Halloween Horror Nights '19 General Discussion

[torr4nce]

I'm not usually one to complain about "PC culture" but, if true, the removal of the corpse turkey is nothing short of ridiculous. You paid money to go to a horror event where you are warned a countless amount of times that what you are going to see is for more mature audiences. Then you see a goofy, turkey-looking corpse on a table and think that's pushing the envelope? Creepshow has dead kids in a bathtub and roaches escaping a corpse for crying out loud. At the end of the day it's not a huge deal, but it still sucks that we'd be losing something that captured the spirit of the maze so well.

 

[rageofthegods]

I'm not usually one to complain about "PC culture" but, if true, the removal of the corpse turkey is nothing short of ridiculous. You paid money to go to a horror event where you are warned a countless amount of times that what you are going to see is for more mature audiences. Then you see a goofy, turkey-looking corpse on a table and think that's pushing the envelope? Creepshow has dead kids in a bathtub and roaches escaping a corpse for crying out loud. At the end of the day it's not a huge deal, but it still sucks that we'd be losing something that captured the spirit of the maze so well.

@Fallow brought up a good point: while we're assuming it was people kicking up a stink, it's far more likely that people just kept touching it and it broke :/

Don't touch the props guys!

 

[deadbydawn]

Can we get some actual clarification on what was removed?

 

[chris.g]

If it's removed for being broken I'm willing to bet it'll come back. Murdy usually does TLC to stuff thats been damaged

 

[DTH]

Welp, looks like lines are more managable for second weekend. I guess it was just first weekend hype. Anyway, I still say get the express pass if you're trying to hit everything starting in October, especially towards peak season.

 

[chris.g]

Yeah I'm surprised how average waits seem to be tonight...

 

[DTH]

Welp, things are picking up quite a bit. I think the Stranger Things hype is diminishing while all the hype is going towards Us. Upper lot and Metro is decent, but lower lot and tram garage are slammed.

 

[DTH]

Pandora's Box has the longest line right now of 2 hours and 20 minutes. Man, if that ain't the most painstakingly slow line I've ever been in for HHN...

 

[Rideguy70]

^Yeah, I've notice Pandora's line is one of the slowest moving ones as well.

And I did confirm on my twitter that the turkey was removed. I don't know why, but personally, I suspect it got damaged from guests. I have no proof aside from a gut instinct and knowledge of how douchy people can be.

Also didn't notice the Red Asian character last night. It was a cool costume and mask, but it was problematic from an Asian racist stereotype point of view. The Geisha one is no problem to me as it's not based on any stereotype; it's entirely fictitious. But "Fu man chu" is considered a pretty derogatory term by much of the Asian community. I know there have been past issues about HHN bowing down to complaints very quickly (remember that Purge announcer/auctioneer that got pulled?), but I personally feel these (this character and the Us mask situation) are good and sensible calls.

On a more positive note, my husband and I accomplished all 9 new mazes, as well as Jabawookees, in one night on a Friday without Express! It took us 7 hours (from 6pm-1am). It was fun, but I doubt we'll be doing that again anytime soon--too much work, lol.

 

[MacMillian Crew]

Hearing about that is what makes me genuinely concerned about the future of original-concept material (mazes and scare zones) in the future of HHN. Obviously there are areas, especially when regarding to foreign cultures, where the creative team has to be careful how characters are executed, but at the same time, the big risk with original materials is if something is deemed controversial, people will trace the line directly to Universal's team. At least with IP mazes and zones, if someone gets offended by a certain element, the blame gets directed towards the copyright owner/original director/writer of whatever movie or TV show it's from. I'm not saying I don't want to see any more original mazes at HHN, but I'm genuinely concerned that this may impact how the creative team may try to execute future HHN attractions, as well as attempt to create more original mazes, and try playing it safe by relying on reusing tired-out IP's (e.g. The Purge, Titans of Terror, etc...).

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Hearing about that is what makes me genuinely concerned about the future of original-concept material (mazes and scare zones) in the future of HHN. Obviously there are areas, especially when regarding to foreign cultures, where the creative team has to be careful how characters are executed, but at the same time, the big risk with original materials is if something is deemed controversial, people will trace the line directly to Universal's team. At least with IP mazes and zones, if someone gets offended by a certain element, the blame gets directed towards the copyright owner/original director/writer of whatever movie or TV show it's from. I'm not saying I don't want to see any more original mazes at HHN, but I'm genuinely concerned that this may impact how the creative team may try to execute future HHN attractions, as well as attempt to create more original mazes, and try playing it safe by relying on reusing tired-out IP's (e.g. The Purge, Titans of Terror, etc...).

I'd be willing to bet that with how much has been removed and complained about for Spirits and Demons, we'll never see it as an original maze. Original mazes in general are probably safe though, Holidays and Pandora have been getting great reviews.

 

[chris.g]

I have not heard a lot of good feedback from Pandora's so far, but Holidays is preforming very well.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Also, something interesting that I forgot to mention, the normal opening ceremony didn't happen last night, they just had all the actors run out from the backstage area instead.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Sorry for the double post, but early entry has changed significantly, which frankly I think the new schedule makes it even harder to get everything done in one night with GB and ST opening so close to each other, but still.

 

[HydraGen2299]

Just received word from one employee that there’s no opening scaramony tonight which is a bummer for me

 

[Horror Lover]

I hope the opening scareamony isn't the latest permanent casualty..

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

I hope the opening scareamony isn't the latest permanent casualty..

From what I've heard guests complained about being forced to wait while some of the upper lot was open for early entry, so we'll see what happens. I mean worst case scenario we could fight fire with fire and complain about its removal.

 

[The Storyteller]

I know I’m an outsider to this forum since I’m an Orlando gal, but I have been absolutely fascinated by the Spirits and Demons drama. I’m half Filipino, so obviously we have tons of history with horrific folklore. Every Asian culture is steeped with tons of inspiration for houses and zones, but seeing Spirits and Demons do everything wrong is just hilarious to me. Don’t get me wrong, some of the stuff in the zone that got taken away was a bit overkill, but the fact that they thought stuff like Fu Man Chu was a good idea blows my mind.

 

[DTH]

So this is what was meant by something sacred. Wow... no opening scaramony. I mean, I haven't watched it since maybe 2011 or 2012, but that's insane. Just change the dang scarezone, it's still pretty early in the run. Then they can even promote, "come back to HHN this season for an ALL-NEW SCAREZONE." I mean, that's a way to put a positive spin on it haha.

As for the early entry schedule, honestly I think they just change it every day. Nothing about it makes any sense. I don't even know if there is a plan with it or if they're just arbitrarily putting it together each morning. First day it was just ST, then it was just the Metro Sets + ST with GB opening at 6:30 while Creep was opened first, then it became literally almost everything. Now the times vary too. IMO, anything on the upper lot or tram garage should definitely not be open for Early Entry. If those are open, JUST OPEN THE PARK EARLIER. And the times should coincide for each maze in an area. So if GB is open, Creep and FMTW should open with it. Same for Klowns and ST. Just for some dang EQUILIBRIUM TO BALANCE OUT THIS MADNESSSSSS. Operations are such a mess this year, it's ridiculous.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I know I’m an outsider to this forum since I’m an Orlando gal, but I have been absolutely fascinated by the Spirits and Demons drama. I’m half Filipino, so obviously we have tons of history with horrific folklore. Every Asian culture is steeped with tons of inspiration for houses and zones, but seeing Spirits and Demons do everything wrong is just hilarious to me. Don’t get me wrong, some of the stuff in the zone that got taken away was a bit overkill, but the fact that they thought stuff like Fu Man Chu was a good idea blows my mind.

I'm confused. It seems like it was a good idea, but people were offended by it. Based off the description it sounded a lot like Tokyo's Tower of Terror.