Halloween Horror Nights 32 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[Darko]

The Weeknd music in every single queue was obnoxious. No need for visuals in the queue unless they function like pre-show stuff on attractions

Even the Music Plaza stuff is irritating

I’m a massive The Weeknd fan and even I thought that was ridiculous. The music in the queue should fit the theme of the house at least. I remember Ghostbusters having the theme playing in the queue. Could we not get that with Halloween?

 

[shiekra38]

I’m a massive The Weeknd fan and even I thought that was ridiculous. The music in the queue should fit the theme of the house at least. I remember Ghostbusters having the theme playing in the queue. Could we not get that with Halloween?

Halloween seems like it would be easy to cut a 30 minute reel for they've done a movie or two lol

I did enjoy seeing previews for upcoming Peacock stuff though, it gave me a good idea of what to watch and what to avoid

 

[Legacy]

Any use of music or video, especially if it’s from a movie, requires additional licensing. Just because they license a IP for a house, that doesn’t mean they purchased the rights to use the movie (or music) itself.

They had The Weeknd’s catalog available last year because of the nature of their agreement. Why spend additional money on additional music if they don’t *need* to?

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Am I crazy? I didn't hear Weeknd music in any queue other than the Weeknd.

 

[Ghoul666]

Hearing The Reverend Horton Heat around the park was pretty rad

 

[dxwwf3]

Am I crazy? I didn't hear Weeknd music in any queue other than the Weeknd.

I think they added it as the event went along.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think they added it as the event went along.

Which is an odd choice considering the event was packed from the beginning. Those projectors and any sort of in-queue entertainment should be there from night one.

 

[Brian G.]

Which is an odd choice considering the event was packed from the beginning. Those projectors and any sort of in-queue entertainment should be there from night one.

That's my only critique. They do it every year. I don't care what they play, but you'd think they'd learn by now to have something going on opening weekend.

 

[Fear2010]

Any use of music or video, especially if it’s from a movie, requires additional licensing. Just because they license a IP for a house, that doesn’t mean they purchased the rights to use the movie (or music) itself.

They had The Weeknd’s catalog available last year because of the nature of their agreement. Why spend additional money on additional music if they don’t *need* to?

Music film scores and soundtracks from Universal properties could be an exception. With Chucky coming back as a house based on the TV series, they can actually use the music from almost the entire franchise in the queue. That wouldn’t really require that much money to spend.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

That's my only critique. They do it every year. I don't care what they play, but you'd think they'd learn by now to have something going on opening weekend.

HHN this year was a true wake-up call that showed just how outdated they are when it comes to ops.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

HHN this year was a true wake-up call that showed just how outdated they are when it comes to ops.

I don't agree with this at all - this is 20k THRC of different temporary attractions opened every year.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I don't agree with this at all - this is 20k THRC of different temporary attractions opened every year.

I love the event, but I can't defend the ops this year. Ridiculously long lines for every food kiosk, express issues the first few nights, and house staffing issues really hampered my experience this year. I have had the opportunity to attend most nights this year, and the issues persisted throughout the event's run.

Don't get me wrong, still love the event and had a great time, but the event can be better if they can address those issues for next year.

 

[Tbad556]

So how much creative freedom does A&D have anymore? Feels like corporate is slowly removing HHN’s personality. I mean I know that’s corporate in a nutshell but still. I’m guessing it’s just little extras like that they can’t do anymore?

I love the event, but I can't defend the ops this year. Ridiculously long lines for every food kiosk, express issues the first few nights, and house staffing issues really hampered my experience this year. I have had the opportunity to attend most nights this year, and the issues persisted throughout the event's run.

Don't get me wrong, still love the event and had a great time, but the event can be better if they can address those issues for next year.

Outside of what's already been said, I would also argue that both of these could simply be chalked up to new leadership.

This year's event had an immense amount of personality. It was just a different personality than, say, HHN10-19's personality. Creative is led by different folks who are bound to have different personalities than those expressed over several decades ago. I wouldn't say this is the first personality shift the event has ever seen either tbh.

And the ops were rough this year in quite a few regards, but they also had a new president from Hollywood trying strategies utilized in Hollywood on a much busier Orlando event.

:shrug:

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I was only able to attend one event night this year (Thanks Ian), but I didn't notice THAT much of a difference as far as ops compared to previous years I've attended. It definitely felt busier and a bit more congested, but as far as food lines - they seemed comparable to what I've experienced previously.

 

[Bort]

I love the event, but I can't defend the ops this year. Ridiculously long lines for every food kiosk, express issues the first few nights, and house staffing issues really hampered my experience this year. I have had the opportunity to attend most nights this year, and the issues persisted throughout the event's run.

Don't get me wrong, still love the event and had a great time, but the event can be better if they can address those issues for next year.

Food Kiosks: This is probably the most difficult one to solve. As I'm sure we all noticed, the demand for these kiosks was through the roof. I see a few different factors at play:

A) Location: while there's not tons of spots to choose from, lining up close to 10 tents next to each other in NY creates a massive logjam of people.
B) Too much variety: The ideas that HHN comes up with for F&B are incredible at times, but it's a double-edged sword. When you have 4-5 different drinks, and dozens of unique food items that are only available for 2-months at one stand on select nights, it drives the demand. Guests want to try them all, influencers need to make their #content, etc. There's also a segment of guests who will get in line with no clue what's on these menus, expecting cheeseburgers and French fries, only to find out they're in line for arepas. Now they've gotta figure out what to get off this new menu, or bail out and wait another 20 minutes. It may be time to simplify the offerings?

Express: Opening weekend crowds are essentially the "stress test" for HHN as a whole, and express is no exception. There's no real way to replicate the crowd sizes and intensity during employee previews, and just from my observations, it doesn't seem like a position that employees are signing up for year after year, which means its a fresh staff learning the ropes every fall. My best solution, the express portion of "(insert multi-night ticket) w/ express" is not valid opening weekend. Those guests can still come in and do standby, but make express for opening weekend "single-night express" tickets only, so that the ops team can start with a smaller pool of express guests the first 2-3 nights. I don't fault multi-night w/ express ticket holders for using what they paid for, but that's why you see express take 60 minutes or more the first few nights. It's too much at once.

House Staffing: The pandemic has left a drastic and permanent mark on the job market. In a job that was already grueling, exhausting, and tough hours, scare acting is no exception. The event continues to get longer, which means more staff will be needed as some tap out. Do you raise their pay? Get a third cast for each house? How do you stand out from SeaWorld's management of scare actor employees? Tough questions that I don't have the answer to, but I bet if Universal surveyed their current pool of scareactors, they could get some quality feedback on what changes they need to make.

 

[Darko]

Outside of what's already been said, I would also argue that both of these could simply be chalked up to new leadership.

This year's event had an immense amount of personality. It was just a different personality than, say, HHN10-19's personality. Creative is led by different folks who are bound to have different personalities than those expressed over several decades ago. I wouldn't say this is the first personality shift the event has ever seen either tbh.

And the ops were rough this year in quite a few regards, but they also had a new president from Hollywood trying strategies utilized in Hollywood on a much busier Orlando event.

:shrug:

Can definitely agree on the personality. Also I don’t think the new heads of the event should be beholden to icons they didn’t have a hand in creating. I think either no icons or new ones is the way forward. Feels like it restricts their creativity if they have to keep making Jack an icon. I love Jack and the icons obviously, but since the new team had now real hand in creating them, I don’t feel the new team needs to use them. They need to carve their own path whether people like it or not.

 

[shiekra38]

Any use of music or video, especially if it’s from a movie, requires additional licensing. Just because they license a IP for a house, that doesn’t mean they purchased the rights to use the movie (or music) itself.

They had The Weeknd’s catalog available last year because of the nature of their agreement. Why spend additional money on additional music if they don’t *need* to?

Why play the same Weeknd songs in every queue just because you have the license?

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Food Kiosks: This is probably the most difficult one to solve. As I'm sure we all noticed, the demand for these kiosks was through the roof. I see a few different factors at play:

A) Location: while there's not tons of spots to choose from, lining up close to 10 tents next to each other in NY creates a massive logjam of people.
B) Too much variety: The ideas that HHN comes up with for F&B are incredible at times, but it's a double-edged sword. When you have 4-5 different drinks, and dozens of unique food items that are only available for 2-months at one stand on select nights, it drives the demand. Guests want to try them all, influencers need to make their #content, etc. There's also a segment of guests who will get in line with no clue what's on these menus, expecting cheeseburgers and French fries, only to find out they're in line for arepas. Now they've gotta figure out what to get off this new menu, or bail out and wait another 20 minutes. It may be time to simplify the offerings?

Express: Opening weekend crowds are essentially the "stress test" for HHN as a whole, and express is no exception. There's no real way to replicate the crowd sizes and intensity during employee previews, and just from my observations, it doesn't seem like a position that employees are signing up for year after year, which means its a fresh staff learning the ropes every fall. My best solution, the express portion of "(insert multi-night ticket) w/ express" is not valid opening weekend. Those guests can still come in and do standby, but make express for opening weekend "single-night express" tickets only, so that the ops team can start with a smaller pool of express guests the first 2-3 nights. I don't fault multi-night w/ express ticket holders for using what they paid for, but that's why you see express take 60 minutes or more the first few nights. It's too much at once.

House Staffing: The pandemic has left a drastic and permanent mark on the job market. In a job that was already grueling, exhausting, and tough hours, scare acting is no exception. The event continues to get longer, which means more staff will be needed as some tap out. Do you raise their pay? Get a third cast for each house? How do you stand out from SeaWorld's management of scare actor employees? Tough questions that I don't have the answer to, but I bet if Universal surveyed their current pool of scareactors, they could get some quality feedback on what changes they need to make.

I agree with some of your points. HHN got a bit too creative with the food offerings knowing they have a staffing shortage. Disney is so lucky to have the College Program.

There was a discussion a few months ago regarding this, but Universal should know how to operate queues from Day 1, especially when charging a premium for express. I can justify scare actors not warmed up yet or long lines at food booths when they first open, but they've been operating the event for years now - 100% management's fault.

For express, I think it's time to get rid of the Frequent Fear + Express offerings, or at the very least use your suggestion of not being allowed for FF on the first week.

Scare actor staffing is the reason why I don't want them to go for an 11th house. 10 is a perfectly fine number. They need more than 2 sets of casts nowadays. They operate the event 5 sometimes 6 days a week now.

 

[Nick]

I don't agree with this at all - this is 20k THRC of different temporary attractions opened every year.

Just because it's new temporary attractions doesn't make the ops side of things good. Hasn't been in a long time. And considering they do it every year, there should be a level of general knowledge that they've gained as the event has grown and grown and adapted, not stayed complacent in that department.

 

[Orwellian Wiress]

2022 felt like a very original-heavy year. I have a feeling 2023 is gonna try to compensate for that by featuring well-known IPs that even non-horror fans are familiar with.