Halloween Horror Nights 29 General Discussion

[RevFreako]

I believe it's Depths of Fear and House of 1,000 Corpses. Again though, and this is just my opinion, I'd recommend Finnegan's. Those houses are consistently dead for the first hour or two and don't really need the early admission.

Also Universal Monsters. My usual path is Monsters-corpses-depths-nightengales-graveyard or graveyard-ng's if ngs is late opening. Usually done by 645.

 

[Sprung1]

If you care about doing everything wout express Finns may be better. But we were doing Simpson’s S&S. Letting the initial burst go thru Monsters. Then waiting for a gap in the line and getting solo runs thru that house. Given it is my favorite house of the year I’d much prefer this. We often came out of the house and the staff let us go immediately right back in for back to back runs doing this. And still had time to do HO1C, depths, and nightingales with minimal waits after.

 

[redy2468]

From personal experience doing physically darker houses during the evening like Monsters and Nightengales can hurt the experience of the house. When I first did Monsters I did it during the daylight and could barely see a thing due to being night blind. Did it a little later in the evening and the visibility is night and day.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

From personal experience that doing physically darker houses during the evening like Monsters and Nightengales can hurt the experience of the house. When I first did Monsters I did it during the daylight and could barely see a thing due to being night blind. Did it a little later in the evening and the visibility is night and day.

DEZ last year was a house you pretty much had to do in the evening to get the full effect.

 

[IHateJumpScares]

As someone who has only done Finnegan's S&S this year, can anyone try to sway me into why Springfield is better? Ghostbusters & ST get the longest waits every night while the houses in the back are essentially walk-ons for the first hour or two. Is it just a better drinking environment or something?

We did finn’s Wednesday and Thursday so we could hit stranger things and ghostbusters. First night, did ghostbusters, classic monsters, depths, nightingales, graveyard ghosts, all by around 7:30 or so. Longest wait was graveyard. All others were 5 mins of line time or less (not counting the super long but brisk walks for some of them).

Second night, did stranger things, killer klownz twice, monsters again, depths again, ghostbusters again, yeti again. We could have hit graveyard and nightingales again easily but daughter was creeped out by graveyard and we both hated nightingales.

If you want stranger things and ghostbusters, I think Finns works really really well, and you can still get back to the back of the park with 5-10 minute waits for a good 45 minutes or so.

But if I didn’t care about those I agree that Simpson’s seems like the way to go.

Edit: also, we found that hitting ghostbusters later in the event on Thursday, the house seemed to have noticeably more actors than when we hit it first thing on Wednesday. We were like 20th in the house on Wednesday. So if it’s a thing that first shift can have fewer actors at the immediate start, that could slightly downgrade your Finns experience.

 

[Tbad556]

We did finn’s Wednesday and Thursday so we could hit stranger things and ghostbusters. First night, did ghostbusters, classic monsters, depths, nightingales, graveyard ghosts, all by around 7:30 or so. Longest wait was graveyard. All others were 5 mins of line time or less (not counting the super long but brisk walks for some of them).

Second night, did stranger things, killer klownz twice, monsters again, depths again, ghostbusters again, yeti again. We could have hit graveyard and nightingales again easily but daughter was creeped out by graveyard and we both hated nightingales.

If you want stranger things and ghostbusters, I think Finns works really really well, and you can still get back to the back of the park with 5-10 minute waits for a good 45 minutes or so.

But if I didn’t care about those I agree that Simpson’s seems like the way to go.

Agreed. I think my main thing is that Ghostbusters has been such a staple for me this year. I couldn't care less about ST this year since it's not quite doing it for me this time around, but I love being able to knock out GB and another soundstage house or so before running to the back. Can't fault repeat visitors for starting in Springfield. I guess I'm more adamant about hitting Finnegan's if it's your only night or something.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Agreed. I think my main thing is that Ghostbusters has been such a staple for me this year. I couldn't care less about ST this year since it's not quite doing it for me this time around, but I love being able to knock out GB and another soundstage house or so before running to the back. Can't fault repeat visitors for starting in Springfield. I guess I'm more adamant about hitting Finnegan's if it's your only night or something.

I assume GB is still the favorite for HotY? Monsters seems to be getting THE very best reviews this year, so I wouldn't be surprised if it got the honor.

ST won last year because of how many extra hours the cast had to work, right?

 

[SeventyOne]

As someone who has only done Finnegan's S&S this year, can anyone try to sway me into why Springfield is better? Ghostbusters & ST get the longest waits every night while the houses in the back are essentially walk-ons for the first hour or two. Is it just a better drinking environment or something?

Full disclosure, only done S&S once this year (Express spoils you--now I don't show up until just before dark). But based on past years, to fully take advantage of S&S for the main houses out of Finns, you have to line up outside, in the heat, for an hour plus. Is that really preferable to 60 minutes if you're lucky, 80 if you're not, in the much cooler evening hours? On the other hand, nothing in the back will grow a long line once the gates open. You might even hit a favorite twice with under 20-minute waits. Granted some houses--HoTC--are better than others--Nightingales/Monsters--in the daytime. But the goal is to see everything, Springfield gives you an edge.

Also, as October rolls on, Finns will get worse and worse. Eventually the crowds will roll in and they'll start kicking people out once they have a drink. Meanwhile, Springfield has a mess hall filed with a/c, and seating along the break with a breeze.

 

[Legacy]

I assume GB is still the favorite for HotY? Monsters seems to be getting THE very best reviews this year, so I wouldn't be surprised if it got the honor.

ST won last year because of how many extra hours the cast had to work, right?

Reviews don’t matter. It’s all about which house is the designers’ favorite.

So, it’s very likely Ghostbusters.

 

[Tbad556]

I assume GB is still the favorite for HotY? Monsters seems to be getting THE very best reviews this year, so I wouldn't be surprised if it got the honor.

ST won last year because of how many extra hours the cast had to work, right?

Honestly, no clue. I would expect GB/Monsters/Graveyard to be it if I were to guess though.

Full disclosure, only done S&S once this year (Express spoils you--now I don't show up until just before dark). But based on past years, to fully take advantage of S&S for the main houses out of Finns, you have to line up outside, in the heat, for an hour plus. Is that really preferable to 60 minutes if you're lucky, 80 if you're not, in the much cooler evening hours? On the other hand, nothing in the back will grow a long line once the gates open. You might even hit a favorite twice with under 20-minute waits. Granted some houses--HoTC--are better than others--Nightingales/Monsters--in the daytime. But the goal is to see everything, Springfield gives you an edge.

Also, as October rolls on, Finns will get worse and worse. Eventually the crowds will roll in and they'll start kicking people out once they have a drink. Meanwhile, Springfield has a mess hall filed with a/c, and seating along the break with a breeze.

I mean, I show up at 5 on the dot every time and still have no issue getting up to where the food stand is and getting in the house within 5 minutes of it opening (roughly 5:40-5:45 each time). I'm then able to do Us or Killer Klowns the second it opens at 6, and then move to the back houses by 6:05-6:10 while they're still at a nice 5-10 minute wait (better illustrated on the last page with the times I posted).

I will concede that Finns is miserably hot and disgusting.

 

[RevFreako]

From personal experience doing physically darker houses during the evening like Monsters and Nightengales can hurt the experience of the house. When I first did Monsters I did it during the daylight and could barely see a thing due to being night blind. Did it a little later in the evening and the visibility is night and day.

I solve this by wearing dark sunglasses and taking them off the second I'm in the house. Just like the old pirate patch trick, your eyes are already adjusted to the dark.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Reviews don’t matter. It’s all about which house is the designers’ favorite.

So, it’s very likely Ghostbusters.

What was their favorite last year? Poltergeist?

 

[Legacy]

What was their favorite last year? Poltergeist?

Stranger Things won.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Stranger Things won.

I knew that. I'm just asking whether it was their favorite or if it was a scenario like Havoc. Because I would be very shocked if ST was their favorite.

 

[IHateJumpScares]

I solve this by wearing dark sunglasses and taking them off the second I'm in the house. Just like the old pirate patch trick, your eyes are already adjusted to the dark.

We do that too, but I forgot to take them off for the first two rooms of our second Depths run, and I couldn’t understand why it was so dark!

 

[Malikshah]

Thinking 'bout going this evening using S&S Simposons. Anyone that can tell me which houses have early access?

We were guided to Universal Monsters from Springfield. Did 3 houses by the time gates opened.

 

[Legacy]

I knew that. I'm just asking whether it was their favorite or if it was a scenario like Havoc. Because I would be very shocked if ST was their favorite.

Holistic favorite. Performance counts. But so do designer expectations. For all of Monsters’ quality, it’s also fairly routine. It doesn’t really present anything new. The scares are things we’ve seen before, in almost a cookie-cutter fashion. I have a theory about why, but basically I don’t think it will have a strong advocate for HotY.

Ghostbusters, for better or worse, attempts a lot more. It’s design is more creative the cast has higher expectations on them—which they generally meet. I also think there’s outside incentive for GB to win.

It’s an unusual year, though. Based on response and what I’ve seen of the houses, there’s four houses that all could have “legitimate” claims (at least, as legitimate as this can be) to HotY: Ghostbusters, Monsters, Yeti, and Graveyard Games. Three of them display that extra umph of passion from the designers though, and Monsters isn’t one of them. Monsters is on the list because the fans are excited about the Monsters. In this scenario, the IP gets the nod.

 

[JawsVictim]

Monsters should honestly win HOTY because of their cast. Those guys are truly outstanding and make that house rip.

 

[HalfGlass]

What have lines been like for people who have gone multiple times? I'm guessing not nearly as bad as last year? Any proven plans of attack that work thus far?

 

[itsabee]

What have lines been like for people who have gone multiple times? I'm guessing not nearly as bad as last year? Any proven plans of attack that work thus far?

Like everyone’s saying, back-of-the-park houses first for minimal waits. I’d say don’t do GB or ST first because the lines will be just as long if not longer than they will be later, while the other, “smaller” houses will only increase in line length. If you can stay all night, do it, because stuff gets DEAD when it’s late. I’m talking Ghostbusters as a walk-on around 1:00 on Friday night/technically Saturday morning. Monsters and Graveyard Games were both nearly walk-ons between 1 and 2 as well.

If you just want fun tips, I like to grab a bench in Zombieland and just watch the actors go. If you want to wait to see the mini-show, just head up to the stage as soon as you hear the zone-wide airhorn blasts instead of going to the box; it might be hard to catch up with the character between the time they leave Pacific Treasures and get to the stage. I wish I could say more about the other zones, but I haven’t spent enough time in them to know what’s fun over there. In general, just do Monsters? Spectacular cast (psst especially Cast A just saying).

Oh, and keep your feet in check, because people have no chill when it comes to doing their scare by getting directly in your walking path. Just on Friday, I had Cabin Eleven, a Tethered, one of the Scoleri brothers, and Dracula step in my way, forcing me to come to a dead stop so I wouldn’t hit them. One of the Cast B Slimers is aggressive, as he actually came out far enough to run his body into an adult in my party on Friday and then touch my boyfriend’s shoulder with his hand on Saturday (maybe intentionally?).