Michele

Congratulations, Victoria! I know you must be super duper excited! Just to compare from past weeks, how were the crowds/lines/waits/etc?

I think it's the target audience combined with the fact that Universal Orlando is in the low-rent, high crime part of Orlando.

Booze is good. Seriously, after 7 or 7:30, lines get too long that I don't want to wait for the houses any more, so we drink. Spending time with friends and drinking at Chez Alcatraz is one of my favorite parts of HHN.

Good luck to all of you that are auditioning today! And good luck on the interview, Lyn! I hope today is a lucky day for all the HNNers! (:

I got a survey today regarding trip planning and HHN. There were several questions asking if I planned to or would be interested in visiting WWoHP on the same visit as HHN. There were also questions about gauging interest in an exclusive after party at CityWalk and a themed pre-event dinner. The bulk of the questions I got asked about adding an IoA after 4 PM option to the HHN ticket; prices you'd be willing to pay, would you be interested in an IoA after 4 + Express option, and would you be more likely to purchase the upgrade if IoA was open till 9 instead of 8.

This is a speculation thread. Speculation means one's OPINION of what will happen based upon the information that we have thus far. Although you are certainly free to disagree with someone and post about why you disagree, please refrain from telling other people that their speculation will not happen, is stupid, etc. At this point in time, we're all guessing, and these are all opinions. Please be respectful and allow people to post without bashing them. Clear?

HOS serves alcohol, but it is only served and has to be consumed inside a designated area. Beer is available all over the park.

I'm buying the FFP+ with Express. I don't care how much it costs. Granted I will be there a lot of nights so I might not "need" Express. However, last year we only went through SAW maybe once or twice when it was dark out because the line was too long then. It'll be nice to be able to go when it's dark. Plus, my liver will likely need a break from all that vodka. (;

The speculation thread is back! You may have to log out and back in to see it. Sorry for the technical glitch!

I have reopened this topic after the update today. Please try to remember that anything that fits in to the speculation category should be posted in that thread. Thanks and have fun! It's been a longgggggggggg wait!

Congratulations!

I voted for "People who scream at every little thing even when they're not scared or no one's around," simply because that's the one that annoys me the most. I'm really easy to scare and I used to get really, really scared and do a lot of screaming, but it was real. What annoys me is when people are acting absolutely fine, and then they see someone they know/want attention from and scream/drop on the ground/generally act like an idiot. Not mentioned, but after last year, "Mazes that are too dark," would have been a close runner up. I could barely see in some of the houses.

In the spirit of keeping this thread clean and easy to read, I have removed a few off topic posts. Please stick to construction related topics in this area. Thanks!

I think PsychoScareapy and Demon Cantina are the only two houses that could come back, and I would be happy. Demon Cantina is probably my all-time-favorite house, and I loved the campy feel to it. PsychoScareapy felt different each go round, so I wouldn't mind seeing it again. I will probably lose all enthusiasm about this year if we have a 16ish revamp of all old houses. I think stuff needs to go away and not come back for a while.

I just figured this up so that I could figure out how much I could spend on a vacation this year. Last year I spent $721. That includes FFP, food, and lots and lots of vodka. (:

There's a difference between a copyright and a trademark. A copyright would protect a variation of Bloody Mary. The documents that were linked to specifically discuss a trademark, which is solely brand related and has nothing to do with an image or likeness. Imagine I decided to make a red ice cream and wanted to sell it under the brand Bloody Mary. I could apply for a trademark for Bloody Mary, and as long as no one else got it, the only person who could sell ice cream with the brand Bloody Mary is me. If Ben and Jerry's later wanted to make a flavor called Bloody Mary, they would risk that I could sue them for trademark infringement since I have the trademark for Bloody Mary ice cream. It's the same thing. Bobbie Weiner trademarked the name Bloody Mary and uses it to promote her make-up and haunted attractions. So, no one else in either of those two businesses can use the name Bloody Mary without paying her first. Not that I agree with it, but it's all legal. And I still don't think Bloody Mary being gone is necessarily a bad thing. No one liked her house, remember? (;

None of this was making any sense at all, so I did a little digging, and this is what I came up with. Apparently, this makeup artist/haunt industry insider, Bobbie Weiner, has trademarked the name Bloody Mary. So basically, any else in the makeup/haunt industry cannot use the name Bloody Mary in their products because of brand confusion. This lady has licensed her name and products out to the various theme parks through the years to let them do a Bloody Mary attraction. In 2008, Universal did pay her to use the name and also sold some of her products. It wasn't a "grand mistake" or a mistake of any sorts because they HAD to pay her, or they would have been/could have been sued for using her trademarked name in an industry that she is known in. So, unless Uni plans to pay her again, which I'm guessing they will not, no Bloody Mary this year. I couldn't care less.

I guess I should have read Nocturas' post more carefully before I basically reposted exactly what he said. (; Anyway, you don't have to be an attorney to know you can't copyright a public domain character. So, if we pretty much agree that Universal has copyrighted its version of Bloody Mary, how does that stop her from being used in the event this year? I don't see how the two go hand-in-hand.

I really don't think that Universal can file any sort of trademark or copyright application for Bloody Mary in general or her use in haunted events. As others have mentioned, it is a public domain character that cannot be owned by anyone. My guess is that Universal has filed a copyright application to protect its design of the Bloody Mary character as presented at HHN. That is to say, they will argue that they redesigned Bloody Mary in such a way that is a distinguishable variation over prior work. That will prevent other people from using their designs of Bloody Mary, which I know has done by other companies with other icons, Jack specifically. This happens all the time. For example, anyone is free to use the Peter Pan character, but you are not free to use Disney's artwork (or design) of Peter Pan.

I got an email asking me to complete a survey about HHN. Most of the questions focused on my interest in adding Fridays to the FFP and how much I would be willing to pay for a ticket that included all the normal FFP days and Fridays. Interesting. Here's a link to the survey: http://www.visitorsatisfaction.com/surveypanel/start.aspx?s=FF2010&e= What do you guys think about adding Fridays to the FFP for a ticket that costs $100?

Wow, how exciting! I don't ever think we'll see a parade again. The crowds are just too big, and there are too many drunken idiots who get brave and do stupid shit. I think it's sad, really, because I loved the parade, but I really can't see it ever making a return.