During a private RIP tour for Halloween Horror Nights (HHN), we completed our buffet meal then meet with our tour guide Jim. Jim asked the group what we wanted to do first. The decision was made to help those who were more fearful to go to the Beetlejuice house first.
Since this house was open for two days last year to supposedly fulfill a contract, I knew this was the least scary. I still knew very little about it except for one portion. It would also be helpful in terms of easing the rookies, like myself, into the event. Also since the sun was still out, the major scares had not started.
To get from Café La Bamba to the house, we went through Gorewood Forest scare zone. We got to see several of the creepy characters there including the Terra Queen herself returning 15 HHNs later. We went through a quiet Springfield USA. Even as a HHN rookie, I knew about the chainsaw hoards in that area but not this year. Now the decision may have been made by Universal to avoid chainsaws there since Eddie, Jack’s brother, has his own scare zone and loves chainsaws. In addition, this year features a Texas Chainsaw Massacre house which is full of chainsaws.
We eventually went backstage towards the Beetlejuice house. Being on a RIP tour meant at each house we would miss some theming outdoors. We would basically enter the house directly with almost no wait.
This house was a prime example of Universal Creative presenting the movie to us. Except for the first portion of the house, you are walking through the movie.
All the scenes you would expect are there. If you are timid about HHN, this is a good warm-up house. As a noob to HHN, I felt confident in this house. There are fewer scares per se. There are thematic elements that you would expect that do not disappoint. I would have preferred more scare actors using their own voices. I do understand that is tough to match what guests would expect from Michael Keaton’s iconic character.
This may seem odd, but if you are prone to motion sickness then there is a spinning tunnel effect. I was aware of this beforehand. I was concerned I would fall prey to scare actors and literally fall. I was reassured that there were handrails. I used them! Now I have a report that the spinning tunnel was not being used the weekend of September 23-25th. Rumor is, I repeat rumor, that people were getting sick on this element so they may have shut it off for that reason.
If you want a house with the Banana Boat song, the line “I too am strange and unusual”, and lots of Beetlejuice sightings then this house is for you. If you are fan of the film, this is for you. If you are a fan of amazing sets over constant jump scares, then this is for you also.
If you want to skip this house, it might be a good chance to go to one of the Twisted Taters Beetlejuice themed food tents which have a long queue usually. For this house, all I can say is: It’s Showtime!”
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