6 Reasons Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights 29 Is Amazing
5. Scare Zones
The team really knocked it out of the park with the scare zones this year. It felt like every one I walked through became my new favourite.
Anarch-Cade
This neon scare zone really does set the mood for whole event. The opening scare zone in Avenue of the Stars is incredibly cool and arguably the most photographed scare zone of this year. Despite being covered in lights, the chainsaw-wielding scare actors are able to hide amongst the darkness between the arcade machines, giving terrific scares.
Zombieland: Double Tap
This scare zone was filled with a bunch of outstanding scare actors and big set pieces. It was great to watch the team in this area work their magic on unsuspecting guests. I stood on the ramp to The Tonight Show Store and just watched victim after victim fall foul of Rule 3: Beware of Bathrooms.
Rob Zombie Hellbilly Deluxe
This was my least favourite of the scare zones, although I could be in the minority with this opinion. This area was always packed with guests taking photos with the huge set pieces. For a small area of the park, the San Francisco section was filled to the rafters with props and actors. There seemed to be always something going on in this area: dancers, creatures and sets. Unfortunately, as someone who is not familiar with Rob Zombie's music a lot of what was going on just went over my head.
Vikings Undead
I loved Vikings Undead and it worked perfectly in the Central Park area of Universal Studios. Parts of a broken Viking ship washed up from the lagoon and was sprawling across the zone. There were skulls hanging from the trees and zombie Vikings out for blood. I particularly enjoyed the huge Blood Eagle set - it was quite cool to see something I once read about in a text book come to life in such a gruesome way. The team also let the HHN smoke go into overdrive in this area, adding to the unearthly feeling.
Vanity Ball
Probably my favourite scare zone of HHN29. Like a horrifying version of Project Runway, this was a fashion show with a difference. Each model was transformed into a beautifully grotesque piece of art. Much of the action in this scare zone takes place on the large sets but the real scares come from the wandering "models". I loved people watching in this scare zone and could have spent my whole night watching the scare actors sashay down the runway.
Overall the variety of the scare zones is excellent. Even though there were two "zombie" areas, they were so different I couldn't compare them. This year provided perfect people watching entertainment, after all is there anything better than watching someone getting the shock of their life from a Zombie in a port-a-loo!