Halloween Horror Nights 33 (UOR) - Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[Wesker69]

The pre-mixed crap is, well, crap. I can’t imagine they used to be any better than they are now.

Pre-mixed drinks WERE actually good back in the day & by that i mean 10-15years ago (same applies to Mardi Gras' "Voodoo Juice"). The pre-mix was quite tasty, but once we figured out what the recipe more or less was, we just went to Finnegan's (after acquiring the annual blinky cup) & had them make it (which resulted in a much stronger drink )

My daytime/nighttime cocktail:
Myers, Malibu, Captain, orange juice, pineapple juice, grenadine & Monster.

Anytime I'd walk into Finn's the bartenders would ask "Your usual sweetie?" depending on who made it made a difference in how strong it was lol

 

[daboswinney]

Did my annual trip to HHN this weekend. Been going since 27. Wanted to share my house rankings.

1. Insidious-the music and scares in this house were relentless.
2. Mostruos- Went through this house twice and got really good scares both times, especially the stilt scares.
3. Slaughter Sinema 2- Just a blast, like the first one
4. Uni Monsters- Had my best scare of the event in this house
5.Museum-I honestly really enjoyed the concept of this house and thought it was a good house
6. Ghostbusters- This house was just a really fun time
7. A Quiet Place- Good concept, just not the scariest. That first scare tho. Omg.
8. Major Sweets-Solid house
9.Goblin's Feast- Not scary, but cool sets
10. Triplets of terror- went through once, and it was agreed with my buddy that we did not like it and found it very repetative.

Overall, really great house showing this year. Already can't wait for HHN34!

 

[amar831]

Part 1

This is gonna be a long one: My full in-depth event review and rankings.

Opening Weekend + Premium Scream rankings

So I had my week 1 rankings set for some time, I prioritize scares in a house, but also take into account the ambiance, cohesion, storytelling etc. The way I ranked here essentially is, if I had one last chance to go through any of these houses, what am I going for. The ranking is solely based on my experience within the first week.Insidious

1. Quiet Place
2. Ghostbusters
3. Major Sweets
4. Goblins Feast
5. Universal Monsters
6. Slaughter Sinema
7. Triplets of Terror
8. Monstruos
9. Museum

Rapid Fire Rankings

For the days I attended last week, I essentially just made a rapid fire ranking as I was going through each house every night. If I had multiple runs of a house, I took the best run into account. Really interesting to see how things changed up from day to day, and really shows how good all of these houses are/can be. Except you Insidious, thou shall not be dethroned.

9/19/2024

1. Insidious
2. Major Sweets
3. Slaughter Sinema 2
4. Goblins Feast
5. Ghostbusters
6. Quiet Place
7. Museum - 2 runs - 1 cast change
8. Triplets
9. Monstruos
10. Monsters - cast change

9/20/2024

1. Insidious
2. Quiet Place
3. Ghostbuster
4. Goblins Feast - 2 runs
5. Slaughter Sinema
6. Major Sweets
7. Monstruos
8. Triplets
9. Museum
10. Monsters - 2 run's

9/21/2024

1. Insidious
2. Ghostbusters
3. Goblins Feast
4. Slaughter Sinema
5. Major Sweets
6. Quiet Place
7. Monstruos
8. Triplets
9. Museum
10. Monsters (Random thought- it’s just not locked in)

9/22/2024

1. Insidious
2. Goblins Feast - 4 runs
3. Quiet Place
4. Ghostbusters - 2 runs
5. Monstruous
6. Major Sweets - 2 runs
7. Slaughter Sinema
8. Museum
9. Monsters (Random thought - much better with timing)
10. Triplets

Overall event thoughts

-Food lines are absolute insanity opening weekend, much more manageable last weekend.
-Year after year, entertainment in the queues feels like an afterthought, glad to see the projections up near Monsters and Goblins, but it is dead silent in the lines for those soundstage houses. Glad they’ve added the projector back there now, but again it feels like an afterthought. I don’t know how difficult it would be to just even have the park loop playing back there or along the walkway back to the new tents etc., but theres almost no feeling of Halloween when you’re in most lines.
-Express lines are being handled MUCH better this year. Haven’t run into a situation where they let swarms of people in through regular and about 10 through express (looking at you Last of Us and Beetlejuice). I don’t mind waiting, but when you’re only putting three parties through every 1-2 minutes, somethings not right. Glad they’ve smoothed it out.
-Fanta Bar is the kind of corporate synergy im not a fan of. Loved the theming to conjuring the dark at the bar behind lombards, and peacock bar was a lot of fun but I’m not too sure about it moving forward. HHN bar might have been more of a hit if they had a better selection of drinks. Having food there helped it last year too.


Premium Scream Night

-I’d do this a million times, though I fear it will not be the experience that it was this year. Word has to have gotten out that this was an HHN fans dream night at the event
-The first time I walked through central park at around 8PM, my jaw was practically on the floor, I was essentially alone walking through and it was just something that I have never experienced before. (This may also sound strange, but I took a picture of the inside of the Fallon Bathrooms, empty. Never have I been alone in that bathroom, I was shocked)
-Initially I was going to log the entrance and exit times for each queue/house throughout the nights to log the waits for each house, soon found it to be pointless. Essentially no waits, looped the park during the last hour and a half non stop just to get one last run of every single house, I was exhausted but so elated.
-Staggered entry got off to a little bit of a strange start at Ghostbusters. They were sending in 1 party at a time. A little bit of a line built up (naturally at the beginning of the event only) and then they decided to start sending in multiple parties at a time. I could see where the TM demeanor changed as if it were like a supervisor directive, and they were not happy about it, but my party walked in to the facade, stopped and waited for the party in front of us to move through the next room and then started our run. No TM ever made us feel rushed, and it was amazing going through these houses alone. Towards the end of the night, even my party was splitting up to have full solo runs of the houses.
-TM demeanor was through the roof. Every interaction was filled with joy and excitement. You could tell they had a genuine happiness that this event was happening for us fans, and we’d even be in line talking about how much fun we were having and how great it was and TMs would just pop up and have a conversation with us about how great it was.
-Some food lines were pretty long- walking taco- but for the most part it was great to just walk up and grab some food. Desserts across the board did seem to run out pretty early on.


Food

Definitely hit or miss with some items, but I’ll go booth by booth with everything I tried and give my thoughts

General

-Twisted taters were good as always, both the garlic parm and sour cream and chives were great. Perfect walking food.
-Pizza fries, always solid, can’t go wrong.

Quiet Place

-Corn Chowder had a good taste, but when I got it it was like the chowder was hot, but the shrimp may have still been frozen. The shrimp was still a little cold on the inside and soup was lukewarm at best while eating it. Wouldn’t spend the money on it again but it was fine.
-Baked beans were delicious, the cornbread was the perfect pairing for the beans and mashed potato, really enjoyed it.

Ghostbusters

-Slimers Korean Corn dog was delicious. I heard a lot of people very iffy because there was something blue/green inside, but look up sage derby cheese y’all, its green. Would definitely get again, another great walking food choice.

Insidious

-The Red Door was ok. Definitely needed a bit more flavor, but a pretty decent option for vegans (I’m not vegan myself just open to trying new things, and this I had a premium scream so it was free)

Monsters

-In The Fog fish and chips were amazing. I love fish and chips and these were some of the best I’ve had, love them from finnegans too. Wouldn’t spend the money on them personally at the event, had this during premium scream.
-The Bride’s Cake was very delicious. Nice and moist on the inside, possibly my favorite dessert at the event. Could be biased slightly since this was my birthday cake on opening night, my Mom had it ready with a candle right at midnight, sitting privately behind Richters, and I had my friends on facetime so it was a pretty great moment to ring in my birthday at HHN for the first time ever. Core Memory.

Slaughter Sinema

-Ropa Vieja walking taco was surprisingly good. Had this last weekend and it seems like the issues I heard previously (chunks of meat instead of ropa vieja, not enough meat) were resolved. Good balance of ingredients and flavors. Wasn’t sure how i’d like it with dorito’s since frito’s are my favorite chip and last years was so good, but I was pleasantly surprised
-Rocks from Hell - Yes - Always yes - Once a night. I do not like spicy food, so I was nervous about these, but it is very light. The taste and texture of these are great, just little crunchy gooey cheeseballs. I couldn’t get enough. 10/10

Monstruos

-The Heart Beet Tostada is the most delicious vegan food option I’ve personally had at the parks. Refreshing, light, and perfect for a hot day. Really wanted to have this again, just ran out of time and space
-Spinal Column Pinchos were really juicy and delicious. The sauce on them was great definitely something I would not mind having again. Perfectly cooked.
-Chocolate Tres Leches was good, but I don’t know if I personally would have called the piece I got a tres leches. The cake itself was pretty dry, and I’m used to it essentially being a soaking wet sponge. Taste was good, so as a cake I enjoyed it. As a tres leches it misses the mark.

Triplets of Terror

-Say Cheeseburger was quite delicious. Cheesy, greasy, and really hits the spot after a few adult beverages. A little pricey for the size, but one of the best cheeseburgers I’ve had in a theme park.
-Bloody Goody bag has me on the fence. On premium scream night, it was fantastic, with nice chunks of fried chicken, and the peppers and sauce really brought it all together with the fries for an explosion of flavor. After that though, the next one I got essentially just had fried chicken skin I think and nearly not enough sauce, they also ran out of peppers. Was not a fan the second time and I will not risk the money with even a possibility of that chicken skin being on the plate again. Big drop.

 

[amar831]

Part 2 (only double posting due to length)

House Reviews (not my final ranking order though)

1. Insidious - Relentless with scares and so absolutely creepy. The cast in here is doing such a fantastic and CONSISTENT job of trying to target absolutely everyone. Really great house, one of my all time favorites. I now have PTSD from red curtains, it’s great. The brides in black are doing a fantastic job too, personal space has to be afraid of them.
2. Quiet Place - Really enjoyed the premise here, and going through on premium night was A+, these monsters are everywhere and it was such a good use of animatronics. Got a little bit more inconsistent especially last weekend, but sometimes thats the nature of a conga line. Still a very good and beautiful house. That opening into the title card is top notch.
3. Ghostbusters - I did not have high hopes for this house after 2019, but I don’t like setting expectations, good or bad, before I go to the house. To my surprise, an actual scary Ghostbusters house is possible. Garraka in the frozen room somehow always knew I was coming, ready to send me to the floor at any given moment. The one at the exit was pretty relentless to. Containment room was a pretty vicious and aggressive room as well. Very good mixture of scenic, scares, and humor. Loved seeing the little stay pufts and the firehouse freezing is such a cool projection mapping effect. Bring back Acid Assault cowards!
4. Major Sweets - Give me the GATs! Felt like an oldschool disaster/jaws queue house. Really enjoyed this, super fun, some long ish triggers, but I really didnt anticipate just how gory and bloody this would be after hearing Triplets was the gore house. The music choices are hilarious, perfect juxtaposition to the horrors youre walking through. The taffy in the cieling was a great little effect. Smells pumping through as well. Really liked this and glad to see Major Sweets and Ms. Treats again.
5. Goblins Feast - No longer my number five but won’t be re-ranking until the season is over. So fun, so creative, whimsical and terrifying all at the same time. Super cool effects going on here with the Giant on the screens, and that trio of goblins in the middle are relentless with their ping pong scares. Fun and scary, loved the sets, and that last SA is hilarious “the food is escaping”. Really enjoyed this.
6. Universal Monsters - I had much better runs of this house during premium scream than at the rest of the event, some pretty good scares, and didn’t have awful runs like I did last weekend. I also had no idea Saskia died until I read it here. Complicated story that not even the podcast can help you understand. She-mummy and She-wolf kind of feel shoe-horned in, but If you just leave Draculas daughter and brides, its essentially the same cast as Bride Lives so I kind of get it. The timing was just miserable Thursday-Saturday of last week for me, and thats with multiple runs on some days. The scares on Sunday still were either in front of or behind me, but I could tell it was an improvement from the night before.
7. Slaughter Sinema - Might get a little heat, but another one I didn’t know how I would feel about since the OG Slaughter Sinema was my least favorite house that year. Never had a good run out of the 4 or 5 times I was able to do it. The cast is killing it here, and I love the variety of movies. Took some time to stand and watch the trailers and it just adds so much to the run, like knowing the character’s name in the zombie section. The chromadepth really elevates the Heavy Metal Hell section, but at the suggestion from someone else, decided to do a few full runs with them on. Doesn’t always add something, but doesn’t take away from anything. And the cast absolutely loved seeing them, the jesters and bro dude in Mardi Gras just started poking fun at me and my mom wearing the glasses one night, it was great. Really enjoyed it and definitely won’t have any doubts if they ever give us a number 3
8. Triplets of Terror - Gruesome, gory, aggressive, but somewhat telegraphed scares. I feel characters don’t have too many opportunities to get right in your face since theyre travelling so far from their booholes. The podcast element feels like its only there to show the plot that A&D set out to make, but it’s just one room and never mentioned again. You’re also not in that room for too long so you may not even really get the gist of it. Music in this house was great though, felt very Ho1C. Very short, and could have benefitted from a few more scenes in the sewer and maybe some conclusion audio from the podcast playing to wrap the story up.
9. Monstruos - Very inconsistent runs with this one. Felt a little low on actors some nights. The animatronic La Muerte at the end is so cheap, would have made such a big difference to have an actor there given how animated that character is throughout the rest of the house. The El Silbon section is by far my favorite. They come at you from so many different levels and always agressive. Whoever is manning that huge head puppet deserves an award because they are SO aggressive with it.
10. Museum - Kind of just a hodgepodge of stuff with no real direction. Would have liked less human/guard SAs and more exhibits come to life. The first 5-6 runs of this house, those wallpaper SAs just did not move or try to scare me and my group at all. Such a good scare in the weeknd house a few years ago, but just not effective here. Really enjoyed the big ship room, and did have some ok runs of the house, last weekend. Still not my favorite but to the cast’s credit there is some improvement.

Scarezones (Rank and Reviews)

1. Demon Queens - simple yet ambient, the casts are really playing on the surreal psychological horror with their scares and menacing looks. Costumes and makeup were great, and I just really enjoyed the vibe here. Walked out of this zone creeped out more times than I care to admit
2. Torture Faire - Fun zone, love the soundtrack and how it changes from the medievel to heavy metal every so often. The cast here is killing it, and really hamming it up. Very cool vibe and feels like such a big change from what we normally have here. Solid zone.
3. Swamp of the Undead - Dark, wet and atmospheric. What this zone lacks in space it makes up for in ambiance. The cast is really good at finding their hiding spots and catching you by surprise. Hard to see at times so I feel it could use some adjustments with the lighting.
4. Blumhouse - Photo op zone, but some character on the actual street are trying to go for the scares, sparse but present. Definitely could have had more specifically themed stages a la crypt TV and that would have changed this one for the better. Pretty bland, but serves it’s purpose.
5. Duality of Fear - I would like to hear the conversation around this zone where it was decided that they could just throw a curtain on either side of the trusses and say bam, scarezone 5. Disappointing to even be called a scarezone. Sinister and surreal are great for the combined hour that theyre up there though.

Honorable Mention

HHN Bar - Really enjoyed having an actual out of the way and not a scare zone photo op location. But my honorable mention goes to the trick or treater SA from Major Sweets. Consistently high energy, unhinged, and so much fun. Highlight of every trip with my mom was seeing them there, I’d like to hope they recognized us after the first few times because we were just always genuinely happy to see their enthusiasm. Great job to that actor.


Final Thoughts

-Can’t speak on Nightmare Fuel, but It was just never a priority to wait half an hour before the show starts and lose so much time of the event.
-Overall fun year with some solid houses and no true stinkers
-Scarezones need to be scarezones. A truss doesnt make something a scarezone especially when its the same truss thats been there for the past 3 years. What a disservice to these icons to call this the icon zone. At least they have Torture Faire and Demon Queens to act as their zones.
-Keep giving us icons, it’s fun. They’re not gonna be used in marketing at this point anyway.
-At the end of the day, it’s HHN, and I had a great time.

***Photos from premium scream night that really show how low the crowd level was. Fallon bathroom I had to take a picture of because I have NEVER been alone in there before.