tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 9/30/2006 3:06:57 AM
***!!! SPOILERS !!!***
As the Caretaker says, my time has come. And came it did. Well, sort of. I turned up at the park about an hour and a half, I was unable to get the GAP passes that I usually get, and the park was a lot busier this opening night than it has been in years past. Even with that, I managed to conquer 5 haunted houses, see Bill and Ted, and catch some of The Arrival. First off, from what I experienced tonight, I wasn't "blown away" by any single thing like I have been in years past, however, the houses seem to be of much better quality overall compared to years past.
I was expecting a lot, and didn't come away disappointed. I don't think I have been more excited for a HHN than I was for this year. Bringing back all the Icons (though some were missing) and past houses was great. Yes, three of the seven houses I have been through (the original ones at least), but the other four seemed like intense houses that would definatly give a great experience. The night didn't start off well. Got held up doing stuff back at home, so my group arrived about an hour and a half late. After the others picked up their tickets ($25 a piece - I chose something different and got the Frequent Fear pass) I realized I couldn't find my ticket, which I had printed at home. I started freaking out. I thought I had it in my wallet, so after going through the metal detectors I just picked up my wallet and cell phone and just left. I ran back to the entrance and (thank god) it turns out they kept the pass in the pile of crap that people leave. I was worried that they would have just thrown it away since it was a folded paper.
Anyways, finally we get in the park and I practically start running towards the Mummy (it's been some three months or something since my last ride I think). Let me say that the atmosphere is much better in Universal than it is in Islands of Adventure during Halloween Horror Nights, but that is just me. It turns out the Mummy was closed because of technical difficulties, which is the first time I had seen that in quite a while. Opened up later in the evening, but had close to an hour wait the rest of the night. So we doubled back and hit up Screamhouse Resurrection. I had insanely high hopes for this one. The orginal Screamhouse is one of my favorite houses of all time, and The Caretaker is a damn fine mascot. They said the line was 30 minutes, but we went through it all and left the house in about 20. The detail is as good as ever, with the wallpaper on the walls peeling away, the occasional bloody spots, etc etc. Seemed like your typical house, except for the fact that there was some 8 total Caretakers in the house. Normally I would be upset with something like that, but there was one room in there that was pretty sweet. It was a hallway of sorts, but everything was like a wooden door nailed together, and all the doors opened up. Four of those Caretakers where in here alone, and you had absolutly NO idea which way they would be coming from. Doesn't sound like much, but it was pretty sweet. The greenhouse at the end wasn't bad at all, either. The smell of dirt was so powerful, as if someone was jamming it up your nose and making you snort it. Voices everywhere, rotten bodies on the floor, just typical awesome Horror Nights stuff. Nice little touch worth mentioning is that at the beginning right before you enter the house there is a huge pile of mulch. Looks normal at first, but it turns out there is some dead bodies in it. There is also a shed that is in the corner of the room, and there is a person trapped in it slamming the door trying to get out. Overall I'd give the house a solid 8.25/10.
After that it was time for Pshyco Scarepy: Maximum Madness. This is another house that I had insanely high hopes for, it seemed like. The original was quite an attraction, and the music still haunts me to this day. Well, the music is back, and so is the crap in the bathroom. The sign out front said 30 minutes, but as w
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coaster05
Posts: 6207
Registered: 2/29/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/30/2006 8:32:04 AM
I didn't read your spoilers, since I actually get to go this year in only 3 weeks.
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/30/2006 12:50:57 PM
Have fun with the lines. 
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
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9/30/2006 9:14:42 PM
That's what rockstar VIP tours are for
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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9/30/2006 10:14:26 PM
Ok, then have fun with the crowds.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/9/2006 8:39:34 PM
Great TR, glad you had a good time. Still sounds like an amazing experience even if I don't like horror that much.
Just a quick off-the-path question - what Metallica songs did they play, if you remember?
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/16/2006 5:13:06 PM
Not only did they play Enter Sandman, but "James Hetfield" made an appearance at the end - so that was awesome.
Expect a whole insane amount of photos and a lengthy TR for the parts of HHN I missed on opening night later this week. Only three days until my next visit.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/17/2006 4:26:06 PM
Sounds very cool, and I look forward to the rest of your report (plus the photos).
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/20/2006 2:33:03 AM
***!!! SPOILERS !!!***
Take 2:
So finally my second trip to Halloween Horror Nights arrived, and this time I went solo. I had a blast. I think I will do this from now on, just set aside a day where I go on my own and do my own things at my own pace. I manage to hit everything I missed the first time around, and hit the things I wanted to try again. Overall the lines were about what I was expecting which were, at the worst, 75 minutes. For the most part the average time for the houses floated around 45-60 minutes. Oddly enough, it was the soundstage houses with the shorter wait and the tent houses by Men in Black with the 60-75 minute waits.
Ok, since I was doing everything on my own I was able to leave on time for once. Got to the park at exactly 6:30, I showed my pass and walked right in. First up was the All Night Die In: Take 2. I am pissed I didn't do this the first go around before I went through it and I that feeling worsened after my trip through. Since the event just started it was pretty much a walk-in. The house was, dare I say it, amazing. Most of the houses this year are pretty good (which makes even the best non-HHN houses average) but nothing special. Two steps into the house and I got my first scare. It was dark, the sets were sweet and full of detail as usual, and there was enough manpower in the house. The movies chosen I thought were all crap, but being up close like that is a different story. The Director isn't the best of all the HHN Icons, but at least he wasn't behind every corner like he was for Screamhouse - I think I saw him twice, three tops. Best house of the year, but not close to being my favorite of all time. Get's a great 9/10 from Taco.
I don't think I am going to wear a Cubs jersey to Universal again. After seeing The Director I walked to the Mummy, since it's been a long four months or so since my last ride. I must have gotten 5 shouts from random people on the way shouting "GO CUBS!" or something along that. I think they were drunk, but anywho it felt awesome to ride my favorite attraction again and it was running as good as it ever was.
So after spending 10 minutes total with the Mummy it was time to hit the other house that I missed on my first visit which was RUN. Obviously I am mad whenever I miss a house, but I wasn't going to kill anyone over this one. I came away slightly disappointed. After waiting an atrocious 0 minutes, I walked right in. Weren't many real sets like you see in All Night Die In or Screamhouse, just a bunch of fancy looking walls and a couple of (cool) rooms. A problem that always seems to haunt us each year happened with this...the lack of people in the house. I went through huge chunks of the house without seeing a single scareactor. Maybe I just missed everything? I just don't see it like that. The lawnmower to the guys face was quite awesome, I'll give it that much. Throw a few more scareactors in there, and you have a solid house. Sadly, it's not that yet. My score is a 6.75/10.
Now that it was dark out I was curious to see how PUTS was when there was absolutly no sun shining. My major beef when I first went through it is that it was way too bright. Shouldn't be able to clearly see where you are going quite like you could in the beginning. It was so bright the light hats they gave you were *totally* pointless. That is no problem anymore. It was almost pitch black. Maybe I wasn't paying attention (I doubt that) but I remember from my first visit that the tarp used was a clearish-white, but this time it was black. Can someone check me on that? Anywho, it was a much better house this time around. Still seemed a little empty with the scareactors, and a couple of the dead rotting bodies couldn't be seen because it was so dark (and there was no one with a light hat within 15 people of me at least), but even still it was a much improved go through this time. Original score of the house was a 7.25/10. The new score has it at a 8/10.
I was satisfied w
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/20/2006 8:27:02 AM
Great update. Good to see that the rest of the elements of the event that you missed last time are solid enough, and don't worry about the pictures...I have no doubt that we will get them sooner of later. Nice job once again.
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/20/2006 11:40:55 PM
Last two reports from Screamscape:
Quote:
Due to the huge crowds expected this Saturday (Oct 21st), as I reported below, Universal Orlando will open Halloween Horror Nights at 5pm as well as adding extra performances of Sweet 16: The Directors Cut and Robosaurus. They will also open Marvel Superhero Island at Islands of Adventure at no extra cost to guests from 8pm to 11pm to accommodate the extra crowds. They are also encouraging guests to purchase tickets in advance, online, and print them out at home in order to avoid the long waits at the front gate. |
Quote:
If your planning on going to Halloween Horror Nights this Saturday, you might want to think again. Sources tell us that the park has already sold more than 50,000 tickets for Saturday night and has made arrangements to keep sections of IOA open to help control the huge crowds. I’m not quite sure how this will work, but if these figures are anywhere near correct, the park will be so crowded you might want to go another night. |
First of all...50,000 people? That's insane.
Secondly, 5pm? Does that mean Universal is closing early, since the normal time the park closes is 5pm.
Opening up Marvel means that guests will have to walk through the soundstages, Suess Landing, and Port of Entry before hitting the rides. Hopefully they throw some sort of extra props in there somewhere to keep the atmosphere.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/21/2006 8:09:55 PM
50,000 people visiting the park(s) in that relatively short amount of time is incredible. If we hit 15,000 or 20,000 people in a day at the zoo (not very often), it is incredibly busy all day, and that is spread out over a longer period of time.
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/31/2006 12:34:22 AM
So tomorrow night I will be heading to the park for the final night of HHN, and I have the camera all ready to go so expect tons of great pictures.
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/1/2006 1:36:39 AM
***!!! SPOILERS !!!***
Take 3:
Well tonight was my last time facing death at Halloween Horror Nights 16. It was my third visit, and definatly the best of the three. Gates opened at 6pm, and I pretty much walked right in. Lines hovered anywhere from 10 - 40 minutes all night, but most of the time I saw they were 20 minutes. Probably the least busiest night of the month. I managed to get through six houses, and could have easily gotten through the seventh, but I left a little early and took a lot of trips around the park snapping up photos. Let me start by talking about the camera. It was my first time using this beast, and I had pretty much NO idea how to operate going into the event. There was like 35 different settings, and none took just a flash then the picture. Eventually I got a setting that was good enough, so I managed to snag a few good shots. No really good zombie hooker pics, unfortunately. Also snagged some videos that turned out to be pretty cool, you really can capture the atmosphere of the event with these. With this night I also managed to meet my Mummy ride quota, even though I missed going to the park for four months earlier in the year.
Anywho, after getting through most of the park snapping up photos I decided to walk in to Dungeon of Terror, since I didn't go through it in my second visit to the event. Did the halloween bug get these guys or something? All the scareactors where amazing, plus there was tons of them. Sometimes you would catch 4 or 5 in a single room, many of them would travel in the line with you scaring random people. They were really into it. It was fantastic; I love to see them getting into their job. After going through it again, I realized my original score of 8 was too high. The sets weren't anything spectacular and it was just sort of a "meh" house. I figure my first visit should have ranked around a 7, and this trip through was a definate 8 thanks to the great scareactors in the house.
After that I was practically running to RUN. My first go through left me kind of disappointed with the house. Like with Dungeon, the scareactors were awesome. There still wasn't that many of them...could have used a few more, but the ones in place did a great job. The key feature in this house that wasn't working when I first went through it...the electric chair. This is the main thing that made Hellgate Prison *so* amazing a couple years back (one of their best houses ever), so that immediatly bumped the house up a point in the ratings. It's so realistic; it's wonderful. Original score was a 6.75, new score is 7.75.
From here on out I can't remember what I did in order, but who cares. I managed to get 6 rides on the Mummy...6 fantastic rides. I still have as much fun as I first started riding it 217 rides ago. That was the only ride I did during the night, although I peaked at the times for the others and from what I could tell they were walk ons most of the night. The Mummy seemed to top out at 35, but thank god for the single riders line.
As for the other houses...I've reported about Screamhouse the last two trips, and nothing changed this time around. Ok, so the line for Screamhouse uses part of the line that they have for Twister. People were going the wrong way and getting lost, so I bumped in front of like 25 people because they were morons and going the wrong way, and once I passed them I showed them the correct way to the house. This was kind of funny, the people most of thought no one wanted to go through the house. People must have getting lost for at least 10 minutes, since there was NO one in front of me. The scareactors were probably shocked some one was coming though, I caught a couple just sitting around waiting and talking in the first room and in the next two Caretakers were talking to each other. I thought that was pretty funny. Anyways, it was the same house as it was the last two trips.
Another house I went through was All Night Die In. Again, same house as it<
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/1/2006 2:03:45 AM
Here's a few teasers...
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/1/2006 10:24:28 AM
I've said it before and I'll say it again...it just looks like an amazing event. The total immersion in the environment just looks incredible. Once again, great reviews taco, and some nice teaser pics. I look forward to seeing them in their entirety, as well as those videos. Great job oncea again.
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/1/2006 9:08:24 PM
Heh, the movies may be a little ways off. I need to find a program to compress the size of them. I recorded them at 640x480 by accident so the file size is huge.
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nyeboy9
Posts: 950
Registered: 4/19/2006
Rank: Gold Critic
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11/1/2006 10:21:57 PM
Great photos and reviews taco!
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