UNIVERSAL ORLANDO HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS
By the end of May, Universal Orlando had already began preparations for Halloween Horror Nights 22. When the 2011 event wrapped up, planners admitted they were already working on a 2012 event.
A search this week through the City of Orlando's Permitting Services archives and discover the event appears to be headed back to Universal Studios Florida in 2012, not Islands of Adventure, where the event was held in 2002 and 2003. For the first time in 2004, Halloween Horror Nights was held at both parks.
Plans filed four months before opening night point to seven haunted houses in 2012, one fewer haunted house than last year. Eight (or more) houses may still be budgeted, but permits filed with the City of Orlando do not reflect that total at the moment.
"What they spend on them, really is a calculus. It's a business plan,” theme park designer Bill Coan said. “They know exactly what they are going to get in the way of returns. Particularly since they have been doing it for decades."
Coan is the President of ITEC Entertainment, a theme park design firm in Orlando. He says since Universal's first "Fright Nights" in 1991, the theme park operator has discovered the benefit of Halloween.
"In the beginning they may have said, 'Let's just do something to try and get people back out,' now it's a real sophisticated approach to driving attendance,” Coan said. “The longer they can keep people in the park, the more food and retail they have the opportunity to sell."
Part of the budget for Halloween Horror Nights 2012 could be used on a Halloween version of Universal Studios Florida's new evening lagoon show, "Universal's Cinematic Spectacular –100 Years of Movie Memories." The well-received nighttime show with the long name, features cinematic highlights projected on water curtains, dancing water fountains and fireworks.
The previous lagoon show before the new Cinematic Spectacular, "Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular," was revised with a horror theme and presented during Halloween Horror Nights. Film clips for the program were presented on four giant snow globe-like screens floating in Universal Studio's lagoon. The presentation capitalized on Universal's deep archive of classic horror films.
Other changes to expect in 2012, the former Jaws queue line will no longer feature a scare, since the site is under construction for a new mystery attraction. To date, Universal Orlando has remained mum on what's coming to the former Amity section of the Studios park. Instead, permits list the building housing the former "Hercules & Xena" show, last continually used in 1999, may feature a haunted maze in 2012.
As in years past, several Universal soundstages will play host to several haunted houses. Three haunted attractions are expected to be built in the hollywood-style sound stages [HASHTAG]#20A[/HASHTAG], [HASHTAG]#20B[/HASHTAG] and #22. A fourth house could eventually be housed inside a soundstage, bringing the total back to eight, but permits filed with the City of Orlando do not reflect eight houses yet.
Also not listed in the permitting process, a newer structure built behind the Simpson's ride that traditionally holds the park props and parade floats. In recent years, the warehouse-like structure has played host to a haunted house in it's front section.
Permits listing two “tent” structures that are secluded behind the Men in Black attraction, known as “Sprung 1” and “Sprung 2,” are also making a return visit.
The shaded queue line of the Disaster attraction is also named in permits to hold a haunted house again in 2012.
No permits provide clues to the nature or location of outdoor “scare zones.”