Halloween Horror Nights 33 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[UniversalRBLX]

Some appreciate the design process and want to see the details before experiencing the scares to take it all in on their own terms. That also helps people who are reluctant to go in completely blind out of fear.

Definitely understand wanting to see the design process, I like doing it mid-event once I get a few run throughs in since I enjoy getting scared. But having these tours so far in advance takes a way a lot of the interest/desire of going through a haunted house.

Personally, if Universal is keen on trying to capitalize on the Pre-HHN Hype and do something early, I think they should do an announcement event similar to what Knott's does. Announce the originals and zones, preview some food, and maybe do a sneak peak at some costumes and merch.

I do believe that HHN has yet to fully capitalize on the HHN fandom. Have a "Celebration of HHN/Halloween in July" event for 2-3 days where you announce a few originals, preview of food, "exclusive" merch, like you say. I think there's a decent amount of fans and influences willing to spend $100 for a "preview/announcement" panel versus a preview night in the $350 range.

 

[Kichkinet85]

We have more originals for the first time in how long?

HHN 30 was a 4/6 splt

HHN 31 was the same

 

[TheCodeMan95]

People are stoked to be mad at something.

That's honestly how it has felt this year lol

I've seen people complain and talk about things this year that I have never seen people discuss

 

[Brian G.]

Definitely understand wanting to see the design process, I like doing it mid-event once I get a few run throughs in since I enjoy getting scared. But having these tours so far in advance takes a way a lot of the interest/desire of going through a haunted house.


I do believe that HHN has yet to fully capitalize on the HHN fandom. Have a "Celebration of HHN/Halloween in July" event for 2-3 days where you announce a few originals, preview of food, "exclusive" merch, like you say. I think there's a decent amount of fans and influences willing to spend $100 for a "preview/announcement" panel versus a preview night in the $350 range.

Sorry, thought you mean prior to the event as in "Seeing it before doing it" not the intended "seeing it weeks before event start".

So yea - we agree.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

That's honestly how it has felt this year lol

I've seen people complain and talk about things this year that I have never seen people discuss

If it’s not the Fanta bar (a sponsored bar why I never) then it’s plexiglass or The Weeknd drink not having its name at one bar or it’s how the announcements come too slow or it’s how the announcements come too quick or it’s about how there isn’t a website anymore or how there’s too much on the site or how it’s about how there aren’t icons or it’s about how there’s too much icons etc etc etc

The list goes on and on because whatever decision that universal made for something that hasn’t even opened yet this year proves that one’s personal gripes are validated.

Vast groups of the fandom need to touch grass years ago.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

perhaps depositing a small thought of my own; wouldn’t you want to have the bars be relevant to the event and to act as a place that gives people a reason to socialize?

Like how Hollywood has successfully done that with Dia De Los Muertos, the bar above Jurassic Cafe, and just last year with the Peacock Bar (which is now a Chucky Bar for whatever the reason).

My problem with the Fanta bar is just more in the terms of confusion of why it’s there rather than the how.

 

[Clive]

If it’s not the Fanta bar (a sponsored bar why I never) then it’s plexiglass or The Weeknd drink not having its name at one bar or it’s how the announcements come too slow or it’s how the announcements come too quick or it’s about how there isn’t a website anymore or how there’s too much on the site or how it’s about how there aren’t icons or it’s about how there’s too much icons etc etc etc

The list goes on and on because whatever decision that universal made for something that hasn’t even opened yet this year proves that one’s personal gripes are validated.

Vast groups of the fandom need to touch grass years ago.

You know I love you Joe, but --

• A sponsor is whatever, but again, if you can't tell if something should be at Six Flags or Universal, you've got a problem
• Plexiglass was awful, pointless, and actively hurt the event
• Websites were cool and it's a shame they're gone, but I think most everyone has accepted that is what it is
• People like icons that are executed well and get frustrated when they aren't, which seems fair enough

I do agree that a lot of people get in too deep and balk at things that literally don't matter. But some of this stuff does matter on some level.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

perhaps depositing a small thought of my own; wouldn’t you want to have the bars be relevant to the event and to act as a place that gives people a reason to socialize?

Like how Hollywood has successfully done that with Dia De Los Muertos, the bar above Jurassic Cafe, and just last year with the Peacock Bar (which is now a Chucky Bar for whatever the reason).

My problem with the Fanta bar is just more in the terms of confusion of why it’s there rather than the how.

Coke has sponsored stuff at RTU and I think Mardi Gras. Now they’re sponsoring something at HHN.

And it’s not like Peacock, a streaming service best know for having football, drag race, and The Traitors, has anything to do with HHN either. Purge is a film series in theaters and David S Pumpkins was in NBC!

Plexiglass was awful, pointless, and actively hurt the event

In 2022 people said the plexiglass was needed for scare actor safety, remember that? Universal hates their scare actors/women for not bringing it back. Etc.

This is what I’m talking about.

It’s just a sponsored bar.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Yeah, walking through an empty house in late Summer really doesn't do a ton for me personally.

I think part of the way I feel about this year's event is also a personal thing. This will be my 9th year going to Horror Nights, if you count 2020, which I do since I ran those 3 houses a ton. We all coped with the pandemic in our own ways haha. This is my 6th Frequent Fear pass, and I've experienced a lot of Halloween Horror Nights at this point. I'm excited about the event, as I imagine I always will be for HHN. But I'm not... that excited.

There are no IPs this year that I hold incredibly dear to my heart like I do Stranger Things, Invisible Man, The Shining, Billie Eilish, Trick R Treat, Klowns, Elm Street, or especially FNaF while that iron is burning hot. I care about Ghostbusters, but I've already seen that house and it was okay. I've also seen Ghostbusters in both Cinesational and Mega Movie, so I'm not really hungering for it at Universal like I was in 2019. AQP is interesting logistically, but I'm not attached to it outside of that. Monsters is just more of the same, and not with my favorite ones like Creature, IM, etc. so it's hard to get too excited.

No crazy things are happening like TLoU being our first video game house in almost a decade, or finally getting our cancelled Chupacabra/Tooth Fairy house, or a cool elaborate concept house like Case Files or The Darkest Deal. No long-requested Dueling Dragons house or anything. All of the original house concepts are kinda basic, really vague, or take the ideas in directions that I don't personally vibe with.

• Slaughter Sinema remains my #1 HHN house of all time, so I should be excited for the sequel, but with a concept so flexible there is a 100% possibility that the lightning just doesn't strike twice. I've been keeping my expectations purposefully low for a little bit now.
• "Nightmare at the Museum" is a terrific HHN concept I've had for years! But they seem to be taking it less as "Dinosaur Skeletons, Marbled statues and ancient artifacts, Taxidermied Animals, Cowboys, Mummies, Soldier mannequins coming to life around you" and more folklore and local gallery-focused? I guess I just have no idea what to even expect out of it.
• Goblins might be really scary and funny like Scary Tales or Wicked Growth, but could just be another Dragons; pretty but dull.
• Dual Icons are neat, but I don't know anything about them outside of their bad 2000s-y names and their basic premise which I might just have to see for myself how I feel about in the moment.

Long story short, I just haven't felt very compelled into hype for this event, and I haven't really since FNaF and Elm Street got knocked off the spec maps. Those were things I truly hadn't seen before personally.

Despite all of this complaining though, I think that it's honestly okay that I'm not that excited. It's a shame, and I would hope every year could grab me in the same ways, but I've been going for a long time now! It's somehow been almost a decade since I've been going to HHN, and exactly 5 years since I worked the event myself. I've gotten a lot out of HHN over the years, and it's okay if it doesn't hit everytime. At this point, I've seen most things that HHN could reasonably offer me, and so there will end up being some diminishing returns. I'm sure there will be new faces and FFP owners who will experience this event as the best thing ever, and that's wonderful. I hope this year really hits for them.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Coke has sponsored stuff at RTU and I think Mardi Gras. Now they’re sponsoring something at HHN.

And it’s not like Peacock, a streaming service best know for having football, drag race, and The Traitors, has anything to do with HHN either. Purge is a film series in theaters and David S Pumpkins was in NBC!

Peacock is an integral part of the NBC/ Universal filmed entertainment empire and HHN is an event centered on filmed entertainment in a park themed to the NBC/ Universal filmed entertainment empire. Come on.

If it’s not the Fanta bar (a sponsored bar why I never) then it’s plexiglass or The Weeknd drink not having its name at one bar or it’s how the announcements come too slow or it’s how the announcements come too quick or it’s about how there isn’t a website anymore or how there’s too much on the site or how it’s about how there aren’t icons or it’s about how there’s too much icons etc etc etc

The list goes on and on because whatever decision that universal made for something that hasn’t even opened yet this year proves that one’s personal gripes are validated.

Vast groups of the fandom need to touch grass years ago.

Fans care about the thing they are fans of. News at 11.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Coke has sponsored stuff at RTU and I think Mardi Gras. Now they’re sponsoring something at HHN.

And it’s not like Peacock, a streaming service best know for having football, drag race, and The Traitors, has anything to do with HHN either. Purge is a film series in theaters and David S Pumpkins was in NBC!

It’s still a platform that allows Universal to promote their media (and elements topical of the season). It’s not simply a matter of where the source of something was from; it was that it was Comcast’s way of broadening their image.

I’m not saying I wanted the Peacock Bar back either; but I think you still should make your bars relevant to the event if you can. Even if it was simple like Dia De Los Muertos (could’ve sworn Ft. Lauderdale hosts a big celebration of it), that could’ve had easy sponsorship like how Hollywood does (it also could’ve had relevancy with say, Monstruos).

 

[TheCodeMan95]

• Plexiglass was awful, pointless, and actively hurt the event

I'm of the personal belief that, at that time, if scareactors wanted plexiglass for safety, it was a good idea. I'm sure it took away from the event (we did the houses in 2020, and while it was distracting, it wasn't AWFUL), but that's the time we were in in 2021.

Something strange that I've noticed this year is fans having a lack of excitement over certain houses because they "don't know what to expect." And it feels, at least anecdotally, that the mystery around something was a positive. It brings a level of intrigue.

We had an idea of where The Darkest Deal was going last year, but I can guarantee no one actually knew what to expect with that house. It's just a strange pattern I've noticed this year.

 

[Clive]

I'm of the personal belief that, at that time, if scareactors wanted plexiglass for safety, it was a good idea. I'm sure it took away from the event (we did the houses in 2020, and while it was distracting, it wasn't AWFUL), but that's the time we were in in 2021.

Something strange that I've noticed this year is fans having a lack of excitement over certain houses because they "don't know what to expect." And it feels, at least anecdotally, that the mystery around something was a positive. It brings a level of intrigue.

We had an idea of where The Darkest Deal was going last year, but I can guarantee no one actually knew what to expect with that house. It's just a strange pattern I've noticed this year.

The scare actors didn't want or ask for the plexiglass - it was a cowardly executive decision and thrown together at the last minute. It naturally did not accomplish what it was ostensibly meant to accomplish (prevent COVID transmission). Later on, some (foolish) people ran with the narrative that it improved guest-on-performer safety.

As for your second point, I hear you. I think @GA-MBIT nailed it with their post above -- "all of the original house concepts are kinda basic, really vague, or take the ideas in directions that I don't personally vibe with." I don't necessarily agree with the latter element, but I do agree that the titles and extremely limited descriptions are disappointingly ambiguous (and the crappy art this year doesn't help, either). For all we know, all of these houses will be hits -- I certainly hope so! -- but I get why they aren't garnering a whole lot of excitement relative to prior years.

 

[Kichkinet85]

*reads post*
*checks thread name*
*reads post again*

 

[Clive]

*reads post*
*checks thread name*
*reads post again*

We get it. You're excited. That's okay - great, even. But Horror Nights fans are discussing this year's event. If you'd like to rebut some of what's being said here, by all means, but let's try to make our posts productive.

 

[kristenabelle]

My hype meter is a little lower than last year, but last year hit lots of my big obsessions (Paris, blues, period-era/historical settings, fun fantasy, a show that has Pedro Pascal)! So it's gonna be tough to beat solely on my personal preferences, and knowing little beyond the brief descriptions & pods we have. But they're still getting my money!

 

[Kichkinet85]

We get it. You're excited. That's okay - great, even. But Horror Nights fans are discussing this year's event. If you'd like to rebut some of what's being said here, by all means, but let's try to make our posts productive.

There’s a difference in talking speculation vs complaining again that the merch is bad or the bar themeing isn’t great. Or complain how something was pointless from 3 years ago.

It’s true the merch isn’t great and the bars aren’t great theming(but the food booths are) and probably will be more theming added. As they seem to just keep adding things

 

[TheCodeMan95]

It will be hard for any year to match my level of hype for 2023 (purely because of TLOU) - but I'm very excited for this year just like any other.

 

[Clive]

There’s a difference in talking speculation vs complaining again that the merch is bad or the bar themeing isn’t great.

It’s true the merch isn’t great and the bars aren’t great theming(but the food booths are) and probably will be more theming added. As they seem to just keep adding things

As you said, new things are being added. People are responding to them. Enough with the patronizing attitude.

 

[Alicia]

I’m so mad at HHN this year! As someone who has been attending since the 90s I don’t like how the event has changed so dramatically!!! I want the parade back. And less houses. 10 is too many. I was perfectly fine with 4. What has happened to my event!??