Finally my review of HHN this year:
I did the always "good idea in hindsight" idea of driving up 4 hours and then driving back 4 hours afterward. The smartest thing I did was buy a Day/Night combo pass and went on a Thursday. Not only was I able to do everything, including Potter during the day, but I was able to leave USH at 10PM. Oh, and I didn't do any mazes after 9PM either. By far this is the best recommended way to do HHN at the moment if you only have one night.
Backtracking, the Day/Night is strict. They line you up at the gate as essentially a secondary open for the day. Hilariously enough, the day crowds were so dismal that the manager said, "screw it" and decided to open 5 minutes early. Except that their scanners were dead set to 2PM. The manager then manually overrode the system for four groups and let them through, but didn't want to repeat the process as we watched them frolic off into the park. This became even more ludicrious when the TMs realized they had no idea what the scanners deemed as 2PM, and went about to scan everybody's tickets over and over until they finally let them go through. I asked the TM in front of me as he repeatedly scanned my phone ticket, "You guys can't override the system overall?" He just shrugged, "No. Only one at a time." I joked back, "So the machines rule you guys, huh?" He blankly stared and nodded. If that isn't pure operational humilation then I don't know what is.
Once inside, I noticed that the crowds did a sharp left before reaching Universal Plaza Tower. Instead of rounding to Potter, they all flocked to TWDA. As TWDA had yet to open until just that moment, day guests were already impatiently lining up, creating a 30 min line. Foolishly I headed into it, and eventually operations started piling the line in to add more guests to a rapidly congested (and elongating) queue. Quickly we were inside and I wrote a quick write-up in the TWDA thread. Needless to say once HHN occurred, I had zero desire to go in again even at a 5 min wait. However I did notice the wait dropped off a ton during HHN, so if you've already done it I would recommend waiting until the actual event begins.
Around 5PM, people started waiting in line for Exorcist and I joined them. Despite promising a 5:15 start, the maze opened up at 5:20ish and it took me another 10 minutes despite only being 30 people deep. This along with AHS had the longest waits all evening so I'm glad I got it out of the way. From here I'm going to go from worst to best, excluding TWDA because to be fair I did not do it during the event. Also note that we only waited 25 minutes for Texas Chainsaw and practially nothing for the rest. This is why day/night and Early Entry rules.
7. American Horror Story: So this speaks to how strong this lineup was. Overall, AHS is a very well-built maze that has some unique ideas in doing three "mini" mazes. However I do not watch the show so literally all of it was incomprehensible to me. Aside from the start of Freak Show (which was stylistically very well done), my mind could barely keep up with anything I saw. I'm sure fans of the show will love this but it felt like visual gibberish to me. Well-made, but confusing. 6/10
6. Terror Tram: While TT is still overall a poor idea, I liked the switch-up this year. The pre-vid was humorous and nicely self-aware, building upon the actual location for once and the way they did up the route with what now feels like going into a crazy carnival, embracing the pure mayhem is a sorely-needed change of pace. The problem this time is that it's now really short and makes the ride back feel ever so more tedious. Hollywood Harry is a fun character and I wouldn't mind him getting his own house. 7/10
5. Freddy vs Jason: this is far better than the disappointing Orlando version last year, and seems to have more fun with the idea. The facade is killer along with the faux smoke blowing out the top, and I really love the creativity of some of the scenes such as Freddy's eyes in the windows and the slug eating Jason as a kid. I even liked their inventive way of dealing with black hallways using the spinning lights, creating that surreal dream atmosphere. There are a few "outdoor" scenes that seemed to falter from light bleeding but it wasn't too bad. Sadly, like Orlando's, the final "random" end scene is dumb. Still, this is a pretty top notch maze. 8/10
4. Exorcist: This maze wins points purely based on ambition and uniqueness. While the facade leaves a lot to be desired IMO, the forced perspective doesn't come close to working thanks to the massive Mummy show building adjacent to it and operations just left all their crap out which made it feel cheaper:
However, I liked the idea of staging a maze as an elaborate magic show. Everytime you enter the bedroom, it's "how do they do that?" awe-inspiring. There are the "boo!" transitions based on the trailer (who got the girl in front of me literally every chance they got), and it feels more natural than you would think even if it's a bit repetitive. Still, it's different and interesting which makes me give it higher praise than some others will. I wouldn't mind if they did this but not as a maze. Can you imagine having two or three "rooms" much like Ollivanders and have you walk in to see a show utlizing the same special effects? That would be awesome if they could properly transition them. For now, this is a pretty neat one that I urge most to see merely because it's something HHN hasn't done before, and I'm not sure if they will again. 8/10
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: this maze may have benefitted from going in it during actual night, without light bleed. The use of the Waterworld queue creates a more foreboding atmosphere, and I love the lighting package they've done with it as strange as it is at points. Once inside, the maze repeats a process much like Krampus does where you feel like you're naturally going through this house. It's not as terrifying as 2012, and the smells are less as well, but it's a well-done, atmospherically eerie maze. It also helped to have listened to the Midsummer Scream panel where Murdy and Williams talk about all the details that went into making it (like Leatherface's bedroom), but overall it just feels like a natural follow-up to the 2012 maze, and I couldn't have asked for more. 9/10
2. Halloween II: this is a maze where the daytime light bleed was the only thing that bothered me. It's a fantastic recreation, and pitch perfect with the details. Again, like TCM and Krampus, the first portion makes you feel like you're really going into a house, especially with the TVs on. Once you get into the hospital, the scene-by-scene beats are dead-on and wonderfully claustrophobic (while maintaining the size and scope of the room) all the way until the terrifiyingly massive pumpkin scene that seems to be somewhat crafted a little after Halloween III. It's a bizarre yet eerie sendoff that leads you askew. All that matters is that it's awesome. This is a maze I regret not doing a second time and while it's a triumph for HHN, there's one that does everything on a level that I may appreciate a little more. 10/10
1. Krampus: on some level, I wish this maze were elsewhere. Maybe located somewhere a little more remote, surrounded by faux snow in suburbia. And I would go to it, travel whatever distance. This is not only the best maze in the event, but one of the best mazes I've ever experienced. The facade is awesome, creating a preshow that makes you almost sad that you have to be pushed inside. Immediately you feel like you're waltzing around this house, trapped in by Krampus. And boy, is it FUN. From the macabre, ironic setting (Haunted Mansion Holiday taken to its logical extreme) to the winning details such as the gingerbread scene, to the manic puppetry and special effects, to the blissful smells, I wonder why The Walking Dead is permanent and not this. I walked back a second time all the way to the Metro sets just to experience this maze again, for a third time. Inexplicably it got the lowest wait times of the entire event, always a walk-on. But you can tell everybody who went through it had a blast (speaking of blast, the outdoor snowman scene could use the cold chill blast for extra effect)... I can't imagine how Orlando will improve upon it but I guess we'll see! 10/10
Loose ends:
-Although the strobe light tunnel to Metro was irritating, the Purge fit nicely for this year's event. I even really liked the Gauntlet of Fear, which felt like possibly a strong contender for an experience to take over the usual Terror Tram one, which it felt like.
-Did not see Jabbawockeez, but I heard good things and it helps with swallowing people up.
-Jurassic Park is still hysterical. It's rough (man that jeep will just never work) but I can't get enough of Guns N Roses in the final scene. It's so wonderfully absurd.
-The strong lineup lead to a good smattering of merch, but it feels like overall theme is all over the place. I wish they could conslidate a little more much like Orlando's.
-Love the Treehouse of Horror music at Simpsons. Also noticed Krustyland's chaser lights were tinted green... it made me hopeful that Uni will finally throw money at the THOH redo of Simpsons that the producers have long wanted to do.
-Potter is lovely at night even when closed, and surprisingly nobody seemed to mind because those who wanted to do it came in during Day/Night
The only unfortunate thing about Early Entry is light bleeds, but it helps let you get everything out of the way so that you have plenty of time to decide what to wait for in case you want to repeat things. It's almost insane how quickly you can get things done, but it's always important to be there early and prepare for a lot of walking with no breaks. I was lucky to go without the major crowds, but I can't stress enough how there's only a few ways to do HHN this year and see everything.
I can say that this event is extremely strong, and the only cherry on top worthy for me would be Bill and Ted, but I know that's out of the question. The lineup is strong, and the mazes are almost all top tier and engaging. It's exciting and while less rides are open, you don't seem to notice it. Once they get Potter open in coming years, I'm interested to see if they keep their game as strong to compete with it.