A First Timer's Guide to Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights
Disclosure: Universal Studios Hollywood provided me and Kevin complimentary Universal Express tickets to Halloween Horror Nights. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I survived my very first Halloween Horror Nights! This is the year I am facing my biggest fears, and I figured if I can get through this, I can get through anything. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had, and if you are a scaredy cat like me, I’m sharing my tips on how to have a successful HHN!
Because I knew a lot of what we were going to see was going to be pretty graphic, I wanted to know ahead of time what we were getting ourselves into. I’m grateful for my friend Chris who filmed walk throughs of the houses on YouTube, because I was able to make a judgment call on what I thought I would be able to handle and what I couldn’t. Since I had never been before, I liked knowing what to expect!
It is VERY loud in the scare zones and the houses, so if you’re sensitive to loud noises, make sure to bring some earplugs! We ended up not needing them, but I’m glad we had them just in case.
If you need a little reprieve from all the scary stuff, make sure to check out the Jabbawockeez show! It was such a high quality production and I had so much fun watching them dance to some throwback songs, so it was a great time! I’m so glad we also got to bump into my friend Chelsea while we were there!
Start with the Terror Tram! If you want to ease your way into the houses, I highly recommend starting here first. It gives you a good preview into what to expect, but it’s a bit brighter so you’re able to see what’s coming a little more easily than in the houses.
It’s all about keeping a poker face! I deflected my fear by saying hi or talking to some of the characters and they would find someone else to scare instead since I wasn’t giving them the reaction they wanted. They will swing at you and sometimes get really close, but they can’t touch you, so that helped me manage my expectations too.
Make new friends - we didn’t know them, but we trailed closely behind the groups in front of us at the houses so that we could kind of see what was coming. There are a ton of jump scares hidden throughout and I was more interested in just seeing the houses than jumping every two seconds. Again, because it was also so dark, it was easier to keep moving forward being able to see where the people ahead of me were going.
Make sure to try some of the specialty food available only at Halloween Horror Nights! We decided to eat at Killer BBQ located at the lower lot. We shared the 22” hot dog which could easily be split amongst three to four people (but it wasn’t anything special other than how large it was), and I really enjoyed the Truffle Parmesan with Black Garlic Seasoned Fries and the Funnel Fries for dessert.
Don’t miss out on passing through Hogwarts as for the first time ever, you’ll be able to have a close encounter with the Death Eaters! It really made the area feel more immersive which is always fun for us.
Overall, I loved this new experience and I can’t wait to go back again in the future! If you haven’t been yet, there’s still time to experience it this year - you can grab tickets here! Thank you so much to Halloween Horror Nights and Universal Studios for hosting me and Kev - we had a blast!
xo,
Keshia