Halloween Horror Nights 2020 Old Speculation Thread

[Chris Galindo]

That sentiment might resonate more with Hollywood than it does Orlando but regardless the parks will be fine

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

I fully expect us to see a lot of cuts in terms of things Universal sees as a lower priority, we'll probably see a decent scaling back of streetmosphere, even though its kinda scaled back as is, maybe a slowdown in future projects and less frequent refurbs except when necessary, but I don't think Universal is just gonna abandon all of their parks instead of running them at a loss for a while with the promise of profits returning in the future. As for how HHN will get affected monetarily its waaaaay too early to say. Hopefully the budget is still decent for 2021 even though a lot of what we're gonna see is likely basically already ready to go, though my main guess is that the leftover unspent money from this years budget will probably get redistributed throughout the company rather than getting piled into next years budget.

 

[DTH]

I think this applies to Knotts way more. I remember reading a statistic (this was maybe 10-15 years ago though) that 75% of their income is from Halloween Haunt. Sounds insane, but easy to believe. Most locals prefer Disneyland and if coasters are your jam, then you can drive 45 minutes up to Six Flags. Tourists are hitting Disneyland and USH for the most part. The ONLY time I've been to Knotts in the last 10 years was with a free ticket or for KSF.

USH is fine. It is ALWAYS crowded with tourists. If the tourism industry is ruined all the way to 2022, then I'd say USH could be on the chopping block. But even than, I imagine there'd just be way more cuts, budgetary constraints, and the park will just become cheap looking ala Magic Mountain or something. The studio, while cruxed right now, will eventually get back up and running. Whether theaters will live on, who knows, but there will always be a crave for entertainment that Universal can provide. But people pay Disneyland prices simply just to ride that Studio Tour -- it's easily the tourism capital of Hollywood. It's not going anywhere for some time, even if that means downsizing to JUST a Studio Tour like the old days.

 

[Nick]

If AMC Theaters can somehow continuing to find people will to keep them going financially for awhile with ZERO incoming revenue right now, then Universal can survive. It will be a very tough hit and i'm assuming if any version of Mardi Gras happens, it will be neutered with no concerts, which just adds another major hit. But as long as HHN is able to go on next year they'll be fine.

 

[Joe]

I seriously hope this is just scaremongering...

Kris is a deeply, profoundly, stupid person.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Kris is a deeply, profoundly, stupid person.

Budget cuts and some temporary closures like right now, sure. But to think that Universal will be non-existent next year is ridiculous. HHN prior to the Potter was the resort's savior during hard times, but the resort does well enough with Potter by itself. As long as Butterbeer keeps flowing and wands keep selling, they will be fine.

 

[Ringwraith]

I just wanna thank everyone again. This forum was such a fun inviting place to be and it got me through some really hard times. I wanna thank the mods of course for preserving the atmosphere in here. Also wanna thank Legacy and Ringwraith and all the other insiders cause without them we probably would’ve had nothing to really talk about. Thanks everyone and I’ll see y’all on the 2021 speculation board.

Kris is a deeply, profoundly, stupid person.

This is just drama to get people talking. Universal Orlando will be fine.

And you're welcome Hydragen2299! I enjoy it.

 

[JawsVictim]

Serious question: why haven’t they entertained the idea of a drive through haunt? Surely you can create something that allows guests to drive through a portion of the backlot or soundstage for a unique HHN experience. It’s wildly successful in Tokyo right now.

 

[Ringwraith]

This is just drama to get people talking. Universal Orlando will be fine.

And you're welcome @HydraGen2299 ! I enjoy it.

 

[ItsAtrap]

I mean i think topical or not bill and ted are never coming back on this coast, theres not nearly as much of a reason since it was never as much of a tradition here as it was in orlando.

Not as much of a tradition as Orlando but those 10 years in Hollywood were so much fun! Well, 9 and a half...

 

[Freak]

So I heard we lost some IPs before the event got canceled. I am praying they were Ellish and TCM, especially TCM. Perhaps we lost Hill House as well.

In a non-ideal perfect world, If we lost those two IPs, you know what would be great IPs to replace them with? It and the Conjuring. If we lost three? Thirteen Ghosts for the 20th anniversary. Imagine this dope line-up:

-TWDA
-Original in Parisian
-It (SS 29)
-Conjuring (JP or Mummy?)
-Beetlejuice (Metro 1)
-Bride of Frankenstein (Metro 2)
-Thirteen Ghosts (747)

I think that would be a fantastic comeback event next year.

EDIT TO ADD: You know, I think Hill House actually might have been scrapped as that was rumored to go in 29, but no action was happening there when construction occurred. Didn't see anything in front of 747 either so maybe BJ got scrapped too?

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

Serious question: why haven’t they entertained the idea of a drive through haunt? Surely you can create something that allows guests to drive through a portion of the backlot or soundstage for a unique HHN experience. It’s wildly successful in Tokyo right now.

Guessing it’s due to the safety risk of guest operated moving cars and live actors in relation to them, but I’ve also asked that. I wonder why they even began on constructing mazes this year where they might’ve had a better chance with plexus glass divided tram tour/drive through haunt.

 

[hhnlover]

Serious question: why haven’t they entertained the idea of a drive through haunt? Surely you can create something that allows guests to drive through a portion of the backlot or soundstage for a unique HHN experience. It’s wildly successful in Tokyo right now.

So we don’t have another 1986 incident.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

So we don’t have another 1986 incident.

Thats exactly what came to mind when I read "drive through haunt"
Guests get violent easily without a massive mobile block of steel, i can only imagine trying to scare someone in a car wouldnt end well on multiple occassions.

 

[Chris Galindo]

Ellish did not get scrapped AFAIK

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Ellish did not get scrapped AFAIK

Makes sense, I wouldnt be surprised if she was reluctant to have her face and brand in an event running during covid, but now that its cancelled I dont think her maze would get scrapped. Considering shes one of if not the biggest musical artist in the mainstream right now with a huge following and also just so happens to be a big fan of the event, I dont think either party would be super willing to drop out right away if it was avoidable.

 

[JawsVictim]

So we don’t have another 1986 incident.

I think there’s a way to pull it off without having actors directly in the vehicles’ paths. Require engines to be turned off during the show portion, hit the house lights if a car ignites, and instruct actors not to perform directly in front of the vehicles.Or if it was more of a Halloween version of XMas lights drive thru, have actors performing on platforms.

But, yeah, I get it. Only takes one accident to shut it down.

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

I think there’s a way to pull it off without having actors directly in the vehicles’ paths. Require engines to be turned off during the show portion, hit the house lights if a car ignites, and instruct actors not to perform directly in front of the vehicles.Or if it was more of a Halloween version of XMas lights drive thru, have actors performing on platforms.

But, yeah, I get it. Only takes one accident to shut it down.

Would be pretty sick if it had constant motion with actors incorporated into the sets in looping scenes. Pretty impractical, but imagine a boat in the lake to represent creature, yelling townspeople in the windows of little Europe rioting about Frankenstein, Norman guarding the car, maybe incorporate other universal horror IPs like the insidious house with projections and live actors peering through the back of the van, probably Purge in WotW, etc. very unrealistic, but there definitely is some potential of down correctly and with the normal level of quality that Universal usually provides in the park

 

[HydraGen2299]

Just curious does anyone actually know if they ever had a plan to use the JW queue this year? They had some lumber in that area in those old Santa Clarita drone vids

 

[DTH]

I mean, they could do that with the Studio Tour shuttles and have it be every other row. The only question would be where and how people queue. Totally can be done with some next level brainstorming. And it'd be almost an hour long, I'd buy a $40-60 ticket for that.

I'll do a quick brainstorm:
Okay, reservation times. Let's say every 15 minutes.
Guests must arrive at least 30 minutes early prior to their reservation time.
Stage 1: City Walk. If you are too early for your reservation time, you must wait in City Walk.
Stage 2: 30 minutes prior to your reservation, you will be able to go through security and line up at the gate in socially distanced holding areas.
Stage 3: 15 minutes prior to your reservation, you are now able to enter the park. You have 15 minutes to arrive to the Studio Tour plaza. Grab a bite, bathroom, whatever.
Stage 4: At your reservation time, you must now be checked in at Studio Tour queue, also which will be socially distanced holding areas as oppose to the usual zig zags.

Your reservation time isn't the time you board the tram, it's just the time you're allowed to be in the Studio Tour queue area. From here, there will hopefully be at most only 3-4 groups ahead of you. Should be on the tram within 5-10 minutes.
This is clearly a 40-60 minute process, but beats the hell out of waiting in a swarm of people like sardines.

Essentially it'd be one group per row. Or two very small groups per row (like 1 or 2 people groups). Each tram experience will be customed on their rows, so big groups that take up more than 1 row can still technically sit together.

After your Studio Tour, you can re-enter the park. Where they want to drop you off, I don't know. Maybe can break it down into two parts.

Stop 1 is the backlot where the usual mazes were, but now it's just vendors and socially distanced eating areas. You can take the usual route from having to walk all the way to the lower lot and up the escalators. No rides whatsoever will be open. Only food, beverages, and restrooms. Any worry points of people wandering around will be blocked off. You must strictly stay within the path heading toward the escalators and the exit. With such limited capacity, this encourages social distancing.

Wheelchair and those who wish to skip the vendor experience can go to Stop 2 which is just the usual tram unloading back at the Studio Tour plaza. You re-enter the main section of the park where you can now exit. The escalators to go down could be no entry -- only those who were at Stop 1 can use this area to leave it. The exit could be the Waterworld exit as oppose to the main gate so the two don't intersect paths too much.

Ofcourse that's just my dumb, laymen thinking within 10 minutes. With some actually experienced theme park scientists (lol don't know what else to call them) spinning that for a day or two, I'm sure they could think of something better that would qualify them as not being an open theme park and such, get them revenue for the park, keep some jobs open, etc..