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9/17/2015 0 Comments

HHN25 Opening Night at Universal Studios Orlando

Today we have an amazing report from opening night of HHN25 at Universal Studios Florida.

Renée and friends were at the event last night and were live tweeting all night. Below is a wrap up of their amazing night.

Thanks again to Renée for another amazing update!!

Written by Renée Girard

(click on any of the pictures below to see a larger version)

At Universal Studios in Orlando tonight for the 25th Halloween Horror Nights!

Scare actors greet guests as they enter #HHN25

Pumpkins and fog!

The wait times are short... For now. The rainy weather is keeping crowd levels low.

The bars are just as popular as the houses and scare zones

Insidious is our first house of the night, and we loved it!

We hit the first Bill and Ted show of the year. No photos are allowed inside, so here's Tyler instead.

Freddy Vs Jason seems like it'll be one of the more popular houses this year

Our next house is The Purge, which was an awesome scare zone last year

The All Night Die-In scare zone had some familiar faces

Asylum in Wonderland is this year's 3-D house and is a lot of fun!

The gift shop by Twister has all the souvenirs, as well as props from the past

More throwbacks from the gift shop displays

The Psycho-Scarapy scare zone has interactive scenes and fire!

There is special lighting and projections all throughout the park

Jack Presents 25 Years of Monsters & Mayhem is a tribute to past houses and it's one of the best!

The Freddy Vs Jason house is a huge hit! Definitely plan on making that your first stop

The lines for the bars also grow as the night goes on. And this year they offer a HHN pumpkin ale!

Taking a walk through the Evil's Roots scare zone now that it's darker outside

The Icons scare zone is a great look at the past of HHN

The Rat Lady returns once again, always a crowd favorite.

An American Werewolf in London is back, and makes great use of the sound stage and puppetry

Body Collectors is also a sound stage house, and has an awesome throwback scene from a previous year

Run: Blood, Sweat and Fears makes use of the Disaster queue, the final year for that area.

Fans of the AMC series The Walking Dead will be sure to enjoy this year's house

We didn't get a chance to catch the Carnage Returns stage show, but it is hosted by Jack

The Scary Tales scare zone features storybook favorites in a "scream" punk setting

Halloween Horror Nights looks terrific for their 25th year! Hope you enjoyed, goodnight! #HHN25

Thanks again Renée for yet another amazing report from Orlando.

Who's going to HHN25? It looks pretty amazing to us!!!

Shameless Plug:
If you are in SoCal and looking to do Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain this year be sure to join us on October 2 for Mountain Madness. A full day and night of fun at the park including ERT on Twisted Colossus and Scream, Maze Tours, Dinner, Front of the line passes to all Fright Fest mazes and more. Click here to see all the info!!

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9/16/2015 0 Comments

Strategy Guide: Universal Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights 2015

Updated: September 23, 2015
Every year Halloween Horror Nights seems to get bigger and bigger, and so do the crowds.

Below you will find some of our tips for making the most out of your Halloween Horror Nights experience.

Some do's and don'ts and most importantly, what should be your "plan of attack" for the night.

You can also check out the HHN site for more information on tickets, hours, etc.

BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE!!! The event sells out. Tickets will not be available at the ticket booths.
GET A FRONT OF THE LINE PASS!!! We can't stress this enough. If your budget can swing it this is truly the best way to have an enjoyable and relaxing night at the event. Click here for Front of the Line Pass info and prices. Front of the Line passes sell out so your best bet is to get them online. (We are already hearing that Front of the Line Passes are sold out some nights, so if you want them, better do it quick!!!)
DON'T GO ON A FRIDAY OR SATURDAY NIGHT!!! If you cannot swing the cost of the Front of the Line Pass then you should try to go on a slower night.
DON'T BE LATE!!! You are paying a LOT of $$ to go to HHN. Don't show up at 9:00pm and expect to do everything or expect there to be no lines. The event starts at 7:00pm, you should be lined up by 6:00pm AT THE LATEST. Earlier on Friday and Saturday nights.
USE EARLY ENTRY!!! Last year they had early Entry and First Stab for AP's. This year it's only Early Entry. Basically this is your best way to get into the event easily. You must arrive between 5:00 and 6:15 to get early entry.

IGNORE THE RIDES!!! (Unless you have a Front of the Line Pass). You are there for Halloween Horror Nights. You can come back on most days and ride Despicable Me, The Simpsons or Transformers: 3D all you want. Especially if you have an Annual Pass. Ride lines are typically longer during HHN than they are during the day. If you have visitors from out of town, consider the Day/Night Combo Pass so you can ride during the day and get scared at night. Day/Night Combo passes are available on the HHN site when you buy tickets.
WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES!!! This should pretty much be a no brainer but you'd be surprised. You will be walking on trails on the Terror Tram. You will be taking escalators up and down to the lower lot. Do yourself a favor and be comfortable.

Update: Per @HorrorNights on Twitter, the two mazes open for Early Entry will be Insidious and The Walking Dead. To reflect this, we've modified our Maze Order Below.

Maze Order

Lower Lot Mazes:

Most people assume that you should head to the Terror Tram first. And if you don't show up when the event starts then this is probably your best bet. But if you have followed the instructions above and are at the event at opening or for Early Entry, first thing you should do is head down to the Lower Lot and go through Insidious and The Walking Dead during the Early Entry period. And then right at 7:00 do This is The End.

Update: The Early Entry is for Insidious and The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead was the most popular maze the entire night for opening weekend. DO THE WALKING DEAD FIRST DURING EARLY ENTRY!!!

Front of the Line tip: If the lines are not long (if you are there for Early Entry DO NOT use your Front of the Line Pass then), go through once with the General Public and then use your FOTL pass later in the evening. Getting back down to the lower lot mazes is easy to do later in the night.

If you don't have a Front of the Line Pass, don't be tempted by "Jurassic Park: In The Dark". It's just "Jurassic Park: At Night". But if it's hot and there isn't a line, by all means go for it.

Metro Set Mazes:

Once you have completed the Lower Lot mazes head over near Transformers to take the tram down to the Metro Sets and do Crimson Peak and Alien vs Predator.

Front of the Line tip: If lines are still short when you get to the Metro Sets go through once with the GP and use your FOTL pass later in the evening when it's busier. If you don't want to take the tram back to the Metro sets later in the night, go through them once with the GP and then use your FOTL privilege right after to get two trips through each maze.

Update: Last week we had listed the Terror Tram as next up on the "to-do" list. Halloween, being the only maze on the upper lot has varying wait times through the night, from 15-20 minutes to 2 hours. So when you come back up top check the wait times. It's entirely possible you can see this amazing maze with a very minimal wait.

The Terror Tram was consistently around 30-45 minutes on opening night and that line moves VERY quickly.

Halloween:

If you've followed the strategy at this point you'll only have one maze left and plenty of time to do it. We've heard that Halloween was amazing at Employee Preview night so you may want to leave time to do this one twice.

You are probably going to need to rest by now, feel free to stop by Springfield or Gru's and get a snack, a meal, etc. Sit around Corpz or Dark Christmas and watch the talent in action.

Terror Tram:

At this point you've already completed 5 of the 6 mazes so it's time to head up to the Terror Tram.

Depending on the night, you may have a bit of a wait if you don't have a Front of the Line pass, so be sure to use the restroom and get a snack/drink before getting in line. Even if the line seems long it's always moving unlike maze lines.

Front of the Line tip: If it's an unexpectedly slow night and there isn't much of a line, feel free to go in with the GP and go again with your FOTL pass. But more likely than not you are only going to be able to do one trip on the Terror Tram.

Update: They will be opening Fast and Furious Supercharged for Horror Nights this weekend. This will probably be done after The Terror Tram but we are trying to confirm.

Jabbawockeez

Unlike last year, there is a show at HHN this year. If this is a priority for you then you may want to flip this with Halloween or even the Terror Tram. Once we get showtimes we'll update this with recommended times to go.

Update: We saw this show at about 11:00pm on opening night and it was about 3/4 full. So you can likely save this for later and still get in to see the show.

Once you have completed all the mazes you can hang around the scare zones and watch the talent, check the wait board to see if there are any short maze or ride lines or if you have a Front of the Line Pass use up any trips you haven't already.

Do some shopping, grab a t-shirt, hang out in the scare zones and drive home safely.

Shameless Plug:
If you are a fan of Scary events and are planning on doing Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain this year, be sure to check out the info for our event on October 2. It's a full day of fun with Exclusive Ride Time on Twisted Colossus and Scream in the morning, tours of a couple of the mazes, dinner and front of the line passes for all of the Fright Fest Mazes.

We hope to see you there.

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HHN25 Opening Night at Universal Studios Orlando

Strategy Guide: Universal Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights 2015

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