WESKER69

Don't make excuses for Universal. They have the money & resources to pull another full size stage out of their ass. A company like them should NOT just have one main stage at their disposal. Especially not when they have multiple warehouses for storage. The point is, Universal could be making a lot more effort to get a new main stage erected instead of just setting up a small mini stage.

You didnt see the show this year either because its completely new. They're not the Jabbawockeez where they say "all new", but instead just add narration to the previous year's show (like what happened in 2016) And a simple search of "Academy of Villains" will tell you that they're a highly choreographed dance troupe from California. Its really not that difficult. I'd highly recommend pulling up the video of their show last year from HHN.

Oh yes.. because the two whole nights that they get for rehearsal makes such a big difference Employee preview is the ONLY real "rehearsal" they actually have because they're dealing with actual guests (and usually worse guests because they're employees). Honestly, scareactors usually don't "find their groove" with a role, until AFTER opening weekend. They need the human contact to play off of.

It amuses me that you guys would honestly expect a "new" set up for The Purge. Its basically cheap & easy. If anything, i'd be more annoyed if they don't bring back the flame bar. No it doesn't. We had the bus in 2008 & it was a short bus. "IF" they want to use the bus again, it can be at the Kidzone hub at the end of Central Park. Also, in 2008, there was no stage. This year there is a stage in Mel's plaza, sooooo yea, a bus is a "no go". That area becomes a clusterf**k during showtimes, the last thing you want is a big scenic prop making the path more narrow.

Whats there to guess? I was pointing it out, not really asking for a "why". This is NOT the first time a house shirt has been different from final line-up. 2007's house shirt still said "Silent Night, Deadly Night" instead of "PsychoScareapy: Home for the Holidays". 2011's house shirt had "The Thing: Assimilation" (which was 2007's house name, but Hollywood used it for their 2011 maze) instead of just "The Thing". And 2015's house shirt had Hollywood's maze name for "Insidious" instead of what Orlando used. So as I said, this is not the first time, nor is it the last it will happen. Also, there was no confusion in regards to B&T... at least not for me, I knew about the auditions. The only surprise for anyone was that this would be final year. Anyway, B&T usually does NOT get added to the house shirt, there have only been maybe like 1 house shirt out of the past 13 years that had included B&T. The house shirt that featured B&T was 2008. Now B&T has had multiple years where a shirt was for sale, except for last year for the 25th anniversary because Universal fails at life. FUN FACT: The first "house shirt" didn't appear until 2004, which included ONE scarezone ("Point of Evil").

First glimpse of the house shirt?????.... (thanks to Academy of Villains) *NOTE: Look at the name for "Blumhouse"... it appears they altered the name after merch was ordered. Also, its interesting that Academy of Villains is listed on the shirt, but NOT Bill & Ted

^the logo on the front could honestly be stretched out to serve as a frame for all the houses to be listed in. That would look great. Curious to see what the actual house shirt looks like now.

Well that one pic is clearly a map of the hedge maze from The Shining, so these pics are definitely NOT teases for only the original houses. Which means, what I suspected, the 3rd image is the cabin from AVED.

Drinking the kool-aid from a blinky cup of course.

What thunder? Insidious was the 2nd maze under construction... and it was basically "complete" long before the other mazes were announced. The fact that there is NOTHING released for Insidious Chapter 4 yet due to the movie getting pushed back to January & this getting announced 17 days before the event begins only solidifies that it should've been scrapped the second the movie got delayed.

That blog post for the merchandise was really lame & so into itself as if what they've got is mind blowingly awesome. I liked it better when they talked less & showed more merch pictures. This skull & roses "theme" they are going for is terrible. So i'm trying to figure out how they went from "Titans of Terror" to this. The ONLY interesting thing that caught my attention was the mention of possible "Academy of Villains" merchandise. If they really are going to have a shirt, I'll need one of those sent my way. Also, if they don't have a shirt for Bill & Ted this year, that will be a huge mistake on their part (kinda like last year & NOT having one for the show's 25th anniversary). But yea, if by some miracle they have one... i'll need that too.

Need? No. But there have been MANY original houses from the past several years that have had them. So it really shouldn't come as a surprise. Honestly, it is actually kind of a terrible commercial for the event. Its too over the top &... cinematic? Like it really doesn't get to the point quick enough. Its an interesting concept, but not right for the event, especially when it has to be shared with Hollywood.

Its the closest Orlando will get to having go-go dancers... Of course, the other way to look at is, will they be actual werewolves dressed as disney princesses? (yes.. enjoy that mental image)

Except when your event is right around the corner... and you have ONE house that is an IP... it'd probably be smarter to announce your 4 originals until you get the IP crap sorted out. Oh this is cute. But your attack efforts are futile when you don't know what you're talking about or how to actually read the original post carefully. But here, I'll play along and break it down for you... When it comes to "Altars" having "mascots/icons" from the houses all in one scarezone, it actually has been done before. In 2005, the "Terra Gaurd Run" was the entrance scarezone in Port of Entry. It featured characters that represented each house/"land" of Terra Cruentus. So don't kid yourself into thinking this is a "new" concept. Trick R Treat... I'm well aware of what the movie entails, I watch it every year. As for being authentic? Its recreations of front doors, that doesn't exactly make it any better than 2008's scarezone (nor something to rave about). The ONLY plus is the inclusion of Sam & the fire-spewing jack-o-lantern. You clearly missed the point in my response about "Invasion". It was snark in regards to it not being something rehashed. However, they dropped the ball with doing this one AFTER closing Disaster. Maybe they saved tentacle tank prop, but I doubt it. I never said anything about a scarezone matching the environment in regards to "Festival of the Deadliest". I said they don't know what they're doing with that particular street in the park. They call "FOTD" all the scarezones, they call it street experiences, they call it a scarezone itself. They're doing a terrible job at knowing what it is they're advertising. Never once said it didn't match the environment... that'd be stupid. The 'Good luck next year" is in regards to them canceling B&T after this year. A show that has been with the event for 26 years out of 27 years. Never once said it had anything to do with their "announcement planning". And thats cute that you praise Universal's event so much, keep drinking that kool-aid, but there are better events & even singular haunts out there that are leagues ahead of HHN, even if they don't have the "known" brand. But just remember, Knotts has been doing it first & for 45 years in California.

I just had this visual of an actual plant going up to a door... "Little shop... little shop of horrors..."

The thing I dislike the most about this scarezone are the "front door" recreations. I'm curious to see what they do with them, but I just really don't like them at all. They seem awkward & out of place. Although to be fair, i'd say the same thing if they were located anywhere else in the park as a scarezone. The pumpkins, ghosts, etc.. that all looks great, but the front door recreations... blah

Forget "Blumhouse of Horrors" for a second... the bigger question is... why haven't they announced the 4 original houses yet? I mean, come on... 22 days until the event. Basically 3 weeks until it begins.... and 5 houses left to announce (2 for Hollywood)... Of course Knotts still has 5 houses to announce as well, but they at least announced their "reveal event" would be August 31st (due to having to announce their new coaster opening next year)

They really spared no expense with the hanging strips of fabric for this scarezone...

"When you wish upon a (death)star".... totally off topic, but I'd love for some original standalone ANIMATED films... Good ones. And preferably NOT cgi-animation.

You clearly did not dig deep enough. 2007 was NOT the first year for IPs... They have always been part of the event in one form or another from the very beginning with Fright Nights. Even if it is Universal owned, it is still an IP (you can't discard it just because another studio owns it). Look at the logo for the first year of the event, it was the classic monsters! Even the event entertainment was about "known" (at the time) performers/bands/etc. House-wise... "People Under The Stairs", "Psycho" (many times PRE-2006), "The Mummy", etc... Character/Icon-wise... Classic Monsters, even the Crypt Keeper (TWICE), Chucky (PRE-2009), etc Even the beloved originals, a lot of the times were loosely-based, inspired-by rip-offs of an IP. Even if a particular character wasn't advertised & used "officially" like they are now, they are still an IP character used at the event & NOT an original Universal Orlando creation. As for 2007... it worked fine. What did NOT work well was NewLineCinema (they were completely merged with WB in 2008). NLC put so many restrictions on the event's use of the characters it completely screwed over A&D. There were things planned that didn't happen, things changed due to this/that. The event suffered for it in the streets (houses were on point though). And yes, they WERE trying something new-ish, that year. 2005 was the first true overall interwoven event. 2007 was supposed to do this, but with one central theme being the "Carnival of Carnage" as a park-wide SZ. Due to the issues with NLC, we didn't get this to its full potential. Hence why 2008 is regarding as being "OMGZ-worthy" because it did what 2005 did in IOA & what 2007 tried to pull off in the studios. Save a struggling HHN Hollywood? Um... there was no struggling. The event was brought back in 2006 as a last minute thing (due to the success of Orlando 2001-2005), it was a success. They didn't need Orlando's help. Their event did just fine during 1997-2000. The ONLY thing Orlando has done for Hollywood over the years was make the higher-ups in their tower see that the event was worth bringing back to the park that started it all in 1986 with "The Terror Tram" (even after its unfortunate scareactor death).

It sounds like they don't know what they're even advertising.... They go from scarezones, to street experiences (which was the lack-of-SZ term used in 2012), to FOTD being a scarezone..

laziness... IP issues... loss of brain function for deciding to end B&T for more Potter... The event starts in 25 days & they still haven't announced the 4 original mazes or Blumhouse of Horrors. Back in the day, this wouldn't be a big deal because we'd at least have fun distractive updates on the website that'd tease & hint to whats to come while building a deeper mythology and story. Of course, at the same time, back then, the even't didn't start as early as it does now. So yea... its just terribly handled.

Pilot Light: is a small gas flame, usually natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, which serves as an ignition source for a more powerful gas burner. Common applications include household water heaters, central heating systems, fireplaces, flamethrowers, etc... Basically... the pilot light will be lit & the main jack-o-lantern in Central Park's "Trick R Treat" scarezone will do THIS... every so often throughout the night