Touchdown’s 13 Nights of Halloween 2024

Introduction

Greetings Foolish Mortals and welcome to my, with a few exceptions, absolute favorite time to visit parks. The summer heat is gone, we get a lot more opportunities to do night rides (thanks to later hours and earlier sunsets) and you get all the added seasonal entertainment with houses, scare zones and shows. This year thanks to having to work extra this past spring I had the time and money to do additional more trips then I’ve ever done. In the next month and a half I will visit 6 different park’s Halloween events. How I get to 13 nights is how many nights I’ll be attending each of them (I repeat some):
-Cedar Point Halloweekends (3)
-Universal Orlando HHN (5)
-MK Not So Scary (1)
-Universal Hollywood HHN (1)
-DCA Oogie Boogie Bash (2)
-Knotts Scary Farm Halloween Haunt (1)

In addition I’ll be spending the day of the events at all these parks during normal ops (except MK, but I will be “rope dropping” the party at 4pm) as well as 3 additional non HHN days at Universal Orlando and 4 non OBB days at DLR. Ok enough with the introduction, it’s time to break out the black t-shirts, blast some heavy metal/horror movie main themes/dark musical soundtracks and Halloween Pop Classics and hit the spooky shores of Lake Erie:

Part 1 Cedar Point Halloweekends Thur Sep 19-Sat Sept 21

This park was my first haunted event ever as a sophomore in college after spending my entire childhood never having seen a horror movie. I loved going through the haunted houses (should have known with the Haunted Mansion being one of my favorite Disney rides) and became hooked. From that trip on I started focusing on doing more haunted events. So needless to say, this event holds a special place in my heart and I try to go every year. I missed out last year so this was my first trip in two years. Ok here we go:

Thursday: If you can swing it, I highly, highly recommend getting to CP on a Thursday during Halloweekends. I also got a perfect weather day with no clouds, no wind (meaning fog lingered) and temps in the 70s. I also stayed at Breakers and love how they decorate for Halloween. All the old timey black and white photos of people on the beach are replaced with old timey kids in creepy masks. Besides the skeletons riding the carousel horses and creepy carousel clown carvings they also replace the pictures on the second floor from CP coasters to shots of rotting and abandoned amusement park rides Inside the lobby Everything is under 30 min wait, and if you wait until after 11pm you can go through scare zones by yourself. I did this with Blood on the Bayou this year. It was amazing, however be aware limited rides and no shows occur on Thursday, it’s just the headliners, scare zones and haunts. Also something was wrong with Steel Vengence Boom trucks were up around the lift fly by. I lost track of how much I accomplished but boy was it fun.

Friday:
Another beautiful day, started off sunny but became overcast in the afternoon and there was a wind that dispersed the fog. Crowds were still light through twilight when things definitely picked up but the lines for the coasters stayed short as everyone was here for the Halloween stuff. Sadly Maverick went down right at dusk and never reopened. Steel Vengeance also remained down all day. Magnum however, was running three train ops and the crew was hustling despite being a walk on.

Saturday: Perfect weather on Saturday means only one thing, gigantic crowds. The wait for the train on the Main Midway stretched out of the station and down the midway, it appeared to be long enough to require three trains to load (thankfully I boarded in Frontiertown.). I believe some of the crowding issues comes down to poor park decisions. None of the adult shows ran during the afternoon and the indoor haunts opened at 6:00pm. It really makes you rush (and need fright lane) to try and pack in seeing all the seasonal stuff. It’s understandable on Friday but not Saturday. I’m old enough to remember when indoor haunts opened at 2pm and Halloween shows started about the same time too. With the haunt actors now having to work 4 days I can understand why they have to open the houses later but there is no reason why the shows can’t run all day if they aren’t going to run on Thursday. Steel Vengence did manage to open late Saturday afternoon. Maverick again went down early for the night. Ok now on to the specific reviews:

Coasters:

You’ll have to forgive me but, seeing as this is probably the most reviewed park and virtually everyone reading this has been to this park a million billion times I’m going to skip it, the CP coasters were their normal excellent selves. I’m not sure if I’ll review the coasters in detail for the other parks yet (I’m leaning towards no as most of these parks are old hat for me and focusing on the Halloween stuff but we’ll see) anyways on to the spooky offerings:

Scare Zones (ranked from best to least best)

This is the reason you come to Halloweekends and this is by far their best offering. It continues to be.

Frontier Trail Zone (5 stars): I’m not sure why CP stopped giving this zone a name but it continues to be the best. This zone has the most sliders, all the trees and the talking skull. I don’t mind grabbing a seat and watching the mayhem. This zone is Halloweekends to me. I miss when there was more monsters back here but you can tell the top talent still gets assigned here. Also most of the No Boos tend to avoid the area based on its reputation.

Blood on Bayou (5 stars): aka the MF island/how much longer do I need to walk zone. They changed it up from the last time I was here and put a few scare actors along the first part of the path. I think it’s wasting talent keep them all along the area they normally use. It’s still a great zone, especially when going through it alone. I just wish, with the boats dry docked, that they would bring back the floating bridge to access the island quicker. There’s a guy in a gilly suit now and he’s amazing and you never see him coming.

Cut Throat Cove (4.5 stars): The crew is still great, I’m happy to see quite a few crew members have gotten Davy Jones disease (aka squid face) and bungie Pirate is always great, but for some reason the cannon has been silenced this year and it is sorely missed.

Tombstone Territory (3 stars) Frontier Town is just not a great place for a scare zone, it’s too open has too many shops (light creep) and fog never seems to linger here. The cowboys are no longer dead this year, they now are under the influence of a potion making them mad. They try really hard and that’s what earns them 2 stars above where this zone normally is but I say concentrate the talent more in the zones that work better.

Clownz (2 stars): If Frontier Town is bad this is just, the worst, all the normal lights are on on the Gemini midway and there is no where to lurk. They don’t even bother with fog. Also the ICP/KISS reject look is too monochromatic and gets dull. I wish they would put the zone in Camp Snoopy again and come up with a better theme. This was also the zone most infested with those horrible no Boo Necklaces.

Haunted Houses (again best to worst)

Cornstalkers 2.0 (5 stars): I know I said the Frontier Trail Scare Zone is the signatures experience and I stand by it, but this “house” is just behind it. I was fortunate to have two windless nights this year that allowed the fog to linger and I lead the way most of my runs. I love classic Halloween iconography and a haunted corn field is just pitch perfect in every way. Bonus points for being in the raft ride chute, also they have lengthened the maze since my last visit instead of two split the path moments, you get an extended switchback which is just great. I wish more parks did mazes in raft ride chutes it really adds to the claustrophobia. If you come, don’t miss this maze.

Midnight (3.5 stars): My only new maze this year it’s the home of the park icon Mr. Midnight and is a house full of phobias. This maze, if I hadn’t done its previous house Hexed would be 4 stars but since it reuses a lot of scenes (at least a third of the house) from that house so it loses a star for lack of originality, however it gets a half star back for having a spinning tunnel (which is a welcome return after years of being missing.)

Freak Show (3 stars): This has to be the oldest house in the park, interestingly they flipped the traffic and the entrance is now the exit. It does freshen things up, but what’s better is they added a trio of monkeys to the end which really makes a good finale. That said, it’s time for a change.

The Haunting of Eerie Estates (3 stars): This used to be my favorite house here because the details in this literal haunted house are spectacular but a few years ago they “downgraded” it by adding a ghost
hunter subplot that took away a lot of the more creative costumes (Mr Moneybags) and replaced them with ghost hunters. The bones are still good and there is a bunch of stuff to look at but I wish they would refresh this house again.

Blood Bath (2.5 stars): Stop if you’ve heard the concept before, horny vampire night club. Not my favorite, however, I do appreciate the hand fan snap scares and the transition to a hotel in the second half. It’s just the vampire night club thing has been done to death. Why did they go with club blood 2 over repeating a more original concept (Happy Jack should return!)

Slaughterhouse (2 stars): Gore doesn’t scare me, so this house is already losing points with me. Sadly it also lost its sausage extruder room post Covid that was such a cool transition from the pork/cow side to the human meat side. They also significantly toned down the cannibal aspect with only body bags as a call back which just makes this house more bland. On the plus side, actors in that second half now wear prosthetics that make them appear to have attached a pig snout and lower half of their face to their own which is a nice scary look.

Shows (ranked best to good)

Other than the timing being limiting, I think the shows have actually had a major upgrade this year and think it’s probably the strongest lineup the park has had, despite losing Midnight Syndicate. Bravo to this

Wake The Dead (A Murder Mystery Musical) (5 stars): I was so happy to see this show was still running, as I saw it 2 years ago and loved it. You are invited to the wake and will reading of Frederick Earl Anderson Rochester, 4 of his closest friends and family have been invited to the event, the wife, the son, the mistress and the brother. Each will sing their motive and we the audience will chose who murdered him and who gets to claim their eternal reward. This show manages to use songs by Oingo Boingo, the Cell Block Tango from Chicago, Tainted Love, Britney Spears, Meatloaf and even the Buffy the Vampire Musical episode. I love it. It also has 4 different endings making it highly repeatable. This is also the most popular show in the park and you need to line up for it at least 30 min prior to showtime to get a seat. They probably need to move this show to the Jack Aldrich (which is dark) to let more people see it.

Fangs After Dusk (5 stars): This is the Red Garter Rock show, featuring a 4 piece band and four singer/dancers. It’s the best version of this show I’ve seen in some time. The final set of Wanted Dead or Alive, Crazy Train (complete with added Halloween theme sprinkled into the opening instrumental section,) Come on Feel the Noise, and ending with Highway to Hell seriously kicks. Saw it multiple times, which is a rarity for me (usually once is enough.)

Nightmare’s Curse (4 stars): Located at Celebration Plaza this is the circus show. It starts and ends with some acts I have never seen (a pyromancer who takes this metal ball the size of a softball entirely on fire and twists it around his arms and chest, and an aerialist who is suspended by her hair) and also contains more typical (but good) acts (a aerialist curtain tumbler and guy who balances on a series of cylinders and blocks) all tied together by Mr. Midnight spouting deliciously campy things live. Well worth a watch

Opening Scarimonies (3 stars): This was the one show that absolutely should have happened on Thursday night, at 7pm Mr. Midnight arrives at Celebration Plaza to usher in the night and release the hoard of screamsters to their scare zones. A great way to start your night.

The Shrieks (did not see): A female rock band that plays on celebration stage, was never in the area for it

Skeleton Crew (did not see): This is the trampoline act that’s a Halloweekend main stay now located in front of the Giant Wheel. It’s so far removed from most of the haunt stuff that it makes it hard to see, it’s also not scary in the slightest and should have afternoon shows.

All and all a great year, the haunted houses however could really use a refresh, a lot of them are getting stale. If you haven’t been, you should check it out. CP Halloweekends may not be Knotts or HHN but it competes quite well with other parks in that next tier (KI, Busch Gardens, etc.)

Part 2: 10/1-10/9 Florida Hallowpalooza HHN and MNSHP

While Halloweekends may have been my gateway to spooky parks, Universal Orlando was soon my white whale after seeing the old Discovery Channel special on it and reading trip reports. HHN is both the pinnacle of haunted amusement parks and also an incredibly different animal than any other park. My first HHN was HHN 25 back in 2015 and I haven’t missed a year since (thanks to creative Annual Pass buying, or just leaving a WDW trip for a night to go to it.) I would argue that HHN is as different an experience to regional park events as is comparing a day at a Cedar Flags park to going to Disney World. On one hand it’s a higher class experience with amazing theming and over the top experiences, but it’s also much more crowded, more cooperate/less spontaneous and in order to have a really good time you really need to buy Express which makes it much more expensive.

While this is changing this year, this event for years was the only event where you had big horror IP houses. Thanks to this event I have walked down Elm Street, through Haddonfield, visited Camp Crystal Lake, gone into the Further, visited the Upside Down, checked into the Overlook Hotel, come face to face with with the classic Universal Monsters, gone to the Netherworld, experienced cats and dogs living together, and been to countless other amazing houses based on horror movies. This event turned me into a horror movie fan as after my first year I learned I needed to watch any movie HHN was featuring that year in order to fully enjoy that house. My favorite IP houses ever was Poltergeist, followed very closely by Stranger Things Season 1 (which occurred in the same year.). That said, my top house (Jack presents 25 years of Mayhem and Monsters) and rest of my top 5 (Wicked Growth, Scarecrow:The Reaping) come from original houses which as a whole are usually better quality. This event now hosts 10 haunted houses, and everyone of them is constructed with elaborate sets that at worse are of the same quality as other parks signature house and more frequently meet Hollywood Movie standards. If you’ve never been it’s hard to explain just know you got to experience it.

That said, this event does have it’s drawbacks, it’s incredibly crowded even with separate admission from normal park hours waits for the popular houses will exceed 60 min most nights, and you need to show up incredibly early to take advantage of stay and screen and have a airtight plan to get everything done in one night or purchase express (or if you’re crazy like me, do both so you can double up on half the houses.) There is no pulsing guests through the houses either, it’s a constant conga line. You will also quickly realize that scare actors here do not improv or speak for the most part, they have an audio cue and do one scare everytime, it’s for the most part extremely creative and innovative (the wire work, stilts, staging, makeup and costuming are incredibly creative) but for better or worse it comes off as highly polished and professional. Just as I can’t imagine missing this event, I would feel unfulfilled if this was the only Halloween event I did as this event does sacrifice spontaneity for the sake of efficiency. That said most years I’m down here for a week and do 5 nights of HHN, so I really love the event. Before I get to my specific HHN 33 review though let’s take a step back and talk about Universal in general.

Hotel: Hard Rock Hotel. Ever since as a kid I experienced my first stay at Universal’s premier hotels (Portifino, Royal Pacific and Hard Rock) I can’t imagine visiting any other way because these three hotels grant you Unlimited Universal Express for the length of your stay. Being able to just waltz into two of the most visited parks in the world and not have to care about lines is near priceless, but it’s a heck of a lot more then what they charge for these rooms. You will pay approximately 30-40% less (40-50% less with a AP rate like I snagged this year) then a Disney Deluxe Hotel, and that’s not even taking into account the hotels themselves. These hotels are all run by Lowes and have a level of service and comfort comparable to high end Marriott and Hilton hotels (not JW or Waldorf/Conrad.). Each hotel has boat service to City Walk, is walking distance if you don’t want to wait, and has an amazing pool. Up to a week ago I was set to stay at Portifino Bay for the first time but when I did my last check of the website 2 days before my cancellation window closed I happened to secure an AP rate for a pool view at Hard Rock and save $500. I jumped on it because of the three Hard Rock is my favorite, I love the California Mission Style/Rock and Roll theme and vibe and it’s also the closest hotel to the parks (which is especially important on my HHN trip.) Nothing against the other two, I generally book the cheapest room of the three, but I prefer to Rock out.

Parks:

Islands of Adventure: 5 stars. This is the park you come to Universal for, outside of Disneyland and Magic Kingdom (though that one may be nostalgia but I’ll allow it as it still has more attractions currently) it’s probably the best theme park in the country. Its Achilles heel is that it lacks quanity in particular entertainment (unless it’s Christmas.). But what it has is amazing, in particular its two most recent coasters.

Since I’m not sure enough ink has been spilled over them I feel the need to highlight them, first off Veliciocoaster, this is currently my favorite Intamin Blitz coaster and the most recent coaster to join my top ten. After a pitch perfect themed queue that sets you up for your adventure you advance into the paddock for for first launch, you get a snappy set of turns hills and inversions that reminds me a lot of Maverick’s first half, except more hills. You’ll zoom by Raptor statues that will roar as you go by, but then you dive below ground for launch number 2 to 70 mph and it’s at this point that the coaster takes its gloves off and goes insane. You’ll zoom into the top hat then get nearly forcibly ejected at the top as you snap down, next up is the extended inverted stall over the path (ejection moment #2) followed by a 90 degree fan hill, followed by a airtime hill (ejection #3) before diving to the lagoon executing a bunny hill at high velocity (ejection #4) before executing the most insane move of all, the “mosseasaurus” (heart line) roll (ejection #5) skimming the surface of the lagoon before climbing, getting one last pop of air on a double up and hitting the breaks. I don’t hold onto restraints on most steel roller coasters, especially ones with lap bars, but I always hold on during this ride. Every coaster enthusiast needs to come once and ride this ride, it’s that good. Also the ops on that thing is a thing of beauty. I believe 5 trains can run on this thing and they usually do a good job of not stacking more the one. The line flies. Come ride this beast, you won’t be disappointed.

Now onto the park headliner for GP, Hagrids Magical Motorbike Adventure. Veliciocoaster is the better roller coaster but this thing is the better attraction. In fact I’ll go out on a limb and say that it seriously vies for the best themed attraction in the US with the likes of Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain (RIP) and Radiator Springs Racers. The coaster is not as intense as Veliciocoaster but it still has 5 launches, is populated with animatronics, does some surprises I will not spoil and just takes you on an adventure. I think it’s impossible to not leave that ride with a giant smile. The motorcycle seat is super cool too and makes you feel more exposed. I can’t wait to see what this ride looks like in 10 years when all the trees grow in too. This ride is so good it gets me up for early entry on nights after I do HHN (it doesn’t have express.). This is a must ride as well.

Besides that you have a rare B&M launch coaster, two of the best thrill dark rides in existence in Spider-Man and Forbidden Journey, a trio of water rides that are some of the best of their type ever built in Popeyes Bilge Raft Barge (raft ride) Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls (log flume) and Jurassic Park River Adventure (Chute the Chute.). Even though two of them get you drenched I will ride so long as it’s warm enough (although as I get older it gets harder and harder to get out of Dudley Do Right.) To round it off you have Kong which is fun and has an animatronic at the end that is amazing, Cat in the Hat a fun but dated dark rides, a S&S space shot, teacups, a few kid areas, an elevated train, a Verkoma Roller Skater, a Dumbo clone and immersive themed areas to walk through. Not to mention the Hogwarts Express to the Studios if you have a park to park ticket. If you’ve always been a coasters only guy, and not sure if theme parks are for you this is the park to go to, Hulk, Veliciocoaster and Hagrids are worth the credits, and if the rest of the park isn’t your speed then theme parks are just not for you.

Universal Studios Florida (4 stars): This park is in the middle of an identity crisis, unlike Disney, Universal does not use nostalgia as heavily and can and does axe beloved attractions that get too long in the tooth. Thanks to that, this park, despite being less then 40 years old, has only one remaining opening day attraction (ET Adventure) and 3 shows (Blues Brothers, Horror Makeup Show, Animal Actors.) The issue is they went and infested this park with a lot of simulators in the 2000s and 2010s and most of them are aging, rapidly. Because of that this park has some similar issues modern Epcot is dealing with, you have a handful of great rides, some good shows, and a lot of ok to bad rides that show their age. Also like Epcot, Universal has made this park its festival park to compensate. I think it’s still a fun park, it’s just you see a lot of the flaws when you compare it to its next door neighbor. I’m going to highlight what I consider to be the great rides on this side and mention the shows I think are worth seeing. So in order of most favorite to less so:

The Revenge of the Mummy (5 stars): Pay no attention to the red roller coaster you see at the enterance to the park, it sucks, can’t remember the last time I rode it, as of this report this coaster in a box is the best coaster in this park. This is a Premier launching dark ride/coaster hybrid that is such a fun ride. The dark ride portion is appropriately spooky with some impressive pyro effects the coaster portion is snappy with some good pops of air and strong laterals. I was so happy to see the park do a major refurb on this classic during the pandemic to get it back up to shape but more so because it signaled Universal has no plans of killing this great rides anytime soon. Every trip down here this is always my first ride on arrival day, and if the Studios close last or at the same time as IOA it’s my last on my last day.

Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringots (5 stars): This is also a dark ride/coaster hybrid but it’s much more tilted towards the dark ride component. This is the signature ride in Diagon Alley, the best themed land in any theme park I’ve been to, if you’ve seen the films you will be in awe of how much this land places you in that world. This ride, if you’ve seen know the story, takes place during the 7th book/8th film as you accidentally become an accessory to the trio’s heist of the cup of Hufflepuff. It opens with a rare coaster trick, has a central portion where the coaster cars move like Spider-man/Transformers and then ends with a launch. The more I ride both the more I think this is the better of the two Potter dark rides because this one actually has a story, but the biggest issue it has is that is far too short. It really needs an extended mine cart coaster section, and it doesn’t have it.

Men in Black: Alien Attack (5 stars): outside of the Mummy this is the only other ride I will marathon in the Studios. I also still maintain that this is the best shooting dark ride ever made, you fire at actual animatronics in a full 3D environment and your car can spin. That said, a lot of the animatronics don’t move, the ride manufacturer went bankrupt and MIB is a dead franchise. I know the writing is on the wall, most likely when Springfield becomes Kanto and the electric rat and his hundred of friends move in. I’ll mourn its passing but forgive them if they can deliver on a Pokemon Snap ride and a Pokemon Stadium stunt show.

ET Adventure (4 stars): As I said before, this is the only surviving opening day attraction at the park, and rumor is Stephen Spielberg has told Universal he will tear up his development contract if they do. This is a 90s flying dark ride to ET’s home planet. The first half where you race through the forest evading NASA and then taking flight is utterly charming, the second half is trippy. In the last 3 years I’ve noticed locals have become very attached to it and its popularity has really increased. I think it’s finally old enough to have gone from outdated to beloved classic

Transformers (4 stars): This ride is a technical tour de force where you join the autobots to save the world. It uses the same system as Spider-Man next door and that’s its greatest weakness, as Spidy has more practical effects (fire) and is the stronger ride. It makes a very good ride look bad. Its most impressive aspect hurts it in this regard. This ride was originally built for USH where space is a premium and due to that this ride is actually a two story ride, with the cars traversing up and down two elevator shafts without guests noticing. The trip down occurs during the climactic drop sequence, and due to that cannot utilize fans to create the sensation of dropping like Spidy and Gringots can which to me completely destroys my suspension of reality. However, this is still a must ride once a day for me.

Volcano Bay: This is one of the most technological and best water parks in the country from its unique virtual queue system, lush landscaping, and quite honestly has the best food I’ve experienced in a water park (it’s a low bar, but it is elevated above the base rate of its safe and serviceable to something that is surprisingly nice.) Other times of the year I will do the park in its entirety once a trip before I just do this plan but during HHN I use it exclusively to recover from HHN every other day. As such, I will do the water coaster (only a short stair climb and it’s also the best slide in the park) a few times during EE and usually get two more laps in once the park opens, but otherwise I’m vibing in the fearless river or sleeping in the lazy river resting my poor feet. I’ll then grab lunch around 12:30-1 and head out. This park is perfect for that.

HHN 33: Sinister and Surreal cast their spell

General Thoughts: This is a good year for the event, not a great year but good. The issue is there is one very good house, and then a bunch of A-/B+ houses and even with that I don’t think a single house from this year will crack my top ten. On the plus side, there is not a clunker this year and after how bad Chucky was last year that’s a huge plus. I also think, once 11pm roles around and Sinister and Surreal decend from the neon catwalk and go to their receptive zones really elevate Torture Faire and Demon Queens giving this year’s event three very good scare zones. I also have to commend ops for purchasing two additional tents this year and placing them in such a way you can get in line for both of them back to back and not walk all the way back to the midway, that coupled with the loss of the two parade buildings (and that horrible stroll down the road behind ET) literally shaved an hour off my touring time. It’s by far the best thing about this year, I used to dread doing those houses because of it. Ok let’s break down the event…

Haunted Houses: These houses are what set this event apart, most years at worst the houses seem like the “prestige house” at other parks but more often just go over and above what you expect and make you feel like you entered a movie. Really great years of HHN they bat multiple home runs, and occasionally they will make a bad house. None of those extremes happen this year you have one house that is amazing (Insidious, aka jump scare the movie so it’s fairly easy to adapt) and a bunch of A- to B HHN houses (which again anywhere else would be amazing.) Unfortunately house wise this is probably the weakest line up since 2017, but that is more a reflection of how much of a streak this place has been on since 2018. I’m sure Epic Universe took some creatives and cash away from the event this year, but it’s still utterly amazing. Due to Universals quality if I was to grade on the same scale I did Cedar Point every house will get 5 stars, so instead I’ll grade on a letter scale. Ok best to least best, here we go!

1. Insidious: Into the Further (A): By far house of the year this year, upon rewatching this enjoyable franchise last month I had a revelation, pretty much every single scare in this movie is a jump scare, which obviously is stupidly easily to execute in a haunted house, and did Universal ever. This house covers all 5 movies and 90% of the cast are the four main ghosts. All but the Man who can’t breathe have masks that look just like the movies (the bride in particular is fantastic) and a majority of the cast has multiple boo holes. All that combines for a completely unrelenting house where a ghost is coming at you every few seconds. The top scares in this one include not one but two mannequin rooms, the Bride in Black has an elevated scare, and the final room features all four ghosts in quick succession. The only reason this house fails to get an A+ is the source material, these movies have no exciting/unique/breathtaking locations so by design your stuck with a typical house, black rooms or red curtains. I can’t imagine a house based on this franchise being better (we’ll see what I think of USH later on)

2. Ghostbusters Frozen Empire (A-): I may not have watched any horror movies as a kid, but I watched a lot of cartoons, and The Real Ghostbusters was one that I would gravitate to, which makes this franchise the only horror franchise for which I have any childhood nostalgia for. It also means I can’t be fully subjective when grading this house. That said, a Ghostbusters house is never going to be as scary as something like Insidious, it’s not in its nature, but what is in its nature is creative creatures, comedy, and good clean fun. This house delivers, it’s a wild romp through the latest film that manages to make sure that Easter eggs from previous movies still occur (the key master or gatekeeper of Gozer is here, as is Lord Vego.). The climatic scene of the Firemaster and Ellie battling the big bad is impressive in scope, the mini marshmallow men are used to great effect throughout the house in the way the gingerbread men from Krampus were. You also get to see all the iconography of the franchise, Slimer, Ecto One, the firehouse, proton packs, PKE meters, it’s all waiting for you here. Bustin makes me feel good, what more can I say.

3. Goblin Feast (A-): After a clear one and two these next three are extremely close and their order on any given night would probably depend on your timing. I personally enjoy this one the best because it has some impressive sets (a town square complete with a water mill, a castle gate) some good scares and a few impressive animatronics. I also love the goofy B movie plot of being invited to the Goblin Feast, where you are the main course. Just fun.

4. Slaughter Sinema 2 (A-): Speaking of B movies, this sequel house is exactly that, a series of fake B movie rooms you go through in quick succession. The original is in my top ten, this one isn’t quite as good but it’s still a bloody good time. My favorite movies being Heavy Metal Hell (in 3D,) Killer Kringles and Blood and Chum. What holds back this house compared to the original is that with one exception the monsters are humanoid in shape, and due to that it gets slightly more repetitive.

5. Monstrous (A-): This is a transplant from USH last year and is about folklore of Latin America. Its a tale of three monsters, a female shapeshifter with bird talon hands who feeds on the blood of babies, a male ghoul who killed his father, had his bones surgically attached to his back and now kills people and carves out their backbones, and a half woman half white owl who eats humans all stiched together by a mysterious skull faced figure in Brother robes. The sets are beautiful, there’s some nice animatronics and it’s very atmospheric.

6. Major Sweets Candy Factory (B+): Much like 3-5, the bottom 5 are all incredibly close and could switch places depending on timing. This vengeful candy magnate has laced his sweets with poison that mutates and drives children to a murderous rampage. This was less Willy Wonka gone wrong then Guilded Age factory on a murder spree. I was hoping for a bit more wimsy but I loved some of the kid scares and this house has 3 Guest Activated Effects.

7. Monsters Bloodlines (B+): This is the first Monsters house to fall to a B+. While it still has some great imaginative scares (bungee werewolf) and lots of actors it fall short. It’s hampered by its plot which, even after multiple times I’m still not entirely sure if. The daughter of Van Helsing is off to kill Dracula’s daughter because she killed Van Helsings siblings. Before going to castle Dracula she first goes to the tomb of Anauksunamon to acquire the heart of Ammon-Ra, she fails so she instead hunts the She-Wolf (for unexplained reasons.). While encountering the She Wolf, she finds the Monster recently murdered by the wolf so her and the Bride team up to kill Dracula’s daughter. As I said it makes no sense, especially when the Bride house at HHN 30 established that vampire blood revives the Monster. Anyways that’s why it’s a B+.

8. The Museum Deadly Exhibits (B+): This house grew on me the more I went through it. The story is the Museum’s newest exhibit “The Rotting Stone” is cursed and mutates employees into monsters and brings other exhibits to life (as monsters.). It’s fun, and there are some good scares.

9. A Quiet Place (B+): I love this movie, the house does a great job of bringing you through the first two movies, and the sets are eerie and foreboding, it’s just that there is only so many times I can get scared by an animatronic of the same alien. It’s far too repetitive.

10. Triplets of Terror (B+): This is a slasher house, three triplets murdered their family and guests as children dressed in an owl, bunny and clown mask. Every ten years after that they go on a murder spree. This is another story that is slightly confusing as we start at the cursed party, then we go into this blog themed room where we learn about the ten year anniversary killings. We then see a series of them, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be different murder sprees or the same night, I wish they would have put dated pop culture references in the house to let us know time is passing.

Scare Zones

These are extremely hard to pull off here, because of the crowds, the selfie brigade, and other then one area having all the midways be wide and lacking trees to hide behind. It makes HHN different from any other haunt because the houses are better then the zones, ok let’s rank um:

1. Death Eaters in Diagon Alley (A): This was such a welcome edition last year, and fits the theme perfectly. In between stalking the crowd, the silent dark wizards and witches will duel each other in Knockturn Alley and cast the dark mark from the stage. It’s just so cool.

2. Demon Queens in Hollywood (B): This is Surreal’s zone and it’s all about psychological fear. Bizarre creatures of black, purple and blues prowl the street. This zone is at its best from 11:00-1 am when Surreal is is the zone herself and is doing little shows from the central parade float.

3. Torture Faire in New York (B): This is Sinister’s zone and it’s a Ren Faire all about torture, NY is wide open and always highly lit so for zones to succeed here you just have to have a brash scare zone when the actors are aggressive and that’s what this one is. Just like Demon Queens Sinister herself is on stage doing little shows from 11:00-1:00.

4. Swamp of the Undead in Central Park (B): This is the only area in the park that can have a traditional dark fog filled narrow scare zone and often is the best zone here, it’s not this year but mainly because the zones above are much better then normal. The only issue with this zone is that it can get too crowded.

5. Enter the Blumhouse in San Francisco (C): This is the selfie zone this year. It is what it is.

6. Duality of Fear at park entrance (D): This is not a zone, this is a farce of one the theming consists of the HHN arch and is so short. It also is the place for the chainsaw hoard this year and that’s it. Sinister and Surreal are up on the arch at the beginning and end of the night heckling the crowd but they can only be heard from the front of the arch. Just a disappointing zone.

Entertainment:

Nightmare Fuel Infernal Circus: Just one show this year, and it’s fire dancing and some light magic. It’s cool but I still miss Bill and Ted.

Thats my review of Universal, unfortunately, Milton killed my MNSSHP night as I chose to book a flight a day early when that system blew up Saturday and was thrilled to GTFO of Florida a day before that thing hit. California coming soon…

Only one day at Knotts? And two at DCA?

Most people I know run out of DCA stuff to do in 3-4 hours.

One day at Knotts is enough, especially with Fright Lane and the fact I’ll be there on a Wednesday. DCA is coupled with DL and I’ll park hop there everyday. Doing two Oogie Boogie Bashes during a 5.5 day stint at DLR.

Everyone online so far seems to rank it above HHN this year and for vibe in general as always (quality of sets, commitment and quality of actors, and food) I would rather spend two full dark nights there for all ten houses and shows, and Ghostrider night rides, and Log Flume especially to me as its the best seasonal thing CF/SF inherited and haven’t messed up, also especially as a lot of DL is under construction. Also nothing compares to Knotts at Halloween.

I love DL but not for multiple days with some of the worst crowds ever and a-lot of construction walls.

Tianas wont open till Nov, Jungle Cruise Is Down, The RR is down, Small World is Down, and HM without a full que, and virtual selling out quickly. Great Moments, Half the esplanade, and the back of Downtown Disney.

Good luck! But I assume you have a CF pass so switching to bonus Knotts will be easy.

Are you talking Hollywood HHN or Orlando? Because the general chatter is that HHN Hollywood is inferior to Orlando, mainly because Hollywood has a weird layout and actually uses their soundstages for filming throughout the year and doesn’t get the benefit of having an indoor space free the whole year to start constructing houses for next years HHN within weeks of the event ending. That and the distance from DL has why I’ve never gone to HHN Hollywood previously. This year however, the pull of Mario, wanting to see the Jurassic World ride, and to a lesser extent SLOP pulled me in.

I love Knotts, it’s amazing, but it is so small. One day there is usually plenty for me to do everything multiple times. I’m coming back for Christmas, Summer, and next Halloween so I’m usually good with one day there. JC will come back up while I’m there, not being able to do the Mansion more then once a day will be a bummer (I usually do it once during the day and once post Fantasmic,) as will missing the train, but I love DLR. I miss most of the crowds by rope dropping, leaving in the mid afternoon to relax at the hotel, have dinner then see the night shows and end strong with another power riding session around close. I do t foresee my plan changing.

Two years ago we finally did both HHN's after basically going yearly to Orlando since 2004... Our general thought was that while Orlando is the overall better event, Hollywood was really not far off... The houses are not as grand, but the zones were probably a bit better (that year)... The layout is a bit funky, but wasn't a big deal. Still felt like HHN, which is a good thing.

The huge downfall for Hollywood were the operations... Every single line crawled unlike any other. Orlando pushes throughput and it shows, because Hollywood is a complete 180 where you are standing more in queues than walking (in Orlando, I feel like you never stop moving). One house that should have been 15 minutes max if in Orlando was well over an hour in Hollywood. They also much greatly favor express priority, basically letting them flow in constantly as they show up and not 'zippering' groups like in Orlando. So if you get express, you will have a much more premium experience in Hollywood compared.

I could honestly go to either/or and be satisfied for my HHN event fill... But at the end of the day, Orlando has much better operations and the house quality is a tad better, so it gets the W between the two.

Already secured a RIP tour, I have one night, and didn’t want to chance it. I’m told RIP access even without your guide is actual Front of the Line as much as you want.

Yeah, sounds about right. The express/tour groups in Hollywood get far more premium/unlimited access at the expense of making standby lines much worse mixed with their operations being slower in general.

Updated my first post to put my FL adventure, that was cut a day short by Milton.