Sometimes you leave things in the drafts too long and it spoils. That was me with an article about Universal's plans into regional entertainment. I'd cover the Toothsome that opened in Philly and the trademark filings. Then it sorta split off into the PortAventura article but another part was about other local attraction rumors. I largely wrote off the concept in my head, DisneyQuest had failed, so would this.
This makes this past week's announcement of a new mini-theme park in Frisco, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nevada so wild. Many of us had written such rumors are decades-old speculation and tomfoolery run amok, harking back to a day when Disney was about to announce a theme park in insert major city here was comment theme park gossip blog fodder. "Disney is building a theme park in Texas" is a meme from the 90s!
Anyway, these will be two very different projects. This article will combine officially confirmed information with my own informed speculation, blue-sky ideas, and informed guessing. Quote at your own risk!
Universal Kids Mini-Theme Park - Frisco, TX
A 25-acre park on a 47 acre plot of land. Park is a themed family entertainment center with a focus on kids. Seriously, it's focused on kids and features meet and greets, play areas, small flat rides, and family coasters. Attractions are small in scale but fit into something slightly larger than Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure. In front is a hotel, which claimed to be 300 rooms but could be an ad-lib, and highly themed entryway reminiscent of the DreamWorks logo. Inside we can find lands based on Kung Fu Panda, Jurassic Park Camp Cretaceous, Shrek, Trolls, and Madagascar - all DreamWorks movies. So no Nintendo, no Secret Life of Pets, no Harry Potter, no Minions. We'll get into that later.
Well, Disney, ya finally did it! After lots of rumors, speculation, and angst, the stateside Disney Parks have announced Disney Genie and Fast Lightning Lane products. This week Joe is joined by Hastin and David Daut to discuss the new products, our thoughts, our worries, and where the puck is going with the Disney Parks. Then we switch gears to discuss HHN30 and David's first trip to the event.
Well... here we are. Joe is joined by Clint from ThrillGeek to talk about the cancelation of Halloween Horror Nights 30 in Orlando and Halloween Horror Nights 2020 in Hollywood. Come for the funeral, stay for the celebration.
Universal Orlando put to rest the rumors and officially announced Halloween Horror Nights 27 dates: September 15th through November 4th. Based on prior years it is likely Team Member preview night will be September 13th. Based on last year's extended event it's likely any dates in November will be the least crowded.
No ticket pricing has been announced but travel packages are now available.
Joe is joined by Kenny from In the Loop and we go off the rails for the first 10 minutes talking about beer and baseball stadiums. Sorry. Then we jump into Mean Streak, Food & Wine, Tower of Terror at DCA, seasonal Stitch, Toothsome, Halloween Horror Nights, and your questions!
Joe, Lane, and Nick talk about Six Flag's batch of announcements, Universal Orlando annual pass price increases, how Volcano Bay could fit into the new pricing structure, and Halloween Horror Nights. It's a quick one folks!
Joe, Lane, Nick, and Mike are joined by Banks Lee of Attractions the Show to talk about Volcano Bay, a new Universal Orlando hotel, Chance takes over Halloween Horror Nights, Guardians of the (annoyed grunt) Galaxy, and then Banks gives us the skinny on the new attractions in central Florida this summer!
Joe, Lane, Mike, and Nick celebrate a bachelor party in Las Vegas and wake up forgetting what happened and where the groom is. We talk about regional parks, the start of Halloween Horror Nights announcements, Magic Kingdom after hours event attendance, Disney's Awaken Summer media event, why it's really dumb to call Animal Kingdom at night "like a 5th park", Avatar, Star Wars, Toy Story Playland, Lane's Dark Side race rant, and Nick's Grad Bash.
Today is the day where we forego the stress and commercialism of this time of year and celebrate around the adorned aluminium pole. To the uninitiated, Festivus was brought to the public forefront in 1997 through the TV classic ‘Seinfeld’ as a holiday excuse for George not to give co-workers gifts and for Kramer to take off work.
So finish up your Festivus meal around the aluminium pole and lets kick it off with some theme park Festivus activities...
Universal Orlando, you have parks with some of the most beautiful lands and areas in theme parks seen at night, so why do you close your parks so early? A 10PM closing should be a normal occurrence, not a rare event that only happens during the summer and at Festivus (and Christmas too, I guess.) Additionally, odd restaurant and quick service hours cause issues finding a good place to eat in the parks. Why does Mythos close at 3pm while the park is open till 7? I understand the desire to have guests to go CityWalk, but even CityWalk isn’t fully open till dinner. Take a page out of Disney’s book and expand your operating hours to match the demand
Walt Disney World, you differentiate yourself with the super cool monorail system that connects the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and several deluxe resorts. It’s of of your signature features in the resort, so why have you let it rot away? Yes, some carpets in the monorails have been changed out, but lots of them still look worn, AC is incredibly weak, smell bad, and stories of the monorails going down happen frequently. The Parks and Resorts division is claiming record attendance and profits, so why not spend the money to upgrade your monorails to the futuristic and sleek transportation system that it is!
Universal Studios Hollywood, you’re entering the big leagues next year when The Wizarding World of Harry Potter- Hogsmeade opens on the west coast. You’ll add two new attractions, many cool new shops, and new shows. But why can’t the same attention and care put into Harry Potter be extended to your parking situation? Crazy traffic flows, scattered parking garages, and now no annual passes include free parking. For a park that treated its annual passholders well and was supported by said passholders through ugly times, the lack of parking options is ugly.
Feats of Strength
Let's not rumble, son. Folks we get it, you're strong and have had a few drinks. Please stop acting tough and fighting Halloween Horror Nights scare actors? Some of the coolest and best scare actors have left the event due to stupid guests, so lets end this now. Scare actors in scare zones and houses are not just amazing actors but are amazing people. Please, just wrestle your dad.
About positive feats of strength, need I say more than these two tweets?
Cinderella's Royal Table is the hardest reservation to get in WDW. Guess what's #2? (Hint: not Be Our Guest.)
IT'S A MIRACLE! Star Wars land has been rumored for decades, and finally with the release of The Force Awakens around the bend, Bob Iger announced the new land at D23. And woah, if The Force Awakens is any indicator, this land will be the bees knees. Incorporating all of our favorite planets into one rim planet was a sort-of stroke of genius as we now can experience all our favorite locations without that weird necessary issues of planet traversal or story! With many insiders worrying Disney would spend "their time" and wait for any sort of announcement or building, this was a great surprise to have.
But what about another new theme park in Orlando? Today, the Orlando Sentinel leaked Universal Orlando finished the purchase of 450 acres of land for future development. With this much land Universal can build new resorts, CityWalk, and a new theme park. And with "green lights" ahead we're really looking at a bright future.
Universal's Media Relations Team has been working overtime again this year with a whole bunch of announcements the past two weeks. Lets quickly cover them.
The Incredible Hulk Upgrades
Photo courtesy Universal Orlando Resort
Visitors to Marvel Superhero Island know that the aesthetic hails from the 90s and needs a a refresh. As rumored, Universal has confirmed The Incredible Hulk coaster will go down for refurbishment and upgrade September 8th. More details will be shared soon, but we expect upgrades to control software, queue line and show building replacement, and a change to a modern visual style.
Fast & Furious Supercharged
Photo courtesy Universal Orlando Resort
August 24th Universal prematurely announced Fast & Furious on their blog, but made it official the next day. Disaster! will close September 8th and Beetlejuice will close later this year for a new attraction based on the Fast & Furious franchise. Earlier this year Universal Studios Hollywood opened a new finally to their tram tour using Fast & Furious characters to mixed reactions. It's not clear what, if any, aspects of the USH finally will transfer over to this new attraction.
Halloween Horror Nights 25
Photo courtesy Universal Orlando Resort
The dam of Halloween Horror Nights news finally burst August 27th as the complete house, show, and scare zone line up was revealed.
Press Release from Universal Orlando
• The return of the fan-favorite house, based on John Landis’s critically-acclaimed horror film, “An American Werewolf in London” – a fiercely-immersive experience that pays homage to one of the greatest lycanthropic stories ever told. This year, the wolves are more ferocious and hungry for human flesh…and their pack has expanded. • All-new, original houses based on the best and most iconic stories from years past, including ghastly scenes from RUN: Blood, Sweat, and Fears, Asylum in Wonderland 3D, Body Collectors: Recollections and Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem. • More “scareactors” than ever before in five spine-chilling, new scare zones, including the escaped inmates from Psychoscareapy – Unleashed, appearances from past event icons including The Caretaker, The Storyteller, The Director, and The Usher in ICONS – HHN and more. • Two outrageous live shows, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure and The Carnage Returns-—featuring the favorite and feared icon Jack the Clown.
Hello, everyone. Just wanted to pop in to say that Universal has filed permits for a new parade building (Building 79B), which will be a 23,000sqft warehouse. Veterans of HHN permits will know that the existing Building 79 is where Universal often houses one of HHN's houses each year. It's rumored that the coming Nintendo replacement of KidZone, itself a rumor at this point, will involve the demolition of the existing parade facility, so this could be a step to be ready for when that day comes.
Joe, Mike, Nick, and Sean are all back to discuss SeaWorld, Busch Parks, Potter Celebration, HHN, Hollywood Studios, Villains, hard tickets, random stories, things, and some postulation on Parkscope Weekend. Trust me it makes sense.
Joe and Mike are joined by the incomparable Len Testa from your books, websites, and podcasts (and other podcasts) to discuss Halloween Horror Nights, Frozen invasion, Norway, 1 million riders, Len's UOR trip, Italian food, and UOR updates to the 2015 edition of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Then we close out with your questions.
Joe, Mike, and Nick are joined by The Tim Tracker and The Jenn Tracker from the YouTubes and Twitters to talk Halloween Horror Nights, 25th Anniversary Plans, Soarin', new nighttime shows ALL OVER ORLANDO, King Kong, Avatar, WonderSea/Volcano Bay, Sean sucks, and more!
Joe, Mike, and Nick are re-joined by international jet-setting playboy Sean! Seven Dwarfs, Hitler, Kong, Despicable Me, Halloween Horry Nights, Tokyo Disneyland, and MORE! LONG LIVE TONY SOLARONI.
Tonight on a webcast, Alice Cooper has announced a new HHN maze for the 2012 season, per HHN Addict, OrlandoUnited and Inside the Magic. The maze will be in both Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.
Last year Alice Cooper: Welcome To My Nightmare was a maze in Universal Studios Hollywood, where each room was based on a song by Alice Cooper.
Not much more is known until Universal releases more information, but until then here's the 1978 episode of The Muppet Show with Alice Cooper.
I have a confession to make: I really don’t care for anything horror related. I’ve never seen a Saw movie, never touched any Screams or anything by Rob Zombie. The closest I’ve come was Shaun of the Dead, which lets be honest, is on the horror scale up there with the Bratz movie (for different reasons, of course).
Image copyright Universal. YES, UNIVERSAL. WHY DO YOU NOT HAVE THIS AS A HHN HOUSE?
This also means I’ve never cared for, let alone been to, a halloween amusement park event. No Halloweekends, no Fight Fest, and especially no Halloween Horror Nights. Could it be my life is chaotic as it is, and I demand control at all times? Or that I naturally wish everyone is good and pure? I could fill several sessions worth of topics with my psychologist on this.
Image copyright Disney. This is my limit for 'horror'.
See, I don’t have much exposure with horror; but I do know of the movies, themes, and memes of horror in pop culture. I know about Jigsaw and playing games, psychos with chainsaws, and summer camp stories. And whatever you do, DO NOT MAKE OUT IN A PARKED CAR IN THE WOODS. Bad news.
As such, I know of the Walking Dead. The popular graphic novel turned AMC show has been a hit for years now. And now it’s part HHN scare house. Ok cool, I could get behind that.
Image copyright Universal. All rights reserved.
But I can’t.
Today I was listening to the GiantBombcast and the topic of the new Walking Dead came up. They praised it’s story telling and the impact your choices have on the world, but mentioned something really really interesting. There are very few zombies in the game. In fact, this is true of the novels and TV show.
The Zombies of the Walking Dead are a means to an end; the Walking Dead could just have easily been a killer asteroid or bubonic plague. The zombies are a means to an end of exploring the nature of human relationships, the bonds of family, and that we are the real monsters. Yet, as I look at the concept and PR release for the HHN house, I just can’t stop thinking Universal just doesn’t get it.
Image copyright Universal. HHN 19, sponsored by Home Depot.
Comedy lets you talk about the uncomfortable topics of our time, action is a pure revenge fantasy against the system or others, and horror has always shown what defines us as humans. Frankenstein, Dawn of the Dead, and yes Shawn of the Dead, show what it means to be human and interacting with a society at large, even one in disrepair.
Universal seems intent on focusing only on the zombie quotient of the Walking Dead. They are erecting a few hallmark locations of the novel and show, adding some zombie actors, then letting you walk around. This will probably entertain enough, but this seems like a waste if it's just a maze.
I am not privy to the plans of HHN coordinators, nor do I offer any consulting work (thank god). But Universal is missing a real opportunity to explore some dark depths of who we are, what we think of our fellow ‘survivors’, and most importantly, what we decide we stand for. I hope Universal has more surprises up its sleeve and really wows me. I hope we see real, honest, smart survivor actors in the house, who make us choose how we want the events to unfold. The best thing they can chose is to limit the zombies to a brief, tense encounter, one that is lead up to by deep character moments and hard choices.
Image copyright Capcom.
Will this happen? Who knows. I'm split. Some of their promotional imagery suggests it might, and a Jim Hill interview gives high hopes. Other bits hint that it will just be zombies, zombies, zombies. If Universal is only interested in the cheap thrill of brain eating, though, why not chose Resident Evil? It fits in with the video game theme of this year’s HHN and probably is cheaper, royalty wise.
I am being very picky right now. But I think it’s something worth thinking about. What if we really introduced some themes of humanity and being pushed to our socio limits. This is such a strong concept that, I think, it could be a haunted house attraction perfect for year around operation...
Update from today's auditions! Seems like anywhere from 7-8 houses, and the inverse number of scarezones.
SS33 seems to be taking the place of the fallen SS44, and it's believed that one of the original SS's listed in the permits will be a dual run house, in my opinion based around this year's "icons". Yes, plural. The wild card is something listed as "DG" on the house list. But this could also be a scarezone misplaced by a source.
Now, the scare zone information was listed under these acronyms:
CP
LP
BY
LG
SO
Zones
No one really knows what they mean. So speculate away!
UPDATE from Michael: I am still trying to figure out how permits work, and I do not follow the HHN permits very closely, but the Soundstage 44 Haunt permit was amended on June 29th to have Soundstage 44 removed from the project. Yesterday, July 9th, it was updated by the Fire inspector. I am speculating/guessing that the Soundstage 44 permit was transformed into the permit for Soundstage 33.
Okay HHN fans, transform and roll out for now.-Michael
It's never too soon to start panicking! Today, the ticketing website for Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights went online.
Excerpt from the Halloween Horror Nights home page:
Your worst nightmares will soon be taking shape in the shadowy darkness of Halloween Horror Nights®, winner of Amusement Today’s “Best Halloween Event” Golden Ticket award.
On select nights September 21 – October 31, Universal Studios Florida® theme park is transformed into a nightmarish labyrinth of haunted houses, outrageous live shows, and electrifying scare zones while an army of mutants, monsters and maniacs roam the darkened studio streets.
Experience the nation’s premier annual Halloween event, now in its 22nd year – Halloween Horror Nights® at Universal Orlando® Resort.
There are ticket options for single days, weekends, Sunday-Thursday, early season Rush of Fear, Frequent Fear, and Frequent Fear Plus. Annual Passholders get special deals.
