Official 2022 HHN 31 - Horror is Universal

Great pics Keisha.......certainly changes the look when the lights are on......




Unfortunately not - I've had to cancel this year completely at this point - hoping to get down for a weekend.


That said SeaWorld and Universal customer service were great and refunded everything.
For Universal it was a 6 house and 3 house tour as well as the Ultimate Fear + with express - so glad to get that $$$ back.
I did have to call VIP - but they took care of it all.

SeaWorld was the every night ticket and within an hour of emailing they had sent a refund.

So once again great customer service from Universal and even SeaWorld

Sorry you had to cancel Tony. But, glad to hear both UOR and Seaworld CS both came through and you had no grief with your refunds.
 
@keishashadow from your pics I actually think the Bug house would be scarier if they kept the lights on...
I’m of the same mind. Has chalked it up
To the comedy house until all the components became clear

One interesting tidbit, the stove in the kitchen
Was authentic to the era. The designers hauled it from Somewhere rural in FL, along with era appropriate small appliances etc.

pretty cool the attention to detail in there
 
pretty cool the attention to detail in there
Yeah - one of the reasons I like to do this tour as well - there is so much you miss in the rushed conga line.

For example the one a few years ago that was sort of a shopping mall - there were detailed notes from people, I recall a goodbye email to someone's mother on a computer screen in the bank - just ridiculous stuff that added to the story that almost no one will ever see

Last year I did Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth a few times and it was OK - but after doing the tour and getting all the background it was a different experience and maybe a favorite for me.

Then there are the tips about buttons you can press - for example in Killer Klowns there was a button that squirted you and one that squirted someone behind you - so good to know

In Ghostbusters you could high five at the end - but you usually cant touch SAs so its good to know

In stranger things there was an elevator button you could press - I would never think to touch that and now I know you should

Also - I always try to do at least one night of HHN without doing the tours so I can experience it on my own and then have context to ask the guide questions
 
Yeah - one of the reasons I like to do this tour as well - there is so much you miss in the rushed conga line.

For example the one a few years ago that was sort of a shopping mall - there were detailed notes from people, I recall a goodbye email to someone's mother on a computer screen in the bank - just ridiculous stuff that added to the story that almost no one will ever see

Last year I did Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth a few times and it was OK - but after doing the tour and getting all the background it was a different experience and maybe a favorite for me.

Then there are the tips about buttons you can press - for example in Killer Klowns there was a button that squirted you and one that squirted someone behind you - so good to know

In Ghostbusters you could high five at the end - but you usually cant touch SAs so its good to know

In stranger things there was an elevator button you could press - I would never think to touch that and now I know you should

Also - I always try to do at least one night of HHN without doing the tours so I can experience it on my own and then have context to ask the guide questions

I do like to do the tours so I can hear the story behind the houses. Some houses are easy enough to determine the story, or they actually do a good job of telling you.

I had been thinking lately I might like it if each house had like a couple minute video or performance outside in the queue that would give you a really good idea of what the story is. I think the Bug house does a good job of that on it's own, what with the billboard and then the opening scene with the housewife showing the product.

But other houses I just feel completely in the dark about what the story is and I feel like some sort of couple minute explanation (whether coming from a video or a live actor in the queue) would help loads and increase enjoyment.
 


I do like to do the tours so I can hear the story behind the houses. Some houses are easy enough to determine the story, or they actually do a good job of telling you.

I had been thinking lately I might like it if each house had like a couple minute video or performance outside in the queue that would give you a really good idea of what the story is. I think the Bug house does a good job of that on it's own, what with the billboard and then the opening scene with the housewife showing the product.

But other houses I just feel completely in the dark about what the story is and I feel like some sort of couple minute explanation (whether coming from a video or a live actor in the queue) would help loads and increase enjoyment.
I am sort of surprised they don't do more with social media for this - and not a facebook group please

It seemed like they were going that route a few years back with graveyard games - but that seemed to die on the vine
 
I do like to do the tours so I can hear the story behind the houses. Some houses are easy enough to determine the story, or they actually do a good job of telling you.

I had been thinking lately I might like it if each house had like a couple minute video or performance outside in the queue that would give you a really good idea of what the story is. I think the Bug house does a good job of that on it's own, what with the billboard and then the opening scene with the housewife showing the product.

But other houses I just feel completely in the dark about what the story is and I feel like some sort of couple minute explanation (whether coming from a video or a live actor in the queue) would help loads and increase enjoyment.

The Universal podcast did a cool reading of a story by the creatives for each house. It's an actual story, not just a description. They released these before or at the beginning of the event.
 
There is some sort of game they’ve been promoting that you can play waiting in line
Never tried it but didn’t know if it gave any info about the houses stories
 


I am sort of surprised they don't do more with social media for this - and not a facebook group please

It seemed like they were going that route a few years back with graveyard games - but that seemed to die on the vine

Honestly I had a crazy idea that I would actually love a theater/Icecapades type glossy program to go with each year's event.

Like a nice taller paperback large book with tons of pictures that is created for the event each year. Has some background on each house, couple full page photos of memorable scenes or characters in each house. Kind of like as a commemorative item you can get for each year's event. I would buy the crap out of something like that.

The Universal podcast did a cool reading of a story by the creatives for each house. It's an actual story, not just a description. They released these before or at the beginning of the event.

I do remember you saying that. Need to find time to listen before the event ends.
 
Honestly I had a crazy idea that I would actually love a theater/Icecapades type glossy program to go with each year's event.

Like a nice taller paperback large book with tons of pictures that is created for the event each year. Has some background on each house, couple full page photos of memorable scenes or characters in each house. Kind of like as a commemorative item you can get for each year's event. I would buy the crap out of something like that.



I do remember you saying that. Need to find time to listen before the event ends.
Each house has its own episode, so you can pick and choose. Fiesta de Chupacabras has one in English and one in Spanish.
 
One thing that sticks in my mind about our Unmasked tour was in the Poltergeist house. In Carrie Ann's bedroom scenes. They put so much attention to detail in the room they made sure every toy that was in her room at the beginning, when it was neat and orderly also appeared in her room when it was in disarray, when the ghost had attacked and everything was spinning around. None were added, none were missing. At least according to our guide. We didn't look for each and every toy but he pointed out several. So I only assume he was correct. It's something that someone going through the house would never, ever pick up on. You go through too fast. Don't spend enough time in any one room long enough to look for all those details. But it's real interesting to learn how much effort they put in the houses even knowing guests will never know. Just like the authentic stove mentioned in a PP. A guest would never know that but the house designers do. That is the kind of stuff that keeps me coming to HHN. I don't enjoy the scare/horror part (I can barely tolerate that). I enjoy the level of detail that Universal puts in to the houses. Often a level that only a movie studio can reach.
 
We just wrapped our first HHN, our group consisted of me (the adult) and (2) 17 yr olds and (2)) 16 yr olds.

We went with the base ticket, nothing fantasy, we watched a couple of YouTube videos and selected our 4 houses +2 if we had time. We did those 6 plus rode Mummy, Gringotts and explored diagonal alley, and RRR, made it
Thru 4 scare zones and us a few snacks. I will address snacks first, the zombie brains cauliflower was great, the other items we got- rotten Bear, absolutely inedible, and the heart was so over the top sour our group did not find it enjoyable. The maggot cheese hot dog was the winner with the zombie brains a fav with the whole group.

The houses- I have seen a lot of dissatisfaction on this thread and our group had nothing to compare to. Our thoughts- Dead Mans Pier was the standout for theming! Most screams- Halloween. Bugs Alive was enjoyed by all of us. The Classics was also really enjoyed. The bottom of our list was the prison themed one and the Coven. Coven had no story, I was so looking forward too it and left disappointed.

All and all, great time. We will absolutely be doing this again in the future.
 
We just wrapped our first HHN, our group consisted of me (the adult) and (2) 17 yr olds and (2)) 16 yr olds.

We went with the base ticket, nothing fantasy, we watched a couple of YouTube videos and selected our 4 houses +2 if we had time. We did those 6 plus rode Mummy, Gringotts and explored diagonal alley, and RRR, made it
Thru 4 scare zones and us a few snacks. I will address snacks first, the zombie brains cauliflower was great, the other items we got- rotten Bear, absolutely inedible, and the heart was so over the top sour our group did not find it enjoyable. The maggot cheese hot dog was the winner with the zombie brains a fav with the whole group.

The houses- I have seen a lot of dissatisfaction on this thread and our group had nothing to compare to. Our thoughts- Dead Mans Pier was the standout for theming! Most screams- Halloween. Bugs Alive was enjoyed by all of us. The Classics was also really enjoyed. The bottom of our list was the prison themed one and the Coven. Coven had no story, I was so looking forward too it and left disappointed.

All and all, great time. We will absolutely be doing this again in the future.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the event overall!!

DMP is definitely a winner for most folks, visually it is so beautiful and there are some nice scare jumps in there too. And yes, for real scares.....Halloween was amazing!!

I agree, Coven was left floundering most nights.

The food too was a hit or miss for us.

Glad to hear you`ll do it in the future and thank you for the honest review :)
 
I did HHN back in 2019 with a RIP tour. After I did the tour I know I ended up sticking around until the wee hours of the morning, basically until they kicked me out. I really don't remember the lines being too terrible but also think I walked around a lot after the tour and did some rides before going back to the houses.

Anyway, that's the really long way to get to my direct question:

If one has a public RIP tour, and a non-express admission, do they only get post-tour express to rides and regular line for houses? Or does the RIP credential also work as express to houses? It's been 3 years and I can't remember how that worked. It could be that the lines were just short because it was late on a Thursday night by the time I started going back to houses.
 
I did HHN back in 2019 with a RIP tour. After I did the tour I know I ended up sticking around until the wee hours of the morning, basically until they kicked me out. I really don't remember the lines being too terrible but also think I walked around a lot after the tour and did some rides before going back to the houses.

Anyway, that's the really long way to get to my direct question:

If one has a public RIP tour, and a non-express admission, do they only get post-tour express to rides and regular line for houses? Or does the RIP credential also work as express to houses? It's been 3 years and I can't remember how that worked. It could be that the lines were just short because it was late on a Thursday night by the time I started going back to houses.
• Universal Express Unlimited ride access (with R.I.P. credential) at all participating rides & attractions for the date of their tour (valid upon check-in at VIP Experience lobby to be used before or after tour during normal event operating hours; excludes Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses)
 
Just got back from our first HHN and can relate to much of what was stated in the thread. Overall, we enjoyed the experience and would consider going again.

First the good:

- I was extremely impressed with the level of detail in the houses. We did the 3 house tour before our fir HHN night and it was fantastic to see all of the details that would otherwise missed at night. I really liked when there were "rooms" that

- The Wildfire show was very well done; much better than I was expecting.

- Really loved the Graveyard scare zone


And the not-so-good:

- Everything about this event was super expensive. This was far-and-away our most expensive UO trip, and we already had our APs!

- Super crowded on Sat/Sun (Oct 8/9). We did most of the houses during the day to avoid the crowds, but it really takes away from the feel when you exit a house into sunlight. By 8 pm, everything seemed like an hour wait.

- Some houses seemed like a bunch of hallways with scare-actors jumping out. Deadman's Pier, Halloween, and Weeknd were so much more immersive than Chupacabra or Hellblock.

- While Scarecrow and Conjure scare zones were ok, the other two were disappointing (especially Sweet Revenge). My DD16 and her friend were very scared in all of the houses, but not at all in the "scare" zones.

- Food was a big let down vs the international food from Mardi Gras (which we loved)
 
• Universal Express Unlimited ride access (with R.I.P. credential) at all participating rides & attractions for the date of their tour (valid upon check-in at VIP Experience lobby to be used before or after tour during normal event operating hours; excludes Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses)

Thanks tony. Glad I completely overlooked the specific exclusion there hah.
 
Agreed - now they just if they market it better - not sure most of us knew about this until @soniam pointed it out

It's a fairly new podcast. I think it just started in the last few months. They don't have the publicity yet. However, they are getting access to really good people in the company. I will tout my favorite Universal podcast, the Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast.
 
Just got back from our first HHN and can relate to much of what was stated in the thread. Overall, we enjoyed the experience and would consider going again.

First the good:

- I was extremely impressed with the level of detail in the houses. We did the 3 house tour before our fir HHN night and it was fantastic to see all of the details that would otherwise missed at night. I really liked when there were "rooms" that

- The Wildfire show was very well done; much better than I was expecting.

- Really loved the Graveyard scare zone


And the not-so-good:

- Everything about this event was super expensive. This was far-and-away our most expensive UO trip, and we already had our APs!

- Super crowded on Sat/Sun (Oct 8/9). We did most of the houses during the day to avoid the crowds, but it really takes away from the feel when you exit a house into sunlight. By 8 pm, everything seemed like an hour wait.

- Some houses seemed like a bunch of hallways with scare-actors jumping out. Deadman's Pier, Halloween, and Weeknd were so much more immersive than Chupacabra or Hellblock.

- While Scarecrow and Conjure scare zones were ok, the other two were disappointing (especially Sweet Revenge). My DD16 and her friend were very scared in all of the houses, but not at all in the "scare" zones.

- Food was a big let down vs the international food from Mardi Gras (which we loved)
A good example of how different things are to different people

as scare zones go Sweet Revenge has been the very popular with it and graveyard battling back and forth for top ranking. Not discounting your report in anyway at all I assure you. Just pointing out how varied these reviews are
 

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