House of Horrors Replacement

[IMZD2]

Im actually looking forward to a new year round maze too. Ive missed it so and I believe  HHN fanatics agree. The wait has been more difficult for HHN ever since it closed down and I believe this should help keep some sanity for the horror in us year round while we wait for October.  I don't know if my top choice would be TWD but it's relevant and will continue for at least a couple more years. The only reason I give TWD a green light is so theres room for a new maze for HHN. TWD maze is a broken record for me now. Im not sure if "More Zombies" "Or the Longer than Ever" will keep me coming back into that maze unless I've covered all the mazes already and theres time to spare

 

[Alexshow.]

is there any kind of entrance to the venue space through the studio store at all? Or will it most likely only be from the side of the building?

It seems to be having its entrance on the Façade side of Universal BLVD facing Baker Street. And from what it seems, it will be taking the far-most façade on the right.


Has it been considered that maybe; they may take the TWD brand and go at it on a original concept, not revolving on the show's setting? I could think that's possible, and it could make some sense; considering the location. That may just be me though, but we'll see.

 

[Jonathan]

Two questions for everyone:


Does anyone else think this is lazy? 


If it is The Walking Dead (as it is rumored), isn't it a bit shortsighted to choose a property that really doesn't have mass appeal for the day time audience and a property that doesn't have lasting power once the show goes off the air?


Curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

 

[chris.g]

^ Exactly my thoughts as well.


I also just don't find TWD fitting on Baker Street. That is incredibly out of place. 

 

[IMZD2]

Im fairly certain that they been surveying this for quite some time now and if TWD got the most attention then that's why we are getting it. That and universal will do anything to have another attraction on the list since we do run a bit short of those. Another attraction will keep a portion of crowds entertained while they are waiting for their preset time to visit the land of Harry Potter. I believe if it's the Walking Dead its surely because AMC has confirmed with Universal that theres at least a couple more seasons to come. Im sure Universal knows that TWD won't remain popular forever so I believe they will switch things out just like "The Mummy" turned into "Van Helsing" then to "House of Horrors".


I think it would be fairly difficult to tie any property into baker street actually unless it was American Werewolf in London which is out of the question. It's definitely going to be a challenge no matter which property it came down to so I am curious to see what it looks like opening day because Houses of Horror's itself felt fairly out of place too but I'm hoping the creative directors working on this have asked themselves "how can we make this look appropriate". I can't say its lazy until we get the conformation from Murdy later this month for what the actual vision for this attraction looks like. Murdy has been saying that he's been working on a side project for Universal for about 2 years now and I hope he was referring to this. 

 

[Jon Fu]

I'm of the opinion that a year-round maze doesn't fit in a theme park like Universal. I hope there's something to it, because another House of Horrors rehash would be a disappointing addition.


I can't name another major theme park on Universal or Disney's scale that has a year-round maze. If they want to pursue that direction, that's their prerogative. But it seems inconsistent with what they're trying to do with the park thus far.

 

[Rideguy70]

La Ronde, in Canada (but under the Six Flags corporation) opened up a year round haunt.  And other parks do have them year round, but they tend to be abroad.  Horror Hospital in Japan is rather well known, and wasn't there a Saw themed year round maze opened up in Thorpe Park in England?


In any case, in a park known for it's haunt event, I totally love the idea of a year round haunt.  Yes, over time, it can get stale.  But it also allows for guests who normally wouldn't do a haunt maze to try it out, and that's always fun to see. 

 

[Aaron]

I'd like to believe there will be some interactive elements to it and not just a standard year-round maze. I just can't see Murdy working on a project for almost two years now that will end up being such a simple attraction. 

 

[upsidown]

A Horror Hospital-ish maze at Uni would be amazing!   Probably not doable due to the need to greatly stagger groups going in to maintain more of a sense of isolation.  But that attraction is great.  It's long (40 minutes or so), intricately detailed, and more of a psychological scare maze (typical of Japanese horror movies) than the straight up blood and gore of a lot of American mazes.  I would actually love to see what Uni could do with a Japanese themed psychological terror maze.

 

[Alexshow.]

Take this what you will, asked by yours truly.




So we seem to have confirmation now that it is the Side project that he's been working on.

 

[Jon Fu]

Maybe it's a ride?

 

[k_peek_2000]

I would be stunned if it ended up being a ride.

 

[12th Man]

SLOP....Eh, maybe. You guys know that there is also the whole underground of the building. Don't know if it is actual space that could be used, or just piping and other stuff. 

 

[Jon Fu]

SLOP....Eh, maybe.

No, not in Universal Boulevard.

 

[12th Man]

No, not in Universal Boulevard.

But there is the underground area, if that is useable. But yeah, that was just a wild guess.

 

[Jon Fu]

But there is the underground area, if that is useable. But yeah, that was just a wild guess.

I'd be very surprised if they can fit the entire ride in the back half of Universal Boulevard. I haven't heard anything that would leave me to believe that this was the location.

 

[chris.g]

If it ends up being a ride, I would honestly applaud the efforts of Murdy and Uni Creative, because that's more or less a horror themed ride going in.

 

[k_peek_2000]

The top level of the show building space (allocated to this attraction) is roughly 15,000 sq feet. Assuming the large pit they dug/basement level is usable attraction space, that adds another 5,000 square feet (maybe queue area?). We're looking at an attraction roughly the same size and scale as Little Mermaid (20,000 sq feet) and Monsters Inc (18,000 sq. feet). at DCA. I guess it could go either way but I am personally leaning towards walk-through.

 

[Jon Fu]

It would be nice to see a dark ride in this location rather than a maze, especially given the two-year development cycle.


Who knows - they may throw us something out of left field.

 

[Aaron]

I'd love to see an interactive dark ride placed here. USH will be the only park to not have one. Both KBF and Disneyland have that type of attraction with Magic Mountain getting one in the future.