HHN 24: The Walking Dead: End of The Line

[Vyrus]

So if this haunt is going into SS25 where the DAVE school is at, that means they are going to have to move all of that out there ASAP, and also since that SS is two floors, does that mean the house is two floors, or we're just going to be getting sets that are not as tall as we're used to?

 

[Panagiota]

I guess I'm in the minority then....I loved last year! I'm a fan of the walking dead and I had a GREAT time last year. I'm really looking forward to what they have in store for us this year.

 

[Shucker]

I guess I'm in the minority then....I loved last year! I'm a fan of the walking dead and I had a GREAT time last year. I'm really looking forward to what they have in store for us this year.

Actually you are in the majority, and I am with you. Although the scare zones were a bit much. Glad to see they are going back to just a house for WD.

 

[SeventyOne]

There could be actors outside the house before you enter

With a yellow-shirted security guard standing right next to them, to rob any sort of menace they might have. :shifty:

(My only complaint about an otherwise inspired, if by the numbers, TWD house last year.)

 

[Shucker]

Plain and simple because Universal marketing is full of idiots.... I will say this will probably be my last HHN I have been to every single HHN.It is getting to the point of wasting my money I spend $8k or more at Universal Orlando through out the year. :bang:

Just because you don't like the direction the event is going, doesn't mean Marketing is a bunch of idiots? Part of Marketing is get a product/content produced that is going to make the most $$$ for their portfolio. It is a tough balance and every decision they make is going to gain customers and lose customers. Their goal is provide the content a vast majority of people want to see. I would say they were idiots if they only catered to one segment of their marketplace. But they are not, and yeah that pisses some people off. But I would say based on attendance the last few years, they are not even close to being idiots. And whether anyone likes it or not, their plan has been a successful overall for Universal. And WD has been an integral part of that for better or worse.

 

[SeventyOne]

My then girlfriend's 6-year-old son refused to look at this, he would hide his head until we'd driven past. Creepy, creepy billboard.

Of course, the house it advertised was worse than any maze except possibly "Afterlife" last year, which sort of defeats the OP's point.

 

[shiekra38]

Just because you don't like the direction the event is going, doesn't mean Marketing is a bunch of idiots? Part of Marketing is get a product/content produced that is going to make the most $$$ for their portfolio. It is a tough balance and every decision they make is going to gain customers and lose customers. Their goal is provide the content a vast majority of people want to see. I would say they were idiots if they only catered to one segment of their marketplace. But they are not, and yeah that pisses some people off. But I would say based on attendance the last few years, they are not even close to being idiots. And whether anyone likes it or not, their plan has been a successful overall for Universal. And WD has been an integral part of that for better or worse.

I would say marketing has no respect for the event and what made it famous...but they are indeed quite smart..they know people will show up to 'come and see' The Walking Dead right now..they know what they're doing

 

[Lucky Planet]

Just because you don't like the direction the event is going, doesn't mean Marketing is a bunch of idiots? Part of Marketing is get a product/content produced that is going to make the most $$$ for their portfolio. It is a tough balance and every decision they make is going to gain customers and lose customers. Their goal is provide the content a vast majority of people want to see. I would say they were idiots if they only catered to one segment of their marketplace. But they are not, and yeah that pisses some people off. But I would say based on attendance the last few years, they are not even close to being idiots. And whether anyone likes it or not, their plan has been a successful overall for Universal. And WD has been an integral part of that for better or worse.

like I said before, 2009 was very IP heavy, yet a&d were able to create an amazing back story and some really creepy houses as well as create one of the best scarezones we have had. Everyone hates on The Spawning, yet Alice Cooper and Penn and Teller were worse. It is okay if they want as much money and tickets sold as they can, wanting money is fine. We just wish they let A&D do their thing. Saw was made to attract people yet they were able to make a great house. Even the wolfman was better than Silent Hill for example.

 

[Cole]

like I said before, 2009 was very IP heavy, yet a&d were able to create an amazing back story and some really creepy houses as well as create one of the best scarezones we have had. Everyone hates on The Spawning, yet Alice Cooper and Penn and Teller were worse. It is okay if they want as much money and tickets sold as they can, wanting money is fine. We just wish they let A&D do their thing. Saw was made to attract people yet they were able to make a great house. Even the wolfman was better than Silent Hill for example.

Agreed, but then again if A&D got to choose the IPs we'd only have houses based on 80's horror classics and cult films....wait that isn't so bad what am I saying?!?!

 

[Jakemeister]

Maybe you guys slept through your high school economics class or something, but I was under the impression and I might be wrong that Universal is in fact a business. Correct me if I'm wrong on that one. Being a business (once more correct me if I'm wrong), they are in the market of making money. Also, business sometimes write contracts with other business, which in turn cost them a lot of money. They might utilize said contracts to the most of their ability.

Saying Universal marketing is full of idiots is absolutely absurd. You might not like their decisions to capitalize, but they're definitely full of intelligent people. Have you liked any HHN commercials in the past 10 years? Universal marketing. Harry Potter commercials? Universal marketing.

IP's aren't going anywhere, but I'd like to think that American Werewolf in London was a step in the right direction. A IP that fans and guest loved alike. If we get more properties like that, mixed with some original concepts we could harken back to years like 17 and 19 that had a great mix.

 

[JungleSkip]

Maybe you guys slept through your high school economics class or something, but I was under the impression and I might be wrong that Universal is in fact a business.

I'm not gonna get too much into this, but yes, they're a business. But they are a CREATIVE business. They're built on creativity and stifling that creativity and forcing a property on your team they don't want is not a good idea.

 

[Shucker]

I'm not gonna get too much into this, but yes, they're a business. But they are a CREATIVE business. They're built on creativity and stifling that creativity and forcing a property on your team they don't want is not a good idea.

Very true, but I don't think they are trying to stifle their creativity, they are giving them the biggest house ever with a property that the majority of the fans want (basing that on the fact they did surveys last year and very scientific facebook likes :blank: ). They actually have more content with this last season to draw from, so I really think this will turn out to be the best WD house overall and should be completely different than the last two houses.

 

[Clive]

Very true, but I don't think they are trying to stifle their creativity, they are giving them the biggest house ever with a property that the majority of the fans want (basing that on the fact they did surveys last year and very scientific facebook likes :blank: ). They actually have more content with this last season to draw from, so I really think this will turn out to be the best WD house overall and should be completely different than the last two houses.

In case you missed it (and you might have, it was on a FB post), it's been confirmed that A&D aggressively fought against Walking Dead Round III by Kim Grommoll, a (recent) ex-A&D designer who had been with the company for 15+ years. The people who want Walking Dead are not Halloween Horror Nights fans, or even really horror fans - they're Walking Dead fans. As soon as the show disappears, they probably will, too, because the event quality/experience has not been high enough to justify them coming back for something they're less familiar with (gauging the large volume of complaints about crowd control and other quality elements).

Also - the surveys they do (hell, the surveys most corporations conduct) are designed to get the answers they want to hear. They don't really want your honest opinion. As for FB likes... well, c'mon.

Jake, I don't think you need to be condescending. The stuff you learn in your high school macro class isn't going to teach you all the market forces at work in this event - it isn't as simple as supply and demand, the event just has too many moving parts and variables. There was no contract specifying they had to use Walking Dead for 3 years. That's bull. It never existed. Let's end that rumor, here and now.

I don't think anyone said marketing is full of idiots (or at least I didn't). Was bringing Walking Dead back lazy and creatively bankrupt? Yes. I'll stand by that statement. (Note it applies to MARKETING, not A&D.) I think marketing is being extremely shortsighted and it's going to bite them in the ass.

Oh, those commercials we loved - majority of them were done by A&D. In recent years they lost control of the commercial... which is why we shared Hollywood's commercial, and then had *no* new commercial...

It's the little things, falling away, one at a time...

 

[Cole]

I'm just really curious about this house all together. How long it'll be, the line set up, how scary it'll be and the future of a super house are all things I question

 

[Clive]

I'm not gonna get too much into this, but yes, they're a business. But they are a CREATIVE business. They're built on creativity and stifling that creativity and forcing a property on your team they don't want is not a good idea.

Sorry to double post, but just wanted to add in response to this (and it's a crucial point): forcing things on your creative team is going to result in them deciding to jump ship. They've already started to. Then you don't have a creative team capable of producing the event at the level of quality your consumers expect.

 

[Jakemeister]

I simply said high school economics, because I have a feeling at least half the people reading this only went as far as high school business classes (not saying that people didn't go to college, just that we have a lot of people under the age of 18 on the boards). I'm not thrilled about TWD being back either, but I can understand why their hands were tied.

 

[Shucker]

Well I am convinced that the scariest house HHN could produce for some would just be a room full of marketing people. They are so evil trying to give consumers what they want and produce $$ for their employer.

People change jobs all the time and you know what that is a good thing. New blood is always welcome especially in the creative world. Grass isnt always greener and no matter where you go whoever holds the purse strings is always going to have a say in the final product.

Oh and your right, HHN will lose a segment when WD is gone, but when that happens it will be Marketing and A&Ds job to find the next thing to keep the turnstiles turning.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Oh, those commercials we loved - majority of them were done by A&D. In recent years they lost control of the commercial... which is why we shared Hollywood's commercial, and then had *no* new commercial...

It's the little things, falling away, one at a time...

Good call on the commercials. I already forgot about how we shared Hollywood's commercial...

- - - Updated - - -

Well
People change jobs all the time and you know what that is a good thing. New blood is always welcome especially in the creative world. Grass isnt always greener and no matter where you go whoever holds the purse strings is always going to have a say in the final product.

Oh and your right, HHN will lose a segment when WD is gone, but when that happens it will be Marketing and A&Ds job to find the next thing to keep the turnstiles turning.

new blood is not always good, the Silent Hill house is proof of that. I'm not saying anything against anyone in particular but i did feel a change once Hollywood started working on the Orlando event. (even the layouts of the house felt different. The Nurses part of the house was pretty awful. it felt like a ride)

And you guys make me wonder, How much will attendance drop when they stop using Walking Dead? how many people are going to Universal JUST to see the Walking Dead house? that makes me very curious.

Also, I do not think there is anything as big as WD right now. It will be really hard for Marketing to find a replacement that will bring such giant crowds as WD did. I would Not be surprised if they bring WD next year as well. Honestly, what else is out there that has such a huge following? I cannot think of anything.

 

[Clive]

Well I am convinced that the scariest house HHN could produce for some would just be a room full of marketing people. They are so evil trying to give consumers what they want and produce $$ for their employer.

People change jobs all the time and you know what that is a good thing. New blood is always welcome especially in the creative world. Grass isnt always greener and no matter where you go whoever holds the purse strings is always going to have a say in the final product.

Oh and your right, HHN will lose a segment when WD is gone, but when that happens it will be Marketing and A&Ds job to find the next thing to keep the turnstiles turning.

Hyperbolizing someone else's argument is generally a sign that you don't have a very good rebuttal.

Say what you want about new blood, but it's that "new blood" that brought us the *amazing* street experiences of 2012, while Kim was the master who designed modern HHN classics like Gothic and Dead End. Again - this guy has worked as a house designer for 16 years. That experience can't just be hired. Let's not forget that marketing used to have a far looser control, letting A&D do far more of what they wanted with some marketing compromises. The scales have tipped all too much in marketing's favor.

As for Silent Hill - that was a product of a last minute IP change. That house was originally to be American Werewolf in London, to the point where they submitted the final house layout blueprint - once Silent Hill was forced on them, they had to shoehorn it into the AWIL layout. Try to remember - AWIL and Silent Hill had identical layouts. The transformation room? Same as the room with the contortionist janitor.

There is no other horror property with the pull like Walking Dead. Why do you think marketing keeps clinging on to it? Remember, the rule of the game these days is make the numbers look good while you're in the position - then you move on to another company, and when the numbers (which have been artificially inflated) start to drop, it's not your problem anymore.

 

[Shucker]

Bottom line, we just disagree on the role each group should play. If A&D didn't want WD, then to be honest Marketing wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't force this house to happen. You said it yourself, no other horror property has the pull of WD right now and Universal has the rights to produce a house for it. I think they learned from last year, and made it one mega house and dropped the WD scare zones (thankfully). Not certain why its so unappealing to A&D in the first place. The house will be completely different than last year.

I can assure you after WD they will be working very hard to get another property that has wide appeal. Marketing, not A&D, is the one that has to live with forecasts. And with attendance going up over the last few years, you can bet that forecasts will be going up as well. The execs that mark the HHN budgets are not going to take, "well A&D doesn't like it" or "we don't have WD anymore" as an excuse.