Halloween Horror Nights 34 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[CaretakerBajaBlast]

The hardest of the hardcore were audibly down on last year. Just speculation on my part. By any metric, the streets and icons were lackluster. And quite frankly, it was all over the place. Couple that with rising costs across the board. Recipe for disaster.

I felt like I was getting ripped off left and right. Let my AP lapse and haven’t booked a trip for this year.

I told this story recently, but I did not invest in my usual Frequent Fear Plus with express this year due to last year’s event. I know it doesn’t matter to the bean counters, but when I paid over $900 for my pass and I went just enough to reach my break even, I couldn’t justify throwing that chunk of change at them again. Last year was a startling decline in quality compared to the previous, and that year was already showing declining returns in the streets.

I’m not a Scarezone guy, and I’ll maybe spend 6 hours in the zones total over the event (usually attending between 15-20 nights). But their effect on the mood and effectiveness of the event can’t be understated- they are essential to the feel of everything.

I compared last year to a bad movie in a beloved franchise: it really tanks your enjoyment and excitement going forward. They seem to be on the right path, but they have a lot to make up for before I’m fully back on the HHN train. Some of it is getting older and more jaded, I’m sure. But I know last year really shook a lot of people up.

 

[Tereglith]

I just don’t see how we get “good” zones back without crowds majorly dropping off to pre-2012 levels. There’s only so much Universal can do to make a good street (outside of NY) when the arteries of the park are constantly clogged.

I only started attending in 2021 so I never experienced "the good old days" but I felt like last year's zones were a pronounced drop-off even from the other years I've experienced. I haven't yet been to an event where every scare zone was good (31 and 32 are close but Conjure the Dark and Zodiac didn't do it for me, respectively). But 33 was the first one I've been to where none of them were very good.

SF and Central Park are obviously constrained by the crowd issue but I've seen them work okay (Shipyard, Scarecrow). Hollywood isn't really congested at all because there's no house portals anywhere near it anymore, so it should be able to work just as well as NY. I've only seen it live up to its full potential with Deadly Unrest but I'm very hopeful for Masquerade.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I felt like I was getting ripped off left and right. Let my AP lapse and haven’t booked a trip for this year.

Is that the only reason?

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

I’m all in on these zones being the best in recent years. I would even say that though it’s still early, Cat lady may end up being the best Central Park zone I’ve seen.

 

[RGMick77]

There is a review thread on here from last year’s event and l remember the sentiment was a lot of “this year felt off” and “I left feeling unsatisfied”.

I have to imagine the surveys Universal got back had a lot of similar responses.

While there were good things about last year, it just didn’t rise to the level of quality we know Universal is capable of. And that’s a big problem when the prices for almost everything have gotten so much more expensive in such a short time.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

While 2024 is on the low end of years I've attended - i still place it above 2016 in my rankings.

 

[Legacy]

While 2024 is on the low end of years I've attended - i still place it above 2016 in my rankings.

And, largely, I think it’s important to point out that some years, for whatever reason, they just don’t *click.* And it has nothing to really do with the IPs, or the designs, or the direction, or the performances. Sometimes, HHN is greater than the sum of its parts. Sometimes, it’s less. Trying to pinpoint a specific reason (or person) as to “why XX year was a bad year” is futile.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Here's your Wanta Fanta booth.

 

[Killer Klown]

While 2024 is on the low end of years I've attended - i still place it above 2016 in my rankings.

Even though 2016 had the masterpiece that was Krampus?

 

[Lucky Planet]

There is a review thread on here from last year’s event and l remember the sentiment was a lot of “this year felt off” and “I left feeling unsatisfied”.

I have to imagine the surveys Universal got back had a lot of similar responses.

While there were good things about last year, it just didn’t rise to the level of quality we know Universal is capable of. And that’s a big problem when the prices for almost everything have gotten so much more expensive in such a short time.

and I wonder if sales for merch were down. or something like that.
maybe it had nothing to do with surveys but maybe people weren't buying stuff.
and even on Twitter and insta I saw some complaints about last year. the online engagement was off. people weren't as hyped up.

While 2024 is on the low end of years I've attended - i still place it above 2016 in my rankings.

And, largely, I think it’s important to point out that some years, for whatever reason, they just don’t *click.* And it has nothing to really do with the IPs, or the designs, or the direction, or the performances. Sometimes, HHN is greater than the sum of its parts. Sometimes, it’s less. Trying to pinpoint a specific reason (or person) as to “why XX year was a bad year” is futile.

yeah 2012 will still be the all time "worst" year for me overall. I still had some good moments. but I remember feeling so let down. and it wasn't just one bad house or one bad element in the streets, but the whole thing overall felt very off. the hordes, some of them were cool but some of them were pretty not good.
from my first year in 2006, 2012 was when I felt a drop . I don't know if it was a new team or something.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

and I wonder if sales for merch were down. or something like that.
maybe it had nothing to do with surveys but maybe people weren't buying stuff.
and even on Twitter and insta I saw some complaints about last year. the online engagement was off. people weren't as hyped up.

I didn't LOVE the merch, but I did like the Insidious long sleeve. It was nice to have an HHN shirt to wear in Cold NY that wasn't a sweatshirt for once. I also like that they are experimenting with different colors t-shirts than just black. Not all work, but I appreciate the effort there.
Now I wish they would get back to cool 3D coffee mugs instead of those paste on plane sticker looking ones that fade in the dishwasher.

 

[Tobias]

yeah 2012 will still be the all time "worst" year for me overall. I still had some good moments. but I remember feeling so let down. and it wasn't just one bad house or one bad element in the streets, but the whole thing overall felt very off. the hordes, some of them were cool but some of them were pretty not good.
from my first year in 2006, 2012 was when I felt a drop . I don't know if it was a new team or something.

At its core, 2012 was one of those off-years, because you had a house lineup which seemed fine on paper, but ultimately didn't deliver. And it doesn't help it's right off the heels of 2011 which is considered one of the better years with a stellar house line-up, and that made all the faults of 2012 stand out all the worse. In many ways, we had the same experience with 2023 and 2024. While 2024 was nowhere near as bad as 2012, it still felt like a downgrade compared to 2023 which was a very good year across the board.

 

[amar831]

At its core, 2012 was one of those off-years, because you had a house lineup which seemed fine on paper, but ultimately didn't deliver. And it doesn't help it's right off the heels of 2011 which is considered one of the better years with a stellar house line-up, and that made all the faults of 2012 stand out all the worse. In many ways, we had the same experience with 2023 and 2024. While 2024 was nowhere near as bad as 2012, it still felt like a downgrade compared to 2023 which was a very good year across the board.

See these are the posts that make me feel like even though I’ve been on these forums for a VERY long time, even as an unregistered lurker, I’m still very much a part of the GP and their viewpoints. I loved 2012 and look back very fondly on it. The set pieces all around the park and scareactors roaming around made it all feel very alive for me. I loved all of the houses and it was the first year that I ever did a house twice because the first run through was so fantastic (Gothic). Loved the website and playing games to gain points for your legion of horror. And that was just my third year going to the event.

The only thing I can think that may make the difference between mine and other’s experiences is I don’t necessarily view the event itself from only my individual perspective, but the shared experience of the ones I attend with. Talking about the houses and scarezones together and sharing in those moments walking through everything the event has to offer. They make them memorable and more emotionally resonant. Whether they delivered top notch product in the larger viewpoint of specific individuals who may or may not hold the event to a higher standard isn’t something that holds any weight to my enjoyment of the event. I watch old house run throughs and I smile thinking about how I felt walking through it, with my mom or my sister or my best friends. It makes it special for me despite the fact that the year may have been “lackluster” in some aspects to some. (but I can agree that yes there are certain things that I don’t necessarily like or agree with in any given year)

 

[Jake S]

Yeah, I think @amar831 hits on a distinction I've been thinking about the past week. There's how much fun I had at the event ... and then there's how good the event was. That's a reason I sometimes struggle with critically engaging with the houses or event years like other types of art (movies, albums, whatever).

I certainly thought the streets and overall vibe were not as good last year as the year before ... but I had more fun last year than I did the year before. Much of that has little to do with Universal or Horror Nights. Two years ago, we were in the parks all day and then totally gassed by the time Horror Nights rolled around. Last year, we only went to Volcano Bay and Horror Nights. It was, unsurprisingly, a much more enjoyable experience.

That said, I really enjoy reading the thoughts of people like @Clive, who are much better at identifying what worked/didn't work and why in these houses than I am.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Yeah, I think @amar831 There's how much fun I had at the event ... and then there's how good the event was.

Hit the nail right on the coffin! A prime example for me- I can acknowledge that Ultimate Kill Count wasn't really a great house, but I still had a ton of fun going through it every time!

Or like the current topic, last year- I can and do acknowledge that last year was far from being the best year, especially coming off the high of HHN 32, but I still managed to go every single night and had a blast every time. Making new friends, watching the event evolve, and just enjoying the vibes! A year of HHN could be absolutely awful, and I'll still find a way to have fun with it, because this event is my favorite thing in the world.

(...unless it's 30, the one year I had Frequent Fear+ and yet barely used it lol).

 

[amar831]

Hit the nail right on the coffin! A prime example for me- I can acknowledge that Ultimate Kill Count wasn't really a great house, but I still had a ton of fun going through it every time!

Or like the current topic, last year- I can and do acknowledge that last year was far from being the best year, especially coming off the high of HHN 32, but I still managed to go every single night and had a blast every time. Making new friends, watching the event evolve, and just enjoying the vibes! A year of HHN could be absolutely awful, and I'll still find a way to have fun with it, because this event is my favorite thing in the world.

(...unless it's 30, the one year I had Frequent Fear+ and yet barely used it lol).

Just to touch upon you bringing up Chucky UKC, I was on a private RIP around my birthday and I had one of those button pins on, but that year we went through this house 3 times back to back. The barker in the middle of the house recognized us every time obviously but the last time he yelled something akin to “There has to be a better way to spend your birthday” and for that reason alone, I can’t have it at the bottom of my list. It’s the personal enjoyment that holds the most weight for me when I look back on that house. I can apply similar situations or happenings to just about any house/scare zone I’ve ever been through. (Blumhouse vol 2., I love you lol)

 

[HHN Maddux]

Just to touch upon you bringing up Chucky UKC, I was on a private RIP around my birthday and I had one of those button pins on, but that year we went through this house 3 times back to back. The barker in the middle of the house recognized us every time obviously but the last time he yelled something akin to “There has to be a better way to spend your birthday” and for that reason alone, I can’t have it at the bottom of my list. It’s the personal enjoyment that holds the most weight for me when I look back on that house. I can apply similar situations or happenings to just about any house/scare zone I’ve ever been through. (Blumhouse vol 2., I love you lol)

My last comment in here before we should probably move this to somewhere else, another prime example is Lunatic's Playground in 26, I cannot in good conscience put it at the bottom for that year since on the very last night (the hurricane makeup day), I did something very similar and went through the house 3x in a row with literally nobody else going through, and the scareactors started playing with that and messing with me, and it was just FUN!

 

[Lucky Planet]

See these are the posts that make me feel like even though I’ve been on these forums for a VERY long time, even as an unregistered lurker, I’m still very much a part of the GP and their viewpoints. I loved 2012 and look back very fondly on it. The set pieces all around the park and scareactors roaming around made it all feel very alive for me. I loved all of the houses and it was the first year that I ever did a house twice because the first run through was so fantastic (Gothic). Loved the website and playing games to gain points for your legion of horror. And that was just my third year going to the event.

The only thing I can think that may make the difference between mine and other’s experiences is I don’t necessarily view the event itself from only my individual perspective, but the shared experience of the ones I attend with. Talking about the houses and scarezones together and sharing in those moments walking through everything the event has to offer. They make them memorable and more emotionally resonant. Whether they delivered top notch product in the larger viewpoint of specific individuals who may or may not hold the event to a higher standard isn’t something that holds any weight to my enjoyment of the event. I watch old house run throughs and I smile thinking about how I felt walking through it, with my mom or my sister or my best friends. It makes it special for me despite the fact that the year may have been “lackluster” in some aspects to some. (but I can agree that yes there are certain things that I don’t necessarily like or agree with in any given year)

I can understand how you feel about 2012. but for me 2012 had one of the worst houses of all time with Penn and teller, didn't like the Alice Cooper house, silent Hill was pretty disappointing. universal horrors felt like a cheap replacement.
it felt like the only great houses were Dead End and Gothic, ( and the 20 penny circus show was pretty bad) it felt like half the event wasn't good. I remember not loving the rest of the houses.

as for the zones I guess it's like when everyone basically hated when every scarezone was the walking dead in 2013, but for me it was one of the best experiences I ever had at universal. I truly loved 2013 walking dead zones, I guess it depends on individual experiences.
so yeah it depends. it's just funny that 2012 had the roaming hordes that not everyone loved, then 2013 gets the walking dead zones that people also didn't like lol weird streets 2 years in a row.

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

30 days until Premium Scream, almost there…

 

[TheCodeMan95]

At its core, 2012 was one of those off-years, because you had a house lineup which seemed fine on paper, but ultimately didn't deliver. And it doesn't help it's right off the heels of 2011 which is considered one of the better years with a stellar house line-up, and that made all the faults of 2012 stand out all the worse. In many ways, we had the same experience with 2023 and 2024. While 2024 was nowhere near as bad as 2012, it still felt like a downgrade compared to 2023 which was a very good year across the board.

I think this has a lot more to do with the reaction to 2024 than people think.

2023 was a GREAT year, with a very consistent theme that spread through the whole event. Oddfellow's presence was felt everywhere, and he had a commanding presence in general.

Jump to 2024 - and they just didn't lean into the theme as much as they did in 2023. It certainly wasn't the first year that didn't have a theme-vein running through the whole event.

If you look at the houses individually, I don't think there were really any houses in 2024 that most people here would call "bad." They just didn't hit for whatever reason.