We showed up at the 6:30pm start time, saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show stage show (mediocre to boring), waited over an hour for one haunted house, grabbed a slice of pizza, saw the last Bill & Ted of the evening (great show this year!), then that was it!!!! We had run out of time. At that point, all of the haunted houses were at 2 hours wait or longer.
Now, in full disclosure, we then hooked up with a friend who worked at Universal who got us immediately into three more haunted houses in a matter of minutes (30 minutes), because the park was closing.
I decided to visit guest relations to inquire about the evening, because had we not bumped into those friends, then we would have done only one house. For everyone else who had come that night WITHOUT an insider friend--THEY WERE SCREWED!!!
Not surprisingly, the line for complaints was very long. A series of guest relations employees told me the following: The park was not at capacity, so this was actually not the most crowded night. They went on to tell me that the previous Friday, one of the houses had a 4 HOUR wait. (seriously folks, what kind of dunder-head would wait that long???).
This is when I tried to decipher what exactly is meant by AT CAPACITY, because--as I informed the employees--when a person pays the $65 to come to the event on a NON-CAPACITY night, then that person should be able to do the haunted houses--which I've been able to do each year for the past four years. This year was different.
In true Universal form, all I got was, "I don't know," and "That's what we've been told." I then inquired if capacity meant that everybody in the park was standing shoulder-to-shoulder, would that be capacity?
HONESTLY, it was the worst hard-ticket event I'd ever experienced. And the 2-hour wait in the guest relations line proved that I wasn't alone in my assessment.
Does anyone out there know how capacity is determined? Because that Thursday night was far beyond what a "happy" experience could be.
I tried to get the Universal employees to understand that if a person cannot experience more than three attractions in the entire time the doors were open to the park, then the park is definitely over capacity REGARDLESS of what some bean-counting pinhead who never sets foot in the park says.
I got free open-ended passes for my entire party for anytime in the future, but a refund was out of the question. The kept inviting me to return the following Sunday--which sounds nice on the surface, but if I hated my experience as much as I did, then why would I accept MORE of that experience as a "make good"? It's like going to a restaurant and throwing up because of an allergic reaction to dairy, and then being offered more dairy from the restaurant as an apology.
Okay, I'm off my soapbox (for the time being), but this whole 'AT CAPACITY' BS really left me with an extreme bad taste in my mouth at the park.
To any pin-head bean counter out there who determines capacity, I just have this to say: GET INTO THE PARK and see if your "capacity numbers" actually line up with a guest being able to enjoy the park. All of us understand that when a park is busy, then you've got to make choices regarding what you want to do....but being able to do only three things (ONLY ONE HAUNTED HOUSE) the entire time I was in the park is so off-the-charts stupid that I will definitely reconsider my plans for next year.
I live in L.A. and travel to Orlando in October specifically for this event. Or I'll wait the two or three years for Disney's adult Halloween offering at the former MGM Studios (rumored to be coming in 2009 or 2010).
One more question: Would anyone out there support one or two age-limited nights??? In other words, would anyone support a night at Halloween Horror Nights where you had to show I.D. and be 21 in order to attend? I WOULD!!!!! And Universal could have a ball with all the drinks served, etc., not having to worry about underage drinkers. It's a little off topic, but definitely something I'd jump on--maybe. Don't get me wrong: theme parks are for kids (of all ages)...I'm just looking for ways that we could plan our HHN experience to the fullest.
As for the issues of capacity, I completely agree that HHN has exploded in popularity and the park has failed to take the steps to limit overcrowding the place. Instead, they seem to have expanded the options for higher dollar RIP Tours and Express Passes for people who want to experience the entire thing in one night while at the same time lowering the amount of scare zones.
My second visit to HHN was definitely better than the first, but only moderately so. While we were able to pick up three more of the houses, the standby lines were insane. Oh, and when did people with Express Passes become such schmucks? On at least three occasions, people passing the standby line made derogatory comments regarding how stupid we were to not have the Express Passes (we had planned to, but by the time everyone in our group got their acts together it was too late).
Halloween Horror Nights is an excuse for Universal to print money - and they have earned that right - but the overall experience (in my opinion) has been slowly degrading with each passing year. Of course, we're already planning our group for next year. Will that be the one that makes us finally give up on the whole thing?
I agree about the crowds. Hubby basically said we are not going next year unless we have a EP...it NEVER was needed before. We went on a Sunday night and it was just horrible. We saw people urinating behind a fence, and all security did was tell them to leave the line...WHY NOT THE PARK!!! Come on people.
Universal has lost site of what HHN is all about, and now all about $$$$
Had to leave as just too busy, still, I got 2 houses in, a very wet trip on Jaws and a very quiet ride on EarthQuake.
Oh, and a good laugh at Rocky Horror....
And what about all those people who did not get the special treatment you got from your friend? Which, by the way, shame on him or her for doing that. You got to do three houses in about 30 minutes…we paid almost $70 a piece for an Express Pass and had to wait longer than that, so don’t boo-hoo about the crowds. You at least got something for nothing. Then they gave you (and all your whiney, spoiled friends) an open-ended ticket. Sounds like they tried to be accommodating and you made out like a bandit yet you still are ungrateful. Here’s a tip: buy an Express Pass next time.
Next, having a ticket in hand does not guarantee you anything once you get in the park. In stead of seeing shows you could have waited in lines like the thousands of other people. Finally, do some research the next time you plan your trip. Most repeat visitors are well aware of Hell Night, in which every school kid in Orange County will descend upon the park that Thursday because they are out of school Friday.
To get slightly off point here, I can give a solid reason as to why HHN “sucked” this year. After 13 years of going, this was the worst HHN ever. Not because of crowds…that’s to be expected. But because we did do all the houses in one night and they were boring, uninspired, and not scary. Five houses based on horror films while the other three were just rehashed houses that had been done before. Where was the originality? Universal sacrificed quality for quantity. Halfway through the night my 14 year -old cousin said “I thought this was going to be scary”. That pretty much summed it up. But about a week after the event Universal sent me an online survey about HHN (a very thorough, detailed survey, I might add) and I am glad they at least give people an opportunity to leave feedback.
It’s ok to hate the event because the quality is lousy, but don’t get pissy about crowds and long lines, especially when you get exclusive FREE special treatment.
If I buy a ticket to a movie, I have a resonable amount of expectation that I will be able to see that movie in its entirety, yes? However, if management decides to sell twice as many tickets as theater seats, thus causing people to sit on top of each other and stand in front of people and fighting for seats, it ruins the movie. They haven't gone over capacity, because they can still stick warm bodies in the room, irregardless if it prohibits 90% of the moviegoers from seeing most of the movie. It doesn't fix the problem to then offer MORE EXPENSIVE tickets which enable a person to sit in the front row--a row which could have been used by the general ticket holder, but is now reserved for only ticket holders who pay higher prices. The theater has made twice as much money, and a small percentage has enjoyed their film, but the vast majority are pissed off--and NO, I refuse to pay for the same movie twice just to see the second half.
Does that make sense? What you're saying to me is, "Well, since someone gave you a ticket to go to the front row for the last few minutes of the movie, then you have no reason to complain???"
If you'll reread my post, I DID MENTION that I thought that most people on the night in question had been screwed out of a good experience. It wasn't just about me and my "spoiled friends." I was referring to the night in general. The two-hour complaint line was testament to that fact. And I DID tell guest service about my quick three-house expedition in the last 30 minutes....I was there to voice my complaint about the six hours in the park that nearly sucked because of OBVIOUS OVER CAPAICITY.
You can chime on all you want about Express Passes, Hell Night, etc etc. I've done HHN for five years now, and it's always crowded. This year, however, it was obscenely out of whack to the point of uselessness.
I'm not whining. I'm stating facts. Yep, I lucked up in my last 30 minutes. But that doesn't improve the crap-fest that was the rest of the night...and you mention that doing the shows was a choice that I made--yep, you're right. I've done them for five years now--I've even done Bill&Ted twice once...but with reasonable capacities, the HHN experience is good (although never perfect). Good enough to make me come back. This year's greed-fest was enough to make me puke--and stay home.
Go ahead Shock, call me spoiled and whiny--it doesn't change the facts. And nothing you say can obscure them. And by the way, you mentioned that most of the haunted houses were worse than years previous--what I'm saying is that most HHN attendees can't make the comparison, because they couldn't get into more than two houses.
I'm still not sure how your times add up. If you were there from 6:30 to closing- that is about 7 hours.
You say you waited (1 hour) for one Haunted House.
Saw Bill & Ted (1 hr).
Saw Rocky Horror and had a slice of pizza (1 hr).
That's 3 hours... Where did the other 4 hours you were there go?
I also don't think it is fair to admonish the park for the entire event, when from what everyone is saying, you went on what is notoriously one of the worst nights for crowds of the whole month.
I was there this past Friday night... and yes, it was very crowded- however that didn't hinder my enjoyment. I saw 3 houses... the Billy & Ted show, rode the Mummy twice, MIB once and spent the rest of the time wandering around and soaking up atmosphere. All without fastpass... and without even staying past 11:30.
It looks to me, like you just picked a crappy night to go- and seem to have several hours of time that's not accounted for.
Sorry you had a bad time... but your experience is not the same as everyone else's.
Oh, and "irregardless" is not a word. Sorry, that's a pet peeve of mine.
From dictionary.com:
ir·re·gard·less
–adverb Nonstandard. regardless.
[Origin: 1910–15; ir-2 (prob. after irrespective) + regardless]
—Usage note Irregardless is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less. It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable. Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis. Irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.
Who says that theme park insider isn't educational? I say it is IRREGARDLESS of the detractors: (note, I'm using the word usage relating to the 4th entry for the word from dictionary.com, which reads the following:
irregardless
adverb
regardless; a combination of irrespective and regardless sometimes used humorously.)
(Also, I have two pet peeves of my own--the first being the extended use of parenthetical expressions [phrases inside parenthesis] and the subsequent use of brackets [sample] used within parenthetical expressions.). *It's never clear how to punctuate the end of a sentence that ends with a parenthetical, especially if the parenthetical is a question and the sentence is not (Does that make sense?).
Second pet peeve: Using the word "IMPACT" as a verb. It's a noun and hasn't meandered lazily into a verb yet--except in the minds of lazy executives everywhere who think it sounds strong, but is actually just a lazy general word that doesn't mean a whole lot.
P.S. My THIRD pet peeve: Writing words in ALL CAPS.
And to explain the "missing hours" from my HHN experience: I spent that time agonizing over signs throughout the park that thought it necessary to capitalize the first letter of every word on the sign except for conjuctions and less-than-four-letter prepositions. They think they're clever, but it's just plain WRONG (there I go again with that DARN [self-knowing example] all-cap clap-trap!).
P.S. But before all the tomatos come flying my way, just let me say this: The night had a few fun moments, but the overwhelming majority was just plain RUINED by overcrowding. My lost hours? Um, the few things I did do had long waits as well...I even had to wait nearly 20 minutes to use the bathroom--and nearly 30 minutes to wait for the girls in our group to do so. I've been there during crowds many times and for many events--and YES, it is the park's fault for overcrowding, not the school district's. The park can limit the warm bodies through the gates. They refuse because the rest of the year they're bleeding away customers and going down the drain. Harry Potter can't come soon enough. Universal Studios Orlando (the park separate from IOA) is one of the most boring, meaningless parks in the "top-tier" realm of theme parks. I used to love it, but it only sees the soles of my feet during HHN now (and that may soon change).
The shows were great, Bill & Ted got better toward the end, as it does every year. The Rocky Horror Show Tribute was fun and memorable. The Freak show was just that, Freaky.
One night I went there were lots of scaretators by the Entrance but apart from that they were few and far between.
The houses were all really good, the more I did them the more I apprechiated what goes into putting them together, and looking around gave me the chance to get scared, quiet a lot toward the end.
It was a shame that in the final days they closed some of the rides. Shrek 4D and Jimmy Neutron no longer opened and Jaws seemed to close too much, BUT..
Overall, it was fun. I'll miss it until next year when hopefully it will be better.
Roll on Mardi Gras!
