The problem for me is a "storyline" for HHN always reminds me of the Merriweather Pleasure "storyline" for Pleasure Island. Yeah, a couple of hard-core fanbois really got into it, but it went completely over the heads of the average guest, making all that effort essentially wasted. At the end of the day, I'd much rather have good houses and good SZs with no connection than mediocre that tie into some goth soap opera. Frankly, the same goes for an icon--it's just for marketing, and so Gen Y kids can take a picture for Facebook (or Instagram or whatever kids are doing these days--hey, get off my lawn!). It could just be a pumpkin on the billboards and I'd still be going.
Re: 2012. Not worried about the SZs--props are nice, but back in the day they did wonders with just fog and music. Cautiously optimistic about the houses we're getting--those are always hard to pre-judge, but P&T, gargoyles and classic monsters all sound like they could be instant classics. But still worried about crowds given that we're down one house plus Jaws. That's a fair chunk of hourly capacity gone.
@First Paragraph: I guess agree to disagree. Lady Luck's plot line was convulted (and a bit of a stretch at times), but I (and other fans) still appreciated it. I really felt like 2005, 2007, and 2008 (and to a lesser extent 2009 and lesser-lesser extent 2011) were effective uses of overall themes. The idea was you weren't just in "Universal Studios" - you were in another place entirely, a world ruled by each year's respective icon. Each house/zone somehow tied into that word (in 05 they were literal places of interest, in 07 they were sideshow attractions, in 2008 they were representations of phobias, etc.) That's not hard for the general public to get behind... 05 is a mythical world, 07 is a carnival, 09 is a movie theater come alive... These are big ideas the public can get behind. The extra nitty gritty plot stuff. I just find it a lot more interesting than "Universal Studios with an assortment of high quality houses and zones." That isn't necessarily bad at all, it was successful for over a decade - I just would like to think the event has evolved
beyond that. I'm not a fan of "returning to the 90's/event roots" because I frankly feel the event has improved dramatically since those days - why devolve?
@Second paragraph: Again, I have to default to the "why devolve" argument. Here's hoping the zones can succeed without props... keep in mind that the scare zones were FAR less regulated in the days where there were no sets; nowadays you've got a half dozen handlers policing each zone and keeping actors in strict boundaries (no sidewalks, remember!) The extra bells & whistles (i.e. props/sets) helped mitigate that somewhat, IMO. Here's also hoping that the zones that do not obstruct the parade (San Francisco, Central Park, World Expo) do actually include sets/props... because there are rumors that they won't, even though they can. Some of the themes being discussed DO have potential... As for the houses you mentioned, I agree. Penn & Teller actually has a very sound/fun concept behind it, I just wish they'd developed an original host character (ala Bloodengutz) instead of resorting to celebrities. I'm guessing the house will be solid from what we've seen and what I've heard. Classic Monsters could again go either way... there's some difficulty for the Dead Exposure-effect to work in the Parade Building (making that assumption based on the DE scene in HHNXX). The last minute construction also hurts it.
I see your point about FEAR in 2010--from what I hear can be applied to Lady Luck as well. But while the construction may be last minute, I thought the concept for Classic Monsters had been around a while. Dr. Jimmy alluded to it in his initial 7 clues back before SS 44 got torn down. Given its potential similarity to All-Nite Die-In--and the fact it seemingly was bounced from SS 33 to All-Nite Die-In's former location at the last minute--I'm hoping for the best.
Lady Luck was not initially planned and supposedly forced on A&D by marketing, which probably contributed to the lack of a proper casino house. A lot of the criticisms I've levied against FEAR can also apply to Lady Luck... though at least Lady Luck had a fair amount of integration in the event (however convoluted), was marketed better, and had the potential to actually scare you in the event (as lame as the zone was many weekends).
I'm only slightly worried about that.
DM:MM will be open, there's rumored to be a show in Beetlejuice, and a few laser/fountain/water screen shows on the lagoon. And if it comes to it and they're really hurting after that, I could see them opening another ride like ET or something.
Despicable Me will pull a bit of crowds, but it won't be the juggernaut I think you're expecting. It also only has the fraction of the capacity JAWS had. The Beatlejuice show could and should help... but it depends on what the show is. The Cinematic Spectacular special edition will honestly probably not do much for crowd control... everything I've read suggests the 2006 version impacted little, the show would only last for about 15 minutes max, and it won't draw people to the point that they wait over an hour for the show to start. ET queue is typically used for overflow Parade Building queue these days, so I'm not sure how feasible that is... but even if they did open it it wouldn't draw much of a crowd. There's a reason it isn't open in the first place.
Yeah, but the HHN crowd is primarily local, and not terribly skewed toward theme park fanbois. DM:MM and ET are not going to be pulling much of a crowd with those demographics. Nor did the last fireworks-free HHN lagoon show they tried. Hoping the BJ show is a crowd pleaser, they need it to be.
This^. DM:MM will pull the out-of-towners who haven't had a chance to visit the park yet post-DM, or the locals who only attend during HHN. That's about it.
I agree, Dm will do littel for crowds.
And JS you got a very good year for your first, be thankful it wasn't XX.
Yes, this!
I'm gonna disagree. It'll pull more people than Jaws did during HHN, IMO. Front of the park+new attraction+opportunity to ride with a shorter wait than during the day = draw
Again - DM has a fraction of the capacity JAWS has. Its newness will help it, but JAWS was also in an ideal position (next to the JAWS queue house & B&T). JAWS also benefitted in that it was an outdoor ride; many enjoyed experiencing it during HHN out of lack of opportunity to take night rides during the day. Honestly, I expect the total people who pass through the turnstiles to be pretty close... so we're still down a house, the one that typically has had the longest line. That's worrisome, especially since Uni isn't going to be opposed to longer lines - more express pass sales!
People keep saying we'll get 8 houses again next year... unless crowd control becomes insane or this year tanks ticket sales wise, the cynic in me kind of doubts that.