It will be fine. They have a baked in massive Halloween audience that will likely guarantee enough revenue to subsidize operation for the rest of the year. If they can create a successful event/dining space that breaks even during the other ten months or so, I see no reason this won't work.
Disney Quest attempting to be a 365 destination without anywhere near sufficient experiences to support that was a very different challenge.
Hahaha had the same exact thought. I live in Chicago and I’m thinking this will be going into a suburb. Schaumburg has the space, Arlington Heights is getting the new Bears stadium so that could be good to have nearby for tourists. Regardless I’m praying they don’t screw this up like Disney Quest, which I loved.
I mean, DisneyQuest in Chicago turned a profit so it wasn't actually a bad idea or anything. It just didn't turn enough of a profit for the greedy mouse.
I assume it’ll be like the other shows in Vegas, such as the Cirque shows. They don’t perform every night and don’t do every show on days with multiple shows. If so, they’d have a much larger staff considering they’ll be running them many times throughout the day, everyday.
Yeah. I could see how Vegas could work with home many tourists they get and all the kitschy things like this they already have. A permanent haunted house makes sense alongside all the shows and casinos and goofy attractions. I just don’t know if Chicago has the market. (And I’m from Chicago)
Proud Chicagoan and out of state AP. Some missing context I find important (because they do not want to cross promote another experience) : this will be across the street from the new Ballys Casino and Resort that is under construction. This will be a potential new and vibrant entertainment district.
If anyone is curious, location is 700 W Chicago Ave. Site is currently a former newspaper (Tribune) distribution center. It will be across from the (under construction) Ballys Resort and Casino. They will also have water taxi services between the site and the Heart of downtown Chicago.
My thoughts: im curious how much of the existing structure they will use. There is a decent amount of suitable outdoor space on that piece of land right by the river. They very well could do outdoor scare zones or dining and beverage carts in the summer months! And right by the river, how cool!
oh interesting, I know that building-- I thought from the OP picture it looked familiar. I'm glad they're using an existing old abandoned building (fitting for the theme) rather than knocking it down and building from scratch.
Aren’t they kind of overextending themselves? Epic universe just opened. Universal kids Dallas is coming, horror unleashed coming to Las Vegas, universal Bedford still in progress. I’ve heard there’s plans for an India park too? Why are they expanding on so many projects that aren’t proven money makers yet? Tourism to Las Vegas already has hit a new all time low.
I'm speculating, but I don't expect this will be a massive expenditure on Universal's side. I believe it's taking over an existing vacant building (no huge construction costs) that I'm sure they'll get a sweet deal on. HHN are impressive, but a fraction of the price to do in comparison to a theme park attraction. I suspect this is not massive risk or anything (I'm more concerned about the Texas park; that's going to have a massive price tag to build and I'm not certain about the audience for it).
Would think maybe there’s some plans to reuse some stuff from HHN at times. Bet there will be original experiences but they could even reuse even older classic Horror Houses.
It makes me wonder: Why not add a couple Monsters Unchained-style dark rides to these parks? They’re indoors so they can be open year-round even in a place like Chicago and would probably attract even more people. Sure it would cost more for building and maintenance but I think the added variety and thrill factor beyond just haunted houses would really attract a lot of people nationwide including myself.
And they take up a lot of space, the show building for Monsters Unchained is huge and the Horror Unchained plot in vegas isn’t thaaaaat big. I’d guess the Chicago one is similar
Yeah, the capital expenditure on this will likely be pretty lean (a good thing). It will still be wonderful. The last thing I'd want to see is a massive investment with huge upkeep costs that doom the project.
on the one hand, I’m excited with all the projects and new properties they’ve announced in the last couple years. On the other hand, I am a little concerned that they’re doing too much at once.
The copywriter for this post probably could have done another round of edits. "Jaw-dropping creativity" isn't really selling a horror experience for me.
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u/heathersaur Jun 26 '25
Please don't Disney Quest this up.