Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - News & Info

[Casper Gutman]

If I remember correctly Carnage Warehouse couldn’t be used for a house anymore anyways as it’s a critical storage location for Uni now.

Either way, I don’t know what they’re gonna do at this point nor do I think they care. Regardless of how much we complain about the crowds, we still give them money and attend anyway. I know I’m still going to.

I also don’t think they’ll ever move it over to Epic Universe either as HHN at this point is so synonymous with Studios. That and the soundstages and sprung tents already being there.

Oh, I don’t really care about the crowds either - I go early or late over several days and don’t notice them much. But I hate to see the “raise prices to keep out the riff raff” impulse that is so common in WDW circles start to show up here.

 

[Legacy]

I’ve seen this said by knowledgeable people, so I’m inclined to believe it, but it confuses me because it seems like many of the facilities used for houses still exist. The sound stages, of course, are still accessible, just as they are from the Studios. I am not aware of any construction in Seuss or Forbidden that would make it more difficult to utilize those spaces. As far as I know the Carnage warehouse still stands, as accessible as ever. Likewise, Poseiden and Popeye are still as available as they were in 2003. The JP Visitor Center and Triceratops Trail are out, of course, but Thunder Falls might still be possible unless the surrounding alterations for Kong and the like have limited the space too much. With Carnage, Popeye, Poseiden, and possibly Thunder, it seems like finding space for seven houses in IOA and seven in the Studios would be doable with no more utilization of the soundstages then occurred this year (or, if Falls is out, the placement of one additional house in a soundstage). All of this, of course, is only considering spaces that have been used for houses in the past and not exploring any new possibilities.

The facilities in IoA still exist, but they can’t really be used anymore. More so, most of the facilities that CAN still be used in IoA are bottom tier venues with severe design limitations that don’t allow the flexibility and expansiveness guests expect now.

Poseidon’s and Popeye’s are venues equivalent to the old Jaws queue (bad and bad). Thunder Falls and Visitor Center can’t be used because the queue space for those houses is now used for rides (Kong and VelociCoaster). And Carnage warehouse has become, basically, the only storage facility for tech operations for that entire side of the resort—so, while it could be used, it requires moving everything that’s in there somewhere else (and, from my understanding, it is PACKED).

The soundstages, while generally accessible from Islands, are much closer to the Studios.
HHN won’t go back.

 

[Darko]

The facilities in IoA still exist, but they can’t really be used anymore. More so, most of the facilities that CAN still be used in IoA are bottom tier venues with severe design limitations that don’t allow the flexibility and expansiveness guests expect now.

Poseidon’s and Popeye’s are venues equivalent to the old Jaws queue (bad and bad). Thunder Falls and Visitor Center can’t be used because the queue space for those houses is now used for rides (Kong and VelociCoaster). And Carnage warehouse has become, basically, the only storage facility for tech operations for that entire side of the resort—so, while it could be used, it requires moving everything that’s in there somewhere else (and, from my understanding, it is PACKED).

The soundstages, while generally accessible from Islands, are much closer to the Studios.
HHN won’t go back.

Don’t know if you got my question last time but do you think they’re still wanting to increase the number of houses at the event or will 10 sort of be the norm now? Also I’m assuming scare zones are pretty much locked at 5 from now on simply for limitation or operation reasoning?

 

[Kichkinet85]

Pier has amazing sets but to me it’s not that amazing. While it’s an all timer for sets the scares are lacking.

I agree houses are more then just scares but scares are part of them and is part of how I judge/rank a house. And since pier is lacking in scares I can’t bring myself to put it in my top 3 (Legeands, Desendents, Halloween)

Now I might have just got a bad run though so I’m interested in going back though it when I go on the 26 to November 1 to see if the scares are better.

 

[ultimateforce]

With an express pass this year I've done every house at least 15 times and last night I left after just doing Weekend, Legends, and Descendants. The houses this year are great I just agree with other people in this thread where I feel like the magic is dimming for me. I plan on getting ultimate frequent fear with express next year and going it all again but tonight is the first Saturday I'm not going to HHN in years so I can do another Halloween related activity.

Too many people to push through, too many lines, too much money, etc. I think each little thing adds up in how I feel about HHN.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Pier has amazing sets but to me it’s not that amazing. While it’s an all timer for sets the scares are lacking.

I agree houses are more then just scares but scares are part of them and is part of how I judge/rank a house. And since pier is lacking in scares I can’t bring myself to put it in my top 3 (Legeands, Desendents, Halloween)

Now I might have just got a bad run though so I’m interested in going back though it when I go on the 26 to November 1 to see if the scares are better.

Dagnabit, if the “scares” are better in Pier, the mood is shattered and the house is worse! HHN now features 10 houses a year, variety is absolutely vital. In fact, one of the problems with 31 is that the event needs at least one humor house and even though I thought Bugs was interesting, it didn’t fulfill that role particularly well. I’m also not a huge fan of IPs, but I think a lighter IP akin to Beetle, Ghostbusters, or Stranger Things would have helped. Again, when you have 10 houses, you need a lot of tonal variety - that’s why I’m fine with the Weeknd house even though I didn’t think it worked very well.

 

[UNIrd]

Dagnabit, if the “scares” are better in Pier, the mood is shattered and the house is worse! HHN now features 10 houses a year, variety is absolutely vital. In fact, one of the problems with 31 is that the event needs at least one humor house and even though I thought Bugs was interesting, it didn’t fulfill that role particularly well. I’m also not a huge fan of IPs, but I think a lighter IP akin to Beetle, Ghostbusters, or Stranger Things would have helped. Again, when you have 10 houses, you need a lot of tonal variety - that’s why I’m fine with the Weeknd house even though I didn’t think it worked very well.

Agreed. The house should have checked the "fun house" box but was actually scary instead.

 

[Darko]

I can’t help but feel this year feels off for people for more than just houses or whatever. I feel a lot of it is operational, internal shifting of A&D, and possibly how experimental this year feels.

I feel like, maybe I’m wrong, but they are doing a sort of litmus test this year. Like they are seeing if they can sort of have their cohesive cake but also have their variety cake as well (terribly worded but let’s go with it). Certain things this year, specifically the scare zones (mainly Graveyard and Scarecrow) feel like an attempt (pretty successfully in my opinion) to give an old school HHN vibe, while still keeping what makes modern HHN successful.

Personally I felt like 25 nailed it already with its mix of old and new while feeling fresh and cohesive at the same time. This year almost feels like an attempt to do the same, but I feel they didn’t have everyone quite in their spot yet I guess you could say for it to be 100% successful. But I feel like I see what they are going for.

I’ll be honest, truthfully I liked playing around with people when it comes to how long I’ve actually been attending HHN. I throw out random numbers cause I just don’t it really matters for sort of fun, goofy discussions. However I’ll be genuinely truthful this time. I’ve been attending since the year Horror Came Home (16) and my favorite years have always been 17 and 25 (17 by a thin orange hair on Jack’s head).

17: I loved the cohesive feel of that year. The houses were stellar, and the streets had that fun dark carnival feel. However it did get a bit sparse in detail in areas all throughout. The atmosphere was there, just felt a little too stretched out. 25 on the other hand nailed the streets for me (Psychoscareapy Unleashed baby!) and while you could make the (very real) argument for 18 having the best zones, 25 nailed it for me.

All this nonsense is to say that HHN31 feels like an attempt to almost find a new identity for HHN. I might be wrong (most likely definitely am) but it feels like with the new team and such, maybe they are now trying to find their groove. So far, I personally feel, especially with the streets, that it’s off to a good start. But as with anything HHN, it’ll be quite the fun wait and see.

 

[Kichkinet85]

Dagnabit, if the “scares” are better in Pier, the mood is shattered and the house is worse! HHN now features 10 houses a year, variety is absolutely vital. In fact, one of the problems with 31 is that the event needs at least one humor house and even though I thought Bugs was interesting, it didn’t fulfill that role particularly well. I’m also not a huge fan of IPs, but I think a lighter IP akin to Beetle, Ghostbusters, or Stranger Things would have helped. Again, when you have 10 houses, you need a lot of tonal variety - that’s why I’m fine with the Weeknd house even though I didn’t think it worked very well.

Disagree, I only did this house twice this year so it could have just been bad timing but I didn’t get much scares at all and the actors just seemed to not even be trying. If they did try, it wouldn’t ruin the atmosphere of the house. With that being said they could go to hard and ruin it but In my experience they didn’t at all.

While variety is important and epically now with 10 houses, scares are expected in a HHN house. IMO pier just didn’t have it all and that brings it down for me. Dosen’t mean it’s not a good house IMO as it is. When I look back on a house, I want to think of the scares as well as everything else epically if I remember it as a GOAT.

The houses sets ARE amazing and definitely a GOAT in sets. I love seeing the facade, the ship, the lighthouse, the ghost on the ship, etc. and that definitely makes it a remarkable house but I can’t say it’s a GOAT and better then house like “Wicked Growth”, “Graveyard Games”, or “Poltergeist”.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Disagree, I only did this house twice this year so it could have just been bad timing but I didn’t get much scares at all and the actors just seemed to not even be trying. If they did try, it wouldn’t ruin the atmosphere of the house. With that being said they could go to hard and ruin it but In my experience they didn’t at all.

While variety is important and epically now with 10 houses, scares are expected in a HHN house. IMO pier just didn’t have it all and that brings it down for me. Dosen’t mean it’s not a good house IMO as it is. When I look back on a house, I want to think of the scares as well as everything else epically if I remember it as a GOAT.

The houses sets ARE amazing and definitely a GOAT in sets. I love seeing the facade, the ship, the lighthouse, the ghost on the ship, etc. and that definitely makes it a remarkable house but I can’t say it’s a GOAT and better then house like “Wicked Growth”, “Graveyard Games”, or “Poltergeist”.

People jumping out and going “boo” is absolutely counter to the lyrical effect Pier was trying to achieve. The centerpiece of the whole affair is a distant mournful violinist, for gosh sakes.

Maybe it has something to do with how long one has attended. I’ve been to 14 events, and I don’t remember a single specific scare - they blend together. I DO remember sets, gags, puppets, costumes, tone, sfx, etc. Apropos of nothing, I agree with Darko that the event was at a height from 17 to 19, though I preferred 18 very slightly to 17.

This is a very, very interesting year because, despite an all-time house and strong streets, everyone agrees something is off but no one quite knows what that is. I share the sense that SOMETHING just didn’t gel - a preponderance of mediocre houses? A lack of variety? The absence of a strong creative voice outside of Pier and perhaps Monsters? I don’t know what it is. The several years following 21 were simply weak events, the problems were clear. I wouldn’t call 31 weak, just odd. Perhaps it’s the product of settling into a new era of the event, but if that’s it, I can’t quite see the shape of HHNs to come just yet.

 

[Darko]

People jumping out and going “boo” is absolutely counter to the lyrical effect Pier was trying to achieve. The centerpiece of the whole affair is a distant mournful violinist, for gosh sakes.

Maybe it has something to do with how long one has attended. I’ve been to 14 events, and I don’t remember a single specific scare - they blend together. I DO remember sets, gags, puppets, costumes, tone, sfx, etc. Apropos of nothing, I agree with Darko that the event was at a height from 17 to 19, though I preferred 18 very slightly to 17.

This is a very, very interesting year because, despite an all-time house and strong streets, everyone agrees something is off but no one quite knows what that is. I share the sense that SOMETHING just didn’t gel - a preponderance of mediocre houses? A lack of variety? The absence of a strong creative voice outside of Pier and perhaps Monsters? I don’t know what it is. The several years following 21 were simply weak events, the problems were clear. I wouldn’t call 31 weak, just odd. Perhaps it’s the product of settling into a new era of the event, but if that’s it, I can’t quite see the shape of HHNs to come just yet.

I think you worded it better than me. Also I could totally see why you’d prefer 18 to 17, especially the streets. I just loved the dark carnival theme so much. Also Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays. One of my favorite houses ever.

I agree completely about this year. It’s not one of those dark years like 22-24. Those certainly had their bright spots but the problems were painfully clear. This year doesn’t have anything obviously wrong. In fact I’d argue it is a relatively consistent in some ways. It just feels off. My guess is still that maybe this is a new era and is off to a good start but something is not quite right.

It might sound weird but it makes me hyped for next year just because I wanna see if it leads to something more. The zones for one have me excited for their future. The houses have potential. Definitely a curious oddity of a year.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I think you worded it better than me. Also I could totally see why you’d prefer 18 to 17, especially the streets. I just loved the dark carnival theme so much. Also Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays. One of my favorite houses ever.

I agree completely about this year. It’s not one of those dark years like 22-24. Those certainly had their bright spots but the problems were painfully clear. This year doesn’t have anything obviously wrong. In fact I’d argue it is a relatively consistent in some ways. It just feels off. My guess is still that maybe this is a new era and is off to a good start but something is not quite right.

It might sound weird but it makes me hyped for next year just because I wanna see if it leads to something more. The zones for one have me excited for their future. The houses have potential. Definitely a curious oddity of a year.

Home for the Holidays is absolutely one of my top five of all time!

I agree that I’m more interested then usual to see what next year brings. The early 20s felt like inferior copies of a proven design, this feels like something new finding its footing.

 

[Darko]

Home for the Holidays is absolutely one of my top five of all time!

I agree that I’m more interested then usual to see what next year brings. The early 20s felt like inferior copies of a proven design, this feels like something new finding its footing.

Exactly this. This feels like, if they develop it further, this could be the beginning of a great new era. Whether it will be a new peak era is still to be determined. But I’m loving the attempt this year at a cohesive street experience with an overarching theme. Just needs further development and I think it could become something great.

 

[HHNObsession]

Don’t know if you got my question last time but do you think they’re still wanting to increase the number of houses at the event or will 10 sort of be the norm now? Also I’m assuming scare zones are pretty much locked at 5 from now on simply for limitation or operation reasoning?

Is there any reason to believe they won’t bring back the MIB tent in the near future? I’m hoping they do and keep the F&F queue house as an 11th house. The spacing of houses around the park would be perfect in my opinion.

 

[Brian G.]

Is there any reason to believe they won’t bring back the MIB tent in the near future? I’m hoping they do and keep the F&F queue house as an 11th house. The spacing of houses around the park would be perfect in my opinion.

There’s a reason they moved entrances around that area, it can’t handle the traffic as it stands right now.

 

[HHN Maddux]

There’s a reason they moved entrances around that area, it can’t handle the traffic as it stands right now.

Just to clarify, so you believe that'll be the new standard going forward? I thought they moved the tent entrances around to accommodate for Weeknd's queue.

 

[Frank Drackman]

People jumping out and going “boo” is absolutely counter to the lyrical effect Pier was trying to achieve. The centerpiece of the whole affair is a distant mournful violinist, for gosh sakes.

Maybe it has something to do with how long one has attended. I’ve been to 14 events, and I don’t remember a single specific scare - they blend together. I DO remember sets, gags, puppets, costumes, tone, sfx, etc. Apropos of nothing, I agree with Darko that the event was at a height from 17 to 19, though I preferred 18 very slightly to 17.

This is a very, very interesting year because, despite an all-time house and strong streets, everyone agrees something is off but no one quite knows what that is. I share the sense that SOMETHING just didn’t gel - a preponderance of mediocre houses? A lack of variety? The absence of a strong creative voice outside of Pier and perhaps Monsters? I don’t know what it is. The several years following 21 were simply weak events, the problems were clear. I wouldn’t call 31 weak, just odd. Perhaps it’s the product of settling into a new era of the event, but if that’s it, I can’t quite see the shape of HHNs to come just yet.

the violinist just adds soooo much to that house!!

I find it a bit interesting that folks seem to really enjoy the pier and folks are talking about the mood, as you say, the lyric. For some reason I am not found of the sound track this year, but beyond that, I seem to recall the HHN houses of the past having a sort of rhythm to them, like they are built around a tempo, a house specific soundtrack that sets the mood the pace, everything -- I just do not 'feel' that with the houses this year (save the pier). That sort of dance I recall from the houses in the past is the only thing I really sense as missing, being absent.

 

[HHNObsession]

There’s a reason they moved entrances around that area, it can’t handle the traffic as it stands right now.

Just to clarify, so you believe that'll be the new standard going forward? I thought they moved the tent entrances around to accommodate for Weeknd's queue.

That’s what I thought as well. I really hope they don’t keep that awful walk around the MIB building.

 

[Brian G.]

Just to clarify, so you believe that'll be the new standard going forward? I thought they moved the tent entrances around to accommodate for Weeknd's queue.

That’s what I thought as well. I really hope they don’t keep that awful walk around the MIB building.

Why would the tents need to accommodate The Weeknd queue? They don’t interfere with each other at all.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Why would the tents need to accommodate The Weeknd queue? They don’t interfere with each other at all.

I was under the impression it was so Weeknd could use the queue space Sprung 1 usually took (hence Spring 1 queue using the old Sprung 2 switch back this year).