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Welcome to our Halloween Horror Nights Opening Night Update and review! This is now the 10th year we've covered opening/media night of HHN Hollywood and as always we are extremely honored to be included in the event every year. It's never lost on us what a privilege it is to continue to bring you all coverage of these amazing events! Be warned, the videos and pictures included in this update do contain spoilers.  Welcome to Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood  We'll be your hosts for the next 2 months of spooky fun! We hope you enjoy the ride! Before we head in, let's check out some of this years Merchandise. Even Bubba Gump is getting in on Halloween this year.
 Production Central HHN is back and has all of your Horror Nights Merch!
 We started our very hot run-through of houses on the lower lot.  The Weeknd is back and we absolutely loved this house. Despite not being huge fans of The Weeknd we enjoyed the first house in 2022, so we did dive into his music a bit after that. I think we both enjoyed Nightmare Trilogy even more than the previous house. I'll be honest, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is my least favorite horror franchise. And it's not even close. That being said, other than Titans of Terror this is my favorite of the TX Chainsaw houses. Lots of new stuff in this one and not just repeats of previous houses. It really does work as a multiverse thing.  We weren't quite sure what to expect from this house having never done Dead Exposure in Orlando. But we definitely enjoyed it. Just a fun Zombie house and the Cold Storage room was very welcome during our record heat wave.  We absolutely love the Unviersal Monsters houses. The characters are so rich in film and studio history. And this may be our favorite of the Universal Monster houses they've done. The Bride was so fantastic in 2022 and it's great to see her back in a house. Some amazing sets in this one and we hope they continue to do these houses every year. Would LOVE to see a 3D Creature from the Black Lagoon house or a completely black and white house at some point.  Another horror franchise we really aren't 'that' into but this house really delivered. It's probably our favorite of any of the Insidious houses they've done and tells a really great story.  The first Ghostbusters house was one of our absolute favorite houses of 2019, so we were very excited about it's return this year. Despite not being huge fans of Frozen Empire (the movie) this house really delivered. Not only some great moments from the new film, but quite a few Easter Eggs throughout the house. We can't wait to find more as we visit HHN more this season. In addition, apparently the house was supposed to be "frozen" but they had some issues with the AC last weekend. Hopefully they'll get that fixed as it would add so much to the house.  Easily one of our most anticipated houses of this years event and it completely delivered. I was glad the party behind us kept quiet so we could experience the true purpose of this house. Very different than anything they've ever tried before, and it worked. I had heard some people complain that it seemed short, but we didn't get that impression at all. I will add, the addition of the actors in the house doing ASL and being so committed to doing so really added to the house. And it's just another step in HHN becoming more inclusive and accessible to everybody. And that's to be applauded for the entire team and the talent. Going to be completely transparent here. Monstruos was our last house of the night, and we were extremely hot and tired by the time we got here. That being said, the house last year was one of our favorites and this years house is just as fantastic. We cannot wait to get more walk-throughs of this house. Two of my favorite pics we got from opening night are from this house. Can you guess which ones?  Many years the Terror Tram is kind of a mixed bag. While it's always fun to walk through the Bates Motel and War of the Worlds sets, it can often times seem like the same thing. We're happy to say this years Terror Tram, like last year, really delivers some fantastic fun and great scenes. Be warned that the NOPE sets are not part of this years Terror Tram unless you are part of an RIP Tour.  Absolutely love that they HHN'ified the Hollywood Sign for Horror Nights.  As we all know it was brutally hot during opening weekend, so admittedly we did not spend as much time in the scare zones as we normally would for opening night. When we head back with our Frequent Fear passes we will make Scare Zones and shows a priority. So look for more updates soon. In the meantime, here are a few scarezone pics!   Thank you again to Universal Studios Hollywood for having us out for opening night! You can find all of the information for this years event here, and be sure to check out our updated Survival Guide so you can have the best night at HHN 2024! Related Videos
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Welcome to our yearly Survival Guide for Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood! Putting this guide together for the past decade is one of our favorite things to get us all ready to have an amazing time at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood! 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. MAJOR UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 12, 2024!Note: For full transparency, our Survival Guide, as written, does require a bit of hustle at least at the beginning of the night. Unfortunately that's the nature of Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood. If you want to complete all of the houses on any given night without express, you're going to have to rush a bit. As always, we build in time for breaks. This is why one of our suggestions is to get a frequent fear pass. Event DatesSeptember: 5-8, 12-15, 19-22, 26-29 October: 3-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27, 30-31 (Halloween Night) November: 1-3 Just like last year, the event will run Wednesday through Sunday beginning on October 16th. Wednesday Nights are a great night to visit. New for 2024! We've decided to add a video breakdown of our Survival Guide for those who prefer video content. It contains basically the same information as what is shown below with a bit more explanation on why we outlined things this way. Video update coming soon!Tips
Recommended house order with early entryThis rundown of recommended houses is if you are using early entry. If you aren't doing Early Entry, we have a recommended house order list below. 9/12/2024: There are some MAJOR updates to our early entry plan. Why? Because Universal Studios made some major updates to their early entry. In previous years all 4 lower lot houses would open for early entry and have various opening times from 5:30 to 6:30. This year that is not the case. There are 2 upper lot houses open at 5:30. In addition, the 4 lower lot houses all open before 7:00, but have various opening times. We'll outline it all below. Front of the Line tip: If lines are short when you get to the a particular attraction DO NOT use your Front of the Line Pass. Go through once in the stand-by line and then use your Front of the Line later in the evening. This way you get two trips through each House. With no backlot this year, getting back to a favorite house will be rather easy. For those who want to hustle: Start with the Curious George houses first for Early Entry and then quickly head to the lower lot. For those who want to take it more chill: Start with the Lower Lot houses and save the Curious George houses for later in the evening. Curious George LotRecommended Order (without express): Insidious: The Further and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire  Note: Entry for Early Entry for the Curious George houses is not through Hogsmeade but instead behind Waterworld. Express Tip: If you have Express and don't mind the walk back to Curious George later in the night, by all means go ahead and do Standby for both and come back later in the evening and do them again. However, if you don't want to make that walk twice, go ahead and use your express during early entry. Lower Lot Houses:Recommended Order (with or without express): We don't really have one. We don't really have a recommended order for these 4 houses during early entry. Just check the wait times during early entry and hit the ones with shorter lines. We have listed the times they've been opening opening instead of a preferred order. However, if you want to hustle our recommended order would be:
But if you don't want to hustle at the very least make sure you do The Weeknd, Texas Chainsaw and Universal Monsters prior to 7:00pm.  Express Tip: If you happen to get here and the lines or short (30 minutes or less), go through the Stand-By line and then use your Front of the Line later in the evening so you get to experience each house twice. Upper Lot and Terror TramTerror Tram:  If you've followed the guide so far you have already experienced 6 of the 8 houses and should only have A Quiet Place and Monstruos 2 left along with the terror tram. So it's time to take a bit of a break. Get some butterbeer ice cream in Hogsmeade. Have dinner in Springfield or any of the eateries upstairs. After your break, head over to the Terror Tram. Express Tip: If the line for the Terror Tram is relatively short, 30 minutes or less, you CAN go through the stand-by line and use your Front of the Line later. But remember, this experience generally takes 30-45 minutes from beginning to end and closes early, so you may not have time to do it twice. Plus, there's a LOT of walking on this one. =) If you did the "not as much hustle" strategy and skipped Insidious and Ghostbusters during early entry, head over there after the terror tram and end your night on the upper lot with the two houses, scare zones and shows. A Quiet Place and Monstruos 2 It's now time for your last two houses of the night. Your waits will probably be rather long so make sure you grab a snack to enjoy in line. If you have time/energy and the lines are relatively short, feel free to take in a ride or two after you've completed all the houses. You've earned it. =) RECOMMENDED HOUSE ORDER WITH NO EARLY ENTRYHere is our recommended house order if you are getting to the event at 7:00PM. And we do mean AT 7:00PM! Every single year we see people entering the event after 9:00pm, unless you have Express or a Frequent Fear Pass, don't be this person. You're not going to see much. Curious George HousesAs soon as you get into the park and everybody is heading to the lower lot, take a right turn through Hogsmeade and head straight for Indisious: The Further and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. You can typically get through these houses in short order if you head there first. Upper Lot HousesAfter the Curious George houses, head to A Quiet Place and Monstrous. Resist the temptation to head down to the lower lot when you see the wait times. The lines will be there all night. Better to wait in some shorter lines and come back and wait for the Lower Lot Houses later in the evening. Terror Tram If the Terror Tram is a priority, make sure you do this attraction before heading to the Lower Lot. You will be spending the majority of your evening down there. You won't make it back to the upper lot before the terror tram closes for the night. Lower Lot HousesYou're going to be spending most of your evening down here, and in line. We don't really have a recommended order at this point, just check the wait times and go from there. If Dead Exposure and TX Chainsaw are relatively short, knock them out first. The exit for Dead Exposure will lead directly into TX Chainsaw. Then finish up with Universal Monsters and The Weeknd. Remember, you can always get the After 11pm Express pass to make sure you can see everything without early entry. FoodHere is a link to all of the fantastic food and merchandise offerings for Halloween Horror Nights 2024! There seems to be a lot more this year and we can't wait to try all of these out! In addition, the standard Universal Studios Hollywood eateries will be open for HHN. Upper Lot:
Lower Lot:
There are also various food booths around the park. Shows
The Purge: Dangerous Waters is back for 2024! This was a great show last year not only for the entertainment factor but also spreading out the crowds a bit. Late Night with Chucky is an all new show for 2024 and we are SO excited for this. This seems like it's going to be one of those super fun shows that we'll visit a lot throughout the season. We don't currently have times for the shows, but we will update once we do. Scare Zones    There are 4 scare zones on the upper lot this year, which essentially just makes one large scare zone from the park entry to Springfield and of course at the exit of Monstrous. Lots of fun in this area and we do suggest hanging out and enjoying the Scare Zones throughout the night. Chainsaw Chaseout
If you are brave enough, not tired enough, or want to experience a true Horror Nights Hollywood original, stay until the very end of the night and experience Chainsaw Chaseout. This is absolutely one of our favorite things every year, and we always make at least one late night trip to HHN to experience it (the benefits of having Frequent Fear). Even if you're not staying for Chainsaw Chaseout, make sure you do some shopping, grab a t-shirt and hang out in the scare zones before heading out. Drive home safely! Related Videos
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