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H.R. Bloodengutz was based in Carey, OH. What other big Original concepts took place in Carey, OH that have been used in the past and were very popular? The trip the team took doesn't make much sense. All of the other actors that have played iconic roles at the event have all been US based. So, either an IP holder is based out of there or they found a really, really creepy physical location that would be to costly to recreate in a soundstage that fit with the theme perfectly. My big question is, are they going to give us details on what Jack has been up to? If they do, are they going to ignore the fact that he took a trip overseas to terrorize people at the Singapore event? On top of that, are they going to give us details as to what the other Icons have been up to and why they all came back? The XX event made sense with each of them being a part of FEAR. So far, having them all back just doesn't make sense. Hopefully all will make sense tonight!

What are the odds that we will see scenes from IP houses in the Anniversary house? My personal guess is slim to none which is why they decided to bring back the whole AWIL house since they couldn't put a scene or two in the Anniversary house. Still, I kinda wish we could get another AvP room and a scene from Halloween. The one house I really want to see a scene or two from is HR Blood and Guts. I didn't go that year, but the concept of twisting every single holiday sounded so awesome. I mean, they had them all even the non popular ones like Arbor Day in the house I heard. A Christmas scene would be fun to see. Holidays mashing together I love...which explains why Nightmare Before Christmas is still in my Top 3 of favorite movies ever. With the Anniversary House going where I think TWD was last year, I am hoping it is the longest house of the event...possibly ever. They have hundreds of original concept houses and scarezones they could put into a maze. I just watched a "behind the scenes" of Hallo'd Past and it seemed like for an "Anniversary House", it barely had many houses/themes. Since last year was my first year attending (after MANY years of following the event on Youtube) I am hoping they cram as much as possible from the past into the house. So excited for it!

But sticking Jack's show on the small BJ stage (with very few seats for the event size) won't work either because they would only have a couple of hours to change it...every single night. Same thing goes for Animal Actors. Those shows have to run during the day and quickly changing them over every night is not easy to do in 1-2 hours unless your happy with the current, awful looking BJ sets being the backdrop for Jack's return. With the RtU stage, they will already have all the lights and sound systems set up and most likely programmed and ready to go. Taking down a few RtU banners and filling the stage with pre-built set pieces will not take that long. They can practice the show off site and then do final tests the night before employee preview. Much bigger sets get built in a LOT shorter period of time. I mean, look at major traveling concerts like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Those MASSIVE sets with thousands of lights and special effects are built in less than a day, taken down, placed on trucks and driven to the next city and rebuilt the following the day for months. Adding a backdrop and a few set pieces can be done overnight easy! Its not like they have to physically build it on the stage. Just set up prebuilt stuff and secure it. I did some digging to see how quickly the Voodoo stage appeared. It went from basic steel poles with one side having the wood attached on 9-11-14 to being totally built and fully themed on 9-13-14. Take a look. These come from TheTimTracker videos. With the stage already built, they can easily fully theme it in a night or two if they could pull off this.

Oh wow...that is a GREAT idea!! They could even show the videos as a sort of "pre-show" before it starts.

I think the voodoo show wasn't cut because of the crowds but the theme and "message" the show was getting across. It was a real shame that such an awesome set was built and then barely used. Thankfully the show was not that complex and didn't require a ton of "learning" except for the Voodoo Queen. If the Jack show is anything like his last big "magic" style show he put on, it will be a lot more complex with a LOT more moving parts and training. I feel like they won't pull the plug so quickly because of all the money they have invested and the fact that they have confirmed 2 shows. The Voodoo show was never a "true" show and just a part of the scarezone so cutting it was no big deal. I still feel like the show will go on the current stage they have built. It is massive with an equally massive control booth opposite the stage. Plus, it explains why Jack's banners not up. It will go ON the stage. You will walk down the street seeing all the past Icon's and end up with Jack's massive set where his show will be put on. Also, the banners are currently in order from the most recent being closest to the entrance of the park being Usher. Then you move on to the next newest which is The Storyteller, then The Director, and then The Caretaker. The "first" and oldest one is Jack at the end of the street on his Stage. Sure some are left out, but just going by the order they hosted the event, they are currently in newest to oldest order. Might not mean anything, but it is a nice touch. My hope is that the show is 10-15 minutes long and is put on every 30-45 minutes. If they only put the show on once an hour, I feel like the crowds in the area will be insane! The more you put it on, the more likely people are watch different shows. The BJ stage just doesn't fit. Its very small and can't be changed quickly. If they would have said the BJ show is closing on Sept. 8th with Disaster then they would have been able to change the stage enough to make it work but with it still happening during the day, it won't do him justice. I feel like this is A & D's big chance to prove to the marketing people that Icon's still work and draw in the crowds so they can go back to using them again and are going to do as much as they can to do Jack (and his legion of fans) justice.

EDIT: Nevermind. Discovered after some more research Shrek indeed has two theaters which I still find so strange since I have been countless times and only ever been inside one (with and without Express).

Here is my theory for the Shrek maze. They are going to use the extended queue for sure and the location will be like Disaster where it is "outdoors". The Red line is part of the extended queue if I am not mistaken. The size of that area is roughly the size of the tent houses behind Simpsons and would work as a location for the house. The green line is a possible queue setup. The blue line is the exit. The blue and green could be flipped because the green section doesn't seem like enough space for a queue. However, I am not sure how far back they are going to want to put the line, but there is a ton of space behind the Shrek building to put it. I just feel like putting the queue closer to the park entrance makes more sense so when guest exit the house, they are not crossing the path of people just entering to the park and heading to this house first. It is also possible that the blue line remains the exit (dumping you into a scarezone) and the queue line starts next to the Transformers meet and greet area and snakes around behind the Shrek building. This would solve all the congestion problems of having the entrance and exit right next to each other. Other houses do it just fine, but for a new location, it might be best. I highly doubt we will enter the Shrek building at all. I feel like it will all happen behind the building and in the extended queue only. This is also the first house not to be "backstage" or right next to it, so they have to do something about cast change. I feel like having them walk across the street at the start of a scarezone is not the best idea. Instead, I could see them using the inside of the Shrek building, adding a trailer or two, and even using the Transformers area for cast breaks and makeup.

On a Sunday? Doesn't make much sense. Maybe tomorrow...

See I feel like they could easily pull it off and just not open all (if any) shops. The sales of Butterbeer and beer in general will more than make up the costs. I would LOVE it if I could grab a butterbeer while walking around a Scarezone. I fail to see how non-HHN attendees would get ticked off if it was open as well. Last year, the ride was closed before 5pm. The first day I did Stay and Scream I figured the ride was just down, but it never came back up. The next day, we were in the area around 4:30 planning on doing stay and scream as well and they closed the line right at 4:45. The final day, we stayed in the zone and were literally forced out of the zone at 6:30pm. A line of police and security start at the back of the zone and force everybody out. They even started to block off the bathrooms at 6:15pm. It was a very empty Stay and Scream location because the ride was closed and the shops didn't hold peoples attention that were visiting from IoA. If they could keep just Gringotts, the Ice Cream location, the restaurant and both butterbeer/beer locations open, they could make a huge profit still. Plus having that whole zone open during the event would greatly increase total park capacity allowing them to let more guests in the front gates. I could see them doing what they did last year and at 6:30 they force everybody out, block off the train area, do final checks through all the shops to make sure it is empty and by 7:00pm, open it for HHN. I am sure Universal WANTS to keep it open, but it is not up to them. JK has final say like she always has for "her" theme park zones.

Everything can't be dark and sinister looking. I feel like the Scarezone is going to have a "carnival" theme so the hand drawn look of the posters and the size of them fit. Just because a poster doesn't look scary doesn't mean the zone won't be scary as a whole. Granted, if past "Icon" zones are any indication, this will be the major "Photo Op" zone of the year. I personally love the posters. Not having FEAR and Bloody Mary make sense. Leaving Lady Luck out kinda does to. Nothing about her was even remotely scary and she seemed like a major failed attempt by marketing to create a new "Icon". Personally, I was hoping the Voodoo Queen would come back! She was FANTASTIC last year! Even though her show got cut REALLY short, her interactions with guests while roaming the zone were amazing.

My big thing is why do people feel the need to complain about the lineup or the way a zone looks? Be happy your getting another year of HHN in the first place! Would you rather they not put on the biggest event in the history of HHN simply because a zone looks to "cartoon" like or because a few of the houses you don't like? They can't please every single person. If A &D contacted you and said "What 9 houses and 5 scarezones do YOU want" and they designed the event the way you wanted, not everybody is going to be happy with all the choices you made. No amount of complaining can change that. The only thing you can do, is not attend the event. Vote with your wallet. However, the event is so big now that one person missing is not going to matter. So, go and have fun and don't be negative about it rather than complain. Personally, the house lineup is what I expected this year. IP's are something that will never go away now. I am just happy we are getting some of the older original concepts back and I am also happy that none of the scarezones this year are IP based! Last year was my first year attending but I have followed the event for years! I am so excited I finally get to see Jack, The Storyteller, The Usher and all the other Icon's for the first time and to check out all the houses. AWIL looked amazing and was VERY well received so being able to see it for the first time is a huge plus to me. Another thing to remember, is the more popular this event gets, the more money they can throw at it. Last year was insanely busy but it brought in a lot of money. That's why we are getting an extra house, DOUBLE the amount of scareactors in the streets, longer hours and even more days! EDIT: Just to be clear, "You" doesn't imply a single person, just a generalization of a bunch of people that have been complaining. Not calling any single person out.

I am so excited now seeing all the pictures of stuff showing up in the streets! Can't wait! My only issue so far with all the pre-event stuff is the lack of promotion. For the 25th year, I was really hoping they would make a return to the old style of websites with the interactive games, puzzles, and clues that would reveal more backstory. They don't seem to be hyping up the big event this time around. We have seen Jack once and that was way back in May! Some backstory of what he has been doing the past few years would have been nice. Hopefully it is still coming and we will get some fun stuff when the Original houses are announced. If they are bringing back all the Icons for a scarezone/maze, I would love to know what they have been up to. The backstory for the Original houses really enhance the whole event for me and I have been disappointed the past few years as they have gone away from the awesome website designs to a bland and boring design. Wish Marketing would let A & D have some control back like they had no IP's to worry about when it came to promoting the event.

Depending on how the new season of American Horror Story plays out, I could see it being used next year. It has been considered for some time. I thought for sure we would be getting it this year. Last years Freak Show version would have been a perfect fit with Jack coming back. This year, the show is titled "American Horror Story: Hotel". A hotel setting would be easy to recreate. However, the big problem with this series is the fact that each season is TOTALLY different. If next year they decide to do Hotel, it would be "outdated" since the new season which would air during the event would be something different. While American Horror Story doesn't pull in the same kind of numbers, its one of the few horror TV shows out there. Its very hard to pull off a horror TV show without them becoming a drama (looking at you TWD!). After a while, what made the show scary becomes old news when it is shown so much (Zombies). American Horror Story has also gotten away from the horror elements of the first season and turned more towards the insane, far fetched themes. They claim Hotel will return to the shows roots and bring true horror back to the show. The other possible IP they could use would be the new Scream Queens show depending on how well that works. It would be the "fun/comedy" house of the year which they seem to always have one of. We have Alice this year, last year we had Dollhouse, etc. Plus, with a "female frat house" as the main setting, it would also be the "sexy" house of the year like "From Dusk Til Dawn" last year.

So, do we think we will get any announcements this week? It has been confirmed on Twitter that we will have all the event details before the month is over. That gives them basically 2 weeks to announce 6 houses, 5 scarezones and 2 shows. We can assume that the new house is well underway, but its not clear if they have changed their announcement plans or not. Could they announce the "new" house next since Scream was rumored to be the next announcement or are they going to skip past it and announce everything else and save the "new" house for last? If they follow the normal way they announce houses, I could see the last two IP's (assuming the new house is Purge) this week and early next week they announce the last 4 original houses, 5 scarezones and 2 shows all at once. Going to be an exciting few weeks. Scarezone stuff should start showing up out in the streets soon I would assume. Employee previews will be here before we know it!

6:30 to 1am is still only 6 and a half hours, but to each their own. I have always hated being "stuck" in a group or on a schedule so I would never do a tour like this. I would only consider express passes, but since I went last year the first weekend of Oct. and never waited more than 30 minutes for a house, I don't see the need. Dollhouse was a 5 minute wait when we did it. Expecting to do the same thing again this year. Everybody rushes to the "big name" houses first thing driving the wait up to 2 hours. We enjoyed the rest of the houses and saved the big ones for the end. Universal is not the greatest at fixing problems on the websites. I reported to them over a month ago that the link to the Annual Passholder discount for Blue Man Group tickets takes you to a page that doesn't work and it still not doesn't worked. Heck, when I renewed my AP online last month I got a "Thank You" e-mail telling me about all the fun stuff I will get to enjoy...in 2014! At least they run the park a lot better than the website.

That's the thing. They will never say it was canceled because to the public, it was never even going to be a house. Unless you are a huge fan and saw the leaked list of houses (which I have read cost at least one person their job), nobody will know whats going on right now. Anything Scream related being released to the public is grounds for a lawsuit, so it won't be mentioned on anything by anybody officially. During press events, they might mention how crazy this year has been because of a last minute house change, but they will never mention what the first theme (Scream) was. As far as your tour thing goes, I highly doubt it will last all night. The private tour requires you to book it over the phone (but can get pricing over e-mail). The standard RIP Tour starts at $139.99 a person. The private tour booked over the phone starts at $1,399 per group. The reason I say this is because the event closes at different times on different nights. The pricing is based on crowd levels, not how long it is open. Tour's typically start about an hour after opening and last between 4-5 hours (private tour start times can be changed sometimes if needed). There is not a major difference between the PRIVATE RIP Tour and the STANDARD RIP Tour besides the price. The biggest difference is your STANDARD tour might group you with 15-30 people while your PRIVATE RIP Tour could be booked solo so it's just you and your guide. On both tours, you will get front of the line access to all the houses and shows ONCE along with 2 rides for PRIVATE tours. On a PRIVATE RIP tour, depending on how crowded it is, you get to decide what you want to do and when. On STANDARD RIP Tours, your guide leads you around the park in a preset tour that can't be changed. If, after seeing all the houses and shows on your PRIVATE RIP tour, your guide might be able to get you into more houses if you want to check one out again, but it never lasts until park closing. I have heard private tours get you into all the houses once and then at a max, four more. If, for some reason, you want to see a house 4-5 times, you can on a private tour. You get unlimited access to the VIP line only while the tour last on a PRIVATE tour. I would say you will skip the line of between 12-14 houses. How you break that up is up to the guest on a private tour. This is never a "for sure" thing however. Once EITHER tour is over, your tour pass will let you skip the lines of RIDES but not houses for the rest of the night. Your tour guide is the only one that can let you skip house lines. Both tour packages include the same perks as well except for one thing. They both include the lanyard, cash bar, and free valet parking. Your PRIVATE RIP Tour will include a free 3-day photo connect star pass for all your picture needs as well. Make sure you know what tour you booked. If you booked it online, you tour is not PRIVATE and will include other guests that purchased the tour. If you booked over the phone and paid OVER $1,399 then your tour is PRIVATE and just for you and your party. Don't want you to arrive and be upset when your getting led around in a group of 30 people for a tour you thought was just for your group.

Wow, I am surprised so many of you guys like me. Figured my theory would get shot down but it was all I was thinking about at work today and it just made the most sense. Something HAD to have happened to cause a massive shakeup. The IP holder is proven to be hard to deal with. IP holders normally always get final walkthroughs a couple of weeks before opening night. All the details and timing just added up. Like I said, this could be totally wrong, but I just had to get it out there to see what others thought. Looking forward to getting a real answer...if one ever comes. EDIT: One things for sure though. If this does turn out to be somewhat true, you can kiss any hopes of ever seeing Scream at HHN goodbye. No way they will ever go through this again. Lesson learned for sure. Next year, IP contracts will be ironclad with no escape route for the IP holder. You don't like the contract? Tough luck...there are a ton of IP's that would kill to be at HHN.

So, first time poster but long time reader. Here is my current theory on what might have gone down. I have no insider info and all of this is just pure speculation based on what I know happens with the IP holders typically. 1) A & D wanted to do a Scream house based on the movie 2) The IP holder, like he did with Hollywood, was VERY strict and only gave Orlando permission to make a house based on the TV show. As we know, the Hollywood version was only allowed to use elements from Movie 4. It is also rumored that the true reason behind the new mask for MTV was because the right holder would not allow the mask to be shown in a TV show. Overall, it seems the rights holder is a major pain to deal with. 3) Marketing agreed to the right holders terms forcing A & D to create a house using elements from the TV show. 4) A & D decided to build a "house" setting for the maze featuring elements and scares that were close to the movie but would feature the new mask from the TV show and a couple scares. The TV show is all over the place so having a focused location like a home makes sense. 5) The house was finished last week. Normally in the contact, IP holders get final say and can come in and tweak things. It happens a lot with IP houses. If the IP holder is not happy with a small detail or the look of a room, they tell A & D what they want changed and they have enough time to repaint a wall or change a few details. 6) Over the weekend, the IP holder came down to see the house. It could be during his tour, he thought the maze was too close to the movie, thus voiding the terms of the contract. If the contract states only elements from the TV show be used and A & D decided to toss in some scares/scenes not found in the TV show, then the IP holder has legal ground to end the terms of the contract. 7) With the contract now void and the IP holder proving once again how controlling he is, it was decided to scrap the house rather than deal with the demands of the IP holder. 8) Monday morning started the crazy drama of figuring out what they are going to do. They promised 9 houses and now only have 8 they can use with about 25-30 days to get something finished. Not to mention the fact that marketing now has to recreate all the press releases, billboards, grocery store displays, TV spots, and maybe even all the merchandise. One things for sure, if this all turns out to be true, it cost Universal a lot of money. Just imagine if all the t-shirts, lanyards, coffee mugs, etc had already been made and were sitting in a storeroom. ALL of that has to be destroyed and recreated to remove the Scream logo. With the event so close, its not unlikely that this could be the case. In year's past, some t-shirts started to go on sale before the event started. Plus, park maps might have been printed since they knew the location of all the houses well in advance. Billboards were for sure created and printed, just not placed. This could easily end up costing Universal a million dollars or more to correct. While I am by no means a lawyer, Universal could attempt to sue the IP holder if they feel the house they created didn't void the contract to recover some of this money. However, with the event so close, they can't worry about that now. They HAVE to get something in that location. They have announced 9 houses. If the event opens and only has 8 houses, they face a major PR/lawsuit nightmare far scarier than anything A & D can dream up. The most logical replacement would be the Purge or coming up with an original concept. Universal owns the rights to the Purge and it was well received last year. They have all the masks and weapons they need from last year. The first movie took place in a house. Simply repaint rooms, change some props and you have a house that looks something like the Purge home. Of course, they could just come up with any random theme for an original that took place in a home as well. At this late stage, they can't rebuild. All they can do is re-theme and hope for the best. I just feel sorry for all of them. They should be celebrating the fact that everything was basically finished and now their big 25th anniversary is causing them a ton of stress at the last minute.