The Old HHN 30 Speculation Thread (2020)

[Legacy]

I think there’s some important stuff to consider about this year’s spec.

1 - Mike is gone. It’s obvious, but this the first time in 15 years he won’t be involved in the event somehow. His fingerprints may linger, but it’s entirely possible that, without him, the event will take a completely different tact.

2 - Like @Brian G. has mentioned, the big IPs this year didn’t do what they were supposed to do. Not only were Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, and Us coolly received in Orlando, attendance was down from last year. That tells Marketing and A&D both that, maybe, they don’t need to rely a lot of IPs—only the right IPs.

3 - It’s, ostensibly, an anniversary year. Regardless of how marketing chooses to approaches, formulas change. Anniversary years tend to rely on IPs. They can go nostalgia heavy, new direction heavy, or ignore it completely.

Now for some intel from last year.

4 - A&D was down a designer last year. One of the their long-time designers moved to Creative to be Project Director for EU. They couldn’t replace them last year. Hopefully this year. New designer, more new ideas.

5 - I was told Us was almost an 11th house. In a tent behind F&F. It was very close. Never mind the early rumor from last year they were considering 12 houses. Don’t be shocked if an 11th house happens. It’s an easy marketing bullet.


Point being, 30 is not a year to just throw stuff at a wall. If that’s all we’re going to do that, we might as well not bother.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I think there’s some important stuff to consider about this year’s spec.

1 - Mike is gone. It’s obvious, but this the first time in 15 years he won’t be involved in the event somehow. His fingerprints may linger, but it’s entirely possible that, without him, the event will take a completely different tact.

2 - Like @Brian G. has mentioned, the big IPs this year didn’t do what they were supposed to do. Not only were Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, and Us coolly received in Orlando, attendance was down from last year. That tells Marketing and A&D both that, maybe, they don’t need to rely a lot of IPs—only the right IPs.

3 - It’s, ostensibly, an anniversary year. Regardless of how marketing chooses to approaches, formulas change. Anniversary years tend to rely on IPs. They can go nostalgia heavy, new direction heavy, or ignore it completely.

Now for some intel from last year.

4 - A&D was down a designer last year. One of the their long-time designers moved to Creative to be Project Director for EU. They couldn’t replace them last year. Hopefully this year. New designer, more new ideas.

5 - I was told Us was almost an 11th house. In a tent behind F&F. It was very close. Never mind the early rumor from last year they were considering 12 houses. Don’t be shocked if an 11th house happens. It’s an easy marketing bullet.


Point being, 30 is not a year to just throw stuff at a wall. If that’s all we’re going to do that, we might as well not bother.

Why didnt we get the 11th house?
Budget?

 

[Legacy]

Why didnt we get the 11th house?
Budget?

I’m not comfortable disclosing the reason I was given, but it wasn’t budget.

 

[ReelJustice]

5 - I was told Us was almost an 11th house. In a tent behind F&F. It was very close. Never mind the early rumor from last year they were considering 12 houses. Don’t be shocked if an 11th house happens. It’s an easy marketing bullet.

man, a house in that location would help the flow and balance of the event big time.

 

[Miller]

Tired of seeing Yetis. Let's take a break.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I’m not comfortable disclosing the reason I was given, but it wasn’t budget.

You said "Bedtime Stories" was supposed to be an original take on Del Toro movies, correct?

Hope an increase in houses doesn't mean they cut the budget (e.g. actors) per house.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I think this is an interesting starting location for 30 speculation as a whole, but there are definitely a lot of questions being posed in this thread that won't have answers until much later in the future.

I understand enthusiam, especially trailing right off of HHN 29, but there will come a point where we will just need to be content with the fact that we don't know all the answers yet. If we don't, we'll just cycle back into the habit of constantly asking when the next house announcement will be, and that's just not fun for anybody.

 

[WAJAS]

Here’s a question. Assuming we do get an 11th house. What are the likely locations?

(and please don’t just say one, and everyone agree. Let’s actually discuss options and merits)

 

[horrornights789]

Here’s a question. Assuming we do get an 11th house. What are the likely locations?

(and please don’t just say one, and everyone agree. Let’s actually discuss options and merits)

I think maybe the F&F Queue would work given they looked into it last year and it’s practically vacant. If not there’s also the other half of B108

 

[Clive]

Here’s a question. Assuming we do get an 11th house. What are the likely locations?

(and please don’t just say one, and everyone agree. Let’s actually discuss options and merits)

He... he just told you. A tent behind Fast & Furious.

 

[Freak]

Wishful Thinking:

-Vikings house

-Alfred Hitchcock house. Put it in Shrek to make it a tribute to the old attraction.

-SS Frightgantic reboot/sequel/requel

-Terra Queen as main icon. She gets her revenge for not being remembered.

But as for spec:

-2 or 3 IPs. Beetlejuice, It, and Candyman. If only two, then take away Beetlejuice.

-Anniversary house (Duh)

-Bringing back an old icon (Or all of them)

Since it's HHN 30, they could always have the theme be a big wedding for Jack and Chance. Gotta cash in on the Joker craze and get the GP to say "Lo0k! HHN is doing a Joker and Harley Quinn wedding maze! Let's GOOOOOO!!"

 

[Spaulding]

With a new Saw, subtitled Organ Donor, coming in May next year, with Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson weirdly!, I could see that returning for another year.

I am fully aware the franchise has appeared before, but a new movie means new traps and that would make a new house unique to those in the past.

Could be a similiar deal to Us where it is added last minute, depending on how well it does when it releases.

 

[darkshadow237]

If Universal still has a good relationship with Nickelodeon I could see them make a Are You Afraid of the Dark maze that mixes some of the classic episodes like the laughing in the dark, ghastly Grinner, and ends with the carnival of doom.

 

[JawsVictim]

It’ll be telling if they choose to ignore the Terra Queen next year.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Don’t wanna beat a dead horse if this has been brought up a ton in HHN threads but I don’t follow them as frequently.

With Face The Music coming out next August, any chance at all or Bill and Ted returning? This was my first HHN and I found Academy of Villains to be good but nothing too great, wouldn’t hate a replacement for it as it doesn’t seem to be a fan favorite either

 

[RevFreako]

Don’t wanna beat a dead horse if this has been brought up a ton in HHN threads but I don’t follow them as frequently.

With Face The Music coming out next August, any chance at all or Bill and Ted returning? This was my first HHN and I found Academy of Villains to be good but nothing too great, wouldn’t hate a replacement for it as it doesn’t seem to be a fan favorite either

If Bill and Ted comes back, I'd expect a pretty bland, hamstrung version, as Uni apparently wants to stay away from that kind of edgy, topical humor moving forward.

 

[Legacy]

Oh, one last thing to consider:

They almost did a Legendary Truth thing the final weekend.

It got scrapped last minute, likely for the Christmas protests, but it’s on the table from both Marketing and A&D’s perspectives.

 

[JungleSkip]

[

...Did you even remember Ghostbusters?

i remember it being terrible.

no way in hell do I want Beetlejuice anywhere near HHN

 

[itsabee]

Oh, one last thing to consider:

They almost did a Legendary Truth thing the final weekend.

It got scrapped last minute, likely for the Christmas protests, but it’s on the table from both Marketing and A&D’s perspectives.

Scrapped specifically for the Christmas protests or scrapped and then replaced by the Christmas protests? That stunt, while possibly more marketable for Uni, definitely wasn’t worth giving up a deep-lore tease for.

 

[Legacy]

The only reason Beetlejuice is being discussed is because Ghostbusters came. Tonally, they jive and would have similar structures.

But Ghostbusters was at the bottom of the GSATs on both coasts and the IP didn’t draw like Uni wanted it to. All of that creates an atmosphere where the desire to do something similar is going to be stifled. If the biggest horror comedy of the 80s didn’t draw, then a lesser horror comedy of the 80s is unlikely to draw.

Scrapped specifically for the Christmas protests or scrapped and then replaced by the Christmas protests? That stunt, while possibly more marketable for Uni, definitely wasn’t worth giving up a deep-lore tease for.

Don’t know for sure. The scrapping was late (day or two prior), so possibly for.

And if the protest was more marketable, then it absolutely was worth giving up LT for. It hyped both HHN and immediate Christmas options to a broader audience. Legendary Truth would have required more educating the audience because—apart from a single digit percentage of HHN fans—people have no clue what it is.

It matters though, because Marketing could be considering it for 30. They’ll have months to build the story rather than days.