Halloween Horror Nights 35 (UO) - Speculation & Rumors

[Grabnar]

True, but I don't think going cold turkey was the right approach. A lot of people reasonably expected the same kind of deal to return this year, even if it was tweaked again.

And as mentioned earlier, waiting until we're about a month from the event to confirm it, in a reply on Twitter, no less, wasn't ideal for people who had been planning their HHN season for the past year.

This should've been an announcement when tickets were dropped for sure. I'd even say they could've bought goodwill and earned more early ticket sales if they announced that packages with multi night discounts (even modest discounts) would replace it.

They do a lot of stuff right (like reaching out to Premium Scream visitors from last year with a good will ticket) but they really fumble the ball in the weirdest ways other times.

I say this all as someone who agrees that this product should've been cut. This was a no-win situation for them, but this was a bad way to do it.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I think at this point the options were

A. Eliminate it entirely
B. Keep it but skyrocket the price
C. Keep it at relatively the same price but cap it even more

And to be honest, the fandom wouldn't have been happy with any of them.

Imagine if they kept the Express option but increased the price to like $2500?

 

[Captain Spaulding]

They could have just capped the amount of nights you could use express, between 30% and 50% of the amount of nights the ticket allowed you to attend, or something similar. Locals couldn't go every night and out of towners wouldn't really be affected since they didn't use the full allotment anyway.

 

[Bigskinny0310]

If they open the FFP Express capacity they estimate each night back into general Express capacity, will Express still sell out? Idk, Express is averaging $250 per night this year. Releasing "x" amount of per night FFP Express capacity back into the general sellable pool at $250 might result in "the same thing, because the lines will be just as long" as people online are claiming in my opinion, because I don't think it will sell. This take requires you to believe that people are clamoring enough to buy all this newly available Express capacity at the high price, when in the past years we've seen Express sell out when incorporated with FFP Express ticket holders. Lmk if there's a flaw in this logic.

 

[Midnight Detective]

Realistically could this speed up wait times?

 

[Grabnar]

They could have just capped the amount of nights you could use express, between 30% and 50% of the amount of nights the ticket allowed you to attend, or something similar. Locals couldn't go every night and out of towners wouldn't really be affected since they didn't use the full allotment anyway.

I'm gonna be frank, I don't think their IT systems are capable of that lol

It also would've been way more complicated than just selling bundles which they already do.

 

[Legacy]

I think at this point the options were

A. Eliminate it entirely
B. Keep it but skyrocket the price
C. Keep it at relatively the same price but cap it even more

And to be honest, the fandom wouldn't have been happy with any of them.

Imagine if they kept the Express option but increased the price to like $2500?

I actually think, from a PR perspective, B is the least damaging. You would still get people upset who purely cannot afford it but the damage “feels” less existential because the option still exists. It’s the difference between filtering and outright denial.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'm gonna be frank, I don't think their IT systems are capable of that lol

It also would've been way more complicated than just selling bundles which they already do.

I had this thought and was going to put it in the HHN Wish List thread but here is good too:

Keep the Frequent Fear Pass for locals and those who want a many night ticket.

Introduce a new Flex Fear Pass that is good for two to five nights. This ticket would offer multinight options at a discount, similar to their existing multiday tickets. It would also have an expiration date so you can't buy one and go three nights throughout the event, like their existing multiday tickets*. Adding on Express would be an option. If they really wanted to they could even attach the Flex Fear to the hotel reservation process.

I actually think, from a PR perspective, B is the least damaging. You would still get people upset who purely cannot afford it but the damage “feels” less existential because the option still exists. It’s the difference between filtering and outright denial.

Since the FFP w/ Express crowd are super fans the answer is simple: a trivia competition series on Peacock to win a pass.

*I think this is actually a great example of a prior "cheat" that was stamped out. I remember my family getting multiday WDW passes when I was young and we'd return with the same tickets later. Once APs started going up in price as more folks moved to FL they removed this and moved to dynamic pricing.

 

[HHNSK]

Sorry if I missed this earlier but do we think someone in customer service jumped the gun with their response today? I’m just stunned that it was an individual response as opposed to a statement from Universal identifying this.

 

[Legacy]

Sorry if I missed this earlier but do we think someone in customer service jumped the gun with their response today? I’m just stunned that it was an individual response as opposed to a statement from Universal identifying this.

I don’t think Universal planned to announce it. They were likely just going to drop multi-night passes and deal with the fallout of no Express options. I think they started getting questions today, but couldn’t say or imply that multi-night Express options were coming so close to their release (because they be accused of lying). Basically, the reply was falling into a trap where they HAD to tell the truth.