Halloween Horror Nights 35 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[Legacy]

From Reddit by way of Facebook, the boilerplate responses from Universal seem to have coalesced into this:

View attachment 29690

The language is very deliberate, treating "Scream Early" and "Stay & Scream" as separate entities. (AP early entry always was classified as a form of "S&S," with an AP being a "day ticket.") These feels more like it was drafted by Legal than a typical tweet. As bad as it seems from a logistics standpoint, this language strongly implies another level of upcharge.

Adds a new wrinkle -- are the Scream Early and S&S houses the same? Last year S&S could in theory line up at any house, even if it wouldn't open for a while. Will the SE houses be off-limits to 5? Also I doubt they offer Express from 2 - 5, although I can't imagine needing it.

As always, until we see it on a website it's subject to change, but at least keeping that option open.

So if true, their attempt at getting extra revenue has officially overcomplicated things.

The GP was already getting confused with the S&S vs HHN vs Day Admission and what was needed for each. I know because I've been stuck behind people arguing with staff over what ticket(s) they thought they were buying.

"So this just lets me get in a line early?"

"Yes. But not that house."

"Why?"

"That's a Scream Early house. It's line doesn't open until 5:00."

"Oh. So I can see that house now?"

"No. You only have Stay and Scream."

*Man walks away angry and confused. Yells at wife*

I actually think the solution is surprisingly simple:

All non-Scream Early queues start allowing people to line up at 5 instead of 4. From Universal’s perspective, that’s how you “force” guests showing up for S&S to do something other than sit for two hours. If you walk in at 4, you can find something to do for that first hour. At 5, the Scream Early houses shut down and all queues open for S&S.

Doing this, Scream Early is explicitly separate from Stay and Scream. The one hour overlap in time is more of an “administrative” overlap rather than an operational overlap.

And before anyone says keeping the S&S queues closed until 5 is removing a “perk,” the perk is being in the park early so you can queue before General Admission. Keeping the queue closed until 5 doesn’t actually eliminate that perk at all.

 

[HHN Maddux]

 

[rageofthegods]

 

[RedRightDan]

The socials (including Vegas) seem to be warming up a bit too.

 

[StaticShock]

Anticipating like…

 

[Pixarfan96]

Me everytime you bring up having KKFOS appear again as a house at HHN Orlando. Or in any capacity.

I Know, I have a problem! Help Me! Lol

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I actually think the solution is surprisingly simple:

All non-Scream Early queues start allowing people to line up at 5 instead of 4. From Universal’s perspective, that’s how you “force” guests showing up for S&S to do something other than sit for two hours. If you walk in at 4, you can find something to do for that first hour. At 5, the Scream Early houses shut down and all queues open for S&S.

Doing this, Scream Early is explicitly separate from Stay and Scream. The one hour overlap in time is more of an “administrative” overlap rather than an operational overlap.

And before anyone says keeping the S&S queues closed until 5 is removing a “perk,” the perk is being in the park early so you can queue before General Admission. Keeping the queue closed until 5 doesn’t actually eliminate that perk at all.

It's still April and more has been done in less time (looking at you Us), but it does feel like this is a big shift and it is a new ticket product. Sorry @Hatetofly on that. I think the problem they have is Scream Early has been a S&S ticket option for non-daytime ticket holders for many years now, they should have debuted a new name but that's water under the bridge now.

I'm honestly kinda shocked they changed this, and when you combine this with the several cuts around the resort I'm more than a little concered about product quality.

 

[tdmarshmallow]

So if true, their attempt at getting extra revenue has officially overcomplicated things.

The GP was already getting confused with the S&S vs HHN vs Day Admission and what was needed for each. I know because I've been stuck behind people arguing with staff over what ticket(s) they thought they were buying.

"So this just lets me get in a line early?"

"Yes. But not that house."

"Why?"

"That's a Scream Early house. It's line doesn't open until 5:00."

"Oh. So I can see that house now?"

"No. You only have Stay and Scream."

*Man walks away angry and confused. Yells at wife*

Never underestimate the ability of the GP to get confused at theme parks.

Perhaps it is just my neurodivergent brain, but the entire thing made sense to me in an instant, I mean it's even in the names of the products.

Stay and Scream meant if you already had a day ticket (or AP) you could STAY in the park for the day and then SCREAM at night with a HHN ticket. You would get priority access to queues prior to those with just HHN tickets.


Scream Early meant that you could start SCREAMing (HHN houses) EARLY by them opening some of the houses early for you.

I'm honestly not trying to make fun of anyone, or cause any division, my AuDHD brain just does not comprehend the confusion. If a neurotypical person would like to privately explain it to me, I would appreciate it.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Never underestimate the ability of the GP to get confused at theme parks.

Perhaps it is just my neurodivergent brain, but the entire thing made sense to me in an instant, I mean it's even in the names of the products.

Stay and Scream meant if you already had a day ticket (or AP) you could STAY in the park for the day and then SCREAM at night with a HHN ticket. You would get priority access to queues prior to those with just HHN tickets.


Scream Early meant that you could start SCREAMing (HHN houses) EARLY by them opening some of the houses early for you.

I'm honestly not trying to make fun of anyone, or cause any division, my AuDHD brain just does not comprehend the confusion. If a neurotypical person would like to privately explain it to me, I would appreciate it.

Yeah, like I said a page or so ago, I think people are severely overthinking it lol

Scream Early = do HHN early
Stay and Scream = stay in the park and wait for HHN

 

[Jake S]

Listen, we'll see how it all gets rolled out in the end but I think this has a high potential for being confusing for regular guests. You're introducing a new ticket type with a similar name and purpose to an existing ticket type that many people are already familiar with. It doesn't help that, in my opinion, Universal has a pretty poor track record of clearly communicating how their policies are implemented to their guests and (importantly) their employees.

People are going to be confused by this and I'm unconvinced this will do much to improve the guest experience. Obviously, we'll see what it all looks like in September ... but I can certainly appreciate the skepticism surrounding this.

 

[Clive]

Never underestimate the ability of the GP to get confused at theme parks.

Perhaps it is just my neurodivergent brain, but the entire thing made sense to me in an instant, I mean it's even in the names of the products.

Stay and Scream meant if you already had a day ticket (or AP) you could STAY in the park for the day and then SCREAM at night with a HHN ticket. You would get priority access to queues prior to those with just HHN tickets.


Scream Early meant that you could start SCREAMing (HHN houses) EARLY by them opening some of the houses early for you.

I'm honestly not trying to make fun of anyone, or cause any division, my AuDHD brain just does not comprehend the confusion. If a neurotypical person would like to privately explain it to me, I would appreciate it.

The trouble in my book here is I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that "Scream Early" tickets have existed as a discrete ticket product for several (many) years. A quick Google revealed Reddit discussions from a few years back discussing the differences... In fact, I think I bought these tickets myself more than once.

Originally, Scream Early was just the name of the ticket product that allowed you to access Universal Studios Florida (and consequently the Stay and Scream holding areas/benefits) from 3-5 PM.

In other words, they are now changing the fundamental features of an existing ticketing product without changing the name. Simultaneously, Stay and Scream is in essence "losing" a powerful perk (in theory) by not granting the earliest possible access to haunted houses. Furthermore, Stay and Scream has long been associated with getting a head start on everyone else, adding to the confusion.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I'm going to reserve judgement on how this plays out because I was panicking about how they'd handle the SS houses with the HRRR construction.

And it ended up being not too bad!

 

[Circ]

I'm going to reserve judgement on how this plays out because I was panicking about how they'd handle the SS houses with the HRRR construction.

And it ended up being not too bad!

SS house corridor was SO good last year, I’m hoping they use that layout again. It was perfect for bouncing between houses back there.

 

[EAS]

SS house corridor was SO good last year, I’m hoping they use that layout again. It was perfect for bouncing between houses back there.

The only part that was rough was the need to loop ALL the way back around to get to FNAF/WWE. If there had been a part of the loop that would allow for quicker access to those from the El Artista exit hub near the NY entrance, that would be perfect.

 

[Neo]

This is always my least favorite time of the speculation season...after we get one announcement and everybody is chomping at the bit for another one and going crazy over every little thing,

People saying that Stay & Scream is a cash grab with this new policy....I think it's exactly the opposite. A long time ago in a land far far away, stay and scream was simply allowing day guests with HHN tickets to stay in the park. You'd grab a beverage, find a curb to sit on, maybe a tree to sit under, and you'd wait. Then eventually they might let you out a couple minutes to run to whatever houses would open up first.

Then it started to get crazy with people thinking it should mean they could get in line for their favorite house, even before the park closed, and stand in the 100 degree Florida sun just for that. The holding pens were pretty empty as everybody wanted to be in the lines. So then, Universal did the most shameful of cash grabs an said, "there is too much open space in these holding pens, if crazy fans will pay $25, $30, $50 just to come in and pack this place butts to nuts, lets do that. It's free money!"

Over the years they've still kept Stay and Scream completely free and enhanced it to actually open houses before the gates open. Cool. Last year, they said, you don't have to be in a holding pen, you can go do whatever you want. Again, no surcharge. Cool.

So now they are actually making the Scream Early ticket the premium experience you would think it was from the price of the ticket. The price has increased again, but now there's a legit reason for it as they have to staff the houses, lines, etc. For the price, you are getting a limited premium experience. I do understand the the confusion of the ticket keeping the same name, but all the write up has to say is "new from past years, this ticket now allows you access to 3 houses beginning at 2pm!" and it's clear as day what it is.

NOTHING has been taken away from Stay and Scream so I don't understand why there's all the crying. If EVERYBODY in S&S had access to these houses, you'd have three 90min lines. Every year, when the park first opens at 9pm, there are multiple houses with hour long waits already due to all the S&S people running to the hottest houses. So opening only 3 houses to everybody would not serve any real purpose. In fact, I'd argue it would lose money for Univetsal as instead of waiting in a holding pen, buying food and beverages, or walking the park and buying stuff, you'd be waiting in line for 3 houses.

If doing 3 houses at 2pm when babies in strollers are still in the park and grandmas are on Rascal Scooters waiting for the next Beat Builders show to start is something you absolutely must do and feel it's a crime against humanity for you to be denied those houses, then buy the ticket. Those same houses are open for another 8+ hours with the HHN ticket you already have, but it's your money.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Quite honestly, I'm looking at the Scream Early ticket as "Express Lite."

You get to go in and do 3 houses before the event even starts. Hell, you might be done with all 3 houses and still have an hour or so before the park even closes for regular day guests.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Over the years they've still kept Stay and Scream completely free and enhanced it to actually open houses before the gates open. Cool. Last year, they said, you don't have to be in a holding pen, you can go do whatever you want. Again, no surcharge. Cool.

This was more of a necessity, the waiting pens were over capacity for the demand Stay & Scream gets nowadays. They got too huge and annoying to operate.

This is always my least favorite time of the speculation season...after we get one announcement and everybody is chomping at the bit for another one and going crazy over every little thing,

People saying that Stay & Scream is a cash grab with this new policy....I think it's exactly the opposite. A long time ago in a land far far away, stay and scream was simply allowing day guests with HHN tickets to stay in the park. You'd grab a beverage, find a curb to sit on, maybe a tree to sit under, and you'd wait. Then eventually they might let you out a couple minutes to run to whatever houses would open up first.

Then it started to get crazy with people thinking it should mean they could get in line for their favorite house, even before the park closed, and stand in the 100 degree Florida sun just for that. The holding pens were pretty empty as everybody wanted to be in the lines. So then, Universal did the most shameful of cash grabs an said, "there is too much open space in these holding pens, if crazy fans will pay $25, $30, $50 just to come in and pack this place butts to nuts, lets do that. It's free money!"

Over the years they've still kept Stay and Scream completely free and enhanced it to actually open houses before the gates open. Cool. Last year, they said, you don't have to be in a holding pen, you can go do whatever you want. Again, no surcharge. Cool.

So now they are actually making the Scream Early ticket the premium experience you would think it was from the price of the ticket. The price has increased again, but now there's a legit reason for it as they have to staff the houses, lines, etc. For the price, you are getting a limited premium experience. I do understand the the confusion of the ticket keeping the same name, but all the write up has to say is "new from past years, this ticket now allows you access to 3 houses beginning at 2pm!" and it's clear as day what it is.

NOTHING has been taken away from Stay and Scream so I don't understand why there's all the crying. If EVERYBODY in S&S had access to these houses, you'd have three 90min lines. Every year, when the park first opens at 9pm, there are multiple houses with hour long waits already due to all the S&S people running to the hottest houses. So opening only 3 houses to everybody would not serve any real purpose. In fact, I'd argue it would lose money for Univetsal as instead of waiting in a holding pen, buying food and beverages, or walking the park and buying stuff, you'd be waiting in line for 3 houses.

If doing 3 houses at 2pm when babies in strollers are still in the park and grandmas are on Rascal Scooters waiting for the next Beat Builders show to start is something you absolutely must do and feel it's a crime against humanity for you to be denied those houses, then buy the ticket. Those same houses are open for another 8+ hours with the HHN ticket you already have, but it's your money.

We'll see what happens, but part of why I find this all confusing is that it looked like it came from a place to reduce the strain of S&S guests causing queues to reach capacity or 90+ waits at official event opening. I would have assumed that this was a form of reducing the strain on operations when the event opens. Get S&S away from the popular houses after their 3 hour exclusive access.

APs make a good chunk of S&S guests, so it'll be interesting to see the difference in crowd sizes with them being excluded from the early early access. I think a different name change and clear instructions/press release on this new benefit would have avoided all of this discussion.

 

[Spooky_Bitz]

The Resident Evil trailer just released and wow… I am even more upset by it leaving rumors and speculation. I would happily lose Stranger Things for it… but that’s not too realistic lol

 

[MAC]

Quite honestly, I'm looking at the Scream Early ticket as "Express Lite."

You get to go in and do 3 houses before the event even starts. Hell, you might be done with all 3 houses and still have an hour or so before the park even closes for regular day guests.

That's how I read it as well and is a way to avoid buying a full-priced Express Pass because you'll have a leg up on everyone else and can get throug the rest of the park relatively easier.

It's interesting to see the ticket products evolve so much over this past decade or so. I remember the days when you got a can of Coke and it got you a discounted ticket and that's all you had to really worry about. Now there's enough options to make someone's head spin.

 

[Speed]

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