HHN XXI Wishful Thinking

[Cody]

It wouldn't be particularly hard to place the videos. Even in the absence of a screen they can be projected on the side of a building.

[Legacy]

All they had were music videos in 2008? Wow, queue videos have really gone downhill.

It bugged me that, outside of Zombiegeddon, the queue video was the same for every house. 2004 (the first year every house had a video) had a different video for every house. Castle Vampyre had Kenny Bauble investigating the Castle, Ghost Town had the history of Thunder Gulch, Hellgate had the awesome Warden welcoming you to Hellgate. Deadtropolis even had a local, channel 6 anchor reporting a zombie outbreak. Those were awesome queue videos. If they are going to keep them going, I would much rather see Universal take the time and make the videos all organic to the house.

(Catacombs desperately needed one. How hard would it had been to tell the story of the plague, plague doctors, and Cary, France in a faux-History Channel special style? I mean, really.)

[Mae]

All they had were music videos in 2008? Wow, queue videos have really gone downhill.

It bugged me that, outside of Zombiegeddon, the queue video was the same for every house. 2004 (the first year every house had a video) had a different video for every house. Castle Vampyre had Kenny Bauble investigating the Castle, Ghost Town had the history of Thunder Gulch, Hellgate had the awesome Warden welcoming you to Hellgate. Deadtropolis even had a local, channel 6 anchor reporting a zombie outbreak. Those were awesome queue videos. If they are going to keep them going, I would much rather see Universal take the time and make the videos all organic to the house.

(Catacombs desperately needed one. How hard would it had been to tell the story of the plague, plague doctors, and Cary, France in a faux-History Channel special style? I mean, really.)

I have to agree; 2004 had the best queue entertainment yet. I liked the 2007 Freddy video, it had some thought put into it and introduced the storyline of the house a la infomercial style, but the rest of the houses from that year had very little to offer after the first 5-10 minutes. I remember seeing the same sequence 10 times while waiting to get into TCM that year, and we weren't even in line that long!

I did, however, enjoy the little text games they used in 2008 and 2009. They took me back to my youth and those text rpg games you got to play when you took computer classes in 7th grade. In this age of high function, super fast phones with internet/wifi capabilities, I would love to see a game with 'rewards' if you finish. Give us a downloadable video or song, or a digital badge that could culminate in some sort of hurrah on the website at the end of the run...it's the 21st Century, USO! If you want to begin a new era of fear, you better get with the times!!!

Mae

[Mae]

That's true actually, If they changed how queue lines and things were set up, I think it will give the event some needed "freshness"

I kinda wish the music videos in the queues came back, like in 2008, I remember going to interstellar terror, they had a screen with music videos, that was fun

One night a line attendant did the entire Thriller dance! It was a definate highlight!

Mae

[Cody]

All they had were music videos in 2008? Wow, queue videos have really gone downhill.

It bugged me that, outside of Zombiegeddon, the queue video was the same for every house. 2004 (the first year every house had a video) had a different video for every house. Castle Vampyre had Kenny Bauble investigating the Castle, Ghost Town had the history of Thunder Gulch, Hellgate had the awesome Warden welcoming you to Hellgate. Deadtropolis even had a local, channel 6 anchor reporting a zombie outbreak. Those were awesome queue videos. If they are going to keep them going, I would much rather see Universal take the time and make the videos all organic to the house.

(Catacombs desperately needed one. How hard would it had been to tell the story of the plague, plague doctors, and Cary, France in a faux-History Channel special style? I mean, really.)

The music videos were actually somewhat of a necessity due to the setup of the line. Due to the Rockit construction, Interstellar Terror and Creatures! both had their lines going through an empty soundstage, so doing queue videos in the building would have been difficult due to two different lines in one area. Playing one video after the other would mean you might miss the one for your house unless the line was agonizingly long, while trying to play both at once would have obvious problems. So they set up a double-sided screen right in the center with the line snaking around it and played music videos for songs like "Thriller", "Bark at the Moon", and "Dragula".

[Guest]

I don't know about you all, but I would like to see another western themed ghost town house, almost like Ghost Town back in 2004, but with Legendary Truth ala' Spirit Seekers in it. That way you could have a new house with Legendary Truth returning again. It's like a double whammy!

[JDW]

I would love to see another Ghost town... as of course stupid hurricanes had me miss that year. Cool idea to mix with the LT.

As for queue videos, I have always loved the videos... or at least something to entertain whuile you wait in the heat for 10 min to 1 hr+

[Legacy]

Ghost Town is one of my all-time favorites. Still had, what I consider to be, one of the most effective "story" finales ever.

I can't imagine them bringing it back though, unless they do it like Ship of Screams (It's like Frightanic, but not!). It would essentially be the same scenes and characters only with a different layout.

[JDW]

IDK they have

upteen millon clown/3d houses...

at least three specific vampire houses...

4 PS houses (and at least two more insane asylum houses)

3 ship houses

3 Body collectors

3 Scary Tales

etc etc

but one "ghost town" type house...

I'm sure there is still plenty they could do without directly ripping off the house.

In fact another hellgate prison type house would be awesome as well.

[LV-426]

All they had were music videos in 2008? Wow, queue videos have really gone downhill.

It bugged me that, outside of Zombiegeddon, the queue video was the same for every house. 2004 (the first year every house had a video) had a different video for every house. Castle Vampyre had Kenny Bauble investigating the Castle, Ghost Town had the history of Thunder Gulch, Hellgate had the awesome Warden welcoming you to Hellgate. Deadtropolis even had a local, channel 6 anchor reporting a zombie outbreak. Those were awesome queue videos. If they are going to keep them going, I would much rather see Universal take the time and make the videos all organic to the house.

(Catacombs desperately needed one. How hard would it had been to tell the story of the plague, plague doctors, and Cary, France in a faux-History Channel special style? I mean, really.)

I wasn't there for 04 but, yeah the videos have been lacking lately, I have to say I liked the Texas Chainsaw and Freddy ones in 07, I also liked the dead silence but, those were movie videos... ( wolfman was another movie video)

I agree about Catacombs, I think Havoc having a Video of the experiments and the doctors talking about the soldiers could have been cool, I don't know, I love looking at the videos because they entertain you so it makes the lines bearable,

I don't know about you all, but I would like to see another western themed ghost town house, almost like Ghost Town back in 2004, but with Legendary Truth ala' Spirit Seekers in it. That way you could have a new house with Legendary Truth returning again. It's like a double whammy!

yeah I would love to see a ghost town house, I never saw the one in 04 ,but I think they should bring it back, as well as hellgate prison

there are more than a couple of old houses that i would love they bring back, instead of bringing back the same ones over and over, I know some houses are like franchise houses that get sequels but, some houses that were done in the past only once, those could come back and I don't think people would complain, a lot of us never saw them in the first place

I mean even if they did the same layout and everything, I don't know if that would be such a horrible thing, out of 8 houses if they brought back one of the old ones, that wouldn't be so bad for the people that saw it years ago, I can understand if they did the entire even on old houses, but a couple of old houses done again I don't think would be that bad

Edited April 12, 2011 by black mask

[Goo]

I don't know about you guys, but I kind of don't like the queue videos. You end up watching these short videos over and over again and it just gets annoying. I'd rather have them play a movie or something rather than a short video for the houses.

[Ross]

Bring Back JACK.................

BUT KILL HIM OFF, like don't make him the icon for this year,

have what ever the icon is kill him, cause how many people are afraid of clowns (jack)

so this will up the Fear factor of the new icon

Klown Killerz

Edited April 12, 2011 by Ross

[killswitch22]

I wasn't there for 04 but, yeah the videos have been lacking lately, I have to say I liked the Texas Chainsaw and Freddy ones in 07, I also liked the dead silence but, those were movie videos... ( wolfman was another movie video)

I agree about Catacombs, I think Havoc having a Video of the experiments and the doctors talking about the soldiers could have been cool, I don't know, I love looking at the videos because they entertain you so it makes the lines bearable,

yeah I would love to see a ghost town house, I never saw the one in 04 ,but I think they should bring it back, as well as hellgate prison

there are more than a couple of old houses that i would love they bring back, instead of bringing back the same ones over and over, I know some houses are like franchise houses that get sequels but, some houses that were done in the past only once, those could come back and I don't think people would complain, a lot of us never saw them in the first place

I mean even if they did the same layout and everything, I don't know if that would be such a horrible thing, out of 8 houses if they brought back one of the old ones, that wouldn't be so bad for the people that saw it years ago, I can understand if they did the entire even on old houses, but a couple of old houses done again I don't think would be that bad

I do agree about the queue videos. However I did enjoy Leave it to Cleaver's video, it was long enough and had different segment so I wasn't sick of it by the time I got in the house. I feel the videos have to be elaborate enough to get the general public pumped for the house.

On a side note, I know it won't happen but I would love to see some version of Demon Cantina. I wasn't able to go back then and I feel that it would have probably been one of my favorite houses.

[LV-426]

I do agree about the queue videos. However I did enjoy Leave it to Cleaver's video, it was long enough and had different segment so I wasn't sick of it by the time I got in the house. I feel the videos have to be elaborate enough to get the general public pumped for the house.

On a side note, I know it won't happen but I would love to see some version of Demon Cantina. I wasn't able to go back then and I feel that it would have probably been one of my favorite houses.

Actually... Actually the Leave it to Cleaver video Was Better than the house...

the reason I say this is because the video showed Big, strong guys with chainsaws and the cute little mask, they were kind of like the actors in saws and steam I guess, When I saw that video I was thinking like "Omg this house is going to rock, these guys look like serial killers, specially Freaky with the little mask they had on...

what We got in the house was normal actors greeting you every 5 seconds, I felt like somehow I stepped on a Walmart or something....

That video was so good the disappointment of the house was even bigger,

and Demon Cantina... YET another house I missed, and they only did once like JWFearman said:

4 PS houses (and at least two more insane asylum houses)

3 ship houses

3 Body collectors

3 Scary Tales

that makes me kinda sad and a little mad actually, I love the Body collectors but If I didn't see them in the next 6 years I would be glad, same with PS houses,

[Legacy]

I don't necessarily consider sequel houses as the same thing as reusing a theme. It's more akin to franchising then rehashing. Home for the Holidays prove that (there was no asylum, only inmates). Two of the "Ship" houses were both "Frightanic," a clever conceit that I would love to see revisited somehow (two versions of, essentially, the same themed house). Ship of Screams was different, though. I thoroughly enjoyed going through it, especially considering I had never gone through Frightanic, but I could never shake the feeling that it was Frightanic-Lite. Even the wheel-house from the Hallow'd Past made me immediately think of Ship of Screams, not Frightanic, because it was essentially the same visual. They even had the same person doing make-up (Dr. Skull) from Ship of Screams doing the "Frightanic" crew last year.

I would love to see a return of Ghost Town, but I know, deep down, it won't be as good. It will feel too familiar to me.

Orlando gets spoiled by having original houses every year. There are even grumblings by some fans when a layout gets reused with a different theme (I'm calling you out, Spawn-Voc). Is there a benefit to nostalgia? Sure, but Universal seems to thrive more when they attempt new themes. There's a reason Ghost Town and Hellgate didn't return, and Shadybrook did. Asylums you can play with and have variations on. Prisons, also, though to a lesser extent. A western ghost town is exactly that, a western ghost town. Adding LT or the Spirit Seekers would simply throw some monitors around the place and a guy in a T-Shirt at the front door. It doesn't really change much: General Store, Stable, Bar/Saloon, Jail, Coffin-maker. The mine and backside of the church where unexpected, creative surprises, but what do you do after that?

It's a new era, and with that I really hope that unique themes that were created in the first 19 years don't return. Asylum? Sure. Prison? Whatever. School? Okay. Gothic Castles? Fine. Those are horror-location staples that are returned to time and time again. But a ship? They did it, did it well, and can let it go. Ghost Town? Superb feat, but it can stay in the past.

Universal introduced two new potential franchises that surprised everyone last year, in Catacombs and Havoc. The characters (and casts) sold theme. Let's look and see where A&D can take them, because both can be put in new environments (like the Body Collectors). Let's put Havoc in the streets. Let's put the Plague Doctors in a city, or send disease control after them.

Let's leave the past in the past and embrace a new terror.

[JDW]

I guess it all a matter of opinion. But you got me on the ghost town... 14 was the one year I missed so, even if they revisited it, I didn't get to experience the first and I wouldn't be able to compare.

Honestly I thought ship of screams paled in comparison to the original Fritanic houses. It did seem like it was just revisitng the originals... But I think ghost ships are also a staple of haunted lore.

I agree with you that they get the best response when they come up with new ideas... but there are only so many themes you can use. I whole heartedly welcome new innovative ways to do things... But I know we will still see a lot of the same themes just because you can only do so much.

Its also the same reason people specualte the same things over and over. Everyone has pre-concieved ideas about the event and horror in general. When they said "A New Era of Horror" I just hope they meant it. Ideally, I don't want to see anything from the last 20 years... But I'm not even sure if that would be possible.

Edited April 13, 2011 by JWFearman

[LV-426]

I can understand everything that Legacy said, I mean, yeah I get it, but, i don't know I feel that after 6-7 years that passed having one of those houses again won't really be That bad,

I agree about Havoc and catacombs,

[Legacy]

I guess it all a matter of opinion. But you got me on the ghost town... 14 was the one year I missed so, even if they revisited it, I didn't get to experience the first and I wouldn't be able to compare.

Honestly I thought ship of screams paled in comparison to the original Fritanic houses. It did seem like it was just revisitng the originals... But I think ghost ships are also a staple of haunted lore.

I agree with you that they get the best response when they come up with new ideas... but there are only so many themes you can use. I whole heartedly welcome new innovative ways to do things... But I know we will still see a lot of the same themes just because you can only do so much.

Its also the same reason people specualte the same things over and over. Everyone has pre-concieved ideas about the event and horror in general. When they said "A New Era of Horror" I just hope they meant it. Ideally, I don't want to see anything from the last 20 years... But I'm not even sure if that would be possible.

It is opinion, and my opinion is always a desire to keep pressing forward. That's why whenever I design stuff I intentionally try to think outside the box of "Horror."

There are "only" so many horror themes that can be used, but that doesn't mean you can't look outside the traditional subset of "horror." Last year proved it with three new concepts, two of which included compelling backstories that show how much the "story" is A&D's forte. Havoc and Catacombs were expected to be horrible. The DoWs were expected to not be that intimidating. Most people expected Catacombs to be, "Cave, Cave, Cave" and no one anticipated the creepiness of the Plague Doctors we were right on the reveal. Hades was something that had never been attempted before, anywhere, to my knowledge and that alone led to a great deal of anticipation. Esquilito Muerta surprised everyone with its design and vibe. We had a Steampunk world without monsters other than desperate humans. These are the things that Universal does that makes me love the event.

We will always have asylums and prisons, zombies and vampires. We know and accept these devices, regularly. But numerous HHN fans (even on here) discuss the "Wouldn't it be cool's" with an odd expectation that it would never happen. Why couldn't we have a zombie-zoo (Zoo-mbies)? It would different and exciting. Why not do a "Cult of Fear" as a theme? I want Lumberjack Werewolves. You can take characters and put them anywhere (McDon-Hell's, a demonic fast-food restaurant) without rehashing themes or locales. When A&D can't think of anymore ideas, then get new blood in there. I've got tons of ideas that Universal has never done, that are nothing like what has been done.

I'm disappointed I never saw Dark Torment, any of the Body Collector's Trilogy, Frightanic, (The Original) Dungeon of Terror, Intersteller Terror, etc. but I definitely don't want to see rehashes of them. As "cost effective" as rebuilding a nostalgia-house would be (pulling out old plans and designs), I would hate to see it because, frankly, I would view it as A&D (or management) being lazy.

It's completely possible to do a completely original event, and if any organization in the world can pull it off, it's Universal Orlando. Almost every year has two-three ideas that most people never considered or expected, and most of them succeed (we sometimes get Spawning). It's a challenge, sure, but I imagine that's what the team really enjoys: creating new nightmares.

I feel that asking for rehashes opens the potential to stagnation, which is what I NEVER want to see.

[Dr. Jimmy]

I think that there are many more possibilities for using the Old West in a house that would not necessarily be a rehash of Ghost Town. All sorts of things could be done with that time period including native American legends and monsters.

Plus it would be neat to see a vampire, zombie, werewolf, demon etc. wearing a Stetson. Stetsons are cool.

Check this out>http://www.texarcana.com/ it's filled with all sorts of horror in the Old West.

Edited April 13, 2011 by Dr. Jimmy

[Legacy]

I can understand everything that Legacy said, I mean, yeah I get it, but, i don't know I feel that after 6-7 years that passed having one of those houses again won't really be That bad,

I agree about Havoc and catacombs,

I suffer from too good a memory. I remember minute details of almost everything I see (it's not photographic, but it's close). I remember most details of houses I have gone through, especially if I went through more than once. Six to seven years wouldn't be enough for me to not automatically compare it. I would imagine it's similar for a lot of the repeat guests who have gone for more than five years. The houses stick with you, and that's why new concepts and themes are more effective.

I think that there are many more possibilities for using the Old West in a house that would not necessarily be a rehash of Ghost Town. All sorts of things could be done with that time period including native American legends and monsters.

Plus it would be neat to see a vampire, zombie, werewolf, demon etc. wearing a Stetson. Stetsons are cool.

Check this out>http://www.texarcana.com/ it's filled with all sorts of horror in the Old West.

A Native American Legends house would be unreal. I would totally less than three that. The only problem would be recognition. Most people don't know a lot of Native American stories and characters, which would make development of the house extremely focused on character-design and ambiance, and a whole lot of "WTFs." As much as I would love to see it, I think it would suffer from "Hades-tosis" where it's a patchwork of cool characters with no real understanding of what's going on.

A western-set conflict between vampires and lycans I would be totally down with. It allows for a different style of scares and a brutalization of the sets that would allow it to be strikingly different from Ghost Town.

And Stetsons rock.

[LV-426]

you guys blew my mind, a western house with monsters OMG

that would be pretty sick, i guess they dont need to bring back the ghosts, but do a western house with something else

[LV-426]

I suffer from too good a memory. I remember minute details of almost everything I see (it's not photographic, but it's close). I remember most details of houses I have gone through, especially if I went through more than once. Six to seven years wouldn't be enough for me to not automatically compare it. I would imagine it's similar for a lot of the repeat guests who have gone for more than five years. The houses stick with you, and that's why new concepts and themes are more effective.

I really understand what you mean, but, i think is a fact we are going to see sequels of houses again in the future, I think the point we were trying to make is that, if they need to do a sequel house, they should do it on houses that were done only once, I feel dreadful on the thought we are going to get another PS in the future,

but, if they really stick to original stories, that would be better,

[Legacy]

I really understand what you mean, but, i think is a fact we are going to see sequels of houses again in the future, I think the point we were trying to make is that, if they need to do a sequel house, they should do it on houses that were done only once, I feel dreadful on the thought we are going to get another PS in the future,

but, if they really stick to original stories, that would be better,

I don't think we'll see any sequels to houses from the first 19 years. I think the only sequels we may see will be from XX. That was the point. Find new franchises and say farewell to old ones. Legendary Truth (as a paranormal investigation story-telling device) will return, I'm sure. All it takes to add it to overlay of a neat location (PAGODA, PLEASE!). The Plague Doctors and DoWs will probably return, but I sincerely believe Shadybrook, the Body Collectors, and Scary Tales will never return as we know them. I'm even a tad skeptical that Cindy will show back up as a child, but rather as an adult (she turns 21 with the event).

The story is the important part to a house (or even scarezone) theme and makes the difference between a sequel and rehash. Pyschoscarepy had a story carrying it. The Body Collectors had a story. Screamhouse had a story (that got worse as it progressed). The stories are what A&D revisited that made the potential for sequels effective. A lot of the houses don't. Hades didn't. Ghost Town didn't. Frightanic (in all actually) didn't. Interstellar Terror didn't. The Vampyre "franchise" tried to force a story into a stereotypical "vampire" series of houses. A lot of great houses work best as a one and done, because that's all the story of the house requires.

I hope A&D doesn't try to force stuff. Either continue the stories of your new ideas (ZAP, Plague, Shadowcreek, LT/SS) or drop them and create new ones.

[HHNiP]

For what it's worth, I'd love to see a new version of Ghost Town, Demon Cantina and Hellgate Prison. Heck, throw in a new Deadtropolis and I'm a very, very happy camper.

I know there's a lot of argument over the whole original vs. retread, but I think an earlier poster is correct. Well-designed houses establish a particular universe. Subsequent houses can explore other locations and themes within those universes without being a carbon copy of the original.

[JDW]

Agreed. I think a reimage is fine... reuse or recycle is crap.

and that is basically what Legacy was saying I think.

I like new and fresh ideas. I don't mine a revist with a completely different spin.

I think a zombie zoo whould be awesome ( I always loved the zombie shark in resident eveil.. even if it made no sense whatsoever )

But I have a love for all things zombie too. Some don't

I agree on pressing forward... I don't want to see another Jack the Clown. I think Fear was an ingenious idea. Fear can be anything and can be reimaged every year. Not only that, I think he looked a lot like an immature/infantile creature (like a larve). Perhaps he was meant to change and mature. (more roots, different skin... etc) I don't think it would be bad if he came back or even just hung in the shadows controlling everything.

I've had some ideas as well on not just new innovative houses... but completely overhauling the event. I've been working on a full-scale event for a while in my noggin... I think that A&D probably feeds off that too. I'm mean I'm sure they think about the event as much or more than most of us... Kinda have too. I have never thought radical or "out of the box" ideas are dumb... no matter how far-fetched. While it may not work on it own or is a pipe dream... it could be inspiration for something completely different. the ones I can't stand are the unimagitaive "let's get Chance and Jack married" kind of ideas. Sure you fail sometimes... but you suceed more often than you would if you just rehash an idea.

Edited April 14, 2011 by JWFearman