What follows are some predictions/guesses/wishful thoughts straight from my noggin, and from no actual information.
None of these are expected to happen...hell...I'd be surprised if I got more than one or two right. But, it might be fun to check (or cross) these off once we start getting some breadcrumbs for the next event.
Here we go:
Price Increase Across The Board: OK. Probably the most obvious of my guesses. We've had price increases every year for a while now, and I wouldn't expect much different next year.
Mondays and/or Tuesdays Added to the Schedule: Let's be honest here, as much as we all love the event, it's been getting pretty crowded in there.
House waits were pretty astronomical this year, and they're going to have to do something to spread everyone out a bit.
I think the best option they have is adding two more nights. Sure, that would make it every night of the week, but I would bet that there would be a few weeks where Monday/Tuesday HHN crowds would outweigh the day crowds.
A New Add-On: Last year we got Scareactor Dining. This year we got The Repository. As another tool to try and spread crowds out a bit more, I would expect at least one more bonus option for your time at the event.
Whether it's an exclusive mini-show, a special VIP "party" later in the night, or something else; I'm sure UOF won't turn away more options to grab a few extra bucks.
Limited Use of an Icon: I DO think we'll get another icon next year, but I also think he/she will be used in a slightly limited capacity.
Trust me, marketing LOVED having a face to slap on every piece of merchandise this year. They probably don't care too much that the house and scarezone associated with Chance garnered...shall we say...mixed reviews?
TWD Year-Round: Hollywood did it, and it's been a rumor for a little while that Orlando will be doing it as well. The real questions will be if they try to count it as "one of the houses", and if they juice it up at all after six o'clock.
Which kind of segues into my first house prediction...
Shaun of the Dead: I got to thinking that if we don't get a year-round attraction, and they don't do a TWD house again (which they shouldn't after this year's "best of"), how could we get some zombie representation?
Well, UNI was a producer on Shaun, so that's an easy property to get. It's generally well respected by the horror community. And, it could also fill the "comedy house" needs. Two birds, one stone.
Besides, would creative really pass up the option to re-use all those extra zombie assets that don't get used in the year-round house?
A Familiar House: Here's a trend from the past two years. Dig out an old gem and rehash/redo it. Specifically I'm talking about Werewolf In London and Ghost Town.
This helps bring the house count up, while not adding another full house's worth of work to the budget.
I'm not saying that they don't still put in a ton of work, but they don't have to start entirely from scratch like they do other houses.
Oh, and about that...
Scream: Probably a little bit of a pipe-dream with their history, but I can imagine that creative would still love to put their vision out there.
They already have a script (and I'm assuming assets) from last year's canceled house, they would just need to work through whatever contract snafus went down with the rights owners.
Need a little more? There was a Stab poster in the attic of the Krampus house this year. A fun easter egg, or a vision of things to come? They've planted visual clues before.
The Conjuring/Annabelle Universe: I love how these are all segueing into each other. Remember how I mentioned that sometimes easter eggs from one year lead into houses the next year?
Well...there's a rumor that the Amity house easter egg from Krampus' snow globes might lead to an Amityville Horror house next year.
I'm asking, what if that is actually pointing to The Conjuring/Annabelel?
The case at the beginning of The Conjuring 2 is actually the case that inspired The Amittyville Horror films. Also, this has been rumored for a few years now, but what if they were just waiting for a little bit more story to work with?
With both Conjuring movies, and Annabelle 2 due out next year, that leaves 4 movies' worth of toys to play with.
Three Originals: Finally, I believe this year was a vision of things to come as far as the original/IP mix of houses.
Three and six seem to be the sweet spot for marketing and creative. It allows the long-time fans enough to look forward to, yet it puts enough big names up on the marquee to draw in all the dude-bros. It's also possible that this one crosses over a bit with my "Familiar House" guess.
Well...there you have it. Feel free to tear them apart. If I had to put money down on what will actually come to fruition, I would guess 4-6 out of 10.