SAW: The Games of Jigsaw will appear at the event on both coasts, and will include a preview from the upcoming, eighth SAW movie,Jigsaw, which hits theaters October 27. Universal promises that visitors will "be part of a living preview of a trap featured in the new film."
"SAW: The Games of Jigsaw will test your physical and psychological limits as you come face-to-face with mastermind Jigsaw and his collection of infamous traps from the entire SAW film series," Universal said in a press release.
Universal previously has announced mazes based on The Shining, American Horror Story: Roanoke, Ash vs Evil Dead, and The Walking Dead for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood in California and Universal Orlando in Florida. In addition, Universal Studios Hollywood has announced a Titans of Terror maze featuring Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, and Chucky.
Tickets are now on sale for the after-hours events on both coasts, at halloweenhorrornights.com.
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As far as the lines go, there are ways around the lines, just like any other theme park. You can purchase an Express Pass, RIP Tour, or deal with it while following a touring plan to minimize your waiting times. You also need to understand that haunted attractions have a fraction of the capacity of a typical theme park ride, so even if the park is only at half of its normal daytime capacity, the lines for mazes are going to be much larger than rides during the day because the mazes simply can't handle as many guests per hour. That's the nature of haunted attractions, and I don't begrudge Universal wanting to fill the park every chance they can. I can personally attest to being able to complete every maze, show, and scare zone at HHN in a single night on multiple occasions without using UE (never tried on a Friday or Saturday night though), so it can be done even when facing the likelihood of 2+ hour lines during the event's peak. Adding more mazes and attractions will just make it more difficult to see everything in a single night, which might be good for locals and AP holders, but for someone like me that can only devote a single night to HHN while on vacation with my family, I appreciate them designing the event to be experienced fully in a single evening.
However, if they add another haunted attraction or 2, that's something else you now need to wait in line to experience. My point is that the event is about as big as it needs to be to allow a guest to theoretically see everything in a single, strategically planned visit. Add another maze or show, and it essentially means you cannot get to everything in one night, and might not even be able to do it with an Express Pass. For an event that only runs so many times a year, they've got to make it manageable for guests. Also, we all know that if they add an extra show or maze, that means they'll increase the number of tickets they'll sell each night, so line lengths will not be affected at all except on the first few days of the event where crowds are traditionally lower. Personally, I've always viewed the repeat-ability of HHN (and other haunted attractions) in the variability of the actors and routines between the different crews than revisiting to see attractions you missed the first time around.
I have no problem with Universal making it next to impossible to see everything in a single night without Express Pass/RIP (I actually like the challenge), but the scope of the event should still be limited so that someone can theoretically see everything in a single night. I know Universal has really been pushing the Frequent Fear Passes in recent years, and essentially broadcasting widely that HHN requires a multi-day visit, but I'm of the opinion that any special event should be at least feasible to experience in a single visit. To me it's like a restaurant selling you a 10-course meal and then only serving you 9 because the kitchen closed when you reached the end of dinner.
If a guest cannot reasonably experience the entire event in a single "normal" night without doubling or tripling the cost of their admission, then I think UO should start staging attractions at IOA as a separate event/gate. Just like when a theme park gets too big for its own britches, the operator then decides to open a second park. If Universal feels that it takes multiple days to experience everything they want to offer for HHN (even on the slowest of days), they should create 2 distinct HHN gates (at one point HHN was staged at both IOA and USF but were under the same ticket). Unlike normal theme parks, HHN is not a year-round event, and with attractions that change every year, guests should, on a "normal" day, be able to see all of the attractions in a single visit. By creating a second gate (or perhaps by only selling 2-day tickets), UO would signal that a second day is needed to fully experience HHN.
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Just to clarify, Universal Orlando has not yet announced a Walking Dead Maze for HHN27, and the rumor is that the park will take a year off from the series to develop a non-IP maze. USH has a full-time Walking Dead attraction that's being plussed-up for HHN, but USF doesn't have a full-time maze like its California sibling.