16. Halloween Horror Nights AF

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights is the other big Halloween party in the Orlando area, and where I will be this year for my milestone Halloween birthday. In this episode, I'm sharing all of the details that you need to know for this scary AF event, whether you take a RIP tour, do 'Stay and Scream,' or are making your own plan.

HHN Website

Previous Episodes mentioned:
Episode 7: RunDisney is a Thing (with Kevin)
Episode 15: Not So Scary: Have Fun AF at Mickey's Halloween Party 2023

Download my free guide: 10 Tips for A Luxe Disney Vacation or connect with me on Instagram @michelevisitsmickey.

This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher.

Transcript

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Happy Halloween part 2. If you have not heard last week, episode about Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party, I definitely recommend that you go back and listen to that. And then today, I thought we would take a deep dive into Universal Studios Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights… which, by the way, has won the award for best Halloween party. 

It is definitely not recommended for the pint-size entourage. That is a blast for a group of people to go with your friends and have a few liquid courage cocktails beforehand. So here is the 411 on what used to be my very favorite way to spend Halloween. That's right. I went to the very first ever Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, and thank God I had Kevin (who you may remember from an earlier episode on Run Disney). Kevin, took me, it was my happy birthday slash “E-ticket” attraction, and we went with someone he was dating, and someone I was dating. It was super fun, double date. And I learned that I'm not as scared as I thought I would be. But that was before Universal turned intense. I will admit that I have not been to Halloween Horror Nights in a long time, which is ironic because the hashtag this year is #HHNForever, and I feel like it's been forever since I've been to Halloween Horror Nights. But this is the year. My milestone birthday calls for a -- at night and evening at Halloween Horror Nights. 

So Halloween Horror Nights is not as long. Universal does not recognize Halloween until the month of September, which…good on them. I actually think it's a little early right now, especially since I'm still dying in the heat of summer for it to actually be considered Halloween. Halloween Horror Nights goes from September 1st to November 4th, and it's the longest run it's ever been. It's a total of 48 nights, and it will start at 6:30 PM. And, again, unlike Disney, it goes until 2 AM. So you get plenty of Halloween party time. in your ticket. 

Ifyou are down there vacationing, you will need to make sure you have a park hopper ticket because Universal Orlando will actually close every night of the Halloween Horror Nights party at 5 o'clock. Islands of Adventure will remain open. So that's why I say you definitely need a park hopper. Or they have a special, ticket, which I will get into in a little bit. 

So you definitely wanna buy your tickets in advance. So definitely hit me up for that if you are interested after all this detail in going because your day of admission, regardless of what day you go to. Your day of admission is $139.99. And, of course, that is if tickets are still available. Your advanced purchase tickets, of course, pricing varies by date, but that starts as low as $80 a night, $79.99 if you want to be precise. And then express pass also varies by date but is, $119.99. So you definitely want to get advanced purchase and with the money that you save, you can put it towards an express pass. 

Now express pass does give you only a one time priority entry into each Halloween house. of which there are 10, but it also gives you priority access through the express pass lane for entry into the rides and attractions and shows that are open that night. So I never go to Universal Orlando Florida or Islands of Adventure without an express pass, and Halloween Horror Nights is no different. Although, Of course, this bougie traveler plans to do the RIP tour because it's my birthday, and I can rationalize anything I want. 

Okay. So As I mentioned, there are 10 different houses, 10 haunted houses. And in the beginning, Universal didn't have all the IP that they have now. So they were just like, you know, your typical go on the haunted hay rides, see the haunted house thing. Now they are, like, full on shows, basically, that you are walking through. One good thing to know is that the performers cannot touch you. You cannot touch them. So as much as it feels like they're, coming out and screaming at you from the walls, That is all they are doing is coming out and screaming at you. They will not touch you. 

So these are the 10 houses that are gonna be there this year: Stranger Things, themed to season 4 of Stranger Thing; the new exorcist believer movie, which actually doesn't even debut in theaters until October; the PlayStation game Last of Us; and the Universal TV show, Chuckie Ultimate Kill Count; and then Universal Monsters Unmasked, which will include Jeckle and Hyde, Phantom of the opera, and several other monsters that Universal, has the IP to. I'm particularly excited about that one. It sounds fun. 

Then they have 5 original haunted houses, which include Doctor Oddfellow’s - who plays a really prominent role this year in all the activities and goings-on at Halloween Horror Nights. They have the Dueling dragon's house, which I'm really excited for because they used to have an actual attraction for Dueling Dragons. So that'll be fun. Yeti Campground Kills, Darkest Deal, and Bloodmoon Dark Offerings. 

So the original haunted houses are actually where I think the equivalent of Imagineers at Universal. Their creative team really get to stretch their wings, because they don't have a story that they're trying to stick to. And they get to create the story and then create the haunted house around that. It's really, really cool stuff. 

Now this is -- new since the time that I used to go, which mind you is, sadly, I think it was 25 years ago, the last time I went to Halloween Horror Nights, but they now have “scare zones,” which are things that you parts of the park that you actually walk through. And as I tell you what they are, you will kind of recognize where in the park you will be walking through them, just so you know. And the scaremonies is the opening and start the quote, unquote, rope drop of the evening.

So Doctor Oddfellows is one of the scare zones. He will be up near the front. This will be up close to the front of the park because the creative team will want you to understand that story because doctor Odd Fellows is gonna play a part in all 5 of the scare zones. So there is the dark zodiac, vampire 69 blood, which I'm really excited about because it's gonna be, like, themed to sixties music. 

And did anybody watch (totally not Horror Nights related) The Barbie Dreamhouse design? Like, I loved that sixties vibe. So that could be fun. 

Jungle of doom, which is themed to the twenties and then shipyard 32 horse unhinged.So if you think about the park map for Universal, you can kind of picture where those different things will be.

Okay. So I know the first question everybody is going to ask is, can you walk through a scare zone? So here is the truth. You cannot dodge everything. but some scare zone will have a small buffer around them into which the quote unquote scare actors won't go. So you can try to walk around them. But if you are going to walk through it, stand tall, you know, Be the rock and walk right through it. Because if you cower or you cling or you be like, ahhhh, the scare actors, they will quickly target you and they will walk all around you and they will get in your personal space even though they won't touch you. So that's the thing about the scare zones. 

And then there is one live show. It's a 25 minute show. It's called nightmare Fuel Revenge Dream, and it's a really, really popular show. It has pyrotechnics and acrobatics. It looks like a scary Cirque du Soleil. and dancers, and it looks phenomenal. You can actually watch scenes from last year's on the Universal website. and I'll make sure to put that in the show notes for you. But so that show is 25 minutes. 

So I say so a lot, don't I? Okay. So a needle-pulling thread. I'm getting excited for my, sound music tour. squirrel moment there. 

As I was saying, the best way to see everything and get priority seating for that fabulous show is with an RIP tour. AKA, a VIP tour for Halloween Horror Nights. It's 5 hours. And with that, you get priority entry to all 10 of the haunted houses. You do get complimentary valet and you get reserved seating for that one show. Also, they will, of course, walk you right through those scare zones. 

Now when I say priority entry as you may have heard on my live episode from Universal when I actually did a VIP tour, if you haven't heard that and you're interested in a RIP tour, you definitely should because it will give you a really great idea about what this is like. You're not going through the express line. You are not going to wait at all. They are going to walk you to the front door of the house the line stops, and you and the group of no more than twelve people will get entry into that haunted house. 

So you get entry with this RIP tour into all 10 haunted houses, but you also get the unlimited express pass that you can use to go into the express lane as many times as you want on the attractions that are open. Only once per house, but unlimited express pass for everything else. You also get a pre tour reception. So like I said, if you need some liquid courage to, do this, they provide it for you. It's included in the price. And you also get a special credential button lanyard for the tour, which makes for great Great souvenir. And all of this can be yours for the price of $329.99.

That does not include the party ticket. So you do have to have a party ticket. And that's for up to 6 guests. and you will be joined with another group, and it will be no more than 12. So if you have a group of 7 or more people, you are asked to book a private tour. But this is a, quote, unquote, non private tour, but your whole group can go for $329.99 each, which is a just an incredible bargain in that it gives you such great priority entry and food and beverages and a rest stop even. 

Okay. So the $329.99 rest in peace tour, RIP, is out of your budget. And you're thinking the express pass is great, but, hey, I need to be there super early because I wanna go through the use haunted house as well. It's still light outside, which, believe me, I And so they're with you for that. So there is a special called Stay and Scream, which is if you have a day ticket, to Universal Orlando. And you have a Hollywood Horror Nights ticket for the same day and evening You don't have to leave the park. So around 4 or 4:30, you can head over. Remember, I said that Universal Orlando is gonna close at 5. They're gonna open a bar for you. You will get to watch them set up and bring out some of the props really pretty cool.

And then at 4:30, between 4:4:30, you will get entrance, and you can go ride -excuse me -you can go walk through. There are attractions, right, but you can walk through the haunted houses while people are still waiting in the entry for the opening ceremonies. So that's called the stay and scream. It requires you to have a day ticket to Universal Orlando. in a Hollywood horror nights ticket for the same date on the calendar, and then you can do both of those things. Okay. 

So, let's say you don't have a stay and scream and you're not doing an RIP, what's one big tip? So the big tip is be there on time. The party starts at 6:30. You wanna be there at 6 to get in line and get in the gate at 6:30 and you wanna go right to the back of the park. Do the houses at the back of the park first. because most people are like little ants, and they're gonna go in, and they're gonna stop at the very first house they see. Meanwhile, you can do the ones at the back and work your way forward. Okay. Still too scared to try, anything that I have mentioned. I feel you.

This one is something that I'm Definitely going to do also because I love anything with behind-the-scenes photos. And that is the Unmasking the Horror tour. The cool thing about this is you don't actually have to have park admission to do this tour. Like, they're gonna take you in, and you're gonna see the houses in the daytime and with all the lights on, and then they're gonna take you out. So there's no riding of any attractions necessary. And therefore, there's no park admission necessary. This, Unmasking the Horror tour, it starts at 9:15. And you can do either 3 houses or 6 houses. And it's usually different. 

So if you wanted to do 9 houses, you could do both of these on 2 different days because they both start at 9:15. The 3 house is 2 a half hours and the 6 house is 5 hours and you get a short break in between. again, if you go back and listen to my live episode when I did the universal VIP tour, breaks are important because you are moving and grooving on these special tours. So this is $119 for the 3 houses and $169 for the 5 houses. And as I said, admissions are not required. The cool thing is you're allowed to take photos in all of these houses. So you will see all the props that they are using because the lights are on.It's daylight outside. There is no scare actors involved. So you can see how they reuse props from as far back as the jaws show. And how these creative teams create these, these spaces for the special events. 

Halloween Horror Nights is the most popular special event that Universal does do. And I will say they do an incredibly good job at it. Even though I haven't been, I still see all the same pictures that all of you see on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, the whole nine yards. Plus, I see the behind-the-scenes pictures that travel advisors are privy to and the travel advisor sites.

And one thing that they do that's super cool and you know that I'm all about the dining and the shopping is the themed food and merchandise. So for example, there is a rice crispy treat that has dyed red that looks like bloody meat. Now, if that's not worth the price of insurance for the gram, I really don't know what is. They also do have a full Halloween Horror Nights tribute store where you can get all the themed merchandise. You can get merchandise for each of the themed haunted houses. the scare zones, you name it. You can find it at the HHN Tribune store. 

Just a few special tips -- addition to heading to the back of the park to do this wanted houses first is always remember that you do wanna wear comfy shoes.And for this, close-toed shoes are recommended. Why? Because when you are going through the haunted house, with your version of my Kevin. And Kevin gets scared, he and he jumps. He's gonna land on your toes. So please wear close-toed shoes. 

It's really the calendar says it's fall and the decor says it's fall, but it's still really hot and humid in Florida. so dress for the weather, rain is still a possibility until November. And this ends on November 4th. So be sure and dress accordingly and for the weather. 

And, of course, remember that the performers will not touch you don't test it. If you touch them, who knows what will happen? And that is all I've got for you on Halloween Horror Nights until I myself go…in which case, we should do a full Halloween wrap-up of my milestone birthday at Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party. 

See you real soon!