NEWS: Can Universal turn Spring into Second Halloween with Fan Fest Nights?

0:07 Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the Haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the HN Show. We bring you the Haunt news, information, and education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read more about these stories and so much more in our free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes. And as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it off to Darryl. Universal's Fan Fast Nights bring you twelve evenings of comic con meets HHN. Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California, has debuted their new hard ticket event, Fan Fast Nights, running select days now through May eighteenth, from seven pm to two am, blending pop up experiences, immersive LARPing, and Haunt style walkthroughs. Fandoms represented in this inaugural event include Star Trek, Back to the Future, Dungeons and Dragons, One Piece, Jujitchu, Kaizen, Harry Potter, and Supernintendo. Tickets range from seventy four to eighty four dollars. The event's crown jewel is the masterfully crafted Back to the Future Immersive experience on the actual movie courthouse square backlot. The Universal team has created a masterfully written, one of a kind, immersive theater experience for Back to the Future. Reception has been overwhelmingly positive, proving that FanFest format has leg by creating an experience nobody else can duplicate. Literally stepping into Hill Valley, they have

1:39 proven experience uniqueness Trump's IP popularity, but the Universal leave money on the table by neglecting fandoms with larger followings. Will twenty twenty six bring a rebalance of resources towards the bigger, younger fandoms that clearly showed up this year, or have they permanently hamstring the event's growth. Listened to Scott and Philip discuss it in this week's episode of The Green Tagged Podcast. According to University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment, consumer confidence has plunged roughly thirty four percent lower than last year. With domestic tourism struggling in international travel patterns shifting, the theme park industry is facing unprecedented challenges to mitigate task in this volatile environment, Industry leaders are strategically diversifying to position themselves to better weather whatever economic scenario emerges. Universal exemplifies this with their multi pronged approach of geographic diversification with a new theme park coming in the UK and twenty thirty one Universal Kids Resort in Texas and Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas with demographic diversification including distinct products for families, horror enthusiasts and upscale travelers, and revenue stream diversification theme parks, hotels, entertainment districts, and IP licensing. United Airlines mirrors this with a barbell strategy preparing by reducing miss tier offerings while expanding both premium and budget services and adjusting for supply chain constraints.

3:07 Regional parks have strong opportunity to focus on local audiences. Seasonal events like Halloween and Christmas offerings create urgency and provide compelling reasons for locals to visit during what might otherwise be shoulder seasons. Strong local marketing, membership programs encouraging frequency, and strategic community partnerships can provide stability when tourism falters. Bush Gardens Tampa Bay unleases the Hello Scream Mayhem Sale. It's never too early to start planning your Halloween scares. Bush Gardens Tampa Bay and Tampa Bay, Florida has unleased its Hallow Scream Mayhem sale now through May eleventh. Guests can purchase tickets for just thirty nine to ninety nine when buying two or more. Hello Scream will run select nights September fifth through November two. The brave souls who dare enter will face their fears as they navigate through haunted houses, scare zones, and sinister spectacles, crawling with e U County life forms, eerie technologies, and other worldly terrors.

4:04 Stay tuned to the coming months for the May's announcements and more. The Midwest Haunters Convention Friday Hat Tour of Abandoned Haunted House Complex At this year's Midwest Hunters Convention Friday Night Haunted House Tour will feature the Abandoned Haunted House Complex and Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. Taking place on Friday, June sixth. Tickets include dinner at Bratt Stop and Kenosha, admission to Abandoned Haunted House Complex featuring three unique, fully immersive haunted houses with live actors and sensory effects, one drink ticket and a Q and a session with the haunt owners following the tour Tour tickets with bus rides started one hundred and five dollars. Self driving tours start at eighty. Prices will increase after May twenty ninth. Fright Night's West Virginia launch's Fright Night's Final Cut Summer Slaughter.

4:50 This summer, the Screams start early at Fright Nights West Virginia and Daniels, West Virginia with the debut of a brand new immersive event, Fright Night's Final Cut Summer Slaughter, a one night only horror movie survival experience set to terrify guests. On Friday, June thirteenth, groups of six guests will step into the scenes of a live slasher film where a masked killer stalks through four chilling horror sets based suspense, field moments, eerie silence, and the constant threat of a serial killer lurking in the shadows. Those killed during the experience will be marked with a sticker as a twisted badge of honor. Summerslaughter is like walking straight into a terrifying VHS tape. You're in the movie now, and your survival isn't guaranteed, says Ashley Long, creative director at Fright Night's WV. We want to give guests something fresh, interactive, and terrifying to kick off the summer into fright Night's fashion.

5:43 Tickets are on sale now, starting at thirty dollars for general admission and forty two for a double feature ticket, allowing brave guests to re enter and face the killer again. Zombie Joe's Underground Theater Group presents Mother, an extreme horror experience. Zombie Joe's Underground Theater Group from North Hollywood, California, proudly announces the return of Mother on May tenth and eleventh. Written and directed by Charlotte Cocker and produced by Zombie Joe, this darkly twisted tale promises an unforgettable, high intensity journey into the darkest corners of maternal love. The story follows a mother devastated by the loss of her child, willing to defy life, death and reason to bring her back. With the audience pulled directly into her desperate ritual, the question becomes not just if she can succeed, but at what cost. Tickets are on sale now for twenty five dollars online thirty dollars at the door. The experience is for audiences eighteen plus. As the show features graphic and mature themes and light physical contact with persons and objects.

6:42 Mars has released their annual Snackable Summary of Consumer Insights for Halloween twenty twenty five. Based on an IPSOS survey of over twenty four hundred US adults. They found that seventy eight percent of Americans planning to celebrate Halloween this year, ninety five percent typically purchase candy. As for what will be filling those trick or treat bags, over eighty percent of responders said that they'll be purchasing chocolate, and thirty seven percent plan to purchase gummies. For some, the spooky spirit starts frighteningly early, especially gen Z and Millennials. Nearly one in ten gen Z and millennials are already conjuring up their celebrations, and these generations are also most likely to buy seasonal treats as soon as they see them in the store. Gen Z and Millennials also don't wait for the leaves to fall to start their Halloween planning.

7:27 On average, they start planning almost two months out. They are also fueling the rise of the summer ween trend. Mars has released their Complete Halloween twenty twenty five candy lineup. Returning seasonal staples includes Eminem's Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Pie, Snickers Pumpkins, Twigs and Snickers, Goulish Green, and Skittles Shriekers. M and MS will release three new Halloween blends featuring their Milk Chocolate, Peanut Milk Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate varieties. The company also plans new seasonal packages for M and m's Peanut Butter fun Size giveaway bags and Snickers Pumpkins. New variety pack combinations will also allow for fun taste combinations for Tricker treaters. Coming up on live streams, Ask the Lawyer Matthew Murphy. Hunter's Toolbox is hosting a live Q and A session with trial attorney Matthew Murphy on Tuesday, May thirteenth at five thirty pm Pacific daylight time. Murphy has worked in courtroom since nineteen eighty five and tridcases for juries in three states and five federal districts as council.

8:25 During this informative one and a half hour live session, Murphy will discuss Legal Roadbox, legal roadblocks, haunts, off and faced, including protecting yourself from legal battles, how to deal with local codes and laws, insurance and liability, legal guidelines around your brand, and advice for home hunters in Hays and more. Upcoming events this May through July twenty twenty five include the Halfway to Halloween Expo in ann Arbor, Michigan, on May tenth, Shutter Cohn in east Ridge, Tennessee, May tenth and eleventh, Scare Con in Birmingham, England, May twentieth and twenty five First Monster Palooza and Pasadena, California, May thirtieth through June first, the Midwest Haunters Convention in Rosemont, Illinois, June sixth through eight, and the Texas Haunters Convention in Dallas, Texas, July twenty six through twenty seventh.

9:15 And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode was produced by me Philip Hernandez, with reporting by Daryl Plunky post production by David Swope. This Haunt News Update is a production of the Haunted Attraction Network, and you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Hantattrastionnetwork dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting and Controls. Until next time, Haunters Stay Scary. This is a haunted attraction. Network production