BloodyBulldawg

^ Agreed. FYI, did you noticed you used nearly five words in a row that end in "ll". I wonder if there is some hint there about HHN this year. Double L's, HHN 22...??? Come on speculators...have at it!

Thank you.

Not seeing where Non-USF employees can signup for auditions. I checked Uoteam.com but its only reunion auditions. Is there a different link for the open auditions? I'm trying to help my brother get a chance to audition. Any help would be appreciated.

I could see it being a fog machine housing, but that's about it.

Is that crate not always there to prevent people from hanging on the stairs or something like that? I'm pretty sure that is not new.

This is more a technical question...Is the wood black because it is painted to reduce light reflection at night or is that a fire-retardant coating...or both? Random question I know, but still a good one...I think.

Now that I could see. I'm just saying I don't see Jack the Clown in the background.

Looking at the background that JWFearman extracted in the website updates thread, I can't see anything substantial. I think it's just a gruesome background they drew up for the teaser page and nothing more. Our imaginations are running wild with what little information we have. They seriously must get a laugh out of our speculations and what details we try to pull from every word and image they post.

Thanks for the summation! One thing I didn't notice before... Disaster: Room 1 - Hospital Hallway Room 2 - Roof Top The combination of those two rooms alone is enough to speculate that will be the "Walking Dead" ish house. How many times have we seen zombie based movies where people end up being chased to the roof top? And the hospital is the perfect place for hacked up, undead patients to pop out. They have to have a well staffed zombie scarezone outside similar to support it.

Went through Nightmaze last night and I noticed some new things or changes that they've implemented: 1. New sounds and mixes of theme music for the soundtrack (Very Effective) 2. More fog than previous nights 3. More movement 4. Taller scareactors. (I don't know if this is because there were some drop outs and some FC or ABU were filling in, but the taller scareactors made a big difference. Turning a corner and seeing a black hooded figure 6 inches shorter than me is not so intimidating. Seeing a black hooded figure 6 inches taller is a totally different story. I really think the design team and coordinators are listening to the people and adjusting to make the zones evolve and be the best they can be. I think its great that they listen, adapt and improve. Anyway, the Nightmaze is definitely improving.

Has anyone else noticed the headstone of Mary Shaw just before the courtyard final scene in the house? I think that was a totally cool carry over from years before. I thought is was so cool I got distracted and a hooded figure scared the crap out of me. AWESOME! Absolutely love the house, the whole set, the scareactors. I have gone through this house 6 times and loved each and every minute of it. I am in awe of the beauty, the eerienes (spelling) and the overall asthetic. By far, my favorite!

As a preface, I went through this house on EP and Opening Night and had an excellent experience. Plenty of scareactors, good energy and good distraction/startle scares. That said, I went through on Thursday night (29th of September) mid-evening and was very let down. All of the scareactors had 4 nights of rest away from the event so I expected rejuvenated energy and the same intensity. What I found was a house half empty. Many of the the sections of the house where I knew there were good scares and scareactors where completely empty. The nightingale on the corpses was just staring at people with limited to no movement. The infirmary sceen when a nightingale is supposed to be digging in with a little blood spurting out had no scareactor present and the e-prom was just going off at random, which was cool still but out of place. The final scene was probably the worst, the gunner was just standing there like he was board just holding one handle of the machine gun and pulling the trigger. I mean it was like he was just chillin' on the corner or something. I sincerely hope that the scareactors of this house have not started quitting or giving up on their effort. I know scare-acting is gruelling work, I am a scareactor...I should know, but it just makes you (us) look bad when you show ZERO effort or start quitting the event. I'm not accusing any particular cast, just stating what I observed in one of my favorite houses on only the 2nd week of the event. I hope it was a fluke and I just hit the house on a bad night. We can all have bad nights, the key is just to come back stronger the next night.

Umm... bberts... You are awesome! I loved the history lesson. Thank you for giving us such an awesome and accurate background!

Maybe they didn't hire as many scareactors (if the rumor is true) because of how much attrition occurs with new hires. I imagine the net new hires that stay throughout event is less than 200. Quality (returning scareactors) over quantity (new hires). I can't prove it, I only know what I've seen over the past 4 years. Though I do think its great that they "may" be enriching the SZs this year. The more indepth and immersive the SZs the more it feels like the whole park is invovled. I'm all about the "immersive" feeling. Umm... bberts... You are awesome! I loved the history lesson. Thank you for giving us such an awesome and accurate background!

This is one of the negatives of being a scareactor. As a Universal employee, we can't recieve the cool gifts you can get as part of the promotions for these special events. I guess its a small price to pay for getting to scare the crap out of you guys.

I'm glad they implemented the penalty for attempting the "refresh trick". In real life, there is no "refresh trick" and it's impossible to "game the system" in terms of life and death. I think the games in their current iteration are the way they should have been in the first place. I guess you could say that those who did exploit the weaknesses in the "House" only made the "House" stronger and more vengeful (Cheaters lose 30 tokens) I might add. It just goes to show you...cheat or not...the "House" will always win in the end.

The "tube" is most definitely made of a synthetic or plastic material. The "rusty" look is called scenic artist magic! It just means the scenic artists did their job well, if you thought it was rusty metal. My wife is a scenic artist and for a show she painted she managed to make green corregated plastic look like corregated sheet metal in 6 different lighting schemes. It's amazing what those artists can do.

This is something I was trying to say not 2-3 weeks ago when the website went up, but most shot me down. I love the fact that we have all come full circle to return to the impressions I received initially.

I limited my availability to no Thurs or Sun and was still cast, then again, I auditioned around 7:00 (Appt. at 6). I have been ABU every year for 3 years running, not that I mind. I usually work 6-10 nights of the event anyway. I did notice a few "upset" individuals in the orientation room, I guess that was because they were not cast. In the end it is all about height, weight, build and maybe look (for face scareactors).

Is it just me or are there red markings on the hand? They are faint but there are definitely markings. I know...here goes the dissecting of all available pictures. I wonder which designers' hand was used as the model for the image...haha.

Great point! I was all stuck on "casino" when I really should have said "VEGAS". Again...it's all speculation but I like the idea of Atlantic City since it has quite a bit more history.

"Those aren't the best odds" - Touche...Nice play on the topic of discussion. I see your point though. On a related note, I did notice horseshoes at the top and bottom of each card that was displayed on the main HHN page. This may be nothing, but it's a detail non-the-less.

With all due respect, you guys are a little off when it comes to the music. It does sound as if it was from the Big Band Era from 1930 to 1950, but is not "Luck Be A Lady". Just wanted to save you from diving to deeply down that fruitless rabbit hole. I am still not buying a whole "casino" theme. The concepts of Luck, Fate and Chance (more so the latter two) are much more inline with where they are going with this theme.

Watching the intro again, I can see how you would think that "gambling" may be the theme, but I don't think we are going to see a roulette based house or a house of cards etc etc. I could see some sort of play on waging your life to experience the different themed houses. They could still use a variety of street, house and character ideas within the scope of waging your life against the house.

Everyone is assuming that the Spade and the number 21 denotes casino or gambling, but that's not a definite. The number 21 and the Spade are an easy/catchy image to use for marketing purposes, but it does not limit the theme really. The use of the cards could denote taking chances and risks or fate dealing the cards of life...etc etc. Don't underestimate the depth of the event based upon the first teaser of the season. I have a feeling there is a lot going on here and we haven't even seen the tip of the iceburg. Trust me guys. Keep your eyes and ears open.