Feb. 23, 2025

NEWS: Theme Parks Want Halloween Every Month

Show Notes
Transcript

This week: Universal Fan Fest Nights tests if guests will pay for hard-tickets outside of Halloween; Tokyo Disney’s Halloween investment; Disney’s pricing power is strong, but how high can prices go before guests push back?; HAA Annual Meeting & OSCARES; TransWorld’s free seminars; Netflix Bites in Vegas serves horror-inspired dishes. Read the news here.

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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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Tokyo Disney Resort is thriving with fantasy springs and seasonal events,

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driving record breaking revenue, while Universal Studios Hollywood is experimenting

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with a bold new event, Fan fast Nights. This week,

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Green Tagged Podcast breaks down the Oriental Land company's latest earnings,

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revealing how fantasy springs and seasonal activations like Halloween help

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boost it tendance in spending and created operational challenges. Then

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they dive into Universal's fanfaest Nights, which blends pop up experiences,

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immersive LARPing, and Haunt style walkthroughs to test new event formats.

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What does this mean for the future of park events

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and will Universal's experimental approach lead to year round second gates.

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The Haunted Attraction Association's annual Meeting of Members and Directors

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will be held during trans World's Halloween and an Attraction

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Show in Saint Louis, Missouri, on Friday February twenty eighth,

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at nine thirty am. The HAA State of the Industry

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Meeting will immediately follow at ten o'clock am. Join the

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HAA as they discuss the current landscape of our industry,

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emerging trans and what's on the horizon. Celebrate excellence across

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the Haunt industry with the Oscarees at trans world Talloween

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and Attraction Show on Saturday, March first, at five pm.

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Awards categories includes Vendor Excellence Awards, Board of Directors Awards

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now including awards for mid and small tier attractions, Special

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Recognition Awards, Home Haunter Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award.

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The event includes complimentary food and a cash bar for

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all to enjoy. Renewed HAA members will receive a free

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drink and priority seating. Visit the HAA booth number two

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zero two to three in advance to receive your couponts.

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Transworld's free seminar schedule has been announced The Transworld Halloween

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and Attraction Show in Saint Louis, Missouri, has announced their

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free seminar lineup for February twenty eighth and Saturday, March first.

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Joined members of the haunt industry as they discussed topics

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including attraction, liability, creating interactive experiences, social media influencers, and more. Additionally,

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delve deeper into products and services you'll find in the

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show floor with exhibitor led free seminars from CFX, Tune

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two Technologies, LLC, Bloody Mary, Makeup, Clue Quest, Weldwood Marketing,

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and fearworre Conpretizing. The owners of the Sunken Manor in Greenville,

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South Carolina, have requested Greenville County rezone the property from

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residential suburban to agricultural to allow for a major agritourism expansion.

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The family run business one hundred and sixty eight Hours,

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bought the twenty two acre property in twenty twenty three

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to create a haunted attraction and escape room. Now they

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would like to restore the property's historic Keeler mill, creating

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a functional farm that could grow crops, raise livestock, and

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host activities such as classes, tours, hay rides, and pumpkin patches.

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Netflix Bytes and new Netflix themed dining experiences coming to

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the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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The one year culinary residency serves up breakfast, lunch, and dinner,

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with each menu item inspired by a hidden Netflix show

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or movie of note to horror and Halloween fans. Are

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dishes themed after Stranger Things Wednesday, Army of the Dead,

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and The Fall of the House of Usher. Netflix Bytes

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will operate for breakfast and lunch from seven am to

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two pm daily and for dinner from five pm till

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ten pm Sunday through Thursday, and five pm to mid

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night Fridays and Saturdays. Walk ups are welcome, but reservations

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are encouraged. Learn more and make a reservation on their

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official website by following the links in our show notes

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so Oncoming events this February through April include trans World's

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Halloween An Attraction show in Saint Louis, Missouri, February twenty

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seventh through March second, the Spooky Swap Meet in Los Angeles, California,

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April twenty fifth through twenty seventh, and the East Coast

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Haunters Convention in Oaks Pennsylvania from April twenty six through

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twenty seven.

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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 Bernandez, with reporting by Daryl

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Plunky post production by David Swape. This haunt News Update

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is a production of the Haunted Attraction Network and you

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can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Hanta Attraction

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Network dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum

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Lighting and Controls. Until next time, Haunters Stay Scary. This

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is a Haunted Attraction Network

NEWS: Theme Parks Want Halloween Every Month

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