June 30, 2026

NEWS: Comcast Splits as Universal Bets Big on Halloween

Show Notes
Transcript

Halloween is having a moment, and Universal is here for it. Comcast announced it will split into two companies, with the entertainment half, NBCUniversal, anchored by its growing theme parks division. Since Comcast has made horror a central part of its brand, Halloween is about to become a much more visible story on earnings calls, and a higher bar for HHN and Horror Unleashed to clear. That dovetails with everything else Universal announced this week, from four new HHN Orlando houses to a Resident Evil takeover in Las Vegas. We also look at Michaels betting big on Halloween nostalgia, and what that might say about the consumer.
In this issue:
- Comcast to Spin Off NBCUniversal Around Universal's Theme Parks
- Halloween Horror Nights Orlando Announces Remaining Original Houses
- Resident Evil Takeover Soft-Launches at Universal Horror Unleashed Las Vegas
- Michaels Bets on Nostalgia With Six 2026 Halloween Décor Collections
- House of Horror Haunted Carnival Moves to Tropical Park
- IAAPA Expo 2026 Registration Opens, Haunting Grounds Moves to West Building
- Run Your Own Dark Ride with "Scream Operator: Haunted House Manager" Game

Read the stories here

WEBVTT

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Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the

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haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the

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HN Show. We bring you the haunt news, information, and

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education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we

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bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read

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more about these stories and so much more in our

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free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes.

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And as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it

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off to Darryl.

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Starting off with a message from Philip Pernandez, publisher of

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the Haunted Attraction Network. Halloween is having a great moment,

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and Universal is here for it. Comcast announced that it

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will split into two companies, one focused on connectivity and

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one focused on entertainment. The entertainment company NBCUniversal will be

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a focused media and entertainment company anchored by its growing

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Theme parks division. I agree with Wall Street, which rewarded

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Comcast with its best day in over a decade, that

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this is an exciting move. As it turns out there

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was no real synergy between connectivity and entertainment. Both sides

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suffered under the same shared multiple, and now each can

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be valued appropriately. What does this have to do with Helloween?

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You ask well. Comcast has made horror and Halloween a

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central part of its brand, with Halloween Horror Nights expanding

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nights at both Orlando and Hollywood, the year round Horror

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Unleashed in Las Vegas, and the upcoming Horror Unleashed Chicago.

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Inside Comcast, those revenue lines were buried in a Content

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and Experiences grouping inside a focused NBC Universal Helloween becomes

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a story the CEO must tell investors who are now

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buying the company, specifically for its entertainment narrative. That likely

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means more park level disclosure and a higher bar for

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what HHN and UHU must deliver because the numbers are

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about to become much more visible. That stance dovetails with

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everything else Universal announced this week, all of it centered

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on horror, Halloween Horror Nights. Orlando revealed the rest of

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its five original house slate for the thirty fifth anniversary

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Invasion Alien Abduction. The event's first alien abduction house, Cyborgia,

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a dystopian cyborg house its creator calls fully integrated and

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kind of alive and madlands caged cannibals, which Laura Sauls

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described as one of the bloodiest and most aggressive houses

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of the year. These joined the previously announced Jack An

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Oddfellow and hr Blood and Guts, plus ip Houses, Sinners

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and Stranger Things five. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, a resident

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Evil Takeover Soft launched at Universal Horror Unleashed, turning the

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common areas into Raccoon City with live actors, roaming zombies,

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and an Umbrella Corporation cafe. It's included with general admission,

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which means it's accessible even on the thirty dollars freighticat ticket,

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exactly the kind of rotating, local friendly programming Uichu laid

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out at Monster Palooza. Then, picking up from the spirit

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Halloween story, Michaels dropped its largest Halloween collection ever, six

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decor lines built entirely around nostalgia. The heavy retail investment

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is a good sign for us and indicates that retailers

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expect spending to continue. However, the investment in nostalgia could

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signal its sentiment is still low. People tend to get

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nostalgic about the times they remember is better and simpler,

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so a retail giant betting is hard on throwback aesthetics

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could be reading to a consumer who is still going

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to spend but isn't happy about it. Think about what

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you're considering them zone directions, scare acter styling, or the

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marketing language that resonates with the retail prime shopper. Also

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this week, Green Tag digs into when to change a

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theme park and when not to Disneyland's Pirates backlash, the

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enchanted park's dining plan cut, and Disney World's stretched holiday

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season House of Horror. Haunted Carnival moves to the Tropical

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Park in Miami for its twenty fifth year. Iappa Expo

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opened registration with Haunting Grounds moving to the West Building,

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and there's now a Dark Ride management sim coming to Steam.

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Here's what you need to know this week. First off

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in theme park news, Comcast is to spin off NBC

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Universal around Universal's theme parks. Comcast on June twenty ninth

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confirmed that it will separate into two independent, publicly traded

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companies through a tax free spinoff of NBC Universal and Sky,

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expected to be completed within roughly twelve months. The new

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NBC Universal, with Mike Cavanaugh's CEO, will be focused media

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and entertainment company anchored by its growing theme parks division.

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With Universal film and television studios NBC, Telemundo, Peacock, Bravo

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and Sky. Michael Angelakis, the former Comcast CFO and current

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Altero's chairman, returns as CEO of standalone Comcast. The widely

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celebrated move places NBC Universal in a better position to

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compete with Disney and Wall Street was pleased. Comcast, with

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a NASDAC ticker of CMCSA closed up about four and

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a half percent on the day, its largest single session

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gain in over a decade. The stock spiked by twenty

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to twenty five percent in pre market trading before pairing

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back over the session. No day to day changes have

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been announced or are expected yet, though how Halloween shows

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up in future earning calls could change. Halloween has quietly

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become a cornerstone for Universal, with HHN expanding nights at

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both Orlando and Hollywood the year round, UHU operating in

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Las Vegas, and Horror Unleashed Chicago. In the build Q

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inside Comcast, those revenue lines were buried in a content

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and Experiences grouping shared with media inside a focused NBC Universal,

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Halloween becomes the story the CEO has to tell investors

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who are now buying NBC Universal specifically for the entertainment narrative.

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That should mean more park level disclosure, attendance per caps,

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hotel performance, Halloween program contribution, and a more visible read

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at the operation against Disney experiences. It also raises the

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bar and what HHN and UHU have to deliver because

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that metric is now public. Three things that I'm watching

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for capital allocation post spin, Will Parks get the dedicated

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investment or will Peacocks scaling take it? Segment reporting granularity,

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more park level details such as attendance, per caps, hotel performance,

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Halloween program contribution, gives the trade audience a competitive read

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against Disney experiences, and m and A signals. Management denied

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the spin as a prelude to a deal with Kavanaugh,

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saying the plan is to build an invest in growth

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wolf researches. Peter Subpino still framed NBCUniversal as an indisputable

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acquisition target at is one hundred and twelve billion dollars valuation.

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Tax free structure rules out a near term out right sale,

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but the two year window expiry is a date to track.

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Follow the links in our show notes to read the

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full analysis Halloween Horror Nights Orlando announces the remaining original houses.

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Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida has announced the remaining

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houses in its five original concept slate for the thirty

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fifth anniversary Helloween Horror Nights. The new houses will join

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Jack and Old Fellow, Chaos Control, and hr Blood and

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Guts Returns for the original house slate. IP based houses

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include Sinners and Stranger Things. Five Halloween Horror Nights Orlando

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runs select nights August twenty eight through November. First tickets

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are on sale now at the events official website. The

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new houses include Invasion Alien Abduction, where you make contact

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with horrors from worlds unknown in Halloween Horror Night's first

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Alien Abduction house. Invasion Alien Abduction takes guests to a

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remote Southwestern homestead where a ship of Grays, the large eyed,

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gray skinned aliens of Ufo folklore, is tearing the property apart,

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snatching the family and their livestock for experiments. Senior show

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director Charles Gray told noticed the team deliberately set the

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house apart from the campy nineteen fifty sci fi tone

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the subject usually invites. When you do the Little Gray

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Man or the Aliens, it can quickly get humorous, it

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can get quite kitchy and cheesy. Gray said in Invasion

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Alien Abduction, we really wanted to tell the story of

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the horrific moment at night when they are coming to

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take you, and that's frightening. He described the result as

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almost home invasion type of horror and fear. The next

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House is Cyborgia. Enter into a dystopian, cyborg filed future.

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In Cyborgia, The house's backstory centers on a corporation called

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Bio Immortal Bionic Intelligent Systems, which offered customers immortality on

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the condition that they be cryo frozen until the technology

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to deliver eternal life caught up. The company never delivered

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its intelligent facility, left to make do with its resources,

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began fusing human and robot parts to keep living tissue alive.

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The walkthrough takes guests through the freezing process, into the

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future where man and machine of melded, and then outside

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the facility to see what's become of the world. Show

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director and house creator Matthew Flood told gam Rant in

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an exclusive interview. To see what's become of the world,

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show director and House creator Matthew Flood told GameRant in

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an exclusive interview, Flood described the Haunted House as fully

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integrated and kind of alive, with audio, lighting and characters

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presentation at the next level. And lastly, Madlands Caged Cannibals.

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Madlands Caged Cannibals drops guests into a post apocalyptic zoo

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long after the animals have gone extinct. Rival tribes of

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cannibals occupy the abandoned grounds and have adopted the apex

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predator behaviors of the species that once lived there, learning

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those traits from the zoo's old signage and exhibit remnants.

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Guests passed through the cannibal's territory as prey caught between

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the warring factions. Laura Sauls, E Universals Orlando's assistant director

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of Entertainment Creative Development, told Cinema Blend the concept came

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from one of our newer scenic designers during a brainstorm

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poek in April twenty twenty five. Sauls described the result

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as a bloody house and one of our bloodiest this

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year and one of the most aggressive in the event.

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Very bloody, very in your face, very intense and attacking.

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When to change a theme park and when not to.

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This week's episode of Green Tag podcast focuses on three

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new items, all of them about change, when to make it,

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when to skip it, and how to communicate it. Disneyland

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from Anaheim, California, is facing backlash after replacing one of

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the old skeletons in the Pirates of the Caribbean with

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a new projection. Mapped animatronic screens in AI are deeply

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unpopular right now, and replacing a classic animatronic with a

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projection might have been a misstep. Enchanted Parks eliminated the

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legacy dining plan in its six former six Flags properties.

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CEO James Harry told Attractions Magazine the company is prioritizing

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rides and improvements, not chicken tenders. The line is good,

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the underlying strategy is not visible yet, and a smaller

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chain almost certainly lost the bulk discount that made the

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plan profitable. A cleaner play would have been to lead

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with the price reductions and let the cut follow. Meanwhile,

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Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida extended its twenty twenty

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six holiday season to nearly two months, from November thirteenth

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through January sixth, without adding anything new. Christmas at Disney

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is built on nostalgia and changing the product would break

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the emotional logic. Guests come for Halloween needs novelty, Christmas

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needs tradition. The Resident Evil Takeover Soft launches at Universal

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Horror Unleashed, Las Vegas. A Resident Evil Takeover Soft launched

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at Universal Horror Unleashed at Area fifteen in Las Vegas, Nevada,

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on June twenty fifth, turning the venue's common areas into

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Raccoon City. The experience includes a Raccoon Police Department facade,

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escape puzzles, live actors playing Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield

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and Nemesis roaming zombies, and an Umbrella Corporation cafe with

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co branded Resident Evil dining. Universal has not yet issued

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an official press release for the event, but in last

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month's Monster Palooza panel, Universal Horror Unleashed laid out a

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twenty twenty six calendar that included a June through August

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Marquee Summer event built around a major movie or TV property,

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and this Resident Evil Takeover fits exactly that slot. The

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Resident Evil Takeover is included with general admission, which means

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it is accessible even with a thirty dollars Freightycat ticket.

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The venue's lowest tier that grants common area dining in

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entertainment access, but excludes the four haunted houses. House of

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Horror Haunted Carnival moves to Tropical Park. The House of

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Horror Carnival is moving to a new location for the

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twenty twenty sixth season. Now in its twenty fifth year,

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the event will bring its scares to Tropical Park in Miami, Florida.

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While details of this year's event have yet to be announced,

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attendees can expect five haunted houses, two scare zones, carnival rides,

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and more. The event will run select night September twenty

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fourth through October thirty. First tickets will be fifty nine

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dollars for general admission, including unlimited access to haunted houses

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and carnival rides, and thirty nine dollars for six and

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under admission includes unlimited carnival rides. Pine Street Horror to

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host Summer Ween Block Party. Join Pine Street Horror Haunted

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House in Lockport, New York for their first Summer Ween

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Block Party on Saturday, July twenty fifth, from eleven am

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to four pm. The event will feature twenty plus spooky vendors,

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food and drinks, entertainment, photo ops and more. Pine Street

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Horror will also open their doors for a behind the

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scenes look at the all new Haunt. The event is

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free and open to all ages. Michael's bets on nostalgia

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with six twenty twenty six horror decor collections. Michaels is

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going bigger than ever before with six exclusive Helloween decor

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collections that bring nostalgic Helloween styles back from the grave,

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reimagined for today. Framed as a Halloween rewind, the collections

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draw from vintage carnival mysticism, late nineties roller rink culture,

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neighborhood halloween parties, gothic libraries whichy coming of age stories,

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and Victorian Gothic romance. Halloween has always been about revisiting

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the traditions, stories and rituals that make the season feel

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magical year after year, said Stacy Shiveley, chief Merchandising Officer

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at Michael's. As consumers continue embracing analog living, we're seeing

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renewed interest in the nostalgic aesthetics of past generations as

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the destination for creating and celebrating. We designed this year's

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assortment as a Halloween rewind, bringing together throwback decor, hands

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on creativity and party essentials to help customers reimagine those

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classics for today's home Nostalgia as a merchandising bet can

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be read two ways. It might be a real generational

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signal that the Halloween audience is buying into analog throwback

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and pre Internet aesthetics. It might also be a softer

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economy comfort move, since consumers under economic pressure often lean

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towards what they remember as a better, simpler season. Either

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reading is a worth watching data point for Haunt operators

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thinking about the deemed zone, direction, s, character styling, and

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the marketing language that lands with the retail primed Helloween shopper.

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In convention news, Hunting Ground moves to West building is

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AYAPPA Expo twenty twenty six registration opens. Registration is now

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open for APPA Expo twenty twenty six, and the Helloween

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themed Haunting Grounds area will move to the Orange County

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Convention Center's West Building as part of the show's largest

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footprint to date. Hunting Grounds is Ayappa Expo's dedicated Helloween

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and Haunt area, where vendors specific to the haunt industry

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exhibit alongside themed activation and education. Haunted Attraction Network's twenty

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twenty five coverage of Haunting Grounds covered the area's role

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as the haunt industry's annual touch point inside the broader

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attractions trade show. AYAPPA has not yet released the full

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Haunting Grounds exhibitor list or programming slate for twenty twenty six.

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The move to the West Building puts Haunting Grounds in

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the same hall as the expanded Food and Beverage Pavilion

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and the Edu Talk Stage, which should change the flow

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attendee's take through the show by APPA. Expo runs November

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sixteenth to twentieth, Trade Show floor November seventeenth to twentieth.

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Registration and additional information are available on the events official website.

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In video game News, Run your Own Dark Ride with

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Scream Operator Haunted House Manager game Step into the control

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booth of Your Own Dark Ride and Scream Operator Haunted

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House Manager. This cozy, spooky management sim from Netherlands based

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game development studio Jaffat Interactive tasks players with managing the

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real time logistics, power grids, and customer psychology of a

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dark ride. From the gritty control panel. Players must manually

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dispatch ride vehicles, trigger pre shows, and route empty cars

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backed into the depot while balancing the attraction's power capacity

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against heavy animatronics to avoid critical system breakdowns on safety fines.

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With Scream Operator, I wanted to capture the tactical stress

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and nostalgia of running a classic dark ride, says Neils

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van der Venn, founder of Jeffe Interactive. It is a

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balancing act between operating efficiency and psychological terror. As a player,

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you are operating a complex machine where guest safety Q

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times and maximum scare scores collide. The game is scheduled

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for a Q one of twenty twenty seven release, with

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a public demo set to release in October of twenty

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twenty six. Learn more and add Scream Operator to your

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Steam wish list on the game's official Steam page. Nightmare

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Wharf Scare actor additions are happening August fifteenth and sixteenth.

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Nightmare Wharf of Buffalo, New York is now casting scare actors, performers,

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Q Line entertainer's costume and makeup artists, and events staff.

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Open casting calls will take place on Saturday, August fifteenth

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and Sunday August sixteenth, from noon to four and six

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pm to nine pm. On both days. Attendees will learn

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more about the attraction, participate in interviews and auditions, and

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be considered for a variety of roles throughout the event.

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Interested parties should fill out their online application. The House

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of Horror Haunted Carnival Casting Calls July sixteenth. The House

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of Horror Haunted Carnival in Miami, Florida is hosting a

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casting call in July sixteenth at the Westchester Cultural Arts

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Center from five thirty pm to eight pm. Interested parties

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should sign up via the online application. Some upcoming events

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this June through August of twenty twenty six include that

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Texas Haunters Convention from Irving, Texas July eighteenth and nineteen,

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Haunters Against Hate the event in Louisville, Kentucky, August first

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and second, and Midsummer Scream from Long Beach, California, August

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seventh through ninth.

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And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode

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was produced by me Philip Hernandez with reporting by Daryl

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Plunky post production by David Swope.

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This hant News Update is.

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A production of the Haunted Traction Network, and you can

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sign up to our weekly newsletter at Hauntedtrastionnetwork dot com.

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Support for this episode comes from Gantum lighting and controls.

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Until next time, Haunters stay scary. This are Haunted Attraction

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Network Production

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MHM

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