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Halloween Horror Nights 23 Wishful Thinking


Mark M.
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Money talks!

IP's bring in money and that's what Universal (A company as a whole wants)

Nothing against Murdy but he's been IP heavy since he started HHN again in 06 and I dont see him slowing down... He has been very successful with the IP's,

Hell 2007 was very popular here with the fans and GP.. It just sells

I love original houses but I dont see them doing A LOT like they use to.. Maybe 1 or 2 of them every yr.

A new age of Darkness is here alright...

Its such a shame that this is the case because original houses are the best by a long way IMO. I honestly hope that this isn't the case because original ideas are what make the event for me.

Edited by danrichard95
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As a fan of Haunts Im seeing more and more Haunts coming up with there own stuff.. UO has been doing HHN long enough that people will still go matter what kind of houses there are.. IP just equal money but sadly corp is putting to much say now.. Let A&D do there thing and show the world what they can do.. There is some awesome stuff on display at Transworld this yr but I kinda dont see UO spending the money to buy the stuff.. Do make a lot of stuff within in the company or go to certain vendors (Those Vendors are really talented)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.533818963329669.1073741829.170325193012383&type=3

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I've noticed a lot of the technology at the show involves automation, screens, etc. Taking the person out of the scare.

IDK I'm mixed on that. there are a lot of cool things Universal could do with tech. (walls that transitioned to the dark world in silent hill would have been nice) Which to me is fine to set up a mood or a few scares. But a whole house with screens would less than desirable.

Animatronics, for the most part, I don't care for unless they are just things that can't be done by humans. Even a puppet IMO is better than a robot. Puppets can interact better and don't break nearly as often. Low tech is almost always more reliable.

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I personally don't understand all of the negativity IP houses get. Universal is actually the only Halloween event where not only do I not mind IPs, but encourage them. This is Universal, after all. The theme park is all about "riding the movies", so why should the houses at their Halloween event be any different? I agree with the idea of not having all 7 or 8 houses be IPs, but a mix is good. Last year was a bit IP heavy for me, had there been an original 8th house, it would have been perfect.

Edited by Coast
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I personally don't understand all of the negativity IP houses get. Universal is actually the only Halloween event where not only do I not mind IPs, but encourage them. This is Universal, after all. The theme park is all about "riding the movies", so why should the houses at their Halloween event be any different? I agree with the idea of not having all 7 or 8 houses be IPs, but a mix is good. Last year was a bit IP heavy for me, had there been an original 8th house, it would have been perfect.

We actually had a fairly lengthy discussion about this last year after the announcement of a fairly heavy IP year. There were some good points that came up, and you may want to give it a read:

To recap a point I made about IP's in that discussion last year, there's generally a difference between what you see during the day, and the IP houses. The rides use familiar franchises, but tell you different stories. None of them are just a straight rehash of their respective property. IP houses, however, are often times "best of" moments from their property.

Of the five IP houses last year (P&T, HoH, Cooper, TWD, SH), three of them followed that formula. Really, only Cooper and P&T gave us original experiences with their houses, while the others just put in key moments and characters from the larger property. You could make an argument for HoH leaning more towards original, but they still put a lot of direct iconography from the films in there.

Basically, IP houses aren't bad in and of themselves. But their execution can leave a lot to be desired, particularly when the license holder clamps down on any creative freedom. We saw the results of that last year in TWD, and previously in 2007 with the NLC SZ that was scrapped. Original houses aren't constrained by that, and can offer you an experience that you didn't already see at the AMC in Citywalk earlier that week.

And as far as IP houses at Universal being a natural extension, I would agree with that only if they used the idea of the movie studio in their brand positioning. But they don't; or at least not overtly. They promote HHN as its own entity outside of the park theming, resulting in the event having a brand positioning different than one of "ride the movies." They promote the quality, scariness, and intensity of the event. So I don't see a reason to assume they have to, or even should, endorse similar brand offerings. In my opinion, HHN is a complementary brand. Much like how PepsiCo owns both Pepsi and Frito-Lay. They're two brand offerings that utilize similar infrastructures and can complement each other well, but can also exist and be profitable without the other.

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We actually had a fairly lengthy discussion about this last year after the announcement of a fairly heavy IP year. There were some good points that came up, and you may want to give it a read:

To recap a point I made about IP's in that discussion last year, there's generally a difference between what you see during the day, and the IP houses. The rides use familiar franchises, but tell you different stories. None of them are just a straight rehash of their respective property. IP houses, however, are often times "best of" moments from their property.

Of the five IP houses last year (P&T, HoH, Cooper, TWD, SH), three of them followed that formula. Really, only Cooper and P&T gave us original experiences with their houses, while the others just put in key moments and characters from the larger property. You could make an argument for HoH leaning more towards original, but they still put a lot of direct iconography from the films in there.

Basically, IP houses aren't bad in and of themselves. But their execution can leave a lot to be desired, particularly when the license holder clamps down on any creative freedom. We saw the results of that last year in TWD, and previously in 2007 with the NLC SZ that was scrapped. Original houses aren't constrained by that, and can offer you an experience that you didn't already see at the AMC in Citywalk earlier that week.

And as far as IP houses at Universal being a natural extension, I would agree with that only if they used the idea of the movie studio in their brand positioning. But they don't; or at least not overtly. They promote HHN as its own entity outside of the park theming, resulting in the event having a brand positioning different than one of "ride the movies." They promote the quality, scariness, and intensity of the event. So I don't see a reason to assume they have to, or even should, endorse similar brand offerings. In my opinion, HHN is a complementary brand. Much like how PepsiCo owns both Pepsi and Frito-Lay. They're two brand offerings that utilize similar infrastructures and can complement each other well, but can also exist and be profitable without the other.

that thread hurts my head lol.... -_-

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Honestly I think Howl-O-Scream is starting to get a bigger fan base than HHN...which is sad :( ...but I have to admit I think HOS was scarier than HHN last year...which was not what I was expecting sense the HHN 21 houses scared the crap outta me...All HOS needs to do is bring all new houses every year and they shall become the "New HHN"...they've already got the scarezones, themes, icons, etc. It's sad to see HHN lose its touch all because of marketing wanting to make money buy using IPs like TWD to advertise, sell tickets and make merchandise...It's just sad. It's a shame :(

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Honestly I think Howl-O-Scream is starting to get a bigger fan base than HHN...which is sad :( ...but I have to admit I think HOS was scarier than HHN last year...which was not what I was expecting sense the HHN 21 houses scared the crap outta me...All HOS needs to do is bring all new houses every year and they shall become the "New HHN"...they've already got the scarezones, themes, icons, etc. It's sad to see HHN lose its touch all because of marketing wanting to make money buy using IPs like TWD to advertise, sell tickets and make merchandise...It's just sad. It's a shame :(

I wouldn't go that far lol. It is true HHN is losing some of the appeal it had, but I think more people become HHN fans every year because of the IPs. If anything the IPs are making the fan base grow. I don't know, I don't know the real numbers or anything so I am just making guesses here.

The one good thing about HHN is that at least they don't repeat houses.

Edited by Mr. Black
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I wouldn't go that far lol. It is true HHN is losing some of the appeal it had, but I think more people become HHN fans every year because of the IPs. If anything the IPs are making the fan base grow. I don't know, I don't know the real numbers or anything so I am just making guesses here.

The one good thing about HHN is that at least they don't repeat houses.

I'm being serious though...HOS is starting to progress...But honestly HHN may get new fans because of the IPs but once those "fans" go to the event to find out they wasted there money on something that was over advertised and not even that good..I doubt they will stay true fans for Long...

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I'm being serious though...HOS is starting to progress...But honestly HHN may get new fans because of the IPs but once those "fans" go to the event to find out they wasted there money on something that was over advertised and not even that good..I doubt they will stay true fans for Long...

maybe.

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I wouldn't go that far lol. It is true HHN is losing some of the appeal it had, but I think more people become HHN fans every year because of the IPs. If anything the IPs are making the fan base grow. I don't know, I don't know the real numbers or anything so I am just making guesses here.

The one good thing about HHN is that at least they don't repeat houses.

The event had sold out multiple nights last year. The fan base is massive.... even if it is not the rabid fans like us, they have a huge fan base.

TBH HOS doesn't come close and it is the closest thing to HNN (at least in the central FL area). I'd like to go to Nether World and some other haunts around but they are:

a.) too far for me to travel in September and October.

b.) Usually one or two houses.

Of course with the wife being 7 months pregnant come this September.... I'll be lucky to go to HHN :/

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For those of us not in attendance, what did he say about fan sites? Any other interesting tidbits?

Well honestly the questions were pretty mild in the first forum. I had a great question but when I thought of it/got up the never to ask it too many hands were up.

I loved hearing Rick talk about the Tesla coil from 14 and how bad an idea it was. Kim mentioned how Fear factor fell short due to all the challenges with permits changing and what not.

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I for one would love a house based on The Flood from the Halo series. Would't have to be directly based on actualities, but could be based on a parasitical bug that turns its host into mindless monsters. Could be kind of based a little off both from The Flood from Halo and the Las Plagas from Resident Evil. You can use your imagination from there on.

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I spoke with Rick after the first session (VERY nice guy, btw). We wanted to tell him how much we loved Horror Unearthed because he specifically mentioned it in the first session. I told him straight up that I believe that game had a direct influence on us flying back to FL for a second weekend of HHN last year. In the 8 years I've gone to HHN, it's always been a one time shot - one long weekend - because of travel costs and such. However, the game kept us so immersed in what was going on, and we enjoyed ourselves so much, we flew down for a second run. We plan on doing that again this year. Rick said, "Well, I can't get specific, but if you liked Horror Unearthed last year, you won't be disappointed this year." I could've jumped up and hugged him! I also directly asked, "So, I hear rumors all the time that you all read fan sites - like Horror Night Nightmares - do you really, or is that just bullshit hype?" He said, "We absolutely read that site. We know how important it is to keep our best fans happy." So yeah, they're reading.

Btw, in the silent auction, I won the behind the scenes tour - which includes a lights on tour of ALL the houses WITH an A&D person. I am friggin BEYOND myself..

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I spoke with Rick after the first session (VERY nice guy, btw). We wanted to tell him how much we loved Horror Unearthed because he specifically mentioned it in the first session. I told him straight up that I believe that game had a direct influence on us flying back to FL for a second weekend of HHN last year. In the 8 years I've gone to HHN, it's always been a one time shot - one long weekend - because of travel costs and such. However, the game kept us so immersed in what was going on, and we enjoyed ourselves so much, we flew down for a second run. We plan on doing that again this year. Rick said, "Well, I can't get specific, but if you liked Horror Unearthed last year, you won't be disappointed this year." I could've jumped up and hugged him! I also directly asked, "So, I hear rumors all the time that you all read fan sites - like Horror Night Nightmares - do you really, or is that just bullshit hype?" He said, "We absolutely read that site. We know how important it is to keep our best fans happy." So yeah, they're reading.

Btw, in the silent auction, I won the behind the scenes tour - which includes a lights on tour of ALL the houses WITH an A&D person. I am friggin BEYOND myself..

Congrats Eileen! That sounds like that'll be awesome!

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