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What can I say?
Halloween Horror NIghts is my absolute favorite!
Universal Studios goes to great lengths to entertain, thrill & scare the pants off you. This year was no exception.
Halloween Horror NIghts 2009 had 8 haunted houses; Saw, Chucky, Wolfman, The Spawning, Silver Screams, Dracula, Frankenstein & Leave it to Cleaver.
I'm not sure which haunted house was the scariest. My wife led us through the first couple... screaming all the way. She spent the rest following me with her face buried in my back trying to hide. She even bit me at one point.
Saw definately took the prize for creepiest haunted house. That's probably not a big surprise for anyone who has seen any of the movies. They're creepy!
Thanks to Universal's eye for detail, the scenes came alive... or died... as if you really were part of it.
Chucky was pretty basic. The seemingly endless maze of Chucky Toy boxes was initially neat but quickly turned boring.
This years Halloween Horror Nights had two shows.... Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (we didn't make it) and Rocky Horror Picture Show. We sat through the Rocky Horror Picture Show... I guess you would say... tribute? I'm not sure what I was expecting... but I was a little disappointed. ( I should probably disclose here that I was a Rocky Horror Picture Show regular at one point... I played Rocky.) I was also a little surprised by how young some of the audience was. Rocky Horror' adult themes are definitely not for the younger kids.
Scare Zones... areas along the path that Universal decorates under different themes were ok but nothing really stuck out in my mind this year. What did you think? It seemed that they were all clustered together toward the front of the park and could have benefitted from being spread out.
What happened to the Parade? They used to have a great one complete with scary beads. My guess... the streets are too crowded now that they pack so many people into the park.
We went to Halloween Horror Nights on a thursday this year. I thought it might have meant smaller crowds but if it did you would not have noticed. Lines were pushing 90 minutes or more at most the houses.
Thankfully we had purchased the Halloween Horror Nights Express Pass. Halloween Horror Nights Express allows you to skip the regular lines at all haunted houses plus participating rides and attractions. They are expensive but a must have in my book.
With the Express, we managed to make it to 7 of the 8 houses & see Rocky Horror, ride the simpsons, have a snack, several rounds of cocktails, and dinner. The only reason we didn't make house number 8 is that we were a little overdone at that point and decided to skip it.
Know do the math without the pass... 90 minute wait for a house... 10 minutes inside, bathroom break... rush to the next one... that gives you 3 or 4 houses at the most in the six hours of a weekday night.
Halloween Horror Nights Express is expensive... At $59.99 for most Thursdays ( $39.99 for Wednesdays and some off nights, $79.99 for Fridays and Saturdays) it cost more than the main ticket (I think it was $39.99 for Florida Residents)
Another option we took advantage of this year was getting to go into Islands of Adventure for a few hours. It was something like $15. Unfortunately it rained on us so we didn't do much. We did however get to ride the Flying Unicorn a couple times in a row due to no crowds. Maybe not the best idea after a few beers on an empty stomach.
With this option you also get to go directly from Islands of Adventure directly to Halloween Horror Nights avoiding the main gate crowds and lines. Even better... you can crossover up to an hour early. We didn't know that so we waited till the normal opening time. Anyone know if the houses were actually open early?
Ok... add it all up and we probably spent $200 a person for a night at Halloween Horror Nights. It can be done for less if you hit a wednesday, don't drink and don't get the Express Pass. None of these were acceptable options for me... I want the full deal... after all...
Halloween Horror NIghts is my absolute favorite!
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