My Review of HHN 2010 and some idea's of what to do in the future.

[JerrodDRagon]

Let me start by saying this year's event was great. It has a great selection of mazes, some good (and one bad) scare zones, along with 4 rides and one rockin show, horror nights 2010 has something for fans of fear.

Check out all my HHN 2010 Video's here
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=...64B1354F36

Mazes 6 of Them

We have 6, yes count them 6 mazes this year.
Lets start with the weakest of the mazes, which is like always the House of Horror's retheme. Now its the weakest, that does not mean its bad, this year it had a god theme and some tweaks here and there to make the maze better than last years but don't expect anything ground breaking.
Next the Terror Tram which has a "fun" theme this year with Chucky getting revenge on Universal and you. Both video’s in the preshow and on the Tram are entertaining and this mazes more than any other maze sets you up for what’s to come. The premise is good and its fun to walk on sets but just some parts of the maze are just walking and for me anyway you feel no fear. Still The funny back story and going on sets makes it still worth to go one more than once (also lines movie fast)
Next is the Freddy Maze, which was the best themed and felt very real. They had some good scares here and there and the ending is great. The highly themed sets are what make this one a Must see.
I was not lucky enough to go on Jason’s maze since the line was 50 mins and I am coming back in 2 weeks so I’ll wait for that one.
The Saw Mazes is one of the mazes more about making you look at something and then scaring you from the other side. The new trap at the end is great and gotta love the Freezing room (loved the one in Freddy’s maze too)
The last mazes and to me may be the best Is House of 1000 Corpses. This maze uses 3d and it works….no really it works great. I thought it might be a gimmick but NO and I need to stress this, its no gimmick it works and it works well. I hope we see maybe two mazes using this next year and it seems to be popular, the line was at an hour the whole night, so try and do this one as soon as you can. The feel of the maze also feels the darkest even through you are surrounded by bright colors….this maze is pretty scary.

The Scare Zones
All of the Zones work well none to me really are that amazing or anything but the costumes are great and the themes work. Just way to open for them to sneak up on me and get me to scream. The only Scare zone I didn’t get was La Llorona, I know the story but its just people walking around and to me was not even close to scary.

Bill and Ted
The show is as good as ever, funny, entertaining and it made my night. Its a must see and with no lines and you can show up to the show 10 mins before it starts and get a seat, got to love it. Also the music like always great, no Thriller this year but hopefully it will be back in the next few years.

Overall I rate this year a 9/10

Here are my Suggestions to what I think would make the event a 11/10

More Shows
Bill and Ted was GREAT this year, but with 3 places where shows could take place (Terminator, the Animal show and Water World) It is disappointing that we could not get at least 2 shows a year and you could rotate them, one year have slaughter world, one year have Rocky Horror/another stage show and the Animal Actors Stage could be used as a Magic Show or Comedy Club. Really another show should be added next since its one of the things Universal does great, especially when it comes to shows for Horror Nights.

More theme/entertainment in the Q

Besides The Terror Tram all of the mazes get long lines and have NOTHING to look at or watch. For the House of Horror line just install a few TVs and show clips from horror movies. For the Freddy Maze project clips from the movie onto the Shrek building. For Saw I would go with TVs/projections with clips from the movies this year they could have even shown the trailer for Saw 3D. Jason’s maze is harder so maybe have a way for some scarier’s to come out and get some people in line. For House of 1000 corpses, you could have easily have a freak show preshow along the line area. Not only would had it been entertaining but would have set up the story for the maze. When your waiting in line for an hour nothing is worst then nothing cool to look at, so I hope Universal can fit this problem in the coming years.

But besides those to suggestions really Universal has done more than a great job with the event this year lets hope next year is even better.

[Jon]

Excellent review. Thanks for sharing your insight! Sounds like they put a great show so far.

Regarding the Terminator theater, wouldn't it be hard to organize a crowd with the queue all torn apart for the maze? I understand they're getting by during the day, but it could be some sort of logistics problem setting things up for Rocky Horror.

[JerrodDRagon]

^It just the Extended Q, not the normal line area. (or at least thats what it looks like), Thy could have you enter the normal way and then exit out of the gift shop.

[Jon]

It could also be that they didn't want to close Terminator during the day simply because of Rocky. Seems like a decent trade off, considering that they're down two attractions already.

[BehindTheTheme]

Jesus those are long waits, the last two years I attended the preview night and I waited no longer than 5 min. i didn't know that the lines reached that high of a time during HHN. I'm hoping to attend this Friday if the cash flow comes in. lol. The terror tram this year i thought was the weakest of all, though i love stepping onto those old horror movie sets. NOT enough Chucky on Chuckys terror tram. I was scared the most at Vampyer Castle of the undead if you can believe that. But the best effects go to HOTC and F13. Bill and Ted was great and way better than last year.

[JerrodDRagon]

^how? I have that maze memorized, I've enn on ig at leas5 20 times this last year sooo littler is changed during the HHN to make it that scary. I really felt the House of 1000 Corpses had the "darkest" fell to it, even through it was the most colorful maze.

[Ablirien]

Great review. Totally agree with most of your points.

Opening night was so fun! And it was really empty too. I really had no problems with the lines. The longest wait we waited in was about 40 minutes for House of a 1,000 Corpses, and by that time, it was nice that we were in a quiet area of the park. I wouldn't want to ruin that with peacefulness with anything. Universal is already as loud as it is. And HHN is always a group thing for me, so I'm definitely entertained just with the company of friends, my girlfriend, and my sister. But besides that wait, most of the rides & mazes were walk-ons and Terror Tram being about a 30 minute wait. We have a way of making ourselves around the park by avoiding the crowds. The key is to arrive early! We were almost done for the night in 2 hours! But then we took a long break and saw Bill & Ted.

House of a 1,000 Corpses was definitely my favorite too. Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street were also very good and different than last's. SAW was almost the same with a few changes. Terror Tram was just okay, but I did love the queue and ride videos. Rode Kong for the first time = AWESOME! Although I wish they did something for the ride to and from there, besides playing movie trailers and regular Studio Tour videos. It surely took the energy away from the evening. It's crazy just how long they set-up that line. Bill & Ted was just okay. 2008 is still my favorite. Vampyre didn't feel different at all, besides having a few more scares than normal. A fire alarm went off half-way through and we had to all be evacuated out. Scare zones were awesome, with a minor flaw to La Llorona, mainly because so many people throughout the night were crowding around her trying to take a photo with her. It just ruined the mood.

We got to see a few celebs around the park, including Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, the guy who plays Michael Myers, and John Murdy (who we talked to; super nice guy).

Probably the best Halloween Horror Nights so far. I definitely agree that it would be nice if they had another show, and maybe also something intimate again in the same likes as Chucky's Insult Emporium to take a breather and relax.

Photos! DIdn't have time to enhance, and they include the people we went with. Going to be going back many more nights, so hopefully I'll keep reporting back.

[JerrodDRagon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdGo1bruDTY
^I've put some more Video's up so go check theme out I have everything from Bill ad Ted to a Photo Update