Halloween Horror Nights 33 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[SeventyOne]

Not saying to get rid of ROF, but it certainly looks like they might have hit a price ceiling on single-night tickets in late October, pushing people into September/Early October. Wouldn't surprise me to see more expensive nights earlier on in the event to discourage that from happening.

I think that's the dark side of the graph you posted. Yes, a lot more super-fans bought ROF. But even with two killer app IPs, the more casual fans didn't want to buy single-night tickets in October.

Which means (1) fans don't see value unless they get many, many nights for their $100, or (2) word of mouth re the September RoF crowds drove casuals to skip the event entirely. I don't know that changing/eliminating RoF alone solves these issues.

 

[DannyPowers]

If there's one ticket that will be impacted this year... it's ROF. Universal has already enticed people to come earlier... and it's working very well.

September was busier than October last year. There was a pretty significant drop in attendance once ROF passes were finished last year. It was pretty incredible to visit HHN during what is typically the busiest weeks (the week leading up to Halloween) be a pleasant experience. Late October HHN nights felt like September from a few years ago.

The busiest weekend at HHN was in September... it was quite remarkable to see.

Spoiler: HHN 32 Wait-Times

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I can definitely see some meetings happening in between seasons to try and figure out how to get that line a little flatter. If I were in charge, I'd especially be looking at that significant drop in mid-to-late October and the big spikes in mid-September

 

[srbmarc]

What if they did ROF with the first two weeks and an ROF+ with the first four weeks? I think a lot of people (myself included) would be fine with having a 2-week pass like how ROF used to be and that would keep the end of September a little lighter compared to the year or two before.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

I hope ROF doesn't go away - but I would not be surprised at all if it did.

It's not going anywhere. You really think Universal would cut one of its most profitable ticket options? lol. If anything, the multi-night tickets see a price increase, and maybe single-night ticket prices become slightly more reasonable.

I think that's the dark side of the graph you posted. Yes, a lot more super-fans bought ROF. But even with two killer app IPs, the more casual fans didn't want to buy single-night tickets in October.

Which means (1) fans don't see value unless they get many, many nights for their $100, or (2) word of mouth re the September RoF crowds drove casuals to skip the event entirely. I don't know that changing/eliminating RoF alone solves these issues.

I sure as hell wouldn't want to pay $100 - $120 for a single-night ticket.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

What if they did ROF with the first two weeks and an ROF+ with the first four weeks? I think a lot of people (myself included) would be fine with having a 2-week pass like how ROF used to be and that would keep the end of September a little lighter compared to the year or two before.

I think that would be a good idea, but as been mentioned before - I wish they'd just start selling tickets like they do for the parks.

1 day/2 day/3 day/etc, then just have the Frequent Fear pass for all nights (with a big increase of course)

 

[Tobias]

Since I wasn't laughed out of the room with my previous post, took a look at some other Fake Legacy vs Spec v1.0 houses:

The It's a Wonderful Knife house...I haven't seen the movie, but maybe it's theme ties into what we're expecting with the collector?

I think the connection here is far more simple, It's a Wonderful Knife is a take on It's a Wonderful Life, which the classic film is notably a Black and White film. The main rumor for the house is it's in Black and White.

Now there's one house on Legacy's map which intrigues me, Urban Legends: Two Guns, AZ. That one seems like the odd one out compared to all the others which match up to previous rumors. Two Guns, AZ is a Ghost Town which has a few tales to it, one of a Death Cave where the Navajo murdered a bunch of Apache, and one of a massive loot buried at the nearby Canyon Diablo which has yet to be found.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think that's the dark side of the graph you posted. Yes, a lot more super-fans bought ROF. But even with two killer app IPs, the more casual fans didn't want to buy single-night tickets in October.

Which means (1) fans don't see value unless they get many, many nights for their $100, or (2) word of mouth re the September RoF crowds drove casuals to skip the event entirely. I don't know that changing/eliminating RoF alone solves these issues.

Definitely a mixed bag of interesting challenges for them to figure out. For one, it was pretty obvious last year that you "needed" express to visit HHN on any given night last year (or at least 2 nights without) and that the event was oversold each night leading to a very crowded event with capacity issues and lots of negative social media posts.

And while yes last year was an "abnormal" with two major IPs... you think Comcast corporate will be just ok with letting HHN drop attendance YoY because of the IP selection? Sure they might not have two strong IPs to match last year's lineup... but you can definitely bet on them doing anything to keep HHN attendance/revenue at similar levels to last year lol

I can definitely see some meetings happening in between seasons to try and figure out how to get that line a little flatter. If I were in charge, I'd especially be looking at that significant drop in mid-to-late October and the big spikes in mid-September

Well, they are pretty close to flattening that line. If they make some of those late September nights more expensive, they might be able to evenly spread demand out. But it's very obvious the event has reached a price ceiling when it comes to 1-day tickets.

At the end of the day, I believe pricing is their best tool... really hope they don't tinker with reservations.

 

[HHNObsession]

Grain of salt, but Universally Addicted on FB is claiming that tomorrow will be a “spooky Wednesday.” Not sure how reliable they usually are.
Universally Addicted

 

[tyro]

I think that would be a good idea, but as been mentioned before - I wish they'd just start selling tickets like they do for the parks.

1 day/2 day/3 day/etc, then just have the Frequent Fear pass for all nights (with a big increase of course)

This is the best option imo, for someone who is out of town I feel like I need to go two weekends to get my moneys “worth”. I’m always shocked when I see a “HHN” hotel package and it’s 4 or 5 nights at the hotel, but only a one night ticket to HHN. All they would really need to do is only sell the shorter multi night tickets to hotel guests and promote it as a perk for staying onsite.

 

[Stonecoldfreak1]

Grain of salt, but Universally Addicted on FB is claiming that tomorrow will be a “spooky Wednesday.” Not sure how reliable they usually are.
Universally Addicted

I'm hearing travel agents can start selling tickets tomorrow.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Universally Addicted usually only pulls their content from other people/pages, so I assume they heard it from another popular site or something lol

 

[Acandrews12]

The It's a Wonderful Knife house...I haven't seen the movie

Don’t. It’s terrible.

For one, it was pretty obvious last year that you "needed" express to visit HHN on any given night last year (or at least 2 nights without)

I did all 10 houses (and dragons twice for both sides) in one night without express. I did utilize stay and scream though. So I got two houses done in the first hour.

 

[Ahmanet]

YouTubers gonna be rope dropping all week looking for the merch drop lol

Never Go Alone is the worst tag line in Orlando

 

[Wesker69]

Never Go Alone is the worst tag line in Orlando

for HHN**

It was very very minimally acceptable when the event returned, but after that. No. Just. Terrible

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Never Go Alone is the worst tag line in Orlando

I like it. Weirdly feels refreshing each year with the drastic thematical changes. There might be a chance it doesn't return, which does sadden me a bit.

 

[tyro]

Never Go Alone is the worst tag line in Orlando

I oddly like it, but mostly because I actually go alone so it’s a dumb dad joke to say to people who always give me weird looks when I say I travel solo.

 

[GA-MBIT]

It still just stinks of pandemic-era marketing to me, and I feel like most of the world has moved on from that.

I think "See you in the Fog" works far better as a tagline in most contexts. We'll see what they go with.

 

[Wesker69]

I think "See you in the Fog" works far better as a tagline in most contexts.

I loved this so much because it riled up the knotts fans/alumni... they believed the slogan belonged to knotts as if they owned it lol

naturally I acquired the tshirt to wear to work (with my HHN ID holder dangling from my belt loop)

 

[TheCodeMan95]

YouTubers gonna be rope dropping all week looking for the merch drop lol

Never Go Alone is the worst tag line in Orlando

I'm curious to see what the first merch will look like, considering last year's had basically nothing to do with the event theme itself lol

EDIT: HHN tickets/express/tours are now available to book on Universal Orlando Vacations.

(with a price increase, huzzah)

 

[Kichkinet85]

• Aug. 30 - Nov. 3
• 10 houses
• 5 SZ
• Live Entertainment

Edit- Ticket prices have also been leaked. A TA on FB posted them.