PHN 2010: Captain Cline’s Pirate Ghost Ride!

Arrr me mateys!

Mrs. Awesome and I recently had the joy of visiting Captain Cline’s Pirate Ghost Ride in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  I’ve been wanting to visit this thing for years (actually, when I wanted to visit it originally, it was Captain Cline’s Pirate Adventure Ride) and have always seemed to miss out on it.  Probably because I don’t visit the beach area much during tourist season, and the ride is only open during that time.

But I happened upon it a couple of weeks while it was actually open, and there was no way in hell I was missing it this time! Read the rest of this entry »

Written on October 14th, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags:
PHN 2010: Scarowinds in Charlotte, NC!

Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the old Paramount parks (like Richmond, Virginia’s Kings Dominion) that was purchased by Cedar Fair when Paramount decided to get out of the theme park business.  You won’t find too many licensed properties (other than Snoopy), but you find a ton of cool roller coasters in parks like these.  I’m actually surprised, that given the hardships so many other companies have faced that the Cedar Fair parks have faired well enough to stay open, considering their closest competitors, Six Flags, seems to be having nothing but issues.

Still, they try to compete in the lucrative Halloween haunt race, with eight haunted houses, three scarezones, and a couple of shows.  Much like Busch Gardens, Scarowinds Halloween Haunt (this year titled Scarowinds X), rather than just recycling props into differently themed houses, actually recycles the majority of the houses from the previous year, and usually injects one or two new houses a year.  Which is a great cost-saving measure, but it kind of makes repeat visits from year to year a little less enticing, as I saw at least two houses that I’d seen from the last time I’d gone there (2 years ago) with very little in the way of change.  Sure, updates were made, but the overall experience was relatively the same.

Still, that was just two of EIGHT haunted houses – was the drive to Scarowinds worth it?  More after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on October 13th, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags:
PHN 2010: Meet the Ghost Hunters TOMORROW at Halloween Horror Nights!

On Thursday, October 7, Halloween Horror Nights guests will have the opportunity to meet Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango from the hit SyFy Channel series, “Ghost Hunters.”   The duo will sign autographs for guests and personally experience the intense horror and entertainment of Halloween Horror Nights XX.

“Ghost Hunters” has become one of the highest rated reality shows on SyFy Channel.  The popular show follows Gonsalves, Tango and a group of real-life paranormal researchers as they investigate haunted places across the nation.

The “Ghost Hunters” autograph session is included in admission to Halloween Horror Nights and will take place in Battery Park, located right across from Mel’s Drive-In, at 7:00pm and 9:30pm.

Halloween Horror Nights XX features eight all-new haunted houses, six scarezones and two live shows.  Guests will experience a new level of extreme and intense Halloween entertainment as they face Fear – the master behind everything Halloween Horror Nights has ever been and will become.

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights XX: Twenty Years of Fear runs select nights through October 31.  For more information, visit www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com.

For an interview with Gonsalves and Tango about HHN that your fellow IoMers were involved in, check out the audio at www.hhnrumors.com!

Written on October 5th, 2010 , Theme Parks Tags:
PHN 2010: Halloween Horror Nights Photo Update!

As promised in my Halloween Horror Nights review, check out after the jump, or click the image above, for awesome photos from the big event!

Read the rest of this entry »

Written on September 28th, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags: , , , ,
PHN 2010: Halloween Horror Nights Opening Night Event (Part Two)!

For part one, click here…

And so it continues…

Though a “new age of darkness” brought with it a downpour of rain, we were not swayed in our attempts to trek through all eight of this year’s Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses!  While I may have been a little disappointed with some of the scarezones (probably due to the rain limiting the amount of scareactors, and amping up the fog quotient to the point it was impossible to see), I’ve got to say, this year they sure had some AWESOME houses.  Our feet killing us, we began our journey with… Read the rest of this entry »

Written on September 27th, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags: , , , ,
PHN 2010: Halloween Horror Nights Opening Night Event (Part One)!

At Halloween Horror Nights XX: Twenty Years of Fear, guests will experience a new level of extreme and intense Halloween entertainment. There may be glimpses of the familiar, but this is not an anniversary event. And the familiar will quickly give way to the new. Halloween Horror Nights runs September 24-25, September 30-October 1-3, 7-10, 14-17, 20-24 and 27-31.

I have faced my Fear…and come out alive!

Last night, Mrs. Awesome and I attended the opening night media event for Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights event, and we had a blast!  Originally, I wasn’t terribly excited about this year’s event – the information seemed to come out later than usual, the website a little less elaborate than previous year’s.  I was beginning to wonder if Universal had decided to take the path of cutting back – after all, pockets are tight, ticket prices are up, and they just spent a bundle of money building and promoting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (my review on that is coming).  Who could blame them for cutting back a bit?

Well, whatever they may have been lacking in promotion leading up to the event, they more than made up in actual efforts that went into the houses and some of the scarezones!  This year was definitely a great time (not the best out of the five times I’ve been, but certainly not the worst).

We started the night checking in at the media tent (that’s what us coooooool kids do) before being led to the Pantages Theater, typically the location for the Universal Horror Make Up show, where we were treated to drinks and an awesome layout of hors d’oeuvres while we got to mingle with a couple of the other news outlets.  We met some great guys from Destination: Themepark and of course saw the guys from Attractions Magazine, as well as a slew of other people who either run blogs, work for local media, or run theme park or HHN fansites.

Right outside of the Pantages Theater were two of the night’s best scarezones, HHN XX: Twenty Years of Fear and Fear Revealed, where we got some great pictures with the icons of Halloween Horror Nights past… Read the rest of this entry »

Written on September 25th, 2010 , Theme Parks Tags: , , ,
PHN 2010: Tonight…I face my FEAR!

Tonight, face to face, I get to see all of the people in this video…

I’ll have a ton of pictures and reactions to the event over the weekend!  So exciting!

Written on September 24th, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags: , , , ,
PHN 2010: HHN XX VIP Lounge!

Man…sometimes I really wish I lived in Florida.  I would attend EACH one of these!  This year, Halloween Horror Nights in Universal Orlando is doing something special for the fans – a VIP Lounge!

Be a part of the newest Halloween Horror Nights experience – the Halloween Horror Nights VIP Lounge. The famous Cafe La Bamba Cantina has been transformed into a ghoulish getaway featuring “Secrets from the Past” – 20 years of concept art and memorabilia from some of the most famous and infamous Halloween Horror Nights ever. This exclusive area also features VIP drink service served by cocktail waitresses, and prime views of the “Fear Revealed” Scare Zone – perfect for watching the terror take over unsuspecting victims.

VIP Lounge tickets are $9.99 (tax included) and are available at Universal Studios’ front gate and Guest Services windows, as well outside the Lounge itself.

Each week looks like it has a new session, including one about the work that went into the awesome THE THING haunted house from 2007!  Here’s the listing of sessions…

EXTREME HOUSES
September 30, 2010 – 8pm & 10pm
Some favorites of the Art & Design team were the EXTREME HOUSES, which were fully designed (one even started but cancelled at the last minute) to be truly terrifying adventures that would have isolated guests, and allowed them an opportunity to face their worst nightmares by themselves.

LEGENDARY TRUTH – THE JOURNAL OF MARY AGANA
October 7, 2010 – 8pm & 10pm
An in depth and revealing review of the astonishing details that went into the telling of the odd doctor�s bizarre and horrifying story. COLLECTIVE operatives successfully tied together the elements of the event and solved a major mystery as to why they took place.

TERRA CRUENTAS
October 14, 2010 – 8pm & 10pm
This was the first time all Halloween Horror Nights elements were written, designed and produced to relate to each other through a detailed and complex legend of Terra Cruentas (World of Blood). Totally original and unique characters from 5 distinct realms depended on each other for survival, ritual and sacrifice to their Terra Queen.

THE THING
October 21, 2010 – 8pm & 10pm
Originally proposed to be a part of HHN 2002 the THING HOUSE wouldn’t be built until 2007. The various concepts originally envisioned were modified greatly in the second design. You know what was included, now learn what did not make the final cut.

THE ICONS
October 28, 2010 – 8pm & 10pm
Halloween Horror Nights fans know all of the infamous iconic characters that hosted the event. BUT, there are others…that you may have heard about but do not know. Meet the creators who will describe how and why their creations were altered, hidden and/or resurrected in different form.

Buy your tickets now!  Once word gets out, these will sell out!

Written on September 24th, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags: , , , ,
PHN 2010: Live Footage From HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS XX!

Now this is cool….

This Friday, Universal Orlando Resort invites viewers to watch the first –ever live online stream from inside Halloween Horror Nights on www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com/orlando/news.

Viewers will get an early look at Halloween Horror Nights XX as guests anxiously await the opening of the event. Then they will get a first-ever live look inside one of this year’s haunted houses as guests experience the terror first-hand.

For 24 nights beginning September 24 and running through October 31, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort will reveal Fear as he has never been seen or experienced before.  Fear and what he has created have horrified people for 19 years.  And this year, he will be more real than ever. This year’s event features eight all-new haunted houses, new scarezones and two live shows.

Halloween Horror Nights XX Event Opening

Friday, September 24 from 6:00 – 6:30 PM EDT

Live Haunted House Stream

Friday, September 24 from 9:30 – 11:30 PM EDT

Go to www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com/orlando/news and click on the LIVE FEED button on the right side of the page.

Keep an eye out for me!

Written on September 23rd, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags: , , , ,
PHN 2010: Meet FEAR!

Tomorrow, I get to face FEAR.  And this isn’t an internal struggle, no, I get to face the embodiment of FEAR at this year’s Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights event!  This year’s icon, FEAR, has gathered all of the previous years’ icons – the Usher, the Director, Jack the Clown, the Caretaker, and the Storyteller – and has decided to come forth in the icon’s big 20th year celebration.  How does FEAR tie all of the icons together?

There’s so much more stuff to share about this year’s big event after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Written on September 23rd, 2010 , The Rest, Theme Parks Tags: , , ,
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