Halloween Horror Nights 34 (UOR) - Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[Parkscope Joe]

My relationship to HHN has majorly shifted over the past few years. I'm not staying to 2am and marathoning houses, I'm taking more time and leaving early some days. Hell, this was the first year since 2014 I missed a house. But I know that this is a me thing, I've changed, and that event has largely remained the same quality since the late 2010s.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

My Full Final HHN 34 Review

Overall Thoughts
This year's tagline should be called HHN 34: The Redemption Year. I've been pretty disappointed in the event for the past 2 years as it started to feel corporate... forced synergy and bland. However, they certainly heard the feedback and returned with a stronger event. Even with the ridiculous crowds this year, the event manages to produce a fantastic product.

Houses

1. Terrifier - perfect blend of horror and comedy. This has to win HOTY, with the Art actors being absolutely fantastic. The set design is gross but wonderful. The overall reception to the house and character is likely to have him return sooner than later.
2. Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters - I love old western aesthetics. The actors are amazing and they continue to exceed expectations of what they can do inside the tents.
3. El Artista - absolutely gorgeous. The scale is fantastic and only appears to get bigger as you get through the house. My only gripe is that I wish they ran a few switchbacks of queue by the facade so we can see it a bit more.
4. Jason Universe - fantastic use of the space. The set design is ok, but the house is obviously elevated by its cast.
5. Galkn: Monsters of the North - An aesthetic the event hasn't done in the past, and it was done very well. There are a few actors here that really dive into their role. My only issue was that it was very bright in some spots that made it obvious you were in a tent.
6. WWE: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks - I don't know a single thing about WWE, so this house was quite the surprise. It was fantastic, and the cast was tremendous. It was also a long house with diverse sets with some unique scares/elements.
7. Dolls Let's Play Dead - perfect mix of cheesy and horror.
8. Five Nights at Freddy's - I'm not a fan of the franchise, but it was well executed for the event. However, similar to Fallout, I think this should be an experience "saved" for a Fanfest event. The animatronics (when working) were great, but the lack of scares threw me off.
9. Grave of Flesh - I will review the house in 2 halves. The first half from the facade and through the catacombs are amazing and executed well. However the house falls apart in the 2nd half with random scenes that ruin the experience overall. I would have placed this in Galkn's space, as Galkn could have used the taller space for a proper facade.
10. Fallout - as a HHN house it's ok. It improved over time, but to me this should have been reserved for the Fanfest events.

Combined HHN 33 & 34 house rankings to show how much an improvement this year was.

Spoiler: HHN 33 & 34 Combined Rankings

1. Insidious: The Further
2. Terrifier
3. Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters
4. El Artista
5. Jason Universe
6. Galkn
7. Goblin's Feast
8. WWE: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks
9. Ghostbusters Frozen Empire
10. Monstrous
11. Major Sweets Candy Factory
12. Dolls: Let's Play Dead
13. Universal Monsters Bloodlines
14. Slaughter Sinema 2
15. Five Night's at Freddy's
16. Grave of Flesh
17. A Quiet Place
18. Fallout
19. Triplets of Terror
20. The Museum: Deadly Exhibits

Scare Zones

1. Origins of Horror: I never would have imagined saying that the front scare zone would be my favorite. I understand the need for photo ops, so having actual sculpted props with the year's IPs was brilliant. I hope future zones follow this recipe (as well as tie to the overall theme/aesthetic).
2. Cat Lady of Crooked Lane: great decor and ambience. I don't care for cats, but the backstory and actors did a fantastic job. I'm also a sucker for the pumpkins.
3. Toxic Twenties: Fantastic use of the NY area, and it's an era HHN hasn't done properly until now (didn't enjoy Spirits of the Coven)
4. Masquerade: The actors were fantastic and made the zone work. There's a few actors here that somehow manage to dance for their entire set. It's fantastic.

Shows & Entertainment

1. Nightmare Fuel - Circus of Decay: The show, as always, is fantastic and thought it was better this year compared to last year. But it is starting to feel bland and I really hope we get a 2nd stage show next year that can provide a different type of experience.
2. Haunt-O-Phonic: I liked Ghoulish and does a fantastic job of using the new show system. My only issue with the show is that it felt out of place with this year's overall aesthetic/theme. Hoping the show here will tie to future event themes... and has more practical effects beyond water (fire, smaller pyro, etc.).
3. Mel's Drive-In Zombies: bring it back every year.
4. Club Horror: I wouldn't mind this coming back if it was given a proper Halloween-esque aesthetic that ties to the event in some capacity. Felt very out of place, but people love the concept. Give it Cat Lady's decor next year, and I'm fine with it. The only other change I'd make is the removal of the two dance platforms that clog up the space and playing more halloween-related music.

Other Topics

• Tribute Store had a great aesthetic, but they really need a bigger space elsewhere. It's a heck of a revenue driver for the event, so I'm surprised they didn't find a larger space for it.
• Food & Beverage - this year felt like they went back to basics with easier food to prepare and well-staffed booths. The Walking Taco/Ramen is probably my favorite item at the festival ever. The Twisted Tater Chips are not great (was never a fan of the classic ones), and charging $9 for it is absurd. The bottled drinks this year (PB&J Mixtape, etc.) were surprisingly amazing and my choice over the cocktails this year.

Looking Forward - separating this from the rest of the HHN 34 review as this is a forward-looking comment. HHN needs a capacity boost next year. I know I've mentioned this ad nauseum the last few years... but this year nearly broke the event. If it weren't for the soundstage hub/walkways, that corner of New York would have been an utter nightmare this year. The event needs an additional entertainment space and house. It was quite evident this year that the event is popular enough to justify more stuff to do.

Random Observations

• Pizza Fries are no longer popular, and I blame their location. If I were UOR, I'd move the Simpsons house queue (Hatchet) over by DreamWorks so you can at least generate some foot traffic there.
• Never had an issue with parking this year
• Seeing no significant discounts until the last week of the event is pretty amazing to see, especially after seeing heavy discounts as early as late September last year.
• Diagon Alley is packed
• Revenge of the Mummy was posting longer waits than 7/10 houses this year
• Watching HNF is still a mess with how they load the stadium (and how hot it can get inside when there's no wind)
• Friday's being the (somewhat) best night to attend in the week.
• Wait-Time accuracy-> tracked all my waits... and they typically were exaggerated by 20-40 minutes. Part of the issue is that they avoided lowering waits below 30 minutes to prevent DAS overrunning the houses (since they can just hop in line if the wait is 25 or less). WWE often was reported as a 25-35 min wait, but often times if it was posted 25 it was never more than 15-18 minutes. What was even weirder was that El Artista would consistently display a 55-min wait, and throughout the night will actually drop to no more than a 20-min actual wait-time. In understand there's a need to "curb" DAS abuse... but there's got to be a fairer way for all parties involved as many people I spoke to balked at the posted waits.

Attending since 2013,overall year rankings:

1. HHN 25
2. HHN 29
3. HHN 34
4. HHN 26
5. HHN 24
6. HHN 28
7. HHN 31
8. HHN 27
9. HHN 31
10. HHN 30
11. HHN 23
12. HHN 33

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Attending since 2013,overall year rankings:

1. HHN 25
2. HHN 29
3. HHN 34
4. HHN 26
5. HHN 24
6. HHN 28
7. HHN 31
8. HHN 27
9. HHN 31
10. HHN 30
11. HHN 23
12. HHN 33

I've been attending since 2016, and I've resigned myself to never seeing anything as good as HHN29 lol