Beasley Yes, occasionally we get out of the Disney Bubble and take a stroll around other theme parks. I know, hard to believe. Chuck, my partner in crime, has wanted to return to Halloween Horror Nights for some time, as we’ve actually never been together. Not for his lack of trying.
We spent the day enjoying some rides at Universal Studios and meeting some characters such as the entire Scooby Gang, The Simpsons, Gru, Vector, Alex, Puss in Boots, Gunther, Johnny and more! You can read more about those experiences here.
The Quick ’Sip
Favorite House: Stranger Things 5
Our tip: Get in line and knock out the early access houses before the crowds come in for the official start of the party.
Skip it: Cybergoria
Worth the trip? If you like gore and mayhem, yes. If aliens haunt your dreams a night, maybe skip it.
Getting an early start
Around 1pm-ish we got our wrist band ( near Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast) and then hopped in line for the Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control house. We stood in line, and survived a small shower, for about 45 minutes before we were let in, a little after 2pm. The house was neat, as it was cool to see two horror icons, Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow battling for control.
For our next house we headed back towards the park entrance for the Stranger Things 5 house. The line was not very long for this and we basically walked right in. Seeing Will break a Demogorgon in two was an unexpected surprise. Overall, this was probably my favorite house, as I think it was the one I knew the most about, so getting a sense of a story wasn’t really necessary like it was for some of the other houses.
Hellraiser was the last house we went to for the early access. This was the house I was least excited about as I have never watched the Hellraiser movies, because they just disturb me way down deep in my soul. Did I enjoy cutting a corner and running into Pinhead? No. No I did not. If I’m being honest, I barely took my eyes off the person in front of me.
The Hellraiser house rounded out our early access to houses, as the next didn’t open until around 5. So to kill some time we rode Revenge of the Mummy, which is always a great ride. We tried to get in line for a picture with Megatron, but the wind started blowing a little too hard for him to come out. I guess those little wind speed detectors the team members hold actually do work. Who knew!?
The Evening
Somewhere around 4pm we went and got in line for the Ozzy Osbourne Prince of Darkness house. This was probably the longest line that we waited in the entire night, probably a little over an hour. I will say, thanks to this wait I was able to listen to the entire backstory for the Cybergoria house, more on that later. The Ozzy house made me feel like I need to go to church and read my Bible. I don’t remember any jump scares that just popped out at me, but I do remember an animatronic giant bat that was pretty cool.
After our brush with the prince of darkness, we headed to Chuck’s ultimate reason we took this trip. Killer Klowns from Outer Space was by far the thing Chuck was most excited about. The klowns were a little hard to get pictures with and he had more success later in the night getting pictures with Shorty and some of the other klowns.
We then headed to what was my least favorite house, Cybergoria. This house was a lot, and not in a good way. Because I heard the backstory while waiting in-line for the Ozzy Osbourne house, I at least knew a little bit of what was going on. Had I not known the backstory (spoiler alert, the robots put us in vacuum seal bags while they figured out how to make us immortal…can you imagine how that went?), there would have been absolutely no way I would have figured it out by anything in the house. Yes, I realize “gore” is in the house name, but it was a little much.
My Nightmare Come True
Anyone that knows me well, knows I have an irrational (well, let’s be honest I think it’s pretty rational) fear of aliens. Particularly the “Greys”, you know the ones with the big heads, big black eyes, and long spindly fingers? Yeah those. Alien abduction terrifies me. It’s because they will just beam into your house and get you. I mean with at least a ghost or demon, they have a reason for being there. Not aliens.
Needless to say the next house we went to INVASION: Alien Abduction was my nightmare come true. You literally walk through a farm house that has been invaded by aliens. I may have given myself a small stress test during that walk through. There was one particular jump scare outside the kitchen that made me thankful I do my Kegels or I may have peed myself a little. I could not get out of that house fast enough. Thanks for the trauma Universal!
Winding Down
We went to find some of the icons over by the Bourne Stuntacular. Chuck ended up getting some pictures with a few of the characters. I admired the costumes from a distance (I have a zoom lens for a reason). We then headed over to Diagon Alley to see the Death Eaters creating mischief and running about.
The last house we visited was the Evil Dead Burn house. I honestly do not even remember this house. Not sure if it was because I find these movies disturbing (granted, not as much as the Hellraiser movies) or what.
We wanted to go through the Sinners house but the wait time was up to 90 minutes by the time we were going to do it. In hindsight we probably would have headed there and gotten in line for it instead of the Ozzy house, but you live and learn. All of the scares had us both a little hungry so we headed over to Louie’s Italian Restaurant for a slice of pizza. Chuck got the Rigatoni Ritual Pie and I was lame and just got a slice of pepperoni pizza.
The Rigatoni Ritual Pie was a garlic butter cheese pizza topped with baked rigatoni, crispy sausage cups, and a drizzle of pesto. They lost me at pesto, so was glad I didn’t get it. Chuck liked it, said it was 4 of 5 stars and he’d get it again if he had the chance. My pepperoni pizza was, well, a slice of theme park pepperoni pizza but it sure hit the spot!
After letting the bread swell in our stomachs, we walked back over to the Killer Klowns from Outer Space scare zone. Chuck was finally able to secure his picture with Shorty! I mean he did wear his RSVLTS button-down shirt with him on it for a reason. He actually ended up getting pictures with several of the klowns. It was much easier to get a picture this time through than earlier in the evening (which was a little odd since it was now busier than it was then).
Final Thoughts
This was my first Halloween Horror Nights experience. There are definitely some things we should have done differently, but also some things I think we did right so we were able to get through most of the houses we wanted to. Definitely getting in line for the Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control house and then knocking out all of the early-open houses was the right thing to do.
Character pictures are a hit or miss. It mainly depends on the team member in the costume as to if they will stop and pose for a picture or not. So if at first you don’t succeed, try again later.
Overall, I appreciate the work put into the event. The props, even the gory ones, I can appreciate. However, this is just not an event I’d be dying to go back to next year. I’d rather go back to The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, as that was a good haunt (and no aliens…well at least not the last time we were there). But, I’ll stick to Oogie Boogie Bash and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party for the foreseeable future.
What’s the scariest house you’ve ever been through at Halloween Horror Nights or otherwise?
