Thoughts on new street experience

[foREVer56]

maybe each group will have 2 different areas, one for each cast?

[boogeyman13]

I think the banners are for a reason. My thought is that the park will be divvied up between each legion, and then they roam within each territory. It still gives us roaming hordes and larger SZ's, but also keeps the hordes from bunching up on one side of the park and makes things a bit more manageable. And it keeps the themeing that's currently being built in the streets consistent with the group there. Female prisoners doesn't make much sense outside a prison.

Throw into that one or two hordes that do roam around the park (perhaps the Inquisitus themselves), and it should be a good time.

I'm also imagining seeing hats, shirts, etc. being sold with the individual legion logos on them. I want!

[Keosilver]

It would be awesome if this concept is taken further later on down the path. Possibly instead of hordes that are risen by one entity have them be more tribal like. Perhaps plunge the entire park into an apocalypse where tribes fight over resources such as fresh/untainted plasma, meats, etc. The guests to the parks being their prey and their enemies being other tribes. Maybe even stage flash mob sort of shows where stunt actors do combat with each other, while the guest/prey scurry away to find a safe haven within the apocalypse. Totally Thunderdome haha. I could think of four "tribes" right now: Medical Mutations (in the case of an atomic apocalypse), Smilez (A barbaric, sadistic, group of killers who have almost un-evolved into more bestial trains of thoughts. Anarchy themed apocalypse.), The Pure (A perfect species that takes eugenics to a new level, Alien apocalypse.), The Suits (Corporate thugs with many different allied forces with other tribes whose goal is to completely monopolize resources by any means necessary.)

That was my biggest problem with the scarezone previous. They were just little pockets of scenes that sure, scared people and gave something pretty to look at, but transitioning from Pilgrim burning to Mardi Gras sort of takes me out of the experience. It is sort of jarring like listening to a cd only to have it start skipping because of scratches. With one unified theme on the streets. The house could be tied in by possibly passing through to another dimension that has been touched by the hordes. Sort of like a fantasy RPG, you got one main quest (The streets) and several different unrelated quests that have ties to the main quest. Just my philosophy on this move. I'm very story forward when I go to Halloween events. If it is just a hodge podge of scenes, I'm generally uninterested.

[Neko]

I think the banners are for a reason. My thought is that the park will be divvied up between each legion, and then they roam within each territory. It still gives us roaming hordes and larger SZ's, but also keeps the hordes from bunching up on one side of the park and makes things a bit more manageable. And it keeps the themeing that's currently being built in the streets consistent with the group there. Female prisoners doesn't make much sense in a prison.

Throw into that one or two hordes that do roam around the park (perhaps the Inquisitus themselves), and it should be a good time.

This is more along the lines of what I am thinking. The fact that there is no "defined" zone just gives them a larger area to work within to me. And perhaps the different factions will "war" where the end of their zones meet or something.

[Jumboshrmp]

Does anyone think that some of the scarezones (or "street experiences" if you want) may actually stay stationary, and some of them roam? Or was it stated that all of the zones change places?

[foREVer56]

i'm thinking each legion will have the banner on flags wherever they roam.

[HHN UK]

After going to HOS last year they had the same concept for the scare zone ( no zones but the scare round the park ), The problem I found was that there were times when I seemed to walking for quite a while and no zombies were around and then times where there was a bunch of them. The problem when you did get to the scare actors was that there was a load of people trying to get scared ( like you do to feel the experience ) and I never got one actor come up to me because of this.

Seems like a transition year to be honest and they have properly thought that with there being one less house and that people would moan about that then they might as well try the scare zone thing as well so that if it doesnt work then can just write off the one event rather than risk next year not meeting expectations.

[Kpop HHN Luvr]

I'd love it if there was some kind of element where one of the Dark Legions could somehow win. If we could leave that night knowing that Vampires won or Prisoners based off some type of capture the flag element, that would be pretty epic.

Also, I like the idea that we could somehow "bond" with the legions and buy merchandise related to our favorite legion. I'm sure they're making a killing at IOA with the house related merchandise in WWOHP that they saw an opportunity to do that with the street experience. Maybe this is how the victors are declared each night - by how much of their merchandise was purchased!

Somehow, at the end of the event, I'm getting the feeling that The Iniquitus will be defeated by the Legions or whichever group sells the most merchandise "rules" the streets next year.

[Barbaric Derek]

I've been attending HHN for a while now (since 1993) and I have to admit that I've heard the "whole park is a scare zone" bit before and in my opinion, it never met the hype. I'm not against change but not at the cost of the smbience of Halloween or at the cost of good scares. My beef with HHN lately has been the "over marketing"... using icons or ideas just to sell tickets rather than focusing on the event itself. Yeah, yeah, they have to make their profit but I think we can all agree that they acheive that every year. I'm very disappointed in how things have been leaked/revealed this year but that's not to say that I don't look forward to going this year as I still very much do. Here's to hoping for some great street scares.

[ScubaGoomba]

I'm vibing, too, that this is going to involve large "scare zones" that aren't clearly marked but where the scareactors know their bounds, probably with overlap to allow interplay. The first thing that came to mind, to me, was closing night last year at Seven; we basically ran amuck in the street, having the Seven zone as our boundaries but the areas around our sins the specific... jurisdictions? The park, then, would be like the zone was and the individual hordes will have their own jurisdictions much like the sins. Did that make any sense? The idea that everyone has full reign over the full park just seems to be a bit too much. Imagine, as a scareactor, trying to find your tag out when you have the ENTIRE park to search.

Also, I'm sure sidewalks will still be safe. As I understand, they were off limits as a safety thing as much as they were for people to get a breather. Scaring people around the sidewalks, especially the curbs, creates a huge liability on Universal.

Will it be cool? Absolutely. I'm bummed that I moved and can't be a part of it this year, as an actor or guest. Have faith in Universal, all you skeptics!

[phinfan91]

I'm vibing, too, that this is going to involve large "scare zones" that aren't clearly marked but where the scareactors know their bounds, probably with overlap to allow interplay. The first thing that came to mind, to me, was closing night last year at Seven; we basically ran amuck in the street, having the Seven zone as our boundaries but the areas around our sins the specific... jurisdictions? The park, then, would be like the zone was and the individual hordes will have their own jurisdictions much like the sins. Did that make any sense?

That is interesting, Seven did bring a new experience in the scarezones will multiple "jurisdictions" as you say. This is the best description of the zones I have seen and it makes the most sense. Seems that they were teasing the new street experience with Seven last year

[Gambit]

I have a question. Is it "Dark Legions" or "Legions of Horror" because Universal is using both names on different sites?

[LV-426]

I'm vibing, too, that this is going to involve large "scare zones" that aren't clearly marked but where the scareactors know their bounds, probably with overlap to allow interplay. The first thing that came to mind, to me, was closing night last year at Seven; we basically ran amuck in the street, having the Seven zone as our boundaries but the areas around our sins the specific... jurisdictions? The park, then, would be like the zone was and the individual hordes will have their own jurisdictions much like the sins. Did that make any sense? The idea that everyone has full reign over the full park just seems to be a bit too much. Imagine, as a scareactor, trying to find your tag out when you have the ENTIRE park to search.

Also, I'm sure sidewalks will still be safe. As I understand, they were off limits as a safety thing as much as they were for people to get a breather. Scaring people around the sidewalks, especially the curbs, creates a huge liability on Universal.

Will it be cool? Absolutely. I'm bummed that I moved and can't be a part of it this year, as an actor or guest. Have faith in Universal, all you skeptics!

when I hear people say "large scarezones" makes me think, will they have extra actors in the streets, or the same amount as always, I never got how the zones are meant to be larger when they have the same amount of actors,

[Rikku]

But yeah what Goomba said about 7 makes sense and could very well be what we are looking at ... but yeah my concern was def just lack of fog and atmosphere and just actors roaming around. So yeah as long as some props are around and still have mountains of fog as per usual then this year should still meet standards, maybe not greatness (still hoping it will be) but at least meet standards.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Rikku

[ScubaGoomba]

Looking at the video that was released today, I think we'll actually have some theming in each large zone, too. When the tourists flee the Walkers, they wind up in a non-Walker zone (in the commercial, I think all of the Legions are there, but they've got to show off!). We'll probably have parts of the park that are "Walker territory" or "Vamp territory" with theming to match their respective Legion. I'm picturing banner flags up along the streets, atmospheric set dressing to get you in the mood, etc. You just don't have the dead space in between zones that existed in years prior. I'd expect a lot of fog, too, since the site seems to imply that the Legions (except the Prisoners and the Traditionals) are sneaking around. With the same number of scareactors as in the past (which is the impression I've been getting from here?) set in larger areas, expect a lot of them taking advantage of fog and conveniently placed props to come out from nowhere. Keep in mind that even cramped spaces, with enough fog, can still give off an impression of isolation so that the hidden scare seems to come from nowhere (Grown Evil got a lot from this effect, but imagine that over a much larger area).

Of course, this is all speculation, but that's my impression.

[Dick]

I'm not worried about the streets at all. Hell, I remember when there was absolutely no theming at all; just a ton of fog! THAT was awesome. You had to walk through slowly with your hands straight out to make sure you didn't run into anyone.

[Hush]

I'm not worried about the streets at all. Hell, I remember when there was absolutely no theming at all; just a ton of fog! THAT was awesome. You had to walk through slowly with your hands straight out to make sure you didn't run into anyone.

Fog was the theme....LOL

To this day I am still completely in love with the original Midway of the Bizarre. So much fog it took you forever to walk through Amity simply because you couldn't see your hand in front of your face and you could hear the screams of guests the entire way across the lagoon.

[Barbaric Derek]

Here's a short but interesting article from the Sentinel about this year's HHN...

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando/2012/08/universal-studios-full-halloween-horror-nights-lineup-revealed.html

"

“There are some physical realities out there that we have to adjust and accommodate,” Timon said. “It encouraged us to do stuff with the scare actors that we haven’t done in our program before.”

The mobile nature of the scare zones will translate into less seasonal decor in the park during regular hours.

“The technical team will scramble like mad between the time we close day park and go to Halloween Horror Nights and get décor in place,” Timon said.

"

[Parkscope]

Wow, so they are going to be rolling stuff out after the park closes.

[LV-426]

Here's a short but interesting article from the Sentinel about this year's HHN...

http://blogs.orlando...p-revealed.html

"

“There are some physical realities out there that we have to adjust and accommodate,” Timon said. “It encouraged us to do stuff with the scare actors that we haven’t done in our program before.”

The mobile nature of the scare zones will translate into less seasonal decor in the park during regular hours.

“The technical team will scramble like mad between the time we close day park and go to Halloween Horror Nights and get décor in place,” Timon said.

"

Wow, so they are going to be rolling stuff out after the park closes.

I am really glad to hear that, if they do it, both because they will give us nice props for the zones, and because it will be a surprise as well, for the first day of going

[QuestionMark]

They're rolling out props to the streets before the park opens for HHN? I knew it!!

[Feeble Junkie]

Here's a short but interesting article from the Sentinel about this year's HHN...

http://blogs.orlando...p-revealed.html

"

“There are some physical realities out there that we have to adjust and accommodate,” Timon said. “It encouraged us to do stuff with the scare actors that we haven’t done in our program before.”

The mobile nature of the scare zones will translate into less seasonal decor in the park during regular hours.

“The technical team will scramble like mad between the time we close day park and go to Halloween Horror Nights and get décor in place,” Timon said.

"

The interesting part of the article to me is this. (It almost explains exactly how the street experiences (Dark Legions) will work.)

"The scare zones will have no boundaries,"

Universal says. "Characters will roam through the theme park.

(Where as) Scare zones in the past have been defined places and spaces. Now we want to play with that a little bit,” said Jim Timon, Universal’s senior vice president for entertainment.

“The characters and scare actors will ebb and flow and move and change, so you won’t always see the same scare actors in the same places as you may have seen them earlier in the night,” Timon said.

Guests will see vampires, ghosts, goblins, beasts and a pack of female, chainsaw-carrying prisoners on the move.

Ongoing major construction within the park has altered the space available for Halloween activities.

What I get from that is that the actors will either:

A: Roam from area to area (wich leads me to believe whoever (HUSH, I think) said: "I think the props will be general halloween decor.. That way any Legion wouldn't look out of place there" (This was their point.. But not word for word).. Hope fully scaring people inbetween zones when they are headed to the next............. Or

B: They will shift zones at cast change.

But things like:

The scare zones will have no boundaries,

Characters will roam through the theme park.

“The characters and scare actors will ebb and flow and move and change, so you won’t always see the same scare actors in the same places as you may have seen them earlier in the night....Guests will see vampires, ghosts, goblins, beasts and a pack of female, chainsaw-carrying prisoners on the move.”

Lead me to believe that it will be what 07' was supposed to be.

and this:

Ongoing major construction within the park has altered the space available for Halloween activities.

Kills the argument of there being too much room to cover... Hell myabe the Amity Contsruction walll tunnel will be closed...

A: That'd be less room to cover.

B: I'm sure after 07' they no thye would have to hire more street actors.. & with the loss of one house.. there is 2 casts of however many actors are in a haunted house cast, that they can put in the streets... I think this year they will do the park roaming; Except get it right this year...

Thoughts?

BTW Great article Derek. Thanks for posting it.

[FreeGrizzlyBearRides]

The first time I went to hhn and had no clue what a scare zone was I thought about this, it seems like the right thing to do, although I love scare zones and the sets all out, a little change never hurt, I think it will be cool to see different scare actors all over the park..,that's what I loved about chainsaw drill team.

[Glitch]

We had our first street rehearsal last night and I gotta say, I love the new idea behind the streets!