I don't want to harp on you personally Allen, so don't take it that way... but man, some people should really think about giving the event a try. I remember when I moved to LA, I was invited to HHN and I am still kicking myself for not going.
I was pushed into it solely due to the fact that I was working there, but I instantly fell in love the second I was introduced personally to the event. It's daunting from an outside perspective, but that's mostly due to what reputations other "haunt" events have... going EXTREME with their scares. In fact, on the way home at the airport a security guard noticed my HHN shirt and decried that it sucked because it's not "extreme" or "scary" and ugh... that misses the point of the event.
Halloween Horror Nights is first and foremost about taking the idea of horror and embellishing on recreating the grandeur of it. It is like a new themed area but it's especially incredible because it's TEMPORARY. The stuff at HHN in Orlando blew me away... what they can do with paint and lighting is mindblowing. And then you have the atmosphere and details of a house/maze to take in. Now, yes, there are jump scares, but if you display a confidence in your swagger and stay vigilant, you'll learn that you can bypass and take in most scares. I went to nine houses this past Sunday, and probably was actually "scared" five or six times during the entire thing. And man, that event had so many scareactors. You're going to end up getting distracted or have bad timing at least once or twice, but it's worth it because that aside the event is like a party complete with amazing themeing.
Now, Orlando's was better due to the anniversary nature and the originality of it all. Plus there were two shows, and in general I think with the way the community is, you feel a sense of comradery that USH doesn't seem to have anymore. No offense to Inside Universal itself, but I think we can all agree that in general the event has just become (overall) eye candy houses and some good scares, and that's it. It panders heavily to the LA demo that aren't a bunch of horror/theme park dorks. Still the event is worth trying at least ONCE.
If you don't like it, by all means I understand that it's not for you, and that's cool. But I think everybody should try it at least once. It really is not as bad as some think it might be.