Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - News & Info

[Parkscope Joe]

I have a feeling the parks remain closed Friday, but re-open for HHN Friday night, back to normal operations on Saturday. The flooding is starting to recede and if they have all day tomorrow for cleanup they should be able to reopen for HHN in the evening.

It’s more likely they don’t open till Monday.

 

[Vyrus]

It’s more likely they don’t open till Monday.

Truth be told, besides the roads being partially flooded in certain areas, I truthfully don't see anything that I would say deems the park unable to open.

Especially if the walkways within the park and citywalk are not flooded of course. The only thing I could forsee could be the sprung tents or Blumhouse possibly being damaged / flooded from the storms.

But I'm not an expert nor have any clue, just hoping for the event tomm night.

 

[GAcoaster]

There's still more than 24 hours until HHN would be opening. That's a lot of time for cleanup, pumping out, and water receding on its own.

 

[HalfGlass]

Disney just announced they will be open tomorrow in a phased approach. No way Universal stays closed all weekend. Worst case is they’re closed only tomorrow.

 

[Vyrus]

Disney just announced they will be open tomorrow in a phased approach. No way Universal stays closed all weekend. Worst case is they’re closed only tomorrow.

If Disney in the middle of a swamp can do it, so can Uni. SW I can understand due to also having a lot of animals that need to be accounted and cared for.

 

[FlattestMatt]

Uni might be ok but is it even safe to get there at the moment due to the flooded roads?

 

[HalfGlass]

If Disney in the middle of a swamp can do it, so can Uni. SW I can understand due to also having a lot of animals that need to be accounted and cared for.

Makes me think AK is half closed tomorrow. Rides open, safari and exhibits maybe not.

 

[Darko]

New head of operations for the parks.

EDIT- (Pulling in a tangential conversation from the Winter’s Wake thread)



So, heading into 2020, the HHN team was Charles, Patrick, and Blake. Charles was the “lead” but he split house direction responsibilities with Patrick while Blake focused on Streets. This has actually been the set up for several years; Mike was predominantly oversight of the event (the lead).

The pandemic hit in 2020 and Universal had to cut staff. So, Patrick got let go (A&D lost about a third of their staff). The houses were done, regardless.

This year, Blake got a new job in Tennessee and left Universal. That left Charles in charge of directing the entire event. It sounds overwhelming, except Orlando is now run by the same person who ran Hollywood. So there’s a belief that “one person” can direct the entire event.

Now, it’s important to understand that-contextually-Blake, Patrick, and Charles-do not “design” the houses. They conceptualize, write, and produce them. The actual design is predominantly freelance work. It’s also important to know that A&D, even now, has 10-ish incredibly talented and creative people who direct individual houses. So, it’s still not a “Murdy” situation.

There was some discussion that Universal may try to bring Patrick back, but I haven’t heard anything on that in months. For a while, Universal was struggling to fill some of their designer positions because freelance can often pay more than salary, so Patrick may be content for the time being.

I’m sorry for all the questions but I’ve been meaning to find the right time and place to ask them so I apologize. I know you’ve mentioned before about them wanting to increase the house count in the future. Is that still in the cards or do you think they’ll stick to 10 similar to them sticking to 5 scarezones at the moment? Honestly I actually think that might be my last set of questions…for now. O:

 

[Stonecoldfreak1]

Anyone have a guess on if we'll get extra Horror Nights dates added? Better chance of it being a random Monday/Tuesday or historically, would they just run into that first weekend of November?

 

[SeventyOne]

Anyone have a guess on if we'll get extra Horror Nights dates added? Better chance of it being a random Monday/Tuesday or historically, would they just run into that first weekend of November?

Educated guess based on past events would be the Tuesday before Halloween, maybe that Monday, but I don't think they go 12 straight days. With Halloween on a Monday, I think they would want to be well into holiday prep by the following weekend. Also, historically, crowds wouldn't be there. A second Tuesday in October (likely the 18th) wouldn't shock me but I wouldn't book in anticipation of that, either..

 

[Clive]

You guys gotta remember that it's not as simple as "is Universal not flooded enough to be navigable." Employees (and guests) also have to be able to get to the resort - and the feasibility of that by tomorrow PM is less clear.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Disney's phased openings could be "we're still closed tomorrow".

Especially if the walkways within the park and citywalk are not flooded of course.

They're flooded.

There's still more than 24 hours until HHN would be opening. That's a lot of time for cleanup, pumping out, and water receding on its own.

PUMP TO WHERE?!?!?!

 

[GA-MBIT]

Please try not to take what I'm about to say and start catastrophizing about the event, but.. I have been hearing some potentially not great things about the state of Bug House and Decendants post-Hurricane Ian.

Could absolutely be totally wrong, but I think the pill might go down easier the sooner that possibility is accepted unfortunately.

 

[Vyrus]

Just saw this

 

[Alicia]

Just saw this

And before anyone assumes otherwise, I’ve heard no points for TMs who cannot make it into work right now. Since, ya know, not everyone *can* make it in.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Please try not to take what I'm about to say and start catastrophizing about the event, but.. I have been hearing some potentially not great things about the state of Bug House and Decendants post-Hurricane Ian.

Could absolutely be totally wrong, but I think the pill might go down easier the sooner that possibility is accepted unfortunately.

I’ve heard the houses are “fine”. So we’ll see.

 

[Clive]

I’ve heard the houses are “fine”. So we’ll see.

I'm guessing significant damages to the tent facades (i.e. they may stay down for rest of the event), some minor flooding in the tents, and maybe some decent damage to Blumhouse - but nothing catastrophic.

 

[Brian G.]

I think best case scenario is Saturday - but I don’t think they’re reopening til Sunday/Monday.

 

[Alsands]

I think best case scenario is Saturday - but I don’t think they’re reopening til Sunday/Monday.

Do you have knowledge or just an educated guess? I don’t want to keep paying for this hotel if there is no shot of HHN opening. I extended to Sunday and changed my flight eventually I have to cut my ties. I heard scare actors haven’t heard a thing yet.

 

[Brian G.]

Do you have knowledge or just an educated guess? I don’t want to keep paying for this hotel if there is no shot of HHN opening. I extended to Sunday and changed my flight eventually I have to cut my ties. I heard scare actors haven’t heard a thing yet.

It’s an educated guess based off of what I’ve seen and heard on the damage and flooding.