Halloween Horror Nights 26

I have been hyped for HHN since April and I am happy to announce that we are only 9 days away from the best event of the year!  I thought before the event begins I should give my HHN House Anticipation List for this year, so let's get started!

                                         9:  The Walking Dead

This should honestly be no surprise.  The Walking Dead last year was 

not considered a great house.  It seemed to lack in a lot of places, like the promised flooded food bank.  Which turned out to be a some scare actors in a hot tub, in fact I didn't even notice it walking through until later someone pointed it out.  I do feel that the HHN team could have done a better job, but it was still fun to walk through.

8: Krampus

I think this will be a good house.  Do I think it will be an amazing house?

Not exactly... I do believe that it will have some great set designs and facades but, considering the horror factor, I do not believe this house will be as frightening as some of the others.  I don't think that a house needs to be extremely horrifying, but there are so many spectacular houses ahead that I had to put Krampus at number eight.

                                          7: Tomb of the Ancients 

I absolutely LOVE the idea of a mummy themed house.

The facades for the house will, most likely, be insane! I can't wait to see the scare actors for this house.  The only reason I put it so low on the list is because we haven't been given enough info to fully understand how this house is going to turn out.  But I can assure you that this house will definitely be one to remember!

6: Ghost Town: The Curse of the Lightning Gulch

The idea of having a western house is genius!  

From what Universal has said about this house it will probably feature many strobe lights and some great set designs.  I can't wait to, hopefully, walkthrough the town of Lightning Gulch and the old saloons.  Again, the reason this house is so low on the list is because I don't have enough info on it.

I definitely have high hopes for this house.

                                         5: The Exorcist

                                The only reason this house is so low
the list is because the movie was mainly set in one room and until I see this house I can't really visualize how they would execute this.  Other than that one thing, I think this house will be amazing!  The HHN team has been dreaming to do an Exorcist house for years and are finally able to make that dream a  reality.  With so much potential, I can't wait to see what                  
                                             the HHN team does with this IP.

                                                 4: American Horror Story

I was really hoping for an AHS house this year

and, of course, HHN doesn't disappoint!  The house will be themed to three seasons: Freak Show, Murder House and Hotel.  I am most excited about Freak Show for the obvious reason, Twisty.  Twisty the clown is no Pennywise the Dancing Clown, but he sure is freaky!  I am sure they will do a great job with every season.

3: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Another house I was really hoping for

and yet again HHN doesn't disappoint!  In this house we will see the entire Sawyer family...The Cook, The Hitchhiker, The Vietnam Soldier, The Grandpa, and of course Leatherface.  This will definitely be the loudest and the bloodiest of the houses.  I am expecting that the set design and facades will be  

spectacular.  I am certain that this house won't disappoint!

       2: Lunatics Playground 3D-You Wont Stand a Chance

I absolutely love Chance and 3D houses,

so you can see why this house is so high up on my list.  Many people don't enjoy 3D houses, but I honestly think they are very entertaining.  Sure they aren't always the scariest, but they tend to have really fun set designs.  Having Chance as the icon this year was a really smart move, though many are unsure about this decision I think it's a great idea because it starts right from where we left off last year.  After walking through this house it may end up lower on the list, but for now I have high hopes!

1: Halloween II

Michael Myers is back to make his triumphant return!

Two years back at HHN 24 I, sadly, wasn't able to make it to the Halloween house.  I still regret it to this day, but now I will be able to experience the sequel!  I am so excited to see the creepy Haddonfield Memorial Hospital scenes recreated in this house, as well as many of the other thrilling    scenes.  If it involves Michael Myers it's bound to be great!

Are you going to experience this awesome Halloween Event?  What houses are you most excited about for HHN 26?  Let me know down in the comments.  See you in the next blog!

Toothsome Chocolate Factory coming to Universal CityWalk

The Toothsome Chocolate Factory is a new dining experience inspired by the 19th century and Steampunk.  The menu shall feature unique twists on classic steak, seafood and pasta entrees, gourmet burgers, sandwiches, incredible salads, all day brunch, and much much more!  Here is a look at some of the sweet treats they will be featuring.

Toothsome Chocolate Factory will be replacing NBA City Restaurant.  I am personally very excited for Toothsome to open!  It looks absolutely stunning!

                        You can even watch chocolate treats being made right in front of you!
Are you excited about the Toothsome Chocolate Factory?  Let me know down in the comment section below!  I will see you in the next blog!

Halloween Horror Nights 26 Rumors and Speculation

I have been hearing many rumors about possible HHN houses for HHN 26.  I thought it would be fun to list the different rumored houses and then put in my input about said houses. So, with that being said, let's get started!

                                 The Walking Dead/Fear the Walking Dead

                                         

                              I think I, and many others, agree that The Walking Dead has had it's run.

The Walking Dead had been a house featured in HHN for the past four years and has been one of the most hated houses every year.  I think it is time for The Walking Dead to say goodbye to Halloween         Horror Nights.

                                                                  The Purge

                       

The Purge has kind of become like the Walking Dead; it seems to get worse every year.

In HHN 24 it was used as a scare zone and to this day it is still my favorite scare zone in HHN history, but once it was made into a house it just didn't work.  The Purge needs to be out in the streets not crammed in a house.

                                                        Ash Vs The Evil Dead

                                                  

 

Ash Vs The Evil Dead is a new Star tv series based on the two movies Evil Dead 

and Evil Dead II.  The new series is more of a comedy horror show, rather than a flat out horror show. 

I think this would be a great comedy horror house like Penn & Teller New(kd) Las Vegas 3D.  HHN has had an Evil Dead house before so it would be cool for them to bring it back with Ash Vs The Evil Dead.

                                                Krampus

Krampus is a movie about a Christmas demon who, on Christmas Eve, punishes children who have misbehaved.  The movie did pretty well in the box office and since Legendary is really pushing it out there I am guessing we should see a Krampus house.  I don't know much about Krampus, but I do think it would be a very unique house for HHN 26.

                                    Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Brining back Leatherface would be awesome.

I think it would be very cool to see what the creative department could do with the set design as well as casting the perfect Leatherface scaractors. I love that HHN is bringing back some of their older houses and icons from previous years!  I would love to see them have a Crypt Keeper house one year!

Alfred Hitchcock 

Alfred Hitchcock was an iconic English director who has directed some amazing movies like Psycho.

I think having a Psycho house would be spectacular!  It would dig deep into some of Universal's stomping grounds and would be wonderfully suspenseful and scary!  They didn't call him " The Master of Suspense" for nothing.

American Horror Story

This is an amazing idea for a house!  I would love to see Twisty the clown lurking behind the corners of the houses just waiting to scare you to near death!  The only thing I hope to not happen to this house is that it falls in the lines of The Purge and The Walking Dead.  I don't want to see this theme become overused, but for this year I think it would be a spectacular idea for a house!

HHN Using IOA and US

Every year HHN gets bigger and busier. Universal Studios is only so big.  

I have heard some speculation on HHN expanding to IOA this year which I think would be a tremendous idea!  The crowds wouldn't seem as bad and it would give a lot more potential for some really great scare zones!  This is only a rumor, but this is one rumor that I really hope to be true!

Those were my thoughts on the new rumors for HHN, what are yours?  Let me know in the comment section below!  I will see you in the next blog!

A Universal Studios Cruise?

Universal Studios has 4 theme parks around the world.  The parks are located in Orlando, Hollywood, Singapore, and even Japan...but is that enough?  Disney has something that we do not and that is a cruise.  People love cruises and can you imagine how awesome it would be to have a Universal themed cruise?  So I had an idea to write a blog about how cool it would be if Universal came out with their own cruise line as well as some ideas of what they could do with it.  So let's get started!

There is a ton of possibility!  They could have little kids' clubs themed to Dr Seuss where the kids could be read different Dr Seuss books and Despicable Me where they could play with the minions!  And for the older kids they could have Harry Potter themed clubs where they could learn different spells and have different interactive wand stations!  And for the parents, they could have Lowes Pacific Resort themed Spas and even a Hard Rock club.
 There could be specially themed restaurants to different parts of the park like a Hogshead restaurant, a Moe's/Krusty Burger themed restaurant, or even a Cat in the Hat themed eatery.
They would probably need to have some outdoor pools with water slides; one could be called the Mini River Adventure themed to Jurassic Park.  In the Disney Cruises they have many shows that play in the main theater, so maybe it would be cool if they brought Beetlejuice back for a show in the cruise or even a longer version of the Tales of Beedle the Bard.  On select nights they could have a Cinematic Spectacular show, or even a Harry Potter themed fireworks show.

You could choose between having a normal room or pay a little bit extra for a themed room.  Can you imagine a Harry Potter themed room?  It could have a place to hold your wands and the bedding could be themed to your house!  How about a Dr Seuss room for the kids?  Truffula Trees around the corners of the room and the wonderful quotes from Dr Seuss written upon the walls in fun letters!

I think Universal has a ton of potential for having their own cruise line.  What are your thoughts on Universal having their own cruise line?  Let me know down in the comment section below and I will
see you in the next blog!

Top 5 Universal Orlando City Walk Restaurants

There are so many great restaurants in City Walk.  I thought it would be fun to write a Top 5 City Walk Restaurants list.  So let's get started!




                                              5: Red Oven Pizza Bakery

                 This restaurant has wonderful pizza!  The pizza's are made right after you order, and surprisingly enough, it doesn't take too long for them to bring out your food.  Sadly though, if you don't feel like pizza or salad, you're out of luck.

                                                4: Margaritaville 

               I love the theming in this restaurant!  Sometimes, if you sit on the patio they will have live music playing!  It is a great, fun experience for the entire family.  The food is great, but compared to all of the other City Walk restaurants, it needs to step up it's game.

                                                               3: Antojitos

           This restaurant is another great, family friendly place to eat!  They have a wonderful mariachi band playing inside.  As fun as the mariachi band is if you are visiting with friends or family, it may be hard to hear one another.  The food here is great, and the experience is truly unforgettable!

                                               2: NBC Sports Grill and Brew

              NBC is a great restaurant that you can not miss!  At least you can't miss out of the Large Pretzel!  I highly suggest you do not order a salad if you go here though.   I enjoyed taking a break from the park in the mid afternoon and having an appetizer here.  Sitting by the open windows made for great people watching entertainment. There is a large variety of different foods to choose from which makes this restaurant easy for the whole family to find something!

                                                        1: The Cowfish

          This restaurant has everything from hamburgers to sushi!  The atmosphere is so much fun and the service is great!  The food here is so delicious!  If you are coming here for the first time and can't decide between sushi or a burger, don't worry...you can get the box which contains a small roll of sushi and a slider!  If you go to Universal or City Walk I highly suggest trying out this awesome restaurant!


That was my Top 5 list, what's your's?  Let me know in the comment section below!  I will see you in the next blog!

HHN 25 House Ranking

It may be December, but I'm still not over HHN!  A little while back I wrote my Anticipation Ranking for HHN 25, and thought now, after walking through the houses for myself,  I should write my review. So let's get started!


                                           9:  The Walking Dead

                   I'm sad to say that this house was a HUGE disappointment.  There were practically no props and barley any set design.  The scare actors tried to give it their all, but they didn't have too much to work with.  It was mostly jump scares and there was really no scare factor to this house.


                                                         8: The Purge

                  This house was just another disappointment.  The Purge belongs in the streets, not in a house.  The Purge was my favorite scare zone, so I was excited that it was getting it's own house. I realize that they were planning on this house starting as the Scream house, but something happened and so this house was very last minute.  Still, they could have tried to do more with it.


                                          7: Run:  Blood, Sweat, and Fears

               This house was very confusing if you don't know the back story.  The story is this: there is a new Game show called Run and you are the star!  Competitors from all around the world have come to win, and by win we mean kill each other.  This house wasn't very scary in my opinion.  I felt it could have used a little bit more time and effort.

                                     6: An American Werewolf in London

         I loved the puppets in this house!  They were gigantic and frightening, but the house over all... Not so much.  The set design was great, and same with the puppets and scare actors, but I think the scares just weren't all there.  I was a bit disappointed since it was so high on my anticipation list.

                                       5: Body Collectors: Recollections

        This house's set design was amazing!  The detail, the architecture...it was mind blowing!
I loved the look of this house.  I was caught by surprise from some of the scares, but otherwise it didn't get me that much.  All and all though I love this house!

                                              4: Asylum in Wonderland 3D

            I love 3D houses and this one did not disappoint!  The neon walls, and the colorful lights made it feel like you really were in a a demented version of wonderland!  I could tell that the creative department had a lot of fun with this house.  The masked scare actors were quite terrifying, and the design of the house only added to the coolness of this house!  This house wasn't the scariest, but it sure was fun!

                                                               3: Insidious

         Insidious sure didn't disappoint!  When you are just about to enter the house you see the eerie Insidious house.  It was amazing to me that they built a life size house just for the line! The inside of this house did not disappoint!  The scares from this house were great! The Lip Stick Face Demon got me every time!  The set design was beautiful, in a creepy way, and the scares were perfectly timed. How could I not mention the freaky baby carriage moving all on its own!

                        2: Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters & Mayhem

        Being a huge HHN fan, this was like a present from the HHN crew to all of it's fans.  The entire house is like walking through a Halloween Horror Nights museum!  It was amazing!  The scares were perfectly timed and the set design was spectacular!  Don't even get me started on the sfx!  The only tiny problem I had was I felt like there was not enough Jack.  I may have just missed some scenes since I was only able to walk through it once.  Over all though, this house is amazing!  I loved every bit of it!

                                                  1: Freddy VS. Jason 

        I can not express how much I loved this house!  The transfer from the Friday the 13th scenes to the Nightmare on Elm St scenes was so well done, and the scare actors were perfectly casted!  There was one Jason, in the very beginning, and he was towering over everyone!  He was the perfect Jason. The set designs were, as always, mind blowing.  You felt like you were in the movie.  There was one part in the fight scene where Freddy popped out with a Camp Crystal Lake t-shirt.  I thought that was very creative and good way to make you laugh...which doesn't happen that often in the houses!
 

           This was my top list, whats yours?  Let me know down in the comment section below, and I will see you in the next blog!

Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon Opening In 2017

Yes, It's official!  Jimmy Fallon just announced that he will have his very own ride at Universal Orlando!  Since Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon will be taking the place of Twister, Twister will be closing on November 2nd.  I am always sad to see a ride at Universal go and I will be lucky enough to ride Twister one more time on November 2nd. A ride such as Twister needed to be replaced though.  Twister was a great ride in it's day, but now with rides such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, The Revenge of the Mummy, and The Amazing Spiderman Ride it is time for a change.
I have always loved Jimmy Fallon, he is a very entertaining host and comedian and I can't wait to see how his ride turns out!          

What are your thoughts about a Jimmy Fallon ride taking over Twister?

Let me know down in the comment section below!  I will see you in the next blog!