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CONTACT |
Q:
What is Halloween Horror Nights? |
| Q: What is Halloween Horror Nights? |
| HF:
Halloween Horror Nights is Universal’s Halloween event, running
for most of the month of October. Being the off season, the parks
close earlier (5 PM) and whichever park the event will be hosted at
(this year it will be Islands of Adventure for the first time) will
reopen @ 7PM completely “re-themed” for Halloween. In prior years, Mel’s “Drive In” became “Mel’s Die In.” Averaging around 5 mazes per year, the park converts soundstages, streets and empty building into haunted mazes. Certain streets are taken over and layered in fog. Strobe lights make these murky areas even more difficult to navigate coherently and you never know what you may run into in the mists. Bill & Ted take the stage yearly to bring us another Excellent Halloween Adventure, with parodies of the TV, Movie, and Music Industries. It is a stupendous celebration of Halloween. Back to top. |
| Q: Is Halloween Horror Nights scary? |
| HF:
One of the number one questions, and it is completely
subjective, but we’ll try to answer it for you. The actors will not physically touch you, ever. (Unless they accidentally bump into you…lol). Universal has a strict hands off policy. For some, this is all the reassurance they may need. The attractions themselves are well staffed with talented scare-actors and they are pretty effective at what they do. While Universal made a large attempt to cut out the blood and gore last year, I didn’t particularly remember the mazes being all that gory the prior year. Yes, the chainsaw drill team had splashes of it, and the presence was there, but not an overwhelming amount of it. It’s not the bloodlessness of Bambi, but it’s not Friday the 13th either. The houses are well themed, relying on the horror genre in all of it’s senses, not merely the antics of the slasher films. The scare zones…. Most effecive in these areas as they are outside, are the use of loud noises. These areas, usually quite foggy and imbued with strobe lights, make the trip a cautious one and it is quite easy for the actors to get right up behind you with the penny cans, or worse yet, the very effective trash can lid on the pavement. Startling yes! Enough to give you nightmares? It shouldn’t be, if so, you might want to consider Disney’s “Not So Scary Halloween.” In a nutshell, if you are over sensitive to this type of entertainment, you probably would not be looking into the trip anyway. If you are a parent looking to see if it is appropriate for your child, there are no set rules to decide. If you are the parent of the teenager, I sincerely doubt the event would be too frightening, nor do I think anything portrayed at the park could be construed as a bad influence (tho I know there are those that consider this whole realm of dark entertainment a bad influence… if that’s you, and you’re reading this, you’ve stumbled into the wrong corner of the internet). Universal has put out a PG – 13 warning. If your child falls under this age bracket, you need to know what your child can tolerate or enjoy. I have a 7 year old nephew that could look Satan in the eye and not blink, and then my own 10 year old is hesitant about the events. It is your job as a parent to know your child, not the responsibility of the theme park to tone it down for them. Back to top. |
| Q: Can I buy my Halloween Horror Night tickets in advance? |
| HF: Yes you can.
Tickets can be purchased online @ https://tickets.universalstudios.com/USRG/us_store_secure.jsp?merchant=UO
or you can call 1-800 711-0080 (8 AM to 9 PM EST Mon - Fri, 9 AM to
8 PM EST Sat-Sun). Back to top |
| Q: If I have a daytime ticket to Universal or Islands of Adventure, will it include Halloween Horror nights? |
| HF:
No. Admission to HHN is additional, but discounted if you show your
daytime park ticket at the time of Purchase. You can upgrade your
ticket, it’s a “Stay & Scream” special.Back
to top |
| Q:
Can I upgrade my daytime park ticket to stay for Halloween Horror
Nights over the phone or via the internet? |
| HF: Yes, for the first time this year. Visit the website for more information.Back to top |
| Q: What are the Peak Nights? |
| HF: October 11th,
12th, 18th, 19th, 25th,and 26th. Back
to top |
| Q. What are Off Peak Nights? |
| HF: October 4th,
5th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 17th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 29th, 30th, 31st,
November 1st and 2nd. Back to top |
| Q: What are the prices? |
| HF:
Universal is currently running several specials:
Prices range from $49.95 for a one evening pass, Peak Nights can be upgraded for $36.95 and Non-Peak Nights for $19.95. The following packages are being offered as well:
They are offering a Halloween Horror Nights Gory Getaway
Package beginning @ $109 a night (check
it out here). |
| Q: Will the rides be open? |
| HF:
Most rides will be open. The coasters (The Hulk Coaster, Dueling Dragons)
will be open as well as the Spiderman ride definitely. Back
to top |
| Q: Will my Universal Express pass or Hotel key work for front of the line access at Halloween Horror Nights? |
| HF: No. The only
front of line opportunity is the VIP tour, and they run upwards of
$125. Back to top |
| Q: Are there parades, fireworks or special shows? |
| HF:
A large part of the event usually centered around a parade that snaked
it’s way back and forth thru the park several times a night,
beads and candy being thrown from the floats to the guests; however,
with the switch to IOA this year, it is rumored that there will not
be a parade. From what we understand, the streets are not ideally
set up for the truck driven floats and if there were to be a parade,
it would be a “walking” parade. While there are “pyrotechnics” involved in the stage shows, Universal does not put on a fireworks show during this event. There are usually 2 stage shows. Bill & ted, an immensely funny show containing parodies of TV, the movies, music, and politics. The second show is usually one that is brought in, last year it was Franz Harary (zzzzzzzz…) and the year prior it was a “cirque de soleil” type show. We are not hearing word of a second show this year, but will advise if we do. They do have entertainers staged around the park to entertain you while you are in line for the mazes, this was an excellent touch in my opinion. They have taken what could be “wasted time” and turned it to their advantage. Back to top |
| Q: What are the operation hours? |
| HF: Off peak
nights will run 7PM until 12 midnight. Peak nights will operate until
2 PM. Back to top |
| Q: Is there any advantage to going Halloween Night? |
| HF:
Other than the fact that you don’t have to get up every five
minutes to hand out candy at home, not really. If it is an off peak
nightm the crowds will usually not be any more intense than any other
off peak night. If it falls on the weekend, it will be packed as the
other weekend nights. Back to top |
| Q: Is the event geared to a specific age group? Will there be anything for my “older” parents who will be attending? |
| HF:
I would say that in prior years, the event would have had more to
offer older patrons. While the move to IOA will not really alter the
maze portion of the event, the rides that will be available to the
public will certainly require a little more stamina than sitting thru
Terminator in Universal did. Aging parents who may have health issues
may not want to hop on the Hulk Coaster, but there will still be the
Bill & Ted show (provided they don’t hate the loud rock
music and pyrotechnics). Back to top |
| Q: Are costumes allowed? |
| HF:
Costumes are not allowed within the park, but there are stands available
where you can have your face painted if you wish to get “into
costume.” We’ve done this the past few years and had a
great time, matter of fact, one HauntFreaks staff member seems to
become a whole different person with a little bit of make-up…
(“Vince”) Back to top |
| Q: Is it crowded? |
| HF:
Yes. Off peak noghts are not so bad, but we had the “pleasure”
of being there last year on an evening that they experienced record
breaking numbers. The lines for the houses were immense, where we
had managed to get thru all 5 mazes 2 nights earlier within 2 hours,
the lines for just 1 house were two hours long on this evening. If
you can go on a weeknight, it may be to your advantage. On another
note, the event being held in IOA will bring out additional crowds
who will want to see what they have to offer with the switch, and
the opportunity to ride the coasters at night is another draw to some.
Back to top |
| Q: How does Halloween Horror Nights compare to my local haunted attractions? |
| HF: Halloween
done with the skill and finances of Universal Studios. Enough said.
Back to top |
| Q: Is it worth it? |
| HF:
OK, another subjective question, but again, we’ll try, In our
minds, yes…. Universal puts a lot of time and effort into this
event, and it shows. Back to top |
| Have a new question that you don’t see answered here? Please submit your question HERE. |
