Halloween Horror Nights 30 (UO): Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[Tbad556]

This thread is for reviews, photos, and videos of HHN30.

Please limit all general discussion of the event and keep it in the News & Info thread.

Halloween Horror Nights 30 (UOR) - News & Info (2021)

This thread is dedicated to all news & info for this year's Halloween Horror Nights 30 event at Universal Orlando.

forums.insideuniversal.net

 

[DestinationDoug]

Just got back to our room at Sapphire Falls. It was a solid, but not spectacular, opening night. We hit every house at least once, and did Icons twice, hoping for a different ending (nope).

First, the good. Universal really knocked it out of park with regard to the theming and set design of the houses. Every single house is gorgeous and completely immersive. Most of the facades are amazing, and really get you excited for the house. And the houses really do feel bigger/longer than usual. I'm not sure how they pulled that off.

Now, the bad. The scare zones suck. There is no other way to put it. Seek and Destroy felt like the only zone with scare actors in the street. It wasn't raining, but it was still pretty wet when we went through the Eddie and Terra Cruentes zones, though. We really missed the Chainsaw hordes.

Express lines were quite long until midnight or so. There was one house where they were only letting 6-8 Express through between hordes of standby. We also went about 30 minutes without moving at all in the SCarey line.

I know some people will be put off with this complaint, but our biggest problem was the vinyl in the houses. My wife is usually screaming left and right in the houses, but she only screamed a few times all night, and every single time it was a scare actor that wasn't behind vinyl. She got many perfectly timed scares that she barely noticed because of the vinyl. Did it completely ruin the event? No. But it definitely brought it down a notch. This is only my third year attending, but right now I don't see a single house cracking my top 10, even with the stellar theming and design.

So far, I rank the houses thusly:

1. Beetlejuice (It's fun, so the lack of scares mattered less)
2. Legendary Truth (biggest surprise)
3. Wicked Growth
4. Hill House
5. Puppet Theater
6. Bride of Frankenstein
7. Tooth Fairy
8. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
9. Icons (biggest disappointment)
10. Welcome to SCarey

 

[Tbad556]

Initial thoughts after one rainy opening night. Obviously, this is incredibly early on, so my thoughts will probably change a stupid amount. I only did 7/10 houses as I bailed after 10 PM because changing out of my wet clothes sounded more appealing than waiting an hour each for BJ and Hill House

The Good:

• Houses - This is shaping up to be a really good year for houses IMO. I'm biased because I'm a sucker for anything throwback-related, so this year basically panders to me, but it really was a solid lineup. I didn't feel like there were any absolute misses like there have been in the past. Some less than perfect, but nothing that I wouldn't be happy to return to. The theming & facades were absolutely stellar as well.
• Food stands - Not much to add here other than the fact that I absolutely adore how all out Uni went with theming these stands this year. Major props to them.
• Fully embracing the anniversary year - I'm a sucker for an anniversary year and they really went all out with giving us throwback, nerdy content.
• Creative mask implementation on scareactors - @Clive mentioned this in the main HHN thread earlier, but the masks used for some of the scareactors have been ridiculously impressive. Really above and beyond stuff.
• The scareactors - For there being so many strange circumstances at play between COVID adjustments, rain, flooding, still trying to find their groove, etc, the scareactors absolutely killed it tonight. This honestly may have been the most on-point I've ever seen scareactors on opening night. They already had some fantastic creative scares figured out and the energy was ridiculously high. Massive props to all involved.

The Bad:

• Getting it out of the way now, the plexi/vinyl has been talked to death, but it's obviously a factor. The scares are dramatically improved from HHN Lite, but still not close to a usual year. More disappointed in it from a COVID factor than a scare factor though.
• No real victims. This is a weird (and very minor) one and another one obviously impacted by COVID, but it was really weird going through houses and not really having any non-dummy victims. Kind of felt like the odd Stranger Things dummy situation over and over again. Never realized how much of a role those positions really played before in upping the intensity.
• Streets. Not really a shocker to anyone who has been going for a while, but the streets were an issue yet again this year. Obviously, rain played a major role in the street issues tonight, so we'll see how things play out on a normal night, but things just felt off in general tbh. Crypt is a photo op zone. 30 Years, 30 Fears lacks any sense of cohesion and has the strangest selection of characters. Etc. The hordes are desperately missed as well.
• Lack of queue videos. For a year littered with originals with heavy backstories that most guests will be oblivious to, this was a big miss by UO.
• Express. We can roast Disney's Fastpass/Lightning Lane fiasco all we want (and rightfully so), but it feels like Universal is losing control of the HHN express situation honestly. It's pretty apparent that the FFP w/express options are becoming more and more popular each year because I have never seen the lines move this slow before. And that's not even on the Ops team as I saw (both in person and on Twitter) quite a few situations where the Express lines were waiting extended periods of time as well. This doesn't feel sustainable.

Overall: This doesn't feel like a top tier year as of now, but it fits comfortably in the middle of the pack for me as someone who has been attending since 2009. A great time all around, but some very clear misses that could've pushed it into full gear for me. Massive props to the scareactors for working this hard while have such less-than-optimal conditions.

House Rankings:

1. Wicked Growth - It can't be overstated how fantastic this house is.
2. Icons - It's really not even fair to rank this house with how much it panders to my interests lol
3. Puppet Theatre - Loved everything about this. Only in 3rd because I loved the first two so much
4. Legendary Truth - Massive sleeper hit potential here. Incredibly nerdy house in all the right ways and an incredible use of Shrek.
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Preferred what we got in 2016 honestly. The scares just weren't there and it felt like the house where the vinyl was the biggest issue. Loved the sets, however, and Chop Top is a massive bonus (and all of the actors playing him were phenomenal).
6. Bride of Frankenstein - Still a great house, but a little worn out by it at this point. Cast is fantastic.
NR. Scarey - I was the first person through the house tonight and my eyes were just not adjusted yet. Need to visit again at night to get a fair run in.

Scarezone Rankings:

1. Lights, Camera, Hacktion: Eddie's Revenge
2. Seek and Destroy
3. Gorewood Forest
4. 30 Years, 30 Fears
5. Crypt TV

 

[OrlandoGuy]

^^, ^ Both excellent reviews and I mostly agree with everything. I held off on writing one last night because I was afraid of pushback, but I feel “solid” and “middle of the pack” are good descriptions for this year. Granted, it’s only Night 1 (lol), but there’s not much that will change about the vinyl or the scarezones. It feels like HHN needs a shot in the arm in the form of a new design team or prerogative to take some sort of risk because everything feels very safe and same-y. The only exception is Legendary Truth, which is an awesome house that really deserves a lot of credit for being unique.

As far as the vinyl, it is reflective and it does allow you to telegraph where the scares are coming from in advance. It also eliminates a big part of interactivity and intensity of the houses. They’re more present than I expected them to be, and it seems reasonable that this would be a factor for someone who’s already on the fence about going to decide to sit this year out.

With that being said, this isn’t a bad review and a “solid” HHN is still GREAT HHN. Last night was a fun time with some very well-designed houses. This year just didn’t separate itself from the pack as much as I expected a COVID-delayed anniversary year to, and part of those expectations are my fault. Still looking forward to going a lot throughout the year before I get sent back to the office and have to move back home.

 

[Nick]

It feels like HHN needs a shot in the arm in the form of a new design team or prerogative to take some sort of risk because everything feels very safe and same-y. The only exception is Legendary Truth, which is an awesome house that really deserves a lot of credit for being unique.

My friend and I were talking about this and agreed it feels like they're just sticking to a formula now. I know some people love Wicked Growth (and I very much like it, it's my favorite house), but i'm looking for things on the level of Scarecrow in terms of intensity and I feel like this is the second HHN in a row I can say as of now there's nothing close to that level for me. It's always possible for scareactors to carry houses and I actually do think Wicked Growth has room to get even better so we'll see how everything finishes.

Of course no chainsaw hoard is a downer. If that's a Disney thing then they had to follow their rules they were stipulating, but why not do a zone right outside of London near the Chucky photo-op/London Restrooms? Or where Killer Klownz was? Or in the Circular area outside of Kidzone? The first two are pretty dead and could've used a jolt, but I also could've seen chainsaws right outside of the KidZone. I actually do think this might be Disney too, because think about it. When Disney officially took ownership of Fox in Early 2019, most HHN plans were set in stone and Disney probably hadn't even got a chance to look over theme park specific contracts in an in-depth manner yet, so hoards happened for HHN 29. Given the past two years to look over that stuff, they likely realized that they had final say for what happens in the Simpsons area during events and thus, no chainsaw hoard. That's my crazy theory at least

 

[Tbad556]

My friend and I were talking about this and agreed it feels like they're just sticking to a formula now. I know some people love Wicked Growth (and I very much like it, it's my favorite house), but i'm looking for things on the level of Scarecrow in terms of intensity and I feel like this is the second HHN in a row I can say as of now there's nothing close to that level for me. It's always possible for scareactors to carry houses and I actually do think Wicked Growth has room to get even better so we'll see how everything finishes.

Of course no chainsaw hoard is a downer. If that's a Disney thing then they had to follow their rules they were stipulating, but why not do a zone right outside of London near the Chucky photo-op/London Restrooms? Or where Killer Klownz was? Both are pretty dead and could've used a jolt. I actually do think this might be Disney too, because think about it. When Disney officially took ownership of Fox in Early 2019, most HHN plans were set in stone and Disney probably hadn't even got a chance to look over theme park specific contracts in an in-depth manner yet, so hoards happened for HHN 29. Given the past two years to look over that stuff, they likely realized that they had final say for what happens in the Simpsons area during private events and thus, no chainsaw hoard. That's my crazy theory at least

Agreed as well on the formula. It seems like they're innovating exclusively in places where it increases the profits which... fair enough lol. Things such as the food booths being themed now, unique food options growing, the tribute stores continued evolution, merch continuing to expand when we used to be lucky to get an event shirt & a lanyard, etc. I respect the game, but also wish that increased revenue went into trying more things.

I should note that as much as I love Wicked Growth, it's still nowhere near a Scarecrow/Graveyard Games/etc. in terms of my favorite houses. Nothing this year touches those in terms of scares or innovation.

Interesting theory that I never considered. I genuinely just assumed it was a casting shortage issue due to staffing

 

[Wigglepebbles]

My friend and I were talking about this and agreed it feels like they're just sticking to a formula now. I know some people love Wicked Growth (and I very much like it, it's my favorite house), but i'm looking for things on the level of Scarecrow in terms of intensity and I feel like this is the second HHN in a row I can say as of now there's nothing close to that level for me. It's always possible for scareactors to carry houses and I actually do think Wicked Growth has room to get even better so we'll see how everything finishes.

Of course no chainsaw hoard is a downer. If that's a Disney thing then they had to follow their rules they were stipulating, but why not do a zone right outside of London near the Chucky photo-op/London Restrooms? Or where Killer Klownz was? Or in the Circular area outside of Kidzone? The first two are pretty dead and could've used a jolt, but I also could've seen chainsaws right outside of the KidZone. I actually do think this might be Disney too, because think about it. When Disney officially took ownership of Fox in Early 2019, most HHN plans were set in stone and Disney probably hadn't even got a chance to look over theme park specific contracts in an in-depth manner yet, so hoards happened for HHN 29. Given the past two years to look over that stuff, they likely realized that they had final say for what happens in the Simpsons area during events and thus, no chainsaw hoard. That's my crazy theory at least

Sorry, but what’s the “Disney thing” you are talking about?

 

[Nick]

Sorry, but what’s the “Disney thing” you are talking about?

Disney now being the owners of the Simpsons.

 

[MrBlonde]

Sorry, but what’s the “Disney thing” you are talking about?

I assume since Disney now owns Fox which Universal paid for the rights to use in the parks, they could’ve had provisions in the contract restricting use of the land, similar to
Harry Potter with its owners. Fox never bothered but Disney and it’s internal legal team could’ve decided otherwise.

 

[snayberry]

I won’t be giving a long detailed review like others, but I’ll say a few things about last night. It was my first opening night ever. I bought a ROF with express. Those regular stand by lines looked like death. Express worked good and I only waited 15 minutes max for any house. The plexiglass and vinyl definitely took down the scare levels a notch. I still got some good solid scares that brought me back the old scary HHN vibe. These houses were my fav that I went through. TCM, Puppet, Hill House, Wicked Growth and Icons.


Eddie zone and Seek were really fun. I got to sit down there and enjoy myself. The scare actors are interacting with the guests in the zones. The food was pretty good. I had the donut slider, wings and fried Twinkie. Donut slider was banging. It definitely feels good to be back, I think it’s better than HHN 29 minus the plexiglass. I’m digging the music this year too.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

It feels like HHN needs a shot in the arm in the form of a new design team or prerogative to take some sort of risk because everything feels very safe and same-y.

My friend and I were talking about this and agreed it feels like they're just sticking to a formula now.

Agreed as well on the formula. It seems like they're innovating exclusively in places where it increases the profits which... fair enough lol. Things such as the food booths being themed now, unique food options growing, the tribute stores continued evolution, merch continuing to expand when we used to be lucky to get an event shirt & a lanyard, etc. I respect the game, but also wish that increased revenue went into trying more things.

Is there really anything new they could do in terms of houses? I just think they've done about everything they can do at this point. Besides, even if they do something somewhat unique, it usually isn't well received--think about it, what were the two best received houses at HHN 29? The Classic Monster house and paranormal graveyard house. Standard haunt fare. Meanwhile, the house themed to Roman gladiators was divisive, at best (felt I was in a minority).

This is just how I feel when it comes to the subject of "formulaic" that pops up every few years (and it involves the Simpsons to tie the last few posts all together):

 

[DestinationDoug]

I had the donut slider, wings and fried Twinkie.

I couldn't find the booth with the fried Twinkies and Oreos. Where is it?

 

[snayberry]

I couldn't find the booth with the fried Twinkies and Oreos. Where is it?

its in the little section right next to Finnegans. You should see all the popup good stuff and where all the benches are.

 

[TheJoshByrdLives]

I can't attend this year but I've heard much hype for a new type of scare used in hill house. Could someone who's been share what it could be? (Spoiler tagged)

 

[rhino4evr]

disregard my comment, wrong thread.

 

[Brian G.]

Guys. Remember this thread is strictly for reviews, photos and other multimedia. Try to limit the side chatter in here.

 

[BoSoxFan1022]

I think scare zones cannot be accurately judged rn mostly due to the rain last night, but here are my house rankings (of what I was able to get to):
1. Case Files- Awesome house, really caught me off guard, extreme Slaughter Sinema vibes
2. TCM- Very cool representation of the Sawyer family
3. Wicked Growth- Beatiful and scary, favorite original
4. Icons- Great house, unfortunately brought down a lot by masks/vinyl imo
5. Brides- Really wanted to like this one after everyone else seemed to, but it just didnt have much variety in scares/sets
6. Beetlejuice- A massive letdown, really was expecting more

FYI- @Brian G. I yelled your name outside of SS24, sorry if I caught you off guard lol

 

[Brian G.]

I think scare zones cannot be accurately judged rn mostly due to the rain last night, but here are my house rankings (of what I was able to get to):
1. Case Files- Awesome house, really caught me off guard, extreme Slaughter Sinema vibes
2. TCM- Very cool representation of the Sawyer family
3. Wicked Growth- Beatiful and scary, favorite original
4. Icons- Great house, unfortunately brought down a lot by masks/vinyl imo
5. Brides- Really wanted to like this one after everyone else seemed to, but it just didnt have much variety in scares/sets
6. Beetlejuice- A massive letdown, really was expecting more

FYI- @Brian G. I yelled your name outside of SS24, sorry if I caught you off guard lol

Nah. Just the media night can be a little hectic. Next time, stop me and I’ll have a pin for ya.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'm going to be working on a full review for this week on Touring Plans. After opening night the event is a solid, if not predictable, year. House standouts for this year are Hill House, Wicked Growth, Case Files, and Puppet Theater, in no particular order. They all do something new or unique that's worth visiting again. Streets are good to fine, from my opening weekend observations Eddie is the zone to beat and Seek & Destroy is the most improved day-over-day.

Two huge winners this year is the food and beverage program and the shows, especially Halloween Nightmare Fuel. Food is stellar, we've come a long way since hotdog crust pizza. HNF is one of the best shows the event has ever done in the 8 years I've been going and is well worth a visit.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Is there really anything new they could do in terms of houses? I just think they've done about everything they can do at this point. Besides, even if they do something somewhat unique, it usually isn't well received--think about it, what were the two best received houses at HHN 29? The Classic Monster house and paranormal graveyard house. Standard haunt fare. Meanwhile, the house themed to Roman gladiators was divisive, at best (felt I was in a minority).

This is just how I feel when it comes to the subject of "formulaic" that pops up every few years (and it involves the Simpsons to tie the last few posts all together):

As an MBA, I look at everything from the perspective of its value proposition—what does this do better or differently that makes it worthwhile?

Nightingales’s value proposition wasn’t its ancient Rome theming (although for the record, I thought that house was great and caught a bad rep). It was the close quarters and tight scares. The problem wasn’t the theme, it was that the houses in that location before that (Tomb, Scarecrow, Dead Exposure) all brought the same value proposition to the table.

Meanwhile, Monsters brought innovative scares (wolf bungee, whatever the heck the Hunchback was doing in that one room, etc.) while Graveyard Games built a cohesive story to ramp up its intensity and build a tangible sense of threat. Again, not about the theme, but about what specifically those houses brought to the table from an execution standpoint.

The houses this year have great themes, but they follow the same beats and techniques as houses over the past five or so years have. Granted, there’s only so much you can do in a haunted house, but that’s what has always separated HHN from the rest. In Between wasn’t badass because of a story about a kid with comic books, it was badass because it utilized 3-D in innovative ways. Scarecrow didn’t become the modern day standard because people have an affinity for agriculture, it did so because it committed to getting in your face unlike any house in (recent) past.

In a way, I actually think this is why the IP-centric focus lately has been a good thing…Universal can mock up well-known movies and TV shows and put you in the middle of the action better than anyone and that’s a heck of a value proposition. This year, the lackluster IP represented kinda render this a non-factor. I know this is probably an unpopular take around here, but the IP houses are undeniably a strong suit for HHN.

Besides Case Files, which takes an unorthodox setting and a continuous narrative and mixes it with schlocky horror, the things this year are all things we’ve seen before just dressed up a little differently. Again…that works! HHN is great for a reason and the formula is the formula for a reason! But this year feels more like a 2016 than a 2015, which I think is why “middle of the pack” hits the nail on the head.