- In the Parks
- No
With theme park attendance down across the board worldwide, these places of themed entertainment are going to have to evolve and adapt with new events and attractions that appeal to more than just families to bring back attendance and maximize profits. WDW has been historically known for providing a family centric vacation, but in more recent years the variety in attractions and entertainment for adults has vastly expanded with expanded alcoholic offerings in the parks, after hours events, and an increased focus on festivals across the parks throughout the year. As a bandaid to help alleviate some of the attendance pains that the parks are experiencing, next year would be a great time to try and dip their toe into the adult halloween market by having an up-charge, after hours event at Hollywood Studios.
That said, despite the family image that the Disney Parks are historically known for, there have been two exceptions to this trend found at both Disneyland Hong Kong and Walt Disney Studios Paris. The Paris park held an event from 2010-2012 known as Terrorific Nights at Walt Disney Studios Paris. This two night limited ticket event consisted of attraction overlays, scare zones, and a few walk-through experiences along with spontaneous character meet and greets. Each year the event changed and expanded and received generally favorable reviews. However, Disney claimed that the event was not up to the expected standard that the parks should provide, and the event was cancelled permanently. However, in Hong Kong, since 2007, their halloween event has continued to experiment with a slightly more adult focused halloween event compared to our offerings in the states. It’s home to haunted houses themed to Disney properties as well as their own unique ideas, and roaming actors throughout the park.
With Central Florida already being a proven market for successful halloween events with Halloween Horror Nights, Howl-O-Scream, and a handful of other local independent haunts, it seems like in the near future would be a better time than ever to experiment with an after hours halloween event to cash in on this growing market. It would feature the same detail sets that HHN is known for, but the scares would be on par with a regional theme park halloween event like your local Six Flags or Cedar Fair. The main difference between this event and others in the area would be no gore or foul language found anywhere and would have a recommended age limit of 12 and up.
Fright Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios would be an after hours event from 7pm-1am on weekends from mid September to October. The line up would consist of highly detailed haunted houses, scare zones, attraction overlays, and character meet and greets. The ticket price would be $95 for the event, granting you access to the park from 5pm onwards and there would also be an option for $160 that included an express pass for the haunted houses, rides, and meet & greets. Since this is an after hours event, there would be no fast pass, hence the need for a skip the line service at an additional cost.
In order to avoid some of the problems that have been experienced in Paris and Hong Kong, a team of Imagineers and Park Operations leaders would work in unison to ensure that the event fulfills its intent of being a scary halloween event, as well as continuing to live up to the high standards of quality expected from the Disney Parks. From the beginning of its inception, this team would craft a five year plan, and if proven successful, it would be expanded to a ten year plan. The event wouldn’t impact daily operations greatly as the park would close at 5:30pm to give ample time for guests to exit the park and room for the park to transition. Many of the props would be able to stay out during the day and only add to the halloween ambiance. The park would be coated in fog and all areas that are open would have lightning changes to reflect the halloween theme. The first year would consist of four haunted houses, five scare zones, four overlays, show, and a character meet and greet. I’ve attached a hastily made map for visual reference:
As you can see based on this masterpiece, graphic design is my passion. The haunted house locations could easily be changed or adjusted and are more of a rough estimated location. I have little knowledge of empty buildings in Hollywood Studios, and propose unthemed steel warehouses be built away from guest areas when possible given the space. With this method they are protected from the elements, can be left up all year, and can easily be altered to new themes.
Haunted Houses
The Basement - This house would be located behind Tower of Terror in either an unused building, or a steel warehouse. The queue would snake through the Fantasmic entry line and then end up behind the actual ride building. The story for this house is essentially we’re getting on yet another maintenance service elevator, but to go into the basement. The attraction would start off with a rather generic looking, art-deco facade that fits the ToT aesthetic and then begin with a fake elevator. This would use effects similar to the Gringott's elevator found at USO, and would then lead us to the basement. Here we would find various ghouls who still roam the halls of this haunted hotel. It would be a very cramped claustrophobic house, with tight corridors and loud sounds. The finale would be escaping through the same elevator, only to end up entering the Twilight Zone before escaping and exiting by RnR.
Underworld - This attraction would be located near the Animator’s Courtyard and would be the headlining house of the event. It would be a montage of some of the most notorious villains and their minions taking place in iconic locations throughout film history. For example, visiting Ursula’s Lair, Jafar’s transformation, or even encountering Maleficent. There would be a loose storyline to this house so they can swap characters in and out from year to year to increase the longevity of its existence. The queue would enter near Animator’s Courtyard and exit onto Sunset Boulevard.
Sid’s Room - The name of this attraction is fairly self-explanatory, we’re shrunk down to the size of a toy and enter Sid’s Room. Here guests will encounter various scary elements from the Toy Story franchise and explore the dark, dank confines of our villains bedroom. The sets would be rather large, and at one point we would even go underneath his bed to uncover even more toys and unsettling set pieces. At one point, we would even go behind a crack in the baseboard of a wall to find lost toys and giant rats. The finale would be an up close encounter with an animatronic Babyface doll blocking the exit that guests have to walk under. The queue would enter and exit near the main Toy Story Land entrance.
Nightmare Before Christmas - This would just be a retelling of the classic Tim Burton film, but with the addition of scares. Very self explanatory, a similar attraction has been done in Hong Kong so if any props are still in storage they could easily be reused. This concept of retelling a movie as a halloween house has worked flawlessly at HHN in Orlando and Hollywood, and would be a great format for Disney to try. The queue would enter and exit near the Backlot Express Restaurant.
Scare Zones
Studio Screams - This zone would tie into the pre-existing studio theme of the park. We would be on site to see the newest film being shot at the park, except zombies have taken over the set and the star is you. The undead would have taken over and zombies would have flooded the area dressed as actors, actresses, and crew. There would be various movie props out on the streets and lighting changes to welcome us into the changed park.
Sunset Die-In - This zone would be located on Sunset Boulevard and be home to an abandoned late 30’s drive in to tie in with the ToT lore. Rusted cars, overgrown plants, and various buildings would line the pathway. A screen would go up and be the main centerpiece showing classic black and white silent films. Scare actors would be dressed as either zombie ushers or guests attending the drive in.
The Yard - Mutant toys who have escaped Andy’s house would be roaming Toy Story Land. Odd configurations of toys would be put together, circus clowns, and dolls would hide in the foliage and around various barrels and other halloween props.
Darkside of Wonderland - Outside of the Indiana Jones’s Epic Stunt Spectacular would be the Darkside of Wonderland. Home to all of the terrifying creatures found in Tim Burton’s remake of the film, guests would take a trip down the rabbit hole and these actors would be doing everything in their power to make you stay.
Star Wars Land - This would be less of a zone and more of an overlay with the first order taking charge of the land and Batuu falling into disarray. New audio would fill the area, some of the more alien characters would be on patrol along with bounty hunters looking for those in the resistance. The area would largely be void of scares and more so just be a continuation of the halloween atmosphere.
Attraction Overlays
Tower of Terror: Spirits - The ride would remain largely the same, but the queue and exit would be filled with actors. The outdoor queue would be engulfed in fog and home to a few ghillie suit scares tucked away in the bushes. The Garden would be home to live statues frozen still that come to life briefly for a few seconds and then go back to being still as guests pass by. The lobby would be home to a strobe light effect timed to the sound of lightning, as well as various ghouls that would call the lobby home. The boiler room would be home of some of the spirits that never left the hotel showing themselves in their most ghastly form. Projections of lightning strikes and ghosts flying around would be projected onto the building to truly tie the story together.
Rock N Ghoster Coaster - Due to the success of Ghost Galaxy in California and Paris it makes sense to bring something similar to WDW in a different form. The theme would be RNR has been taken over by vengeful spirits who fully intend on tormenting guests. Rumors of this have come out after a viral video leaked of a ghost floating above the brake run shot by a fan, since this evidence came out, a team of ghost hunters have taken the responsibility to investigate. Outside of the attraction would be a new sign saying “Ghoster” over the coaster portion, a news van, and some paranormal equipment. The queue would remain largely the same, outside of the flickering of the overhead lights every couple of minutes and subtle audio cues of wind and whispering voices. The pre-show would be off and would be replaced with a few of the ghost hunters talking to us in front of some ghost hunting equipment before a short video explaining what is happening. While this is happening, the paranormal activity scanners would be increasing, symbolizing the presence of ghosts. At the end the lights would go out and a loud shriek sound would play before the lights return on and we are released into the station. The station would be a continuation of the audio and flickering lights found in the queue, but more noticeable and apparent. The actual ride would start off with the same audio and then during the countdown switch to a custom synced halloween specific soundtrack and the same shriek as we launch down the track. The ride would essentially be in darkness along with a deep layer of fog, outside of strobe lights and a few projections of ghosts, on the MCBR and final brake run, a simple ghost prop would be there and light up green as we pass by. When we get the unload, an actor dressed as a ghost would rush out and go in for that final scare after everyone has exited.
Alien Spooky Saucers - New lightning and audio cues would replace the normal version of this attraction, similar to the Christmas Overlay. This would be able to operate during the day since it would just be “spooky” halloween music.
Millennium Falcon Halloween Overlay - I’m not too informed about the Star Wars lore, but there would be a new mission with some of the more “scary” aliens found throughout the galaxy, while still staying canon to the land. This could operate all day since it would still be largely family friendly for everyone.
Meet & Greets
There would be a meet & greet in Animator’s Courtyard with various classic Disney Villains. As the event expands, these could be rotated in and out or replaced by a new villain found in a new film. Along with this, various halloween creatures would be lurking outside of scare zones willing to take photos with guests.
Shows
Villains! - A new night time projection mapping show outside of the Chinese Theater and would be a blend of projections, fireworks, and the actual characters. This would take us through some of the most iconic film moments timed to music and unique firework displays. It would run twice throughout the night once at 10pm, and then again at 12am to ensure that more people can watch and to promote staying in the park longer.
In order to help alleviate the cost of the event, several attractions would be closed and shutter to help with staffing and to reduce the cost. Star Tours, Muppet Vision 3-D, and any normal daytime show would be closed during the event. There would also be exclusive halloween dining options, an increased presence of alcoholic, and exclusive merchandise. This would all be to promote park-spending and help cover the start up cost of the event during its earlier years.
As for expansion, eventually I would like to see the event expand to five to ten houses and even more scare zones. I would love to see more IP’s turned into houses like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, as well as unique ideas brought on by the Imagineers. Eventually I would like to see them be able to expand to the Fantasmic stage and be able to do an even bigger show, as well as unique dining options like an overlay of the Sci-Fi Dine In restaurant. If the event is proven successful, maybe even being able to expand the event from Thursday to Monday, allowing guests to still experience the park at night normally on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
For those who managed to make it this far, thank you. I question that Disney would ever do an event of this level of intensity, but in more recent years it seems like they’ve been willing to explore even more adult options to maximize revenue. The Disney Company has experimented with adult halloween events in Paris and Hong Kong, so an event in the states isn’t that far out of the realm of possibility. We know the Parks department loves to clone attractions, so if proven successful maybe this could be implemented at one of the California Parks to compete with the So-Cal Haunt market. This would serve as a very high stepping stone between MNSSHP and HHN, while still appealing to adults and teens through the highly detailed sets and scares, but still be acceptable for even tweens and younger teens through the lack of gore and language. The event would live up to the expected standards that the Disney Parks produce and appeal to a new market that may be more willing to visit during these unprecedented times.
Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions, would love to get some feedback from some other more knowledgeable fans. Do you think WDW will ever do an adult-centric Halloween event? Would it be at Hollywood Studios? Maybe Animal Kingdom? I appreciate everyone who made it this far, as a fan it’s always fun to speculate on what could be in the parks. Anyways, go have a safe and spooky Halloween!
That said, despite the family image that the Disney Parks are historically known for, there have been two exceptions to this trend found at both Disneyland Hong Kong and Walt Disney Studios Paris. The Paris park held an event from 2010-2012 known as Terrorific Nights at Walt Disney Studios Paris. This two night limited ticket event consisted of attraction overlays, scare zones, and a few walk-through experiences along with spontaneous character meet and greets. Each year the event changed and expanded and received generally favorable reviews. However, Disney claimed that the event was not up to the expected standard that the parks should provide, and the event was cancelled permanently. However, in Hong Kong, since 2007, their halloween event has continued to experiment with a slightly more adult focused halloween event compared to our offerings in the states. It’s home to haunted houses themed to Disney properties as well as their own unique ideas, and roaming actors throughout the park.
With Central Florida already being a proven market for successful halloween events with Halloween Horror Nights, Howl-O-Scream, and a handful of other local independent haunts, it seems like in the near future would be a better time than ever to experiment with an after hours halloween event to cash in on this growing market. It would feature the same detail sets that HHN is known for, but the scares would be on par with a regional theme park halloween event like your local Six Flags or Cedar Fair. The main difference between this event and others in the area would be no gore or foul language found anywhere and would have a recommended age limit of 12 and up.
Fright Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios would be an after hours event from 7pm-1am on weekends from mid September to October. The line up would consist of highly detailed haunted houses, scare zones, attraction overlays, and character meet and greets. The ticket price would be $95 for the event, granting you access to the park from 5pm onwards and there would also be an option for $160 that included an express pass for the haunted houses, rides, and meet & greets. Since this is an after hours event, there would be no fast pass, hence the need for a skip the line service at an additional cost.
In order to avoid some of the problems that have been experienced in Paris and Hong Kong, a team of Imagineers and Park Operations leaders would work in unison to ensure that the event fulfills its intent of being a scary halloween event, as well as continuing to live up to the high standards of quality expected from the Disney Parks. From the beginning of its inception, this team would craft a five year plan, and if proven successful, it would be expanded to a ten year plan. The event wouldn’t impact daily operations greatly as the park would close at 5:30pm to give ample time for guests to exit the park and room for the park to transition. Many of the props would be able to stay out during the day and only add to the halloween ambiance. The park would be coated in fog and all areas that are open would have lightning changes to reflect the halloween theme. The first year would consist of four haunted houses, five scare zones, four overlays, show, and a character meet and greet. I’ve attached a hastily made map for visual reference:
As you can see based on this masterpiece, graphic design is my passion. The haunted house locations could easily be changed or adjusted and are more of a rough estimated location. I have little knowledge of empty buildings in Hollywood Studios, and propose unthemed steel warehouses be built away from guest areas when possible given the space. With this method they are protected from the elements, can be left up all year, and can easily be altered to new themes.
Haunted Houses
The Basement - This house would be located behind Tower of Terror in either an unused building, or a steel warehouse. The queue would snake through the Fantasmic entry line and then end up behind the actual ride building. The story for this house is essentially we’re getting on yet another maintenance service elevator, but to go into the basement. The attraction would start off with a rather generic looking, art-deco facade that fits the ToT aesthetic and then begin with a fake elevator. This would use effects similar to the Gringott's elevator found at USO, and would then lead us to the basement. Here we would find various ghouls who still roam the halls of this haunted hotel. It would be a very cramped claustrophobic house, with tight corridors and loud sounds. The finale would be escaping through the same elevator, only to end up entering the Twilight Zone before escaping and exiting by RnR.
Underworld - This attraction would be located near the Animator’s Courtyard and would be the headlining house of the event. It would be a montage of some of the most notorious villains and their minions taking place in iconic locations throughout film history. For example, visiting Ursula’s Lair, Jafar’s transformation, or even encountering Maleficent. There would be a loose storyline to this house so they can swap characters in and out from year to year to increase the longevity of its existence. The queue would enter near Animator’s Courtyard and exit onto Sunset Boulevard.
Sid’s Room - The name of this attraction is fairly self-explanatory, we’re shrunk down to the size of a toy and enter Sid’s Room. Here guests will encounter various scary elements from the Toy Story franchise and explore the dark, dank confines of our villains bedroom. The sets would be rather large, and at one point we would even go underneath his bed to uncover even more toys and unsettling set pieces. At one point, we would even go behind a crack in the baseboard of a wall to find lost toys and giant rats. The finale would be an up close encounter with an animatronic Babyface doll blocking the exit that guests have to walk under. The queue would enter and exit near the main Toy Story Land entrance.
Nightmare Before Christmas - This would just be a retelling of the classic Tim Burton film, but with the addition of scares. Very self explanatory, a similar attraction has been done in Hong Kong so if any props are still in storage they could easily be reused. This concept of retelling a movie as a halloween house has worked flawlessly at HHN in Orlando and Hollywood, and would be a great format for Disney to try. The queue would enter and exit near the Backlot Express Restaurant.
Scare Zones
Studio Screams - This zone would tie into the pre-existing studio theme of the park. We would be on site to see the newest film being shot at the park, except zombies have taken over the set and the star is you. The undead would have taken over and zombies would have flooded the area dressed as actors, actresses, and crew. There would be various movie props out on the streets and lighting changes to welcome us into the changed park.
Sunset Die-In - This zone would be located on Sunset Boulevard and be home to an abandoned late 30’s drive in to tie in with the ToT lore. Rusted cars, overgrown plants, and various buildings would line the pathway. A screen would go up and be the main centerpiece showing classic black and white silent films. Scare actors would be dressed as either zombie ushers or guests attending the drive in.
The Yard - Mutant toys who have escaped Andy’s house would be roaming Toy Story Land. Odd configurations of toys would be put together, circus clowns, and dolls would hide in the foliage and around various barrels and other halloween props.
Darkside of Wonderland - Outside of the Indiana Jones’s Epic Stunt Spectacular would be the Darkside of Wonderland. Home to all of the terrifying creatures found in Tim Burton’s remake of the film, guests would take a trip down the rabbit hole and these actors would be doing everything in their power to make you stay.
Star Wars Land - This would be less of a zone and more of an overlay with the first order taking charge of the land and Batuu falling into disarray. New audio would fill the area, some of the more alien characters would be on patrol along with bounty hunters looking for those in the resistance. The area would largely be void of scares and more so just be a continuation of the halloween atmosphere.
Attraction Overlays
Tower of Terror: Spirits - The ride would remain largely the same, but the queue and exit would be filled with actors. The outdoor queue would be engulfed in fog and home to a few ghillie suit scares tucked away in the bushes. The Garden would be home to live statues frozen still that come to life briefly for a few seconds and then go back to being still as guests pass by. The lobby would be home to a strobe light effect timed to the sound of lightning, as well as various ghouls that would call the lobby home. The boiler room would be home of some of the spirits that never left the hotel showing themselves in their most ghastly form. Projections of lightning strikes and ghosts flying around would be projected onto the building to truly tie the story together.
Rock N Ghoster Coaster - Due to the success of Ghost Galaxy in California and Paris it makes sense to bring something similar to WDW in a different form. The theme would be RNR has been taken over by vengeful spirits who fully intend on tormenting guests. Rumors of this have come out after a viral video leaked of a ghost floating above the brake run shot by a fan, since this evidence came out, a team of ghost hunters have taken the responsibility to investigate. Outside of the attraction would be a new sign saying “Ghoster” over the coaster portion, a news van, and some paranormal equipment. The queue would remain largely the same, outside of the flickering of the overhead lights every couple of minutes and subtle audio cues of wind and whispering voices. The pre-show would be off and would be replaced with a few of the ghost hunters talking to us in front of some ghost hunting equipment before a short video explaining what is happening. While this is happening, the paranormal activity scanners would be increasing, symbolizing the presence of ghosts. At the end the lights would go out and a loud shriek sound would play before the lights return on and we are released into the station. The station would be a continuation of the audio and flickering lights found in the queue, but more noticeable and apparent. The actual ride would start off with the same audio and then during the countdown switch to a custom synced halloween specific soundtrack and the same shriek as we launch down the track. The ride would essentially be in darkness along with a deep layer of fog, outside of strobe lights and a few projections of ghosts, on the MCBR and final brake run, a simple ghost prop would be there and light up green as we pass by. When we get the unload, an actor dressed as a ghost would rush out and go in for that final scare after everyone has exited.
Alien Spooky Saucers - New lightning and audio cues would replace the normal version of this attraction, similar to the Christmas Overlay. This would be able to operate during the day since it would just be “spooky” halloween music.
Millennium Falcon Halloween Overlay - I’m not too informed about the Star Wars lore, but there would be a new mission with some of the more “scary” aliens found throughout the galaxy, while still staying canon to the land. This could operate all day since it would still be largely family friendly for everyone.
Meet & Greets
There would be a meet & greet in Animator’s Courtyard with various classic Disney Villains. As the event expands, these could be rotated in and out or replaced by a new villain found in a new film. Along with this, various halloween creatures would be lurking outside of scare zones willing to take photos with guests.
Shows
Villains! - A new night time projection mapping show outside of the Chinese Theater and would be a blend of projections, fireworks, and the actual characters. This would take us through some of the most iconic film moments timed to music and unique firework displays. It would run twice throughout the night once at 10pm, and then again at 12am to ensure that more people can watch and to promote staying in the park longer.
In order to help alleviate the cost of the event, several attractions would be closed and shutter to help with staffing and to reduce the cost. Star Tours, Muppet Vision 3-D, and any normal daytime show would be closed during the event. There would also be exclusive halloween dining options, an increased presence of alcoholic, and exclusive merchandise. This would all be to promote park-spending and help cover the start up cost of the event during its earlier years.
As for expansion, eventually I would like to see the event expand to five to ten houses and even more scare zones. I would love to see more IP’s turned into houses like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, as well as unique ideas brought on by the Imagineers. Eventually I would like to see them be able to expand to the Fantasmic stage and be able to do an even bigger show, as well as unique dining options like an overlay of the Sci-Fi Dine In restaurant. If the event is proven successful, maybe even being able to expand the event from Thursday to Monday, allowing guests to still experience the park at night normally on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
For those who managed to make it this far, thank you. I question that Disney would ever do an event of this level of intensity, but in more recent years it seems like they’ve been willing to explore even more adult options to maximize revenue. The Disney Company has experimented with adult halloween events in Paris and Hong Kong, so an event in the states isn’t that far out of the realm of possibility. We know the Parks department loves to clone attractions, so if proven successful maybe this could be implemented at one of the California Parks to compete with the So-Cal Haunt market. This would serve as a very high stepping stone between MNSSHP and HHN, while still appealing to adults and teens through the highly detailed sets and scares, but still be acceptable for even tweens and younger teens through the lack of gore and language. The event would live up to the expected standards that the Disney Parks produce and appeal to a new market that may be more willing to visit during these unprecedented times.
Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions, would love to get some feedback from some other more knowledgeable fans. Do you think WDW will ever do an adult-centric Halloween event? Would it be at Hollywood Studios? Maybe Animal Kingdom? I appreciate everyone who made it this far, as a fan it’s always fun to speculate on what could be in the parks. Anyways, go have a safe and spooky Halloween!
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