Welcome to the first Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights Tracker of 2016! Here we begin the long journey from the summer to the start of the Halloween season by following the progress of the construction of the mazes and scare zones inside the park. Over the next couple of months Universal Studios Hollywood will morph from Hollywood theme park to a hive of nightmares fit for any fan of the scare.
There’s even a little haunt in Harry Potter inside Honeydukes.
It may seem early but, as of right now we can see the initial progress of several mazes throughout the park. Aside from the construction of the permanent walkthrough attraction based on The Walking Dead, we can already see three different spots being prepared for the horror event which begins on September 18th and will run at least through October 31st.
Let’s just get right into it and start with a look inside the park.
John Murdy runs the wildly prolific @HorrorNights account from which many things are announced. Back in May, Murdy announced…
By the way…HHN maze construction has officially begun…
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) May 12, 2016
So now that construction has started, the race begins to see if we can announce the maze before you figure it out from construction! LOL
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) May 12, 2016
We’re also working on scarezones…given changes in the park, blowing up the old concept for the top deck for a new idea…
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) May 12, 2016
The Walking Dead
The first bit of information is an honorary mention that we will be tracking for the next month until it opens. After years of being a popular maze, The Walking Dead will receive a permanent home as a year round walk through. The attraction is being constructed on the former space of The House of Horrors and will feature a state of the art, custom built, immersive environment.
Universal recently held a walker Boot Camp for its actors so that they could learn how to find their inner flesh eater.
As far as the progress goes, we see that the façade of the building is beginning to receive set dressing. A two-story structure, the upper windows feature tattered blinds and, it seems that as you venture further into the ally, things get more worn.
We are excited for this new attraction.
Jurassic Park Queue
We next venture down to the lower lot to see the progress at the Jurassic Park queue extension. It is a foregone conclusion that something would appear here and, too Universal they view it as the same. In fact, this site is the one that is the furthest along with the framework for the maze already up.
Finishing up construction for maze #1 in JP…about to start scenic. We better announce this one soon. The tram drives by it every day! LOL
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) June 4, 2016
Since we now know this is an unannounced maze, what could it be?
Revenge of the Mummy Extended Queue
The other spot that is nearly a shoe-in for maze location is the extended queue for the Revenge of the Mummy coaster. Here we see no construction to speak of but the area has been cleared and ready for work to begin.
Vacant Lot
We are not sure if there will be anything on the lot next to Transformers just yet. It was here that last years Walking Dead maze stood. So far, it is used primarily for flex space.
Backlot
In the Backlot we see construction in the typical spots leaving us safe to assume we will be trekking out to this area again via tram. In the brick yard there is a massive tent going up where Crimson Peak was last year. Does this tent look bigger than normal ones to you?
There are also the beginnings of construction for the drop off point for the tram in the usual place.
On June 4th, John Murdy wrote…
At least the next maze we start construction on has been announced (The Exorcist). The facade for that is pretty obvious…don’t you think?
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) June 4, 2016
This is the next thing that went up after that tweet. Could this be where Exorcist is taking up residence?
Carpet is down!
Terror Tram
Lastly we see that nothing is really happening yet on the typical Terror Tram route. The props and set pieces from last year are still parked there too.
Working away on the Terror Tram concept. Finished writing the backstory for it today (which will eventually become the tram onboard video).
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) May 18, 2016
Working on the treatment for Terror Tram this morning. This is one is original…though might end up being “branded” after all. We’ll see…
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) May 24, 2016
That about wraps things up for us here on the Universal Hollywood HHN 2016 Tracker. We will keep you up-to-date on the latest happenings at Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando if you follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
See you in the fog!
