Nov. 5, 2024

(Green Tagged) Universal Announces Horror Expansion in 2025 Amid Declining Park Revenue

(Green Tagged) Universal Announces Horror Expansion in 2025 Amid Declining Park Revenue

Universal promises 2025 will be its biggest year ever, but are those promises genuine or distractions covering up declining park revenue? This week saw two major announcements from Universal. First, Universal’s new experiment in year-round horror,...

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Universal promises 2025 will be its biggest year ever, but are those promises genuine or distractions covering up declining park revenue? This week saw two major announcements from Universal. First, Universal’s new experiment in year-round horror, Universal Horror Unleashed, will open in Las Vegas next year – the same year as Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park. Next, Universal released information surrounding the animatronics coming to Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment at Universal’s Epic Universe in Orlando. However, Comcast posted a 5.3% decline in theme park revenue for the third quarter, citing lower attendance at domestic parks. This episode discusses what these reveals mean for Universal’s strategy, attendance trends, and how the new Vegas location could attract horror fans year-round. Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.

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From our studios in Los Angeles and Tampa. We are

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back home. We're both back home. Halloween is over, but

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we are still going to talk about some creepy things

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because it seems like Universal just doesn't want to let

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it go.

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Scott, Well, nobody does. You know, when you when you

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can make money off of being scared, they want to

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you know, they want to milk it for all it's worth. Yeah,

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so there's yeah.

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Of course that I also can't let it go, so

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you know, I mean, you never can let it go.

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So that's okay, I'm vibing with this. Oh and just

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to note, I know that the Haunters listening. We know

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that there's still Halloween events happening. They're still Legendary Hountor

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this coming weekend and places are open up until November thirteenth.

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You know, but Halloween is is past us, and you

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know Scott's moving on is deep.

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And going to Christmas two weeks ago. So there's that,

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you know.

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Yes. So, so, as I hinted at the big news

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this week, of course, we got we got two huge

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updates from Universal. One is discussing the Vegas Project and

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the second is discussing the Animatronics for epic in Floor.

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So we'll take the Vegas item first because I think

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it was overall larger news. Maybe I don't know. I

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think I was larger news. But anyway, So, this Vegas

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project has been We've been talking about it for a while,

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and the Universal Corporate Communications released a press release this

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week announcing that it it will open in Las Vegas

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in twenty twenty five. I'm going to just read the

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press release here. So today Universal Destinations and Experiences announced

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that Universal Horror Unleashed, the company's first ever year round

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horror experience, is coming to Las Vegas in twenty twenty five.

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In a darkened warehouse on the edge of Las Vegas,

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a relentless spectacle of horror is rising. Universal Horror Unleashed

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for decades. Blah blah, Universal is so great at Halloween.

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Blah blah blah. Sorry, I promised I had to read it,

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and then I just kipt it. Okay, Enter the Evils.

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Enter the Evils of four hundred houses, each of which

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its own terrifying story. Universal Monsters, the Texas Chainsaw, Masacer Scarecrow,

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the Reaping and Blumhouses, The Exorcist Believer. These haunted houses

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aren't for the faint of heart. They are intense and

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feature elevated moments where the horror surrounds guests in unimaginable ways.

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The nightmares don't end, they're surrounding the houses. Are four

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sinisterly themed and immersive areas featuring unique live entertainment experiences.

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In select locations, guests can enjoy eerie eateries and bars

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featuring horror centric food and beverage offerings. Plus, guests can

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expect a continuously updated experience with must see seasonal events,

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seasonal events, and one of a kind merchandise. Your deepest

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fears are closer than you think. And then it just

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mentions about how it's going to be an acre tenant

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and twenty acre expansion of Area fifteen, and there's some

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quotes about this about how their history is in horror, etc. So,

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just to recap, the only ips they have announced is

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Universal Monsters, text change, I'm asker the Exorcist and where

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is that the Exorcist? And with that I missed one?

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Ah yeah, Scarecrow, the Reaping. Okay, So those are the

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four they've announced, and it does sound like they have

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mentioned haunted houses here. I think Previously they only mentioned

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the dining experiences, and I was gonna be like, hear

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Hockdale experience of some kind. But now they specifically have

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mentioned hont houses. We still don't know though, just to

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be clear what stuff is seasonal and want stuff is not.

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They did mention seasonal items, but we're not sure if

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the haunts themselves are seasonal or if it's something around

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the haunts. And initial reaction on me, first, I have

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two really quick initial reactions and then we'll get Scott's

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opinion is. First is I'm like, there's no way you're

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going to open this twenty twenty five when you ran

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out of money and people had to leave the job site.

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But maybe I don't know, maybe they'll pull a miracle out.

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But number two is it's it's not very exciting, you know.

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Of the ips you could have chosen, these seem like

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maybe some of the least exciting, you know. I think

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the one that we were anticipating or the hoping that

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would open would be five Lines at Freddy's, which we

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know that they have been designing, and that I just

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it's the thing is here, here's the play. It's exactly

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what we talked about. With epig Universe in that you know,

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in Epic Universe they're creating the world's only installations of

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some of these properties, and that's not what's happening here.

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So it's kind of unclear if they're going to be

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able with these ips to get enough interest to bring

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the amount of visitors year around that they will need

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to those areas, because they're not the only ones. I mean,

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these are not the only places where you're going to

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be able to encounter these experiences. That's the problem here

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is that it's like it's almost like generic. It's like

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a franchise instead of a one in the world destination.

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And I think that's the more strategic problem. But Scott,

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tell me what you think.

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Well, so I have to say that this is the

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timing on this is really interesting to me because I

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just spent the past weekend as a vendor just getting

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rid of some of my artwork, trying to get my

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artwork out of the house, selling some of my artwork

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at Spooky Empire in Orlando, and I was approached by

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someone who is obviously involved in the Haunt, who's a

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Haunt fan. Let's just put it that way. They are

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Haunt fans. They're not involved in the industry, and they

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came up to me and specifically asked me about this

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press release and said, what do you think as far

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as is this going to work? And the first thing

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I said, of course, was what we had said before,

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and that was that all depends on how it's executed

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and whether there are actually actually going to be haunted houses.

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And they said, well, the press release ses there's going

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to be four, but as you've mentioned, Philip, it doesn't

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necessarily spell out whether they're going to always be there

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or whether they're going to be seasonal. So there's that,

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but even if it is, you know, all always there,

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I think part of the reason. Let me first address

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the the the ips that they're dealing with. You know,

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these are the ones that I mean obviously, Universal Monsters

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is the one that they own, so they have to

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lead with that. There's no choice. They have to do that,

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even if there no other reason. Then, if they're going

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to invest this money into something that is permanent, they

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got to make sure that they can hang on to

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those those rights for a long period of time. So

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let's start with a the ones that they own and

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b the ones that they have that they have incorporated

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successfully in other locations, so they've already got a working

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relationship with those ips. So that's part of it. If

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you're going to do a permanent investment, then you have

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to make certain that you're not going to all of

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a sudden get the rights pulled away from you. You know.

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So that's I think one one reason. Another reason is

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keep in mind that in Vegas they're not necessarily going

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after the grizzled Haunt fans who want the next, the

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next thing. You know, Vegas has to ride that line

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between appearing cutting edge but still appealing to a broad

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mass spectrum of guests and.

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True Haunt fans.

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Most of the true Haunt fans I know are over

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universal monsters. Yeah, they they want something. They want the

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next thing. They want the five nights at Freddy's, they

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want the you know, the and even that's not cutting edge.

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You know, that's that's new, but it's new ish, but

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it's not cutting edge. The The interesting thing to me

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was they said, their comment was, we've never been to Vegas,

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nor had we ever really had an interest in going

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until now. So does this have the pull to be

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an anchor destination for a new group of folks, because

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there's a whole generation that it's not interest They're not

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interested in gambling, they're not really interested in the the

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traditional Vegas style shows. But now all of a sudden,

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because of things like this, and you know, so I

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think saw us still there the escape room and you know,

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the darker, the darker side. Is this going to be

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the final tipping point too? Because they hadn't even they

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hadn't the people that I were talking to hadn't even

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heard of Omega mart. They hadn't even heard of miaw Wolf.

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They weren't familiar with that. And when I started describing it,

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they were like, ooh, that could be fun. So I

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think what's going to happen is this particular installation, if

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it's done well, is going to be a tipping point

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for something that we've talked about multiple times on the show,

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and that is doing a laser focus on a specific

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market which can then bleed out as opposed to aiming

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for let's appeal to everyone. Because I think if these kids,

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you know, these kids, I call them kids, these twenty

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somethings had never you know, mid twenties, had never been

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to Vegas, never really had a desire to go to

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Vegas now they want to go and see this. Plus

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when I explained the uniqueness of Omegamart and the Male

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Wolf installations, they were like, oh, that sounds cool. We

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would totally do that as well. So I think what's

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happening is, or at least what it appears to be happening,

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is that Area fifteen is becoming the non traditional strip,

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so that if you're not necessarily interested in gambling, because

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none of the things at Area fifteen even have a

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casino involved, So if you're not that interested in gambling,

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but you want to go see what Vegas is all about.

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Maybe what has started out as I'm going to stay

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on the strip or I'm going to stay downtown and

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then do maybe a side trip to go see Area fifteen,

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this may be the tipping point to where people are

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going to go. I want to stay at Area fifteen

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and maybe do a side trip to the casinos. So

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we'll see. We'll see how that goes. But I think

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this is targeting a much younger audience. I hope that

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they are able to install it and make it so

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that it's something that is worthy of that destination visit.

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But I think it's interesting. I think it's interesting that

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they have announced this and the animatronics for Epic Monsters

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at the same basic time. You know, I think that's

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unique as well.

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Yeah, I don't. I think there are two things there.

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I mean, I don't agree that this is going to

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drive traffic with those with I mean, I think it

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might drive like some really hardcore Haunt fans to get

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to Vegas because simply because Vegas is already set up

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to be a destination, because it has been a destination,

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you know, for a while in America with fifty million

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visitors annually. So it's it's a place where it has

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infrastructure that makes it certain demographic.

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You're absolutely right, but it's not it does not trend

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well with twenty somethings.

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Yeah, yeah, well that's what I mean. I don't think

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it's going to I don't think it's gonna be I'm

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not sure Haunt people would would fly. I guess. I

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guess because even me as I guess, what I'm trying

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to describe is even me as a Haunt fanatic, Right,

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I look at these ips and I'm like, eh, I've

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seen them before, But.

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Again, you're a Haunt fanatic. You're not a Haunt fan,

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there's a difference.

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Well, I don't either way. I think even if it

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does attract some of those, that's not that's not enough

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to build a year round business model on. So I'm

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wondering if to your point about the IPS, I'm wondering

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if they're really planning, like you know, eight haunted houses

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and these are the four that they have the rights to,

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and so they're like, okay, let's like you know, but

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then the other ones are going to be temporary, so

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you know they are going to do finance and phrase

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against be only for Halloween or something where it'll be

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the same ish business model. Because I honestly, with all honesty,

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and I'm sorry to all my Haunt friends in that area,

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but I really do not believe that there around Hunt

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House is sustainable in Vegas. Still, I still don't believe

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it is. So I'm I don't think it is. You know,

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there's a lot of stuff that has been tried. And

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then separate of all of that, separate of all of this,

226
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just just to clarify something to say something that Scott said,

227
00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:21.639
it has been a like trend or it's been a

228
00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:28.360
conscious effort by the teams everybody in Vegas to develop

229
00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:30.279
Vegas as a non casino thing. That has been a

230
00:12:30.279 --> 00:12:32.039
thing that's been happening for a while. Independent of all

231
00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.799
of this is whether how much Universal is involved in

232
00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:37.159
that or not. I actually don't know, but I know

233
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that the locals and a lot of the a lot

234
00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:41.960
of the folks in that area have been trying to

235
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make it a non casino thing anyway. So it's not

236
00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.600
like a Scott hit on that. But that's not that's

237
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independent of what's going on here. There are other attractions

238
00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:52.000
that've been trying that.

239
00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:52.240
Now.

240
00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:54.600
They have been planning for Universal to be here, and

241
00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:58.720
they have been trying to like piggyback off of Universal's

242
00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:04.559
marketing spend by you know, trying to basically like look

243
00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:07.240
at who's looking at those areas and look at who

244
00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.879
has been like tracked to be interested in that area,

245
00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.679
and then piggybacking off of them to create marketing campaigns

246
00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.159
that like explain that it's a more a bigger destination.

247
00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.399
But there's a lot of area, even the dark Ride,

248
00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:20.360
you know, the SpongeBob dark Ride, I mean there's there's

249
00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:23.759
there's stuff like that all over the strip, the sphere

250
00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:28.879
the Dark Ride, the extended shopping destinations, even it chapter

251
00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:32.080
one and two, plus the spooky pizza eatery. Plus I

252
00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:35.279
mean there's all sorts of like ancillary businesses that they've

253
00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:38.799
developed in kind of anticipation of this becoming a non

254
00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:42.320
casino driven market. So I think that's been an overall trend.

255
00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:45.000
And maybe you know, Scott, it's like a domino where

256
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.200
it's like this might be like the last piece, and

257
00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.240
then it hits all those other things and then you

258
00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:54.080
have this you know, enormous non casino destination possibility, you

259
00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:55.440
know which I almost understanding.

260
00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.720
I'm not saying that this entity alone is going to

261
00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:01.919
be Yeah, is going to be a destination entity. It's

262
00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:04.600
not Vegas. This is still going to be the destination entcity.

263
00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.000
But to your point, Philip, I think this is just

264
00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:09.480
another brick in the wall. I think this may be

265
00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:12.159
a tipping point. And the fact that Universal has such

266
00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:15.440
strong marketing power to get out and the fact that

267
00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:19.159
people who are not industry experts like you are are

268
00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:23.120
asking me, you know what do I think I think

269
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.759
the and I will say, you know, you say that

270
00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:30.279
it's it's Vegas. Is has been trying to be a

271
00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.480
non casino destination for a long time. To be completely honest,

272
00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.200
if you go back even further, that pendulum has swung

273
00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.600
back and forth several times over the last I would

274
00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:42.360
say forty or fifty years.

275
00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.399
Just like with Alloween at places, right, it's like they

276
00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:45.600
try and make it non and then they realize how

277
00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.320
much money the casinos bring in and they go back

278
00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:48.960
to that, and they go and they're like, wait, we

279
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:51.039
can't depend on just casinos because the young kids don't

280
00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.000
like gambling. And then it's like the back and forth,

281
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.639
which is very similar to the same tension.

282
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:58.279
So it's finding it's finding that right balance. But I

283
00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.519
guess and again minus is anecdotal. Mine is based on

284
00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:06.759
what people in that in that elusive mid twenties range,

285
00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.759
what they what they're telling me when I'm when I'm

286
00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:12.679
doing public appearances and out at shows and that sort

287
00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.919
of thing. So I don't have stats or data, I

288
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:18.240
admit that. But at the same time I think that

289
00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.759
just the fact that you know they're they're saying, I've

290
00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:25.399
the exact words were, We've never had a reason to

291
00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:28.960
go to Vegas and to say this is the first

292
00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.799
time I've ever heard a reason to go to Vegas. Now,

293
00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:37.039
if Las Vegas were smart, the the Vegas Convention and

294
00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:40.799
Visitors Bureau would start putting together those kinds of you know,

295
00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:43.840
you're looking for something that's unique and quirky. Well get

296
00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:47.559
universal yet, Mio Wolf, get all. I mean there's there's

297
00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:49.879
tons of other smaller ones a SpongeBob, Get yet, all

298
00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:53.120
the all the experiences that are not casino based. Get

299
00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:55.440
all the experiences that are not cerk to sole, because

300
00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:59.559
cirk to Sole actually is aging out a little bit

301
00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:04.360
in vague guess. So find those things that that, uh,

302
00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:06.879
and don't start saying love Cirk. I'm a huge sirk

303
00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:11.240
nerd so, but but people younger than myself merely.

304
00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:14.440
I mean we've talked about like the Awakening show, which

305
00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.440
is cheaper, We've talked about Absinth. I mean, we've talked

306
00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:18.960
about those shows that are targeting the younger people because

307
00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.960
they are cheaper and they involve like more party and

308
00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.120
more atmosphere and more less strict rules. Right, you know,

309
00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:27.080
Awakening you can take you know, take pictures or you know,

310
00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.279
you you know, it's it's like it's less strict than

311
00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:31.879
like a cirk show where you all have to like

312
00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:33.399
sit and watch and and.

313
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:38.279
As absinthe is completely you know, fully engaging, mainly because

314
00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:41.240
you're being insulted through the whole thing, which is hysterically funny.

315
00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:44.679
And yet people who aren't, who are expecting a cirque

316
00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:48.600
style or a cirk show, are completely driven away from it.

317
00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.559
So it's yeah, they're they're they're still trying to figure

318
00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.120
out how do we remain fresh and still remain Vegas.

319
00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:59.679
Yeah, yeah, I I guess. So the long and the

320
00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:01.519
short of is I guess we will see what the

321
00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:05.720
actual offerings are when they come out, because I'm still

322
00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.240
firmly in the position that the Haunt cannot make it

323
00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.240
in Vegas and not a year round haunt. And I

324
00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:17.920
think that so much of Universal's appeal with Halloween is

325
00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:22.279
that it is temporary, right, That's so much of the appeal.

326
00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:26.079
It is, like it's that whole thing that Scott talks

327
00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:28.359
about all the time. It's that seasonality of it, right,

328
00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:31.039
It's the fact that it's a fuse. It's like it's

329
00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:33.440
a limited time thing that has a lot of power,

330
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.880
you know. And I'm my worry is that if it

331
00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:38.839
becomes a year round thing where it's just kind of

332
00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:42.680
like open and you can go whenever. Then it even

333
00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:45.359
it feeds more into the you know, the people that

334
00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:48.039
are like, you know, it's it's like the people that

335
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.519
are like, oh, I always I always want to go

336
00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:51.839
to Tokyo, or I always wanted to go to Japan,

337
00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.039
or I always want to go to Vega or you know, Vegas,

338
00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:57.839
I always want to go to Vegas. Right, It just

339
00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:01.720
it just there's no like real incentive to go because

340
00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:04.799
it's always available. So the fuse is what makes and

341
00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:08.480
I think that's really what drives the success in. It

342
00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.119
drove it in New York, and it even and drives

343
00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:14.160
it in all over. It's the fuse. It's the concept

344
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.279
of like you have to act or you're gonna miss it.

345
00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.599
And yet people are still going to the Haunted Mansion,

346
00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:24.119
so and still making it a mecca. I mean, I

347
00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:27.319
know people, I know people who come to Florida just

348
00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.400
to visit the Haunted Mansion and pirates of the Caribbean.

349
00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:34.519
So in California they had to make it Haunted Mansion

350
00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:36.440
Holiday for half the year to drive interest.

351
00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:40.000
Well, but again keep in mind that California is not

352
00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:43.640
tourist based or not as tourist based as Florida. California

353
00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:46.920
is significantly more local based the season pass numbers. The

354
00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:50.240
season pass numbers in California are significantly higher as you

355
00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:52.799
are a season pass holder, it is. The season pass

356
00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.400
holder numbers in California are significantly higher as far as

357
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:57.640
percentage go, as in Florida. Florida is a much more

358
00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:58.240
of a tourist space.

359
00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:01.880
You know, they had the same thing in Tokyo, right,

360
00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.680
And I think the other thing too. You mentioned it

361
00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:07.519
not being an area. I mean, you know, Orlando has

362
00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:11.759
a significant chunk more visitors than Vegas. I mean, we're

363
00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:14.759
looking at seventy five million annually versus less than fifty

364
00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:15.279
in Vegas.

365
00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:20.440
So you're right, You're absolutely right, that's true. But okay,

366
00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:23.279
fifty million or seventy five million, we're still talking a

367
00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.880
decent chunk of change here. Number one and number two,

368
00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:29.680
we're still talking about something you know, I don't. The

369
00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.799
track record for the haunts in Vegas is not good.

370
00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:34.960
I agree with you. There has not been one that

371
00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.640
has successfully been able to do it. But the first

372
00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:40.200
I haven't seen all of them. The first one I saw,

373
00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.400
there's a reason it didn't work because it wasn't very good.

374
00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.000
So there's that So that's why I keep saying it

375
00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:49.559
depends on quality, It depends on their ability to you know,

376
00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:52.640
this is not they're not They're also not necessarily billing

377
00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:56.839
it as a haunt. They're billing it as an experience

378
00:19:56.920 --> 00:19:58.839
with merch call. I mean, you just read that. You

379
00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.960
just read the press release. So it's got four different

380
00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:06.559
experiences plus connective tissue, and people people are telling me

381
00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:08.599
it gives them a reason that they want to check

382
00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.759
out Vegas, even though they've never had an interest before.

383
00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.920
So we'll see if it's just another if it's just

384
00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:19.480
another block to hopefully build that non casino tourism that

385
00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.680
they're looking for that will target the next generation of

386
00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.240
people who have money to go on vacation.

387
00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:28.640
Maybe, I mean, yeah, again, we really have to see

388
00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:32.160
what the end up, what the end announcement is. You

389
00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:35.079
know what the actual offering is, right, Is it a

390
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:38.960
temporary haunt plus you know, some year round mixing, you know,

391
00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:41.000
and you know, maybe there's year round haunts plus a

392
00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:43.440
temporary haunt or is it food like what whatever? Is it?

393
00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:45.880
But you know some.

394
00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:49.200
And maybe it's what they're gonna and maybe it's what

395
00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:53.279
they did with you know, the the Haunted Mansion. Maybe

396
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:55.799
it's exactly what what Disney did with the Hanted Mansion,

397
00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.200
to say, here's our standard and then we'll do an

398
00:20:58.200 --> 00:20:59.519
overlay for the holidays.

399
00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:02.799
So yeah, which could be cool. But yeah, the only

400
00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:06.000
other info just for people in the region, because I

401
00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:08.079
looked into this when we did I did some stories

402
00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:11.559
in Vegas, but a surprising amount of the of the

403
00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:15.079
Vegas visitors, upwards of fifty more over fifty percent of

404
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:20.640
the Vegas visitors are repeat visitors. So it's much more

405
00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:22.839
like the California market than people want to realize, which

406
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:25.599
I think is another reason why they were They've been

407
00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:27.920
trying to build that bright line that goes back and

408
00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:30.440
forth because like you know, if you're in the Sokal

409
00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.960
region like me, it's only like four hours almost three

410
00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.240
and a half from my house, and you know, so

411
00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:38.480
because of that, it's a it's a it is a

412
00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:40.640
like almost like a repeat. So it's much more like

413
00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.960
closer to the concept of Disneyland where you're going people

414
00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:46.079
are just visiting multiple times because it's so easy to

415
00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:50.039
get there, and if there were a train, it'd be

416
00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:52.599
even easier, you know, even as it is now, it's

417
00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:55.079
a half an hour plane ride, you know, from Burbank

418
00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:58.240
and people just go all the time and just fly over.

419
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.799
So that could be another thing too. They could be

420
00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:03.559
trying to attract the SoCal audience, you know that, Like

421
00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:06.680
you can't expand Halloween Hornites in Hollywood because you're landlocked,

422
00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.559
but you could expand it in Vegas where people from

423
00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:13.279
SoCal already go all the time. So you know, that

424
00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:16.759
could be thing. But anyway, okay, we didn't even think. Okay,

425
00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:19.240
So the other thing up that we talked about is

426
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:22.880
Universal released the first look at some of their animated

427
00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.039
figures that's going to go inside the Monsters Unchained, which

428
00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:29.559
is the new dark Ride at Epic Universe, which is

429
00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.039
the new theme park. So the new theme park in

430
00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:36.400
Florida by Universal, which is it's also side know, we're

431
00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:41.839
talking about things side not to Scott's a reference to Scott.

432
00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:44.319
You know, when I talk to people, I'm astonished to

433
00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:46.000
how many people don't know there's a new theme park

434
00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:48.200
coming to Florida. Like, I mean, I talk to people

435
00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:52.359
all the time and they're like they all know, Yeah,

436
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.519
I don't. It's weird. It's like it's like they think

437
00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:57.319
it's like a new Land or something, and I'm like, no,

438
00:22:57.400 --> 00:22:59.599
it's an actual theme park, a new theme park, and there.

439
00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:01.599
Right across so I foresee the new exits they're building.

440
00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:04.079
Yeah, they're like what, I'm okay, a new theme park.

441
00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:07.599
It's it's so weird.

442
00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:08.240
Uh.

443
00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:11.759
But anyway, so univers Will releases big, uh you know,

444
00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:15.839
video and images of these new animatronics, and they're I

445
00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:20.200
think everyone's really looking at the Frankenstein's Monster, which is

446
00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:23.839
going to be an eight foot tall walking animatronic that

447
00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:27.920
will kind of greet guests as they enter the Dark Ride.

448
00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:34.079
And yeah, these they talk about them. So frank Stein's Monster, Jacquela,

449
00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:36.440
the wolf Man, the Cuture from Black Lagoon. You guys

450
00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:40.480
should really everyone listening should go look at the video

451
00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:42.519
and look at the images. I'm if you haven't seen

452
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.839
them already all over social media, but it's incredible. These,

453
00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:52.240
I mean, these animatronics are absolutely stunning. And again I'm

454
00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:58.160
not it's interesting because to me, right, these are so Again,

455
00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:01.640
we look at the theme park our stuff right now, right,

456
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.880
Disney still hasn't really announced anything, and the last thing

457
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:06.960
that we've seen from the Newest Thing, right is the

458
00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:10.039
Tiana's Bayou, which has had problems everywhere. You know, the

459
00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.920
animatronics don't work, like they shut down whatever. And then

460
00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:16.680
you compare the Bayou with these monsters and you're like,

461
00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:21.000
there is no comparison. These are incredible like creations. But

462
00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:23.680
and yet people still don't know that Epic Universe is

463
00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.720
even happening, and you know, so I don't know. It's

464
00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:29.400
just it's weird to me that there's so much innovation happening,

465
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:33.559
but Disney owns so much of the market share that

466
00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:36.279
it's kind of like, you know, every week they're releasing,

467
00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:38.440
they're putting out these press releases to stay in the news.

468
00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:40.839
How much is it really penetrating. I'm not sure.

469
00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:45.480
Well, but and as you mentioned even before we started recording,

470
00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:50.799
the reason for this is Universal's attendance is uh not

471
00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:53.640
doing well. I think that's fair to say. And you

472
00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:55.799
have the numbers because you're the numbers guy, but they're

473
00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:56.759
not doing well.

474
00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:02.279
Yeah, I will, I will do a deep dive into

475
00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:05.519
this and maybe for next week if we need that.

476
00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:08.359
There's some stuff we missed. I didn't review the entire transcript,

477
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.119
so that's my disclaimer. But basically the top line is

478
00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:14.279
that they had a five point three percent decline. Universal

479
00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:17.599
did in Dean Park revenue for the third quarter, so

480
00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:19.920
keep that in mind. The third quarter, which is supposed

481
00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:24.799
to be the big quarter, right to lower tencent domestic

482
00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:29.079
parks from the record breaking years. However, the company is

483
00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:31.599
optimistic about future growth with the May twenty five opening

484
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:35.160
Epic Universe in Orlando, which is expected to transform Universal Orlando.

485
00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:37.440
And they didn't even mentioned Vegas. You know, they're like, oh,

486
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.279
we're be better in Orlando, what about Vegas? They just

487
00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:45.720
talked about this, and then also to the point i'd

488
00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:51.200
I would venture, well, so many more outlets. Again, we're

489
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:54.079
picking up the story about the revenue decline, then we're

490
00:25:54.119 --> 00:25:57.359
talking about like the opening date for Vegas.

491
00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:00.720
It's just one of those weird things where you know

492
00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:03.359
it's not weird. The news always reports on the negative.

493
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:06.039
The new always clomb glombs onto the negative. It's like

494
00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:08.799
Universal is hurting because they're down five percent. But I'll

495
00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.799
tell you what it is. I mean Universal, if they

496
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:14.599
weren't anticipating this, then they're not.

497
00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:16.000
They're not va.

498
00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:20.720
What's happening is people are having because those people who

499
00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:23.599
do know about Epic, those people who do know that

500
00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:27.599
it's coming they're just not coming. They're not traveling to

501
00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:30.319
Florida until Epic is open. It's like, oh, well, why

502
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:33.400
should we really go now, Let's just wait. We've got

503
00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:38.359
to buy tickets to studios and islands anyway in order

504
00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.039
to even go to Epic. So let's just postpone our

505
00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:43.640
vacation another year or a year, year and a half,

506
00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:46.880
two years, and do Epic when we go and hit

507
00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.359
it all in one in one fell swoop as opposed

508
00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:53.559
to showing up just before the coolest, biggest, most exciting

509
00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:56.240
new park opens. You know, why why miss out on

510
00:26:56.359 --> 00:27:00.680
Mario if we come this year and let's just postpone

511
00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:03.279
it until next year. This is this is standard. This

512
00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:05.839
is theme park one oh one. If you've got something

513
00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:08.759
new and big and exciting and crazy and wild and wonderful,

514
00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:14.720
you're gonna have people who will have that lag in there.

515
00:27:14.839 --> 00:27:18.440
They'll they'll replan their vacations, they'll replan their vacation so

516
00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:19.720
they can come and experience at all.

517
00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:20.880
This is nothing new.

518
00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:24.279
We've theme parks. Theme parks for years did this. When

519
00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:27.240
they opened new lands, new rides, new coasters, they would

520
00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:33.200
intentionally hold off the the early marketing so that they

521
00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:37.519
wouldn't have a decrease uh in their attendance for people

522
00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:41.039
waiting to get to that attraction. Now it's not so

523
00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:45.200
much with rides anymore, but for a new theme park. Yeah,

524
00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:47.160
it's that's exactly what it is.

525
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:51.279
Well, it makes sense to me, Yeah, I think I

526
00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:55.440
think just the the well, I guess the third quarter

527
00:27:55.880 --> 00:27:58.599
only includes like what like half of Halloween horn nights

528
00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:01.680
because they opened on it's what, September sixth or something,

529
00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:03.839
so it's about half the run. I think that that's

530
00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:08.359
the more the interesting part, although you know, anecdotal, again anecdotal.

531
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:10.240
We don't know, they're not going to publish numbers, but

532
00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:15.440
we have seen all all season just reports of people

533
00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:18.039
going and it being not you know, as crowded as

534
00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.839
it has been in previous years. So again that also

535
00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:24.519
could feed right into your thesis about the epic though,

536
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.319
even even down to like you know, we're going to

537
00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:30.079
skip hornice this year or whatnot. But also they were

538
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:32.519
not great IPS this year. I mean we talked about

539
00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:34.720
that previously. You know, again the investment in the IPS

540
00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:39.880
was not as strong. Again, again to conserve ostensibly off

541
00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:41.400
the record, right, you know, I mean not that this

542
00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.119
was ever stated, But I think the running theory is

543
00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:46.480
that they were trying to save money for Epic, you know,

544
00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:48.920
and so they were kind of not spending as much

545
00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:51.920
on the IP licenses for horn Ice because they assume

546
00:28:51.960 --> 00:28:54.079
people would go anyway, and they didn't really, But how

547
00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:56.640
much of that is equalization that we've been talking about

548
00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:58.960
versus you know, actual lack of interest in the event,

549
00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:02.400
you know, versus them saving their money to come to Epic,

550
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:02.799
I don't know.

551
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:04.519
Well, and think about it, and think about it this

552
00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:09.079
way from a corporate standpoint, Universal entertainment, universal live entertainment

553
00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:13.319
is think of it like a gigantic dark warehouse, and

554
00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:16.000
they're going to have to illuminate the certain sections and

555
00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.119
the certain corners of that warehouse as they see fit

556
00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:23.000
and as they are needed. Right now, they are putting

557
00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:26.480
all of their money, effort, time into getting Epic up

558
00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:29.599
and running, but they can't ignore the other corners of

559
00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:32.440
the warehouse either. So don't panic. That flashlight is going

560
00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:37.119
to shift and illuminate more information about other parks, other properties,

561
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:40.039
you know, the Texas Park, which we haven't even talked about,

562
00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:43.680
you know. And one of the biggest things right now

563
00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:46.519
is Epic Universe tickets are on sale, so they want

564
00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:48.559
to make sure that you're getting your tickets now to

565
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:51.160
try to compensate for the fact that they are losing

566
00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:54.079
attendance because people are dragging their feet to come, so

567
00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:56.079
they've got to bank some of that money up front

568
00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:58.839
so that they can make up for that loss. It

569
00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:03.000
all makes sense. It's nothing that's unusual or scandalous. It's

570
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:07.400
the way the industry works. The guests decide when they

571
00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:09.839
want to come based on what is there to offer.

572
00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:15.000
And because they've been so forthright, at least in Florida

573
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:17.400
or at least on the East Coast about the new park.

574
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:19.839
Obviously it's not making its way to California yet, but

575
00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:23.039
there's so much about the new park that guests over

576
00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:26.079
here are just saying, we'll just hang out until Epic opens.

577
00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:28.960
And I think that it's interesting. You know, we talk

578
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.799
about they keep dropping cool things, and they dropped two

579
00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:34.720
cool things in the news or two things in the news.

580
00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:36.319
Whether you think they're cool or not, it's up to you.

581
00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:39.319
But two things in the news that are focused on

582
00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:43.400
haunt related stuff. They're focused on horror, and they're doing

583
00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:46.160
that again to take that last to ring out that

584
00:30:46.279 --> 00:30:49.839
last little bit of Halloween, and it's still something that

585
00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:54.279
will get we'll get news attention. It's and the you know,

586
00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:58.200
the animatronics look great and the excitement of doing a

587
00:30:58.279 --> 00:31:02.559
Haunt in Vegas is appealing to so you know, they're

588
00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:06.039
clearly trying to play the media game as best they can.

589
00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:09.799
And speaking of ringing out Halloween, if you guys are

590
00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:15.000
part of our paywall group, if you're part of green

591
00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:18.480
Tag Unhinged, we will be doing sort of a ring

592
00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:21.000
out of the last little bits of Halloween in Unhinged

593
00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.440
for this week, so hopefully we'll see you there, but

594
00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:26.400
our time is up for this particular show, so on

595
00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:28.680
behalf of Philip and myself. This is Green Tag Theme

596
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:30.359
Park in thirty and we will see all of you

597
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:32.519
next week unless you're in Unhinged.

598
00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:35.079
And if you're trying to find our Patreon, you can

599
00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:37.799
type in green Tagged into Patreon or just go to

600
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:41.160
patreon dot com slash green tags Yes beautiful, So if

601
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:41.599
you've done that,