HHN 2024

[Tom Morrow]

I agree - my experience this year at the event is towards the bottom, possibly least favorite. (attended every year since 2013). Outside the houses, the event feels "off" in tone & design, and the crowd issues don't help.

I would have originally blamed the use of "friendlier" IPs like Stranger Things as the result of poor guest behavior, but other haunts around the country have encountered issues with younger audiences without these IPs. Universal has a "soft" approach to age restrictions, but I think it's time to utilize a chaperone policy.

Like JT3000 said, the event is in this weird position where it continues to push on what is acceptable (Nightmare Fuel, etc.) but still offer "friendlier" options.

Universal themselves don't help by continuing to push it as a "hang out" event that everyone should spend as many nights as possible at. They used to operate under the assumption that everyone would be going only once a season. All the endless season passes they offer for the event only further encourage this.

The result is it has morphed from an event for theme park and horror fans to an ultra hip, ultra trendy nightlife event with a club-like atmosphere. Agreed that it just doesn't feel right anymore and it times it feels like a teenager babysitting service. I think that the trendier IPs, scare zones as photo ops, and "basically a strip show" as the main show aren't helping either.

 

[mergatroid]

I've got to say that not having a scare zone along the Minions stretch at the front was a big miss this year. It just felt like a big open space. I know they had a handful of chainsaw people roaming but they were almost exclusively at the entrance/under the scaffolding. I'm not sure why they went this route but as a regular attendee it certainly stood out like there was something obviously missing. I'd have thought even just having the 5 or so characters on podiums outside Mel's Die in there instead would have helped to make it feel less empty and they didn't seem to be attracting many guests outside Mel's anyway.

 

[My95cobras]

Has anyone done the stay and scream with annual passes this year?

 

[Andrew25]

Universal themselves don't help by continuing to push it as a "hang out" event that everyone should spend as many nights as possible at. They used to operate under the assumption that everyone would be going only once a season. All the endless season passes they offer for the event only further encourage this.

The result is it has morphed from an event for theme park and horror fans to an ultra hip, ultra trendy nightlife event with a club-like atmosphere. Agreed that it just doesn't feel right anymore and it times it feels like a teenager babysitting service. I think that the trendier IPs, scare zones as photo ops, and "basically a strip show" as the main show aren't helping either.

Universal has always encouraged guests to visit multiple nights for HHN, that's not the issue. However, I do agree that the content of the event has shifted in a way that has allowed non-horror fans to visit the event more often than they typically would have.

The event has also fallen into corporate hands more and more each year, and getting away with the bare minimum, as they are forced to include certain IPs/themes that don't fit the event well.

I've got to say that not having a scare zone along the Minions stretch at the front was a big miss this year. It just felt like a big open space. I know they had a handful of chainsaw people roaming but they were almost exclusively at the entrance/under the scaffolding. I'm not sure why they went this route but as a regular attendee it certainly stood out like there was something obviously missing. I'd have thought even just having the 5 or so characters on podiums outside Mel's Die in there instead would have helped to make it feel less empty and they didn't seem to be attracting many guests outside Mel's anyway.

The scare zone at the front of the park in Production Central has always sucked, but this one in particular isn't even a scare zone. It's the traditional chainsaw horde we'd typically see each year, disguised as a zone. Embarassasing.

Yeah, I love the attempt at the Mel's bar... but it's quite lackluster. SeaWorld surprisingly does a better job at themed bars for their event.

Has anyone done the stay and scream with annual passes this year?

Yes - any annual pass level can be utilized.

 

[Jrb1979]

Universal has always encouraged guests to visit multiple nights for HHN, that's not the issue. However, I do agree that the content of the event has shifted in a way that has allowed non-horror fans to visit the event more often than they typically would have.

The event has also fallen into corporate hands more and more each year, and getting away with the bare minimum, as they are forced to include certain IPs/themes that don't fit the event well.


The scare zone at the front of the park in Production Central has always sucked, but this one in particular isn't even a scare zone. It's the traditional chainsaw horde we'd typically see each year, disguised as a zone. Embarassasing.

Yeah, I love the attempt at the Mel's bar... but it's quite lackluster. SeaWorld surprisingly does a better job at themed bars for their event.


Yes - any annual pass level can be utilized.

I don't blame them for going that route. A lot of parks Haunts have gone that way. Other parks even sell necklaces to wear for scaredy cats to not be scared in scare zones. Parks are starting to head towards a more family oriented thing. That's where the money is.

IMO SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have the best haunts left now. it's unfortunate that there is a belief now that Halloween shouldn't be about scares.

 

[Andrew25]

I don't blame them for going that route. A lot of parks Haunts have gone that way. Other parks even sell necklaces to wear for scaredy cats to not be scared in scare zones. Parks are starting to head towards a more family oriented thing. That's where the money is.

IMO SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have the best haunts left now. it's unfortunate that there is a belief now that Halloween shouldn't be about scares.

I don't necessarily think that the parks/events are avoiding scares (Insidious this year proves that), but more that the events are trying to offer more experiences for all (or as much as humanely possible) each year.

Horror Nights has actually had a few way too intense houses these past few years (Exorcist, House of 1000 Corpses, etc.) mixed in with friendlier IPs like Ghostbusters & Stranger Things.

 

[Jrb1979]

I don't necessarily think that the parks/events are avoiding scares (Insidious this year proves that), but more that the events are trying to offer more experiences for all (or as much as humanely possible) each year.

Horror Nights has actually had a few way too intense houses these past few years (Exorcist, House of 1000 Corpses, etc.) mixed in with friendlier IPs like Ghostbusters & Stranger Things.

I'm not saying the parks are avoiding scares but GP in general have that belief.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Ok, so I'm back from my really quick trip and did HHN two nights (with Stay and Scream). (Just got out before Milton hit!)

Saturday we had beautiful weather...Sunday it rained so the scarezones were bare.

On Saturday we did the S&S in New York. (Sunday we did Lombards)
We could've done everything (including Nightmare Fuel and rides) with S&S in one night (without Express).
We didn't...because we wanted to take our time and knew that we were coming back the following night.

Insidious is by far the "scariest" but it didn't top my list of houses due to it being too dark and hard to see anything. (But this may have been due to our eyes not adjusting early on in the house).

My rankings go as follows:
1. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. The set designs in this house are incredible. While not the scariest, I did get a few jump scares because our walkthroughs were perfect.
2. Slaughter Cinema 2. What a fun house. Not super scary but this one may have been the most "fun" one. My only gripe is that there were too many quick scenes.
3. Triplets of Terror. Perfect blend of scary and great set designs.
4. Insidious: The Further. Scariest house of them all.
5. Goblin's Feast. I expected this to be at the bottom of my list but it really exceeded those expectations (and possibly why I ranked it so high)
6. Major Sweets. Throughout the entire night, this house gave me the single biggest "jump." Loved the theme of it!
7. Eternal Bloodlines. Oddly enough, the 'good girls' in this one gave me the biggest jump scares.
8. A Quiet Place. The creature designs were out of this world. This one only scored low because I think, like Insidious, it felt too dark and tough to make anything out.
9. Museum of Deadly Exhibits. Nothing special about it. Not awful but compared to the others it just didn't "wow" me.
10. Monstrous. This one felt lacking. Don't know if we got a bad run through it but it also felt extremely short compared to the others.

Nightmare Fuel (first time seeing it) was fantastic. I know it's hit or miss with some people but I loved it and went to watch it both nights.

Diagon Alley at night just hits different. I wish the parks were open later more often to experience the incredible lighting packages.

The ScareZones were pretty lame.
Swamp of the Undead was good...but I think that's more due to the location. The thinner corridor really works with ScareZones.
Torture Faire felt sparce.
Blumhouse was cool (as more of a character interaction element) but not as a scarezone.
Demon Queens, again, felt sparce (even moreso than Torture Faire)
And that front scarezone...it was just a few guys with chainsaws that didn't really have a theme.

All in all I had a blast (even rode Mummy, Gringotts, MIB multiple times...and did Simpsons and Transformers during our Stay and Scream time).
Between both nights, the longest house line we waited in was for Eternal Bloodlines (50 minutes). Won't come back next year but will be back definitely when my son is old enough to handle it and appreciate it.

To any scareactors that may be on here. You guys and gals killed it. Thank you for doing what you do so well.

 

[Tom Morrow]

At this point it's hard for me to tell if HHN has declined significantly in recent years or if I've just been to the event way too many times. This was my fourteenth year and I have literally between 100-200 houses under my belt. Not a single thing stands out to me this year whereas at least the last two years had a couple things that still inspired me.

The IPs were rather weak this year and I think they're getting a little over-zealous with the original concepts and making the mistake of relying too much on the backstory that almost no one will see or read because, if you don't take the house tours, they hide it all behind a QR code they hardly even display anywhere. For example, I was with a friend who has done all the house tours so he filled me in on the backstory of the houses. Triplets of Terror would have made absolutely no sense without that and even with that explanation I was like what? Who cares. This story and concept sucks.

A GOOD original house conveys an obvious theme, vibe, and setting without needing to read up on it. Basically a unified concept and setting, while the IP houses can get away with being disjointed "book reports". Unfortunately this year many of the original houses seemed to take the approach of the IP houses, relying on a backstory almost no one will take the time to know and having disjointed scenes.

Like, if they want us to care about all the details and what it all means, then a house focused on that needs a different approach than their very tired "usher everyone through in a conga line and boo holes every 10 feet".

I don't know. Every year I guess I kind of have the same complaints about HHN and how formulaic it's become and how the level of crowds and formulaic designs bring it down. But this year my complaints about the original houses are new.

 

[Jrb1979]

At this point it's hard for me to tell if HHN has declined significantly in recent years or if I've just been to the event way too many times. This was my fourteenth year and I have literally between 100-200 houses under my belt. Not a single thing stands out to me this year whereas at least the last two years had a couple things that still inspired me.

The IPs were rather weak this year and I think they're getting a little over-zealous with the original concepts and making the mistake of relying too much on the backstory that almost no one will see or read because, if you don't take the house tours, they hide it all behind a QR code they hardly even display anywhere. For example, I was with a friend who has done all the house tours so he filled me in on the backstory of the houses. Triplets of Terror would have made absolutely no sense without that and even with that explanation I was like what? Who cares. This story and concept sucks.

A GOOD original house conveys an obvious theme, vibe, and setting without needing to read up on it. Basically a unified concept and setting, while the IP houses can get away with being disjointed "book reports". Unfortunately this year many of the original houses seemed to take the approach of the IP houses, relying on a backstory almost no one will take the time to know and having disjointed scenes.

Like, if they want us to care about all the details and what it all means, then a house focused on that needs a different approach than their very tired "usher everyone through in a conga line and boo holes every 10 feet".

I don't know. Every year I guess I kind of have the same complaints about HHN and how formulaic it's become and how the level of crowds and formulaic designs bring it down. But this year my complaints about the original houses are new.

Have you ever thought of visiting SeaWorlds haunt or Busch Gardens Haunt. Those seem to be more of what HHN used to be.

 

[Andrew25]

At this point it's hard for me to tell if HHN has declined significantly in recent years or if I've just been to the event way too many times. This was my fourteenth year and I have literally between 100-200 houses under my belt. Not a single thing stands out to me this year whereas at least the last two years had a couple things that still inspired me.

The IPs were rather weak this year and I think they're getting a little over-zealous with the original concepts and making the mistake of relying too much on the backstory that almost no one will see or read because, if you don't take the house tours, they hide it all behind a QR code they hardly even display anywhere. For example, I was with a friend who has done all the house tours so he filled me in on the backstory of the houses. Triplets of Terror would have made absolutely no sense without that and even with that explanation I was like what? Who cares. This story and concept sucks.

A GOOD original house conveys an obvious theme, vibe, and setting without needing to read up on it. Basically a unified concept and setting, while the IP houses can get away with being disjointed "book reports". Unfortunately this year many of the original houses seemed to take the approach of the IP houses, relying on a backstory almost no one will take the time to know and having disjointed scenes.

Like, if they want us to care about all the details and what it all means, then a house focused on that needs a different approach than their very tired "usher everyone through in a conga line and boo holes every 10 feet".

I don't know. Every year I guess I kind of have the same complaints about HHN and how formulaic it's become and how the level of crowds and formulaic designs bring it down. But this year my complaints about the original houses are new.

I agree - I am an avid fan of HHN, and this year I felt forced to visit with my UFF pass. The houses are still being built with great quality, but they've leaned too much to story backgrounds. I also think a few houses this year suffer structurally with boo holes being built way too far for actors to come out right next to you.

My main concern regarding HHN is the lack of additional capacity to spread guests around. They need more stage shows and entertainment.

The quality of the zones this year (except for NY & Swamp) is quite embarrassing. The unifying theme (or lack of) is just a mess of a different aesthetics.

Have you ever thought of visiting SeaWorlds haunt or Busch Gardens Haunt. Those seem to be more of what HHN used to be.

While Howl o Screams has a few great things going for it, the entire thing is nowhere near HHN's level.

 

[JT3000]

I do feel HHN has regressed this year, but only because the last few years had been particularly strong, at least in terms of house design, so I don't think we've experienced a downward trend in that regard, at least not yet. There aren't any amazing houses this year, but there aren't any bad ones either, so at least there's that.

The scare zones have unfortunately been pitiful for longer than I dare remember, basically ever since the Superstar Parade forced them to seek more temporary solutions, leading to less immersive environments. It also doesn't help that they refuse to use the Minion land for some reason. I wouldn't even call that thing at the entrance a scare zone.

HHN desperately needs more shows, but we've been saying this for ages and they don't seem in any hurry to deliver.

While Howl o Screams has a few great things going for it, the entire thing is nowhere near HHN's level.

The more interactive nature of HOS is nice, if you're into that. It feels significantly less scripted than HHN, which can also potentially lead to bigger scares. And unlike HHN being obviously too popular for its own good, HOS still has crowd levels that make you wonder how they manage to break even, much less make a profit... until you see just how cheaply built the houses are. I'm not exaggerating when I say at least one of the houses at SeaWorld's HOS felt like it could have been built by a random person in their garage. They have a looooooooong way to go if they ever want to compete with Universal's showmanship, but given the overall state of SeaWorld as a whole, they probably don't.

Speaking of showmanship, having the exact same show every year isn't going to cut it either. It's bad enough they repeat houses, given that there's only five.

 

[JoeCamel]

I also think a few houses this year suffer structurally with boo holes being built way too far for actors to come out right next to you.

You do understand that is for the protection of the scareactors, too bad people can't be nice people

 

[JT3000]

You do understand that is for the protection of the scareactors, too bad people can't be nice people

I suspect newer HHN guests have no idea what all we've lost over the years simply due to guests being unable to behave (or more recently, walk ten feet without the urge to take a selfie.)

 

[My95cobras]

With fastpass, we got everything done in 3.5 hours….

great houses
insidious
slughter sinema 2 (let’s hear it for nefertitty)

very good houses
universal monsters
goblins feast
ghost busters (the nostalgia makes it a great one for me, but I’m VERY biased)

meh
museum

terrible
major sweets
triplets
quiet place
monsterous

we were able to do everything, eat, drink and see all the shows, including playing with the death eaters for a long time and were out of there at midnight with 24k steps and 11 plus miles done.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I'm with those who want more entertainment. I know they're the main draw, but I'd like something else to do besides waiting in long lines for houses.

And I think something should be done with the San Francisco scare zone to make it easier to walk through. Between crowds and the sets, it's too narrow a path IMO. There should be a walkway around it or something for those who just want to get to the other side.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Yeah, there needs to be a second big show. Not doing the lagoon show is weird because it's another big people-eater. Also cutting Transformers from the attraction lineup is an odd choice. This year only Mummy, Rockit, Gringotts, and MIB were available attractions. Transformers is the only other one that makes sense, but still. With the crowds this event attractions, any added options are helpful.

Another thing I'm unsure of being just overexposure to the event for me or if it's actually been toned down - the intensity of the houses. Without a doubt, the scare zones are a joke now compared to what they used to be. They're scarcely decorated and are mostly just social media photo ops. But the houses used to be gorier and more of like an onslaught to your senses, yes? Most of the houses this year I felt "this could maybe operate during the day" whereas years ago they felt like they definitely could only operate during the event.

 

[JT3000]

Yeah, there needs to be a second big show. Not doing the lagoon show is weird because it's another big people-eater. Also cutting Transformers from the attraction lineup is an odd choice. This year only Mummy, Rockit, Gringotts, and MIB were available attractions. Transformers is the only other one that makes sense, but still. With the crowds this event attractions, any added options are helpful.

Another thing I'm unsure of being just overexposure to the event for me or if it's actually been toned down - the intensity of the houses. Without a doubt, the scare zones are a joke now compared to what they used to be. They're scarcely decorated and are mostly just social media photo ops. But the houses used to be gorier and more of like an onslaught to your senses, yes? Most of the houses this year I felt "this could maybe operate during the day" whereas years ago they felt like they definitely could only operate during the event.

Gore is something that's highly dependent on the theme. A lot of themes just don't require obscene amounts of gore to pull off, but I think they're still perfectly willing to go that route when it's called for. Just look at the NY scare zone, which is plenty gory. It's also likely that desensitization is playing a large role here. You're less likely to notice a gory display when you've been seeing something similar for years on end.

The main thing that's been toned down is the scares, both in the houses and the scare zones. Part of this is due to actors using the more timid "boo & skadoo" tactic for their own safety; they try to make their scares as brief as possible and don't linger like they used to, significantly cutting down on the potential for intense, in-your-face scares. They've of course made other changes in the more distant past for TM & guest safety, such as axing the actors' ability to touch you. But I think it might also just come down to Universal making a concerted effort to tone down the event's intensity. They're in this weird spot where they want to cast as large a net as possible without upsetting anyone, despite "upsetting people" essentially being the whole idea.

 

[Andrew25]

You do understand that is for the protection of the scareactors, too bad people can't be nice people

Completely understand that HHN has modified their event over the years to accommodate scare actor safety, but there's a difference between placing a boo hole an additional 1-2 feet away from guests, and 8-10 feet away. Triplets suffers from this with lots of scares far away from guests... but Insidious is the complete opposite with holes right there next to guests. I don't think it's an issue across the event, so it seems like its tied specifically to a design choice for some of the houses.

I'm with those who want more entertainment. I know they're the main draw, but I'd like something else to do besides waiting in long lines for houses.

And I think something should be done with the San Francisco scare zone to make it easier to walk through. Between crowds and the sets, it's too narrow a path IMO. There should be a walkway around it or something for those who just want to get to the other side.

What's amazing is that you have 3 massive abandoned theaters (Animal Actors, Horror Makeup, and Bourne) & an additional 3 potential areas for smaller acts (Rockit Plaza*, Blues Brothers & Mel's Drive-In stage).

*You would need to relocate the queue located here.

Another thing I'm unsure of being just overexposure to the event for me or if it's actually been toned down - the intensity of the houses. Without a doubt, the scare zones are a joke now compared to what they used to be. They're scarcely decorated and are mostly just social media photo ops. But the houses used to be gorier and more of like an onslaught to your senses, yes? Most of the houses this year I felt "this could maybe operate during the day" whereas years ago they felt like they definitely could only operate during the event.

While HHN still does intense houses (Insidious, Darkest Deal, etc.), they've leaned more on story and tend to include a lot more actors in a "story position" versus an active scare position, which I think hurts the intensity of some houses. But that's a creative choice that can be easily remedied.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Gore is something that's highly dependent on the theme. A lot of themes just don't require obscene amounts of gore to pull off, but I think they're still perfectly willing to go that route when it's called for. Just look at the NY scare zone, which is plenty gory. It's also likely that desensitization is playing a large role here. You're less likely to notice a gory display when you've been seeing something similar for years on end.

The main thing that's been toned down is the scares, both in the houses and the scare zones. Part of this is due to actors using the more timid "boo & skadoo" tactic for their own safety; they try to make their scares as brief as possible and don't linger like they used to, significantly cutting down on the potential for intense, in-your-face scares. They've of course made other changes in the more distant past for TM & guest safety, such as axing the actors' ability to touch you. But I think it might also just come down to Universal making a concerted effort to down down the event's intensity. They're in this weird spot where they want to cast as large a net as possible without upsetting anyone, despite "upsetting people" essentially being the whole idea.

I'd be curious if anyone has a rundown of scareactor guidelines and how they have changed / been limited over the years.

What's amazing is that you have 3 massive abandoned theaters (Animal Actors, Horror Makeup, and Bourne) & an additional 3 potential areas for smaller acts (Rockit Plaza*, Blues Brothers & Mel's Drive-In stage).

*You would need to relocate the queue located here.

Horror Makeup would be a good one for the event - do a modified version of the show that's more risque than normal (and it already kind of is risque).

Just had a thought - its probably a lot of work for simulators, but they could try doing modified versions of some of the attractions for HHN the way Disney does for a few for MNSSHP. It's also a shame that they cut Transformers as an offering this year. HHN needs all the capacity it can get to spread out crowds because spending 90% of your night in backstage barricade queues isn't actually all that fun.

While HHN still does intense houses (Insidious, Darkest Deal, etc.), they've leaned more on story and tend to include a lot more actors in a "story position" versus an active scare position, which I think hurts the intensity of some houses. But that's a creative choice that can be easily remedied.

I actually like this. It provides a break from the jump scare scareactors. HHN's house design has always had an over-reliance on jump scare scareactors. These days it seems even more limited, where they largely just jump out of their boo hole for a second and retreat.

A scene that stands out to me from years ago, I don't even remember the house, but you'd walk into a room and one scareactor was huddled over another scare actor "lying on a table", and suddenly he'd rip her spine out and shove it in your face. I'm not even super into gore or anything but stuff like that has stood out to me way more than boo hole after boo hole.