This year's HHN theme is Reflections In Fear and hosted by Bloody Mary. As you approach the park, you see Mary's mirror as she beckons you to come into her world of horror (a very cool effect which I took this video of). The park's Scarezones and many of the houses mirror (get it...) the warped theme being based in legends and childhood stories.
First off, the houses... As I stated in my blog post last year, I'm a huge wuss and absolutely refuse to go anywhere near them (I shot a video of the entrance to the Doomsday house, but notice how there's a fence between me and it plus the fact that it wasn't open at the time), so here's a quick rundown of this year's offerings.
- Creatures! (Entrance along Production Central near Twister gift shop): This was an interesting premise for a house, so I'm kind of interested in hearing what people say about it. The house is supposed to be based on old sci-fi B movies and if you were actually in the scenario (in this case an alien invasion on a small Southern town). Can't give an estimated wait time as their sign wasn't working each time I walked by.
- Interstellar Terror (Entrance through Twister's main entrance): Each year it's like they have a space-themed house... I think to save on prop costs. Just retheme the same premise, change a few of the costumes, and you have yourself an "original" idea. Again, the wait time sign wasn't working as I passed by, so I didn't see a wait time.
- Body Collectors - Collections of the Past (Entrance in front of the New York Public Library facade): Another seeming rehash of previous year's efforts, this house appears to use a similar theme to the Caretaker's house from 2006 (which, in itself, was a remake of a house from a couple years before). Both times I passed by there was a 30 minute wait.
- Doomsday (Entrance near the Beetlejuice show): This year's addition to "Houses Based On Universal Movies That Nine People Saw", I don't know if there were problems with it or if it was scheduled to only be open off-and-on throughout the night. Don't know what was up with that. So, the only wait time that I saw for it was 5 minutes, but it had just reopened as the Rocky Horror Show I was in was letting out.
- Reflections of Fear (Entrance in the Jaws extended queue): The year's signature house, it seems weird that they relegated it to the Jaws queue building instead of one of the soundstages. The usual warning for the Jaws house carries over this year... Do not bother trying to hit up this house after a Bill & Ted's Show has let out. It looks like this year they're trying to manage the flow by not allowing you to go directly from the show to the house (instead, you must go around the Jaws restrooms, where I originally started my Universal career, or head towards the Men In Black area). But probably one you would definitely want to hit up early in the evening as, each time I went by, the wait was 45 minutes. But also, because they are trying to control the flow in that area, it just creates a huge mass of people in that general area. So again, probably want to get that out of the way before it gets too crowded over there.
- Dead Exposure (Entrance between Men In Black and The Simpsons Ride): There was a funny team of zombies out in front of the Dead Exposure house. House has something to do with zombies, dunno, don't care. The house hadn't opened yet when I first passed by, but had a 30 minute wait the second time I went by.
- The Hallow (Entrance to the left of the KidZone stage): I actually have no idea what this house is about. Couldn't really tell anything from the sign. I only went to that side of the park once, so I only saw that it had a 20 minute wait that one time.
- Scary Tales - Once Upon A Nightmare (Entrance to the right of the KidZone stage): Another seemingly rehashed house from previous years this one has evil takes on fairy tales. I also only went by there once and it had a 30 minute wait.
On to the shows... This year's show in the Animal Actors stage is a magic show featuring Brian Brushwood. The Rocky Horror Picture Show Tribue returns on the Beetlejuice stage, once again featuring an overly top-heavy background dancer who draws your attention as she nearly pops out of the scantily corset with each step she makes (this year a cute, pompdoured brunette). Which just leaves the marquee attraction for me each year, the Bill & Ted's Show. I ended up seeing the first performance last night, so I don't know if there was just something off or what. I did see one of the first shows last year and didn't care for it, but ended up seeing it like five times and liked it more and more each time I saw it. This year's show features characters from Hellboy (another Universal movie which is coming up on its DVD release, so maybe a little corporate synergy at work) as well as the usual assortment of pop culture references. This year's lineup includes Obama and McCain, Indiana Jones, Sweeney Todd, the Joker, and Hannah Montana among many, many more. Each year, the Bill & Ted shows fill up very quickly. Even though they only open the stadium up about 10 minutes before each show, it's usually best to get into the courtyard a half-hour before the show starts. My comments from last year still pertain: Get there early, be prepared to mow some people down as soon as the music starts, and try to get into the middle.
So, while I don't think that the Bill & Ted's show is as good as it was last year, I think that the event itself seems better. I think that last year's event, which was focused on the New Line licenses with themed houses for Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, kind of didn't do as much for me because I don't go in the houses. This year there seemed to be more to do in addition to the haunted houses. But, even after saying that, I'd say still probably give this year's event an 8 out of 10. The same I gave it last year.
Pictures from the event <Link>
