With the countdown to Halloween Horror Nights 30 at Universal Studios Orlando officially on, our friends at Horror Night Nightmares are in full swing with their annual speculation maps. This week, they released their first version of the speculation map — which you can see on their Twitter and Facebook accounts — and it’s definitely got some surprises. Let’s take a look!
For those new to the Halloween Horror Nights experience, get ready — on select nights in the fall, Universal Studios Orlando is transformed into a park-wide scare-fest. 10 soundstages throughout the park are prepped year-round to debut as some of the most immersive haunted houses in the country. But that’s not all! Major walkways are turned into interactive Scare Zones where creeps and crazies really bring the fear to the event. Major attractions are also open to park-goers during this hard ticket event.
Now, let’s take a look at this map!
First Thoughts: Last fall, Universal surprised park guests by unveiling two haunted houses as special daytime offerings for guests — Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein LIVES and Revenge of the Tooth Fairy. These haunted houses were just as immersive and impressive as the houses of Halloween Horror Nights past, but also featured many mitigation and safety protocols to protect both the ScareActors and park guests — social distancing, masks, Plexiglass barriers and more. These two houses were incredibly well received, and obviously the lessons learned from their presentation in 2020 made it easy for Universal to resume planning on the 30th Anniversary of the event for fall of 2021. It’s no surprise to see those two houses making a return to the event in 2021, and while there is some disappointment from local park-goers that two of the houses will be repeats from HHN Lite it’s definitely a great decision by Universal to allow the masses of Horror Night lovers who missed out on the experiences last year a chance to experience the creative work by the design team.
There is a third house that is a “repeat” of the 2020 special edition of Halloween Horror Nights, but this one was a “two-night only” experience in 2021 — Beetlejuice! The main attraction of the Universal Tribute Store in 2020, the Beetlejuice house also opened Halloween weekend for park-goers to experience. Preview merch featuring the devious poltergeist has already sold out and much of the promotional materials feature Beetlejuice front and center, so it’s not a surprise to see this house on the 2021 speculation map.
Creepshow Conundrum: One thing I think we might see change in future versions of the speculation map is the location of the rumored Creepshow ScareZone. With the Creepshow house speculated to appear at the front of the park, it’s odd to have the walk-through ScareZone placed towards the back of the park in front of Fast & Furious: Supercharged. This is definitely a development to keep an eye on!
I’ve Got Strings: Universal actually confirmed the first house for the 30th edition of Halloween Horror Nights in 2020 — Puppet Theater: Captive Audience. This house is currently assumed to be located at the back of the park near Men In Black: Alien Attack.
It’s … Showtime! When Universal announced the return of the traditional Halloween Horror Nights experience at the beginning of March, they made mention of two new shows that would be produced as part of the event. With the wild success of the Marathon of Mayhem water spectacular during HHN 29 in 2019, it’s easy to predict that another nighttime spectacular will take place on the water at the heart of the park. But what about that second show? With this being an anniversary event — and with the emphasis on park attraction and event history (again, Beetlejuice, and the inclusion of a past HHN Icons house), could we possibly see the return of a HHN stalwart … Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure? After 26 years, the show took the stage for the final time in 2017 leaving long-time HHN fans disappointed, so the McRib-like return of the Wyld Stallyns would be a treat for superfans that went without Horror Nights in 2020. Another fun surprise would be a return of the beloved Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue — this sensational musical show featuring all of the classic Universal monsters closed in 2016 to make way for the construction of Fast & Furious: Supercharged. With the location of the Beetlejuice house so close to the Animal Actors show stage, could this be a potential show location?! The Fear Factor: Live stadium is also a slight possibility, though that area is currently being utilized during regular park hours as a mask-free “U-Rest” area and is expected to stay that way through at least the bulk of 2021 and the remainder of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Well, there you have it — our first thoughts on the Horror Night Nightmares speculation map! We can’t wait for Halloween Horror Nights 30 — tickets go on sale soon and spooky season starts at the Universal Orlando Resort on Sept. 3!
Are you looking forward to the return of Halloween Horror Nights? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
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