I agree with Clive's very thorough and very good assessment wholeheartedly. As an additional data point, I typically attend HHNH first and this year I did not.
While I understood that we returned to the Van Helsing crypt in the HHNO version, I didn't understand why, and there's absolutely nothing to indicate why it happened other than vague, "Well, it's symbolic because she dies and it ends where it begins." This is not necessarily a bad choice in and of itself because it can be done in a way that works, but any house absolutely has to justify this decision. The audience is expecting a climax or big finish at the end of any house, and this simply didn't land because it's the exact same set, just with a body. If the crypt had been somehow been desecrated by the monsters, then sure, that works for me, but the way it played out? Nope. Plus that whole giant two story set in the middle? It was beautiful but completely empty every time I went through. There were just so many bizarre decisions in terms of space usage where the grander scope worked against the narrative, when they used claustrophobic sets to such great effect last year.
The irony is that when I attended HHNH later in the season, where their version of the house had very clearly experienced budget cuts, it was a much better storytelling experience. The stereotypical transitional black wallz of Hollywood had these beautifully illustrated woodcut drawings and a brief one line VO explaining what happened, and you would typically hear it at least twice as you moved through the transitions, which solves the issue of having to go through the house multiple times to hear what's going on. This includes an explanation of why you are in the crypt again, or that the Bride brings the body back to be with the rest of the family. Now, there's no question that you were being bludgeoned over the head with the story, but there's nothing wrong with a house or two doing that every year. Frankly, a bad scenic transition is arguably just as jarring, and, asking the audience to read a sentence during a transition or look at an explanatory picture especially if it's integrated well, shouldn't be an issue (that is a controversial take, no doubt).
I don't need to be spoonfed and I'm in no way against houses with deep storytelling and lore that reward repeat viewings, vague or mysterious plot points, or incongruous weirdness, but Orlando really missed the mark on this one in a way they usually don't, and it was pretty disappointing.