The Official Magazine of IAAPA
What goes “Boo” is shaping up to be a banner year for Halloween attractions in 2025. Continuous screams are coming to Las Vegas as Universal Horror Unleashed, the first year-round horror experience by Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDX), is projected to welcome brave souls beginning Aug. 14.
Guests will face their fears inside four haunted houses featuring original stories inspired by “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Exorcist,” Universal Monsters, and “Scarecrow.”
The 100,000-square-foot facility will also include four nightmarish themed areas, with live entertainment and eerie bars and eateries.
“We’re thrilled to have our award-winning creative and entertainment teams working tirelessly to bring these terrors to life in 2025,” says Page Thompson, president of New Ventures for UDX.
IP Tricks and Treats
The new Universal Horror Unleashed attraction embodies two key trends. First, many parks are extending their Halloween seasons.
Could the popularity of seasonal scare attractions lead to more year-round options or more frequent haunted events beyond Halloween?
Second, basing themed horror experiences on established intellectual properties (IP) remains a solid strategy.
South Korean theme park Everland partnered with Netflix to bring two shows—Korean zombie apocalypse drama “All of Us Are Dead” and “Stranger Things”—to the park’s outdoor Blood City horror-themed zone last fall.
Legacy Six Flags parks partnered with horror franchises in 2024 for Fright Fest.
“Last year, we strengthened our alliance with Warner Bros.,” says Humberto García, marketing, PR, and sales general manager at Six Flags Mexico.
The Latin American park scored a success with an attraction inspired by The “Conjuring” film franchise.
Six Flags México guests also had access to an exclusive maze based on “DCeased,” a comic book miniseries published by DC Comics in 2019.
“We transformed The Justice League attraction into a giant maze,” García explains.
He suggests other operators listen and accept guest feedback, which is valuable to the park.
“Visitors are our best guides,” García believes. Although Six Flags México included more Warner Bros. properties last year, it built two fewer mazes than in 2023, prioritizing attention to detail over quantity.
“Our visitors rated the 2024 Festival of Terror as the best in history,” García says. High-quality entertainment will be a priority as the park marks its 25th anniversary in 2025.
Six Flags México’s 2025 Festival del Terror starts on Sept. 12 and concludes on Nov. 9. The public appetite for frights has established it as the park’s most important season, García says. Extended seasons enable parks to optimize ticket sales while enriching the experience for returning guests.
Exclusive and limited-time offerings also help drive demand.
Warner Bros. IPs are a big draw in Australia. Village Roadshow Theme Parks offers two Halloween events on select October nights at its Australian parks.
Warner Bros. Movie World targets a mature audience with the scarier Fright Nights, while Sea World has the family-friendly Spooky Nights.
Beetlejuice hosted Fright Nights for the first time in 2024. Five purpose-built mazes were highlights of the event; Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa considers them a top investment.
Warner Bros. Movie World also launched four fresh horror encounters with fearsome characters, including Pennywise and Valak.
Randhawa reports “great” attendance for Sea World’s Spooky Nights Season, with shows such as Monster Mayhem enthralling audiences.
A “Quietly” Successful Year
Movie Park Germany had its most successful Halloween season ever in 2024, achieving a 9% increase in attendance compared to the previous year.
“We are very proud of this new record,” says managing director Thorsten Backhaus.
IP-inspired mazes have driven attendance growth. Last year, park guests faced ferocious monsters in a silent fight for freedom in a horror house based on Paramount Pictures’ “A Quiet Place” movie franchise.
Days after its announcement, the attraction sold out for the entire event.
Movie Park Germany and Paramount Studios’ teams collaborated closely to achieve maximum authenticity.
The maze occupies a soundstage with a 15-meter-high ceiling, allowing for massive physical sets based on the movies. Animated creature content and original movie sound files heightened the tension.
The finale included an “attack” by a three-meter-tall animatronic.
The 1,400-square-meter attraction could accommodate large groups of up to 20 guests making their way through the maze together.
Uniquely, all guests in the maze had to be quiet.
“It was a completely new approach and a sensational hit for our park,” says Manuel Prossotowicz, director of marketing and sales brand development at Movie Park Germany.
Story-driven mazes have a higher chance of success, he believes.
Guests are also looking for more immersive and interactive experiences, and parks must stay up to date on evolving guest preferences.
“If you miss a trend, you miss a huge opportunity to increase your attendance and revenue,” Prossotowicz shares.
“The maze is the perfect marketing hook to get guests into the park,” Prossotowicz says, but parks should consider the bigger picture.
Movie Park Germany presents a full Halloween experience that combines mazes, scare zones, street atmosphere, live entertainment, decorations, and food and beverage offerings.
The opening ceremony features a monster parade with 280 scare actors.
Taking a lead from top music festivals, Movie Park Germany’s Halloween Horror Festival features live DJs.
The park also reimagines existing rides and attractions for the spooky season, switching out content on its media-based Studio Tour roller coaster, for example.
Switching Strategies
Holiday Park Germany’s Halloween Fright Nights adds new mazes and scare zones yearly. The 2024 season included more horror attractions, more live entertainment, and more event days than ever before.
Traditionally, the park’s regular ticket price included free access to all horror houses, but Fright Nights’ popularity brought challenges.
“In 2024, we implemented a major change,” explains Jan Reinisch, Holiday Park Germany’s marketing manager.
The park stopped open access to the horror houses and implemented a time slot system to ensure shorter queues and a better guest experience.
Smaller groups also allow for more interaction with scare actors, leading to a more enjoyable experience.
Visitors responded well to the new system, according to Reinisch. Holiday Park Germany is working on an interactive horror house for 2025 and plans to enhance the Halloween atmosphere with more scare zones, shows, and story-led experiences.
Tailoring Terror
The rise of dual programming serves a more diverse demographic.
In 2018, the Toverland theme park in the Netherlands introduced Halloween Days as a counterpart to its Halloween Nights offering.
Halloween Days feature entertainment for children under 12, while Halloween Nights have a recommended minimum age of 12 years.
“This distinction allows us to offer a fitting autumn event for different target groups, making visiting the park more appealing to a broader audience.
In 2025, we will have 21 Halloween Days and 13 Halloween Nights,” says Toverland’s Entertainment Manager Luke Verhoeven.
The park has invested in several permanent haunted experiences, including The Witches Forest (2019), Maison de la Magie (2020), and Now You’re Mine (2023).
“These walkthrough attractions exist year-round but are only used during Halloween. Since we don’t need to set up and remove decor each season, we have been able to invest in high-quality sets, making the experiences even more immersive and believable for our guests,” Verhoeven says.
Technological advancements will play a significant role in shaping future Halloween experiences, he believes.
Now You’re Mine creatively blends technology with storytelling. Guests step into a fictional mining museum.
The mine’s former owner vanished while searching for a stone reputed to grant eternal life. Deep in the tunnels, visitors discover they are not alone.
“What makes Now You’re Mine truly innovative is our interactive helmet system, developed with attractions supplier Lagotronics Projects.
Each guest wears a helmet equipped with a light that changes dynamically based on the scene.
The helmets communicate in real-time with the walkthrough, triggering special effects throughout the experience.
As the group’s location is detected, the mine reacts accordingly.
This creates a fully immersive experience, based on two-way communication between the helmets and the rooms,” Verhoeven explains.
Now You’re Mine also features stunning, large-scale sets across two floors, including a path between two waterfalls.
"We developed every aspect of the attraction in-house. It’s a unique addition to our Halloween Nights lineup.”
Toverland develops stories and themes aligned with its magical worlds and continuously improves existing offerings.
In 2024, the park revamped its opening parade, introducing five new floats.
The Witches Forest and Maison de la Magie also became wheelchair accessible. “This reflects our commitment to making Toverland as inclusive as possible for all our guests,” Verhoeven says.
Child’s Play
Plopsaland De Panne has also achieved success with a dual programming approach in recent years.
In 2024, the Belgian park offered a kid-friendly, daytime Halloween experience, and a more intense, horror-filled experience for adults after sundown.
“However, starting last year, we shifted our focus entirely to a kids’ Halloween to better align with our beloved Studio 100 characters and our core audience: families with younger children,” explains Joachim Duclot, who is responsible for entertainment.
“We saw a remarkable 66% increase in attendance last year. I think that is proof that this was the right decision for our park and our guests.”
Plopsaland De Panne expanded its entertainment lineup, focusing on character-driven experiences, including more meet-and-greets and special Halloween shows.
“One of the most exciting additions was Night Watch and the House of Pandora, a kid-friendly, immersive experience inspired by the popular ‘Night Watch’ television series,” Duclot says.
The IP-based attraction made children active participants in the story.
Night Watch and the House of Pandora will return in 2025, along with an exclusive Night Watch theater show, written specifically for the park.
“We’re investing in ‘Night Watch’ for this year’s Halloween because it aligns perfectly with the season and resonates deeply with our audience,” says Duclot.
“I’m excited for this year’s Halloween celebration!”
