Halloween Horror Nights 2023 (USH) - Reviews, Photos and Video

[SailwiththeTide]

Recap of the weekend: Thursday 9/21 and Sunday 9/24 -

Thursday - I am at my let the day's vibe guide me stage of HHN. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with the rush to Chucky (and without the Early Entry the Lower Lot is off the table) so I decided just to start at Monstruous and maybe evil dead and see what else is not to busy. Monstruous is my favorite so I got in line right at 6:30 when it opened and waited 5 min. Since this is the courtyard maze it does suffer from light leaks so early runs will be not as good and of course there are always some holes at openeing. Evil dead was still closed so I did another 2 runs on Monstruous. I really love this maze. After that Evil dead was already at 40 min and I was not waiting that long so I hopped down to the terror tram. It was a 5 min wait but there were a lot of missing scare actors at 7:30. About 7:45 everything had a substantial wait so I went to see the Purge show. Well attempted to see the purge show. They loaded us behind the bleachers and we were waiting until about 8:15 (show was suppose to start at 8) and all of the sudden the people in the front turned around and said they are clearing out and there is no show. very strange. Again at 8:30 everything was a cluster so I just grabbed a beer and hung out for awhile. Left and 9 and called it a good night. Early Entry sucks because last year I would have gotten at least 1 or 2 LL mazes everytime. Now it is just not an option unless I want to wait.

Sunday 9/24
Again another not sure what I want to do day. Got to the park in time for the last daytime Studio tour at 4 and then grabbed some food and a beer until it was time to rush to Chucky. Also tried the Purge punch from the Peacock Bar. It seems like they have changed the rope drop for chucky a little bit to manage the crowds a little better. At 6:35 they start checking wristbands and load people a little deeper into potterland to about 3 broomsticks and then they have you wait until 6:45 behind a line of 20 TMs. They escort everyone to the end of hogwarts. Before they would just start checking bands at 6:45 and people were supposed to stay behind the 1 TM but people always run. I guess this new system stops the runners but it also packs a lot of people in so it is harder to get to the front. and if you feel claustrophobic it is not for you.
Chucky was about a 10 min wait once loaded but It is crazy how 100% of the rope droppin crowd is hitting up Chucky. The queue was almost full before I want into the maze. Chucky was great as usual. so fun.
Went over th Monsters unmasked and waited about 15 min. Another great run. Left to head back to Monstruous and stopped of for a nighttime Hippogryph ride. Monstruous was about 25 min by 8pm and Evil dead was 45. It seems that evil dead always has longer waits but Monstruous is the far superior maze. Maybe the IP drive people there.
Had a good run and then decided to chill out near the end of the Scare zone outside Monstruous and really had a great time watching the scare actors do their work.

Overall another great night. Probably my favorite since Opening. I just hate the Early entry policy. This week I will have Express with some friends so will be able to do everything I want to again.

 

[April]

We did 9/21, 9/22, and 9/24.

9/21-
We did early entry for stranger things. Probably waited 20-30? After that, went to exorcist and it probably took about 45. It fed us into Holidayz which was our mistake. That took about an hour? It was about 7:27 when were almost in based on my facade pic. You’ll have to excuse me, we had a long vacation so it’s hard to remember exacts. After this I believe we went and grabbed water and took a bathroom break. We also waited and got the cordyceps corn dog. It was fine, maybe better in Orlando. Last of Us was closed to capacity. It opened back up and we rushed over. It was posted 80 and we waited 40. At this point, we were at about 9pm when we got out.

We headed up and did the Blumhouse experience. It was posted 20 and we pretty much walked in. It stunk where we were because we couldn’t get a grabber pic and we ended up in the back right of the theater. It was fine for what it was though.

At some point we did terror tram and while backed up at the beginning, it was a good walk through. It said 30 and the line never stopped moving.

After that, we meandered through the zone and did the 11pm Purge show. Half my group had flown in that day so we decided to call it and head out.

9/22-
This was the day they changed the wristband to 5pm for early entry. We finished waterworld at 4pm and then lined up and got our bands. We went down and got into LoU. It wasn’t in the straight shot part of the queue but it was in one of the first switchbacks. We got in around 6:03.

After that, we went up to Chucky. Got in at 6:57. Immediately went to Monsters and that was a quick walk-in. Time reference- facade pic right in front was 7:08 for Monsters.

After that, we went back over to do our last two houses. Monstros facade was at 7:48. Looks like we entered the queue for Evil Dead at 8:14. I remember it being maybe 45? But it was a quick wait.

We did the stellar bar after that and tried a bunch of snacks- demogorgon pizza, pizza fries. Went to surfer boy pizza and got the wings and the pizzas. We waited longer there than any of the houses. Ridiculous honestly. Wings are very spicy for all 3 of us. Big portion though. It was like 11 wings. Pizza was just okay.

After that, we were pretty beat and we saw the 11pm Purge and then left after spending some time in the zones.

9/24-
Wristbands were back to 3pm.

We did early entry for LoU and we were towards the beginning so we got in quick after they dumped most of Express (a recurring trend for later).

After this, since it was our last day we had a plan of what we wanted to hit. In order to not back track too much, we decided to chance exorcist since it had moved quick the previous time. It did not move fast enough and we got out super close to 7.

By the time we got to Chucky, it was 715 and the line, while posted at 65, was closed to capacity. A bit chaotic as the TMs were telling people to stand to the side and then telling them to go elsewhere to wait…but they reopened within 3 minutes and we waited about an hour. Remember, we got here around 715pm. We wanted to try Monsters again after an ok walkthrough the other day.

It said 95, not ideal but it’s the last day we’re here so whatever. We hop in, and it’s winding through the garage. It moves pretty well and before you know it we’re back outside. Once we hit the straight shot into the house, we stop moving. Express is super backed up. It’s about 10pm at this point. They pulled express for so long, barely pulling anyone from the regular line. What would’ve been us in the house in maybe 10-15 became an additional 40 minutes. We didn’t get out and start walking back to the park until 10:38.

We walked quick over to the tram because we wanted to go again. It said 50 and I didn’t look to see when we got on, but during the experience it was 11:24. It was a bit sparse so I remember looking to see the time. Figure some people may have left early?

After that, we hadn’t ate since 3pm so we got some food at the Cucina place near the plaza? Sorry, I’ve been to USH a bunch but some of the names evade me. I got the beef birria tacos and the guacamole and chips. They didn’t tell me they were out of the consommé until after I picked up the order which is fine but it would’ve been nice to know. The meal was fine enough.

After that, we wanted to see the Toyz cast change (we’d seen it by chance the other day) so we caught that and rushed to see Purge at 1230. On the way, David was there so we got a pic with him since we’d caught Bride the other day.

When we got out, we did Monstros. It was posted 45 and we got out a little after 135 probably. Got in at 1258. All the lines in the LL were short but it was either spend time in Toyz or do one more house and we chose Toyz. Got to see the chainsaw chase out and all the fun they do when they leave.

All in all, it was fun but we def got to do more last year. I definitely expected to be able to get more house runs in with 3 nights and yes, we did leave early for sleep/so we could get a Lyft but some of those lines were insane and just walking around was incredibly difficult at times. Really enjoyed Last of Us and Chucky. Especially liked Purge and hope they bring it back. Holidayz’ scents and some of the other houses with scents were a bit much for me but everything overall was pretty fun!

 

[Jake S]

Went last night and can confirm it was Very Crowded for a Wednesday. We upgraded to Express at the gate ($170 each) which hurt in the moment but was absolutely worth it, especially when combined with Early Entry. We were able to get everything done before midnight while taking a relatively leisurely pace that included grabbing a drink at the Stellar Bar and people watching in the Parisian scare zone.

Thought all the houses, even Holidays, were very good but only Chucky rose to the elite tier I'd put 2022's La Llorona and Scarecrow in. I definitely preferred Hollywood's take on Stranger Things and Last of Us more, but found the Universal Monsters and Exorcist were a step below their Orlando counterparts.

I went with my very-soon-to-be brother in law and it was his first time at the event and first time at the park since 2017. It was great doing the Terror Tram with someone who had never experienced it before. I don't think it was markedly improved on last year's (though I love how much they leaned into the theme) but walking through the Bates Motel and War of the Worlds sets will, for me, never get old. It was also great to get a night time ride on Jurassic World, which is in great condition compared to its Orlando cousin.

Overall this is a great year for the event in terms of the house quality. I also thought they did a decent job with the front of park scare zone and was, as always, impressed by the Parisian scare zone.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are two bar areas for the Stellar Bar. The one that was formerly R.I.P only is now accessible to the general public. There is reserved seating for R.I.P. pass holders, but not a reserved bar. That line was much shorter than the queue for the first bar you come to after coming off the stairs.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

Wed - 9/27 - upgraded to express so I could hang out with friends and do everything we wanted. No early entry but we started at 6:30 and headed to ST. standby was closed with 180 min wait and express was listed at 20 but was a walk on. Next TLOU listed 30 for express but we waited less than 5 min. Off to Exorcist where was listed at 30 for express but was closer to 15. Holidays was surprisingly busy but express was only 10 min. So we wrapped up the lower lot with rides in less than an Hour. Stopped for a beer at Duffs and then headed to chucky. Express for chucky was listed at 30 min and it took about that. Monsters unmasked was listed 20 for express but was about 15. Good runs on everything to this point and my friends were surprised how much we got done. Did a few runs on tje potter rides and walked on ti Terror Tram. Then hit up the last 2 mazes before 11. We skipped blumhouse and just missed the 11:15 purge so we skipped that because we didn’t want to wait for 12:30 show. Overall a great night. If you only have 1 night express is a must.

 

[chris.g]

Went last night (9/29) with FOL and it was worth EVERY penny. Also think they may have capped the event as it was no where near as packed as it should have been.

Some observations...

- The Last of Us was posted at 120 at 9:30.... BUT! it was barely a longer wait than FOL, which I waited 15 mins for. Food for thought.
- Stranger Things got capped off at a 65 min wait. Not sure what happened there.
- Exorcist was not capped at all and had my longest wait of the night, 30 mins with FOL. I was actually starting to wonder if I was in the right line at all when I entered since it was so damn long. The view of GA was ridiculous going down the hill.

On to my maze rankings...

TOP TIER

1) Chucky - This house kicked soooo much a*s and I was worrying it wouldnt since I saw so much hype about it online that I thought it would be a repeat of the Scarecrow situation last year. Every scare landed, and the only downside wasthat towards the end of the maze, right before the Christmas section, there seemed to be no scare actors at all other than the chainsaw lady. Still, a lot of fun. Went with an Orlando HHN guy who said it blew Orlando's away and the quality matched their’s.
2) Monstrous - Amazing! So creepy and the creature designs were impressive. Everyone in this maze was on their A-game and the scenery was fantastic. The narration was very creepy and well done too.
3) The Last of Us - Another miracle work. While low on scares, I appreciated a lot of the easter eggs and show scenes. I think this one was in the middle of a casting switch when I went through, or there were some malfunctions as a lot of the actors looked like they wanted to pop out but hesitated at the final moment. Maybe their triggers werent working? Anyways it still didnt take away from how enjoyable and immersive this was. Would love Silent Hill and Resident Evil to come more than ever now.
4) The Exorcist: Believer - Fantastic house. I was blown away by the set design and essentially every scare landed. My Orlando buddy said that Orlando's was better, but that this was still good, so I have to wonder what we're missing out on if I thought this was great

MID TIER

5) Universal Monsters Unmasked - definitely the weakest of the Monsters houses, but still very effective in its execution. I think its biggest downfall comes at that long stretch of black walls. So bad.
6) Stranger Things - Better than I expected, but nothing that makes up for the dog dookie that has been the previous Hollywood iterations of this house. Will say there were some unexpected scares in here that were creative.

LOW TIER

7) Holidays in Hell - Not terrible, but did it once already. The music is annoying
8) Evil Dead Rise - Really wanted to like this, but was conga lined through and didnt have a single scare land.
X) Terror Tram - GREAT character design but the actual layout of this left so much more to be desired. Didnt feel like there would be as much variety as I had hoped either as far as creatures.

Purge: Dangerous Waters was actually a ton of fun, until the silly ending which took me out, and Blumhouse was okay for a 20 min rest with another very silly ending.

Overall a solid year, I'd give the edge to last year but highly highly recommend FOL. Though, my observation of the crowds last night make me think USH knows they may have bit off more than they could chew...

 

[TonyPizza]

Made it out to Hollywood! We went on Sunday 10/1 and here is my review of everything:

Terror Tram: We did the Terror Tram first and, as one of the few Terror Tram enthusiasts, I was looking forward to it. I think the overall idea is really cool, and I love having a central “icon” like Larry Larvae, but this felt really underwhelming. I feel like they made the pathway next to the Bates Motel much more narrow. We were pretty much stopped for a good chunk of that section and I figure it’s because people were watching the scenes. However, it really detracts from the experience. We also were not able to go through the finale as they herded our group to the right side of that ending building, so we didn’t even get to see the ending! I thought that was totally ridiculous. So instead of seeing whatever was inside that building, we got to see one bug guy with a chainsaw. Yipee. Thought the NOPE set was cool but didn’t make much sense within the theme, but whatever. 2.5/5 overall.

Evil Dead Rise: Pretty average HHN maze. I have never seen Evil Dead Rise so I didn’t really understand what was going on. Wasn’t great but wasn’t terrible either. I thought the puppets were pretty cool. 3/5 overall.

Monsturos: This one was probably the best one of night! The character design was phenomenal and the giant animatronic bird person was stunning. The scares were solid and it felt like there was less congestion in this one. I also felt like this one had the strongest scenes out of any of them, especially with the monster ripping out someone’s spine. The street at the end was also awesome and led to some great interactions. 4.5/5 overall.

Hollidayz: I thought this one was also very well done. Just a straight up fun experience! The scenes were great and even though we went through during a casting change I was satisfied. 4/5 overall.

Chucky: I had skipped doing Chucky in Orlando in favor of doing it in Hollywood because I had heard the Hollywood version was better, so expectations were sky high. Unfortunately, this maze failed to hit those expectations. Just from comparing the POV video from Orlando and my experience I can say that the Orlando version atleast looked better than what I experienced. Yo puppets were cool, but the scenes were underwhelming at best. We got completely stopped during the scene with the electrocution scene for a good 3 minutes which is, again, totally ridiculous. I don’t even understand how that can happen. We missed the scare at the end with the giant puppet Chucky, which was also disappointing. It’s possible we had bad run, but with the concept being so unique and novel and our experience being so poor it was definitely the most disappointing house of the night. 2/5 overall.

Stellar Bar: I didn’t personally eat or drink anything but people in my party did so I feel the need to add this. They all had a Surfer Boy Pizza for $11 and they said it was horrible. It LOOKED like a Lunchables pizza. They also had some drinks which were overpriced and apparently not good. Wish we went to Panda instead.

Overall I’d say our experience was a 7/10. I feel like there was a lack of scarezones as well which was disappointing. They absolutely have to do something about crowds though. It’s not even something that can be solved with Express because multiple times we were completely stopped during the maze. The entire night was extremely congested and honestly hard to navigate at points. I’m not sure if the solution is restricting attendance further and increasing prices or opening more experiences, but something has got to give. I think that if this continues happening the event’s reputation is going to suffer. Obviously Universal has no incentive if they continue to make money, but the guest experience is getting worse. There will be long lines no matter what, but I think the size of crowds at this point is simply too much. Hopefully next year they continue to expand the size of the event so that we can all breathe a little easier!

 

[Jaden]

Went 9/30 & 11 PM Express came in clutch. My group kept wanting to do rides, but thankfully, my doubts were resolved. Aside from The Last of Us, this is the first time I went in blind, without having to watch any videos.

Now onto the mazes in order of entry:

1). Evil Dead Rise - Not bad as someone who was expecting this to be Horror Hotel but with EDR. Got some good scares out of this one, and loved the queue atmosphere inside with all the thunder and elevator. Sound design was solid and scareactors for this one did good. Already off to a good start!
OVERALL: A-

2). Monsturos: The Monsters of Latin America - Amazing house! Set designs were incredible! Loved the atmosphere in this one! Costume designs looked incredible, and the animatronic and puppets were stunning to look at! Scares were solid as well. Love these mythology/folklore mazes Murdy does!
OVERALL: A+

3). Terror Tram: Exterminatoz - Eh, not much to say about this one. It’s certainly better than last years based on theming, however the beginning was so packed, and just became this one long congo-line that we stood for a few minutes. The 2nd half at the plane crash is really dry. It’s like they were missing some scareactors there. The small house made was… eh, but the costume designs looked cool at the very least. The NOPE set is still a cool experience to walk through, but it’s only a matter of time till it gets tiring. They need to change it up in the future. Still, I’d take this over Hollywood Harry any day. But seriously, I think they need to change up the tram, or get rid of it again. If they’re not doing metro mazes next year, then do a Terror Tram there instead.
OVERALL: C+

4). Stranger Things 4 - Well… it’s better than 2019 for sure. Very disappointed that there was no Master of Puppets scene. And I don’t think I heard Running Up That Hill at all? Not only that, I feel as if the scenes felt so off about its layout that affected the pacing. Not bad I guess, but Orlando really did this one better. During in line all I could ever think of was hearing The Weeknd’s music, and coming out of this one… yea I wish Dawn FM replaced this one. I kind of hope this is the last time they do Stranger Things, because it’s kind of not doing so hot currently.
OVERALL: C-

5). The Last of Us - Really liked the video game so some bias will play into here. First up, I was pretty disappointed that a few Joel and Ellie actors weren’t there so it left with some empty scenes. That aside, set designs were decent, but nothing remarkable. The scareactors were amazing with this one, especially the clickers. Got a really good scare with one of them at the bathroom stall part! I did like hearing Joel and Ellie’s voices throughout the maze as it captures the feeling of being on an adventure with them, though audio loops are way too frequent. The armored gunner truck was awesome to see and those gunshot effects added some intense action to it. Bloater could’ve been used as a scare, but the costumes are incredible. Some of the mannequins looked awkward when they stand there like the room of infected. Solid maze with just a few actors missing, and despite some flaws of this, I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel maze for this one.
OVERALL: B+

6). The Exorcist: Believer - This one blew my expectations since this was low on my anticipated list. Loved the set designs especially the see-through walls they have. Great scares on this one, and the demon costume design looked amazing. If that’s what it looks like in the movie, I’m interested. Also loved that scenes that could’ve been black walls were instead this red with black fire patterns to make it look hellish, well done!
OVERALL: A

7). Holidayz In Hell: Not much to say with this. I guess it’s still a good maze but man I just remember how much I disliked the music. St. Patrick’s Day did get a slight improvement over 2019’s at the very least. But still, they couldn’t at least add new holidays?
OVERALL: B-

8). Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count - While not scary, the animatronics were absolutely amazing! Getting sprayed with water from Chucky spitting was absolutely a hilarious experience from this maze. The big Chucky was impressive and made believe it was a scare-actor for a moment. Got some good scares from this one as well, and I liked the bit of Chucky killing an HHN influencer. I do hope they continue the IP-Meta maze, and Scream fits the bill here!
OVERALL: A-

10). Universal Monsters: Unmasked - Despite the black walls and how Orlando did this much better in terms of sets, I really had a blast with this maze. Great scares on this and decent set designs. I certainly did like this better than last year in terms of scares. Mr. Hyde’s costume looked nice, though I thought it looked too beastly for me. Also, Invisible Man having one scene is disappointing, really wanted more of him. Good maze, and I still believe that they should continue Universal Monsters even further.
OVERALL: B+

And that’s a wrap! Event was too damn packed, and thank god for 11 PM express upgrade. And shoutout to the people who gave my sister and cousin free express unlimited (Wish it happened before I bought the damn passes for my sister…)! Also biggest highlight for this year?

Dueling with the Death Eaters in Hogwarts. Shoutout to those actors as well!

I don’t have much to say on scare zones. It just occurred to me, I never did the main scarezone at all, because I got here at 6:30 and there was no Waterworld maze for me to walk through, damn.

Sadly, I never got to do Purge: Deadly Waters or Blumhouse experience, but the show looked really cool to see.

Overall, solid year, and I think this edges out last year for me despite operations. Lineup and execution was solid despite some flaws, but the enjoyment and experience I had this year is what made it for me. Tried pizza fries for the first time, and damn that was good!

HOTY: Monsturos: The Monsters of Latin America

 

[SailwiththeTide]

Just a quick trip on Wed - 10/4 - Got in late at about 6:35 because I stopped by AMC to watch the Creator in IMAx. Great film. So my usual Chucky rope drop was kinda blown. No biggie. Monstruous was open with a walk on so I did that a few times. Still my favorite. Evil Dead was not open yet and had a listed 40 min wait. Was going to do the terror tram but got lazy and grabbed a beer. Was planning on leaving at 8 anyway. So on my way out I saw that evil dead was listed at 15 min but there was no line to the express merge so I hopped in. Took about 5 min. Had a bad run and there were a lot of holes.

It seemed less busy this day but the Lower lot times were all crazy. 180 for exorcist, 100 for the last of us and 90 for ST. Chucky opened with 60 min and Monsters was 30.

 

[Nick]

So I posted this in my trip report but forgot to post about it here. This is from a trip on 9/29...

Upgraded to Express when we walked in. Went down to LL after got in line for ST4 and Exorcist Standby during Early Entry then rushed over, did Chucky with Express, Monsters Standby, then back and did EDR with Express, Monstrous Standby, sat down for a few minutes at Blumhouse (used express), then Terror Tram (express) and 10pm Purge.

After Purge we hovered around the scare zones for a bit, did Terror Tram again (we really enjoyed it), and then finally went back down to LL again and did TLOU, Holidayz, ST4, and Exorcist all with Express. Went back up and did Monsters and Monstrous with Express. Finished the night by doing second runs of TLOU and Holidayz with little wait.

It’s hard for me to rank things, but I enjoyed the differences quite a bit and thought Hollywood’s shared houses were pretty much all better than Orlando. Very specifically Chucky, Exorcist, and TLOU, which I adored. Hollywood’s version of TLOU is so true to the source material, has a cohesive storyline following the lead characters, and it’s like actually stepping into the game. This is what I was hoping for from Orlando’s house. My least favorite house was definitely Evil Dead Rise. Ironically, it was my least favorite because it seemed like the most "Orlando style" house, meaning very pretty, but very uninventive scares whereas the other houses had a lot of scares that I enjoyed a lot more than Orlando.

Overall, I probably could've finagled all 8 houses and terror tram with just Early Entry and regular admission to the event, but the amount of stress that was taken off of us by having Express was totally worth the cost ($200). We also likely would've never had a chance to rest all night without express just going from house to house to house waiting in long lines. With Express, we were able to do short standby lines, express, and then because we got so much done, we were able to see Purge and Blumhouse (both of which I had accepted I might have to skip if no express) do Terror Tram twice, roam around the zones, ride Mummy just because we were in the area and had express to use, and still very easily do 14 house runs. I was definitely worried it would be much harder to see everything.

 

[saint.piss]

My personal ranking of all the houses + Terror Tram:
1. The Last of Us (10/10)
2. Chucky (10/10)
3. Monstruos (9/10)
Terror Tram: Exterminatorz (8/10)
4. Stranger Things 4 (8/10)
5. Monsters: Unmasked (7.5/10)
6. The Exorcist: Believer (7/10)
7. Holidayz in Hell (6.5/10)
8. Evil Dead: Rise (6/10)

Shows:
Purge: Dangerous Waters (8/10)
Blumhouse: Behind the Scares (haven't done yet, will update with my rating tonight after I experience it)

What a great year this year for Hollywood. They went all in on most the houses this year and it certainly paid off. Even houses that didn't have the greatest sets/a lot of empty spaces (Monsters: Unmasked, Exorcist Believer to an extent) were pretty awesome. Got some of my best scares in Unmasked. I even really loved the Purge show which I wasn't expecting, ALMOST better than Waterworld. But no water-plane so... yeah lol. I have a FFP so I'll be able to experience the houses more hopefully EDR gets better. The only I was honestly disappointed in. Can't wait to come back tonight!

Updated rankings:
[Terror Tram/Purge ratings remain the same]
1. The Last of Us (10/10) - 9 runs
2. Chucky (10/10) - 5 runs
3.Monstruos (9/10) - 5 runs
4. Exorcist Believer (8/10) - 7 runs
5. Stranger Things 4 (8/10) - 8 runs
6. Evil Dead: Rise (8/10) - 5 runs
7. Holidayz In Hell (7.5/10) - 4 runs
8. Universal Monsters: Unmasked (7/10) - 4 runs

After doing the RIP tour a few weeks ago and then getting After 11pm express on my last visit Saturday, I've gone to Hollywood's event 6 times this year now. Might go one or two more times later this month but it's possible that's it for me for 2023. I truly, truly love Hollywood's HHN this year. Probably my favorite HHN event/year like... ever? I really honestly love ALL the houses and don't think there is a single bad house/maze/show this year... Didn't think it would be possible for them to top last year but they did and went beyond the quality of 2022. Don't know how they'll top it next year but I'm sure they will somehow

 

[theblueblurr]

I got to go on the 5th. We had Express Unlimited (highly recommended). It was our first time and we did and tried everything (including the food and some houses multiple times) at our leisure. Right off the bat, here's my rankings for the houses:

1) The Last of Us
2) Monstruos: Monsters of Latin America
3) Holidayz in Hell
4) The Exorcist: Believer
5) Stranger Things 4
6) Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count
7) Universal Classic Monsters: Unmasked
8) Evil Dead Rise
9) Terror Tram: The Exterminatorz

To be clear, I enjoyed them all very much. But if I had to assign a ranking, this is where they stand after giving it some serious thought.

I think both shows are skippable. Between the two, I think the Blumhouse one was a better experience because it had props to admire, a few photo ops and even a scare actor waiting in line. I thought the Purge was awful but I appreciate the stunts and effects that went into it.

We had early entry, too but I wouldn't actually recommend it if you are utilizing any kind of Express option. I say this because the houses/scares were grossly understaffed/lacking during early entry. I just don't think it's worth it. Unless you want to get a head start on the Stellar Bar and not have to wait in that line later.

Which brings me to my final point: Universal's food and beverage options need help. We tried everything (Chucky's BBQ, Scoops Ahoy, Stellar Bar, Last of Us Corn Dog, etc.) and nothing stood out as being particularly memorable. The pizza fries were okay but I think that's just me wanting to like them after hearing about how awesome they were from folks in Orlando. Nothing we had were like the meals or treats we've had at Disneyland. At Universal, Three Broomsticks and Toadstool Cafe' are all they really have that I think is any good. Which is a shame.

Overall though, amazing night. Can't recommend Express enough.

 

[Mia M.]

Last night was my partner and I's first time at the event this season. Usually I go opening weekend but due to scheduling conflicts, we couldn't. Then we saw how long the wait times were every night of the event and decided to wait it out. We checked the wait times every day at EE, around 9/10pm and then at midnight. We decided Wednesday would probably be our best bet if we got a general admission ticket with no early entry.

He gets out of work at 6 so as soon as he got off, we booked it to HHN (but can you really speed over there with traffic on the 101?) We got there around 6:50ish and it was a B and a half to get parking and go through security. Got into the park around 7:35 and booked it straight to Chucky because we knew it would be the longest line all night.
Waited maybe an hour for Chucky and then decided to go to TLOU (about 45 min wait). After that, the lines were about 40+ minutes so we decided to grab a bite to eat.

ST4 was maybe a 25 minute wait so we ran over there.
Exorcist was 100 minutes and Holidayz was listed as 30 so we figured why not.
Well, it ended up being a 45ish min wait and I kept thinking WHY WHY WHY did we go to Holidayz when they've already had the house in the past?? It was still fun but we decided to skip Exorcist with the 100 minute wait and head to the upper lot. We'd rather get at least two houses done than one and miss the other three.

Evil Dead Rise was a 10 minute wait, then we ran to Monsters Unmasked because it was a walk on. (Did I miss something?? The Invisible Man was in ONE scene in the entire house??)
Then, with 15 minutes to spare, we ran to Monstruos which was also a walk on. It's safe to say we got our steps in for the day lol.
We caught up with some friends we ran into but by then the park was closing so we knew we had no time to go to Exorcist.

7/8 houses done with no early entry and we got into the park half an hour after it opened for everyone. Had we not sat down and eaten, we probably could've done another attraction or two. Thankfully, my partner didn't mind missing Blumhouse, the Purge, and the Terror Tram.

ALSO, for the peeps who got Express, we saw a few people from GA cut in line to get into the Express line. Do they not check the tickets right before you get into the house? I didn't pay $200+ so maybe I'm not the one to complain, but for those that did- I cannot imagine how frustrating it is to pay so much money for the ticket only to have people who paid general admission cut right into the express line. I mean my partner and I were frustrated that they were able to do that while we waited in the GA line! We mentioned it at the front of the house, but since it had happened 40+ minutes before we got there, they said there was nothing they could really do.

Overall, it was a fun night, but having to haul A$$ to the different houses and wait an hour only to miss out on the majority of scares because of the conga lines they put us through was ridiculous.
I've been coming to the event since 2014 and I remember being able to go through every house at least once if not twice before midnight- especially on a weekday. I worked at the park a few years ago so I know that the employees are doing their best but something needs to change with operations.

 

[DTH]

Last night was my partner and I's first time at the event this season. Usually I go opening weekend but due to scheduling conflicts, we couldn't. Then we saw how long the wait times were every night of the event and decided to wait it out. We checked the wait times every day at EE, around 9/10pm and then at midnight. We decided Wednesday would probably be our best bet if we got a general admission ticket with no early entry.

He gets out of work at 6 so as soon as he got off, we booked it to HHN (but can you really speed over there with traffic on the 101?) We got there around 6:50ish and it was a B and a half to get parking and go through security. Got into the park around 7:35 and booked it straight to Chucky because we knew it would be the longest line all night.

Sounds like you had a good time regardless! My opinion is the event is not even worth going to unless you can do Early Access. Honestly, weekends are tolerable if you can do Early Access (if your partner has days off those days) and hit everything in a specific manner. I see it's your first post -- are you a lurker and have you seen our game plan guides? They come in handy and honestly never fail! With Early Access, you could easily see every maze -- I've missed one maze maybe 1 or 2 years but that's because I took extended dinners and I sometimes throw an attraction in there -- without them, easily could've done everything.

 

[Mia M.]

Sounds like you had a good time regardless! My opinion is the event is not even worth going to unless you can do Early Access. Honestly, weekends are tolerable if you can do Early Access (if your partner has days off those days) and hit everything in a specific manner. I see it's your first post -- are you a lurker and have you seen our game plan guides? They come in handy and honestly never fail! With Early Access, you could easily see every maze -- I've missed one maze maybe 1 or 2 years but that's because I took extended dinners and I sometimes throw an attraction in there -- without them, easily could've done everything.

Haha I think I posted a few years back, maybe I deleted it or something but I've been lurking this season because I heard that everyone loved it and wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on anything! We looked at everyone's opinions on what to do! We had a game plan but as soon as we saw hour+ waits except for a house or two, I think we panicked and just did our own thing lmao. But we'll definitely have to look into Early Access! I'm still annoyed that it's $10 a ticket to get in at 5:30 and it used to be free so we might just have to bite the bullet on that one :/

 

[Jerroddragon]

I want to say the marketing for EA has worked well. Everyone I see talking about it says its only 10 bucks when most nights its 20+

So I sadly think it's here to stay

 

[Freak]

I want to say the marketing for EA has worked well. Everyone I see talking about it says its only 10 bucks when most nights its 20+

So I sadly think it's here to stay

What sucks is that it makes Universal more money here but they won’t even properly staff the houses for EA and plus it’s more crammed trying to get in causing potential safety issues.

I hope at the very least they adopt Orlando’s system where they let pass holders in for EA.

 

[Jerroddragon]

What sucks is that it makes Universal more money here but they won’t even properly staff the houses for EA and plus it’s more crammed trying to get in causing potential safety issues.

I hope at the very least they adopt Orlando’s system where they let pass holders in for EA.

Even that sadly has issues, and with rumors of next year AP needing to make reservations that could maybe work but then if EA is sold out on a day you want to go with your free AP pass then your out of luck

The event issue is it's too popular and has been for a while and for some reason GA people keep coming even as they get to do less and less each year. My only solutions for the event is raise prices and let less people in, let in the same amount of people as now but have ALL rides open and add another show.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

What sucks is that it makes Universal more money here but they won’t even properly staff the houses for EA

THIS !!!!! I think staffing has always been an issue with mazes opening early but this year you are paying for the privilege so you should be getting a better product. sadly Universal won't care but I always mention it in my surveys.

 

[highdefrex]

Universal, licking its thumb as it counts a giant wad of cash: "Sure, sure, Staffing issues. Cool. How about we meet in the middle and raise the Early Entry prices from $10 and $20 to $20 and $30 for 2024?"

 

[DTH]

Oct 21 Trip Review

Had to get there super early because half of my family couldn’t get Early Access before it sold out online — waited for it to pop back up on the site and nothing. Went to the box office at around 2:40pm and luckily there were some left. Didn’t realize there was a box office out on City Walk until walking back, would’ve been a lot faster going there instead of going through security, but oh well. Made use of my time, got lunch, and waited for the rest of my party to show up.

Lined up for Early Access at about 4:35. I kinda miss the old style of waiting at the gates, now they just move you further in. If anything, this is the ooooolder style before we sat at the gates (anyone remember when they’d let you in on the side entrance by Waterworld and move you slowly all the way in up to Simpsons?). Right at 5pm on the dot, they let us loose. Was trying to figure out what I wanted to hit first and I was going to do Exorcist, because that line is always the longest on the lower lot for some reason, but I realized it was opening at 5:45pm. Decided to hit Holidays instead and was the third group in line.

Waiting outside of Holidayz the ten minutes before opening was pretty brutal with that countdown going off every 10 minutes, I was going insane there for a bit because it is insanely loud and super repetitive. About 2 minutes before the opening of the maze, the New Year’s Eve girl came out to interact with the crowd, loved her. Going through, I had a great run through. I know a lot of people say it is empty, but I didn’t find that to be the case — it was a fully stocked run. My only issue was I could not see the wonderful set as good as I’m used to because my eyes were adjusting to the darkness — if anything that made it scarier. Loved it!
A-

Headed over to Exorcist and I was like hey, there’s barely anyone lined up! Only to find the zigzags are behind the building. NOW I know why this always has the longest line on the lower lot — the line is visually deceiving. On top of that, the line was moving brutally slow — they opened the maze for I want to say 2 minutes and then just stopped everyone from going in, including RIP and Express. We were stopped for a good 10-15 minutes, it seemed like the maze didn’t reopen until 6:05-6:10. Then, ofcourse they had to rectify the giant RIP and Express line that built up, which was also causing a line back up all the way to Transformers. This area is a bit messy and I think there has to be a better way to fix it. Anyway, just when I was I thinking we may need to leave, even though we were right next to the entrance, the line finally started moving. Again, GREAT run through of this maze, but my first one might’ve been slightly better since I didn’t know what to expect. My biggest gripe the first time was all the scares were the same from the demon boo holes, but this time I noticed there was a bit more variation than my memory remembered. However, there are some amazing spots that could use a scare but are just empty or the scare is just weird — like the flashlight person looking for the missing children, or the empty barn which should be prime for a scare because that spot is so unsettling. Makes the first half of the maze kinda lackluster. I still think this is a fun one though.
B+

Ran back up to the upper lot to be one of the first for Chucky. At this point, it was already 6:40 and I figured we’d be there before opening, turns out everyone was already in Potterworld and onward, so I sensed we were a bit late. Got to Chucky and it was sporting a 45 minute wait at 6:56pm, but got in after 34 minutes, which is honestly not that bad. My first run through was magnificent and this one was a bit softer. The humor doesn’t work as well on the second time, so it needs something to make up for it — which is scares, which are fairly low on this one. In general, this one is just different, so it at least has that going for it, but I wish they amped up the terror factor at points. Also, the water effects in here are overkill — didn’t really notice too many of them my first time, but I think I got every time with them on this one. Also the first time I went through, I didn’t notice all the dolls coming out from two different sides in the big Chucky scene, so that was a nice surprise. Overall, still a fun maze, but the repeat value is a little low.
B+

Headed over to Monsters Unmasked sporting a 30 minute wait at 7:36 and it was actually 25 minutes. I still feel the exact same about this maze — it’s fairly good, but the momentum is ruined between scenes and what we do have feels fairly generic. There’s some standout moments but nothing too beyond what we’ve already seen before. If any of the mazes could’ve used some innovation in terms of scares or set pieces, it’s this one — like some bungee or things coming from below — anything, honestly, to help it stand out. It’s good, but I just want more from it. At least my run through was good and the stilt man at the end got us.
B

Headed back to the park for Monstrous because it was sporting a 25 minute line, which I thought was great for 8:18pm. And honestly, it was just getting shorter in the time I was there — I thought there was a dip because of Purge, but people just skip this area — which seems odd, because I remember being much more crowded at least after Terror Tram, but it was always short. Anyway, had a GREAT run through of this one and got to soak up some environments a bit more because of the conga line. I mentioned this before, but this and Monsters Unmasked have an element of sameness that kinda meshes them together in my mind — I wish they differentiated the two a bit more. I think something this maze is missing is more of a dreadful tone that worked so well with La Llorona. It’s Monsters of Latin America, yet there’s little elements of Spanish that we’d get with La Llorona, even if it was brief in the audio. Needed a bit more just to sell it instead of just “tu” on the end grave — speaking of which, he swung his shovel, which is much more aggressive than I remember that character, so that really gave the finale a bit more of a moment, but I still think the finale needed something other than the giant head — although I did get a very memorable moment there. The scare zone outside was rocking, these guys do so well with such a limited space, easily the scare zone of the night.
A

Evil Dead was sporting a 55 minute wait at 8:53pm, which was a bit longer than I wanted, but I was determined to stick to my path and luckily it was only 36 minutes. AMAZING run through on this one. Only down fall was the bathtub scene didn’t seem to be working. Had a nice gap between me and the group before so we essentially got all the scares. I stand by my first review of saying this has the best cast of the event — they just go SO HARD, even in rooms with multiple scares, it seems they are lavishing in it. Honestly, I’m not mad at this being still very similar too Horror Hotel last year, if they can keep up that energy, then they are doing something very right.
A