What is missing from Horror Nights?

[Zombie-C]

Horror Nights seems to have great sets and some good actors. Tons of money behind it. Yet, year after year. It seems like the other companies do things beyond them. I keep hearing that HOS is scarer. Look at Knotts offering a all you can go pass. As long as you have a season pass. The skeleton key, the FREE! zombie laser tag game and also the themes of their mazes.

Has Horror Nights just hit a stale routine? What is missing from Horror Nights that could take it to the next step?

 

[SeventyOne]

Themes of mazes? This year we get a maze inspired by the seminal horror film of the modern era. One that apparently ties in the lost Roanoke colony with an ancient Native American mythological monster. And a dark comedy house based on the fantastical idea of a factory that manufactures clowns. Three completely disparate themes/ideas, three different takes on what "scary" can be. I don't see the "stale routine." What other event could afford the first or would think up the latter?

Oh yeah, there's also a house based on the #1 rated TV show, a scarezone with actual contestants from a horror fan-favorite reality show showcasing their make-up work, another scarezone based on what will probably be the #1 horror movie at the box office this year, five more houses, the Bill & Ted show and it's cult-like following ...

When you factor in realistic restraints--legally you can't have actors touch guests, practically you can't do a house like "Alone" without a $100+ upcharge or have movie-ready make-up on every actor in a scarezone--I think Universal does much more than we have a right to expect.

 

[neoshinok]

I've never heard of the zombie laser tag, that sounds pretty friggin awesome

 

[Zombie-C]

Make no mistake SeventyOne, I am a die hard fan of HHN. You don't have to explain to me what A&D can do. Im applying the idea that we always see other theme parks or even stand alone Haunted Houses do themes. We seem to not touch or just haven't done in a long time. Sure, we have done a western house but it's been 9 years.

As far as a "Alone" house they could do it. Now it's a different story of if they want to.

 

[Cole]

I miss creativity, don't get me wrong I think horror nights is incredibly ingenious with its original ideas but recently (afterlife, dead end) they just aren't that creative anymore. I miss the days of nightingales and Bloodngutz where you go through a house and say to yourself "where the hell did they get that idea from?" I'm sick of the ghost house, 3D house and zombie house because you can get those out of any old haunt. If your gonna stick to IPs, give me something new for the originals like the clown factory, that's a step in the right direction.

I also think variety is a problem. This year we have 4 houses with giant battles going on through them and 2 vampire houses. Last year we had zombies around the park with 4 houses with zombies in them. A&D needs to realize it gets repetitive seeing the same monster or scenario multiple times during the event. If the theme of the entire year was "war" or "vampires on attack" then I'd understand but unfortunately that's not the case-, bringing me to my last complaint.

A overall theme...end of story. I don't care if it's ripped from the silver screen x3 I just want something that makes the event not seem like a mish mash of horror properties because it just becomes forgettable after a while. End rant

 

[Clive]

Let's see...

House designs that put form before function (that is, remember they have to allow for good scares in addition to looking gorgeous)
Solid lighting design that actually resembles anything in the horror genre
Trained scare actors who actually know how to scare beyond pressing a pedal
Hiring enough actors to actually fill the admittedly beautiful sets
More complex show scene scares (most prominently featured in 2007-2009 [Roddy years])
Overarching themes to tie it all together (whether it be an icon, a theme, a backstory - something beyond a loose Legendary Truth "investigation")
A functioning website with lore to expand the houses
Costumes and makeup that don't look they came out of my local Spirit Halloween (I know they can't all be insane, but some of last year was embarrassing)
Fully-fledged scare zones that live up to the greats (2008, 2011)
IP houses that lend themselves well to the Halloween Horror Nights style (i.e. the cattle, congo-line, visual-heavy haunted house) and the haunt medium; bonus points if A&D actually gives a damn and wants to work with the property
A decent Bill & Ted (last year's was actually pretty good so this may no longer be a real issue)
Better crowd control (selling less express passes or increasing park capacity via additional rides, shows or houses would help)
Better merchandise (baby steps here!)
Improved park atmosphere (2012's was actually quite good, not referring to zones themselves)
Some evidence that creative and marketing are even remotely on the same page when drawing up the event

Notice I didn't mandate we cater to the fan's "rose colored glasses" view of the past or demand that there are no IPs. There are conceivable, financially-soluble (even beneficial in the long term) ways to handle the event better than they have.

 

[Teebin]

Let's see...

My word... what an extended opinion. The company certainly has their hands full trying to satisfy, market large crowds, and make vast bucks on the investment. I wonder if some of your requests are simply impossible.

 

[Octobers Fade]

My word... what an extended opinion. The company certainly has their hands full trying to satisfy, market large crowds, and make vast bucks on the investment. I wonder if some of your requests are simply impossible.

HHNs has done all of that in the past and made vast amounts of bucks, so no reason they can't do it now.
Well other than sticking their hands in the till and paying themselves for IPs

 

[Clive]

My word... what an extended opinion. The company certainly has their hands full trying to satisfy, market large crowds, and make vast bucks on the investment. I wonder if some of your requests are simply impossible.

They were doing wonderfully before costs started getting cut left and right (or, more accurately, spending to secure IPs rocketed up, meaning less spending on the actual nuts and bolts of the event - the budget for HHN has remained relatively constant the past few years). They also lost some of their best creative talent due to the IP overdose.

Comcast definitely gets daytime theme parks and resorts, but they don't get Halloween Horror Nights (cue the "it's doing better than ever financially" crowd - for now. It won't forever, not at these prices or without Walking Dead.)

 

[Teebin]

HHNs has done all of that in the past and made vast amounts of bucks, so no reason they can't do it now.
Well other than sticking their hands in the till and paying themselves for IPs

Right!. So either they strike the right balance this year or it will suck. In either event... they will make money. One or two houses are bound to be dandy.

 

[Clive]

Right!. So either they strike the right balance this year or it will suck. In either event... they will make money. One or two houses are bound to be dandy.

Run an event with reduced quality and crazy prices and crowds for a number of years, people (who aren't diehard fans) get burned out, especially if they have no interest in horror beyond Walking Dead...

Or provide a high quality product that justifies the prices that demands attention regardless of Walking Dead... Perish the thought!

 

[MrRoamer]

I think most of your issues are stem from two factors.

The Roddy years and B&T go hand and hand. Aiello's last show was also the start of him being in charge and with that is going to bring some necessary time to adapt for all parties involved.

The other is crowds. HHN is bigger than it ever has been and many of the same ideologies are being brought from general park management. People clearly like IPs based on popularity of walking dead, potter etc. They are trying to appease the most people they can and understand it is a very diverse space. Spending money on bigger IPs is something that is going to happen and so is conga lines.

Also throw in that construction has been rampant these past years and this may be the first time in 3-4 years that there isn't major construction going on somewhere.

I'm with you on marketing and the web site, but honestly these two items typically fall flat for them anyways.

 

[Lucky Planet]

something they are missing is the horror atmosphere, Yes they are still doing horror based houses, but the event doesn't feel like a halloween event but more like a horror version of Islands of Adventure or Hollywood studios or something.

My point is that in the last couple of years it feels like the event is just becoming a "Regular theme park" that just happens to be set to horror movies instead of superheroes or action movies.

they keep cutting on the budget and the quality of the streets more and more every year. each year that passes it feels like we are losing the scarezones and the streets. I am afraid that at some point they won't even bother with creating scarezones or "Hordes" anymore and it will just be the houses and shows and nothing else.
(It is kind of funny because whenever this subject comes up online most people tend to ignore the streets and only talk about how the houses suck, I think most people take the streets for granted)

the houses are starting to feel like rides and not haunted houses, the music in the park is becoming more like movie soundtracks for a theme park(when was the last time you heard Midnight Syndicate)

I miss the way it used to feel before, it felt like different. HOS might not have the best sets or a high budget but the atmosphere and the "halloween" feel is still completely there (it is in the scare tactics, it is in the actors, in the music etc.)

HHN had IPs in the past but it still had that haunted feeling that I am talking about, the problem is not really the IPs themselves because we have always had IPs in the park.
For me the thing that is seriously missing is the attention that the streets used to get mostly. I think the houses are fine for the most part but the streets and the overall atmosphere in the park is hurting a lot.


Like some of you guys said, it is starting to feel monotonous, starting to feel like "same old, same old" it a way it kind of feels like HHN is just going through the motions now. Maybe not house wise, but everything else kind of does.

 

[Zombie-C]

Well said Code!!! I fully agree about the streets. It's strange when you think of the way the guest handles HHN. It really is like a daytime theme park. We show up, wait in lines, go through the house like its a ride. Then done and onto the next. I would like to see zones set up in a new spot or expand in areas.

The street characters are given room to act. Though the houses they don't. It's look for guest and hit button and pop out. One thing I have notice is at HOS or other stand alone haunts. Their given completely freedom.

The zombie laser game activity. Is taking off quite well. Only a matter of time before HOS gets it.

 

[MrRoamer]

The streets do make a huge difference but have felt like this ever since they went all in on the scare zones. It used to be that no matter where you were there could be anyone lurking around. It really did help establish a feeling of uneasiness that carried from the streets to the houses. I had hoped the hordes were the beginning of going back to the roots of that feeling.

If there was ever a point where everything changed it was when the scare zones were fully implemented.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Well said Code!!!
I fully agree about the streets. It's strange when you think of the way the guest handles HHN. It really is like a daytime theme park. We show up, wait in lines, go through the house like its a ride. Then done and onto the next. I would like to see zones set up in a new spot or expand in areas.

The street characters are given room to act. Though the houses they don't. It's look for guest and hit button and pop out. One thing I have notice is at HOS or other stand alone haunts. Their given completely freedom.

The zombie laser game activity. Is taking off quite well. Only a matter of time before HOS gets it.

Excellent point about the lines, That's what I was trying to say but you said it much better!
Exactly, We still have actors in the streets, but now it is starting to feel like when you see Doc brown or Shrek in the streets during the daytime and you get to take pics with them, That was how the walkers felt like to me last year.
They had the tank and the barn and the deer prop, but it just didn't feel the way scarezones used to feel before.

Now I have nothing bad to say about the actors, nothing at all. That's why in my previews post I mentioned the Atmosphere is what is missing.

Before HHN used to feel like a halloween event, a horror event. Now it kind of feels like a collection of haunted houses added to the park for October a little bit. There is a difference.

 

[Vyrus]

The biggest thing missing so far it is terribly weird we haven't gotten any Bill and Ted announcements or speculation here on the boards tbh.

 

[Cole]

The biggest thing missing so far it is terribly weird we haven't gotten any Bill and Ted announcements or speculation here on the boards tbh.

I'm weirded out by this too. Fingers definitely crossed that the Hollywood version (that wasn't even that offensive to begin with) didn't ruin it for Orlando, although there is always some sort of press freakout over idiots who go in it expecting a disney show

 

[romo]

Just to chime in here and kind of on topic. We are all excited to get scarezones back. But we still haven't considered to what extent we are getting them back. Meaning that rumors were that ever sense the parade we wouldn't not see scarezones like they used to be because the needed to be mobile and stored away. So honestly what do we think we're going to get this year? I know time will tell but it is something to discuss because scarezones have been missing for far to long now. Will we ever see them come back like they once were?

 

[Zombie-C]

Hollywood and NY will be the same as always. Besides Sting Alley that might have some added stuff. Mobile sets are the only way. As for Plaza of Stars could be a mixture of lights and mobile sets or just lights, fog and characters. Look at what they put near that area last year. No effort at all.

If they ever pull the 2 park status again. We might see zones over in IOA. As for studios, I don't ever see zones of 18-21 coming back with the parade being there. The factor I believe is missing. Is the creativity in the zones. For example NY always seems to be the same. A vehicles or two, fog and characters. What about the area they normally put the food court yard for Mardi Gras or the area next to transformers. Same goes with San Fran as well.

The tents started out bad and over time figured how to work wonders in that small package. The parade only been around since 2012. So no reason they can't figured it out in due time.