Halloween Horror Nights 30 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors (2021)

[GA-MBIT]

The final part of my last post was less of a response to shriekra and more of a general statement about the reception of the Billie house. There really isn't anything exceptionally crazy about the idea compared to any other IP, and yet her inclusion has caused such a stir in the community. I just don't quite get it.

I also don't quite buy the idea that Billie Eilish being included at a horror event couldn't happen outside of HHN2020 , Hill House is also missing its key marketing period from 2020's Bly Manor and they did the Stranger Things Season 1 house a full two years later, and during a year where no new season released. Had Billie's team approved of them using the IP this year, I see no reason why they couldn't. It's been done before.

I heard about a suspended actor with the giant black angel wings, a crawl space, and a lot of really abstract elements. I think it's a crazy shame it'll never see the light of day.

 

[CoryLevy91]

I would have been totally down to check out that house. The only reason I kind of rooted against an Eilish house is that it was going to bring in an immense surge of people that would have made the crowds bigger than ever. Not only that, but it would have been a lot of teenagers who can, to be nice, be slightly annoying and disrespectful at HHN in large groups. So I was torn - while I was interested in what the house would entail, I was dreading the longer lines it would produce. Kind of felt the same about the GoT rumors tbh.

The event is already massively popular and only going to get more insanely popular as time goes on. Making more people come to the event is literally one of Universal's top priorities every year. Longer lines are something people should love to see. More popular event means bigger, better events in the future. This isn't a local cult haunt, it's a world renowned Halloween attraction and Universal wants to present it as such to as many people as humanly possible.

Also, the second bit about 'teenagers and young people' is exactly why I would have loved to see an Eilish house. The house and event in total could help birth future fans of the genre in a big way. Maybe there's young people who would go to see Eilish, end up going through the Beetlejuice house (when they have no idea what that property is outside of 'spooky' Tim Burton imagery at Hot Topic) and they love it so much they end up watching the movie and enjoying that too.

Finally, I could just as easily say the group that's actually annoying and disrespectful at HHN in large groups would be adults who like to drink too much and 'tough talk' their way through houses but that would be demeaning a large portion of the audience just because I've personally seen some dumb people acting dumb before. Stupidity exists in all forms of person so let's not try to look down on one portion of the crowd just because they're a different age group than us.

There's always a sentiment of 'we're the actual hardcore fans of HHN so we should get the most enjoyment out of the event, obviously' that somewhat permeates this board and it sometimes needs to be checked a little. I get that it's part of the territory when you love and are passionate about anything but we have to remember that this event is open to everyone in the world (age appropriateness aside) and that is actually a good thing, believe it or not. Whether you've been attending the event 19 years running and can operate as a paycheck free tour guide through an anniversary haunt or this is the first year you'll be going because you love Billie Eilish or you grew up watching Beetlejuice every third Sunday when your grandma babysat you, the event will be just as fun for everyone.

 

[Living Dead Dude]

I would have been totally down to check out that house. The only reason I kind of rooted against an Eilish house is that it was going to bring in an immense surge of people that would have made the crowds bigger than ever. Not only that, but it would have been a lot of teenagers who can, to be nice, be slightly annoying and disrespectful at HHN in large groups. So I was torn - while I was interested in what the house would entail, I was dreading the longer lines it would produce. Kind of felt the same about the GoT rumors tbh.

Im glad you mentioned GoT to be honest. I think losing those rights could possibly be one of the best things to ever happen to HHN Yea it would of brought in massive crowds but after season finale was so bad it completely ruined the series for a lot of people. Not sure people would have been losing their mind at the idea of experiencing the the worst season ever. Instead we got Graveyard which was easily one of the best houses! I just wish there was a way to make originals as publicly known as IPs. I’m hoping our announcement season follows the same format as Puppet Theater video and is released on peacock. That could possibly get new guests excited especially if we can get a icons lore summary!

 

[jarmor]

Has there been any rumblings at how well the virtual queue worked (or didn't work) at last year's iteration of the event? I understand the entire resort was available to explore so it made more options available (which made it work for me) vs when it's a HHN night with pretty much the houses only but still. . .

 

[Moistowlette11]

Has there been any rumblings at how well the virtual queue worked (or didn't work) at last year's iteration of the event? I understand the entire resort was available to explore so it made more options available (which made it work for me) vs when it's a HHN night with pretty much the houses only but still. . .

I think we will know more when velocicoaster opens

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

Announcements I hope are presented in a live presentation format like the Halloween experience 2020 stream on YouTube. The best way to hype up announcements is that in my opinion.

 

[Living Dead Dude]

I was wondering since more than likely Texas Chainsaw will be returning this year with the new film releasing do we think the house could be changed slightly to feature that film rather than the classic or if we will get the classic and use it as synergy for the new film kinda like how Halloween 4 was used as synergy for Halloween 2018?

 

[Midnight Detective]

In Havoc: Derailed there were plexiglass cages - they can be seen around the 1:30 mark in this video. If there is a new house designed from the ground up it might be cool to make similar use to allow for some really personal, out in the open scares.

A great gotcha-gimmick would be to have the beginning of a house have scares behind plexiglass and then midway just unleash the scareactors into a normal house environment. Under normal circumstances a trick like this would be meh but I think to play of expectations of a limited event would be really fun.

Is there any speculation on playing limitations to an advantage yet? I'm sure there are lots of ways safety measures could be leaned into for great effect.

 

[Tobias]

Is there any speculation on playing limitations to an advantage yet? I'm sure there are lots of ways safety measures could be leaned into for great effect.

Not really, I do recall it was mentioned that they'll probably know what they have to implement or not by the end of Summer.

 

[kingcooger]

I was wondering since more than likely Texas Chainsaw will be returning this year with the new film releasing do we think the house could be changed slightly to feature that film rather than the classic or if we will get the classic and use it as synergy for the new film kinda like how Halloween 4 was used as synergy for Halloween 2018?

I believe the rumor was it was not based on the original Texas Chainsaw, but on Texas Chainsaw 3-D (2013).

That had some very different environments than the original, which was set mostly on the homestead

Not sure what that means as no one has seen the new one, but I don’t think it will be a simple cut and paste job

 

[Living Dead Dude]

I believe the rumor was it was not based on the original Texas Chainsaw, but on Texas Chainsaw 3-D (2013).

That had some very different environments than the original, which was set mostly on the homestead

Not sure what that means as no one has seen the new one, but I don’t think it will be a simple cut and paste job

Oh I thought I read on here that it was infact the classic and would be different because it’s in a soundstage rather then a tent. Could be wrong tho

 

[BoSoxFan1022]

Oh I thought I read on here that it was infact the classic and would be different because it’s in a soundstage rather then a tent. Could be wrong tho

Last I heard it was Texas Chainsaw 3D

 

[JJ591]

The event is already massively popular and only going to get more insanely popular as time goes on. Making more people come to the event is literally one of Universal's top priorities every year. Longer lines are something people should love to see. More popular event means bigger, better events in the future. This isn't a local cult haunt, it's a world renowned Halloween attraction and Universal wants to present it as such to as many people as humanly possible.

Also, the second bit about 'teenagers and young people' is exactly why I would have loved to see an Eilish house. The house and event in total could help birth future fans of the genre in a big way. Maybe there's young people who would go to see Eilish, end up going through the Beetlejuice house (when they have no idea what that property is outside of 'spooky' Tim Burton imagery at Hot Topic) and they love it so much they end up watching the movie and enjoying that too.

Finally, I could just as easily say the group that's actually annoying and disrespectful at HHN in large groups would be adults who like to drink too much and 'tough talk' their way through houses but that would be demeaning a large portion of the audience just because I've personally seen some dumb people acting dumb before. Stupidity exists in all forms of person so let's not try to look down on one portion of the crowd just because they're a different age group than us.

There's always a sentiment of 'we're the actual hardcore fans of HHN so we should get the most enjoyment out of the event, obviously' that somewhat permeates this board and it sometimes needs to be checked a little. I get that it's part of the territory when you love and are passionate about anything but we have to remember that this event is open to everyone in the world (age appropriateness aside) and that is actually a good thing, believe it or not. Whether you've been attending the event 19 years running and can operate as a paycheck free tour guide through an anniversary haunt or this is the first year you'll be going because you love Billie Eilish or you grew up watching Beetlejuice every third Sunday when your grandma babysat you, the event will be just as fun for everyone.

I understand what Universal's priorities are. That's why bringing Eilish was a good idea for them. I just don't like 2-3 hour lines at every house - it makes the event less enjoyable for me. And I've rarely seen veteran HHN adult groups getting drunk and acting stupid as opposed to "tough talk" teenagers who act completely disrespectful to those around them and the event in general. Guess we've experienced very different events over the years. Whatever the case, I stand by my initial post in its entirety.

 

[shiekra38]

Eilish
TWD
Stranger Things
Us
Doomsday
Fear Factor
Purge
Dracula Untold
The Mummy
Cryptkeeper
People Under the Stairs

Weird, it’s almost like Universal has made a deliberate effort over the past 3 decades to use IPs that are relevant to specific moments in time.

I know I’m taking a harsh tone, but I’m over “fans” trying to criticize Universal over recent decisions when it’s what they’ve done for, literally, three decades. It’s remarkably disingenuous and, more often than not, based solely on if the IP is liked or not.

And I’ll give you credit that you specific concerns about Eilish being a music house. But I legitimately want to know how many music houses you’ve gone through, because Orlando has only done one. That’s not enough attempts at anything to establish a prediction dismissing an entire genre of potential IPs.

I’ll see what specifics I can share about the Billie house. From what I’ve gathered, I’d describe it it as a hellish cross between Asylum in Wonderland and Nevermore: The Madness of Poe.

Like I said, they're not above doing it

Side note: there's a weird subtext whenever discussing Billie or her house. Almost as if it's immune to any sort of potential pre-critique or trepidation

As far as music houses, the one's in Hollywood that I've been through were nothing to write home about, nor was Alice Cooper

I view music-based houses much like 3D...I think the squirrel may find the nut at some point, but I'm unconvinced

 

[Grabnar]

I understand what Universal's priorities are. That's why bringing Eilish was a good idea for them. I just don't like 2-3 hour lines at every house - it makes the event less enjoyable for me. And I've rarely seen veteran HHN adult groups getting drunk and acting stupid as opposed to "tough talk" teenagers who act completely disrespectful to those around them and the event in general. Guess we've experienced very different events over the years. Whatever the case, I stand by my initial post in its entirety.

It's a weird mix, in the houses and lines I see a lot of the drunk adults making trouble or being obnoxious, but in the Scare Zones it's the teens. I don't know what the solution is to that problem, but I think a lot of the Eilish discussion is less about the IP so much as it's about gatekeeping or taking the opportunity to dunk on teenagers.

 

[RevFreako]

It's a weird mix, in the houses and lines I see a lot of the drunk adults making trouble or being obnoxious, but in the Scare Zones it's the teens. I don't know what the solution is to that problem, but I think a lot of the Eilish discussion is less about the IP so much as it's about gatekeeping or taking the opportunity to dunk on teenagers.

Add "forgetting you're not the target audience anymore" to that list.

 

[shiekra38]

Add "forgetting you're not the target audience anymore" to that list.

I hate that Universal has moved on from younger 20 year olds like myself

 

[Grabnar]

Add "forgetting you're not the target audience anymore" to that list.

Again

 

[shiekra38]

View attachment 13960
Again

Horror Nights definitely doesn't have a "younger kid" problem. That's kind of an out of left field thing to me

 

[jseal777]

You can think teenagers are obnoxious and abundant at HHN without it being “gatekeeping”

sources: I’m a high school teacher. Obnoxious is kinda their thing.