[Haunt Review] Halloween Horror Nights 23 at Universal Orlando: Walkers, Walkers Everywhere...

Well, here's a first in a long while. A haunt that we actually had to pay to get in for! Though, with this year's line up at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, it was kind of a no brainer for us...just how do you pass up on this one?

Tossing out pretty much any idea of originality out the door, unlike other large scale theme parks events, they decided to cram the line up with 8 all new houses themed around some of the biggest and iconic names in horror movies, video games and TV. Though, the scare zones entirely dedicated to AMC's The Walking Dead, not something that I was overly thrilled with to be honest.

Either way, here's the quick run down of what we thought of the event as a whole...

• Date Visited: 10/26/13
• Review Team: +Carrie H.C. and +Kitsune Hazard 
• Rating:  Good (Houses: Very Good/Excellent - ScareZones: Poor/Fair)
• Recommendation: Definitely go if you're a fan of any of the franchises, don't go if you're tired of zombies. Who am I kidding? It's HHN...just go, you'll find something to like...hopefully.
• Likes: Huge collection of mazes and amazing attention to detail within them, actors really into everything even early on in the season as well!
• Dislikes: Scarezones were definitely lack luster overall and too many dead spots. The massive construction for Harry Potter Part 2 impacted things for sure, should've put this in IOA for this year. The mazes in some cases were just too short. Oh and not getting to see more of it!
• Pro-Tip: Go on a Weds, Thursday or Sunday if you want to avoid long lines. Also, check out a local Publix to get tickets at a much lower price, $91.99 is insane... 

Disclaimer: We were not invited to this event...so there's no chance in hell for the views or opinions to be swayed at all. Granted, if we had been...maybe we could've seen more...but that's nitpicking isn't it? Either way, the fact that we weren't invited didn't sway our opinions either!

Alright, I'll start right off the bat saying that we didn't see everything that this year's event had to offer. Not for lacking of trying, but the lines got insanely long on us and with just under 6 hours to hit everything and do Bill & Ted, there was just no way that was happening. However, we did hit what we had wanted to see...for the most part...

First order of business? Cabin in the Woods.

I'd have more pictures, but with this one being in a sound stage that just wasn't really possible...but they did have an amusing video being projected on the wall of the building as we waited in line.

That said, once entering into the sound stage, we were confronted with the cabin and the facitlity beneath in all their glory. Though, honestly...the first room was a bit dead and not much was happening in there...was nice to see our wolfy friend there though...

The rest of the house was a mad scramble through the mayhem of the film. Tons of things were represented in the house and one of my favorites was seeing the Sugar Plum Fairy brought to life as well as everyone's favorite Merman. The Reaver and Unicorn were a nice touch too though...

The sets within this house were amazingly accurate and the costuming and acting was all up to what you'd expect from HHN. It really was a great way to start the night off and any fan of the movie will definitely appreciate the efforts that were put into bringing this one to life. That said, I really just wish this one was longer...it seemed short and some scenes that were so iconic were a bit of a let down in how they were presented. Overall though, it was really good.

One thing that definitely threw us for a loop was the fact that we exited waaaay down by Evil Dead at the end of the main row of houses upon entering. A quick look saw that all of these had now turned into huge waits so we decided to take a little wander and head through a couple of the scare zones and towards another haunt that we really wanted to see. Each of these scare zones were themed around different aspects of The Walking Dead for this year.

First up? The Attack on Atlanta. Great idea and there were a ton of Walkers (zombies for those not in the know) around...a lone tank and some creatures walking about does not an immersive experience make. Not by a long shot.

I get the fact that it's hard to recreate scenes from the show entirely...but if you're going to tout it so much...do a bit more than this! Tanks are cool and so were the plants they had for the Walkers to attack randomly, but overall it was kinda meh on my end to be honest. If you don't watch the show...you're not going to care. Flat out.

With the rest of the scare zones being themed along the same lines...it really wasn't something that any of us really cared much about. While we did have some fun with pictures and the like we just didn't see the point of it. None of it was overly scary and I'll be honest...was a let down. Especially after the kick ass awesomeness of the Cabin in the Woods maze.

Not to be totally negative, the campsite scene and the roving bands actually driving about the park were great and we did have much fun with them. In the end though, they seemed more like photo ops than anything scary.

Oops, I said I wasn't going to be totally negative. So much for that...

The whole Atlanta thing was really just a let down to be honest, at least the night we were there. No we saw were scared, a few people cowered and a couple of screams happened but most didn't take notice.

See the problem here...no? Well let's continue with this mess for a few, shall we?

So, want a good thing? The barn! Yes, the barn...that was great and loved the fact that they added in the smell of fire and all that to it. The actors inside were pretty good too but there were only two of them...and that seemed weird to me. Overall, the theming was nice, but the scares...nowhere to be seen.

In fact, I didn't see many people scared at all so far. They were either just curious or enamored by set pieces of a popular TV show. So far, we weren't very impressed by much in this area of things either. 

Never fear, there's more on this strange and horrible take over of Universal. Our next stop had us visiting the survivor's camp site...complete with RV, tents and everything else you need for a family vacation in the woods to get away from the living dead. Sounds ripe for terrifying folks, eh?

Oh, sorry, don't think there's any scares here either. There just weren't any. The scariest thing in the area were some park employees directing folks not sit on the coolers and the like that were props as they took pictures.

Sure, the sets and scenery are amazing, but without the chaos and constant change up of environments, everyone knew what to expect. More zombies. I love zombies as much as the next person but I've been long suspect that this wouldn't work and sadly I was right. It just doesn't.

Yeah, having every, single, scare zone with the same kind of scares is just plain dumb and flat out lazy. This is pandering to a show that's popular, but forgetting that the scariest thing about the show is not the zombies, it's the people and how they treat each other that's truly scary. How is that so completely lost? Also, everyone knows the scares that are coming...why? They're all the same! When there's actually actors in the areas to scare folks that is....

Alright...now, enough of the Negative Nancy shit. I really mean it this time too! Our next stop was La Llorona. This maze is something new for Universal Orlando, but fans of Halloween Horror Nights out in Holllywood will definitely remember this one as it was around for three years out there (once as a scare zone and twice as a maze).

Right off the bat we were impressed with the outside theming and the soundtrack leading up to the house, cries of "Mi hijos" could be heard and the wailing...god the wailing. Soon, the Spanish Mission style facade was before us...and the twisted world of The Weeping Woman was about to be unleashed upon us...

Inside we were met with more insanely beautiful sets and some truly creepy scares. At some points it was hard to imagine that we were inside the entire time as we passed through homes, churches and even courtyards over a river...look down into it for an especially disturbing surprise!

Further into the depths of the house, we found ourselves deep in the water lair of La Llorona and it's dark, dank confines were definitely full interesting things going on...I won't say what exactly (that's not my thing) but keep your feet beneath if ya know what's good for ya!

This maze was great and while many seem to be discounting it, it's not your typical haunt so I can see why. It's a slow and deliberate kind of scare and definitely helps catch folks off guard from the more intense houses that Universal is showcasing this year.

Maybe knowing the lore behind it will help some more understand it, but our entire group really enjoyed it even with just the basics being told to them.

After this we were dumped out way in the back of the park by Men in Black and After Life: Death's Vengeance. Not huge on 3D haunts we figured it was best to pass up on this one for now and head over to check out the Rocky Horror Tribute. However, upon getting to the theater we noticed that it was already packed and they weren't letting anyone in...10minutes before the show was scheduled to start. A bit of a let down...but we were unwavered and decided to try our luck on a couple of other  things...which also had the wonderful timing of breaking down on us. See how our night was going so far?

So, at this point it was pretty late in the night and while we hadn't gotten to much we knew one thing we were going to get to...Bill & Ted's. It's a must see and frankly one thing you can't pass up on if you're going to HHN, trust us on this one.

Once again the boys were back and trying to save themselves and their girlfriends from the most bogus of evils that has been unleashed upon the world. This year? Annoying pop-stars gone bad...and damn have they really let themselves go!

While the show wasn't anywhere near as risk taking or over the top as it has been in the past it's still great. It also felt a bit shorter than previous years as well, but easy to overlook for the over the top insanity of it...and who they finally kill is just great. Trust me.

Now with very little time left in the night we had the chance to get into one last maze...as the very last guests to experience it at that. Which was it? None other than Evil Dead. We got lucky and behind us they were clearing the ropes...so when I say the last, I mean the last.

I'll be the first admit that none of us have seen the sequel that came out recently, but we're all huge fans of the originals here. So, while a few things were lost on us, we picked up the gist of things pretty quick. It's not rocket science after all...

Entering into this one was a bit strange...lots of red on the walls once inside the sound stage and then a walk through the spiraling pages of the Necromicon before we passed below the massive title and into the cabin...from here things got really weird.

There were scares literally everywhere and the attention to detail was definitely on par with everything else we'd seen so far in the night. The actors were having a blast with their roles in the twisting labyrinth of the cabin and the woods surrounding it. Tons of disturbing scenes that, even though we didn't see the movie, were easily recognizable from the tons of previews out there, all loving recreated in all their gory glory. That said, even though we were the last ones through and security not far behind to signal the end of the night, they were giving it their all. A major plus in their favor and awesome to see.

Overall, we had a pretty good night and while our timing got screwed up some and we weren't able to hit everything as we would've liked to, what we did see impressed us. Well, at least on the maze level of things. The scare zone thing? Dump it. Dedicating the whole thing to just one TV show is moronic and no matter how popular is just a bad idea all around. The fact that the scariest thing about said show is, again the living people and not the zombies, completely lost here as well. This works for a house and maybe a scare zone outside of it, but not an entire event's theme. Personally, if you're going, go for the houses and shows, outside of that? Scare zones at Universal haven't been great since HHN 20, maybe 21, and the event as a whole hasn't really been truly great since...

I really do hate to be this harsh about the event, I worked at Universal Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights 13 and 14 and loved my time there but they deserve this right now. Back then they were pushing the boundaries with things and taking risks, these days it just seems too commercialized and while they do a great job of recreating the movies, maybe it's time to lay off things a bit and get back to what made HHN the best Halloween Event in the country. Creativity and original ideas.

For more information about dates, hours, tickets and more check out the official Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights website!

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