Many thanks to not only Horror Night Nightmares but also our own Viator for these Christmas presents, and the gift of speculation on Christmas. It is actually for me so much more fun to get both maps on the same day, because it allows for a deeper dive. For purposes of this assessment—much of which is repetitive of what other, more plugged people already covered—I am going to try to do something I have not seen in the spec maps yet, which is to align the two spec map symbols together. Other than a couple of very minor misalignments around which soundstage houses might be in, this lines up nicely. (Sorry for the content that is not relevant to each coast—figured it was easier to double post).
Shared
Jack in the Box / The Butter Battle (SS22 for Orlando, Mummy / H7 for Hollywood): Jack the Clown / Anniversary House. I think the speculation that the different colors for The Butter Battle suggest Jack could face different opponents—Dr. Oddfellow in Orlando, and Hollywood Harry in Hollywood—makes a lot of sense, and the Jack in the Box feels like a square giveaway. At Horror Unleashed, Jack the Clown is the star—so why not bring him to California, too? I have a slight concern that Pennywise and Jack sharing an event could be too much, but I’m sure Universal will handle that just fine.
Upside Down Clock / And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street (SS23A / SS24A for Orlando, SS15 / H8 for Hollywood): Stranger Things 5. We all know it’s likely coming, and the upside clock is on the nose for Stranger Things 5. Good detective work for those who determined Mulberry Street had Stranger Things-themed names like Jane and the Cold War metaphor, etc. Seems clear.
Pincushion / The Cat in the Hat (SS23B / SS23A for Orlando, HLOT S for Hollywood): Hellraiser. As many have said, the pincushion feels like a clear parallel for Hellraiser. The Cat in the Hat is more abstract, but I think it fits—Pinhead comes with his helpers to torment and turn life upside down, much like the Cat and Thing 1/Thing 2 arrive to bring joy but also fear. I think Sinister and Surreal were perhaps test runs to see if they felt comfortable doing the Cenobites, and maybe now—with the game coming out, etc.—we are a go.
Egg Nog / The Lorax (SS24B / SS23B for Orlando, UBE for Hollywood): It. The Egg Nog milk carton feels right for It, from the missing kids theme and the dairy / Derry pun that other (very creative) people have pointed out. The Lorax is a bit of a stretch for this to be honest for me, so I doubted it a bit, but I guess The Lorax has a similar coloration to Pennywise with the orange, and…hmm. J
Lock / There’s a Wocket in my Pocket (Sprung 3 for Orlando, UES for Hollywood): Resident Evil. As others have pointed out, the lock feels like a clear video game reference (and a Resident Evil one specifically). The Wocket in my Pocket reference feels to me like a goofy play on words—wocket equals rocket, and rocket means the kind of action horror shoot ‘em up that Resident Evil represents.
Cigarette Lighter / Sneetches (Sprung 4 for Orlando, HLOT N for Hollywood): Black Phone 2. It is between this and Sinners. The cigarette lighter symbol initially read Sinners to me (with the cigarette = smoke), but I think it also reads very well for Black Phone 2; the lighter has icicles on it to mirror the line from the film (“Nothing burns like the cold”), and there are two cigarettes to symbolize the fact that Black Phone 2 is a sequel. Now, it is tough to align The Sneetches with Black Phone 2 for me (unless there is a very meta parody of McBean as the rapacious capitalist who plays people to Jason Blum, lol), and arguably easier to align it with Sinners (since The Sneetches deals with anti-discrimination). So I could see this going both ways. But right now, Black Phone 2 feels more likely, especially as a Blumhouse tie-in / since they really want the Grabber to be a thing. [By the way, I have real Blumhouse fatigue myself, but a snowy / creepy house at Alpine Lake Camp could be awesome.]
Orlando
Big Bad Wolf (F&F): Seems like either a Scary Tales version with Red Riding Hood etc. or some kind of werewolf original. I personally would be very pleased if we got a claustrophobic, Dog Soldier-style werewolf house in this space, which Jason Universe used well but which I think would be wasted on a more ornate IP like Hellraiser.
Skeleton Hand / Red Fish Blue Fish (Sprung 2): Heavy Metal Hell 3D. The skeleton hand is definitely a rock and roll / heavy metal music symbol. As much as I would love an Ozzy tribute house, Heavy Metal Hell 3D seems more likely in a lot of ways (especially for an Orlando exclusive), and the red/blue coloration reads to me as a clear nod to red/blue 3D glasses.
Looks like Nightmare Fuel is likely back based on the stage location, as well as another lagoon show. On scare zones, it is interesting to see both maps with just four scare zones—omitting San Francisco—which could presage a more non-traditional zone like Club Horror again.
Hollywood
Feliz Navidad (Parisian): Latin American. Feels unclear if this would be Monstruous 4 or perhaps something new at this point, but either way, I’d expect some recycled LatAm monster content, given how well it always hits.
Ghost Killer / Grinch Night!! (Jurassic): Halloween. The ghost with a knife originally reads as Scream, but it’s very hard to believe they would have Scream and make it a Hollywood exclusive. Halloween—which both coasts have done a lot, and which could be recycled by Hollywood pretty easily as they did with Poltergeist—seems more likely. Would love Season of the Witch but frankly I think a Michael Myers mashup with at most a Silver Shamrock easter egg is more likely.
Present Bag (Terror Tram): Terrifier. The Terrifier Tram seems like a strong option. Everyone loves Art the Clown, it might draw people to the Tram, and as BlumTram 2.0 (which recycled Insidious and The Exorcist Believer from 2024 and 2023) shows, Hollywood likes to reuse popular content. I wonder how well Terrifier—which is mostly just Art the Clown, a singular villain, as opposed to bug hordes from Exterminatorz, masses of Purgers, etc.—would translate to the Tram, but I love Art so I’d certainly be down.
Looks like The Purge: Dangerous Waters is speculated to be back, as well as the four scare zones on the Upper Lot / none on the Lower Lot; the ornament with a bird inside is surely a return of the Crowz. Based on this spec map, there might be as many as nine houses coming to Hollywood, upping the usual eight—feels quite possible, given the insane crowds last year, but I guess we’ll see.