RingMaster

Most of the haunts in the Tri-State are known for not being completely ADA-compliant, what with stairs, ropebridges, and tunnels. Granted, there are workarounds, such as elevators or special access paths specifically for wheelchairs. But I do think the option you mentioned is what they plan on doing, only using everything except for the ride chamber. If possible, they may even remove the queue rails and use the ride's overflow queue as attraction space, although it may be better to use said overflow as the actual line for the haunt so that it won't stick out into the Rivertown midway and clash with another haunt's line *cough*TombstoneTerrortory*cough*.

I smell a return of Curse of The Crypt from FearFest's heyday. They'd be crazy not to utilize what's already in there as the basis for a potentially great Haunt.

EDIT: Double post. Mah bad.

Seems like a clever idea of (temporarily) repurposing prior attraction space rather than leaving it sit empty. Too bad there aren't more warehouses devoted specifically to Haunt attractions so that none of the rides are affected by an event that lasts ten seasonal nights. That's the case with every Haunt attraction in the park, regardless of whether or not it's in the station of a coaster that has remained SBNO for several years or in the space of a theatrical stage. And with the exception of few mazes (namely, Wolf Pack, Urgent Scare, and CarnEvil), they only stay up two months out of the year.

From now on, Invertigo will forever be known as Blue: The Da Ba Deexperience:

Wait a second....you mean to tell me they're doing a show that ISN'T a musical revue?! Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Did they seriously get rid of one of the giant planters on I-Street?

For a second I thought this was a vague description of a vote between CW's Leviathan and Dolly's Wild Eagle coasters. But anyway, I agree with Mr. Schrute on the end of mega coasters and the (possible) beginning of themed family attractions. But that's only if Ouimette brings in people that can maintain and upkeep the themed portions of said themed attractions. The last thing we need is a repeat of the former Paramount decade.

Ah, good ol' Curse of The Crypt. My first year of Haunt/FearFest and I was placed in that attraction. Anyway, all they would need to do is just add "Haunted Attraction" to The Crypt and you'd be fine. The only question is how feasible it is to get people down to the floor below the ride carriage and back up again?

A friend of yours was "placed" at Crypt this year... If it is any other department besides Rides Operations, please, do tell. *cough cough*TheCryptisbeingretrofittedasayear-roundHauntattractionforthe2012season*cough cough* One can dream, can't they?

Urgent Scare is quite vague on describing what its monsters actually are. I liken them more to the infected from the game Left 4 Dead than straight up zombies, although, really, US is essentially one big nod to said game itself, as one of the game's campaigns, No Mercy, takes place in a hospital. That said, an extension of the attraction or a brand new one taking place in a small town (like Virus Z or even The Scarehouse's Pittsburgh Zombies) would be really neat.

Tell that to Mike Brown.

Honestly, I'd kill for a redux of Enchanted Voyage. A relaxing indoor boat ride with a family-friendly theme would be a welcome addition for those who enjoy slower-paced attractions.

If I'm not mistaken, didn't he leave even before Viacom had split the bill and handed the parks off to CBS?

You mean (minus the unbanked turns) like when riding The Beast or even The Racer? I think people are missing the point on why they call a Wild Mouse coaster a WILD Mouse coaster. And, really, are people complaining about the lack of theming on said coaster? I'm pretty sure SFNE's Bizarro coaster has the same (or wee bit less) amount of theming as SFGA's Dark Knight Coaster.

Speaking of rides being removed at Universal parks, considering TTD's trip to Uni is set at the end of January, you won't be able to ride JAWS, as it and the entirety of the Amity zone will be closed on the 2nd. Hopefully by either then or by the time you go they'll have announced its replacement.

From what I understand, Trail of Terror is coming back next year in a new location. I believe there were plans to have it return this season in a new location, but they fell through at the last second. Now if it's merely the same props just put in a different spot, or if it's to be a completely new incarnation is beyond me, but I would love to finally have a Camp Kiluae or Gonnagetcha type attraction based in a summer camp gone horribly awry.

Seeing how invariably similar Singapore's Transformers is to the original Spiderman attraction, I really can't see Hollywood's version being #2 on this list. I'd rather Verbolten be second; the concept is much better and looks to be a lot better than Thir13en @ Alton Towers. I find Buena Vista Street to be much more enticing than Fantasy Forest, and I'm not just saying that simply because FF is primarily geared towards the Disney Princesses. BVS is a complete overhaul of the entrance of California Adventure, and, trust me, it is LOOOONG overdue. Minus the WDW version of The Little Mermaid ride and the Seven Dwarfs coaster, there isn't anything about FF that catches my attention. Therefore, the two need to be flip-flopped. Even though quite a number of people aren't too thrilled about Leviathan, I'm pretty sure there are some who are mad that it's not up higher on the list for whatever reason. Honestly speaking, even though it's B&M's first 300-foot coaster, their Wing Riders are far more interesting. I'm shocked at the fact that Levi is higher up than Skyrush. Manta....eh. Fine where it is. X-Flight vs Wild Eagle. Nods to both for different takes on the same idea. I like X-Flight because it's essentially America's take on Gardaland's Raptor, the very first Wing Rider from B&M, and has awesome set pieces and cutout scenery. But I also like Wild Eagle because it's something I was NOT expecting from Dollywood, and it's built on the side of a mountain. Which leaves Radiator Springs Racers as #1. And I'm glad it took top honors. Granted, Cars is my least favorite Pixar flick, and I absolutely refuse to see Cars 2, but you cannot look at the most recent construction photos of the iconic Cadillac Range: ...and NOT get excited for it. Not to mention RSR is Test Track in the American Southwest and with a second car to race with. Cars Land might not be the answer to Universal's Wizarding World, but it's the closest Disney has to crafting a pretty realized world based off an existing property. At least until Animal Kingdom opens up AVATAR Land in 2015 to combat with Uni Florida's 2014 Harry Potter expansion.

If anything, Marvel Super Hero Island would go the route of Uni Singapore's Sci-Fi City if worse comes to worse, with random rides based off futuristic films/properties (Battlestar Galactica & Transformers). One thing I'm particularly saddened by is the complete absence of animatronics/robotics, something Universal was keen on drilling through everyone's skulls when they first announced it way back in 2008. Even something as simple as a life-sized Optimus Prime doing the most rudimentary of gestures that would put the cast of it's a small world to shame would be much better than having everything be on a screen. Of course, I'd have to wait until Hollywood's opens up as it's much closer than Singapore to see how it is in real life before I put the ride down any further (just seeing handheld footage from Sing Sing's doesn't really do it justice, like Forbidden Journey). Oh, and Mr. Bay is apparently on for Transformers 4, with filming beginning next Winter...

What's sad is that those same people complained about the severe lack of attractions Hollyversal has to begin with, and are expecting a clone of the upcoming Transformers ride to be replacing JAWS @ Uni Orlando.

Announcement for Harry Potter West later on today: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/12/harry-potter-attraction-at-universal-hollywood-to-be-unveiled-tuesday.html

A few problems I see with this: Park-to-park transportation. The idea of shuttling guests from one park to another is not unheard of; Disney pretty much makes boatloads of money by way of the monorail. However, that's outside of the individual park. Shuttling guests from one area of one park to another area of ANOTHER park is a different story, one that wouldn't just let anyone ride it, but REQUIRE one to have a Parkhopper ticket in order to ride as you already mentioned. Granted, most people that go do indeed have such a ticket in order to experience both parks, but what about the ones who don't and are shooed away from a relaxing train ride simply because they don't? Overhauling Universal's backstage areas. It's less about how Universal plans to deal with the situation of allowing certain people onto said train, and more about how Universal plans to actually BUILD the track connecting the two. It would be nice if JAWS resided closer to Uni Florida's entrance, but instead, it sits on the easternmost side of the park to where it really is required to build a set of train tracks just to get to it from IOA! The problem is that now you'd have to restructure your entire backstage area just to accommodate said system. The simplest thing would be to have the track elevated or on a berm like the Disneyland Railroad, but then comes the problem of designing set pieces and scenery for guests to view, instead of backstage buildings and beat-up pickup trucks. Unless they actually do craft some magic of their own and have the windows actually be television screens depicting the British countryside... "Prime real estate". Why try to expand in another park and put more money into connecting the two when there's half an "island's" worth of land sitting next to you? This is the first I've heard of the idea that JAWS would be replaced with Harry Potter 2: Electric Boogaloo, but when the basic rumor itself surfaced about Phase 2 itself, I had pretty much bargained on the belief that the rest of current Lost Continent island would be bulldozed and the Wizarding World would take over. That would unfortunately mean that the world-renowned Mythos restaurant become a literal myth replaced by, say, The Witches' Leaky Cauldron (my bad), and you'd lose that sense of realism in having Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade/Hogwarts far away from each other, but it would be considerably cheaper than dealing with redoing your backstage areas just to get a train to connect the two areas together. But aside from those problems I see with this, I'm actually all for it, if you can believe that.

If they were to make a Transformers ride, all they'd need to do is just retheme Spider-Man; it's the same technology and design, and even ol' Spidey is getting an HD makeover for next year.

Looks like even more attractions that currently reside in Uni Hollywood will be getting the axe sometime very soon. As it stands, the last several "new" attractions have either been redesigns or outright replacements of existing rides such as Revenge of The Mummy and The Simpsons Ride. The only thing I can see them doing is bulldozing Terminator 2 3D, House of Horrors, and the few sets in-between them (the French and London Streets). This would also put a major damper on their Halloween Horror Nights event, removing two scare zone and haunted house locations should that be their idea.

When you've actually worked at a haunted house scaring people, you'll realize it's not the money that makes you enjoy your job. There are those that would do it for free if given the option.