# Universal Studios Halloween Nights..is is worth it?



## DeaditeMike (Jan 17, 2013)

I've been going to Universal Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood annually for a while now. I could go on at length about it, but I'll try and keep it short to answer your questions directly. As far as I know, Hollywood and Orlando are relatively similar in their experiences. I know they have different mazes sometimes though.

Honestly, it's mostly all scary stuff. Aside from the mazes, they also have Scare Zones that you have to walk through to get from maze to maze throughout the park. They're filled with things like Clowns with chainsaws who will chase and torment you. The park is intentionally dark and creepy, filled with fog, lights, and creepy music played throughout. 

I hardly ever see little kids or old people. In fact there may be age requirements on the site somewhere. It seems like it's geared towards teens to people in their thirties.

A Front of the Line Pass is a MUST. A General Admission Pass seriously shouldn't even be an option for you if you want to have a good time. The lines are miserable and sometimes hours long. Plan ahead, and get there basically right when they open that night so you can do everything you want to do.

With all that being said, I LOVE IT. There's always some sub-par mazes, but it's a fun night for me and my friends. It paints a good, creepy horror vibe. I go to haunts all over SoCal and I'd say the scale and production quality of this are great. I've been far more terrified in small intimate haunts, but this is worth checking out.

Hope this helps. happy to give any additional information.


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## Chops6965 (Jun 11, 2009)

You can check out videos on YouTube. People post walk through videos of the mazes all the time. The best videos are from Theme Park Adventure though, they use a good quality camera and have a good reputation among the haunt industry. They also do write up reviews of all the major haunted attractions (even some of the bigger home haunts).


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## Illy (Jul 11, 2011)

I LIVE for HHN every year. I'm easy to scare, I jump, scream, yell, etc even though I KNOW it's coming.....I'm the perfect person to take with you if you don't easily scare, because I guarantee you will have a good time laughing at my expense. 

With that said, HHN is a wonderful event. Harry Potter is in Islands of Adventure - and not in the park where they hold HHN (which is Universal Studios). That said - it doesn't matter anyway because HHN is a separate ticket event. 

Questions for you - when are you coming, how long are you staying - and are you planning on staying onsite at Universal? What are you looking to get out of HHN? Do you scare easily? not at all? What do you enjoy about Halloween?

I've heard that Florida Residents can now buy tickets (up to 6) for guests without having to prove Florida residency for every guest that the tickets are being purchased for (i.e. if you know someone from florida, they can buy you your HHN with their FL resident discount...) ---and if you know someone with annual passes, they can get you better deals. 

Let me know how long you were planning on staying and I can run by the ticket options with you.


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## disembodiedvoice (Sep 24, 2011)

Thanks for all the answers to my questions , really good info ! I plan on staying about 6 nights but we are doing more than just Universal. Harry Potter was the main reason for our trip . We haven't made it there yet but I have been trying to get there in October for probably 5 years now to go to HHN and every year something else came up. So I was just trying to suss out if it was worth the cost and if I thought my daughter would like it or be too scared. No I don't scare easily , I don't know about her because she has never been to a haunted anything ( she is a preteen). So people do jump out at you just walking around from place to place? and have chainsaws? I hate chainsaws lol So is it just a section of the park ? are all the other non halloween parts of the park closed during this time ? oh also is it decorated different at night than it is during the day? I know someone mentioned fog is that the only difference?


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## Illy (Jul 11, 2011)

I'm on mobile - excuse spelling errors

The event is not recommended for little kids. It can be intense and yes they jump at you in the houses. That said I was 16 when I started work there and loved the houses....as a pre-teen I may have balked though! 

The entire park is converted and we don't know yet if the scare zones will be contained to certain parts of the park or be like last year where the scare actors walked everywhere in the park so you weren't safe...even in the bathroom!! During the day you can't really tell anything Halloween is going on - but they do have decorations out just somewhat covered that they uncover in the evening. 

You would probably only do one night - the ticket prices are already listed and the first three weekends will be your less busy weekends getting progressively more busy as the month goes on and Fridays and Saturdays are your worst days (where if you must go on a F or S - you MUST buy the fastpass or you will barely see 2-3 houses) they are expecting 8 houses this year. 

Www.halloweenhorrornights.com/Orlando

Someone else mentioned going on YouTube and that's your best indicator of the event.


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## disembodiedvoice (Sep 24, 2011)

Thanks lIIy , how much extra is the fastpass? so in one night how much can I get through with or without the fastpass? Also do you work at Universal in general or just for halloween? I wanted to know if the Harry Potter part ( you may not work that park) if it is decorated for halloween at all....I don't mean scary like HHN but just halloweeny? and do you think that can be done in one day? well let me ask this , if I wanted to do regular Universal plus the HP park, how many days would the average person need to see everything ? 
thanks so much !


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## Illy (Jul 11, 2011)

I worked there years ago (when I was 16)  not anymore but it was a great job

Since you are going in October it won't be that busy. There is so much in both parks now that its hard to tell if you can do both parks in one day - 3 years ago I would have said you could do both in a day - now....not so much. If you stay on property at universal your hotel key works as an express pass to the parks during the day - but not for Halloween horror nights. 

Express pass for HHN is dependent on the day of the week as well as projected attendance http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/express-pass.html

If you go on a non Friday/Saturday you can probably get through most houses if you spend the day in the park and wait around for HHN to start as you will get 1 hour extra that general admission HHN will not. If you will be here for the first three weekends - they won't be that bad honestly and we've gone on the first Saturday and have hit every house and left hours before closing. 

There's a forum where they will talk about this in so much more depth www.disboards.com - look for the universal sun forum. They can also really help you with touring tips on seeing both parks in optimal time. 

I'm available for any questions!!! Feel free to ask!


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## Illy (Jul 11, 2011)

And the Harry potter island is in the other park that does not decorate at all for Halloween.


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## chinclub (Oct 6, 2011)

Illy said:


> they won't be that bad honestly and we've gone on the first Saturday and have hit every house and left hours before closing.


Was that without a fass pass? I was thinking of going for the first time this year but I can just barely afford the basic ticket price. I can't do the fast pass. But the idea of waiting in line for hours doesn't sound like fun. I was looking at going the first or second weekend it opens.


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## Illy (Jul 11, 2011)

chinclub said:


> Was that without a fass pass? I was thinking of going for the first time this year but I can just barely afford the basic ticket price. I can't do the fast pass. But the idea of waiting in line for hours doesn't sound like fun. I was looking at going the first or second weekend it opens.


Yes without fast pass - are you a Florida resident? Tickets are cheap for Fl res. 

We went Friday 9/21 (my birthday!!!!) and Saturday 9/22. We are annual pass holders so we are always in the park early and that extra hour makes a big difference. We saw every house but skipped the shows - which we could have seen but opted to go home after we saw all the houses since on Friday it was raining and my feet were burning from pain. On Saturday - same thing saw all the houses and rode some rides too!! Every subsequent Friday and Saturday will get busier though. We go opening weekend mostly because our annual passes give us a free HHN ticket any non Friday/Saturday night - except the first 3 weekends and well since 9/21 is my birthday - it's how I prefer to celebrate


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## chinclub (Oct 6, 2011)

Thanks for the info. I live in South Carolina but the Rush of Fear ticket is a great deal at $72.99 and will allow for multiple nights. I wonder which day would be best between Thurs and Sun.

Also, I guess parking fees apply. Last time we went to Universal we came in late because they stopped charging for parking after 4 pm, I think it was. (that was many years ago) I guess when they have a big event like this they keep paid parking much longer.


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## Illy (Jul 11, 2011)

Rush of fear is a great deal because if You don't see everything the first night you go- you can catch it another night. And if you go through a house you love - you can see it again on subsequent nights. Last year Gothic was that house for us. It was amazing both nights we went through it. Visuals were by far the best of any house that year. Can't wait to see everything as it gets revealed this year!!!

The parking is free after 10pm I think. Reduced after 6pm to half?? Not sure because we get free valet parking with our annual pass  we are spoiled.


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## madams (Oct 6, 2013)

My mom will be watching my kids while my husband and I go to HHN on Thursday the 17th. Can anyone give me an idea of about how long I can tell her we will be there? I know it opens at 7pm, we are only planning on going through 3-4 mazes/houses. Any ideas?


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## Illy (Jul 11, 2011)

Depends on how busy that night is. You could be in line for 10 minutes a house or 90-120 mins a house. Thursdays aren't as busy. I would tell her to not expect you back until midnight. Maybe 1am


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## James B. (Oct 8, 2009)

I went Thursday September 26; I say get the fast pass. I only got through half the rides and only 6 of 8 houses in that time. Lines were long for the haunted houses. 

The scare zones are Walking Dead themed this year; lots of zombies in the crowd scaring folks. It was a lot of fun.


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