HHN and Whatnot.
Seems about time to catch up, and I think photos shall be required. So I'll just jump into it, shall I?
I've not yet posted about Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando! I've been twice now, and I'm thinking I'll go once more before my pass expires at the end of next weekend. The short version: Awesome but crowded like whoa.
I went on opening night and met my friends there, the couple who included the pass as part of my payment for shooting their wedding. And it rained. all. night. long. Luckily it wasn't a hard rain, just a steady sprinkle that still had us pretty well soaked after an hour or two. We did a couple houses on our own, and then met up with a large group from some web forum they're on. It was okay, but I felt like I could have done a lot more solo--though I guess that wasn't really the point. Anyway, we did the Roanoke Cannibals, Dollhouse of the Damned, and Aliens vs. Predator houses, all of which were pretty awesome. AvP was probably my favorite of the night, because it was pretty spiffy to be thrust into that world for a few minutes! But Dollhouse definitely got high points for creativity and overall wow-factor. After the houses we rode Men In Black (first time I'd ever ridden with others good enough to get us rated as Galaxy Defenders!) and then got back with the big group for the last Bill & Ted show of the evening.
And I feel like that a bit of explanation is required here since most of you have no idea what HHN is all about. So the basic idea of the event is that they turn the theme park into a big haunted house. A handful of rides are open in their normal states, but the scary stuff is the main attraction: there are scare zones with different themes set up around the park, with decor and set pieces and fog machines and lighting and scareactors (rhymes with characters, get it?) in costumes and makeup and carrying knives and chainsaws and stuff, wandering around lunging at unsuspecting passersby. And there are also a bunch of scare houses, each with its own theme, that you tour through. Sometimes a house theme is a generic concept, but more regularly these days it will be some licensed popular property from horror film or tv (The Walking Dead, Child's Play, Dracula, Halloween, the aforementioned AvP, etc.). The houses are sorta like mazes, though (usually) with a single well-defined path, and along the way are scareactors hiding around corners or behind curtains or as part of the decor who will jump out at you (though they aren't allowed to touch you, of course). To me it seems like a terrible job because I have to imagine they get slugged out of pure reflex on occasion. Anyway, it's all a lot of fun, and being Universal the theming and set construction and costumes/makeup are all top-notch. There are also some shows, the main one being the Bill & Ted show, wherein B&T from the classic '80s movies participate in a far-fetched and ridiculous storyline that lampoons the past year's pop culture headlines and luminaries at every turn. It's always a treat, and great fun to yell "Catch you later, Bill & Ted!" in response to their "Catch you later, Audience Dudes!" at the end of the show.
Anyhoo, visit #2 was this past Saturday night, and this time I stayed solo. I headed straight for the Halloween house, which I'd heard was the best of the year and knew would get longer lines later. Even going straight there, it was almost an hour wait. Did I mention the event is crowded? Always. And this is even early in the season--lots more people go as October wears on! Anyway, the Halloween house was pretty damn good, as I expected, with lots of creepy Michael Myerses lurking around the corners. After that I went to Giggles & Gore, a generic-themed house based on the idea of killer clowns meeting their demise in a factory by way of various industrial equipment. That one was mainly memorable because of the group in front of me: about 4 teenage girls, one of whom would literally fall down on the floor every time a scareactor appeared. And that happens a lot, so she fell down a LOT, and would often take one or more of her friends down with her. Fun is fun, but that kind of fun has gotta get painful after a while! After that I checked the wait times, and Dollhouse of the Damned was pretty short so I went through that one again and was again quite pleased with it. And then I rode some rides (they generally have pretty short waits during HHN since that's not why most people are there), including my first go on Transformers: The Ride 3D. That was pretty good, though essentially just a re-themed version of the Spider-Man ride at Islands of Adventure. And then I got a Ben and Jerry's milkshake and called it a night, since my legs were jelly from the wedding and theme-parking.
So let's see, the houses I haven't hit yet are Dracula, From Dusk Til Dawn, and The Walking Dead. Not really being a vampire fan, I don't care too much about Dracula or Dusk, though I'd hit them if the lines are short enough. I definitely want to do Walking Dead, so I think that will be my priority next visit. I wouldn't mind doing AvP again too, though it's one of the always-a-long-wait houses this year for sure. And I'd like to see Bill & Ted again. Oh, and ride Minion Mayhem, another ride I've not yet done.
So here, have some pics!
The photo up top is from one of the scare zones, based on the Purge movies. This is the same area after dark:
And there's a little show with a smarmy government official (the lady with the microphone) auctioning off victims for the assembled crowd:
Meanwhile, over at the Halloween house:
That's the shadow of Michael Myers killing someone in the window.
They do this to Mel's Drive-In every year, which I think is a nice touch:
Stilt-walking scareactor in the Bayou of Blood scare zone:
More Bayou of Blood, very nicely done.
Dollhouse of the Damned:
The shutters are covered with detached baby doll limbs, kinda cool.
This was my first visit to Universal since they opened the new Harry Potter area where Jaws used to be.
The Knight Bus!
And Grimmauld Place! Behind the London facade is Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, and the Escape from Gringotts ride. Unfortunately the area is all blocked off for this event; probably contractual stipulations say they can't do unsanctioned scary stuff in there. Bummer, Diagon Alley with dementors and Death Eaters and such would be awesome!
And finally, a portrait of pensive Frankie:
But I'm a little ahead of myself. Before the HHN trip Saturday, I shot the wedding. It was pretty cool, but sort of stressful. I got to the bride's house at 8:15am, where she and the bridesmaids were getting ready. At first all was cool, but apparently there was a miscommunication and the makeup lady thought the bride was supposed to be ready at 10am instead of 9am--oops! So no one was ready when the limo came to take them to the venue, and we made it with barely any time to spare before the ceremony, so the first look and a few shots we had planned to get beforehand had to get tossed or rushed. But the ceremony went beautifully, and the reception was fine, though a little odd since it was in the middle of the day--I'm used to receptions at night! It was a bit hot and muggy, and tiring (as always), but a good time anyway. And I got to see some former colleagues who have moved on from the company, so that was good too.
Sunday we decided to head to the zoo in Sanford, which was.. okay. That's really not a very good zoo, sorry to say. The best part is the herpetology building, they have some really cool snakes.
Like this green mamba.
And this canebrake rattlesnake.
Baby gator!
Otters saying hello!
I thought this made for a nice shot. The plant is air potato, which is a noxious invasive exotic vine with no native means of control--it grows fast, reproduces like mad, and smothers the trees it covers. So within the past few years the state has introduced an Asian beetle that apparently feeds on nothing but this plant (as far as they know and hope, anyway)--I found some in my backyard a few weeks ago. Nice to see their handiwork here too. Er, mouthiwork?
Stacked millipedes!
Pygmy goat in the petting zoo.
Then yesterday evening we went to a nearby park we like--we'd driven past it earlier in the day and the water level of its centerpiece lake looked really high from all the rain we've been having, so we wanted to check that out. And sure enough, a lot of the park was very nearly flooded, with standing water in places. Unusual to see!
We finally found some ducks to feed.
This stretch of boardwalk was closed off--the surface of the lake is usually a good few feet below the boardwalk, but as you can see, it was right up there. And we're getting more rain even as I write this. The wife and I were like, okay, it's great that we're getting all this rain after an unusually dry year or three, but getting it all in the space of a week is a bit much!
Okay, that's plenty for now. I hope your week is off to a good start!