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Credit: Universal StudiosThis fall may mark the year that Universal officially loses its prestigious Halloween crown, marking the end of a spooky theme park era.
The likes of Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort have an unerring skill to capitalize on any and every time of year. Whether it’s Easter, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or New Year, you can bet that your go-to park has found some way to celebrate the occasion.
Ask any regular parkgoer, however, and they’ll tell you that theme parks go harder for Halloween than any other season. Come fall (or, to be specific, August, if you’re frequenting Walt Disney World Resort), theme parks fully embrace their spooky era – especially Universal theme parks.
Universal likes to embrace Halloween with one of the most intense theme park events around: Halloween Horror Nights. This cult classic combines the usual Halloween decor with genuinely terrifying themed experiences.
In years past, these experiences have been inspired by everything from Netflix’s Stranger Things to the Ghostbusters franchise. Some of these experiences work better than others, but Universal generally racks up glowing reviews for its scare mazes.
But is that all about to change?
This year, one of Universal’s biggest rivals (no, not the one with the Mouse, the other one) has replaced Horror Nights as the most-hyped Halloween event with an IP-ridden lineup of scare houses. Six Flags’ Fright Fest event is set to host experiences inspired by iconic franchises such as Saw, The Conjuring, Stranger Things, Trick ‘r Treat, Army of the Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the comic book series “DCeased.”
It’s an absolutely killer lineup (pun intended), which is great news for anyone visiting a Six Flags theme park after September 7 – but not so great news for Universal.
The resort’s own maze lineup has looked surprisingly IP-less so far this year, which makes sense now that we know Six Flags pipped them to the post. So far, the only IP confirmed for Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood is A Quiet Place (2018), while original houses across the two parks include Monstruos 2: The Nightmares of Latin America, Slaughter Sinema 2, and Dead Exposure: Death Valley.
As per Six Flags’ Chief Marketing Officer Edithann Ramey, the parks are going intentionally big for the 2024 season. “We wanted the big ones that people recognized, and the list grew from there,” she told Variety. “We started to reach out, and a lot of the different movie companies and distributors were very interested in working with us because they felt it was a great way to showcase their films.”
She went on to explain that they wanted a lineup that would appeal to everyone.
We wanted it to be an assortment of films that were a little bit for everybody. You’ve got your slasher films and suspenseful films, which are more about pondering and walking through ‘Annabelle’ and ‘The Nun’ and the scares, and we were delighted with the addition of ‘Stranger Things,’ because it just widened the appeal and brings in all the people that might not love slasher films.
It’s a solid approach to a Halloween event – and a template that Universal has used for years. The question now is whether Universal’s original mazes can compete with the IP train that is Fright Fest. Diehard theme park fans have been borderline begging parks to introduce more original concepts for years, but the fact of the matter is that it takes a heck of a lot more to get the ball rolling on a vague Death Valley concept than it does an attraction inspired by everyone’s favorite Netflix show.
With Halloween just around the corner (at least, in theme park time), there’s not too long to go until we see who comes out on top of this year’s Halloween battle. Watch this space – things are about to get real spooky.
What Halloween theme park events do you plan on attending in 2024?