Halloween Horror Nights 2023 (USH) - Reviews, Photos and Video

[DTH]

INTRO + GENERAL OPERATIONS
Ah, what a wondrous feeling it was — my first time having Express. I was excited to just waltz on by people, have no stress, and just easily go from maze to maze while prancing around the park to do whatever the hell I want. And did I get that? Reality check, the security entrance was HELL. We were herded like cattle in the biggest zigzags I’ve ever seen for about 45 minutes. It was 6:45pm when we started the journey, I don’t think we got in until 7:30-7:40ish. Had I known this would happen, I wouldn’t have ate and did drinks at City Walk. For anyone who showed up at this time NOT with Express, your destiny was handed to you then and there, and I feel so sorry for you. The operations of this is wildly misguided and spoiler alert, it made me miss some things — nothing BIG, but I am still a bit pissed about it nonetheless — as I was supposed to be able to see everything with the premium I paid. Ofcourse this would happen the first time I give Express a try. Anyway, onward and upward, there shall be NO DELAYS GOING FORWARD……. (Or so he thought).

Come to find, the year I finally throw down the cash, there’s suddenly wait times for Express, and from what I saw, fairly decent pulsing of the Express people - which I think is kind to GA folks, considering I’ve been one for 20+ years. While the wait times were never higher than 25 minutes, and from what I experienced, were usually much lower than that, the irony of all my years of waiting to do this wasn’t lost on me. And even worse? There’s no wait times on the app or the boards for Express people, so you are kinda surprised by the time when you get there — which really can put a damper on planning when it’s coming down to the wire on certain things. But that brings me to my next point…I think they really oversold Express. It needs to be cut in half. There’s no reason someone with Express, even if all the Express people have congregated to one location, should have to wait more than 10 minutes. Anything more than that really jeaopardizes missing things. On top of that, how on EARTH is someone with Express Unlimited going to get repeats on anything? Two friends in my group had it, felt sorry for them, there was no time for anything else and even worse, we missed some things. One of the reasons is there’s no good signage for when Harry Potter closes. I actually remember this happening to me last year or the year before…but there’s big signs for Jurassic and Terror Tram, why not Forbidden Journey? And if anyone is wondering, they also stop letting people down to Curious George mazes at around 1:45am — this needs to be communicated well beforehand also, because there were tons of people running that way to get their last second mazes in. Oh well.

STARWAY
Anyway, after the cluster of security, I thought we’d get some fun banter on the Starway. Nope, gone, no spookiness whatsoever, not even rock music. Just the usual thing they always play, from what I could hear. Very disappointed by this, like seriously?

STRANGER THINGS 4
Advertised Wait: 15 minutes
Time in Line: 7:48pm
In the Maze: 7:51pm
Actual Wait: 3 minutes
Time for our first maze! Loved the facade with the CHRISSY WAKE UP playing. I was highly anticipating this because of Vecna and our first introduction of him is randomly thrown into some backyard sheets with no buildup whatsoever. You know, with lackluster mazes of seasons 1 and 2, and now coming to this maze, I think I finally figured out the problem — Creative doesn’t understand Stranger Things. While I personally thought the first two mazes were fine, and even this one is…fine, as well, there’s just a general lack of understanding with these mazes — they kinda just…present things (*coughs stranger things cough*). Storytelling cohesion and knowing what are the fan favorite parts is what’s missing here and I am sad to say, while this was the MOST PERFECT YEAR TO ACTUALLY DO a Stranger Things maze…this one hits the mark the most. There’s very little scares, very little proper usage of the space to pack in the frights, and oddly not enough use of Vecna or his presence. What happened here? Not even a surprise Demogorgan? C’mon. My friends all thought this one was weak too. Thought we just hit it at a bad time, but watching videos, it really is just mid. I wanted this one to be so much better…
C+


THE LAST OF US
Advertised Wait: 5 minutes
Time in Line: 7:58pm
In the Maze: 8:09pm
Actual Wait: 11 minutes
I wasn’t anticipating this one much as I’ve never played the games and I really didn’t care for the show, but I must say this one was…kinda cool? While I appreciate the hero characters acting out full fledged scenes, and that’s what adds something very different to this, I do think it’s a bit…unnecessary, and they could’ve used the talents elsewhere for more scares. Again, it’s a conundrum. It helps the maze stand out for doing it, but the scares are lacking in this maze, and I would’ve just preferred that. There’s some deadzones here that just don’t make sense to me…like the bridge scene. What’s supposed to happen here? I literally don’t get it. But there’s some awesome stuff, like the bullet holes lighting up, the monsters reset when being shot, and the tank is freakin CRAZY COOL. Monsters towards the end are a little goofy for my liking, but oh well, at least they tried something with the evolution of things to build towards a climax. Overall, I had fun, and it was…interesting.
B+

JURASSIC and MUMMY
Did some quick rides on these two. I sat in the front to the side on Jurassic and oh boy, let me tell you…I’ve never gotten more wet on a ride in my life. Just literally dunked on, from head to toe, with water. Not a single inch or orifice of me wasn’t dripping after this for the next 2 hours. However, it was hot, and honestly it helped. Mummy was working smoothly, so that’s always nice. During this time, two of my friends that had the 2pm Express admission went to do Mario Kart, and they were out by the time we were finished with these 2 rides, since their wait was only 20 minutes. Apparently, they waited an hour earlier and the ride broke down, so I’m glad they finally got to do it, since they did these rides earlier in the day.

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER
Advertised Wait: 20 minutes
Time in Line: 8:58pm
In the Maze: 8:59pm
Actual Wait: 1 minute
I heard a lot of hype for this one. And boy, the smells of the maze were POURING out from the entrance. Entering, the sets were pretty cool. This felt like Exorcist, but with a nice modern twist. I will say, it got me hyped for the movie and I can’t wait to come back with some context. While there’s some good storytelling here, there is a major problem…the scares are repetitive. It’s the same scare over and over again. Enter a red room, weird demon pops out, go through a scene — MAYBE someone scares you in there, back to red room, and repeat. Once that became evident, my hype meter went way down. Again, sets and storytelling are gorgeous, actors are on point, but the actual scare design here is lacking. I started to get bored once I could telegraph where every scare was coming from. Y’all didn’t want black wallz and now this is what you get instead…red wallz where you could easily see where everything is coming from. Believe me, I would’ve preferred darkness (let it be known, I usually am not a black wallz crybaby — I think they are fine in moderation). Also, to reiterate, smells are insane in here, I hope y’all scare actors are alright.
B-

HOLIDAYZ IN HELL
Advertised Wait: 20 minutes
Time in Line: 9:05pm
In the Maze: 9:12pm
Actual Wait: 7 minutes
I was excited to revisit this one, one of my favorite originals. I won’t dote on this one for too long, but I will say I do prefer the old version better. It wasn’t that much different, just rearranged. In the context of all the mazes we have this year, this one doesn’t seem to fit. There’s something…thematically similar to the new mazes we have…can’t quite put my finger on what though — and this one stands out as an outlier in ways of old. It was fun though, it’s still rocking, and the music is banging. Loved the Leprechaun section this year. Oddly one of the better mazes of the night.
B

TRANSFORMERS
Hit this real quick because I figured, hey I have all the time in the world, right?! This ride has seen better days — the projections need an upgrade, and something about the movements don’t feel as strong as they used to.

 

[DTH]

TERROR TRAM: EXTERMINATORZ
Advertised Wait: 5 minutes
Time in Line: 9:55pm
In the Maze: 9:56pm
Actual Wait: 1 minute
The theme is so off the wall, it’s kinda just hilarious and lovable. The video sets it up perfectly. The execution though, I wish I had more kind things to say. Bates Motel part is hilarious, with the Karen and influencers. Literally, this is a highlight and just the type of thing needed to put some energy into Terror Tram. Then, it goes dead. Spider Alley had 2 spiders when we went through. There was practically nobody in the plane crash sets…we got some old guys with canes, I guess? Also, we were directed to not go through the little set, so missed that, but from what I saw on videos, it wasn’t much but it at least would’ve gave further context as an ending. Seriously, you can’t crowd flow people to a LESSER AREA — they did this in years before and I find this UNACCEPTABLE. Just make TWO set pieces, like c’mon. Oddly, the NOPE set is still one of the better parts of the Tram experience — but again, NO MENTION of this in the videos or tram guides — just randomly thrown in. Why was this area insanely populated but Spider Alley and plane crash site empty? Anyway, one of the worst trams I’ve been on and considering how much time it took, it felt like a waste of time — I think this was almost an hour out of our night in total, even with a walk on for Express, because of slow operations with the tram loading at the end. If you’re running out of time or want repeats on certain things — I dang near recommend just skipping this.
D

DINNER
I got a slice from Luigi’s while my friends got Broomsticks. Seriously, if you’re having a hard time finding a place to sit, just go to the Three Broomsticks, it’s nice and empty.

DEATH EATERS
I appreciate they’re keeping up the scare zone, but we couldn’t add anything new to this area? It’s the exact same as last year. Still fun though. The walk to the Curious George lots are definitely more interesting with the videos projected on the wall. Should’ve put in a photo op somewhere again though.
B-

CURIOUS GEORGE HOLDUPS
Was going to do Chucky but the Express line looked INSANE. Figured Monsters would be safer. Not much. There was still like 4 zigzags for it. Like really?! With the final Purge show coming up, this is where I started to realize we may have to sacrifice some things. If we had known this area would’ve been backed up, we probably could’ve just gone to Evil Dead Rise and Monstrous instead if we knew their wait times, but since there is ZERO info on Express lines anywhere, we were forced to try and do one maze here and walk back for Purge, or do both and risk missing the show at 12:30am. It’s 11:45…I really shouldn’t have to wonder if I can pull off 2 (TWO!) mazes in 45 minutes with Express. Let alone look at the Chucky line and wonder If that 25 minute wait time is really 25 minutes or actually 45 minutes, because it was stretching faaaar out and zigzagging. We opted for Monsters instead, which we thought looked shorter, but apparently not by much. The GA wait time was 60-90 minutes while we were here and I thought, how could that possibly be, there’s like 2 zigzags for them and they weren’t even in the garage? But I looked at the people waiting and they looked PISSED. They were sitting down, texting, super ancy or exhausted — I could tell they had been waiting forever as they dealt with us Express folk. Some lady was just watching us go by while shaking her head as she sat down with so much frustration in her eyes, holding back tears. Any other year, the wait that I saw for them would’ve been 5-10 minutes at the most. Sell less Express, Universal, because this is SHAMEFUL. That being 60-90 minutes is downright blasphemy. Anyway…

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: UNMASKED
Advertised Wait: 20 minutes
Time in Line: 11:45pm
In the Maze: 12:00am
Actual Wait: 15 minutes
Entering, the set up was fairly evident with the dark rooms showing the storytelling of going deeper into the catacombs. I agree with other reviews, it ruins any momentum. The scares were harder than the previous mazes I had gone through tonight so far, at least. I think this is one of the more unique renditions of the UCM mazes, but it’s definitely missing something. There’s some great moments in here though, I just wish it picked up on the intensity factor. Beautiful sets and costumes, by the way — Phantom and Hunchback look great. Hyde…eh, but oh well. I feel like it got kinda Hyde centric at some point, and I wish we got more of the other two. Invisible Man in there just for poops and giggles, I guess. I did notice the phrase he says changes every time you see him, and I feel like the one where he says to hurry up and not miss the show is the one that makes most sense story-wise, and while I don’t want to bore the scare actor, that’s really what it should be so it feels LESS random.
B

THE PURGE: DANGEROUS WATERS
12:30am showing
They didn’t scan our Express going in, so if you want to do multiple visits on this one in night for whatever reason, you could probably give it a try—unless they stopped scanning since it’s the last show, I don’t know. Anyway, the show starts off very lackluster and I thought we were about to be in for a bore of a time. That is a LOT of space to fill up to entertain that mass of people and you got like 5 people out there with no props to start it off? Okay. Once Purgers show up, it gets more interesting. I will say though, from a writing standpoint, it’s really hard to root for anyone here. We WANT the Senator to die, but also the Purgers are clearly villains. And they make the bodyguard a hero character, but then uh…he’s not a factor in the final third of the show. Who cleared this script? It definitely needs some humor injected into it. There’s some cool lighting, but overall, if you’ve seen Waterworld, you’ve seen everything cool that could happen here. Barely any laughs to be had, but the blood is fun, reminded me of the Hanging. In fact, this is a much lesser show, especially with the insane delay times of pyro. There were 2 second delays between cues at points, it was…awkward. Honestly, I wish I watched this on video beforehand so I could know not to really bother. It was nice to sit at least. Don’t do this unless you are WAY ahead of your gameplan with only like one maze left or something, or if you've never seen Waterworld.
D+

MONSTROUS: MONSTERS OF LATIN AMERICA
Advertised Wait: 15 minutes
Time in Line: 12:53am
In the Maze: 12:56am
Actual Wait: 3 minutes
My most anticipated! The opening facade is very creepy, and I also love the narration and the little vignettes between the scenes. Watching videos, apparently I missed the actor out front. The bird bird lady was missing from the first room, but I got the context. The other birds in here were rocking it though and the animatronic at the end of this section is a showstopper. The spines section was pretty cool, one of my favorite moments when he pulls it out, LOVED THAT. Also loved the Turkey Leg smell at points in here and that boiling head was DISGUSSSSTING. The last section was my least favorite, but it was still very strong. And then, it kinda just ends. I think the finale could’ve been bigger. Overall, the maze feels a bit too short comparatively to the other mazes, but the scenic here really utilizes the space well. With that said, I do feel like the sets here were very similar feeling to mazes of the past and didn’t wow me in the way I wanted them to. This and Unmasked kinda have a “been there, done that” feel to them, even though neither of them are repeats in any sense, and in a weird way, are oddly similar to each other with tombs. I loved it, but I wanted to love it more.
A-

EVIL DEAD RISE
Advertised Wait: 15 minutes
Time in Line: 1:06am
In the Maze: 1:14am
Actual Wait: 8 minutes
Let me just make this quick — this is the same exact maze as Universal Horror Hotel. It really isn’t changed up all that much. Understandably due to circumstances, this is just something we have to deal with. But don’t go in expecting much different — new lighting, sounds, costumes, but I felt the sets were….pretty similar, or at least in my mind. I will gave major props to the scare actors, they were the best of the night and really amped up the scares. Best scene was the elevator, just BOMBARDED, loved that. Ending monster was cool, wish we saw it in a different form though. The intensity and length of this maze is pretty insane. If I hadn’t seen a variation of this maze before, I’d probably say it was the best of the night, but it felt similar just enough to feel basically like a repeat to me. If you are running out of time, I won’t say skip it, but don’t feel like you missed anything either, other than maybe the best scareactors of the event.
B+

 

[DTH]

CHUCKY: ULTIMATE KILL COUNT
Advertised Wait: 5 minutes
Time in Line: 1:34am
In the Maze: 1:36am
Actual Wait: 2 minutes
The facade is HILARIOUS. And crazy enough, I’ve seen videos, and I haven’t seen any material looped yet. They must’ve filmed quite a bit of material! Unfortunately it’s really hard to hear until you are up close — they definitely need to boost his voice into the speakers. You can tell they put all their money into this maze — the animatronics are WILD. It was so fun and funny, plus some good scares, this really was the highlight of my night. The kills were gruesome and the cameo appearances are nice touches. I don’t watch the show, so I was happy to see references to the movies. Also, I wish the killed HHN vlogger was a little more prominent, you really have to be stopped there and be able to see the phone to know what’s even going on — but HILARIOUS touch and spin on the meta-ness of the whole thing. Now ofcourse, the showstopper is the final scene and it freakin delivers. I was in awe of how insane this was. What a great maze, in my opinion, best of the year with Monstrous close behind, and with the little edge it has, it really does make it one of my all time favorites. This would’ve been perfectly placed in the 07-10 era of HHN amongst all the slashers and would’ve been such a great breath of fresh air. Glad they made this work with animatronics and puppets instead of little people or even regular people in Chucky costumes like the Chucky mazes and Trams of the past. This maze really is something you have NEVER seen before, unique, fun, funny, gory, and interesting while throwing scares in the mix. Everything you could want in a maze. As mentioned before, a dark comedy maze done right, none of that goofy wackiness that Ghostbusters or This is The End had that ruined the vibe — TRUE dark comedy. If dark comedy isn’t for you, hate Chucky, and/or you have a bad run through, then maybe you won’t appreciate it. But for me, an all time classic.
A+

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: UNMASKED and MONSTROUS repeats
Unmasked was a complete dead zone, barely anyone in there with entire sections closed off. The Phantom gave us a SHOW though. We were stopped in his organ room for about 3 minutes and he was on fire! Major props to him. Ran up and did Monstrous last second, bird lady in first room was now present. Going through this a second time really solidified my feelings in that feels same-y to things we’ve seen before and put Chucky on the top.

SCAREZONES
Oh, almost forgot. They were great this year, except for Ghostz. Honestly, this all feels the same as usual. I wish Scarezones weren’t an afterthought, but here we are. Overall —
B-

RANKINGS:
Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count - A+
Monstrous: The Monsters of Latin America - A-
The Last of Us - B+
Evil Dead Rise - B+ (scareactors - A+, scenic - C-)
Universal Monsters: Unmasked - B
Holidayz in Hell - B
The Exorcist: Believer - B-
Stranger Things 4 - C+
Exterminatorz - D

OVERALL
As you can see, I missed Blumhouse. I hear no big loss, but considering I had Express, that’s ridiculous. Also missed Simpsons, Forbidden Journey, and Hippogriff. I’ve done them before, so no big loss for me, but sucks for those in my party who have not. I will say one thing that really caught my attention about this year is the lengths of mazes — they all felt way longer. Don’t know what they did different, if they did anything different at all, but they all seemed to stretch on like a lot of KSF mazes do. Very happy about that. And the sets are bigger than ever, so I give them props for the scenic this year. But what’s missing? The scares. Every maze was lacking a good build up of dread with a pop out. Exorcist came closest to building dread, but ruined it with the red rooms. Monstrous is great in this department, but feels cut short and the ending is too abrupt. Even Chucky, which is my favorite, didn’t have a high amount of scares, but at least makes up for it in charm. Evil Dead Rises wins in the scare department and felt like a maze of the golden years with the intensity, but that is unfortunately too similar to its last year counterpart — and the scenic is a bit basic to build any dread, but again, they make up for it in the bulk of monsters coming at you. Stranger Things…I have no idea what to do here, it’s a failure on a design level. The Last of Us I hope just finds a way to add more scares and this could be a great one. Exterminatorz just needs to be properly populated. And Unmasked needs to find a way to keep the momentum going. I can see some of my maze rankings changing by moving up one or going down one, but I don’t see any drastic shifts happening there. Will update at the end of the run! Overall, good year, but sadly not one of the greats, and NOWHERE near 2016. If you haven’t gone, you’re in for a fun time, just don’t expect the craziest scares. As for shows, I can only speak on Purge, and I hate to speak ill on a stunt show of people RISKING THEIR LIVES for entertainment, but really…I wanted so much more out of that.

For the rest of us, we got another good one in the books. Granted, it’s opening weekend, and I know improvements will be made, I just don’t see it becoming an all time great year (07, 08, 09, 10, 14, 16). I can see the growth and the budget increase from years past (17-22), and with the right choices, I can actually see this event very easily returning to how scary it used to be (07-10, 14, 16). It has all the factors in play and it’s taken awhile to get there because the event has grown so much that it has stretched the budget thin on many occasions, but we’ve finally caught up. With the right creative decisions and properties, I can see next year possibly being the best ever. I look forward to coming back for one more run through of everything, but now my expectations have been properly set. As for Express, it was mostly great, but the night felt very fast and too quick to process anything. I’ll try it again next year and maybe…POSSIBLY…pay for Early Access to counter that feeling (hopefully it’s just FREE though, because seriously WTF). Either way, I’m still going to line up at 5:30pm latest just to avoid that security line, it is literally THE WORST. Until next time folks, see y’all in the fog!
B

 

[Freak]

I’m glad you got to see all of the houses and the stunt show at least! Honestly if there was one think to skip, it was that Blumhouse show. I think you would’ve hated it more than the Purge show lol

I’m really curious to see what you think of Orlando’s event when you go!

 

[StopMakingSense]

Wow, sorry DTH to hear about your experience with Express. My wife and I went Friday night with Express Unlimited and both thought it was the best operationally that it has ever been. Our experience this year was infinitely better than last year. Despite posted wait times, the longest we ever waited was 5 minutes. We were able to do every maze four times, the Blumhouse show (agree with Freak - waste of time), two rides, and a coffee break all by 1:30 am.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

My second night was good without express. I DID NOT HAVE EE. But I did enter the Mazes at 5:30. I was on the Lower lot with my different color wristband and no one said anything to me. Just entered Hollidaz in Hell at 5:30 and was the first in line. Did ST 4 with a 10 min wait and then waited 30 min for LOU. It seemed not as crazy at 5:30 but someone told me some gold passes were blocked yesterday so if they did get EE they had to wait to get in AT 5:30. I am going to assume they will be monitoring wristbands better going forward but I will still try to get in at 5:30 because FU universal for trying for a money grab.

ST 4 - I had a better run. It feels like some scenes are a rehash of previous mazes. will do it if the wait is less than 20 min so probably be my last run.
Hollidayz - Still one of my favorites. My only gripe is that when the maze opens it was missing half the cast. Again. If you are producing a premium event and charging for early entry you need to deliver on that and have a full house at open.
Last of Us - So good. I really like this one. I liked the sound design on this. it didn't feel repetitive as some can feel.

Skipped Exocist to get up to the plaza and rope drop Chucky. I probably could have done it but just not that interesting.

Chucky - This is so fun and good. love it. definitely go here first on the CG lot. This line was a lot longer than Monsters.

Monsters Unmasked: Again one of my favorite. The black walls don't bother me because the rest is so well done. It was a 10 min wait at open so I did it twice.

Monstruous - Maze of the event in MHO. it is so good with it really taking up where La Lorona left off last year. Only waited 10 min.
Skipped Universal Horror Hotel, I mean Evil Dead. no further comment.

Blumhouse Presents - Skipped this last time so I wanted to see it tonight. Opens at 8 and I waited about 15 min for the show. Not much of a show at a run time of less than 3 min. Anyway was ok. Would rather see Megans roaming the scare zone than in a show like this.

Terror tram was not busy but I didn't feel like the walk so I grabbed a beer and chilled out for awhile. The Peacock bar near water world was dead.

6 of 8 with 1 repeat before 8 PM was not bad. Some will argue Early Entry is necessary and I agree. I just will not pay for it.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Hollidayz - Still one of my favorites. My only gripe is that when the maze opens it was missing half the cast. Again. If you are producing a premium event and charging for early entry you need to deliver on that and have a full house at open.

This was really my only complaint about this year as well. The early entry mazes, all of them, were missing a significant number of actors and scares during that early entry timeframe. It's always been that way and been a bit of a bummer, but this year I had to pay extra and because of that I have an expectation that they're going to provide the full experience.

 

[Freak]

This was really my only complaint about this year as well. The early entry mazes, all of them, were missing a significant number of actors and scares during that early entry timeframe. It's always been that way and been a bit of a bummer, but this year I had to pay extra and because of that I have an expectation that they're going to provide the full experience.

When I went through the houses again in the lower lot during RIP, I was really shocked at how many spots I missed. I hope they work on this during the event’s run.

 

[highdefrex]

So after gathering my thoughts over the course of today, I figured I'd get them out now about my visit this past Sunday, the 10th. Had lunch at Firehouse, got in the park at 12:30 -- since Nintendo was wide open, we knocked out Mario Kart in about 35 minutes, came up to do Forbidden Journey, wandered a bit, and then got in line to get our Early Entry wristbands which were being handed out at 3pm.

After that, we went back down to the Lower Lot, rode Transformers, then had our only truly negative experience of the whole day -- we got in line for Isla Nu-Bar at around 3:35ish. There were maybe two dozen people ahead of us, if that, and somehow waiting in that single line took longer than any of the mazes the rest of the night. Absolutely frustrating -- it took until about 4:25 for us to finally get up to the counter, and we watched the absolute slowest service we've ever seen unfold. I was stressed!

Got that drink and headed right over to figure out the Stranger Things situation, and we ended up being the very first people in "line" at the barrier other than a nice kid who was waiting for the Express line. People started lining up behind us pretty damn quick, and then around 5, we were brought into the queue proper and led up to the opening of the soundstage until they were ready. By 5:30, we were right there, maze opened on time, and Express started being let in -- I got a sinking feeling it was going to end up like the last two years where Express was just going to be fed in for 15 minutes straight before they remembered there's a general line, but fortunately they let in a small number, then let us go in!

This was the house I was looking forward to the most, and I have to say... I was let down. So much was missing from the season, and also lots of actors weren't in place yet, which didn't help. There's always a fun kick getting to walk through the environments, but I really think the original maze for the first season was still the best, and at least this season's didn't have a guano Mindflayer. Cool, but I walked out thinking, "Okay, not really eager to do that again," which is wild when last year, I had zero expectations for the Weeknd's maze yet came out looking forward to doing it again.

Moving on, we were in, out, and over in line for The Last of Us in about ten minutes, and the wait for that was another 10-15, if that, and I was so happy to see operations treating Express and the general line equally when it opened. I loved Joel and Ellie being out front, and holy hell was this maze awesome. Not every actor was in place yet (a moment when a clicker burst through a door and then gets shot several times back into it made me assume Joel was also supposed to be in the room based on the audio, but he wasn't) but... I didn't mind it like ST4, because the set design, the sound design, the smells, all of it just blew me away! I loved this house, and when I go again next weekend with a different group, this is the one I'm probably looking forward to doing again, to the point I'd choose it over ST4 in a heart beat if I had to pick between the two. Absolute blast!

Next, we did Exorcist, with only a two-minute wait, which was nothing to write home about -- again, lots of empty spaces, like a room with two chairs tied together from the trailers where clearly the possessed girls are supposed to be sitting that had no one there, and it felt like a huge chunk of the maze is entirely reliant on whether or not loud, pulsing noise and gross scents (both of which the maze excelled at) scares you more than actual scares. Like the uninteresting facade, it just felt like the maze was here just to promote the movie and not out of any sort of passion, and really nothing even sticks out to me as memorable a day later to where I think, "I'd do that again just to experience that moment another time," because there simply wasn't any "moment" for me.

But whatever, making good time, we did Holidays in Hell after, which was a complete walk on. Nothing to say -- fun and enjoyable, but having done it the first time it was at the event, there's nothing really new to add other than the fact the entire Christmas section was completely devoid of cast, which sent us out on a bit of a lame note.

At this point, it's about 6:15 and we've got four mazes down already; we truck it up to Wizarding World, have to wait for them to open it up, which they finally did just shy of 6:50 -- practically everyone books it to Chucky over Universal Monsters, and so did we. I loooooved it. As a fan of the franchise, this was just such a blast, and you could just tell Brad Dourif was having a ball. A fun house from beginning to end, and I enjoyed all the little nods to the franchise as a whole throughout. This (and Last of Us) are the type of shining jewels that have kept me coming every year since 2009, and I can absolutely see why this one has turned out to be so popular already -- it's just plain FUN.

Comparatively, I've always loved the Universal Monster mazes throughout the years, especially '18 and '19, and getting to see some underrepresented faces take the spotlight was exciting -- sadly, though, this was another one I was disappointed by. Some great set design, but something just felt... off? Even after having the day to think about it, I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it was because Chucky had set a certain bar, but Unmasked didn't hit like I'd hoped. Didn't hate it at all, and I'm glad they swung with new characters, but it's absolutely outshined at the event this year.

Continued...

 

[highdefrex]

With six mazes under our belt, we trucked it back upstairs and it was around 7:15 already. We shot over to Evil Dead Rise, which definitely felt like I was going through Hotel again only with the added bonus of having actual context from seeing the Rise content actually in place, then Monstruos, which was my second-most anticipated maze of the night and didn't disappoint. When it comes to these sorts of folklore mazes, it always seems like the team pours so much love into them, and this was no exception; fired on all cylinders for me!

By 7:45, we'd accomplished all eight mazes (without Express!). So we hit the 8:00 showing of Purge -- nice to see a show back at the event, and the blood effects were a welcome (if funny) surprise. Could've done without the cheesy dance thing that concludes with the cast awkwardly stopping and leaving without so much as a "Thanks for coming!" but for a 15-minute diversion, I can't complain. I'm glad to have something like this I'm willing to see over skipping Jabbawockeez yet again.

By 8:30ish, we were on the Terror Tram -- I absolutely adored the theme and loved the vibe, but it's still fundamentally the same thing it is every year, where I'm more than happy to do it for a 5-minute wait, but wouldn't be thrilled if the wait was pushing an hour.

At 9:00 o'clock, we'd officially done everything (minus the Blumhouse show), so we went back down to the lower lot, shared pizza fries at the upstairs lounge (which, like the Isla Nu-Bar experience, took forever despite the various lines being short), rode Jurassic World and the Mummy, and then by 10:30 called it a night (with a stop at Voodoo on the way to the car).

I'm of two minds now: One, I'm so so SO glad that the Express situation that was driving me insane the last two years seems to have been worked out. It felt much, much fairer towards the general lines this year than before -- maybe it isn't later in the evening or any other day, but at least last night, I never once was gritting my teeth. Early entry actually felt like it used to years ago where things could actually get done, and the fact we had six of eight mazes done before the event even started proper felt awesome. It was nice to not feel in a state of perpetual stress simply because some of us can't (and won't) fork over hundreds more, and The Last of Us, Chucky, and Monstruos owned the night for me in ways that remind me of why I love this event year in and year out even amidst "lesser" years or operational frustrations and so on.

On the other hand, after 14 years of going, I feel like something fundamentally needs to evolve about the event as a whole. Something like the Purge show is a step in the direction (and saying that about the Purge isn't something I ever thought I'd be saying a few years ago), but especially after going to Orlando's event last year, it's starting to feel... stale. I miss the days when the whole park was essentially one big scare zone, and even though I understand why the Metro sets haven't been used again, even something like that went a long way towards the event feeling like it could breathe. I'm regretting buying my usual Frequent Fear Pass for the first time, too, because even though I'm going again next weekend, I don't feel like this year really has me itching to go again for a third time when over half the lineup is same old, same old (Holidays, Rise, the Terror Tram), letdowns (Unmasked and ST4), or hollow (Exorcist).

I got a kick out of seeing the Grabber out behind Jupiter's Claim, but then realizing only a small portion of people were even able to go out there to see him just served as a reminder that it's all about the upcharge now, like with early entry, which, when coupled with the fact the event is really resting on its laurels in other aspects, like the Tram, just bums me out. I'd rather see that money go towards taking new swings rather than giving us old things with new coats of paint on it.

That said, the event still means a lot to me, and I'm still looking forward to going again this weekend, but I'm really hoping the success of things like The Last of Us and Chucky are taken to heart going forward -- that is, people love them because the passion poured into them from every angle is unbelievably palpable in a way that something like the Exorcist is not. Either way, the fact we were able to do everything between 5:30 and 9:00 before rides was a miracle I never thought I'd see again, and I still had a great time as always. I love seeing people's faces coming out of maze exits having had a blast even in mazes I personally may have found disappointing, because that's really what it's all about -- people having fun. And I hope every one of you who has gone already or has yet to go has had or will have a blast!

(And also another big thank you to both @saint.piss and @Freak for DM'ing me about Early Entry being up for sale again. You guys rock for doing that for me when you didn't have to, and because of that, all of this breezy evening I've described was possible!)

 

[StopMakingSense]

hollow (Exorcist).

Give Exorcist another shot when you go back - hopefully it'll be fully staffed this time around. This was probably my least anticipated maze this year but I ended up loving it.

I went back through my photos and realized I wasted about 90 minutes on the Tram (with Express). That includes the time it took to walk down there and walk back up. This was probably (definitely) my biggest mistake of the night. For anyone trying to make the most efficient use of their time, my advice would be to skip the Tram all together if you have ever done it before. It's practically identical to what it always is and it drains a huge chunk of your night.

 

[saint.piss]

letdowns (Unmasked and ST4), or hollow (Exorcist).

Like the user before said, I honestly think you should do these houses again. During EE they aren't at 100% and like you said, are missing a lot of the actors and scares. When they're running as usual I would say they're pretty good houses even ST4, as messy as that one is the sets are great lol.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Like the user before said, I honestly think you should do these houses again. During EE they aren't at 100% and like you said, are missing a lot of the actors and scares. When they're running as usual I would say they're pretty good houses even ST4, as messy as that one is the sets are great lol.

This just......frustrates me so much.

If I notice it that bad, then I will go to Guest Services. To me it's a joke to charge 20 extra bucks to a extra ticketed event and then not be ready to provide 110%. Not blaming the actors but the people running this

 

[Brian G.]

Ok. Back to reviews only, please.

 

[Brian G.]

REVIEW: While not perfect, this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is one hell of a good time, anchored by one of the strongest house line-ups to date.

REVIEW: Halloween Horror Nights 2023 at Universal Studios Hollywood

Halloween Horror Nights is back at Universal Studios Hollywood! After a highly successful 2022, this year's event is anchored by extremely strong properties - most notably Stranger Things and The Last of Us. So, what were our first impressions of this year’s event? The first weekend tends to h

www.insideuniversal.net

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

REVIEW: While not perfect, this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is one hell of a good time, anchored by one of the strongest house line-ups to date.

REVIEW: Halloween Horror Nights 2023 at Universal Studios Hollywood

Halloween Horror Nights is back at Universal Studios Hollywood! After a highly successful 2022, this year's event is anchored by extremely strong properties - most notably Stranger Things and The Last of Us. So, what were our first impressions of this year’s event? The first weekend tends to h

www.insideuniversal.net

Heads up, the french street scarezone is incorrectly labeled in the article. Great read!!

 

[Brian G.]

Heads up, the french street scarezone is incorrectly labeled in the article. Great read!!

Fixed.. Thank you!

 

[Jerroddragon]

Was at the event Last night. But a few things to keep in mind with mu review, I have an AP that got me in early, then Early Entry and upgraded to Express Unlimited. Along with while being scared is nice, I'm a grown man who has done these events for over 13 years so I care more about the fun factor, creatively, theming, how staffed the house was, so now that's out of the way onto my review.

The Bad
Going to Start with the bad because it's much shorter and how I'd like to start this review.
If you do not have express, don't go on a Sold out night, heck if you don't have Express and Early Entry on a sold out night it's just going to be more frustrating then it should be for how amazing this event is.
Universal please raise General ticket prices and sell less or do something, I saw four, Yes four mazes that were all at 3 hours+ last tonight at the same time. Not only does this such for general but Express becomes not as valuable as well. Along with selling these Early Entry Passes and 2PM tickets and then having two open Security lines on either side, it's insane from 1:30 PM on those line should be fully staffed so people can get in and out. The fact you have to wait 10 mins after checking in the park as an AP to get your ticket, is also frustrating this is your biggest event of the year upgrade your ticket systems.
This is more of a nitpick but will write more on it in another thread but Murdy don't mock people for wanting Demon Slayer as if that wouldn't have been a more interesting then Evil Dead, I'm sorry Evil Dead but Demon Slayer would have been a much more interesting maze in every way and guess what you could have sold merch for it over Evil Dead.
So that's the bad, it's mainly operations there are too many people at these events and would like them to either charge more or have more to split people up because this system is not working for general guests, I would loveeeee to see reviews from people coming in at 7PM and how many mazes they did before leaving

The Good
CHUCKY!!!!

Lets start with hands DOWN best Maze/house of this year. I love Last of Us but Chucky it just....my god, chef's kiss. The Preshow on the facade is hilarious and once you walk in the maze just keeps hitting you with fun Animatronic effect after Animatronic fun events. It feel's like your walking though a ride in the best kinda way, my Girlfriend made the comment it was a shame they put all this work into this maze just for it to leave after Halloween and I agree, I wish this maze could be put in the walking dead and be a great year round haunt.

BlumHouse Behind the Screams. I lovedddddd it, I see many kinda meh on it and cool but for me as a fan of the studio just wow.....it was a blast. I got a picture with the Grabber out front, then some photo's of props from Megan and Black Phone then of course the great just really cool display for 5 Nights at Freddy (please give this IP a maze next year). I also got a picture with the Grabber at the Black Phone photo op inside as well, just I loved it. Then you go inside and it's some trailer then kinda a fun recap of the Blumhouse films (i always forget they made Split) and then the fun Megan dance Segment. I don't know, could they do more? Sure but also just like seeing props, characters and the things to take pictures with and a fun show to get off your feet after. 9/10 for me

Universal Monsters: Unmasked, Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America and Terror Tram…The Exterminatorz all tie with me after Chucky.
Universal Monsters: Unmasked had really fun sets, the Invisible man was fun, While not a fan of getting water on me the Hunch back pouring the hot metal's on you if cool in person, Jekyll was the only character I felt didn't get an amazing design. I would have rather more a Monster human of a half werewolf but I did like the Jekyll lab set. Just a fun time

Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America, I liked the Grave Digger in the front (and owl), The Bird Woman was a cool design and loved the Big Animatronic of her.....loved it just great job on that. The second guy monster with the large hat, I liked the hat but the design of the face, could have been cooler or more unique but still fun scenes. The Big Witch at the end as well, ohh yeah loving it. The Scare zone after it was also a good time, and the props and street really comes to life after the sunsets.

Terror Tram…The Exterminatorz. I feel like I should plan people online for me not being as hyped on the TT mazes as I can get. It was just fun, it;s a ridiculous and campy but loved it. Larry was a cool lead, the pre show video I think was well done and Bugs with Chainsaws, lol.
Spider Ally was fun and colorful. They had some fun people in the plane crash set.
The Nope set was pretty much the same as last year but that's not a slight against it. It was well done and fun and as someone who likes/loves all three of the film's in that section it was a blast like last year.

Last of Us, It's a cool maze and only not higher because I feel like this was a stacked year. Hearing Joel and Ellie and seeing them in person.....just so much joy as a fan of the show and game. I think I would liked to see more clickers in the front of the maze, I didn't find the raiders or infelcted (without masks on) that scary or interesting to look at. The Truck scene.....omg another chef's Kiss, just a fun scene to get to walk through. The molotov cocktail effect was cool, seeing Clickers was great and the Bloater breaking the guys neck is brutal and cool. If your a fan of the series do this maze, if your not you may not care for it that much and I understand.

The Exorcist: Believer. I have zero expectations for this maze and have no interest in the film but the maze is fun. I liked the "house" effects where glass/walls change or disappear I just love those kinda gimmicks. The end scare as well is well done, there is like 6 places the demon can spot out from in the last room and thought it was a good set up for a jump scare.

Holidayz In Hell. I loved this as a mini maze and in someways kinda...preferred it it was outside because they had more "unique" scare actors because many could be on Stilts. It's a solid maze with themes I like. Also the smells in this maze are both on point but also....why? Like the poor people having to work these rooms and smell whats in them, I just hope those worker have higher pay for dealing with that. I also think the maze kinda just....ends and the Christmas part just needed more.

Evil Dead, It's fine. I don't hate it but also if they replaced it with almost anything else I would have been fine. I will say I liked the guy drowning in the elevator by blood but compared to the other mazes we have to me this is easily the weakest one.

The Purge: Dangerous Waters. I think many people are writing this off and I don't know why. This to me is a step up from guys in masks dancing. The effects and stunts were cool, I liked the lasers and all the fire and firework effects. The Preshow is good and I just had a good time, the only thing I will say is load people in the show before the showtime...not at the showtime and start the show 20 mins later, not idea why Ops was so poor this year on things like this but not a fan of wasting 20 more mins of people time for no reason with time is limited.

Overall I think this is my favorite haunt of any year I've been to any event I've gone to. It cost hand and a leg but at least the quality was there, if they can make Ops better then great but I have no idea why anyone goes to this with general on a weekend night. Seems like a huge waste if money and time. But the passion is clearly there this year and can't wait to see if they can top this event next year.

 

[saint.piss]

Was at the event Last night. But a few things to keep in mind with mu review, I have an AP that got me in early, then Early Entry and upgraded to Express Unlimited. Along with while being scared is nice, I'm a grown man who has done these events for over 13 years so I care more about the fun factor, creatively, theming, how staffed the house was, so now that's out of the way onto my review.

The Bad
Going to Start with the bad because it's much shorter and how I'd like to start this review.
If you do not have express, don't go on a Sold out night, heck if you don't have Express and Early Entry on a sold out night it's just going to be more frustrating then it should be for how amazing this event is.
Universal please raise General ticket prices and sell less or do something, I saw four, Yes four mazes that were all at 3 hours+ last tonight at the same time. Not only does this such for general but Express becomes not as valuable as well. Along with selling these Early Entry Passes and 2PM tickets and then having two open Security lines on either side, it's insane from 1:30 PM on those line should be fully staffed so people can get in and out. The fact you have to wait 10 mins after checking in the park as an AP to get your ticket, is also frustrating this is your biggest event of the year upgrade your ticket systems.
This is more of a nitpick but will write more on it in another thread but Murdy don't mock people for wanting Demon Slayer as if that wouldn't have been a more interesting then Evil Dead, I'm sorry Evil Dead but Demon Slayer would have been a much more interesting maze in every way and guess what you could have sold merch for it over Evil Dead.
So that's the bad, it's mainly operations there are too many people at these events and would like them to either charge more or have more to split people up because this system is not working for general guests, I would loveeeee to see reviews from people coming in at 7PM and how many mazes they did before leaving

The Good
CHUCKY!!!!

Lets start with hands DOWN best Maze/house of this year. I love Last of Us but Chucky it just....my god, chef's kiss. The Preshow on the facade is hilarious and once you walk in the maze just keeps hitting you with fun Animatronic effect after Animatronic fun events. It feel's like your walking though a ride in the best kinda way, my Girlfriend made the comment it was a shame they put all this work into this maze just for it to leave after Halloween and I agree, I wish this maze could be put in the walking dead and be a great year round haunt.

BlumHouse Behind the Screams. I lovedddddd it, I see many kinda meh on it and cool but for me as a fan of the studio just wow.....it was a blast. I got a picture with the Grabber out front, then some photo's of props from Megan and Black Phone then of course the great just really cool display for 5 Nights at Freddy (please give this IP a maze next year). I also got a picture with the Grabber at the Black Phone photo op inside as well, just I loved it. Then you go inside and it's some trailer then kinda a fun recap of the Blumhouse films (i always forget they made Split) and then the fun Megan dance Segment. I don't know, could they do more? Sure but also just like seeing props, characters and the things to take pictures with and a fun show to get off your feet after. 9/10 for me

Universal Monsters: Unmasked, Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America and Terror Tram…The Exterminatorz all tie with me after Chucky.
Universal Monsters: Unmasked had really fun sets, the Invisible man was fun, While not a fan of getting water on me the Hunch back pouring the hot metal's on you if cool in person, Jekyll was the only character I felt didn't get an amazing design. I would have rather more a Monster human of a half werewolf but I did like the Jekyll lab set. Just a fun time

Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America, I liked the Grave Digger in the front (and owl), The Bird Woman was a cool design and loved the Big Animatronic of her.....loved it just great job on that. The second guy monster with the large hat, I liked the hat but the design of the face, could have been cooler or more unique but still fun scenes. The Big Witch at the end as well, ohh yeah loving it. The Scare zone after it was also a good time, and the props and street really comes to life after the sunsets.

Terror Tram…The Exterminatorz. I feel like I should plan people online for me not being as hyped on the TT mazes as I can get. It was just fun, it;s a ridiculous and campy but loved it. Larry was a cool lead, the pre show video I think was well done and Bugs with Chainsaws, lol.
Spider Ally was fun and colorful. They had some fun people in the plane crash set.
The Nope set was pretty much the same as last year but that's not a slight against it. It was well done and fun and as someone who likes/loves all three of the film's in that section it was a blast like last year.

Last of Us, It's a cool maze and only not higher because I feel like this was a stacked year. Hearing Joel and Ellie and seeing them in person.....just so much joy as a fan of the show and game. I think I would liked to see more clickers in the front of the maze, I didn't find the raiders or infelcted (without masks on) that scary or interesting to look at. The Truck scene.....omg another chef's Kiss, just a fun scene to get to walk through. The molotov cocktail effect was cool, seeing Clickers was great and the Bloater breaking the guys neck is brutal and cool. If your a fan of the series do this maze, if your not you may not care for it that much and I understand.

The Exorcist: Believer. I have zero expectations for this maze and have no interest in the film but the maze is fun. I liked the "house" effects where glass/walls change or disappear I just love those kinda gimmicks. The end scare as well is well done, there is like 6 places the demon can spot out from in the last room and thought it was a good set up for a jump scare.

Holidayz In Hell. I loved this as a mini maze and in someways kinda...preferred it it was outside because they had more "unique" scare actors because many could be on Stilts. It's a solid maze with themes I like. Also the smells in this maze are both on point but also....why? Like the poor people having to work these rooms and smell whats in them, I just hope those worker have higher pay for dealing with that. I also think the maze kinda just....ends and the Christmas part just needed more.

Evil Dead, It's fine. I don't hate it but also if they replaced it with almost anything else I would have been fine. I will say I liked the guy drowning in the elevator by blood but compared to the other mazes we have to me this is easily the weakest one.

The Purge: Dangerous Waters. I think many people are writing this off and I don't know why. This to me is a step up from guys in masks dancing. The effects and stunts were cool, I liked the lasers and all the fire and firework effects. The Preshow is good and I just had a good time, the only thing I will say is load people in the show before the showtime...not at the showtime and start the show 20 mins later, not idea why Ops was so poor this year on things like this but not a fan of wasting 20 more mins of people time for no reason with time is limited.

Overall I think this is my favorite haunt of any year I've been to any event I've gone to. It cost hand and a leg but at least the quality was there, if they can make Ops better then great but I have no idea why anyone goes to this with general on a weekend night. Seems like a huge waste if money and time. But the passion is clearly there this year and can't wait to see if they can top this event next year.

Did you not do Stranger Things?

 

[Jerroddragon]

Did you not do Stranger Things?

I did it twice, lol (three times if you count with the lights on last week)

Stranger things would be one step above Holidays in Hell and Evil Dead. But for the IP and the lines it gets. It's fine.

The effects in some of the rooms are cool but to me the maze feels like it doesn't have much......heart. I dont know what it was but I didn't find there to be too many scares and besides the end room not too much of this maze stands out to me.
I like season 3 of Stranger things and it really to me doesn't have that much of a focus and not a fan of the ending. The second to last room is cool, the best room in the maze by far then it....just kinda ends. I felt like I was missing something

Anyway, god please those who waited 3 hours for this maze. I would not wait over 20 mins for this one, I dont know why but didn't love it but to be fair it being popular just means less lines at other locations