Halloween Horror Nights 23 Speculation

[Felipe]

Oh, and not only creativity, but cuts down the diversity by A LOT!
REALLY disappointing and frustrating...

:doh:

 

[JungleSkip]

So Ricky Brigante says there will be other streets. WD will be the main ones however.

 

[Felipe]

So Ricky Brigante says there will be other streets. WD will be the main ones however.

I wish... But press release specifically says Universal Orlando is also dedicating its entire “Halloween Horror Nights” street experience to “The Walking Dead”

 

[JungleSkip]

I wish... But press release specifically says Universal Orlando is also dedicating its entire “Halloween Horror Nights” street experience to “The Walking Dead”

Brigante has an in with Uni. I think the wording in the release was poor. And Ricky isn't the only one saying this.

With that being said, I think the only other thing coming will be Resident Evil.

 

[Brian G.]

Wait... now I haven't heard much on the inside for Streets but we were talking about rumors of getting both Street Experiences and Scarezones. Universal is dedicating the entire "Street Experience" to TWD, but may have other scarezones dedicated to other stuff.

 

[Cecilia]

Wait... now I haven't heard much on the inside for Streets but we were talking about rumors of getting both Street Experiences and Scarezones. Universal is dedicating the entire "Street Experience" to TWD, but may have other scarezones dedicated to other stuff.

I think you may be on to something there.

 

[Jymmymack]

Wait... now I haven't heard much on the inside for Streets but we were talking about rumors of getting both Street Experiences and Scarezones. Universal is dedicating the entire "Street Experience" to TWD, but may have other scarezones dedicated to other stuff.

While this would be MUCH more palatable, if WD is a "Street Experience" and not a SZ... then how are we going to get Hershel's barn, ATL, the tank, etc.? Those sound like SZ's to me.

 

[Brian G.]

While this would be MUCH more palatable, if WD is a "Street Experience" and not a SZ... then how are we going to get Hershel's barn, ATL, the tank, etc.? Those sound like SZ's to me.

We had sets last year (although in limited fashion) around the park and they were still part of the "Street Experience". Maybe there will be 3 set areas of the parks that feature references to the different seasons, but could be areas where other zones are set up. Just speculation though.

 

[Felipe]

Wait... now I haven't heard much on the inside for Streets but we were talking about rumors of getting both Street Experiences and Scarezones. Universal is dedicating the entire "Street Experience" to TWD, but may have other scarezones dedicated to other stuff.

Good point. That's probably why it's being clarified that WD is not the only, but the "main" street experience. So we will probably have some different scarezones, with probably some dedicated to WD main locations, and then hoardes of zombies all around the park.

I still think it's overkill, but I guess it's better than only WD in the streets...

 

[Vyrus]

In other words, WD will be the marketing icon of the streets, but the good stuff will somewhere else in the park

 

[PourJudgment]

Wait... now I haven't heard much on the inside for Streets but we were talking about rumors of getting both Street Experiences and Scarezones. Universal is dedicating the entire "Street Experience" to TWD, but may have other scarezones dedicated to other stuff.

This is my hope, but the longer they take to clear things up, the worse this backlash will get

 

[Clive]

This reeks of marketing. I tried to be optimistic for a while. I'm getting to be kind of over it. A&D do a lot of good work and none of it is able to really shine under these circumstances. It's evidenced in how awesome the floats were in the Mardi Gras parade last year. I love Universal, and I love what they do with attractions and I'm sure I'll still go 10 times but it's getting old. These fan groups are supposed to really help give feedback. I don't expect for us to dictate the event, but for our opinions to be disregarded by Marketing is something as well.

Just wanted to quote this for truth - you've stayed a bit more optimistic than I have, but in all honesty I do want to like the event and see it be great so I can justify the large amount of $$ it now costs me to get down there. I don't think I can justify it this year.

The fan base's whole "defending the event because you don't want to offend A&D" schtick needs to stop.

Can I just point out, as a side note, that this is painfully lazy/backwards marketing? What an interesting setup HHN seems to have. Generally the creative people... you know, "create" a product, and it's the marketing guys' jobs to sell it. Not the other way around... These marketing guys must not be very good if they have to rely on Walking Dead to sell tickets.

 

[Octobers Fade]

Just wanted to quote this for truth - you've stayed a bit more optimistic than I have, but in all honesty I do want to like the event and see it be great so I can justify the large amount of $$ it now costs me to get down there. I don't think I can justify it this year.

The fan base's whole "defending the event because you don't want to offend A&D" schtick needs to stop.
Can I just point out, as a side note, that this is painfully lazy/backwards marketing? What an interesting setup HHN seems to have. Generally the creative people... you know, "create" a product, and it's the marketing guys' jobs to sell it. Not the other way around... These marketing guys must not be very good if they have to rely on Walking Dead to sell tickets.

This.

 

[Jakemeister]

I could care less about A&D. I genuinely defend the event because even when HHN is "bad" it's still pretty good. I am however getting frustrated.

 

[tiredoldspook]

How come the releases say The Walking Dead will be the Street Experience,,,I don't read other scarezones. They will have the motor home, the barn, atlanta, the farmhouse, woodberry...Plenty of stuff from TWD to cover the park. I have said this to a number of fans LT is now a movie group aimed to sell merchandise....It is all about the dollar and The Walking Dead is the hottest thing there is on tv.

 

[Shucker]

So I have read past posts that everyone wants a theme and an icon for HHN. So they give us that and we are upset about it? If Uni came out and "created" a new zombie Jake and his world and legion of zombies, I suspect everyone would be getting so excited to see what the creative team comes up with. But because its not an original concept we hate the idea. If you are that upset, then dont go, that is the only way you will make a statement. However, coming from a marketing background, this move towards IPs is genius and to be honest long over due. We have friends that we have tried to get to come to HHN for years. Last year was their first time and why did they come? Walking Dead. And we are the exact demographic that Uni wants coming to these events (coincidence that WD has the same demographics). Just because you may not like the WD or the other IPs dont automatically assume it is going to suck. We havent even seen the final product and you guys act like Uni just gave us Figment part 2 or Stitchs great escape. I would even say it is harder for creative to live up to expectations when using IPs, because the fans of those IPs are going to know a lot about them and you better make it special or they are really not going to be happy. Everybody is correct this is all about $$$, but again I go back to recent history for CC. When you give them extra cash, they do some amazing things.
So take a deep breath, and realize that even if this turns out to be the worst HHN ever, it is still a GGT (guaranteed great time ). As you can tell I am excited and I will be watching every IP product to get ready for the event (I was not a WD fan last year, but wish I had watched the series before I went into the house, wont make that mistake this year, including RHPS which is outstanding).

 

[JungleSkip]

So I have read past posts that everyone wants a theme and an icon for HHN. So they give us that and we are upset about it?

I wouldn't call marketing for a TV show a theme or an icon.

 

[TylerDurden]

Halloween Horror Nights has been using IPs for years, they just werent marketing them as such. No one can say that Jack the Clown or the Caretaker are completely original. Some of our favorite houses have borrowed elements from big-name movies. But now that theyre coming out and marketing it as such there seems to be a stink. Like Shucker said, if they creater a zombie icon would we be happier with it? At least Walking Dead guarantees cool set pieces and zombies...we dont have to worry about any wrecks like The Spawning, Nightmaze, or Reflections of Fear.

I said this somewhere earlier, but just because HHN has moved into a new direction doesnt mean Creative forgot how to put on a great event. I would prefer originality any day, but HHN still puts on a good show...look at 2007 and 2009, which borrowed heavily from IPs as well.

Just because theres a popular logo on the house doesnt mean its all of a sudden not going to be on par with Horror Nights' best.

 

[Vyrus]

But the thing that made HHN what is was, WAS the originality...yes in All Night Die In 1 and 2 they used un-marketed IPs, but this was also the surprise and intrigue because NO ONE knew going INTO the house what to expect.

Now we go in knowing what we're going to see and experience. That was the problem with Saw a few years back, people knew what they were going to see, so in turn it just wasn't too scary.

I'm just from the old school fan base of originality, and I'll still go because I love the immersion of being in a transformed theme park, but I wish and beg for more originality.

 

[Shucker]

I wouldn't call marketing for a TV show a theme or an icon.

I do agree on the icon part, but they do have a big overriding theme (thats what she said).