Badge Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, EnderDragon said: Universal has been developing virtual queue for years now. There's really no reason why they can't implement it for HHN. I feel it would definitely improve the event by a long shot if they limit capacity and use mostly virtual queue for the mazes/rides. With social distancing requirements being in effect, they simply don't have the queue space to get hour+ lines spaced 6 feet apart especially when the queue space also has express lines. My guess for this year is that all houses will use virtual queues + social distancing the queue and no express queue so they can really spread out. Each queue will hold roughly 20 minutes worth of guests. This will prevent any "dead" time in the queue while also promoting social distancing. Guests will express passes will be able to skip the virtual queue and jump right into the line once per house giving express pass holders a wait no longer than 20 minutes. An added perk for express pass holders is that they would be able to be in a virtual queue for one house while still using their express at a different house to see a few houses twice if wanted. This will also fix the major social distancing issue of the stay and scream area. Once a guest scans their ticket, they will be able to join a virtual queue for any of the early opening houses so guests don't need to line up shoulder to shoulder in the holding area to get out first. This system could also be used for guests just attending the event. They could put stations throughout Citywalk to "check in" HHN guests. Once checked in, they can join 1 virtual queue and then go and explore Citywalk instead of waiting at the front gate for 45+ minutes just to get into a queue right away. At the same time, I seriously don't see them packing the park this year. I see capacity severely reduced. The last thing Universal needs is pictures/video of people shoulder to shoulder in queues, packing the streets with guests, or worst case, an outbreak that is traced back to the event. Depending on how much they limit capacity, queues might not even need a virtual system. Edited June 23, 2020 by Badge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnderDragon Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 2 hours ago, Badge said: At the same time, I seriously don't see them packing the park this year. I see capacity severely reduced. The last thing Universal needs is pictures/video of people shoulder to shoulder in queues, packing the streets with guests, or worst case, an outbreak that is traced back to the event. Depending on how much they limit capacity, queues might not even need a virtual system. That's kinda the point of reducing capacity though. Cut down the number of people in the park to allow easier social distancing and making virtual queues much easier to manage. Cutting capacity also means less need for Stay n Scream as one of the big selling points to that is getting into mazes before the crowds roll in. Maybe have a larger holding area to accommodate day guests staying for the event or make the entire park a Stay n Scream and give paying guests wristbands like Howl O Scream's setup. Of course there are still pros and cons to that but Universal has pretty much had 3-4 years to perfect the system. 2 hours ago, Badge said: My guess for this year is that all houses will use virtual queues + social distancing the queue and no express queue so they can really spread out. Each queue will hold roughly 20 minutes worth of guests. This will prevent any "dead" time in the queue while also promoting social distancing. Guests will express passes will be able to skip the virtual queue and jump right into the line once per house giving express pass holders a wait no longer than 20 minutes. An added perk for express pass holders is that they would be able to be in a virtual queue for one house while still using their express at a different house to see a few houses twice if wanted. I feel the park doesn't really need Express with reduced capacity. Having Express would just make the regular lines unnecessarily longer, even with virtual queues in place. If Express ends up getting added, they should have it like Volcano's setup where you can go straight to the maze with no wait at all, but there should be a cap on the number sold to keep the standby from getting ridiculous. Overall reduced capacity this year would be a major plus. Less wait time + more distancing in queues + no more conga lines in mazes thanks to distancing guidelines = more time for me to enjoy the event and less time waiting in long lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badge Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 14 hours ago, EnderDragon said: I feel the park doesn't really need Express with reduced capacity. Having Express would just make the regular lines unnecessarily longer, even with virtual queues in place. If Express ends up getting added, they should have it like Volcano's setup where you can go straight to the maze with no wait at all, but there should be a cap on the number sold to keep the standby from getting ridiculous. Universal won't drop Express for HHN. It's literally free money for them and a heck of a lot of it at that. That's why I said people who buy express will skip the virtual queue and get right into the regular line that's kept at 20 minutes or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badge Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 With the job cuts at Universal that happened yesterday, I am worried about what the event is gonna turn out like. I know already that the artist who did the amazing art sold in the prop shop and the now Bourne gift shop last year has been cut from the event this year. The fact that they cut a single artist, who's artwork was always selling out and hard to come by, is surprising because they cut a source of profit. They clearly made more money off the art than they paid her to create it, so why cut it? Makes me nervous about what other stuff is getting cut if they are already cutting sources of income out of the event. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlegreenghouls Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Badge said: With the job cuts at Universal that happened yesterday, I am worried about what the event is gonna turn out like. I know already that the artist who did the amazing art sold in the prop shop and the now Bourne gift shop last year has been cut from the event this year. The fact that they cut a single artist, who's artwork was always selling out and hard to come by, is surprising because they cut a source of profit. They clearly made more money off the art than they paid her to create it, so why cut it? Makes me nervous about what other stuff is getting cut if they are already cutting sources of income out of the event. They cutting everything this year. They don't want to risk something even if on paper and numbers show that it's sold out in past and sold well enough to bring it back this year. They are predicting that people won't have money for merch? I mean they announced a tent super discounted merch for next week for team members and annual passholders. I want to see the merch like for this upcoming year. I don't think that it means that we won't see that art again? I mean who know they might bring her back in the future. Merch is risky, I mean look at the HHN 25 prints ? Those were heavily discounted towards the end of the run and at the tent sale. I believe they were thinking that those prints were going to be golden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhHaiInternet95 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 (edited) 13 hours ago, littlegreenghouls said: They cutting everything this year. They don't want to risk something even if on paper and numbers show that it's sold out in past and sold well enough to bring it back this year. They are predicting that people won't have money for merch? I mean they announced a tent super discounted merch for next week for team members and annual passholders. I want to see the merch like for this upcoming year. I don't think that it means that we won't see that art again? I mean who know they might bring her back in the future. Merch is risky, I mean look at the HHN 25 prints ? Those were heavily discounted towards the end of the run and at the tent sale. I believe they were thinking that those prints were going to be golden. Well, I’m betting they’re glad they used three merch powerhouses (ST, UCM and GB) last year. (And I wanted them to save UCM for this year lol) Edited June 26, 2020 by OhHaiInternet95 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badge Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 21 hours ago, littlegreenghouls said: They cutting everything this year. They don't want to risk something even if on paper and numbers show that it's sold out in past and sold well enough to bring it back this year. They are predicting that people won't have money for merch? I mean they announced a tent super discounted merch for next week for team members and annual passholders. I want to see the merch like for this upcoming year. I don't think that it means that we won't see that art again? I mean who know they might bring her back in the future. Merch is risky, I mean look at the HHN 25 prints ? Those were heavily discounted towards the end of the run and at the tent sale. I believe they were thinking that those prints were going to be golden. The point wasn't really about merch being cut. It was more pointing out the fact that they are cutting a source of revenue in general. Her art sold out both years because they produced a limited amount of it. If they are willing to cut a source of revenue, what else will they be cutting that never created profit for them? They could cut 4-5 actors per house per cast. They could cut half the street actors. More rides could be closed. The water show (if it was planned) could and most likely will be cut. At this point, the only show I think we will get will be whatever they put in Fear Factor because they can control social distancing there. So, it could be AoV, a special 30th anniversary show, or the rumored and hoped for Bill and Ted return (which is doubtful, that will draw a big crowd). Cases continue to rise at an alarming rate. With Disneyland opening pushed back, the Halloween party canceled at Disney, universal letting go of quite a few parks and resorts employees, and travel restrictions still in place for quite a bit of a the world, I'm starting to lose hope that we will be getting HHN in Sept. HHN costs a TON to put on but it also typically brings in a ton of money. This year, they need to decide if they take a gamble and hope crowds show up and nobody gets sick from attending which would cause more issues or just wait it out and do HHN 30 at the start of the year if things have calmed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimateforce Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 (edited) I just applied to work at Universal as an inspector. They are still hiring even during the layoffs. Wish me luck on that front. Edit: I didn't get the job. Edited June 26, 2020 by ultimateforce 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeoriaBJJ Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 "ORLANDO, Fla. – With coronavirus numbers climbing and cases trending younger, Florida officials made the decision to immediately prohibit the consumption of alcohol at bars statewide -- again. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees alcohol licenses, made the announcement Friday morning on Twitter. No information was offered on how long the moratorium will be in place or if bars can still serve food and to-go alcohol. On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke in Orlando about the recent “explosion” of cases, noting that patients are getting younger as more college-aged Floridians party with their friends. At that same news conference, DBPR secretary Halsey Beshears said his officers would be going to bars, restaurants and similar establishments each night to check for obvious social distancing, capacity or hygiene violations. Even before that, a bar near the University of Central Florida had its liquor license suspended after 13 employees and 28 patrons tested positive for COVID-19. The director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, Dr. Raul Pino, also said earlier this week that 152 cases have been linked to an unnamed bar near campus. Florida reported nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases statewide Friday." This isnt a good sign for anything going on in Orlando any time soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgwy407 Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 19 hours ago, PeoriaBJJ said: "ORLANDO, Fla. – With coronavirus numbers climbing and cases trending younger, Florida officials made the decision to immediately prohibit the consumption of alcohol at bars statewide -- again. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees alcohol licenses, made the announcement Friday morning on Twitter. No information was offered on how long the moratorium will be in place or if bars can still serve food and to-go alcohol. On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke in Orlando about the recent “explosion” of cases, noting that patients are getting younger as more college-aged Floridians party with their friends. At that same news conference, DBPR secretary Halsey Beshears said his officers would be going to bars, restaurants and similar establishments each night to check for obvious social distancing, capacity or hygiene violations. Even before that, a bar near the University of Central Florida had its liquor license suspended after 13 employees and 28 patrons tested positive for COVID-19. The director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, Dr. Raul Pino, also said earlier this week that 152 cases have been linked to an unnamed bar near campus. Florida reported nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases statewide Friday." This isnt a good sign for anything going on in Orlando any time soon. Agreed 100%. It's not looking good at all. I am not seeing HHN, Knott's or any of the other major haunts happening this year. Hopefully I'm wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlegreenghouls Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 (edited) On 6/26/2020 at 6:43 AM, Badge said: The point wasn't really about merch being cut. It was more pointing out the fact that they are cutting a source of revenue in general. Her art sold out both years because they produced a limited amount of it. If they are willing to cut a source of revenue, what else will they be cutting that never created profit for them? They could cut 4-5 actors per house per cast. They could cut half the street actors. More rides could be closed. The water show (if it was planned) could and most likely will be cut. At this point, the only show I think we will get will be whatever they put in Fear Factor because they can control social distancing there. So, it could be AoV, a special 30th anniversary show, or the rumored and hoped for Bill and Ted return (which is doubtful, that will draw a big crowd). Cases continue to rise at an alarming rate. With Disneyland opening pushed back, the Halloween party canceled at Disney, universal letting go of quite a few parks and resorts employees, and travel restrictions still in place for quite a bit of a the world, I'm starting to lose hope that we will be getting HHN in Sept. HHN costs a TON to put on but it also typically brings in a ton of money. This year, they need to decide if they take a gamble and hope crowds show up and nobody gets sick from attending which would cause more issues or just wait it out and do HHN 30 at the start of the year if things have calmed down. Are you doubting that universal has the best in mind for hhn? I don't think they are cutting revenue, they are just scaling back overall. They will still have stuff to sell. They turn a profit off all merch, Think about the shirts, they buy them in bulk 100k at 0.75 and sell them for 28 bucks that's like 200% profit off each shirt alone. Thats them spending 75k to make 2 million from shirts alone. I do agree that the prints were cool and easier to make in house. They have a printing shop on site. They are just predicting that people won't buy as much currently, hence why they are having super discount sale for excess merch Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Why would they have a full merch team, if people aren't buying stuff from theme parks that are 30 bucks more than regular price? Just because some layoffs or downscaling doesn't mean it's going to be bad year. What is going to be a bad year is that Covid 19 virus, I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't Unmasking the horror tour this year, Picture this 3 or 4 tours going thru the house during the time walking through the house with lights on and TOUCHING EVERYTHING. I personally think they might scale back on that because they would have to have a sanitize team in each house location which mean extra team member. I think they will do it but limit number of groups or people per group. how many times have you walked through a house with holes in the spots. There are actually a lot of holes in a lot of houses. I recall in Carnival Graveyard, they actually had extra spots for an extra 5-7 people. Yet people didn't notice it, or didn't mind because they were having fun. I don't think it but its really quality vs quantity issue. Would you rather have 20 alright scareactors in a house or 10 Great scareactors in house? Edited June 28, 2020 by littlegreenghouls 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimateforce Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 I thought it would be fun to take some video of CityWalk for those who haven't been. No commentary it's not a VLOG just some video. This might give you an idea of what the crowd control looks like as of this week. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimateforce Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Universal is replying to people asking for announcements on Twitter asking for permission to use their tweets. Could this be for an upcoming official announcement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badge Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Well, more and more halloween events are getting canceled. Dark Horizon in Orlando is canceled. Queen Mary's Dark Harbor in Long Beach CA is canceled. Kennywood parks Halloween event is canceled. A positive is that the HHN orlando twitter is going thru old (i'm talking 2+ month old) tweets of other people asking for announcements with the HHN twitter asking these people for permission to use their tweet. This is very odd and makes me wonder what they are up too. Wondering if they are gonna use these tweets in an announcement video. Sorta like a "You've been dying to hear about this years event" and then show some tweets followed by a big announcement drop. With the ticket offer going until July 22nd now, an announcement later this week would be great to hopefully drive up sales. Another positive is that they were testing the new water show just a couple of nights ago with proof from a video posted on twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon_Voorhees Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 12 hours ago, Badge said: Well, more and more halloween events are getting canceled. Dark Horizon in Orlando is canceled. Queen Mary's Dark Harbor in Long Beach CA is canceled. Kennywood parks Halloween event is canceled. A positive is that the HHN orlando twitter is going thru old (i'm talking 2+ month old) tweets of other people asking for announcements with the HHN twitter asking these people for permission to use their tweet. This is very odd and makes me wonder what they are up too. Wondering if they are gonna use these tweets in an announcement video. Sorta like a "You've been dying to hear about this years event" and then show some tweets followed by a big announcement drop. With the ticket offer going until July 22nd now, an announcement later this week would be great to hopefully drive up sales. Another positive is that they were testing the new water show just a couple of nights ago with proof from a video posted on twitter. They've been playing Marathon of Mayhem 2019 at 9p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeoriaBJJ Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 6 hours ago, Brandon_Voorhees said: They've been playing Marathon of Mayhem 2019 at 9p. Rewatched it this morning... what a great show. Very fun! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon_Voorhees Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I cried like a baby every time I saw it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystiquephreeq Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Hello all!! I have no idea what’s going on this year. I’m an essential worker so work has kept me too busy to keep up, then my husband’s idiotic coworker came into work for a solid week after being exposed to the virus. Told absolutely no one until the day before he got his test results which were positive! My husband tested positive (he has asthma). Had symptoms, they never got too bad. I tested negative once and my second test results are still not in. I’ve been an anxiety riddled bundle of quarantined joy since the day after my birthday. Anyone wanna catch me up on this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimateforce Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) Sorry to hear about what's going on in your personal life but nothing concrete announced yet. Lots of people either really happy or really mad Billie Eilish is involved. Edited July 1, 2020 by ultimateforce 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilPetts Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 12 hours ago, mystiquephreeq said: Hello all!! I have no idea what’s going on this year. I’m an essential worker so work has kept me too busy to keep up, then my husband’s idiotic coworker came into work for a solid week after being exposed to the virus. Told absolutely no one until the day before he got his test results which were positive! My husband tested positive (he has asthma). Had symptoms, they never got too bad. I tested negative once and my second test results are still not in. I’ve been an anxiety riddled bundle of quarantined joy since the day after my birthday. Anyone wanna catch me up on this year? Sorry to hear this, i really hope you're both okay! Nothing too much has been said so still just a lot of speculation at this point. Universal have just released hotel & ticket packages and it mentions Express as well as R.I.P Tours on their website, so it looks as if we could potentially start getting some announcements soon! https://orlando.halloweenhorrornights.com/site/hhn/products/package 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kablue Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 14 hours ago, mystiquephreeq said: Hello all!! I have no idea what’s going on this year. I’m an essential worker so work has kept me too busy to keep up, then my husband’s idiotic coworker came into work for a solid week after being exposed to the virus. Told absolutely no one until the day before he got his test results which were positive! My husband tested positive (he has asthma). Had symptoms, they never got too bad. I tested negative once and my second test results are still not in. I’ve been an anxiety riddled bundle of quarantined joy since the day after my birthday. Anyone wanna catch me up on this year? I hope all turns out well for you all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USHER6998 Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 22 hours ago, mystiquephreeq said: Hello all!! I have no idea what’s going on this year. I’m an essential worker so work has kept me too busy to keep up, then my husband’s idiotic coworker came into work for a solid week after being exposed to the virus. Told absolutely no one until the day before he got his test results which were positive! My husband tested positive (he has asthma). Had symptoms, they never got too bad. I tested negative once and my second test results are still not in. I’ve been an anxiety riddled bundle of quarantined joy since the day after my birthday. Anyone wanna catch me up on this year? I hope you and your husband are ok! There’s nothing official yet unfortunately how ever most speculation is the 10 houses are 1. Billie Eilish 2.Beetlejuice 3.Haunting of Hill House 4. A original based around a theater 5. a original around a pumpkin king could be connected to twisted traditions zone from hhn 28 6. 30 Year Anniversary house 7. Icons house 8.Texas chainsaw house more then likely based of Texas chainsaw 3D 9. Universal Monsters The Brides 10. Tooth Fairy OG not much known on zones but speculated creepshow could possibly be a zone this year 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Does anyone know if the BOGO tickets will work for Oct 22nd and 23rd? I don't see those listed as blackout dates, but the tickets also state they're only for "select dates" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimateforce Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhHaiInternet95 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 (edited) One thought I've had that's kept me going through all this is that for the next few years the event may go somewhat back in the direction that the fans want--between IPs becoming too expensive, rarer with productions shut down, and having to appeal to a local crowd. Edited July 4, 2020 by OhHaiInternet95 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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