Halloween Horror Nights has been well and truly over for just over a month now, Thanks Giving has been and gone, Trump did something or other and we’re all in the full swing festive mood, well that is everyone except us at HHNU and ScareZone.com. So to kick off our updates as we now look to #HHN27 we thought we’d start by looking at what we think might be scaring us next year (and no that’s not a Trump reference)….
So here’s the 6 things we think WILL definitely be coming to #HHN27:
- Ticket Prices will go UP!
Weirdly, 2016’s prices were actually the same as 2015’s for the general admission tickets and the basic Frequent Fear passes, for what reason we have no idea; this was the first time in the history of the event that ticket prices have remained the same. In previous years the passes have all roughly increased by around 7% year on year with a few jumps along the way. A long way’s away from the original entry price of just $19.00 in 1991, though this was only for a small number of nights. Which actually brings us onto our next point…
- The Number of Nights will go UP!
The news broke last week that Epcot’s popular International Food and Wine Festival will be starting at their mousey neighbor in August, and will run for a record number of nights before it ends in November. The festival started later than HHN but has run more or less in parallel with HHN since it began all those years ago. What with this news and that last year had a record bumper number of people attending HHN, it will surely start sooner and run for more nights (though probably not as early as August, more likely just a weekend longer at the beginning).
- Tours, tours, tours…
Whether you did the exclusive VIP tour, the non-exclusive or the behind the scenes day tours, you were one of a number of people who partook in this ever expanding offering. Universal was reported to have sold more tours and trained up more tour guides for this year than they ever have done before. We recently sat down with someone from that department and he mooted to us that Universal have been putting some thought into expanding this service even further with even more add-ons and exclusive benefits. From more backstage experiences, to tour specific dining and merchandise, this appears to be an area that Universal are keen to increase and make more diverse.
- No More Avatar Land Jokes 🙁
By the time the event commences in September 2017, the House of Mouse *should* have opened this heavy engineered land within their Animal Kingdom park. When the land was announced in 2011 (yep that long!) Bill and Ted’s show have found any excuse to mock the extended and then extended again opening date of this new land. So what with it opening in the summer of 2017 (though they said they would open Rivers of Light in the summer 2016 – and that never happened either!) So IF it opens, the bodacious dudes will have to find another running Disney gag to mine for all its worth. Considering that Universal built two Harry Potter lands, two hotels, Kong, Transformers (plus many more) since 2011 we can only hope that Disney announces something else that’ll almost never happen – Fifth gate gags anyone?
- The Mummy
The trailer was released this very week; Tom Cruise’s new epic take on the bandaged fiend will be hitting theaters in the spring of 2017. Technically, the second of the new era of ‘Gods and Monsters’ of the new Marvel Universal Monsters’ Cinematic Universe; the first being Dracula Untold in 2015. That year saw the fanged fanatic arrive at the event for his own house that was received with mixed reviews. So being that this Universal own property (no license fees!) will be hitting theaters shortly before the event just like Dracula makes us believe that The Mummy is a given for #HHN27. The last piece of the puzzle is the agreement that the production company has with Universal, which this nerd has read, it does specifically mention ‘cross-promotional opportunities such as haunted themed entertainment offerings with the theme parks’. So love or loath the update of this beloved classic, it is surely destined for the event…
You can also read about the recent Mummy movie, the beloved 90s version and the haloed classic version and how they were inspired by a REAL curse HERE.
- American Horror Story
This house at #HHN26 was a smash hit, solid performances were met with detailed sets, great scares which all created a fantastic authentic haunt experience (the house even won house of the year at the in-house awards!). So that said, we reported back in August 2015 that the franchise was set to replace The Walking Dead as the new returning house for each year. We’re unsure fully of how many years the house will be returning but we have heard from a number of sources that it is almost certain to return for next year. The huge catalogue that is still left to mine, combined with the popularity of the house this year and Universal’s need to fill a record 9 house slots makes this house a practical certainty.
So that’s what we have heard and seen so far, there will be plenty more as the weeks roll on, so keep your eyes peeled on HHNU. “Any questions?”
And if David S. Pumpkins isn’t at Bill and Ted’s I’ll eat my hat!
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