News Universal Horror Unleashed Chicago

[Alice a]

As someone who grew up nearby, there's absolutely no way Chicago gets more tourists than Vegas. Vegas has internationally famous tourist sites and experiences and a dedicated miles-long corridor for them to go, resort fees aplenty, while the only thing Chicago has with comparable international attention is....uh...maybe the Bean, I guess, if you like taking selfies?

Whereas Vegas has multiple huge convention centers, the cirque shows, the novelty architecture, is in countless movies and TV shows, and so on. Nor does Vegas have outdated and persistent statements made relatively commonly in the media about how dangerous the city allegedly is.

I don't see anything or anyone in Chicago freaking out about loss of tourist revenue the way anything that remotely covers Vegas is doing right now.

This link has Nevada and Las Vegas in the top five for state and city, respectively, while Illinois and Chicago are no where to be found. This link looking at domestic tourism likewise has Vegas far above Chicago.

I'm honestly baffled they picked Chicago for this and if it doesn't go the way of Disney Quest within a few years, I'll be shocked.

Replying to this late, but Chicago gets a lot of conventions. I’ve gone there for conventions repeatedly. Conventioneers generally want things to do at the end of the day. Just my 2 cents.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Replying to this late, but Chicago gets a lot of conventions. I’ve gone there for conventions repeatedly. Conventioneers generally want things to do at the end of the day. Just my 2 cents.

Did I ever say Chicago gets no tourists? No.

But if you're arguing that Chicago gets the same sort of tourists as Vegas I'd say you hadn't spent much time in Chicago.

 

[mkt]

Did I ever say Chicago gets no tourists? No.

But if you're arguing that Chicago gets the same sort of tourists as Vegas I'd say you hadn't spent much time in Chicago.

Looking at the official tourism numbers for 2024, Chicago’s a top draw in the US - essentially neck-and-neck with Las Vegas, both competing for third place behind Orlando and New York City.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Oh, sorry, you're all right and the exact same type of tourist that goes to Vegas also goes to Chicago and they have totally similar types of tourist attractions and HHN Chicago will undoubtedly be a smashing success and not at all suffer a similar result as DisneyQuest Chicago.

 

[mkt]

Oh, sorry, you're all right and the exact same type of tourist that goes to Vegas also goes to Chicago and they have totally similar types of tourist attractions and HHN Chicago will undoubtedly be a smashing success and not at all suffer a similar result as DisneyQuest Chicago.

Nice goalpost shift, and a false equivalence to boot.

The Horror Unleashed sites are a low-cost way for Universal to expand the HHN brand using leased spaces and adapted creative and IP from prior HHNs.

The spend here is a fraction of a park build, so it doesn’t need to be a massive tourist magnet to succeed. A steady local and regional draw is more than enough to make the model viable. If it lasts even a few years before shutting down, it'll still be profitable due to the low cost of getting it set up in the first place.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Nice goalpost shift, and a false equivalence to boot.

The Horror Unleashed sites are a low-cost way for Universal to expand the HHN brand using leased spaces and adapted creative and IP from prior HHNs.

The spend here is a fraction of a park build, so it doesn’t need to be a massive tourist magnet to succeed. A steady local and regional draw is more than enough to make the model viable. If it lasts even a few years before shutting down, it'll still be profitable due to the low cost of getting it set up in the first place.

Uh huh, uh huh, like you said, it'll be a massive success, obviously. It'll be in Chicago for decades to come, just like Disney Quest.

 

[mkt]

Uh huh, uh huh, like you said, it'll be a massive success, obviously. It'll be in Chicago for decades to come, just like Disney Quest.

You keep arguing against claims no one made.

The model’s small, low-cost, and flexible. It's closer to Disney on Ice than to DisneyQuest.
If it runs a few good years, pays for itself, and keeps the HHN brand visible, that’s already a win by Universal’s standards.