Post by Mr.Cleaver on Jun 12, 2010 22:33:29 GMT -5
Mazes
Chucky's Funhouse
The first maze of the night, this one did not have it easy. This maze was the park's year-round haunted house (Universal's House of Horrors), but with added scenery and (many) added Chucky figures. During the day, several scenes were covered in a cloth, presumably to keep the day time crowd from seeing the added gore. There were Chuckys standing on the platform in the Frankenstein room, shouting something about giving his "creation" life. At night, it was the same exact house, but with the added gore uncovered and actors in Chucky costumes strewn around. The funhouse theme was rather lost, but one might see it in the various rooms of varying theming. Members of his "doll army" were present, but no real story behind them was ever presented.
Overview:
Sets: 3.5/5; great detail, but no flow or reason in order.
Story: 2/5; there was no real story present in the maze, but Chucky and his dolls were there, as promised.
Scare: 2.5/5; a five-foot tall, fat Chucky is not scary. Some dolls were startling, but that's it.
My Bloody Valentine: Be Mine 4 Ever
The underdog of the evening, this maze turned out wonderful. Not much was expected out of this one, as it's completion was rather hurried when the proposed Wolfman maze fell through. The detail was stunning; the victims seemed all too real, the sets looked as realistic as any real building, the actors were on their mark, etc. My ony complaint is that a few of the rooms seemed to be repeated, particularly the mine shaft and locker room scenes.
The fake blood spray from the impaled bodies got a little repetitive as well. But one of the best parts was the last Harry hidden after the maze itself ends; he pops out of a curtain after you leave the actual maze itself.
Overview:
Sets: 4.5/5. The rooms looked fantastic, but some were too similar.
Story: 4/5. The idea of Harry Warden coming back was kind of lost, but the point of him killing everyone was driven in pretty hard.
Scare: 4/5. Every turn had a pick axe flying at your face out of nowhere, and there were a few victims jumping out as well. But there were not many different scares.
Halloween: The Life & Crimes of Michael Myers
One word to describe this maze: Wow. This was one of those mazes that had perfect sets, perfect actors, perfect scares. There was always some one ready to scare the crap out of you, coming out of places you'd never expect. The rooms were more like scenes out of the movies: Lorry talking on the phone when Myers jumped out of the closet and strangled her; Myers escaping from the asylum; a young Myers, in clown outfit, attacking some unidentified man. I have nothing truly bad to say about this maze; my only problem is that there was probably a one in a thousand chance you'd be lucky enough to arrive in every room at the perfect time to catch each scene; I, however, was this lucky. And no maze will likely ever compare to this experience.
Overview:
Sets: 5/5. It felt as though we were walking through the Myers' house, the asylum, etc. and every last detail seemed to be perfect and realistic.
Story: 5/5. The maze flowed in perfect order with the film; every one died in proper order as well.
Scare: 5/5. Every corner had some one, and it was rarely the same charcter twice in a row. They were popping out of the wall and every possible place.
Saw: Game Over
Unfortunately, due to the fact that I couldn't get in close to opening time and the fact that this maze had a TWO HOUR WAIT, I didn't get a chance to go through this one.
Aerial view of the Saw maze:
Terror Tram: Live or Die!
Ah, the Terror Tram. Quite possibly the single most unique maze/attraction I've ever gone through, you have to experience this thing your self to fully understand it. You board the backlot tram and begin the trip to the back lot, when Billy (of Saw fame) comes on and gives you some long story on morals and drugs blah blah blah. It's when you get off the tram that the fun begins: you walk through Who-Ville, get chased by wierd clowns with chainsaws, travel trhough a Horror convention featuring Chucky, The Strangers, Norman Bates, and others. You then walk through a My Bloody Valentine area, then into a Halloween/ Michael Myers sheet maze, past the Bates Hotel, and into the War of the Worlds set, which is crawling with zombies. Past this and even more clowns, you're back onto the tram. Billy comes back on, saying someone out of the group didn't survive, and now every one has to die since we didn't keep her alive. After you pass the dead woman's body (in photo bellow), you enter a tunnel that spins and sprays "acid" on you. That's about it. Again, only those who've gone through it will know just how amazingly great this was, as the review above does not reflect well on the attraction.
Overview:
Sets: 3/5. A lot of detail, but no flow with the sets.
Story: 4/5. With the story shoved down our throats at the begining and end, it was rather obvious, even though the actual walk-through part provided no support to the story.
Scare: 3.5/5. It's hard to get a good scare in when every thing is out in the open.
Scarezones:
Let The Games Begin!
Other than a few pigs with chainsaws, there was nothing to tell you that this was a scarezone.
2/5
Welcome to Hell
This was the best scarezone of the whole event in my opinion. The music, the fire, the actors, every thing just blended perfectly into a wonderful view of Hell. Some actors seemed out of place (i.e. Saw pigs), but the demons and the Preacher were perfect.
4.5/5
The Meat Market
This one was a let down. It seemed all available energy was spent on the sets, but not the actors. The scarezone was tiny, and only had two or three actors working it. I suppose the fact that every one had chainsaws was supposed to make up for the lack of actors, but I don't know. I walked through three times and no one ever tried to get me.
3/5
Shaun of the Dead
This was interesting. Not many scares, but the sets were great and true to the film, and the actors were great. But no scares.
4/5
Freakz
I loved this one. While the sets didn't add much, and I never saw any real scares, the masks and outfits were simply amazing. Unfortunately, my camera refused to take pics of the actors. For this, I whole heartedly appologize.
4/5
There Will Be Blood
Yet another Saw themed area. The only thing is, there was no theming. No sets, no sign of the area being a scarezone other than more Pigs and the occasional slider.
2/5
Miscellanious pictures:
Chucky's Funhouse
The first maze of the night, this one did not have it easy. This maze was the park's year-round haunted house (Universal's House of Horrors), but with added scenery and (many) added Chucky figures. During the day, several scenes were covered in a cloth, presumably to keep the day time crowd from seeing the added gore. There were Chuckys standing on the platform in the Frankenstein room, shouting something about giving his "creation" life. At night, it was the same exact house, but with the added gore uncovered and actors in Chucky costumes strewn around. The funhouse theme was rather lost, but one might see it in the various rooms of varying theming. Members of his "doll army" were present, but no real story behind them was ever presented.
Overview:
Sets: 3.5/5; great detail, but no flow or reason in order.
Story: 2/5; there was no real story present in the maze, but Chucky and his dolls were there, as promised.
Scare: 2.5/5; a five-foot tall, fat Chucky is not scary. Some dolls were startling, but that's it.
My Bloody Valentine: Be Mine 4 Ever
The underdog of the evening, this maze turned out wonderful. Not much was expected out of this one, as it's completion was rather hurried when the proposed Wolfman maze fell through. The detail was stunning; the victims seemed all too real, the sets looked as realistic as any real building, the actors were on their mark, etc. My ony complaint is that a few of the rooms seemed to be repeated, particularly the mine shaft and locker room scenes.
The fake blood spray from the impaled bodies got a little repetitive as well. But one of the best parts was the last Harry hidden after the maze itself ends; he pops out of a curtain after you leave the actual maze itself.
Overview:
Sets: 4.5/5. The rooms looked fantastic, but some were too similar.
Story: 4/5. The idea of Harry Warden coming back was kind of lost, but the point of him killing everyone was driven in pretty hard.
Scare: 4/5. Every turn had a pick axe flying at your face out of nowhere, and there were a few victims jumping out as well. But there were not many different scares.
Halloween: The Life & Crimes of Michael Myers
One word to describe this maze: Wow. This was one of those mazes that had perfect sets, perfect actors, perfect scares. There was always some one ready to scare the crap out of you, coming out of places you'd never expect. The rooms were more like scenes out of the movies: Lorry talking on the phone when Myers jumped out of the closet and strangled her; Myers escaping from the asylum; a young Myers, in clown outfit, attacking some unidentified man. I have nothing truly bad to say about this maze; my only problem is that there was probably a one in a thousand chance you'd be lucky enough to arrive in every room at the perfect time to catch each scene; I, however, was this lucky. And no maze will likely ever compare to this experience.
Overview:
Sets: 5/5. It felt as though we were walking through the Myers' house, the asylum, etc. and every last detail seemed to be perfect and realistic.
Story: 5/5. The maze flowed in perfect order with the film; every one died in proper order as well.
Scare: 5/5. Every corner had some one, and it was rarely the same charcter twice in a row. They were popping out of the wall and every possible place.
Saw: Game Over
Unfortunately, due to the fact that I couldn't get in close to opening time and the fact that this maze had a TWO HOUR WAIT, I didn't get a chance to go through this one.
Aerial view of the Saw maze:
Terror Tram: Live or Die!
Ah, the Terror Tram. Quite possibly the single most unique maze/attraction I've ever gone through, you have to experience this thing your self to fully understand it. You board the backlot tram and begin the trip to the back lot, when Billy (of Saw fame) comes on and gives you some long story on morals and drugs blah blah blah. It's when you get off the tram that the fun begins: you walk through Who-Ville, get chased by wierd clowns with chainsaws, travel trhough a Horror convention featuring Chucky, The Strangers, Norman Bates, and others. You then walk through a My Bloody Valentine area, then into a Halloween/ Michael Myers sheet maze, past the Bates Hotel, and into the War of the Worlds set, which is crawling with zombies. Past this and even more clowns, you're back onto the tram. Billy comes back on, saying someone out of the group didn't survive, and now every one has to die since we didn't keep her alive. After you pass the dead woman's body (in photo bellow), you enter a tunnel that spins and sprays "acid" on you. That's about it. Again, only those who've gone through it will know just how amazingly great this was, as the review above does not reflect well on the attraction.
Overview:
Sets: 3/5. A lot of detail, but no flow with the sets.
Story: 4/5. With the story shoved down our throats at the begining and end, it was rather obvious, even though the actual walk-through part provided no support to the story.
Scare: 3.5/5. It's hard to get a good scare in when every thing is out in the open.
Scarezones:
Let The Games Begin!
Other than a few pigs with chainsaws, there was nothing to tell you that this was a scarezone.
2/5
Welcome to Hell
This was the best scarezone of the whole event in my opinion. The music, the fire, the actors, every thing just blended perfectly into a wonderful view of Hell. Some actors seemed out of place (i.e. Saw pigs), but the demons and the Preacher were perfect.
4.5/5
The Meat Market
This one was a let down. It seemed all available energy was spent on the sets, but not the actors. The scarezone was tiny, and only had two or three actors working it. I suppose the fact that every one had chainsaws was supposed to make up for the lack of actors, but I don't know. I walked through three times and no one ever tried to get me.
3/5
Shaun of the Dead
This was interesting. Not many scares, but the sets were great and true to the film, and the actors were great. But no scares.
4/5
Freakz
I loved this one. While the sets didn't add much, and I never saw any real scares, the masks and outfits were simply amazing. Unfortunately, my camera refused to take pics of the actors. For this, I whole heartedly appologize.
4/5
There Will Be Blood
Yet another Saw themed area. The only thing is, there was no theming. No sets, no sign of the area being a scarezone other than more Pigs and the occasional slider.
2/5
Miscellanious pictures: