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Hunchback does not need to be Disney linked. The absolutely horrific adaption Disney did is in no way comparable to the source material. Am I the only person who saw the news articles stating that more of the Mayan calendar was found, and that these calendars extend well past 12/21/12? A Mayan theme would be so disappointing.

Its like my Fallout: New Vegas dreams have come true! Btw this is a joke before any of you attack me.

Facade Spec We know the Alice Cooper and Penn and Teller facades... so no need to speculate on them. The Walking Dead - Hospital, though may include a tank in front of it as if you are walking along the streets of Atlanta to enter. Silent Hill - Likely similar to The Thing facade last year with an open area allowing you to walk "into" the city. Obviously, the sign will be included, but the "small and tall" buildings are likely part of a cityscape. Gargoyles - I've heard it's massive, so it's likely a cathedral. 19th Century - A mansion. We know Universal can do those well. Parade Building - Now... this one I'm curious about. Because of the "last minute" nature of this house, I have a feeling they may be reusing a previous parade house layout and giving it a graphical overlay. If "Photograph" was approved as the concept for this house, I could easily see the layout being the same as '09, including the same facade. Simply painting the walls black and adding strobes would create a completely "new" house. Something else we have to consider though, is that we haven't had a "proper" facade for the parade building for the last two years. So it's sadly possible we may not get one again. Or, to complete the "Hollywood-ification" of Orlando, they're bringing back the Forsaken.

Jekyll and Hyde.

I don't knowwwwww...I may or may not have had a look at the facade (at least the little bit that's there) just recently...I don't think we'll be disappointed....

^^Black Mask, the producer of TWD already confirmed that we will have an appearance of the Well Walker and Bicycle Walker in the huffington post please see the second post of this thread for source. For the spoilers I hope so I would enjoy it even further

We need a sarcasm font. You both missed it.

Oh come on lol. You're seriously saying that because Universal have used the same actor in the past for characters that the rule is set in stone? Really? If the same actor is available it makes sense to use him but I think you are maybe underestimating the abilities of the casting department to overcome that problem. I will again remind you of the very successful James Bond character, the actor not always as important as the character they portray. As for not being as evil as past icons or characters I disagree. Although humorous he was quite obviously insane, you only had to watch him torture the station manager in the queue video to see that. That's more than I ever saw the usher do but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy that character too. What HR did have in abundance was charisma and I kinda liken him to the Hannible Lector character. In certain situations he can be quite normal but set him off....well he's not quite so civil. I think there is something quite scary in not knowing when he could turn on you but that's my personal opinion. Concerning originality vs former characters my view is that there is room for both. Does it have to be one thing or the other? No. Next year we could have a totally new theme (or no theme at all) but that wouldn't stop HR presenting another house. I'm just saying that we should keep an open mind because I don't care how much insider info people think they have nobody knows what is going to happen two or three years down the line. Not even A&D. I think this years changes have proved that.

I wouldn't be too sure about that Wesker. He was an immensely popular character and I'm pretty sure Universal know it. Even if that particular actor no longer works for Universal it doesn't mean the character won't be used, there was more than one guy playing him in the house last year. Besides if it were true that only one actor can play a role then James Bond would have been out of action years ago lol. He's still got his licence to kill and so has HR Bloodengutz I just wanted to add that I don't expect HR back this year but I wouldn't rule out future years. That is all lol

From Screamscape

Maybe this belongs in Wishful Thinking, but I'm hoping for a zombie Carl

while that is true, and you are right, 2007 was the first time Jason and Co. were made into houses, (At least that I know of) and then we never saw them again, Saw, Wolfman, same thing, once, and then gone, so while it is true that they are overexposed, I am really thankful, truly thankful to Universal and the people that work at HHN for bringing them to us, we were face to face with the big 3, I will never forget that, one of the best memories I have, not only of the event but in my life, that's why 2007 is my favorite year house wise, I know people love original ideas and hate IP houses, I will never understand why, but for me IP houses have made an everlasting memory, specially because you can watch the movie and remember the house, you can't do that with original houses

They Live???? That would be an awesome house. GIve you sunglasses before you go in, have skull faced people, and Rowdie Roddy Piper trying to kick your ass for a full 10min

I realize that there hasn't been a true overarching theme the vast majority of years, but Universal DOES usually have some sort of really general theme. In 2007, we had all these IP properties, but they were sold to us as circus sideshows. In 2009, we had the Universal Palace Theater tying things together. In 2010, you had a lot of familiar HHN ideas returning for one last hurrah (this didn't account for all the material, but 4 of the houses and 3 of the SZs were pretty closely tied to that idea). Last year, the houses were all pretty unrelated, but we were given the mini games and told that each house featured a wrong choice, put in the hands of Lady Luck. Are these great overarching stories? No. It's no Terra Cruentus, but it IS different than straight up saying "Look at this hodgepodge of IPs we scrounged up this year" and calling that a theme. The theme is still a pretty integral part of the event, even if it doesn't encompass anything and everything. Personally, I'd be pretty happy if Universal quit announcing these houses. Speculation's really no fun if someone just tells you the answers and then says "Ok! That's it! See you in October."

This is bad enough for one year, but... If this decline is going to continue through the following years (I honestly do not even consider Hollywood to be HHN)... I feel kind of sick to my stomach now... Damn.

Using that mentality, Hollywood's HHN shows must be far superior to Orlando's - because, well, it's Hollywood. Except that their shows blow compared to Orlando's. So let's please drop the notion that Hollywood does some things better because it's Hollywood... I have been going to both coasts' events for 7 years and I wouldn't want to bring a single idea from the Hollywood event over to Orlando - which is why I have the least enthusiasm I can remember ever for either event. Every aspect of HHN Orlando has consistently been better than Hollywood's - shows, ticket options, lack of house repeats, website, house sizes. Other than the weather, Orlando always offered the better event. Clearly money is the motivator for making the events more similar, and clearly the better product was costing more money. I have never been a fan of movie houses - ever. I am still waiting for someone to explain to me why it is in any way fun to walk through a house for the first time knowing exactly what you are going to see - because you've already seen the movie. The contracts that come with IP take the potential for creativity (and any chance for originality) out of the equation. Which is why I make the surely controversial statement that I'd take an original generic Orlando zombie house over The Walking Dead house. Will I have enjoy TWD over Zombiegeddon? We shall see...because I loved Zombiegeddon, but I've already seen every episode of TWD. We all know that many great Orlando houses borrowed from movies, but the ones that were very successful were not constrained by an IP contract. There's no way a contract was needed to do The Forsaken or Demon Cantina. The hugely popular Frankenstein presented an old idea in a fresh and clever way - again not constrained by a contract. Clearly not all of Orlando's original ideas have been winners, but man, so many have. I hear a lot of people wishing for the best (and I am, too), but if we find out that 2013 brings the west-coast mentality of repeat houses, there's going to be a chorus of complaints. Believe me - you will really get tired of seeing Silent Hill three years in a row, no matter how much management promises it will be "all new"... Until then, I'm going cross my fingers and hope that the opposite happens - that Hollywood will pick up some of Orlando's good qualities, like no repeat houses, or adding behind the scenes tours.

I'm thinking the Walken Dead will be a big influence...