One of the biggest names in theme parks finally has come to Las Vegas.
Universal opened its first property in Sin City last week, Universal Horror Unleashed. It is not a full theme park, like the Universal Epic Universe that the company opened in Orlando earlier this year. Instead, Universal Horror Unleashed offers a new type of product for the company.
Epic was the industry’s latest attempt to perfect the template that Walt Disney created with Disneyland in 1955. But Unleashed tries something different. It’s a regional attraction — an adults-only version of a family entertainment center — that could help expand Universal’s footprint into new markets around the country.
Universal Horror Unleashed takes the experience that Universal offers with its Halloween Horror Nights and transforms it into a stand-alone, year-round attraction. It’s all indoors and climate controlled, which by itself makes Unleashed a more comfortable experience than Horror Nights can be, which gets hot and steamy in its early weeks, especially in Orlando.
Unleashed exists within a purpose-built warehouse within the expanded Area15 complex in Las Vegas. It is not grafted onto an existing theme park, which allows the experience to feel even more immersive than Halloween Horror Nights. The attraction includes four haunted houses, built around three bars, transitional scare zones and, of course, the gift shop through which guests exit at the end of their visit.
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Disney tried its own regional entertainment centers with its DisneyQuest and Club Disney centers in the late 1990s. But those felt like a Disney-branded arcade or Chuck E. Cheese, respectively. Unleashed feels more authentically Universal, building upon its Horror Nights experience.
With this and Fan Fest Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood earlier this year, Universal is leaning into new actor-driven attractions. That might help Unleashed appeal to repeat visitors. A static walk-through haunted house would be one-and-done for most fans. But Unleashed’s formula rewards visitors who spend more time in the attraction, especially with scareactors roaming around the bar areas.
As an adult-focused attraction, Universal Horror Unleashed should provide a better fit in Las Vegas than past attempts by other companies to create family-friendly theme park attractions. But Las Vegas is a tough market right now.
Tourism is down, and Unleashed will be a tough sell to potential visitors from California with Horror Nights and other haunt attractions about to begin locally. Unlimited admission to Unleashed starts at $99 and cocktails cost around $19, which is not out of line for Las Vegas but not a bargain compared with California haunt prices.
Like Disney did with DisneyQuest, Universal will open its second Unleashed location in Chicago. In addition to that, Universal is bringing a new concept in kids’ parks to the Dallas area next year.
Can Universal succeed with regional destinations, after Disney’s failure? If it does, that could mean even more bad news for Six Flags and other regional parks that have been struggling to compete with Disney and Universal’s national destinations in California and Orlando.