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Halloween Horror Nights 24 Speculation


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Halloween Horror Nights Official Facebook Page:

Paul Duurloo "2 things: the street experiences the last 2 years have kinda sucked. I don't know if it's the fact that there seemed to be less scarachters or the fact that maybe you hired the same amount but spread them across the whole park. But it hadn't been great."

Mary Anne Paton-Jones "There are a lot of good comments here...I agree with keeping the HHN's 'special' and not getting greedy. We started going in the very beginning, and it was AWESOME back then. We used to go back every year, but stopped for a while because we were disappointed with how 'commercial' it got. Less atmosphere...more people....BOOOO...bring back the intimate experience, with lots of fog, street goonies, and crazy houses!"
Sean T. Smith "I've gone every year for 9 years now but I will not be attending this year if they don't have scare zones. The last 2 years have seemed way too overcrowded because of lack of content and lack of attractions. Ticket prices increase but content and attractions decrease?"
Frank Holik "NO MORE walking dead or zombies period....try something new and original like the old dayts...."
Tracey Backensto "I agree, and I'm a walking dead fan, but after last year hearing the theme song played on repeat for hours, I'm burnt out! I hate to say it, but if TWD is part of it again this year we won't be going either"
Karen Diane Avella "I'm the same what Tracey. I've seen ever episode of TWD, but I can only take so much zombie -.-
While Busch Gardens DID have a zombie house, they had so much more last year..."
Kyle Campbell "spine-chilling street experiences. Please, I would really like it if HHNs went back to the traditional scare zones. Last year and the year before really lacked in that area."

Dustin Swagn Faucett "Scare zones NEED to come back this year. Also, zombies are getting very old let's dig deep for gd ideas this year. I don't wanna say it, but maybe I should go to Tampa's Bush Gardens if HHN continues to decrease in pleasure and increase in price..."

Christian Rodriguez If the horrendous street experiences happen again and you guys don't bring back scare zones I'm definitely not going

Just a sample. #Encouraged

Side note: J, I was terribly sorry to hear what happened to you and your family. Hope you'll still make it out!

To Universal, all these people and these are just a few of the many making similar statements, in almost all cases are doing it because they greatly enjoy your product.

Never tearing down HHN, just very much waiting for the "reset"!

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Facebook comments don't matter when those same people drop hundreds to go.

It's a business. All that matters is what sells.

I'm encouraged that more than just a handful of people in our small circle here are seeing many of the same deficiencies we've been talking about for the past two years.

Surely that can't be a bad thing using Jeramy's analogy for getting this ship back on course.

I think Universal listens more than we realize, maybe that's wishful thinking, but the more voices who speak up to try and improve the event, the better.

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It's just the font the site's using. The whole page besides the logo is using the font

True... well not exactly. Most of the text is in a normal webfont. All the quotes and buttoons are using it.

But isn't it ironic they have put forth two eyballs and a font that has a weird "I".

Also, I'm not sure that is a straight font. I scoured the code for the font and they've done a strange thing:

They use a picture to show the font... which they cover up with highlightable invisible text. The invisible text is in a normal Ariel font. It's a little weird. I mean it makes it so you can copy and paste the quotes but... why?

An "I" with a serif and a tail is fairly unusual. It looks a lot more like a lowercase reversed L.

My thought. The "I" is more deliberate than just a font choice.

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I'm encouraged that more than just a handful of people in our small circle here are seeing many of the same deficiencies we've been talking about for the past two years.

Surely that can't be a bad thing using Jeramy's analogy for getting this ship back on course.

I think Universal listens more than we realize, maybe that's wishful thinking, but the more voices who speak up to try and improve the event, the better.

Here's the thing though... Expanding "our small circle" to include some Facebook posts still doesn't reflect the hundreds of thousands that attend the event throughout the month. This isn't the FCC where one phone call represents one billion people; for every one complaint about TWD or repeats or IPs, there are three posts asking for more Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees and other recognizable, non-Universal IPs. That's what the general public wants.

Yes, people at Universal listen. Unfortunately, the people who "listen" aren't necessarily the people who can really do all that much about it. If upper-management wants a more commercially approachable event then that is what is created. The people who care REALLY care, and they want to make the best event possible for the fans. And they actually DO. They adapt what they can to appeal to our taste. Hell, a few of us have been saying for years that the house layouts had gotten formulaic and droll when small regional haunts were making guests crawl and climb. And then they FINALLY did a crooked floor... and a crawl space. We wanted more fliers, we got more fliers. We wanted more elaborate "set" scares, we got those. Just because the general theme behind a house isn't what we want doesn't mean they're aren't listening... it means we aren't looking hard enough.

Fans can wax poetic about the good old days (Jeramy and I have had this conversation numerous times before), and we may get surprised next year. Personally, I'm holding out hope for a return to Terra Cruentes for a ten-year anniversary. But practically, rationally, what we have is what we're going to get. I know I'm a broken record on this, but until people who don't like the route the event is going stop going (or until tens of thousands of people start saying they won't go on Facebook), we will continue to get the Hollywood treatment.

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<meta name="description" content="Universal Studios Florida will transform into the nation’s premier Halloween event. Plan your escape to Halloween Horror Nights and come face-to-face with the living dead.">

found this in the code of the site isnt it the same line they used with TWD for the past two years?

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True... well not exactly. Most of the text is in a normal webfont. All the quotes and buttoons are using it.

But isn't it ironic they have put forth two eyballs and a font that has a weird "I".

Also, I'm not sure that is a straight font. I scoured the code for the font and they've done a strange thing:

They use a picture to show the font... which they cover up with highlightable invisible text. The invisible text is in a normal Ariel font. It's a little weird. I mean it makes it so you can copy and paste the quotes but... why?

An "I" with a serif and a tail is fairly unusual. It looks a lot more like a lowercase reversed L.

My thought. The "I" is more deliberate than just a font choice.

Why the invis-font? So in case the image font doesn't load (or if it copy-pasted) there are no formatting issues with the browser. I know I'm speaking to the choir, but browsers can't directly code certain fonts. The website is coded in HTML5 (or I'm fairly certain it is), but not all browsers can handle that if they haven't been updated. They are likely just hedging their bets for readability (which they have to) by double-typing.

That said, it's a fun font. I'm sure Cody will try to find it.

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Here's the thing though... Expanding "our small circle" to include some Facebook posts still doesn't reflect the hundreds of thousands that attend the event throughout the month. This isn't the FCC where one phone call represents one billion people; for every one complaint about TWD or repeats or IPs, there are three posts asking for more Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees and other recognizable, non-Universal IPs. That's what the general public wants.

Yes, people at Universal listen. Unfortunately, the people who "listen" aren't necessarily the people who can really do all that much about it. If upper-management wants a more commercially approachable event then that is what is created. The people who care REALLY care, and they want to make the best event possible for the fans. And they actually DO. They adapt what they can to appeal to our taste. Hell, a few of us have been saying for years that the house layouts had gotten formulaic and droll when small regional haunts were making guests crawl and climb. And then they FINALLY did a crooked floor... and a crawl space. We wanted more fliers, we got more fliers. We wanted more elaborate "set" scares, we got those. Just because the general theme behind a house isn't what we want doesn't mean they're aren't listening... it means we aren't looking hard enough.

Fans can wax poetic about the good old days (Jeramy and I have had this conversation numerous times before), and we may get surprised next year. Personally, I'm holding out hope for a return to Terra Cruentes for a ten-year anniversary. But practically, rationally, what we have is what we're going to get. I know I'm a broken record on this, but until people who don't like the route the event is going stop going (or until tens of thousands of people start saying they won't go on Facebook), we will continue to get the Hollywood treatment.

To add to this remember the survey they sent out after last year and the questions about making HHN more appealing to children.

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Yeah but... it's a really strange way to go about it. There are coding contingencies for that.

Not that i'm saying the invisible font is significant (other than it's a strange way to do things), just that the font is most likely not a straight font. I spent a few hours looking for the font... mainly bc the baby was sleeping on my lap and I couldn't go anywhere. And I have found fonts that are a near exact match to it except for the anomalous Letter "i". It seems they took a font that had a lowercase "l" with a serif and a tail, reversed it and made it a capital "i".

I don't know if it actually means anything. The TWD font was not normal either. They made all the "o"'s out of zeros and too big. But I do find it a little odd we've been given a bunch of "eyes". There may be some significance to it as a prevailing theme or something... or somebody just likes eyes.

I'm hoping Cody can confirm this as well... Or they add some flash using the font and I can get it that way.

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Of course the Eye pictures are stock and of course the font is just some font they obtained (whether they customized the " i " or not) that is what they do. I find their stock use all the time inadvertantly. (incidentally I could not find that particualar eye but there are a ton of stock eye pictures)

But the real question is why? Why use pictures of eyes? Why use a very typical font where the I is the only thing that really stands out? What is the significance to the theme/event? There has to be a reason. The eye stands out. The fact they are pushing it on both the website and FB page seems like it is a marketing initiative. The one on the webpage is an animated GIF... and my first thought on it was that it felt out of place to their typical layouts. It could be a literal glimpse at something or figurative. Like the collective is always watching or something. Yes it is just a font/graphic choice but the underlying question is why make that choice?

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I think the eye from fb is the victim and the one on the site is behind it all someone on fb fliped the eye and then put it side by side and you get half a face sometimes thats all you need wonder if they did it for the fb eye too would love to see that

This is the website eye fliped and put side-by-side credit goes to Alvin Prak

1174702_688345607894286_1344767360_n.jpg

Edited by HHNChef
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I remember in 2004 they used two Midnight Syndicate songs to make one.. I later found out that was TJ and Rick basically saying 'Were watching you..'

Yep.

This really feels like how hyped up we got about the Dead Man's Hand for Fate. There were all these speculations tying that single image into hundreds of theories, and the true outcome was much more subdued than reality. They enjoy watching us tear things apart, especially when we're looking for stuff that's not there.

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Yep.

This really feels like how hyped up we got about the Dead Man's Hand for Fate. There were all these speculations tying that single image into hundreds of theories, and the true outcome was much more subdued than reality. They enjoy watching us tear things apart, especially when we're looking for stuff that's not there.

Well that is true as well. Happens all the time. People saw things in the mirror too.

Then again, I poo pooed the idea that there were images in the lantern and turned out there was. It's a double edge sword I guess.

It could be saying:

"Look at the eye for a clue"

" We are watching you"

"HEY! Eyes have something to do with the theme"

"Let's see what crazy ideas people come up with surrounding eyes"

or simply "I think eyes are cool" :P

I always used to think the spec was as good if not better than the event. But lately its all been a bit shallow and void of any real meaning. this teaser does stand out though. It's super early and it actually has thematic elements (chains and eyes). Last couple years were just meh. So maybe it's me hoping this change means a real change. What with the rumblings of an icon and real scare zones being back.

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Well that is true as well. Happens all the time. People saw things in the mirror too.

Then again, I poo pooed the idea that there were images in the lantern and turned out there was. It's a double edge sword I guess.

It could be saying:

"Look at the eye for a clue"

" We are watching you"

"HEY! Eyes have something to do with the theme"

"Let's see what crazy ideas people come up with surrounding eyes"

or simply "I think eyes are cool" :P

I always used to think the spec was as good if not better than the event. But lately its all been a bit shallow and void of any real meaning. this teaser does stand out though. It's super early and it actually has thematic elements (chains and eyes). Last couple years were just meh. So maybe it's me hoping this change means a real change. What with the rumblings of an icon and real scare zones being back.

Agreed. The death of spec has really killed any semblance of excitement I've had. The early update makes me a bit hesitant, however. At this point it could all be place-holders.

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Agreed. The death of spec has really killed any semblance of excitement I've had. The early update makes me a bit hesitant, however. At this point it could all be place-holders.

Very true, I partially agree but in some sense I almost don't even care if it's a place holder it's so good to have some semblance of spec back.

I'll be holding out hope that we will indeed see something better this year until the day they cut and paste a mish mash of unrelated movies and video games on a forumlaic, creatively speaking uninteresting website, so until that day comes, I for one am going to have a great time speculating.

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