Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - News & Info

[Lucky Planet]

To return to an earlier, brilliant point in this thread, as soon any backstage space becomes available thanks to the move to EU, Uni needs to build a great, big festival center. Put half of the food stands in there as a draw and to help clear space in the streets. Build a large bar, a TON of comfortable seating and lounging room. Add some meet n’ greets, something HHN has needed for a LONG time to eat some crowd and lessen pressure on scarezone actors. After all, Disney’s Halloween events are basically nothing but long lines for unique meet n’ greets. I’d love to leave the Tribute store where it is, but the Festival Center could hold a custom built space for that as well - or at least some smaller, custom themed stores. Include a performance space. It could also hold a display area with rotating exhibits - Knotts has a year-round museum for thier Halloween event, why shouldn’t the much bigger Universal event get their own. Basically, include anything that will eat capacity. And then retheme the whole deal for the holidays, Mardi Gras, the summer… well, maybe keep the HHN museum year round! It’s a great idea that plays into one of Uni’s biggest strength, creating incredible but temporary themed locations.

When we had zombieland as a zone, I remember how people were saying that we needed more carnival type rides at universal.
Smaller carnival type rides that are used in town fairs.
But others said it would cheapen the experience

 

[shiekra38]

Smaller carnival type rides that are used in town fairs.
But others said it would cheapen the experience

What is this, Alton Towers?

 

[Brian G.]

When we had zombieland as a zone, I remember how people were saying that we needed more carnival type rides at universal.
Smaller carnival type rides that are used in town fairs.
But others said it would cheapen the experience

That was a crazy idea then, it's a crazy idea now.

Outside of that, tonight was one of the most crowded nights of HHN I can remember, and it being a make-up Monday added a few weeks ago makes it even more remarkable. We’ve reached the point where either capacity has to be added and/or passes may need to be adjusted.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Honestly, I'm dubious that massive price increases are particularly effective in controlling crowds. WDW's prices have absolutely skyrocketed - are the Disney parks less crowded then they used to be? Quite the contrary.

I believe HHN currently accounts for more than 30% of the two parks' earnings each year (correct me if I'm wrong). For that amount - and for the promise of even greater crowds ready to flood in - you start building, altering the parks' infrastructure, thinking outside the box, and considering what had previously been considered impossible.

 

[Speed]

Between this and the DCC, it’s getting tiring to see. Especially when the park needs any capacity it can get

 

[Casper Gutman]

Between this and the DCC, it’s getting tiring to see. Especially when the park needs any capacity it can get

As many things as I think Universal does right, they still do some truly alienating, idiotic things. This is a huge one. The frequent, intrusive closures of resort areas for private events seems like something out of the park's distant past, when it was a sorry, no-hope runner-up in the Orlando entertainment market desperate for revenue. It's exacerbated by the fact that there doesn't seem to be any reliable to find out where and when these closures will take place. It's a massive stain on the resort's otherwise excellent service.

The DCC was absolutely great. It was a spectacular addition, up there with Pier for me as the highlight of the year. It was also, from everything I've heard, a roaring success. But some Universal departments didn't seem to get that memo, closing it on a Friday and Saturday for a private event at the height of HHN - and not bothering to inform customer service about the second closure. Incredibly irritating.

PS: This is a matter of personal taste, but I also thought the change from a 50s tiki lounge soundtrack to generic club music at 9 every night was an awful idea, making the space much less unique.

 

[Legacy]

That was a crazy idea then, it's a crazy idea now.

I stand by it.

 

[Tbad556]

I am seeing posts on social media tonight regarding massive crowds for HHN, guest services, and lines for the parking garages.

Good luck to anyone who is at the event this Monday night.

Outside of that, tonight was one of the most crowded nights of HHN I can remember, and it being a make-up Monday added a few weeks ago makes it even more remarkable. We’ve reached the point where either capacity has to be added and/or passes may need to be adjusted.

Busiest night of the event so far this year from what I’ve been told. Insane.

 

[vgp]

I believe HHN currently accounts for more than 30% of the two parks' earnings each year (correct me if I'm wrong).

It's an important event, but I would look at that number with the same skepticism I'd apply to a TEA/AECOM report.

Last night was pretty crazy from the looks of it, though ultimately an anomaly.

 

[Nick]

It's an important event, but I would look at that number with the same skepticism I'd apply to a TEA/AECOM report.

Last night was pretty crazy from the looks of it, though ultimately an anomaly.

Is it an anomaly though? They could've held HHN tonight if they had enough cast to run the event and probably would've been just as much if not more packed.

I went yesterday expecting it to be mildly busy Monday, but nothing crazy. Boy was I wrong. And it's not even like the houses were all that good yesterday. Sooooo many holes, but the average guest didn't seem to care. I worry the GSATs from yesterday will have been great and someone upstairs is gonna see that and then ask why they normally cast so many people if guests are satisfied at this level, and tbh, yesterday was probably their most profitable day of the run.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

It's an important event, but I would look at that number with the same skepticism I'd apply to a TEA/AECOM report.

Last night was pretty crazy from the looks of it, though ultimately an anomaly.

Not entirely an anomaly as this past weekend (understandably) was just as busy. I give them a pass tonight since I'm sure they weren't expecting a barrage of frequent fear/locals/TMs all showing up for one last hurrah on a Monday... but it shows just how popular the event has gotten to the point that they need to add capacity in a significant way.

Ic went yesterday expecting it to be mildly busy Monday, but nothing crazy. Boy was I wrong. And it's not even like the houses were ll that good yesterday. Sooooo many holes, but the average guest didn't seem to care. I worry someone GSATs from yesterday will have been great and someone upstairs is gonna see that and then ask why they normally cast so many people if guests are satisfied at this level, and tbh, yesterday was probably their most profitable day of the run.

There are a lot of positives & negatives this year (it's a very 1 step forward, 1 step backward type of event this year), and the two top negative things this year were the food operations & the constant empty boo holes. If you are going to run the event 5/6 nights a week and charge full price, you better hire enough actors from the outset, not just the 2 sets and a few backups they typically do each year.

 

[DannyPowers]

I worry someone GSATs from yesterday will have been great and someone upstairs is gonna see that and then ask why they normally cast so many people if guests are satisfied at this level, and tbh, yesterday was probably their most profitable day of the run.

This. This is what we should be concerned about. Raising prices or severely changing tickets/FFPs is one thing, but making adjustments to operations that actively makes the main aspect worse is a whole other thing.

 

[Mad Dog]

How Orlando management reacts to these capacity issues in 2023 for the next HHN, and the year round parks in general, will be telling . It will be a reflection on the competency of the new management,
whether they are up to the task, or not. 2023 will be a year to watch. And, lets be honest, their job will be multiple times tougher when Epic opens, so they really need to get this right in the near future.
The honeymoon period is over. Time to roll up the sleeves and get some positives accomplished.....I've been a long time Universal Orlando supporter, and even apologist, but now I'm more an observer
interested in how the new management will react. Hoping they don't go the Chapek Disney route.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

How Orlando management reacts to these capacity issues in 2023 for the next HHN, and the year round parks in general, will be telling . It will be a reflection on the competency of the new management,
whether they are up to the task, or not. 2023 will be a year to watch. And, lets be honest, their job will be multiple times tougher when Epic opens, so they really need to get this right in the near future.
The honeymoon period is over. Time to roll up the sleeves and get some positives accomplished.....I've been a long time Universal Orlando supporter, and even apologist, but now I'm more an observer
interested in how the new management will react.

Well said, the exact reason why I've been complaining about operations these past few months now. The parks are busy now and they haven't done much to address that from an Ops pov, unfortunately. You can't ask more from your ride ops, they are doing fine, but everything else is falling on deaf ears.

I can't imagine what EU will do to the resort once it opens if they keep this management/operations style.

The only major positive thing they've changed this year is security operations... but they were pretty much forced to as a result of the incident this past summer.

 

[Nick]

This is the first year where I truly feel like they need to finally take the next step to an 11th house. Ideally a show in animal actors would be nice, too.

but they were pretty much forced to as a result of the incident this past summer.

Am I forgetting something? What happened over the summer?

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Am I forgetting something? What happened over the summer?

The false shooting scare this past July as a result of a fight in the parking garages.

 

[Nick]

The false shooting scare this past July as a result of a fight in the parking garages.

Ah yes. Adding camera's to the houses was certainly good in terms of security and being able to go back and look at footage to prove certain things. Still can't believe it took them 32 years to realize that they should probably add cameras so a scareactor isn't fending for themselves when they get punched.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Busiest night of the event so far this year from what I’ve been told. Insane.

It's an important event, but I would look at that number with the same skepticism I'd apply to a TEA/AECOM report.

Last night was pretty crazy from the looks of it, though ultimately an anomaly.

That means that Halloween night will be unbearable.... Ouch.
It's probably gonna be extra wild then...

 

[HandsomePete]

Yeah, last night was a dumpster fire on all levels. Calling it half staffing in the houses would be generous.

 

[brkndwnbus]

My wife and I were there Sunday night. Last year was my only other year going to HHN and the crowd then compared to Sunday night was definitely different. This year was packed. I still had a good time, but the wait times and general crowd levels everywhere were much more noticeable. We were initially going to be attending HHN at the end of September, so this trip was a make-up trip from the hurricane.