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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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Ahn 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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This message is from Philip Pernandez, publisher of the Haunted
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Attraction Network. Welcome to August. Hershey has a name for
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the economy we've been describing all year, treatononomics, a consumer
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trend in which people prioritize joyful, memorable experiences and generosity
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over simply chasing the lowest price. That's the second Halloween
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survey in two weeks, both with findings that will sound
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familiar if you've been listening to this newsletter. We've covered
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who's still spending, the k shaped economy, and the case
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that a haunt sells memories, not scares Herchey's numbers put
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a bat on it. Forty one percent of parents expect
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to be more involved in Halloween this year than last.
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Fifty five are in Halloween mode before October, and sixty
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seven percent already bought Halloween candy this summer. But the
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most interesting findings for us lie in the sentiment analysis.
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People may be pulling back on big purchases, but they're
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leaning harder into small, joyful one. Helloween fans aren't looking
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for the bargain Halloween. They're hoping to create and participate
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in the most memorable one. Guests are still spending on Halloween,
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and they're looking for memorable experiences to connect with, even
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if it costs a little more. Value matters this week.
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Eight Mickey's Not So Scary Dates sold out before the
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events even open on Friday. Guests aren't waiting for October,
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and they weren't hunting for the cheapest tickets. They're hunting
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for the best night. The report also settles the question
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I raised back in June when michaels Bett's whole collection
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on nostalgia. I read that as anxieties since people get
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nostalgic for times that felt better. While what could still
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be the case, As several economists argue, it can also
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be the transformation of Halloween into a tradition based holiday.
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People aren't extending Halloween because retailers put products on shelves earlier.
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They're extending it because they're Rituals, flavors, traditions, and treats
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give them something joyful to look forward to. Nostalgia is
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a look. Tradition is a behavior that repeats. That's why
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this week's Retail News is one hundred year old company
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still printing die cuts from its nineteen twenties archive, a
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folk artist whose vintage style cats sells across three chains,
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and Monster Cereal turning fifty five. Guests aren't buying the past,
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They're buying the thing they do every year. And your
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haunt can be that thing which brings me to the
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IP wars. Sony landed at all five Holow Screen parks,
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Jason is coming to six Flags Parks, Ozzy completed an
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HHN lineup, and Jackson Wang is making a haunted house
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at Ocean Park. Now all the major theme parks have
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at least one IP based haunt. That seems inevitable with
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the trend, and since their summers were struggling, the IP
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investment seems like a safer bet to guarantee crowds. However,
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the supply side is the fascinating part. Licensed Global reports
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licensed products hit three hundred and thirty eight billion dollars
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last year, and forty five percent of brand owners now
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name location based entertainment a top priority for the next
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two years, ahead of publishing, streaming and video games. The
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licensers are shopping as hard as the parks are buying.
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If you're big enough to license, the sellers have never
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been more motivated. But when every major event is licensed,
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there's a market in the zag Nether World announced its
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thirtieth season this week and marked the milestone by going
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deeper into its own mythology the same week Sony arrived
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everywhere else, every dollar isn't spending on fees and approvals
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goes into the build thirty years. Its characters are the
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ip original is about to become the differentiator, and treat
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anomics say that guest is paying for the memorable night
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either way. Also this week, Wild Waves runs its final
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freight fast before the park closes for good spirit. Halloween
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moved into eighty five former Party City stores, The Purge
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returns to Hollywood's water World venue, and Tully's adds a
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new Pumpkin Land. Here's what you need to know this week.
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Halloween Horror Nite News. Ozzy Osbourne, Prince of Darkness comes
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to Halloween Horror Nights Orlando and Hollywood. Universal Studios Halloween
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Horrorites based tribute to pioneer heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne
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in original Haunted Houses coming to both Orlando and Hollywood,
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Ozzy Osbourne Prince of Darkness. Inspired by his prolific solo career,
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The houses invite guests to climb aboard the Crazy Train
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for a terrifying trip through his disturbing world of rock
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and roll. Created in collaboration with Osbourne's family, the houses
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will feature music from his solo albums. Both Orlando and
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Hollywood both use the same maze. They will run separate
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versions of the house, each built at opposite halves of
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Osborne's career. Universal Studios Hollywood runs the story chronologically. The
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house starts in Birmingham, England, home to John Michael Ozzy Osbourne,
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and opens on Crazy Train. Guests move forward through the
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decades into the Osbourne Asylum, a section drawn from the
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Diary of a mad Man album, and through the successive
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version of Ozzy persona mad Man, Ozzy, Werewolf Ozzy, and
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finally the Prince of Darkness, the name he earned in
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the seventies. Universal Orlando skips the origin story and goes
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to the heavier end of the catalog. Guests pass through
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ancient ruins and dungeons before boarding the crazy train into
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the realm. Built from Osborne's album covers, specifically Diary of
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a Madman, Mark at the Moon, The Ultimate Sin, and
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Black Rain. Universal describes it as drawing on the sound
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and imagery that defined the later years of his career.
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HHN Orlando runs select dates August twenty ninth through November two,
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and HHN Hull Hollywood runs select dates September fourth through
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November two. Follow the links in our show notes to
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read the full story. The Purge Dangerous Waters returns to
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HHN Hollywood for its fourth consecutive year. The Purge Dangerous
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Waters returns to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood
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in Universal City, California. This fiery stunt spectacular puts you
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in a world where laws won't save you, bringing the
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unpredictable terror of the Purge to life, complete with adrenaline,
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failed action sequences, stunts, spectacular lighting and laser effects, high fall,
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fire burns, and massive explosions. In other theme park news,
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the Halloween IP wars, licensers just named location based entertainment
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to top priority and parks are buying. License Global released
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its Top Global Licensers twenty twenty six report this week.
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Licensed Consumer Products hit three hundred and thirty eight point
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three three billion dollars in retail sales in twenty twenty five,
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up ten percent in a year and sixty six percent
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since twenty twenty. Buried in the forecast section is the
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number that matters for our industry. Forty five percent of
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brand owners named location based entertainment, attractions and live events
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as top category priority for the next eighteen to twenty
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four months. That puts physical experiences ahead of publishing, TV
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and streaming and video games. Nearly half of the world's
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biggest IP owners are actively shopping for what parks are buying.
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This is what makes twenty twenty six different from every
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previous Halloween season. Supply and demand are surging at the
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same time. Parks need proven draws because fall is now
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load bearing. Licensers need physical experiences because that is where
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fandom monetizes. Next, both sides of the table are motivated,
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which means more deals, faster get every chain, and less
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time spent asking whether the deal actually fits. I Know
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What You Did Last Summer comes to Hallow Scream For
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the first time ever, the Fisherman Killer will be brought
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to life at a major Halloween event. I Know What
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You Did Last Summer? The Final Catch opens September eleventh
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at Hallowscreen in SeaWorld Orlando, Florida, SeaWorld San Diego, California,
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and SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas. The house is licensed
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from Sony Pictures and draws on the first installment of
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the franchise. Per United Parks, Guests wander through horrifying recreations
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of several unforgettable movie scenes and into the events that
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unfold during the original Southport massacre. The company describes the
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walkthrough as a nightmare where every secret has a price
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and every corner hides the vengeful Fishermen. Anaconda gets two
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different haunted houses at Bush Gardens. Sony Pictures. Anaconda is
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coming with two Busch Garden parks on September eleventh, and
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the two will not have the same show. Bush Gardens
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Tampa Bay in Tampa Bay, Florida will receive anaconda fear
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has no escape, while Bush Gardens Williamsburg and Williamsburg, Virginia
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will receive anaconda dead on arrival. Both houses share a
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setup based on the nineteen ninety seven film. Guests are
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sent deep into the Amazon to search for a missing
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film crew, quickly turning into a fight for survival. From there,
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the parks split. The company describes them as two unique
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tales while honoring the legend of an iconic film. Splitting
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one license into two distinct builds is unusual. When a
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chain licenses a property, it usually runs the same house
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at every park it gets, which is what United Parks
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did the same with I Know What You Did Last
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summer across its three SeaWorld parks. Anaconda is the opposite
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approach at the two Bush Garden properties, and it means
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a guest who does both parks are not repeating a
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house will intellectual property save Helloscream. Hello Scream built its
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identity on avoiding ip original stories meant the licensing money
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went into the product instead, while Universal paid for rights
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before building a single set. That calculus is flipped in
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a market where guests gravitate to what they already know.
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The risk is the pattern other parks have followed. Pay
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for the IP out of the same budget, build less event,
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and blame the IP when attendance disappoints, guests buy the
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whole event, and while the event shrinks, one house cannot
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cover the gap. Anaconda is an animal attack story at
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a company historically sensitive about how animals are portrayed, and
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neither film carries the pull of a Halloween staple. The
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two Anaconda storylines suggests houses built to swap parks next year,
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the right instinct, since IP buying power only works at
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corporate scale, and the next step is infrastructure consistent enough
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to rotate shows between parks. One haunted house does not
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make a premier Halloween event. Bush Gardens, Williamsburg Hollis Scream
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twenty twenty six Everything announced so far. Halloscream returns to
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Busch Gardens, Williamsburg and Williamsburg, Virginia twenty five select nights
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September eleventh through November first. Like its sister event in Orlando, Tampa,
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and San Diego, it is included with a regular park
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admission rather than separately ticketed. As of July thirty first,
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the events has announced six haunted houses, including the IP
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based Anaconda Dead on Arrival, two new original houses Werewolves,
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There Will Revenge and Bloodshot, two revamped mazes Deathwater, Buy
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You mort and Kilarney Diner, Condemned, and one returning favorite
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Clowntown No Terrortories. The event's term for scare zones have
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been announced yet. Jason blood Rain Haunted Maze comes to
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three six Flags parks and all new Friday, the thirteenth
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Haunted Maze is coming to three six Flags parks this
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Halloween season. Jason blood Rain, the iconic hockey mask wearing villain,
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is back and coming for guests at King's Island in Mason, Ohio,
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Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, and Caro
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Wins in Charlotte, North Carolina. Concept, storyline and per park
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specifics have not been released yet. Eight Mickey's Not So
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Scary dates sold out before opening night. Over twenty percent
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of the dates for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
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in Orlando, Florida, have sold out prior to opening night.
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As of August first, eight of the events thirty eight
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nights are sold out, including the event's first four dates
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August seventh, eleventh, thirteenth, and eighteenth, as well as September
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fourth and October ninth, thirteenth, thirty first, the lowest priced
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nights of the season, sold out first. Remaining dates run
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one hundred and thirty nine dollars to two hundred and
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twenty four per person. The fact that August dates are
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selling out before the event even opens is a clear
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signal of the season creep pattern. Recovered in our Halloween
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twenty twenty six trends report, the front of the calendar
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is no longer soft and summer is becoming the season's
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new shoulder. At Walt Disney World, Halloween decorp will go
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up in the first week of August and stay up
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until nearly November, when a Christmas overlay follows. That is
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roughly three months of Halloween, which is the point Helloween
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has expanded to fill a full season at the world's
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largest theme parks, Six Flags Saint Louis. Fright Fast twenty
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twenty six full lineup a new house and love at
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first Fright's final year. Six Flags Saint Louis in Eureka,
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Missouri has posted its complete Fright Fast twenty twenty six
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lineup the parks first under the new operator Enchanted Parks,
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four haunted houses, including one new build, seven scare zones,
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and four shows, including two new productions. The event runs
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select night nights September twelfth through November first, and freight
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fast admission is included with valid park admissions, while the
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haunted houses require a separate wristband or May's Pass. The
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event's newest house, Gordie's Gruesome Revenge, operates as a fun
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candy trail during the day and turns into the Haunt,
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a gruesome pumpkin patch filled with diabolical pumpkins and pumpkin
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Patch residents at night, enacting a day to night flip
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on a single set. Two of the event's four shows
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are new for twenty twenty six. Blood Bank Cabaret, a
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vampire themed bar with performers singing some goulish tunes, and
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Monster mash Bash concert of Halloween hits packed with dancers,
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bog lights, and thrilling special effects. The returning show Love
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at First Fright, The Jack and Katie in Witchie's Castle
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production is listed as being in its final year. Six
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Flags Saint Louis rebrands itself as Mid America by Enchanted
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Parks for twenty twenty seven, so this is the last
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freight Fast under the six Flags Saint Louis name. Wild
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Waves freight Fest runs its final season. Twenty twenty six
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is the final season of fright Fast at Wild Waves
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Theme and Water Park in Federal Way, Washington, because the
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park is closing for good after the fall season. Freight