HHN House Reviews Cont.

The Fallen

I wrote a little about the Fallen in this blog post in September.

The atmosphere in this house was intense.  And, as if there wasn't enough to look at around you, there are creatures flying around above you...which was plain old cool.   

American Horror Story

My only complaint about this house is that due to consistently long wait times, I could only get through it one time.  I think it would have been a house I would have really liked. 

Scarecrow: The Reaping

This is another house that also had long wait times so I only got through it about 3 times. I would probably have ended up loving it had I been able to go through it more.  I mean, who wouldn't love walking through a scary corn maze with scarecrows attacking you from every angle?

Six houses down...three to go.  

Macy's Parade

I wanted to post these pictures of the Macy's Christmas Parade at Universal Studios.  I was happy with how they turned out since I had to use my phone to take the pictures.  I NEED to get a working camera soon...one of the reasons my blog has been suffering from lack of posts.  

Coming soon...more HHN house reviews.

House Reviews

Again this year an express pass for Halloween Horror Nights was not a priority in my so called budget.  To clarify, an express pass enables you to pretty much skip the long wait times to go through the houses.  It is a separate line that moves along much faster so your wait times end up being between 0-5 minutes compared to the 10-60+ wait in the regular lines.  C.J. get it every year but since I get in free, I make it work without the express.  

This means, however, that I don't get through a lot of houses which makes it impossible to rate them.  I went through Hive and Blumhouse the most (too many times to count) because they were at the back of the park and the lines were generally short.  

 *the review will be in no particular order*.

Ash vs Evil Dead

Before going through the house, I watched about a half dozen episodes of Ash vs Evil Dead so I did not know a lot about what to expect but knew just enough to understand what was going on.  I only got through this house twice but it was enough for me.

Dead Waters

The swamp sunken steamboat facade was the definitely the best thing about this house. 

But after the facade, the house kind of disappoints.  It's pretty dark inside and, in my opinion, never really gives you the full feeling of a voodoo ridden swamp.  I went through this house a handful of time and it wasn't bad...but it wasn't great either.  

Saw

This was my first house this year and in all honesty, I have only seen the first movie so many of the rooms did not make any sense to me.  Again, I only went through this house twice and it was enough for me.  


And that's three of the nine... 

Cat Bites are No Joke

We've had our little Sadie for a little over a month now.  She is a great cat with a sweet temperament - 99% of the time.  

She enjoys lying around on soft surfaces, looking outside windows, and is especially attached to Zack.  Her greatest joy in life is eating.  

Her least favorite thing would be Ollie.  Truthfully, if Ollie were a normal dog, I think she would be fine.  But I think I've already mentioned that Ollie is certain everyone and everything loves him as much as he loves them and, for him, there is no such thing as a  personal space bubble.  

Monday morning I was carrying Sadie to my room so I could leave for work when Ollie spotted her in my arms and started jumping up on me to get to her.  Before I had time to do anything, Sadie freaked out and bit me on my hand.  

OMG!!!  PAIN!!!  I literally could do nothing for about 10 minutes.  Every time I tried to move I felt dizzy and nauseated and broke out in a cold sweat.  While most of the immediate pain subsided, the residual pain lasted all day long and my hand started swelling up.  By Tuesday morning I was positive something was not right.  My hand looked terrible.  

Thankfully, our school receptionist is also an EMT and she took one look at it and told me to get the doctor ASAP.  

You can see the redness in the picture but it doesn't really show the amount of swelling that I had.  

Anyway, it turns out that 80% of cat bites end up becoming infected.  Because of the amount of bacteria that is in their mouths, cat bites are 8 times more likely to become infected than dog bites.  I received a tetanus shot, an antibiotic, and some pain pills with instructions that if it got worse, I needed to go back to the ER for IV antibiotics.  This is the case for about 50% of the people treated. 

I am happy to report that my hand was so much better today - so no IV for me.  Yay!   

And that is my cat bite story.  They are serious stuff and not to be taken lightly.  

Bill and Ted Has Come to an End

After 26 years, Bill S Preston, Esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan (aka the Wyld Stallyons) have performed their final show at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights (cue the sobbing).  

Even though I have only been able to see the last three years, it has hit me hard.  It is hard for me to comprehend that the show has come to an end and it's impossible for me to imagine Halloween Horror Nights without it. Truthfully, right now, I am not even excited about HHN next year.  

No real reason was given for cancelling the show which is packed full of pop-culture parody and no replacement has been announced yet.  

To quote Ted, "This is most non-triumphant." 


A video showing a sample of all 27 years.  

One of the best parts of the show this year (*sound only*)

Highlights of this year's show.  

Saturday Interrupted

Saturdays have become quite routine for me and I have come to love them.  I usually work from 10-12 on Saturdays so getting up at 9:15 and rushing out of the house is not always appreciated but, once work is over, its home for a quick walk with the dog, a small something to eat, and then a dramatic flop into bed for a long afternoon nap.  When I wake up, I take Ollie for another walk, put a pizza in the oven, and watch a movie while working on stuff for school.  

Last week on Saturday, in the middle of my afternoon snooze, I got a call that the oldest was on his way to the emergency room with a kidney stone. I decided to forego the nap and went to the hospital to sit with him.  

He was at Orlando Regional Medical Center in downtown Orlando. On the positive, the doctors and nurses were very nice and the personal treatment he received was good.  On the neg. I was pretty clueless as to why, with a 67 room ER department, he was put on a stretcher in the hallway.  

After a CT scan revealed the stone was small and should cause no problems for him, we were able to leave.  The entire 4 hours was spent in the hallway.  

This was C.J.'s second stone and with each one he was fortunate enough to not suffer prolonged pain and was able to pass them without medical intervention.  Jon has also already had one and, judging from the fact that their dad is prone to get stones, it probably will not be their last.  

The Bane(s) of my Driving Existence

I never had road rage until I moved to Orlando but I swear, driving in this city (and really, the whole state) is enough to make even the mildest of mild mannered people looooooose it!  

Here are a few of my driving pet peeves...and, unfortunately, I experience these on an almost daily basis. 

1.  My number 1 pet peeve is without a single doubt, people who ride the right lane when they are not passing anyone.  And - HELLO people- it is against the law.  I have no problem honking at these people as I pass them on the right.  This, however, embarrasses my kids greatly.  

2. People who see a cop on the side of the road and decide that slowing down to 10+ miles under the speed limit is good idea.  I guess they think they will be issued a speeding ticket for going the speed limit.  

3. People who do/will NOT turn right on a red light.  And I'm not talking about the lights that have 'no turn on red' signs present. I wish I was kidding. UGH.

4. When a light turns green and a driver has like three car spaces between them and the car in front of them because, I am guessing, they don't know which pedal is the accelerator!  In this city where lights last fooorevvver, I say to myself, "three more cars could have gotten through this light."  

5. People who SLOW DOWN when they see a green light.  And OMG it happens all the time.  Again, lights last fooorevvver and I get behind these people that slow down to 30 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. Than, after they are through the light, they speed back up and I am usually left to sit through the a fore mentioned red light that takes fooorevvver.  

6. People who move over and ride a right turn exit only lane in a traffic jam to get a head of a grand total of 5 or 6 cars and then need to get back in the correct lane.  I call them 'the entitled ones'.  

7. Finally, people who weave in and out of traffic on the interstate.  That's how accidents happen people.  And Orlando has multi accidents every single day. 

Well...that about covers it.  Makes my blood boil.