead Exposure- Neat concept, and it was quite trippy. One room was quite amazing, and confused the heck out of me (guess it helped that I was sans glasses due to them being broken in another house).

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

It was post number 27 in this thread.

Yep missed that ... DOH!!!

 

[Slacking]

It was me whose glasses got broken, and if that is an issue determining whether you go to HHN or not, I would say, don't worry too much about that issue. My glasses were rather loose, so it was only a matter of time before something like that happened, plus the main culprit to my broken glasses is my foot. I received a scare at Doomsday, I jumped, glasses went flying off, I turned around to pick them up, and CRUNCH!

I wouldn't worry about it too much, it was more of a freak accident than anything else. If it is a large concern, you can always get one of those band/string things so that if your glasses came off, they would just be hanging off your neck (if that makes sense).

 

[Jason71]

Missed opening weekend with the closing of the Adventurers Club at PI, but made it over last night.

Entry from IOA was a mess, unlike years past. Sign said it would begin at 5:45 (already unusually late), we didn't get to cross over until at least 6:10. By then, huge crowd had gathered, which overwhelmed the two metal detectors and ticket-takers. Next time I try to get there early enough to had straight to Studios.

Not as crowded as I had expected. Made it through 6 houses (3 of those twice) and Bill & Ted, and still left at 11:00.

Glad to see scarezones back and arguably better than ever. "Path of the Wicked" was awesome, and I liked the Wonderland one as well.

Favorite house is a toss-up between Creatures and The Hallow. Creatures for its amazing theming, Hallow for managing to be just flat-out scary. The ghost woman still creeps me out.

Scary Tales was also quite good. Still being bitter about PI, enjoyed the little jabs at Disney. I liked Dead Exposure as well--interesting effects, and some real scares.

Body Collectors was just alright for me--I liked the recreation of London, but this didn't quite live up to the original back in IOA.

Interstellar Terror didn't gel for me. The sets just didn't convince me it was a spaceship (much easier to fake a graveyard or a redneck bar, I guess), and some of the case seemed to be trying to be more funny than scary.

Bill & Ted didn't gel for me, either, tho individual scenes were funny. Speed Racer and Indiana Jones worked; Joker and a lot of the rest did not. Seemed shorter this year for some reason. Also, maybe pop music is having an off year, but the dance numbers didn't seem as fun as they have in the past. Hoping this gets tweaked and improved.

Red jello shots in blood bags was a stroke of genius. The "naughty nurses" in black were just icing on the cake.

Overall, a success, and I still have yet to see two of the houses.

 

[raph_b]

Hi guys, now I'm back I can give you my thoughts of my very first HHN!

We went on opening night (Sept 26th) and we did the first few houses with Schumigirl and her family, and we were honoured to do 6 of the houses with the one and only Metro!

I'll put the houses in my order of favourites:

Top 3:

1. Dead Exposure - I thought this house was absolutely brilliant both first time and second time. Easily my favourite house there. I loved the strobe effect lighting and felt quite scared the whole time I was walking through, this is the only house that did that to me second time around. The 2 parts of this house that really stood out for me were *spoiler alert* the section with the zombie on the glass ceiling above you and the room that was full of them - that room creeped me out so much and when I think about it sends a shiver down my spine! Interestingly, Emilie ranked this as her least favourite house.

2. Scary Tales - Absolutely brilliant house, loved the theming for all the different sections, esp the Alice in Wonderland bit, although I didn't get what fairy tale the opening room was supposed to be? Some really cool scenes throughout this house. I got scared so bad by the giant bear in this house! This was Em's joint favourite house.

3. The Hallow - Again, absolutely brilliant house. I'm not 100% sure exactly what the theme is for this one but the house looked great and provided some great scares - I would laugh about the fact that Metro got lost in this one and started walking off behind the set but seeing as I got the worst scare of the night in this house right in front of him my mouth is shut........

The top 3 definitely stood out for me.

4. Doomsday - Very different from the others but I really liked this one, and this was Em's joint favourite (with Scary Tales). The cast were great and really in character and there were a few good scares in this one too. The set was cool and definitely made better by having seen the film! We only got to do this house once as the lines were so long.

5. Body Collectors - First time round I was so scared but second time I didn't find as good - I loved the sets and the theming but found the house too dark, I was feeling blindly in front of me a few times to see where the wall was! One observation I made was first time the round the girl at the front of the house was really good, had some good banter with me and the rest of the crowd and was generally a really good touch, second time round the girl was staring into space and didn't interact with any of the line.

6. Interstellar Terror - I liked this but not as much as the others - I didn't find it very scary, but the set was brilliant and very detailed. Only got to do this one once which was a shame.

7. Creatures - This was the first one we did (my first ever house!) and first time I was so scared, mainly because I didn't know what to expect, but second time it wasn't as good - I don't really see how this house is supposed to be scary - it was mainly hicks shooting guns and popping up asking for help, there was a definite lack of 'creatures' in the house. It was fun to walk through but I definitely preferred the other houses. I think with this one and Creatures, if I had liked the theme more I would have enjoyed the houses a lot more. On a side note, I noticed that all the scareactors came out of the house after we had finished, and we were virtually the first people through it! Not sure what was happening there....

8. Reflections of Fear - A much better theme than Interstellar Terror and Creatures but I thought this was the worst house of the evening (that being said, I still enjoyed it, but for me it was definitely the 8th best house - that's a better way of describing it than saying its the worst). The weird curtains in the house were good, but I was expecting some kind of scare at the end of them and both times through the house it didn't happen. The rooms all looked cool but I didn't get one scare either time through the house - the best we got was being 'told off' by Bloody Mary for heading in the wrong direction!

All in all it was one of the best nights of my life and I cannot wait to go back to HHN again sometime.

PS did anyone see the rat lady in the Body Collector's scare zone?! She must have been paid soooooooo much to do that!!!

 

[inkkognito]

We did Stay and Scream last night...ate at Finnegans, then looked for Metro in the outside area but didn't see him. The holding zone wasn't too crowded and neither was the park, although attendance did seem to pick up later. We bought an EP as insurance and didn't have to use it for all the houses, although I didn't mind beause it was the cheaper rate. It was a lifesaver at Bloody Mary when the wait was at 60 mins. (although we did BM twice early on with minimal waits).

I had won a little husky at the games, so crouching through the house with my puppy made me a special target for many of the scareactors. My rating of the houses stayed mostly the same, except that Scary Tales shot up several notches. I guess it was just "off" when we went through on the first night. This time around it was great...the Mad Hatter kept homing in on me. But Dead Exposure remains my definite favorite...that house is soooo disorienting and it feels like it's never gonna end! That would be my worst nightmare...wandering through the darkness with blinding strobes and people randomly leaping out at me for eternity.

I learned something at Bloody Mary. If you go through in close proximity to someone in a wheelchair, they turn off the inflatable "claustrophbia walls." I understand why, but I wish we had been given the option of waiting because that is one of my favorite effects. I had popped my EP to go through when that happened (the wheelchair party was right behind us), so it's not like I was going to wait 60 mins. to go through again. I would gladly have waited a little longer to get the full effect.

I noticed there are a lot more air/water effects this year. I got a good soaking in Creatures last night, on a par with how they got me at the end of Bloody Mary last weekend.

All in all it was a great visit. I couldn't believe how many houses we got done (multiples times!) before we even had to start using our EP. The smokers in line weren't nearly as bad, thank goodness, although there seemed to be a higher level of drunken rowdiness to make up for it. At one house, we let a few people in front of us because we could tell that going thru with the drunk group right in front would NOT be pleasant. We've pretty much learned to do that so it doesn't impact our experience too much.

We didn't do any of the shows because the uncrowded house time was just too good not to maximize. Tonight we're going to the AP party, and we're not doing EP so we'll probably just do houses till it gets too crowded, then catch the shows and bail. We've already seen Rocky but not Bill & Ted (well, hubby did watch it on YouTube).

 

[the Dark Marauder]

I had a chance to walk through Reflections of Fear last night.


MUCH IMPROVED!

More Mary's, better scares, better overall experience. I still need to get through Creatures & The Hallow...

 

[inkkognito]

More Mary's, better scares, better overall experience. I still need to get through Creatures & The Hallow...

I'm glad someone else said there were more Marys. I tried to tell that to hubby but he insisted it was the same as last time. But I swear there were definitely more. It seemed like every time I turned around, Mary was jumping out at me.

 

[Metro West]

We did Stay and Scream last night...ate at Finnegans, then looked for Metro in the outside area but didn't see him.

Yeah...I didn't go last night...I'm sticking to Sundays this year.