SeventyOne
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Posts posted by SeventyOne
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Why no Icons? Why not have a cool icon, with a cool back story, and a killer house? .
Short answer? Because the #1 show on television is going to generate a lot more interest in the general public than a character created specifically for the event.
When we lack a strong IP, we'll probably see a return to icons to drum up interest.
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There isn't much, aside from cars, that can really be added to the streets for the Purge. It's going to be just like nearly every other New York zone over the last few years. I get that people are excited for the IP, but it's the same thing with different masks. That's why it's perfect for New York.
While I agree there's not much to do in the way of sets, I think the siren from the movie alone can be very effective.
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A group of five mini-SZs, each themed to an original character. This sounds perfect.
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For those who want to see the supposedly leaked scarezones, hhnrumors has them.
Two things that jumped out at me about the list: nothing in the back of the park. I can understand keeping London Halloween-free, but nothing in Kid Zone (under construction?) or Simpsons/MiB area?
Also, none of the listed SZs seem to lend themselves to chainsaws. The saws are to HHN what mouse ears are to MK. I think they have to show up somewhere.
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To the board's credit...
I honestly didn't expect anyone to bother...
You want to know the funny part? 5 years ago, the guy who went through all that effort used to mock me for going to HHN so much.
Fun challenge, tho, and shows how dedicated the fans are.
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Not sure you're clear on the word "speculation." If you don't want to know anything, probably shouldn't be in this thread.
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My Poor Judgment Crew brother is playing around with the image in photoshop--second to last house is almost certainly
Dracula Untold,
a Universal film coming out in October. I believe we have our 4th IP. Codename Synergy now makes total sense--synergy with the studio.
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this got to e the bogey man becaise the song came from the musical evita which is spanish and el cucay is spainsh name
Chupacabra is apparently an Argentinian legend, as well as Mexican. Eva Peron was Argentinian. That would also tie into that first Dr Jimmy clue, where he randomly drank a glass of red, viscous liquid (which led many of us to speculate vampire house, but el chupacabra literally means " goat sucker," so also a blood drinker).
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I like AHS but would be LESS than thrilled if 4 out of the 8 houses were AHS... I rarely bitch about HHN but that wouldnt still well with me personally. Besides is that show even popular enough to have that kind of pull for an event the size of HHN?
I mean we are TWDed out but that show is gigantic, so I see why they are using it.
Agreed, it's one thing to put all your marketing--but ultimately only one house--in a once-a-generation pop culture phenom. It's another to base half your houses on a cable show that gets decent ratings, as cable goes, but is far from iconic. Especially when the the last season of that show became a laughingstock even among its fanbase.
I also don't see them giving up TWD this early. Another clear disconnect between the online fans who are sick of it and the thousands of general public guests wearing TWD t-shirts. It's still the #1 water cooler show, I see them milking another year out of it.
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Voted Evil Dead and Survivors Camp based on the casts. Evil Dead girls took an average house and made it incredible, really worked for the scares.
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The fact that they think TWD is good enough to even have a house at HHN really makes me laugh honestly. Whoever thought that idea was good needs to be fired. In fact, everyone whos on marketing needs to take a look at the Art of the Scare doc that the travel channel did and educate themselves on what HHN was.
#1 show in the (fairly large) target demographic. Not #1 genre show, not #1 cable show, #1 most-watched show. You run a theme park and you pass up a chance to exploit your existing rights to the IP? That's what gets you fired in the real world.
You don't have to like the show--it's extremely uneven for me--but you do have to recognize the general public eats it up with a spoon. To the vast majority of Americans right now, TWD is "horror." HHN isn't a horror con like Spooky Empire--it can't limit its appeal to a tiny subset of hard core fans. And if all the tickets sold to TWD fans mean extra money for the designers to make their pet AWiL house they've dreamed of for years, all the better. (Maybe even some of those TWD fans will discover AWiL the movie now.) But you don't build any event the size of HHN without catering to the masses.
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Slightly off topic but still on topic. How have the intoxicated and underages been this year? Won't be down till the 17th and normally I am fine with everything (I enjoy my fair share of booze lol) and I know security has been getting tighter at the event to prevent underage drinking but I just remember last year waiting in line for Dead End one guy, who seemed of age actually, was horribly obnoxious and drunk then asking every 5-15 seconds if someone has a cigarette he could have ... while everyone else in line ignored him lol.
Haven't seen anybody too out of control yet this year--but it's been largely super fans so far, not general public (see also 10 minute wait at Transformers).
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If you have basic tastes--vodka, Bacardi or Captain as I recall, maybe tequila--very good service with minimal lines at Duff Gardens.
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Great idea for a topic ...
ANTICIPATED
1) American Werewolf in London
2) La Llorona
3) After Life
4) Cabin in the Woods
5) Havoc 2 (hoping to be surprised by this one tho)
6) Evil Dead
7) Resident Evil (never even having played the game)
8) Walking Dead (tho the jail looks promising)
AFTER 5 NIGHTS (AND 1 DAY)
1) American Werewolf in London (exceeds all expectations)
2) Cabin in the Woods/Evil Dead (Evil Dead has grown on me, to the point it's in my trifecta of top houses)
4) La Llorona (a fine house, just overshadowed this year)
5) The Walking Dead (better than expected, incorporates actual show elements!)
6) Havoc 2 (underrated)
7) Resident Evil (not a bad house at all, I enjoy it, just a strong year)
8) Afterlife (the only clunker this year)
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Love this movie and first year since i can see it, since in 09 was going in and it started to storm really badly, what can i expect?
A couple dozen fans who are incredibly into the show, who know all the call-backs, and who jump up to do The Time Warp. Many more people looking at them strangely and not sure what they've walked into. Also, more walk-outs than I've seen in any other theme park show.
Oh, you meant the show itself. Essentially a 30 or 40-minute heavily abridged version of what you'd see in a theater. Time Warp is in there. "There's A Light" is in there. Meat Loaf's character (and the best song, IMO) is not. No audience props.
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9/21--morning and afternoon. At least 5 of us.
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1) American Werewolf in London
2) La Llorona
3) After Life
4) Cabin in the Woods
5) Havoc 2 (hoping to be surprised by this one tho)
6) Evil Dead
7) Resident Evil (never even having played the game)
8) Walking Dead (tho the jail looks promising)
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Why do people assume we have to have a comedy house?
It is an assumption, but we've had one, what, 5 or 6 years in a row now? I think it will be CitW, not AWiL, tho. Honestly, I don't see how you showcase mermen and a killer unicorn without making it dark comedy. A bloodied, viscous killer ... unicorn.
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If Walking Dead is such a hot property, if it makes so much money. Why don't they do something Permanent with Walking Dead? a roller coaster? a 3D movie.
Hell, they can even just theme a restaurant with Walking Dead and people will pay to see it. I'm just saying. I know they couldn't do a permanent WD house but if it brings so much people to the park, why not do something that will stay all year round? Wouldn't that make sense business wise?
Just imagine the amount of people that would come to the park to eat a Walker Burger and Walker fries.
The problem is--nothing stays hot forever. This has actually been a big problem for Disney's Hollywood Studios. Built a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Show" only to have the show cancelled, then spent a boatload of money on the American Idol Experience too late to capitalize on the real insanity of the show, and now have a dated centerpiece attraction based on a show with falling ratings (and likely to be based on nothing, like Fear Factor Live, in a couple more years).
As Legacy said, the perfect way to to do this is a temporary attraction. Especially one during an "adults only" event to avoid alienating the family crowd. That way, in 3 years, when the hot show is about a talking dog lawyer, you don't have the albatross of a TWD walk-through in your park (again, like Fear Factor Live).
I really don't think Universal knew what they were getting when they first inked a deal in what had to be early 2012. A hit genre show that might be good for a house, sure, but the biggest show on TV that could support virtually an entire HHN event? Not in their wildest dreams.
I actually could see this working. But I don't know how easy it is to write/cast a new show--or return to an old show. Also, TWD skews more adult than the current HMUS.
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With people saying TWD is the most succeful IP and more mainstream then any recent horror movie, don't get me wrong, I love TWD, but there are plenty of other great horror TV Series. True Blood, Hannibal, Bates Motel, American Horror Story, old series like the Twlight Zone and Tales from the Crypt, which have cult followings still. I'll still trust TWD for another year, but I'm hopeing this house doesn't come back next year. And maybe they could replace it with another popular horror tv show.
The key words there are "cult following." TWD is the #1 show on TV--not the #1 genre/scifi show, not the #1 cable show, THE #1 show. It's a cultural phenomenon that's peaking--the season finale was the highest-rated ever. Universal locked up the rights before anyone knew it was going to be this big, they'd be crazy not to continue to exploit the IP.
Fall 2014 is a long way off, pop culture-wise. Good chance TWD fever dies down by then--nothing stays hot forever. But I don't think we'll see another TV show or even a movie that captures the zeitgeist in the same way that can be used as the primary focus of marketing. As I said, this is a once-a-generation thing.
And to echo JDW, while I'm a begrudging TWD fan, I'm still excited for AWiL, CitW, Evil Dead, La Llorna, Bill & Ted ... if even just 4 of those 5 click, I think it will be a solid event.
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Any thoughts on how the event will be marketed this year? Universal seems like they're going all in on TWD, giving it one of the best house locations and 100% of the street experience. Its smaller presence last year resulted in it getting top billing on just about everything. Since so much of the 2014 event will be invested in TWD's popularity, it kind of has to headline in all the ad campaigns. But should it? It's probably not a good thing if the first words to pop into a potential guest's head after watching the commercial are "Walking Dead again?" Advertising something that people have already seen just a year prior seems like a bad method of convincing them to come again.Maybe I'm underestimating the popularity of the show, but it does seem like Universal would have to lead with something fresh.
No offense, but I'm afraid you probably are underestimating the popularity of the show--it's a ratings juggernaut. Among 18-49 year-olds (the HHN demographic), it's the highest rated scripted show on television, including the broadcast networks. It's basically the biggest hit show on TV right now, second only to football.
In that sense, I understand why Universal is trying to milk this cash cow. This is the equivalent of being able to open an American Idol attraction in 2005 (not years later like DHS did) or a Star Wars ride in 1979--it's a mainstream IP, far more mainstream than any horror movie in years, at the height of its popularity. It's probably a once-a-generation thing. I don't see another HHN-friendly IP being this embraced like this by the general public for a decade or two. The last time I can think of something like this happening would probably be The Exorcist, or maybe Nightmare on Elm Street. You get a chance to exploit something like this, I think you take it.
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06 to me was the best B&T.
Having seen 2001-2012, I agree. Everything a Bill & Ted show should be ideally.
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Same thing with Cabin in the Woods, I would hope they focus more on how the movie ended rather than the cabin and the beginning of the movie itself. It would make it feel different than Evil Dead.
My fear about this line up is that one house will feel just like the other one. Maybe it won't happen but I would be a little bit afraid of that.
Pure speculation on my part, but after thinking the same thing, what if CitW ends up being the "comedy" house with the emphasis being on the third act of the movie? First room, or even just the facade, is the cabin, everything else takes place downstairs. [being vague to avoid moive spoilers]
The only other potential dark comedy house I could see would be the prison--and that setting seems better suited to "scary" than "funny."
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I don't know about the Harlem Shake, by April it already felt as dated as a poodle skirt.
Things I think are a lock:
- Katniss/Hunger Games (actress nailed it last year, and 2nd movie should blow up this year)
- Johnny Depp/"Tonto" (yeah, it's a Disney property, but whether The Lone Ranger bombs or is a hit, I think the image of Depp with a bird on his head is just too rich)
- A softball Transformers reference
- Superman (because WB seems less litigious than Disney)
- Even more internet memes, most of which probably haven't even been created yet
The "Official" Annual Discussion On The Fate Of HHN
in Halloween Horror Nights 24
Posted
Great post overall, but I do wonder when people say that if they're only remembering--or perhaps only read about--the top one or two houses every year, forgetting the three or four that just never quite did it. Your Cold Blind Terror, or Fear Factor, or Run, or (much as I have a soft spot for it) People Under the Stairs. I think even the weakest houses in the last 3 years still beat out any of those, and many more.