Halloween Horror Nights 35 (UO) - Speculation & Rumors

[Touchdown]

Hey now merchandise is essential! I must buy a tshirt every year. Weither or not I get more besides that is dependent on a lot of things. I’m really like the Jack/Oddfellow shirt this year it’s an early favorite for purchase.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

The Only merch I can imagine myself getting this year is anything Ozzy related, if available. Well, Maybe old school Stranger things, if done well!

 

[Spooky_Bitz]

I always get merch based on the originals and usually if there’s an IP i hold near and dear. So this year, the original house shirt, the signature series shirt(assuming they do it), Hellraiser, and Evil Dead(assuming this is still coming)

 

[DragonSlayer]

Just because this is still ongoing I thought I'd pitch in a unique perspective -

I've been attending this event for quite some time. In all the years I've been going I've never once purchased Express. Being an Orlando local, I'm at liberty to come and go to the event based entirely around convenience and guesstimates on whether a night will be busy or not. I've guided many groups coming in from out of town on attendance, strategy, where or not to get express, stay and scream... the works.

In the past 5 years (maybe even longer), even with park knowledge, arrival times, picking a date light on attendance, and using every single strategy available, lines have become unbearable at the event to the point where this is the make or break year for me on continued attendence. If it's as bad as last year with the changes, I think I'm a one night RIP guy now.

The current way lines are done, particularly with non-stop disruptions from express, is fundamentally broken. People in regular lines experience it, people who normally buy express are recoiling in horror at the very thought of having to experience it - it's a disaster.

I have no idea if this will help or fix it, but Universal has to do something.

This is a very relevant point I feel gets lost among the "high-roller" and "hard-core" fans. Universal is still trying to run an event for 2020s crowds with a 2010s engine. And both obvious solutions--increase house capacity dramatically or increase prices across the board dramatically--scare them worse than Jack. The former because it will cost too much (I'm not talking 11 houses, I mean 15, plus an extra show or other "activation"), the latter because they fear, probably with data to back it up, their fans are incredibly price-sensitive. But no, 10 houses, a FFL show and a 10-minute lagoon show can't absorb the current crowds, especially with huge numbers of Express added to to the mix.

Just picking up on these related points because they made me think about my experience last year.

The flip side of the perspective you’re both working with here (understandable and I respect it) is that the way things work now only looks insane if you’re comparing it to how the event used to be years ago. It doesn’t look the same if you’ve never known any different.

I went last year, paid $85 for a one-night ticket, didn’t buy express, and got through all the houses except two and also explored the zones, food, merch etc. Yes there were some long waits in there, but what I lost in bad lines for some things I gained in lucky wins for others. My mindset was simply that it’s a crazy popular event in a very busy place, so of course there will be a decent amount of waiting and it won’t always be possible to do everything.

Not posting this to congratulate myself, but just to say that people who have only been coming for a couple of years will have hugely different expectations which probably play into Universal’s calculations somewhat. I don’t know what the breakdown of long-timers to newcomers is, but I would wager it must weigh more heavily towards the 5 years or less of attendance crowd than towards the 15+.

It’s also worth acknowledging that if you turn up for one night and just pay what I did, that is absolutely incredible value. I don’t know how the base rate isn’t $180-$200 for what you get.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

It’s also worth acknowledging that if you turn up for one night and just pay what I did, that is absolutely incredible value. I don’t know how the base rate isn’t $180-$200 for what you get.

This is always something that blows my mind. Comparing the price between HHN and and Not So Scary is insane.

There's a local haunt here in PA - and while they are VERY good, the average admission is $70. And I can't help but think that I could only pay $20 more and go to HHN lol

 

[Touchdown]

This is always something that blows my mind. Comparing the price between HHN and and Not So Scary is insane.

There's a local haunt here in PA - and while they are VERY good, the average admission is $70. And I can't help but think that I could only pay $20 more and go to HHN lol

Everything at Disney is always more expensive, but to be fair, they cap attendance at those parties. Without Fastpass, and starting at 4pm I can easily do every ride I want to do at MK, catch the parade, Hocus Pocus show twice, fireworks and load up on candy. As long as character meet and greets aren’t important to you, that MNSSHP ticket grants you access to the MK with extremely low waits for attractions.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Everything at Disney is always more expensive, but to be fair, they cap attendance at those parties. Without Fastpass, and starting at 4pm I can easily do every ride I want to do at MK, catch the parade, Hocus Pocus show twice, fireworks and load up on candy. As long as character meet and greets aren’t important to you, that MNSSHP ticket grants you access to the MK with extremely low waits for attractions.

I only have experience doing MNSSHP once and it felt very busy lol

I'd rather pay for a day ticket on the day of a party - park is dead those days!

 

[hunnylvr]

 

[hunnylvr]

You never know when or where that leak is gonna' come from, but amusingly Clive, I think you got ghostsarejerks mixed up with @hunnylvr ! (I can totally see how considering their avatars are the same clown color combo.)

So yeah, of all the leaks to happen, this one is easily the most fortunate for you, Hunnylvr!

Sorry for double post - but already crying with pure joy

 

[SeventyOne]

Just picking up on these related points because they made me think about my experience last year.

The flip side of the perspective you’re both working with here (understandable and I respect it) is that the way things work now only looks insane if you’re comparing it to how the event used to be years ago. It doesn’t look the same if you’ve never known any different.

I went last year, paid $85 for a one-night ticket, didn’t buy express, and got through all the houses except two and also explored the zones, food, merch etc. Yes there were some long waits in there, but what I lost in bad lines for some things I gained in lucky wins for others. My mindset was simply that it’s a crazy popular event in a very busy place, so of course there will be a decent amount of waiting and it won’t always be possible to do everything.

Not posting this to congratulate myself, but just to say that people who have only been coming for a couple of years will have hugely different expectations which probably play into Universal’s calculations somewhat. I don’t know what the breakdown of long-timers to newcomers is, but I would wager it must weigh more heavily towards the 5 years or less of attendance crowd than towards the 15+.

It’s also worth acknowledging that if you turn up for one night and just pay what I did, that is absolutely incredible value. I don’t know how the base rate isn’t $180-$200 for what you get.

Fair points, but the event was always famously busy--even back before they offered multinight Express. I still think there's a fundamental sense of entitlement among the general population that casually strolling through the gates with a 1-night ticket should get you into at least half the houses. Or maybe it's the old WDW standard, you need to see 6 attractions in a night to feel you got your money's worth. Either way, I think you need to be able to do it without ever having researched online. If the event gets away from that--and anecdotally, it has started to--that's going to kill guest satisfaction and drive down future numbers.

This is always something that blows my mind. Comparing the price between HHN and and Not So Scary is insane.

There's a local haunt here in PA - and while they are VERY good, the average admission is $70. And I can't help but think that I could only pay $20 more and go to HHN lol

Why I say despite the numbers, I think HHN's barbel position is more tenuous than we want to believe. Sure, there are a couple thousand hard core fans who'll drop thousands of dollars to make the event their personality for two months. But the numbers drop right after RoF--how many of those kids would go multiple nights if there was no multinight option, or if that option was north of $500?

 

[Touchdown]

I only have experience doing MNSSHP once and it felt very busy lol

I'd rather pay for a day ticket on the day of a party - park is dead those days!

Last year I did:
-Country Bears
-Philharmagic
-Pooh
—Park closes to regular guests—
-Tron
-Space
-TTA
-Mermaid
—Extended break for parade/castle show/fireworks—
-Pirates
-Tiana
-HM
-Pan
-Dumbo
-SDMTx2
-Hocus Pocus midnight show

Got plenty of candy too. Great night.

 

[tdmarshmallow]

Lol I need the official confirmation, my friend is the biggest Ozzy fan and I need to send it to her

Edit: Side note, the lack of official confirmation of Evil Dead is throwing me for a loop. Kinda strange it didn't coincide with the movie release, anyone heard anything weird behind the scenes?

The rumblings I have heard this week indicated that one of the IP's not announced had been pulled. This leads me to believe that EDB is not happening... No word on the replacement yet. But what do I know...?