The Old HHN 30 Speculation Thread (2020)

[Disneyson1]

I imagine zones would essentially be collections of scenes taking place on raised platforms... the call for social distancing would have to be undone by September for characters to get close, which doesn’t seem likely at all, at least to me.

I wonder if scares would have to take place behind plexiglass walls, especially non-masked “face” characters that would be important for Hill House, Beetlejuice, etc... and save Horror Nights a lot of money while making use of the diverse casting options in Orlando.

 

[hhn28andbeyond]

I imagine zones would essentially be collections of scenes taking place on raised platforms... the call for social distancing would have to be undone by September for characters to get close, which doesn’t seem likely at all, at least to me.

I wonder if scares would have to take place behind plexiglass walls, especially non-masked “face” characters that would be important for Hill House, Beetlejuice, etc... and save Horror Nights a lot of money while making use of the diverse casting options in Orlando.

I doubt that plexiglass will still be necessary then, but we’ll cross that bridge when we cross it. Don’t make Brian G bring out the covid guidelines again

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I doubt that plexiglass will still be necessary then, but we’ll cross that bridge when we cross it. Don’t make Brian G bring out the covid guidelines again

Is it bad to speculate on how the event may be different due to Covid? That doesn't feel like it'd be off topic.

 

[Brian G.]

Is it bad to speculate on how the event may be different due to Covid? That doesn't feel like it'd be off topic.

What we're trying to curve is the "Will it/Won't it" talk but trying to speculate how scares may be impacted is fine. However, we don't want it to dominate too much. While it wouldn't be off-topic, I think a bit of reprieve from "Everything COVID" is healthy for the mind.

 

[Disneyson1]

What we're trying to curve is the "Will it/Won't it" talk but trying to speculate how scares may be impacted is fine. However, we don't want it to dominate too much. While it wouldn't be off-topic, I think a bit of reprieve from "Everything COVID" is healthy for the mind.

Totally agree with you, there’s no fruit in speculating IF the event will happen or not. But if “precautions” are taken for this event, I imagine things might change.

If all scareactors are forced into wearing masks, I would NOT want Beetlejuice to arrive this year. To me, it would be a severe waste of the property to have masked Beetlejuice characters, not to mention the other characters that would be ten times more effective with makeup treatments, and the scenes that feature humanoid characters that would have to be dummies or screens or something less impressive than live actors.

 

[BoSoxFan1022]

I wouldn’t have a huge problem with masked scare actors in the streets, but in the houses that would really disappoint me

 

[ChaseTuff]

What we're trying to curve is the "Will it/Won't it" talk but trying to speculate how scares may be impacted is fine. However, we don't want it to dominate too much. While it wouldn't be off-topic, I think a bit of reprieve from "Everything COVID" is healthy for the mind.

Also considering how the HHN threads have a history of beating topics to death, only to revive and beat them again, it’s good to curb this particular one to an extent.

 

[00_Themeparkfan_00]

Me personally, If we have to resort to Plexiglass this year, they should incorporate Plexiglass into the overall theme of the house. So it doesn't break the immersion.

 

[FaceBagman]

Whose gonna use it though? Six Flags owns the DC theme park rights, and Universal Orlando won’t risk using DC because it could serve as justification for Disney to pull Marvel (as they would be unfaithful to the Marvel brand). Universal Hollywood, in theory, could do it, but will Universal want to use such a big brand on one coast?

There’s a lot of math to DC showing up at HHN.

Oh, my sarcasm was certainly blunt there, I doubt we'll ever see comic properties (outside of another independent comic-turned-tv hit like Walking Dead, of course) at HHN mainly because of those rights issues and parent company concerns.

My second part of that post was merely pontificating that Warner Brothers was onto something with their Arkham Asylum walkthrough, even if my opinion is that attraction was fairly disappointing due in no small part to lack of creativity. If WB was able to gain access to the Arkhamverse for a walkthrough attraction, I wonder how far that reach goes and how gray the area is for their event? I highly doubt Horror Made Here will return anyways, but the property rights there were interesting to me.

 

[Legacy]

Me personally, If we have to resort to Plexiglass this year, they should incorporate Plexiglass into the overall theme of the house. So it doesn't break the immersion.

The houses were already designed, and most were under construction, before this whole thing started. Plexiglass won’t be incorporated into house themes. If they use it, it’ll just be there.

They’ll like just try to light it as well as they can so the glare isn’t obvious.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

The houses were already designed, and most were under construction, before this whole thing started. Plexiglass won’t be incorporated into house themes. If they use it, it’ll just be there.

They’ll like just try to light it as well as they can so the glare isn’t obvious.

If there is plexiglass (not that I mind) I hope it's easily swappable because I think those things will get scratched to hell every night.

 

[snayberry]

I'd rather them put all the precautions they have to put, for the event to happen. I'll just be glad to experience HHN in some form this year. It's an event I always look forward to and possibly my favorite time of the year.

 

[ModDesigner23]

I think use of more puppets would be essential this year.

 

[Legacy]

I think use of more puppets would be essential this year.

They have to order the build of puppets, and a single puppet can be expensive. Plus, if the house wasn’t designed with space for puppet mechanics and puppeteer, they can’t actually put a puppet in that spot. You’re more likely to see robotics (off the shelf, pneumatic scares like you see in regional haunts), which lessens overall effectiveness of a house and introduces a lot of maintenance concerns.

Most booholes have just enough space for the scare and escape. Performers typically live in a space that’s only about 4-6 feet long and 2-3 feet wide.

Building started in FEBRUARY. Houses were designed in December-March. Universal did not and does not have the ability to re-adapt everything about the event for a perfect, post-pandemic HHN. They have to gerryrig something that works with what they’ve already designed.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Is it heresy to say I'd rather skip a year VS having a gerryrigged event?

Also wanna throw my hat in the ring for Invisible Man - I think the taboo talk is being a little overblown. I haven't seen really any backlash over the film itself, why would there be any if it became a house?

 

[Brian G.]

Also wanna throw my hat in the ring for Invisible Man - I think the taboo talk is being a little overblown. I haven't seen really any backlash over the film itself, why would there be any if it became a house?

I don't think I need to go into a deep explanation of the differences between a film and a house - but one is viewed from the safety of a chair, while the other is trying to realistically recreate scenes to put people in the action. That's a big difference of an experience. Movies are understood to be home to more mature themes than theme parks. The movie has been seen to shine a light on a real plight of domestic abuse, whereas creating a house can be seen as trying to take advantage of that.

Also, feel like it's worth mentioning that this year would be the year to capitalize on the film. Since it's not being speculated on, it gives you a pretty good indication of where the creators might stand.

Also considering how the HHN threads have a history of beating topics to death, only to revive and beat them again, it’s good to curb this particular one to an extent.

I know a lot of people get angsty over how we moderate the forums, but there is a reason we become hardasses on HHN spec.

We're nice people, we promise.

 

[ChaseTuff]

Am I the only one still stuck on the Invisible part of Invisible Man as opposed to everything else?

 

[Oakley]

Am I the only one still stuck on the Invisible part of Invisible Man as opposed to everything else?

Honestly, yeah. At least in the UM one he has an iconic outfit.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I don't think I need to go into a deep explanation of the differences between a film and a house - but one is viewed from the safety of a chair, while the other is trying to realistically recreate scenes to put people in the action. That's a big difference of an experience. Movies are understood to be home to more mature themes than theme parks. The movie has been seen to shine a light on a real plight of domestic abuse, whereas creating a house can be seen as trying to take advantage of that.

Also, feel like it's worth mentioning that this year would be the year to capitalize on the film. Since it's not being speculated on, it gives you a pretty good indication of where the creators might stand.

Oh yeah I understand what you're saying. But I don't think they would need to/want to show any of the "domestic violence" portions of the film for a house. Having pop up scares and some cool effects would be enough for people and I don't think anyone would get stuck on certain themes, especially if they're not a focal point of the house.

I mean.. there was dead kids in Graveyard Games lol.

 

[johnathanm]

The houses were already designed, and most were under construction, before this whole thing started. Plexiglass won’t be incorporated into house themes. If they use it, it’ll just be there.

They’ll like just try to light it as well as they can so the glare isn’t obvious.

The use of plexiglass to separate guests from scareactors seems really unlikely to me. That would have to severely limit the effectiveness of scares. I feel like it’s unlikely that they would restrict the event that much, but I guess we’ll see