Just a few comments from our two visits this past weekend:
1. My biggest surprise so far is Hatchet & Chains. When it was originally announced, I was like - what?? I didn't even remember the scene in SS2. Maybe that's a good thing because I went in not really expecting much. I ended up LOVING this house! The couple times we went through, the actors were really aggressive, and we got some decent scares. It's a FUN house.
2. El Artista was listed on my initial list as #1, and it still sits firmly at #1 for me. It is jaw-droppingly gorgeous with its huge detailed sets throughout the whole thing! I mean, I cannot even imagine the $$ they put into building this. There is so much to see which then generates into decent scares as you walk through looking up and down and around with your mouth hanging open ripe for even a mediocre scareactor to nail you. LOVE it!
3. Galkn is also in my top 3. I think it has the best scares of all the houses. It's also gorgeous and just really well done. I will be spending a lot of time there.
4. Another surprise was Jason. I was kind of meh about it because he's not my fave horror slasher (maybe because I think it's ridiculous how many movies they've made which just gets boring and tiresome after decades of the same crap). However, this house? This house impressed the hell out of me - especially the second half of it where you really have nowhere to go - you're going to get it from one or more of them - possibly at the same time. Excellent use of space for that tight, claustrophobic feeling followed by some very large, very aggressive scareactors. So, Jason is now my #4.
We got lucky and found a lull in the hours long wait times for FNAF - walked by and saw it at 75 minutes. We have express, so we jumped on it. I absolutely hated it. I mean, I understand they replicated the characters and the scenes perfectly - good on them, and good for those who love it. However, I hated the movie, so I guess they did it well enough that I hated the house. haha I'm glad to have knocked this off my list as a one and done. This is my 20th year in a row attending, and I've never missed a house, so I needed to hold my streak.
I didn't get Dolls at all. All four of us had the same response after leaving it - which was what the hell was that? Nobody wants to do it again, but maybe we'll give it one more shot during one of our next three visits.
I went thru WWE. I tried to go with an open mind as I know nothing about WWE (and don't care to). So, I was just going to absorb the scenes and hope for a scare. I'll give them credit - they managed to do a WWE house that an old broad like me didn't absolutely hate. Some of the guys in there were big - and the makeup/costumes were cool. I'm actually going to put this one somewhere in the middle for me. Never thought I'd say that.
Fallout was a book report. Zero scares, and even some of the scenic seemed a bit cheesy (looking at you giant curtain/screen). We've done that one twice, and unless we are bored with an empty queue line, I think we are done with that, too.
Grave of Flesh - I wanted to like this so much. I thought the effect at the beginning was cool when you first walk in, and you feel a drip of water hit you, so you look up to see where it came from and you notice you're IN the grave because you can see the top of another tombstone sticking out next to the hole you're in. However, after that, it was just downhill. No idea what the point is, and frankly, rather boring.
We thought we were going to get lucky and get through Terrifier with a lower wait time (75 minutes - but again we have express). As we walked toward the queue entrance, the wait time screen literally spun like a slot machine and jumped to 120 minutes in the span of 10 seconds. I was like NOPE. I'm not a gore person, and I don't really care for this franchise, but I have to see it at least once. Will wait for an opening next round.
The scarezones?? Oh my god! What a vast improvement! These are some of the best since HHN25! Cat Lady is my fave, for sure, but I really like them all! I finally feel like I can do what we used to do - which was to take some time and find a spot to sit and watch.. these are worth watching. The stilt walkers in Masquerade and in Origins are gorgeous! They are all just so much fun again!
The music is finally back to what it should - atomospheric, appropriate and immersive. It was the first thing I noticed walking in and was thrilled to find that it was like that all around the park. LOVE IT!
Looking forward to going again in two weeks!