Wow they really should have kept HRRR open through HHN at least lol
I wonder if the construction walls are up in that area currently for some prep work, and maybe they take them down for HHN?
I found it really odd too, but based on the timeline of building a new attraction, I don't think there was much of a choice.
Im with you on this. HHN IMO has leaned WAY too hard to the cute stuff. Lets get back to being 100% scary!
I don't necessarily know that cute stuff is what I would call it, but I think HHN has been embracing more of the idea of things that are more story, set, and impressiveness based than going full on gore crazy horror. Not that I know that's necessarily what you're talking about, but not every house (or even the majority of houses) needs to be blood and guts, demons, and chainsaws. I think the past few years have had a really diverse lineup of houses, and there was a lot of fun that can be had with each of them. There are plenty of local haunts that provide that kind of horror, and so with the kind of budget HHN has, it's better to see some sort of variety in the sets and costumes than it is to have really intense horror in every house. Some of the best houses they have done as of recently haven't been very scary at all, but have been amazing. Puppet Theater, Wicked Growth, Dead Man's Pier, the majority of the Universal Monsters houses (2019, unmasked, Legends in particular). But, they still have been providing some pretty intense or gory houses sprinkled in with those for variety purposes, and those have been really good as well (Insidious and Blood Moon). I think at the end of the day, it all comes down to variety and diversity in houses, and that really should be the focus.
This year the only house I can think of that sounds relatively generic is the graveyard house, but even then I think it sounds awesome. A Western B-Movie house, mutilated killer dolls and toys, Nordic Monsters, and an haunted/ghost artwork house are all really cool ideas, even if somewhat basic.