Halloween Horror Nights 32 (UOR) - Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[wutisgood]

1) Yeti - Loved this, Did a lot more camping since I got a tesla. Snake toilette was my number 1 lol scare.
2) Darkest Deal - I liked this one from working in entertainment. The irony is even the best people who work in this house for comcast (many of them seasonally) have little to no chance to translate their work into any actually sustainable job within comcast and the people who manage these scare actors also likely would have had a better long term career by leaving before they got into their current positions. It tends to take people a few years before they realize all of their coworkers who left are more successful than them long term. Soul sucking indeed.
3) Dueling Dragons - Maybe it's nostalgia maybe it was a good run.
4) TLOU - I played the game and thought this was really great.
5) Bloodmoon - Especially for such a short wait it was a great house.
6) Exorcist - just hard to rank. the movie is not out and I am not a big fan of the other movies. But I liked it a lot even without the movie out.
7) Oddfellow - I think Oddfellow himself looked great.
8) Monsters - Long and got quality scares on this one.
9) Stranger Things - I understand the popularity but was not blown away. have to get in line early though.
10) Chucky - Weakest but,,, all time worst? Eh chucky tends to ride solo and people just hate the fast and furious area in general so I think this is somewhat over hated in a pretty strong year.

Again the rankings are tough this year because a lot of houses were pretty close depending on what you saw or liked outside of HHN. I think it was a strong year on average but I also think dead mans pier would beat everything this year still. I am going back to Knotts' Berry Farm in a few weeks and felt like at least a few years ago their houses were better overall although they were not new every year. Knotts is able to build large set pieces multiple years where universal has to tear down.

 

[TonyPizza]

I went on 9/10 and it was my first time doing HHN in Orlando. Went with a group who was pretty scared so we only went through 5 mazes. With that being said, here is my two cents:
in th
Ranking in order of best to worst (spoilers):
1. Oddfellow - I thought this was a really solid circus maze. It felt really cramped, but I think that led to a more frightening atmosphere. Some good scares, and Oddfellow himself was cool along with the lion puppet. I thought the room with Oddfellow at the end was the best part.
2. Darkest Deal - The story was easy to follow and I enjoyed the theme. I think we might have hit during a casting change but it didn't detract from the experience too much.
3. Dueling Dragons - Again, story was easy to follow and as someone who's into Universal lore I think that the idea is great. I wish there were more scares with actual dragons as opposed to what appeared to be general fire/ice creatures. However, choosing your own path at the end was great. Everyone ahead of us went ice so we went fire and I think it was the first time I've ever been alone with no one ahead or behind me in an HHN maze which made it a great experience. I wish more houses utilized this, but I understand if there are logistical issues with doing something like that.
4. Exorcist - I thought the scareactors were really giving their all in this one. Sets were cool, especially the mouth with walls. Overall solid.
5. Stranger Things - This was my first time in a Stranger Things house and it was only because I watched half of Season 4. My favorite part of the season was the stuff with Hopper so it was disappointing to not see that in this house (but understandable). Even with that, I thought the house wasn't worth the time we spent waiting for it. I get it if you're a big fan of ST, but if you aren't this is a definite skip.

We also were able to catch the Nightmare Fuel show and that was my first time watching an HHN show (because I've never had an interest in watching the jabbawockeez no matter how much Hollywood wanted me to). Everyone in my group was surprised about what it was. I didn't expect it to be as raunchy as it was. I was impressed by all the pyro and the stunts were amazing. Really great show!

Overall I thought it was a lot stronger than Hollywood has been in the past, and I feel like the general opinion of people on this forum is that this is one of the weaker years. I definitely agree about crowds being a problem. We didn't do express and got there around 6:30 and were able to do 5 mazes + Gringotts/MIB/HRRR + Nightmare Fuel, but we probably could have done more. However, we had to plan everything really carefully and were basically jogging from place to place. You can especially feel it in the scarezones though. It really detracts from the experience when the number of visitors is multitudes higher than scareactors. It also doesn't help when people stop to take pictures or to look at their phones in the middle of the road.

In addition, during our first attempt to see Nightmare Fuel they hadn't marked where the line was before you entered the stadium. They said the line started in the back, and we stood for 5 minutes as people tried to make their way to the back of the line (we were coming in from the Harry Potter area). The majority of people were cutting to the middle of the line and we weren't able to make the 9:30 PM showing because of the disorganization. They definitely need to figure that out because there were tons of angry people.

Hoping to make it to Hollywood to get a direct comparison!

 

[gbird]

My wife and I attended 4 nights from the 7th to the 10th. We did stay and scream area each night with no express passes.

We managed to do each house twice and scare zones numerous times. So thought after completing each twice would be good time to review as ranking changed after going through a second time

Stay and scream zones where ok but in 95 degrees with little shade they were brutal and with the heat they could have taken the queue a little earlier to wait in the shaded zones (exorcist queue for and hour had zero shade). TLOU was also difficult as after an hour in the zone we were advised that it was delayed and could but up to an hour to open and lots left the queue as monsters was 5 mins luckily we stayed in and was only 15 mins delay. The zones are worth it and the AC hits incredibly when entering first house especially monsters

House ranked

1) Darkest Deal - One low down on my anticipated list but we loved the story and two great runs. Only issue was it was short as enjoyed so much. Some great scares and for us a unforgetable house
2) Monsters - Very dark and some memorable moments and one hunchback scene really made us laugh and great interaction with scare actor. Two great runs and house was really long and scares kept on coming
3) Bloodmoon - our number 1 after first run as so many surprises (and inside queue helped) really enjoyed the theme but second run was low on scares
4) Yeti - Loved this, we really enjoyed the last Yeti house but preferred this one. Lots of great scenes and the bear got me good one run.
5) Exorcist - Poor second run which was missing lots of actors in scene but overall very creepy and first run was amazing. Wife found this one very disturbing. Have to mention the smell though
6) Dueling Dragons - Loved the ride and was looking forward to this one. Disappointed at first but second run was amazing and so much fun when understood the story etc
7) TLOU - Long house but both times was really slow moving throughout so spoiled it as scares seen a mile away. Still had everything expected
8) Oddfellow - We did enjoy the house just wasnt as memorable as some of the others and top 8 were hard to pick
9) Stranger Things - Big fan of the programme but like last time didnt enjoy the house as very repetative and expected Eddie scene was dissapointing
10) Chucky - The doll does'nt scare us so we found boring and the break in the house doesn't help the flow

Overall we thought a really strong year with the houses and 8 were really good.

I am back for three nights from this Thursday with brother and we have express so possible the ranks will change again

The zones were ok with some great interactions in the Vamp zone, Only issue we had on Friday and Saturday was the amount of teens hassling the scare actors and causing trouble. Never seen a scare actor run to security before let alone twice in one night

 

[Jake S]

We attended four nights between Sept. 6-10 and purchased after 11 p.m. Express on the first night. That allowed us to do Stranger Things without waiting in the long line and wrap up everything but Bloodmoon on our first night. We used Stay and Scream the four nights we went and with the exception of the first night left the park around 9 p.m. every night. The combination of large crowds, long waits and (perhaps most importantly) long days at the theme parks prevented us from staying late.

My rankings aren't dramatically different than others here — Darkest Deal is one of the best haunted attractions I've ever been through. They should be incredibly proud of the effort here. I was also blown away by Exorcist: Believer. The cast is great, the setting is wonderful and there are terrific scare moments.

I really enjoyed Monsters for both its scening and impressive scares. This was the house we ended up most frequently targeting during Stay and Scream in Springfield and that worked out great. We never waited more than 20 minutes as most other guests, understandably, packed into The Last of Us.

Yeti, Bloodmoon and The Last of Us were all very good, but not on the same level as Darkest Deal nor Exorcist. I loved the scenic in all three mazes, but ultimately my group was fine only doing Last of Us once. The other two were respectively the favorites of the others in my group, so we made them a priority the rest of the event.

Dueling Dragons and Oddfellow were both okay. I didn't find either to feature many great scares and, like others, would have preferred a more dragon-focused story rather than the wizard one we got. As a circus house, Oddfellow is fine but given its soul-sucking premise it doesn't stand up as well when Darkest Deal is literally next door.

That leaves both Stranger Things and Chucky, which have been discussed to death. Stranger Things, again, featured too many mannequins and not enough performers. Chucky was just not a well-executed concept, which is a bummer — particularly given how impressive it appears it is in Hollywood.

All in all, I'm glad I went but wish I could have done Express from a financial standpoint. I found operations to be pretty frustrating, largely because of the high quantity of guests using Express Pass. That was particularly irritating during Early Entry — in an ideal world I'd prefer to see the price of those passes dramatically raised while the quantity sold is reduced. Or, at the very least, I wish they couldn't be used until 6:30.

Anyway! Going to Hollywood in a couple weeks and then Osaka a week after that. So, plenty of more Horror Nights for me this year!

 

[DeliciousOatmeal]

I managed to do a quick trip this year, and I figured I might as well leave a review. I managed to do 8/10 houses with Express, but I was only in the park from like 7pm to 12am and did all of the rides as well, so if you focus on houses you’ll have plenty of time to do them all.

Below are my personal rankings, from best to worst. Please keep in mind that all of the houses (with one notable exception) are incredible this year! Nearly this entire list is subject to shuffle around depending on my mood, they’re that close in quality.

1. The Last of Us - I loved the game, I loved the show, and I loved the house. I might be biased because of my enthusiasm for the series, but I thought the house captured the aesthetic as best as a theme park attraction could.

2. Blood Moon: Dark Offerings - This house really nailed the kind of atmosphere that I love. Dead Man’s Pier was my favorite house last year, and I felt this had a similar feeling in a way. I love that sprawling sense of scale, where it felt like the village was a real place. The bell tower, the moon in the sky - incredible.

3. Universal Monsters: Unmasked - Amazing set design in every single room. I also am a huge fan of weather effects in a house, and I thought it was used excellently here.

4. The Exorcist: Believer - Waaaaaaaay better than I expected. I always enjoy a classic “haunted house” setting, and the facade room was packed full of detail. Genuinely made me more excited for the movie.

5. The Darkest Deal - Amazing scenic detail, and the theme was really unique and unexpected. I couldn’t quite figure out the tone of the house though - I didn’t really feel creeped out at any point. Still beautiful though.

6. Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins - Fantastic set and costumes. Carnivals and circuses don’t appeal to me much personally, but I can’t deny this house had insane detail. I really loved the design of Oddfellow. I do think that Jack should have made at least one actual appearance. If you like a carnival setting, this will likely be your favorite.

7. Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate - Tone was way different than I expected. It seemed a lot more cartoonish than I thought it’d be - not a bad thing at all, just not what I expected. Pretty awesome sets, but I wish there were more dragons in a house called “Dueling Dragons.”

8. Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count - The only real disappointment for me. I get what they were going for, but it just didn’t land. The puppets were really cool, they felt like they were straight from the movie! The set design and scares were just really lacking for me. This house either needed to be way funnier or way scarier.


If I could have changed one thing, I’d have skipped Chucky to do Yeti instead.

 

[GentleArt309]

Here... we... go.... so the wife and I went 5 nights in a row, Sept 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. I'll start off with the crowds.... wednesday and thursday was awesome, not too bad. Friday, picked up, was crowded. Saturday... holy h3ll! We left early (early being midnight), the amount of people there was the most Ive seen ever and this was my 15th year going. Side note: you could pick out a high school kid easy, they all dress the exact same. Very weird.

Any way here is my house rankings! We did all houses 5 times. Worst to best:

10) Chucky - never been a huge fan of the franchise (and I live close to Chicago). Uni owns Chuckles so I think this is a cheap way to fill a house spot. I mean it was fun but blah...
9) TLOU - this one is gonna get me in trouble with the younger/video game crowd... but this was just the Walking Dead year 6. I dont play video games, never have so Im not familiar with the game, but the house was just boring. But had some great scenery.
8) Stranger Things - cool house and I love the show. But no prison scene I think was a huge loss for a great room at minimum. But the Eddie/Dustin room was worth it all. Love hearing Metallica in there too. Every time we went through the worker in that room was jamming and loving it. Was cool!
7) Exorcist: Believer - cool house, but havent seen the movie yet. The actors playing the creepy kids did a great job!
6) Dueling Dragons - never rode the coaster so Im not rating this through nastolgic lens. But it was a cool house. Love the duel run thing at the end. The room with the dragons was sick! Entry facade was cool too!
5) Blood Moon: Dark Offerings - fun house! Loved all the rooms! Kinda generic bad guys but the scenery in this house was fantastic. The room with the kids and the entrails on the pole was sooooo good! They had a scene using a mirror that was SO effective for a good scare!
4) Darkest Deal - awesome house! Great premise! As a Robert Johnson fan I knew this would be fun! Never had a bad walk through. My only gripe.... when you are casting dudes as guitar players. Show them how to actually play a guitar, like how to pick and make their hands look like they have picked up the axe before. I know, thats me being petty, but it drove me nuts LOL
3) Universal Monsters: Unmasked - loved it. Im a HUGE classics fan and I loved the fact the "less popular" classic monster got their due! House was beautiful, great scares, scaractors were always on and lots of gore! Loved everything about it!
2) Dr. Oddfellow's Twisted Origins - I also LOVE that old school circus/freak show style houses! Love the character of Oddfellow! Loved all the Easter Eggs in this house too. There were tons of them! Such a fun house. The intereaction with all the Oddfellows was so much fun. Hope to see him in the future... I also bought his tshirt!
1) Yeti: Camoground Kills - I have been in love with the Bigfoot myth since I was a little kid. So a Bigfoot house got my juices flowing (I know they use Yeti as a joke). Loved everything about this house. Scenery was awesome, scares were everywhere! So much fun!

Now lets talk scare zones... as good as the houses were this year... the scare zones.... I think were the worst theyve been in recent memory. None of them got me excited. The pier one was kinda cool, and the jungle in CP was ok. Vamp '69 was meh, Dark Zodiac and Collection of Horrors were incredibly forgettable. With that said.... the stage to the right went you walk into the park was cool. Our first night we walk in as Oddfellow was abuot to give his speech. He actually called my wife up to the stage (front of the stage) and did his thing where he took her soul or whatever. That was pretty cool!

Overall I think HHN is still teh best. Not every house or SZ is going to be a banger, but there are always more bangers than bummers. I'll be back next year... maybe even with the kids!

 

[Drummanmatt]

Final ranking

1. Dr Oddfellow - claustrophobic, fun, and see something new each time. Love it!
2. The darkest deal - aggressive, surprising and reminds me of poltergeist and graveyard games
3. Blood moon dark offerings - dead man’s pier mixed with intense purge. Great house, but room to grow
4. Exorcist Believer - wow intense and smelly. Scareactors in this are incredible
5. Universal monsters unmasked - fun house, not the best story.
6. The last of us - love the masks and makeup, just not as intense, tight, or scary as it should’ve been
7. Duelling dragons - not scary at all. Beautiful house
8. Yeti campground kills - didn’t gel for me like previous yeti houses. Has it’s moments but I don’t connect to this house unfortunately
9. Stranger things 4 - loved this first time round. But it’s a one and done
10. Chucky - love chucky. This isn’t it. Urgh

 

[Acandrews12]

10.5 houses (Yes I did Dragons twice for both sides), 1 night, 0 express (I cannot believe I did it). Here are my rankings and thoughts:

1. Yeti: Campground Kills (10/10) - By far and away my favorite this year. Without a shadow of a doubt. The theming was there from the start. Had a good use of SIF along with the sound effects to take your attention away from a scareactor. Had a new “scare” I wasn’t prepared for and it worked. Just overall loved this house.

2. Bloodmoon: Dark Offering (8.5/10) - Had some nice scenes, which was the reason it is 2 for me. Really nice take on an idea that has been used before (cults).

3. Dueling Dragons (8/10) - Beautiful. Loved the sets, costumes, and the props. It was just really boring. No scares got me. Could have been 1 if it had a few scares.

4. Universal Monsters: Unmasked (7/10) - Could have been 1, but I feel as though there was some waisted potential. I felt like the Happy Death Day section of the house during the Phantom scenes because it felt very repetitive. The Invisible Man section was fantastic. The biggest reason it’s third for me. That section was so short and had so much potential, would have loved about double the amount of time in that section than we got.

5. Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins (6/10) - It was a fun house. Loved the theming and the references to Jack throughout. Enjoyed the sets.

6. Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count (5.5/10) - Had a pre-show, which I really enjoyed. Had well timed scares. Nice use of scaractors with the puppets. Was a fun house.

7. Exorcist: Believer (5/10) - Had a few well timed scares. I am excited to see the movie to see how the house correlates to it.

8. Stranger Things (3/10) - It was a tribute house as the other two were and as other houses have been. Did a great job of being a tribute house, but didn’t do much else for me.

9. The Last of Us (2/10) - Same as Stranger Things. I’m not familiar with the source material, but seems like a big tribute house. No real cool effects which is why it is below Stranger Things.

10. Darkest Deal (1/10) - Short and boring. Liked that it has some elements of a story so it made it easier to follow.

 

[Chumpieboy]

Food and Beverages:
SSLLOOWW SSEERRVVIICCEE
Holy crikey things were slow. 2 or more cashiers but only one order fulfillment pipeline makes for bad logistics. Also it's OK to find that middle ground between making every dish to order vs. making a night's worth ahead and setting it all under heat lamps for 5 hours. Making the walking tacos one at a time for every order makes the line super long. FFS there are only 2-3 things on each menu it won’t go to waste if you stack up a few plates to keep the lines moving.

Speaking of 2-3 things on the menus - how do you not know what's on the menu in the booth where you're working? 2 separate occasions I ordered the lentil sambusa coffins from the kiosk across from the Fallon ride. 2 separate TMs had no idea what I was asking for. Certainly the loud AF music in the area didn't help, but how do you not know what is for sale in the booth you're staffing?
"Can I get a sambusa?"
"Pizza?"
"No, a sambusa."
"A soda?"
"No the coffin"
"combo?"
Like I'm in a bad comedy sketch.

Had the same issue at the surfer boy pizza kiosk Hawaiian/Vegan both sound like "cheesin" to cause confusion. Also Ravioli/Ration bar at the FEDRA kiosk.

Lest y'all think I'm just complaining about the service the food was good. In particular - Sambusa coffins were excellent. Apple fries were really good and didn't need the ice cream Surfer Boy pizza was fine for what it was. Fedra raviolis and vegan walking tacos were great.

It's still the case and complete BS that the drinks at the smaller portable bar carts are more expensive than the same drinks at the larger bars (ecto cooler beer 12.25 vs 13.25)

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Food and Beverages:
SSLLOOWW SSEERRVVIICCEE
Holy crikey things were slow. 2 or more cashiers but only one order fulfillment pipeline makes for bad logistics. Also it's OK to find that middle ground between making every dish to order vs. making a night's worth ahead and setting it all under heat lamps for 5 hours. Making the walking tacos one at a time for every order makes the line super long. FFS there are only 2-3 things on each menu it won’t go to waste if you stack up a few plates to keep the lines moving.

Speaking of 2-3 things on the menus - how do you not know what's on the menu in the booth where you're working? 2 separate occasions I ordered the lentil sambusa coffins from the kiosk across from the Fallon ride. 2 separate TMs had no idea what I was asking for. Certainly the loud AF music in the area didn't help, but how do you not know what is for sale in the booth you're staffing?
"Can I get a sambusa?"
"Pizza?"
"No, a sambusa."
"A soda?"
"No the coffin"
"combo?"
Like I'm in a bad comedy sketch.

Had the same issue at the surfer boy pizza kiosk Hawaiian/Vegan both sound like "cheesin" to cause confusion. Also Ravioli/Ration bar at the FEDRA kiosk.

Lest y'all think I'm just complaining about the service the food was good. In particular - Sambusa coffins were excellent. Apple fries were really good and didn't need the ice cream Surfer Boy pizza was fine for what it was. Fedra raviolis and vegan walking tacos were great.

It's still the case and complete BS that the drinks at the smaller portable bar carts are more expensive than the same drinks at the larger bars (ecto cooler beer 12.25 vs 13.25)

Universal is allergic to giving proper training to its F&B TMs. Never the TM's fault, Universal just has really bad ops management. I also agree, Universal needs to figure out how to feed the masses in a timely and organized manner.

 

[Frank Drackman]

 

[Mad Dog]

Universal is allergic to giving proper training to its F&B TMs. Never the TM's fault, Universal just has really bad ops management. I also agree, Universal needs to figure out how to feed the masses in a timely and organized manner.

Definitely not the same level of ops the past couple of years versus the previous ops that were decent. Top Mgt. really needs to get better, especially before the mass hirings for Epic. Shame this is still happening.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Definitely not the same level of ops the past couple of years versus the previous ops that were decent. Top Mgt. really needs to get better, especially before the mass hirings for Epic. Shame this is still happening.

Which is a shame since HHN is better staffed this year, so they can't get away with the "staffing shortage" excuse now.

 

[Mad Dog]

Which is a shame since HHN is better staffed this year, so they can't get away with the "staffing shortage" excuse now.

Yeah, it's too far removed to use the covid excuses also. They have issues.

 

[UNIrd]

So are they still using the side entrance where BMG used to be for onsite guests? Does this lead to a house as well at a certain time?

 

[Chumpieboy]

So are they still using the side entrance where BMG used to be for onsite guests? Does this lead to a house as well at a certain time?

Yes on the side entrance near BMG (although last Thursday it moved a bit but still on the left side of the main gates - check the signs)

It leads into the park but does not directly force you into a house.

 

[wutisgood]

Feel free to move to other thread but I do wonder how much labor cost is up vs guest spending given the insane crowds even early. I Imagine there is a ton of room to still pay everyone more with little to no risk of the event getting less popular. I also have heard from some workers other parks are especially slow right now compared to previous years sans covid. Maybe it would be a good opportunity for universal to offer bonuses for some extra people in the market to work seasonally?

Now you could argue people are paying so why staff up even more, but universal is probably leaving money on the table in regards to food and bev and probably per night express at a higher rate underestimating multi night express.

In any case the structure of the way they sell HHN seems broken at this point.

 

[GentleArt309]

5 nights and I never saw the Meagan hoard.... and I only ate at the pasta/pizza bc I only had to wait 15 mins in line instead of the 45 my wife just HAD to do multiple times. Need express passes for F&B haha

 

[Hockeyman55]

Spent Thursday through Sunday at HHN, had a great time and came away with tons of photos

HHN23 by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

HHN 32 by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

HHN 23 by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

HHN23 by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

HHN 23 by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[malice]

My quick thoughts & final rankings after 5 nights total (best to worst):

Darkest Deal - I liked the story and the acting in here was top notch. Good variety of scenes

OddFellow’s - best looking house imho but I love the crazed carnies x zodiac aesthetic

Exorcist Believer - really enjoyed this, does a more effective job hyping the movie than the trailer

Yeti - Very campy; loved the snake, bear, and Yeti air swipe effects

Dueling Dragons - not scary; the light up costumes give away scare actors in advance. High repeat value with the multiple endings on both paths

Monsters - great looking entry room but felt unfocused overall. The Opera boxes curtains segment went on too long

Bloodmoon - goriest house but the setting didn’t do anything for me

Chucky - fun energy but Six Flags looking with painted flats everywhere. Staffing issues resulting in non functioning puppets. Also, where was the giant Chucky teased in the preshow video?

Last of Us - never played the game (watched the show) but felt very one note in scenery

Stranger Things - not a scary property. Didn’t like s1 and s2 houses either. The part where Eddie and Dustin fighting the Demobats looked laughingly bad