I have made it through my first visit to Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando ! It was definitely a super cool experience and I can completely see why it is one of the best Halloween themed events in the country.
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| PC: GeekNotice |
Full disclosure: I am a total chicken when it comes to haunted houses so this was a complete step outside of my comfort zone. This was actually my first time going to a haunted house since I was 14 so it had been a while. Also, I did watch house walkthroughs on YouTube prior to my visit.
I bought my ticket about 2 weeks prior and since I went the second week of September, tickets were pretty cheap. I paid about $72 after tax and fees for my ticket by the way, which is pretty decent. I arrived at Universal with two of my friends, who are seasoned with HHN, and was immediately nervous but kept my cool.
We were taken through a side entrance rather than the main entrance and was smack dab in the middle of a scare zone without warning so I was completely thrown off. Fortunately, it was one of the most popular scare zones according to fans, which was Vanity Ball.
Vanity Ball's theme is essentially plastic surgery gone wrong. There was a runway smackdab in the middle of the street where the patients, who's surgeries were successful ,were put on full display. Meanwhile, those who weren't so lucky...well they roam the street like peasants with nurses and doctors looking for their next volunteer. There was two small stages on both ends of the scare zone where live surgeries were done. I was immediately creeped out and fascinated by the concept. As far as my very first scare zone goes, It was a good first baby step for me.
After being chased by two doctors in Vanity ball, I ran for cover in Mel's Dive in. During the event it turns into Mel's Die In. We ended up sitting down to eat for a moment and one of my friends tried a special Stranger Things beverage which was FREAKING DELICIOUS! we have no idea what it is but it tasted like orange vanilla flavored coke. Highly recommend you give it a try. I was ready for a drink and my friends had told me there was a bar nearby but we had to go through a scare zone to get to it.
I. WAS. STRESSED.
The scare zone was Vikings Undead.
I was fortunate to have gone through it during the daytime but I feel like its justice is due to see it during the evening. I did have a funny encounter with a stilt actor who I nicknamed "Off brand Groot" who was actually very kind to me haha. My only issue was the high pitched female screeching was a bit annoying but that's part of the theme so it is what it is. Otherwise I loved the costumes and characters that played a part in the zone.
After I drained my drink in 30 seconds(no joke I actually did) we went back through Vikings Undead and decided to ride my favorite attraction, The Mummy. But I was not told that we had to go through another scare zone, Zombieland: Double Tap. Admittedly I tried to go around but it was either be chased by a person with a chainsaw or just deal with the zombies. It took like 5 mins but I made it through the zombies. Now I have never seen Zombieland but the characters ranged from a crossing guard who kindly chased me around, a Charlie Chaplin character and just average citizens. After leaving the ride, we witnessed a poor carnival employee get attacked by some of the zombies and I made a dash for the tribute store. A quick turn through the tribute store was super cool. the rooms were themed to Ghostbusters, Stranger Things and Universal Monsters.
I met up with my friend Emily who was kind enough to volunteer to help me through my very first HHN houses. She mentioned that we would be doing Graveyard Games first since it was the scariest and we could get it out the way. We waited maybe about 20 mins when it was posted 35. The house is based around two teens who find out what happens when you disrespect the spirits at the Hawthorn Cemetery. It was done in the gothic style and social media plays a part in it that I personally thought was extremely well done. With this being an original house, I had heard on twitter that it was one of the most well done houses in HHN's history. I was very excited to do it.
I am super glad that this was my first ever HHN house because it scared the crap out of me. It was oddly beautiful though. I loved the costumes and there was a few scenes I loved. There was a scene where candles were lit all over and they are suddenly blown out. You are pretty much scared by actors and it got me good. I remember in the beginning a girl trapped behind some gates begging for help to get out. later on, you see her trapped in vines or more so her corpse grasping her cell phone. I heard that HHN had a bad history with graveyard themed houses before but after going through this house I have a feeling that will change. It was certainly my favorite of the three houses I managed to do. I actually ended up losing my wallet in the house from being so afraid. I got it back but that tells you the impression it left on me.
Next we moved on to my absolute favorite part of HHN, Anarchade. It is an 80s inspired arcade theme and it had a lot of lasers, fog and of course arcade games. My photo above is actually from that zone and you can play the games but you die so...
I just loved the overall vibe of scare actors in neon and it gave me major mortal kombat vibes. They can also pop out from anywhere which was so cool. The girls are usually on stilts but we lucked out due to the fact it had rained so they were grounded.
We moved on to Killer Klowns from Outer Space which was a scare zone at HHN28 but was upgraded to its own house this year. I had watched Killer Klowns for the first time the week of on Youtbe(which is free!) and I loved it! A bit of warning is to ask about if the smells of the house could affect any food allergies you may have. Most people wouldn't think to ask but a friend who was going to come inside with us couldn't go in due to the mixture of the cotton candy smell.
Killer Klowns was the only house I didn't watch a walkthrough for and I laughed the whole way through. it was so much fun and a relaxing thing to come down from after Graveyard Games. We stan Klownzilla! I will say that the strobe got a bit overwhelming for me towards the middle of the house. Overall, I feel like this house shouldn't be skipped. It's goofy and a lot of fun!
The last house of the evening was Ghostbusters! It was the longest house we waited for at 40 mins which still wasn't a bad wait. The film is celebrating its 35th anniversary and so a house obviously had to be done for one of Universal's popular properties. AND IT DELIVERED!
One of my favorite scenes to walk through was Janine taking calls in the ghostbusters office. The use of pepper's ghost impressed me and the puppetry use was top notch. I very much so appreciated that there was a scare actor for Winston too! I love representation ! And the costumes for the ghosts were what impressed me the most. This house was worthy of the film and was extremely well done.
This was my last house of the night since I had to leave a little bit earlier than I would have liked. Overall, my experience with HHN was absolutely scary but thrilling! I will be returning next year for its 30th year and will try to do more houses. I would highly recommend you visit if you have the chance but fair warning this is an intense event and you probably shouldn't bring little ones to this. That's what Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney World is for.
I. WAS. STRESSED.
The scare zone was Vikings Undead.
I was fortunate to have gone through it during the daytime but I feel like its justice is due to see it during the evening. I did have a funny encounter with a stilt actor who I nicknamed "Off brand Groot" who was actually very kind to me haha. My only issue was the high pitched female screeching was a bit annoying but that's part of the theme so it is what it is. Otherwise I loved the costumes and characters that played a part in the zone.
After I drained my drink in 30 seconds(no joke I actually did) we went back through Vikings Undead and decided to ride my favorite attraction, The Mummy. But I was not told that we had to go through another scare zone, Zombieland: Double Tap. Admittedly I tried to go around but it was either be chased by a person with a chainsaw or just deal with the zombies. It took like 5 mins but I made it through the zombies. Now I have never seen Zombieland but the characters ranged from a crossing guard who kindly chased me around, a Charlie Chaplin character and just average citizens. After leaving the ride, we witnessed a poor carnival employee get attacked by some of the zombies and I made a dash for the tribute store. A quick turn through the tribute store was super cool. the rooms were themed to Ghostbusters, Stranger Things and Universal Monsters.
I met up with my friend Emily who was kind enough to volunteer to help me through my very first HHN houses. She mentioned that we would be doing Graveyard Games first since it was the scariest and we could get it out the way. We waited maybe about 20 mins when it was posted 35. The house is based around two teens who find out what happens when you disrespect the spirits at the Hawthorn Cemetery. It was done in the gothic style and social media plays a part in it that I personally thought was extremely well done. With this being an original house, I had heard on twitter that it was one of the most well done houses in HHN's history. I was very excited to do it.
I am super glad that this was my first ever HHN house because it scared the crap out of me. It was oddly beautiful though. I loved the costumes and there was a few scenes I loved. There was a scene where candles were lit all over and they are suddenly blown out. You are pretty much scared by actors and it got me good. I remember in the beginning a girl trapped behind some gates begging for help to get out. later on, you see her trapped in vines or more so her corpse grasping her cell phone. I heard that HHN had a bad history with graveyard themed houses before but after going through this house I have a feeling that will change. It was certainly my favorite of the three houses I managed to do. I actually ended up losing my wallet in the house from being so afraid. I got it back but that tells you the impression it left on me.
Next we moved on to my absolute favorite part of HHN, Anarchade. It is an 80s inspired arcade theme and it had a lot of lasers, fog and of course arcade games. My photo above is actually from that zone and you can play the games but you die so...
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| Edit by James Warwick |
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| Edit by James Warwick |
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| Edit by James Warwick |
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| Edit by James Warwick |
I just loved the overall vibe of scare actors in neon and it gave me major mortal kombat vibes. They can also pop out from anywhere which was so cool. The girls are usually on stilts but we lucked out due to the fact it had rained so they were grounded.
We moved on to Killer Klowns from Outer Space which was a scare zone at HHN28 but was upgraded to its own house this year. I had watched Killer Klowns for the first time the week of on Youtbe(which is free!) and I loved it! A bit of warning is to ask about if the smells of the house could affect any food allergies you may have. Most people wouldn't think to ask but a friend who was going to come inside with us couldn't go in due to the mixture of the cotton candy smell.
Killer Klowns was the only house I didn't watch a walkthrough for and I laughed the whole way through. it was so much fun and a relaxing thing to come down from after Graveyard Games. We stan Klownzilla! I will say that the strobe got a bit overwhelming for me towards the middle of the house. Overall, I feel like this house shouldn't be skipped. It's goofy and a lot of fun!
The last house of the evening was Ghostbusters! It was the longest house we waited for at 40 mins which still wasn't a bad wait. The film is celebrating its 35th anniversary and so a house obviously had to be done for one of Universal's popular properties. AND IT DELIVERED!
One of my favorite scenes to walk through was Janine taking calls in the ghostbusters office. The use of pepper's ghost impressed me and the puppetry use was top notch. I very much so appreciated that there was a scare actor for Winston too! I love representation ! And the costumes for the ghosts were what impressed me the most. This house was worthy of the film and was extremely well done.
This was my last house of the night since I had to leave a little bit earlier than I would have liked. Overall, my experience with HHN was absolutely scary but thrilling! I will be returning next year for its 30th year and will try to do more houses. I would highly recommend you visit if you have the chance but fair warning this is an intense event and you probably shouldn't bring little ones to this. That's what Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney World is for.
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