The park is all decked out for Halloween

Club Villain

Lots and lots of pumpkins

Boo to You and you and you and you ... Happy Halloween

Tigger

Mickey, Minnie, Donald and I'm assuming Daisy

The Pirates float

Always a crowd favorite

New this year was Wreck It Ralph and Vanelope 

The Villains close out the parade

Monsters Inc Dance Party in Tomorrowland

Villains Mix and Mingle in front of Cinderella's Castle

Maleficent

The Evil Queen

A gaggle of not-so-good guys

No trip to MNSSHP is complete without Hallowishes. Which was a bit smokey due to the rain

Ooooooh .... Ahhhhhh ... 

It really is a pretty awesome fireworks show

And lastly, Renée's awesome costume for the event. =)

Thanks again Renée for sending us pictures of this great event. 

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Long Beach, CA (September 18, 2014) — The world's most beloved ocean liner turns 80 on September 26 and the public is invited to join a ship-wide celebration. The Queen Mary will open her gangways and ballrooms, decks and salons, attractions and eateries to a daylong celebration highlighted by a very
special event. There will be no charge for admission to the ship (10:00 AM - 7:00 PM), discounted ship tours and five dollar parking. The general public — especially Long Beach residents and families — are encouraged to join the festivities.

Commemorations will include the reading of letters by King George V at the ship's launch on Sept. 26, 1934, and a recent congratulatory message from Queen Elizabeth II on the ship's 80th anniversary. The Queen Mary will use the anniversary event to announce a groundbreaking initiative, a forward-looking plan inspired by the ship's eight-decades of public life and overall influence on maritime commerce.

"Celebrating 80 years of global prominence is reason enough to invite the community to share in this
special moment, but there is more news,” said Queen Mary General Manager, John Jenkins. “I will make an important announcement during the ceremony; an announcement that goes to the very heart of why this great ship continues to attract so much attention all across the globe. In the meantime, we invite every Queen Mary visitor past, present and those yet to voyage with us - to come to Long Beach, Friday - September 26 to salute the ocean liner that set new maritime standards and won hearts when launched, and does so still.”

A BIRTHDAY CAKE LIKE NO OTHER:  To celebrate the ship's 80th 'birthday', the Queen Mary has commissioned TV celebrity baker, Jose Barajas to create a grand cake that's worthy of a grand ship. Weighing almost a quarter ton and measuring over 15 feet long the anniversary cake will be as exact a replica of the Queen Mary as flour and frosting allows.

Following remarks by attending dignitaries, Commodore Everette Hoard will read the Royal Letters. He then will then officiate the ceremonial cutting of the Queen Mary's 80th Anniversary Cake.

Ship History

The Queen Mary was christened Sept. 26, 1934 at the John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, with King George V and Queen Mary launching the magnificent ship before a crowd of more than 200,000 spectators. The Queen Mary departed on her maiden voyage over a year later and soon became the transatlantic crossing vessel of choice for dignitaries, celebrities and those embarking on a new life in America.

She was born during the Great Depression as Hull 534, and grew into the biggest, fastest and most popular ocean liner in the world. Shipbuilder John Brown & Co. used more than 10 million rivets to construct the innovative ship whose waterline length of 1,004 feet made her longer than the Eiffel Tower. During World War II, she halted passenger service to serve as the Allies’ largest and fastest troop carrier. Later, she reclaimed her place as a world-class ocean liner completing more than 1,100 transatlantic voyages before retiring to Long Beach in 1967.

Details: http://www.queenmary.com/launch/

Pastry Chef

Jose Barajas, recently gained national attention competing on TLC’s reality show, “Next Great Baker.” He began making cakes - what he calls “edible artwork” - professionally in 2005 after attending the San Diego Culinary School. Cake, he likes to say, is the best canvas he could ask for. Royal icing, butter cream and fondant are his best mediums. He and the Queen Mary's resident historian, Cmdr. Everette Hoard have made every effort to duplicate in cake the dimensions and details of the world's most beloved ocean liner. His creation will allow for over 1000 individual portions to be served Sept. 26 as the
culmination of the anniversary event presentation.

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Yes, we have Twisted Colossus Track. And as you can see below, they will be using the left side of the station, which most likely means the queue will be reconstructed to utilize both sides for the new coaster. They are likely going to need it. 

This is great news, this is the more scenic side of the station and with the ride exiting here it makes more sense to have the food/retail locations on this side. 

You can see MUCH more from Goliath but obviously we aren't going to be taking any on-ride pictures due to park policy. 

However, taking pictures through open gates ... yeah, we are gonna go there. =)

The old exit has been boarded up. 

One has to wonder how much longer this area will be Colossus County Fair. Personally I'd like to see this sign get overhauled, maybe with some LED lights. 

From the parking lot, the entire track of the first drop has been removed. 

The final drops are in the process of being completely removed. 

More track has arrived, and some of it is VERY twisty

All of the burnt end's have been removed. 

Preparations continue for Fright Fest which starts this Saturday. 

A look at El Chupacabra as seen from the Revolution queue. 

More stuff up on Samurai Summit

The Hearse is going to be up near Ninja this year

Getting ready for Fright Feast

The Aftermath

They are doing another video game invasion, this time for Call of Duty

Not sure what these are for, but this is in the middle of one of the scare zones

Looks like they are getting ready to bring the stage out

Preparations continue for Holiday In The Park and we've noticed something VERY interesting on Revolution. 

Normally we wouldn't post about a train in rehab ... but ... This is the 3rd "operable" train. Not only have the OTSR's been removed but all of the locking pins and everything else have also been removed. 

Obviously we don't know if this is just coincidence, but there could be something great on the horizon. 

Saturday was Praise on the Mountain

More Holiday in the Park prep. Really looking forward to this event. 

This is where Santa is going to be

Swashbuckler is getting a new paint scheme. 

That's going to wrap it up for this update. 

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Have to admit, when I arrived and saw our own little press spot it was very cool and overwhelming. 

We had a great spot where we could see all of the red carpet

The Man, The Myth, The Legend ... The one and only Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig)

Brighton Sharbino from The Walking Dead

Greg Nicotero and Robert Kirkman from The Walking Dead

The Nerdist himself, Chris Hardwick

Chris was nice enough to take a selfie with me. No surprise, he's the better looking of the two. 

DJ Cotrona from the From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series. If you haven't checked out the show yet, you should. It's pretty awesome. 

Face Off judges Lois Burwell, Glenn Hetrick and Ve Neill. 

John Murdy lurking in the background. 

One of my main goals for the night was to shake Danny Trejo's hand. I'm glad to say that he was the nicest man and spent over an hour going down the red carpet and talking to everybody. And yes, I got to shake his hand. 

Machete!! 

Eiza Gonzalez also from the From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series

Brandon Soo Hoo - From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series

The incredible Robert Rodriguez gives Park Journey two thumbs up!! 

Ok ... story time: 
At about the age of 8 my best friend showed me this movie that proceeded to give me nightmares. It was also the movie that started my love for Horror Movies, despite the nightmares. The three men in the picture below were mostly responsible for those nightmares and my love of Horror Movies. 
So I got to thank Rick Baker, David Naughton and John Landis for giving me Nightmares after seeing American Werewolf in London. And I mean that in the most awesome way possible. It gave them all a nice laugh. 

After the red carpet, it was time to head inside to the Special Effects stages for the awards. 

The host of the awards was McKenzie Westmore from Face Off

John Landis accepting his Eyegore award from Rick Baker

Robert Kirkman and Chris Hardwick presenting an Eyegore Award to Greg Nicotero. If you've ever seen one of the Comic Con panels hosted by Chris you know how entertaining it was. 

Danny Trejo presenting an Eyegore to Robert Rodriguez. Or as Danny calls the Eyegores, the Bad-Ass Oscars. 

Robert Rodriguez

The last Eyegore Award was presented to Slash who played "Nothing Left to Fear" with Myles Kennedy. 

All of the presenters and award winners. Great group this year!! 

After the awards it was time to head out into the event. We've also included some maze pictures from the park. 

First we headed to the lower lot. 

An American Werewolf in London
Given my love for the movie this was easily my most anticipated maze of the event, and I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint. The scenes were great, the werewolves were amazing but the transformation scene, wow. So well done. 

Roughly 90 minutes into the event, the three backstage mazes had about an hour line. So expect to spend awhile down here. 

As we reported last month, the walk back to the mazes, which was actually not a bad walk at all. 

Heading to Terminus

First maze up on the Backlot was From Dusk Till Dawn

From Dusk Till Dawn

The maze itself was great, it was "The Twister". Unfortunately this maze suffered from "Conga Line Syndrome" which really eliminated the scares. 

Alien Vs Predator
This is the Dark Horse hit of this years event. Great talent, great scenery, great effects. But once again, Conga Line (which did allow us to get some pictures). 

One other thing that we noticed with both AvP and The Walking Dead was a food cart in the Gate A line. Which meant that stand-by guests were in the Gate A line to get food, and then they'd stay in the Gate A line. Which made Gate A about 25 minutes for AvP even though maybe 40% of the people didn't have Gate A as the employees were letting everybody through. 

Hopefully this is something they'll fix by next weekend. Food is needed when people are spending 3 hours on the Back Lot mazes, but they need to find a better spot. 

The Conga Line did allow us to get some pictures. 

The Walking Dead
It was close to last years, although I do think it was slightly better this year. The "Tunnel" room going to Terminus was actually pretty awesome. 

Due to time constraints I had to skip Clowns but will be sure to do it next time we are at the event. When that is, still trying to figure it out. =)

But here are some pictures provided by the park of Clowns 3D - Music by Slash

I love the Slash clown

As you can see, by about 9:45pm the lower lot and back lot mazes had very long lines while the two upper lot mazes were essentially walk-on's. 

Which is pretty much what we noted in our HHN Guide. 

Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood

On the upper lot, Dracula Untold was essentially a walk-on. This is another great maze with some great talent. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to going through this a few more times. 

Was glad to see how well the scare zones turned out with their show lighting. 

Exceptionally creepy

Dark Christmas was AWESOME!! So looking forward to spending some time just observing in this area next time we are at the event. 

Still creepy

The Purge: Anarchy

Face Off: In The Flesh 

Really great and IMO, the best of the makeovers in the House of Horrors spot. They didn't try to shoehorn a theme into the maze and just let the Face Off designers do what they do best. Be sure to check it out when you are there. Not to be missed. 

One last look at the wait times. 

From what we heard from opening night and Saturday night, taking advantage of the Annual Pass "First Stab" allows you to get two walk-through's of AvP, Walking Dead and From Dusk Till Dawn as well as American Werewolf in London and Clowns 3D prior to most of the HHN guests arriving in that area. 

So it technically would be possible to not do the Front of the Line, but you have to plan ahead. 

This was the creepiest picture I took all night ... who can tell me why? =)

That's going to wrap it up for this update. We hope you enjoyed this look at the Eyegore Awards and HHN. Thanks once again to Universal for having us out to the event, we were humbled and thrilled to be included. 

Can't wait to be back at HHN very soon. 

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Annual Passholders: The AP page to buy tickets is here. You can save Up to $30.  Plus, with First Stab enjoy the day and get first access to the Walking Dead, From Dusk till Dawn, or AVP Maze!

Basically with First Stab, as long as you are inside the park prior to 5pm you can wait in a special queue on the lower lot and get walked back to the three Metro Set mazes (Walking Dead, Alien vs Predator and From Dusk Til Dawn). This allows you to get through those three mazes in the time that it would take regular guests to get down to that area. 

Metro Set Mazes:

Most people assume that you should head to the Terror Tram first. And if you don't show up when the event starts then this is probably your best bet. But if you have followed the instructions above and are at the event at opening, first thing you should do is head down to the Lower Lot and walk to the Metro Set mazes (The Walking Dead, Alien vs Predator and From Dusk Til Dawn). 

From what we've heard from employee preview night, AvP is a definite repeat maze. Utilizing this strategy should allow you to get through all of these mazes once and perhaps a second go on AvP prior to most of the crowds showing up. 

Front of the Line tip: When the event opens, go through these mazes once with the General Public and use your FOTL pass later in the evening when it's busier. If you don't want to walk all the way back to the Metro sets later in the night, go through them once with the GP and then use your FOTL privilege right after to get two trips through each maze. 

Lower Lot Mazes: 

Once you have completed the Metro Set mazes and made your walk back to the Lower Lot, you should then do American Werewolf In London and Clowns: 3D Music By Slash. 

Front of the Line tip: Same rules apply. If the lines are not long, go through once with the General Public and then use your FOTL pass later in the evening. Getting back down to the lower lot mazes is much easier than walking back to the Metro Set mazes. 

If you don't have a Front of the Line Pass, don't be tempted by "Jurassic Park: In The Dark". It's just "Jurassic Park: At Night". But if it's hot and there isn't a line, by all means go for it. 

Terror Tram: 

At this point you've already completed 5 of the 7 mazes so it's time to head up to the Terror Tram. 

Depending on the night, you may have a bit of a wait if you don't have a Front of the Line pass, so be sure to use the restroom and get a snack/drink before getting in line. Even if the line seems long it's always moving unlike maze lines. 

Front of the Line tip: If it's an unexpectedly slow night and there isn't much of a line, feel free to go in with the GP and go again with your FOTL pass. But more likely than not you are only going to be able to do one trip on the Terror Tram. 

You are probably going to need to rest by now, feel free to stop by Mel's or Gru's and get a snack, a meal, etc. Sit around Mask-A-Raid, Dark Christmas or The Purge and watch the talent in action. 

Upper Lot Mazes:

If you've followed the strategy at this point you'll only have two mazes left and plenty of time to do them. We've heard that Dracula: Untold is a surprise hit maze (at least from Employee Preview night) so you may want to leave time to do this one twice. 

Also remember that Face Off: In The Flesh will be your last chance EVER to walk through House of Horrors, so if you usually skip this maze, you may want to take the time to do it. 

Once you have completed all the mazes you can hang around the scare zones and watch the talent, check the wait board to see if there are any short maze or ride lines or if you have a Front of the Line Pass use up any trips you haven't already. 

Do some shopping, grab a t-shirt, watch the fire in The Purge and drive home safely. 

We hope you enjoyed this strategy guide. If you have any additional tips be sure to share them below and we'll add them to the article. After you've gone to the event be sure to post and let us know if this strategy worked for you or if any tweaks need to be made. 

Have fun at Halloween Horror Nights!! 

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Prior to Scare School I made my way into the park to take a look at preparations for Haunt. 

Gunslingers Grave, one of only two "On-Stage" mazes. 

Preparations are also underway for Camp Spooky

It was probably about 100 degrees, but Snoopy is always in a good mood. 

Light towers in Camp Snoopy, possibly for Infected. 

Dia De Los Muertos is in Fiesta Village

La Revolucion' has gone to rehab

Looks like some new planters are being made as well. 

Moving over to the Boardwalk, CarnEVIL is coming. 

The hearse is out

Xcelerator was closed so no ride for me. =(

There are definitely less decorations out than in years past, at least for now. 

Getting ready for The Hanging. Can't wait to see who get's it this year, there are so many people to choose from. 

Black Magic

Bet you didn't know Flava Flave was a Haunt character

A quick look at the work being done on the 2015 attraction. We don't know what it's going to be yet (other than a dark ride) but the park has hinted that an announcement will be coming after Haunt. 

Really hope they find a way to incorporate the Roaring 20's sign. It's a piece of Knott's History that we'd love to see saved. 

Ghouls near Bigfoot Rapids

Wilderness Dance Hall, home to so many iconic Haunt mazes, this year it will be Pinnochio Unstrung. 

The Haunt Museum is getting decked out for Halloween

Moo

This picture has an extreme lack of Haunt Fog ... soon ... very soon. 

Ghostrider is still closed but should be back open in time for Haunt

Pro-Tip ... Pre Scare Dinner is your friend. Do it!!! 

She spent a little too much time at the saloon show. 

Pink's is set to close within the next few weeks. I've hard somewhere around Oct 4th but not 100% sure. Guess it's back to waiting in long lines at the one in Hollywood. 

The main reason for our visit was for Scare School. Which is basically the Haunt designers helping the talent become their character so they can scare the hell out of the rest of us. 

It's a very interesting process where you have multiple people playing the same character (so they can take breaks). They will introduce themselves, as their character, do some non-speaking sounds and practice the motion of their character. 

Brooke Walters sharing some tips with the talent, we were simple observers. 

A quick video outlining the process. This is by no means the entire process. After this point they spent a good 30-45 minutes in the maze developing their characters before we walked through the maze. And they will continue to rehearse for the next week. 

A couple of pictures from inside the maze. I had taken video but it didn't come out well. Plus, you want to be surprised right? 

After our walk through we were invited to take a tour of the Costume/Make-Up warehouse which is always a treat. 

Tim Barham explaining just how much effort it takes to put on the event, and how much laundry they actually have to do. Hint ... it's A LOT!! 

Bill Meier explains the Make-Up/Prosthetic process. Did you know that Knott's does all of the Prosthetics for every Cedar Fair Haunt event? Now you do. 

A few examples of the Prosthetics. These will not last throughout the entire event and are usually replaced every weekend. 

The new Knott's Food Truck was also out and we were able to try some great food. 

The menu will constantly change, this was what was on the menu last night. 

The Food Truck will be located in Gypsy Camp during Haunt since there aren't any food locations in that area. Great idea!! 

Both the Po Boy (seen below) and the Fish Taco's were great. 

Next was a nice little Haunt History walk through by Ted Dougherty. Most of the info wasn't new to us, but it's always nice to hear great stories. 

You can buy Ted's book here, it's definitely worth checking out if you love Haunt History. 

I figured there were spiders in these old Ghost Town buildings, but this is pushing it a bit. =)

Lastly, we had Scare School for Pinocchio Unstrung. Obviously it was a bit darker, but here you can see the maze talent doing their character walks. 

Gus Krueger telling us a bit about the maze that he took over this year. It's going to be awesome. 

That's going to wrap it up for this behind the scenes look at how Haunt is done. We'll be at opening night next Thursday. Looking forward to another year of Scary Farm. 

See You In The Fog ... 

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