Haunted Houses, Scare Zones, a Candy Factory, Monsters, Goblins, Candy Apples and more. Is there a Quiet Place? My HHN 33 trip.

[Robo56]

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH

Woke up after a really good sleep. Today was going to be a restful day as we planned to go to HHN to night so no major hiking this morning.

My sister and I got ready to go down for a new breakfast experience.

We had been given a certificate for a breakfast at the newly renovated Trattoria Del Porto by the Isaiah one of the staff at the Club Lounge. We had spoken to Isaiah on a number of occasions he is really the nicest young man. It was so sweet of him to give us the certificate.

So we decided this morning would be a great time to try out the restaurant.

I had been to the old Trattoria Del Porto for breakfast a few years ago and had taken the grandchildren there on a number of occasions until the food and service were not longer tolerable. We had enjoyed the buffet breakfast initially then it just was’nt worth it anymore.

Wow……the newly renovated Trattoria Del Porto decor was really different.


When you enter there is a shared check in desk for both Trattoria and Mama Della’s.



The decor is very Mediterranean meets coastal beach vibe is the best way to describ it. The design is very clean and nice.








There are very nice tables and booth seating. The seating is nicely spaced out so you don’t feel as though you are to close to your fellow dinners.


There is a bar at the far left end of the dinning room. According to our waiter this was put in place here to replace Bar America that is connected now to the Club lounge upstairs. That bar area is used for Club lounge and events now.




There are a couple of private rooms that can be used for large families or smaller conference events.




More to come.

 

[keishashadow]

Some more of the StayPuft mini’s. Making a StayPuft s’more.

We had wondered how many of the little buggers they used in the house. Found ourselves trying to spot them all on repeated run thru’s

I know a lot of folks did not like the areas of the house that showed Tlhuehuelpuchi favorite target which were babies and children.

it surely was repetitive, if nothing else. Well, the giant chicken was something lol

My nomination for one of the worst houses of all time.

La LLorona, had some of the scariest scenes of any house for me but, still managed to handle the subject matter tastefully. people complained about a dog (yet again) this year; yet, very little comments re this house.

Therein lies the beauty of the HHN, there is truly something to appeal to everyone.

Good to hear that La Trattorio is back up to speed!

 

[Robo56]

We had wondered how many of the little buggers they used in the house. Found ourselves trying to spot them all on repeated run thru’s

I know there were a lot of them. Not sure I would have appreciated them all had I not seen them on the UMH Tour.

it surely was repetitive, if nothing else. Well, the giant chicken was something lol

My nomination for one of the worst houses of all time.

They can be a little hit or miss on some of the original houses. They are either excellent or stinkers.

Therein lies the beauty of the HHN, there is truly something to appeal to everyone.

Yes, you are right.

Good to hear that La Trattorio is back up to speed!

It was really good.

 

[Robo56]

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH CONTINUED


The buffet room was very nicely decorated with the beach decor continiued. Everything was neat, clean and new.

I liked that the buffet room was set apart from the main dining room.

There were plenty of options to choose from for breakfast. There were some healthy juice options. Cereal, yogurt, milk and fresh fruit.









Various breads, bagels and pastries.


The center of the long buffet room has a long table with all the hot items like eggs, breakfast potatoes, pancakes, etc. There are also hot items that are against back half of the wall. I don’t think I have ever seen so many nice hot items at a buffet so tasteful displayed. There was a lot to choose from.



This was interesting. I have never seen a restaurant serve honeycomb before.



There was a nice selection of toppings for your pancakes if you wanted.


The salmon bar was yummy. All the marble stone that the salmon and fixings were on were cold to keep the salmon fresh.

 

[Robo56]

There were some nice Italian cold meats to choose from.










The fresh fruit was delicious and like the salmon bar and any other items that needed to be kept cold was on ice cold marble to keep it fresh.



We were in a booth like this one.


There again is nice seating affording you some separation when dining.



We had a wonderful waiter named Abdar. He was attentive yet not overly so. He brought a carafe of coffee to our table and kept our juice glasses full.

We had quite the leisurely brunch.

The food was amazing. There were plenty of hot and cold items to choose from. They will also as part of the buffet make you an omelette or other egg selection not on the hot buffet with your choice of ingredients.

The service was impeccable. Abdar is the best waiter.

You have an option of ordering off the menu or having the buffet.

The food was really good and there was plenty to choose from for any dietary type you might be.

You will not walk away hungry for sure.

Portofino really did a nice job with the Trattoria del Porto reboot.

We were gifted this visit by a member of the lovely Club Lounge Staff. Thank you again Isaiah. You are so kind. It was a nice way to get our foot back in the door.

If I remember correctly I think the breakfast Buffet is 32.00 or 34.00 dollars per person.

It was a wonderful experience for us and we will be back.

I have heard some nice things about the dinner service also.

 

[Robo56]

After brunch we headed back to the room. The maid had already been in and everything was clean and refreshed.


My sister and I decided today would be a relaxing pool day. Tonight was our first night of HHN and we wanted to be rested up for all the walking.

So we got our Swim suits on and down to the Villa Pool we went.

After a few hours at the pool I wanted to head back to the room and get a shower and a little bit of nap before the festivities this evening. I was so looking forward to HHN.

After a nice snooze it was time to head down for a quick bite at the Club lounge then off to HHN.

It was hot and humid this evening, but I was ready for some HHN fun.



It was busy, but we did not have to wait long to get through the gate.


Nothing says welcome to HHN like a chain saw zombie.


We turned right and headed into the Demon Queens Scare Zone.

 

[Robo56]

Then it was onto the Swamp of the Undead Scare Zone.

 

[Robo56]

There were some photo op settings around the park for you to take photos with if you wanted.



We did Museum Deadly Exhibit house first. Then onto Slaughter Sinema.

Having a big screen and cars parked out like you were walking up to a drive-in was awesome as you were waiting to get into Slaughter Sinema.
















We had express. I had the ROF with express and my sister had express and we only waited about 15 minutes per house to get in. I would not have wanted to wait in the regular lines to get into the houses as they were long.

If you think walking around in the heat and humidity takes it out of you standing around in those longs lines would be really hard to do. Having express is definitely worth it.



To be continued

 

[disneyAndi14]

We were at HHN the same night! We had EP and it was really nice! The weather was crazy hot and humid!
I love all your pictures!

 

[Robo56]

We were at HHN the same night! We had EP and it was really nice! The weather was crazy hot and humid!
I love all your pictures!

Thank you disneyAnd14: so glad you are enjoying the pictures.

Yes, it was smoking hot that evening. It really takes it out off you if your don’t stay hydrated and take some rest breaks for sure.

 

[Robo56]

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH CONTINUED

After we were done with Slaughter Sinema we walked around the back of MIB for the long hike to the new buildings where Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines and Goblin’s Feast were located.

I was glad we did these houses earlier in the evening a the hike back to them is a long one.

There are mobile restrooms located for your use halfway to the houses. That will give you an idea of how isolated and long that walk is.

It is great that the houses are located right next to each other. Once you are done with one you and head over and go through the line for the next house.

We went through Universal Monsters house first and I was glad I did the UMH Tour as I would not have been able to follow the story line in that house very well.

Then it was onto Goblin’s Feast.

The facade of this house was pretty cool to look at the dark with the lights on it.


After we were done with these houses we decided to head over to Diagon Alley for a rest in Knockturn Alley.

I went and purchased my sister a frozen butter beer and myself a Fishy Green Ale.

We found a bench in what would become our favorite place to watch the Death Eaters in Knockturn Alley.

I took this picture of the Death Eater that was waiting to scare people as they walked past the gate. We were sitting on a bench right across from the gate where the Death Eater was standing.

Sorry blurry pic

A lady walking by with her can of cocktail walked past and the female Death Eater reached out to scare the lady and the lady screamed and dropped her can of cocktail then bent and picked up her can and took off screaming in terror.

The Death Eater then looked at us and did the Boo Hoo cry motion and we started laughing. That Death Eater was so funny. She came back a few minutes later and caught another group of people and scared them.



We went to Major Sweets next. I told my sister where the red button was on the table in the house so she could push the button which lightly sprayed the person next to you.

We past by this open air shop on the way to Major Sweets and they had all the Lil Boo popcorn buckets turned on and it was cool.


It is nice how they do reflect the lights and HHN 33 on the structures during HHN. Just adds to the vibe.


Then it was onto the lines for Triplets of Terror and the Insidious: The Further. Again I was glad I had seen the Insidious house on the UMH Tour.

Then it was onto Ghostbusters, Quiet Place and Monstruous. I will keep my favorite house list until the end. As I always feel that I need to go through the houses multiple times to be fair in my assessment.

Wow……we had completed all the houses needless to say we were hot, tired and ready to head back to the resort, but we stopped for a rest before trekking back to the boat.

These Triptych photos of Insidious and Eternal Bloodlines on the outside of the big Universal store were awesome.




After a quick rest it was time to head to the boat.

Thankfully the boat was still there. If I remember correctly it was almost 1 am. The boat typically at that time of the morning would make a stop at HR then onto Portofino. Which is what happened this morning.

After getting back to the resort I was first into the bathroom and got my shower and was ready for bed in a heartbeat. According to my sister I was fast asleep when she got into her bed after her shower.



To be continued

 

[keishashadow]

They can be a little hit or miss on some of the original houses. They are either excellent or stinkers.

Absolutely!

Portofino really did a nice job with the Trattoria del Porto reboot.

I had no idea they made such a big change.

I have heard some nice things about the dinner service also.

We always wound up there (me for the you pick your pasta dinner option) at least once each trip out of convenience. No complaints. Curious to see how it has also evolved.