[sleekmr2]

Has anyone been to the Halloween Horror Nights in Southern California?

I am make my third annual trip to LA for the Halloween season. The last two seasons I have gone to Knott's Scary Farm. The first time was awesome. The second time was so so cause it was kind of the same rehashed stuff and this year wanted to try something new so were planning to hit up the HHN.

Just wanted to see if there were any tips or must sees while at the event.

Any info on where I could find discounted tickets?

I know every year knotts has discount coupons normally given out at some type of fast food restaurant. I think burger king was last year. Saves a bundle. Also there are promo codes you can get online but you end up paying a processing fee and whatnot and you end up not saving much.

I normally have my friend in so-cal pick up the coupon and buy tickets a few days in advance there.

 

[danandmeg]

I've been to the one at Hollywood Studios which was fairly entertaining, the one I'm really curious about this year is Sinister Pointe. I know last year they did a recreation of the SAW movies which was supposed to be pretty cool and I was definitely eyeballing it. This year they're recreating Silent Hill which gets me uber excited.

Here's a vid from last year's haunt: YouTube - SAW: The Official Haunted Attraction in Brea, CA

 

[Kenaz]

I am going to Universal Studios in mid October, I hope its good. I watched them set up a few years back for the stuff in Florida. Looked awesome! So I am making sure I see it when I go to Cali.

 

[Fiend4Halloween]

I have been to Halloween Horror Nights for the last 3 years at Universal Studios in Hollywood and it's the best! This year they will be using the Saw movies as the major theme, along with Childs Play. If your planning on attending, I can't stress enough...BUY THE VIP PASS!!! It's a lil spendy, usually about $70 per person, but oh man is it worth it!!! The first year I went, I didn't have the pass and was only able to go to a few of the haunted houses/mazes and no rides due to time constraints. When you have the pass, you literally bypass the lines (up to 1 hour wait time, or more!) and you have your own line which NEVER takes more than 5 minutes to get to the ride or haunt. Plus, they usually just let your group go instead of rushing in a lot of people, makes it even more scarier, and as I mentioned you get on the rides fast too. You can do everything in the park TWICE if you get the pass. Have fun and let me know what you think.

 

[Havoc]

Horror nights

Ive been going since they restarted here in California. Ill be working there this year as a monster. Ive also worked Knotts Halloween Haunt and Phobia Productions. The primary rule for any theme park haunt is dont waste your time going on the non-haunt rides. Horror nights Hollywood has a daypass deal where you can come ride the rides in the morning and then stay for the haunt. Also come early in the season and early in the evening. The same goes for Knotts and even Disneys trick-or-treat. Most people are not ready to go early in the season so you can get a nice view with actors who are still full of energy. Hope to see you all there.

 

[Eltis]

I second going early in the season and on a weekday if possible. My wife and I went to it a couple years ago and had a great time. They really have some high quality stuff all based on various horror villains (Freddy, Jason, etc). I remember the entrance area (not an actual maze, but on the way to mazes) was a militarized warzone pretending like they were trying to control a zombie outbreak. It's good stuff. The rides weren't too great, but again the mazes and quality that went into the overall production was very impressive.

We went to Knott's the prior year and loved that too. Looking back, I kind of liked Knott's a little better only because they seemed to have more variety in themes and the rides were a little more interesting with the changes. But honestly, you can't go wrong with either one.

The only thing I thought was kind of lame was the dance shows with the horror spoofing. But that's just me. Some people might dig it.

Have a great time! We have a 1 year old son now, so we may not be able to go this year. But that just means I'll have to make my home haunt all the better.

PS> Oh, one funny thing at Halloween Horror Nights. We were in line and there was an actor harassing the teenager in front of us in line with this girlfriend (just getting up close and growling and stuff). He got really pissed about it and started cussing the actor out and making a scene. I had to tell him "Easy buddy, I'm pretty sure he's getting paid to do that. It's nothing personal." The girlfriend just smiled. The guy finally calmed down. Ah, to be an angsty teen again.

 

[Havoc]

Working at Knotts in Lore of the Vampire one year I was scaring a young couple. The guy pushed his girl at me and ran. I caught her just as her head was about to hit the railing. Once she had regained her feet and we verified she was unhurt she stormed off in his direction. She came back later that night and asked what time I was off. Recognizing her I asked didnt she have a boyfriend with her. "Not anymore!" she replied. Its fun the things you see during a haunt.

 

[WeirdRob]

Working at Knotts in Lore of the Vampire one year I was scaring a young couple. The guy pushed his girl at me and ran. I caught her just as her head was about to hit the railing. Once she had regained her feet and we verified she was unhurt she stormed off in his direction. She came back later that night and asked what time I was off. Recognizing her I asked didnt she have a boyfriend with her. "Not anymore!" she replied. Its fun the things you see during a haunt.

What a jerk. A real boyfriend would put himself in front of his girlfriend.

 

[sleekmr2]

I am really excited. Just purchased our flights yesterday. Now I got to set up the hotel, car and tickets. Slowly but surely. Can't wait.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Fiend4Halloween]

I can't wait either and already got my Halloween VIP tix !!

 

[Eltis]

I am really excited. Just purchased our flights yesterday. Now I got to set up the hotel, car and tickets. Slowly but surely. Can't wait.

Thanks for the tips.

You are going to love it.

I remember when my wife and I were in the Jason maze, one of the crew tried to stop me and let my wife go ahead alone.

But she was latched on tight to my hand and knew right away when I was stopped. They tried to get her to go on ahead by herself, but she wouldn't budge without me, so they gave in and just let us go.

My guess is they were going to have an actor sneak up behind her and hold her hand or something. I liked the little extra effort they tried to put in to set up some fun scares.

 

[sleekmr2]

That's what I'm hoping for. The down side imo to Knott's Scary is that they rush the line way to fast. So many people going at once you don't get the loney good scares. I mean the lines go quick and you can see alot more haunts but I prefer quality of quanitity. I would rather wait 1 hr and go in small groups.

 

[Kenaz]

Halloween Horror Night was really fun. My wife was so scared. The "Front of the Line Pass" is a must!

 

[sleekmr2]

here's my pics and review of HHN 2009.

Dukie-Dukie: Halloween Horror Nights 2009 @ Universal Studios Hollywood

 

[The Reaper]

well i have not gone in a while but when i went it was a clown theme and most of the time they got a lot of people to scream