Halloween Horror Nights 32 (UOR) - News & Info

[UniversalRBLX]

The only one of these I could see being completely out of the question for HHN is Animal Actors, just with how tight that area is already.

HMU opening as a plussed version or just used as a meet and greet space would be great.

Bourne could just run its normal show during HHN and I think it would pull people in (did T2:3D ever run during HHN?)

BMG - I guess they use this for Grinchmas now? I feel like they could still use it for an HHN show, with a quick turnaround to Grinchmas after the event ends. How long could it really take to tear down one stage set and put up another?

Terminator would run when it was newer/early 2000s.

HMU could always do a "Blumhouse Presents" version with whatever synergy goals they have each year.

If WaterWorld can do Purge at night, with the same tricks/effects utilized during the day, Bourne can as well.

I understand why they want to avoid using Sinbad or TL theater for Grinchmas (daylight bleed), but those 2 stages get dark enough for lighting and I don't think it should hinder HHN.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I understand why they want to avoid using Sinbad or TL theater for Grinchmas (daylight bleed), but those 2 stages get dark enough for lighting and I don't think it should hinder HHN.

I imagine they could use BMG for both? They have a 2.5 week break between HHN and Holidays. I think that'd be enough time to flip everything over in that theater, right?

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I imagine they could use BMG for both? They have a 2.5 week break between HHN and Holidays. I think that'd be enough time to flip everything over in that theater, right?

That's a tight window for breakdown, build, and then rehearsals unless your reusing everything

 

[TheCodeMan95]

That's a tight window for breakdown, build, and then rehearsals unless your reusing everything

Gotcha - I always assumed the set pieces were all put together and they just kinda pieced it all together.

I didn't really think about rehearsals because I wasn't aware they do rehearsals on location where the show takes place!

 

[Casper Gutman]

Just run Animal Actors with the dogs in little costumes!

 

[Mad Dog]

I believe the rehearsals take much more than two weeks. But that is a very large courtyard, like Brian earlier said, that could be used in various ways to help crowd overload issues.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I believe the rehearsals take much more than two weeks. But that is a very large courtyard, like Brian earlier said, that could be used in various ways to help crowd overload issues.

It absolutely is a large area! Moving 1 or 2 house portals out there could definitely help.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Just run Animal Actors with the dogs in little costumes!

This would actually work.....lol.

 

[GA-MBIT]

We've discussed them before.

- HMU is incredibly small.
- Bourne theatre potentially has code issues with transitioning from daily ops and from the use of stunt firearms in the building.
- AA is in an already flooded area.
- BMG is used for Grinchmas rehearsals.

 

[Legacy]

We've discussed them before.

- HMU is incredibly small.
- Bourne theatre potentially has code issues with transitioning from daily ops and from the use of stunt firearms in the building.
- AA is in an already flooded area.
- BMG is used for Grinchmas rehearsals.

So, you’re saying they’re all available?

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

The last 2 weeks have been bizarre crowd-wise. TLOU was posted 55 on Saturday... it was a walk-on. Which as a side note, is a practice the parks really need to get better at. I saw several DAS users just waiting outside the entrance waiting for their time... only to realize they could have just walked in (and used standby since they force Express to go around the maze of queue hell).

Bloodmoon and Exorcist were always a 40-45 minute posted wait when I went through but I never waited more than 20 for any of my run throughs. Chucky was also overinflated very quickly on Friday (around 7PM) when it took less than ten mins.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

We've discussed them before.

- HMU is incredibly small.
- Bourne theatre potentially has code issues with transitioning from daily ops and from the use of stunt firearms in the building.
- AA is in an already flooded area.
- BMG is used for Grinchmas rehearsals.

HMU can run shows every 45 minutes, starting at 7 PM you can easily schedule 8 shows a night. The theater can house ~640ish guests, which is pretty decent for a nightly capacity of 5K guests a night. Nightmare Fuel/FFL for comparison has only 4 showtimes a night with a capacity for 1.6K guests a night for a total of around 6.8K guests a night.

I don't know what they can or can't do with Bourne, but if Hollywood can run a stunt show during the day and then turn it around for a different show at night... what makes Orlando different?

AA is questionable since you can't lose that capacity during the day for a park that doesn't have much for young children.

BMG is currently utilized for Grinchmas, but if they can find another home for Grinchmas (if only IOA had an empty venue for it), it opens up the ability for HHN to utilize the space.

We'll debate this for the next few months probably, but I still think the solution is to solve capacity issues before Universal goes the Disney approach of raising prices and/or limiting how often one goes.

Bloodmoon and Exorcist were always a 40-45 minute posted wait when I went through but I never waited more than 20 for any of my run throughs. Chucky was also overinflated very quickly on Friday (around 7PM) when it took less than ten mins.

Part of the reason why I believe HHN has a non-haunted house capacity problem. Not everyone wants to do haunted houses all night, they want entertainment, food, drinks, etc. An 11th house would do nothing but spread the event thin when they should be focusing on other things beyond haunted houses to add to the event's offerings.

 

[HandsomePete]

Bloodmoon and Exorcist were always a 40-45 minute posted wait when I went through but I never waited more than 20 for any of my run throughs. Chucky was also overinflated very quickly on Friday (around 7PM) when it took less than ten mins.

Bloodmoon was also consistently the shortest Express line - it’s like people either bee line to Stranger Things / Exorcist or bee line to the back of the park and miss that there’s a house right there. Then never really get back to it because it’s not on the way to anything.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Bloodmoon was also consistently the shortest Express line - it’s like people either bee line to Stranger Things / Exorcist or bee line to the back of the park and miss that there’s a house right there. Then never really get back to it because it’s not on the way to anything.

They also exaggerate the wait there at the start to avoid everyone crushing that house first and to push them to the back of the park.

Yeah, the front half of the park (Production Central/Hollywood) is severely underutilized and would benefit from additional experiences in the area to spread some crowds a bit.

 

[SeventyOne]

Part of the reason why I believe HHN has a non-haunted house capacity problem. Not everyone wants to do haunted houses all night, they want entertainment, food, drinks, etc. An 11th house would do nothing but spread the event thin when they should be focusing on other things beyond haunted houses to add to the event's offerings.

Was going to bring this up in my review but it was already too damn long ...

Officer Hot Pants and I were explaining the "classic" event to a first-timer (a Disney refugee), and he was incredulous as we described the sexy nurses with Jell-O shots and the bars inside house queues and the foam parties. Couldn't reconcile that with the tween-heavy, haunt-centric event this has become. And I realized how far the event has come from being "a Halloween party" first and a haunt event second.

Just as scare-actors have been reduced to flesh-and-blood animatronics, I feel Universal wants guests to tour the event in a pre-set order going from house to house no matter how long Universal makes the queue, never stopping, like automated robots themselves. Even the gift shop is essentially designed as a giant queue--browse but never stop moving toward checkout! They've put very little thought into the fact guests might want to stop and grab a bite to eat, have a drink with friends, or just sit down after a half-mile walk! (So much seating removed this year since, say, 10 or even 2 years ago. People just on the sidewalk up against construction walls.) The party atmosphere helped guests not notice the capacity issues--much like Jell-O shots, we made our own fun. The pendulum needs to swing back a bit. Make it a fun party again, not a marathon of queuing through houses a half-mile backstage..

 

[SeanPhilly]

Big delay in bloodmoon And rip ride rock it.
Both are closed

My squad and I were there for that. Got booted from Blood Moon at the door. They said the sound system was down.

 

[Mad Dog]

Was going to bring this up in my review but it was already too damn long ...

Officer Hot Pants and I were explaining the "classic" event to a first-timer (a Disney refugee), and he was incredulous as we described the sexy nurses with Jell-O shots and the bars inside house queues and the foam parties. Couldn't reconcile that with the tween-heavy, haunt-centric event this has become. And I realized how far the event has come from being "a Halloween party" first and a haunt event second.

Just as scare-actors have been reduced to flesh-and-blood animatronics, I feel Universal wants guests to tour the event in a pre-set order going from house to house no matter how long Universal makes the queue, never stopping, like automated robots themselves. Even the gift shop is essentially designed as a giant queue--browse but never stop moving toward checkout! They've put very little thought into the fact guests might want to stop and grab a bite to eat, have a drink with friends, or just sit down after a half-mile walk! (So much seating removed this year since, say, 10 or even 2 years ago. People just on the sidewalk up against construction walls.) The party atmosphere helped guests not notice the capacity issues--much like Jell-O shots, we made our own fun. The pendulum needs to swing back a bit. Make it a fun party again, not a marathon of queuing through houses a half-mile backstage..

Excellent summation of what the event has become.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Was going to bring this up in my review but it was already too damn long ...

Officer Hot Pants and I were explaining the "classic" event to a first-timer (a Disney refugee), and he was incredulous as we described the sexy nurses with Jell-O shots and the bars inside house queues and the foam parties. Couldn't reconcile that with the tween-heavy, haunt-centric event this has become. And I realized how far the event has come from being "a Halloween party" first and a haunt event second.

Just as scare-actors have been reduced to flesh-and-blood animatronics, I feel Universal wants guests to tour the event in a pre-set order going from house to house no matter how long Universal makes the queue, never stopping, like automated robots themselves. Even the gift shop is essentially designed as a giant queue--browse but never stop moving toward checkout! They've put very little thought into the fact guests might want to stop and grab a bite to eat, have a drink with friends, or just sit down after a half-mile walk! (So much seating removed this year since, say, 10 or even 2 years ago. People just on the sidewalk up against construction walls.) The party atmosphere helped guests not notice the capacity issues--much like Jell-O shots, we made our own fun. The pendulum needs to swing back a bit. Make it a fun party again, not a marathon of queuing through houses a half-mile backstage..

Well said.

It's understandable why HHN has gone the route they have over the last few events, but would love for them to start to focus a bit more on the guest experience outside of the houses themselves. SeaWorld has done an excellent job with their themed bars and smaller street shows HHN used to do.

 

[Alsands]

Well said.

It's understandable why HHN has gone the route they have over the last few events, but would love for them to start to focus a bit more on the guest experience outside of the houses themselves. SeaWorld has done an excellent job with their themed bars and smaller street shows HHN used to do.

Both parks know their audiences.
Seaworld - smaller, more locals who want to chill.
Universal- tourists from out of town who want to see as many houses as possible in the limited time they have.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Both parks know their audiences.
Seaworld - smaller, more locals who want to chill.
Universal- tourists from out of town who want to see as many houses as possible in the limited time they have.

I don't agree entirely. Yes, locals/fans love to hang out at HHN, but they're also the ones who want to do all of the houses.
Some tourists want to do all houses, but a good chunk of them are fine doing 4-5 houses (typically the IPs), a few rides, and a show.

It's not a tourist vs. local issue. HHN has severe capacity issues, and I don't know why we're circumventing the real issue of HHN's capacity constraints due to poor operational inefficiencies and a lack of capacity to meet current demand.