Very Scary, Not so Scary, and Everything In Between! 🎃 Updated 12/9. Last day**

[luvpoohandcompany]

You are one brave lady!!!
Love all the descriptions of the houses and I think I’d be screaming my lungs out if I was brave enough to go inside them. Really looking forward to hearing about your tour and whether or not they are more scary in daylight. I suspect they might be

 

[missjackiemcg]

I don't think HHN is something I will ever experience in person, but I loved hearing your thoughts on everything! (and your shirt is SO great!!)

My former DIS friend turned CM friend is one of the scare actors in the Scarecrow area! I love seeing the pictures and hearing about the interactions, but am seriously too chicken to ever find out for myself in person.

I hear amazing things about those twisty tators...maybe it would be worth it to go for that alone! Ha!

 

[Disneyhanna]

HHN is one of those things that sounds amazing to me, but in reality I'd probably need new pants after That is so awesome to only wait 10-15 per house. I have heard waits get sooo long! I am amazed you have your eyes open enough during them to know what is happening. I'd be covering my eyes the whole time, someone would need to push me through in a wheelchair or I think I would collapse and faint The bugs one sounds like my actual worst nightmare. Eeek!!! Fun that they are all so differently themed. Bummer the burger ruined your appetite! Phew, you two are champs for making it through all those houses. I'm not sure I'd sleep afterwards, lol!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Nope, can't do bugs eating people.

I agree, it was very creepy and the tactile part was so gross. It did feel like bugs/spiders were crawling on us!

I have the same issue with Greek/Lebanese food. I love it but it just keeps repeating itself.

It was so annoying, we both wanted to try HHN snacks but we both felt so full with the burger repeating itself!

This looks very yum!

This cake pop was very good and big enough to share!

Great recap of the houses. I think I would like the ones with true stories. I'm not much for slasher just for the sake of slashing.

Thank you! I was surprised how much I enjoyed the houses, screaming and all!

All I have to say is…you and your sister are SO BRAVE!! I was scared just reading about your night!!! Bravo to you Ladies you rocked it!!!!

Ahhh Thank you! I was proud of myself and actually enjoyed it more than I thought.

Oh my gosh, you are way braver than me! I could not do those scare houses at all. MNSSHP is more my speed, lol!

Haha! Yes MNSSHP is also more my speed, however, I really enjoyed the creativity and overall experience much more than I expected!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I don't think HHN is something I will ever experience in person, but I loved hearing your thoughts on everything! (and your shirt is SO great!!)

I was surprised how much I liked it! I love the shirt, it was perfect for this event!

My former DIS friend turned CM friend is one of the scare actors in the Scarecrow area! I love seeing the pictures and hearing about the interactions, but am seriously too chicken to ever find out for myself in person.

How cool! I did get some really good scares in that area! It was very creepy!
I was actually shocked when I enjoyed it lol Universal does an excellent job with this event!

I hear amazing things about those twisty tators...maybe it would be worth it to go for that alone! Ha!

I know! I wanted to try one and both nights it didn’t happen, ugh! I think we might be going back in 23 so I will make it a priority to get more snacks!

 

[disneyAndi14]

HHN is one of those things that sounds amazing to me, but in reality I'd probably need new pants after That is so awesome to only wait 10-15 per house. I have heard waits get sooo long! I am amazed you have your eyes open enough during them to know what is happening. I'd be covering my eyes the whole time, someone would need to push me through in a wheelchair or I think I would collapse and faint The bugs one sounds like my actual worst nightmare. Eeek!!! Fun that they are all so differently themed. Bummer the burger ruined your appetite! Phew, you two are champs for making it through all those houses. I'm not sure I'd sleep afterwards, lol!

Haha! I felt that way at times! I was so happy we had EP for this night! It made such a difference.
It is so dark in the houses it did feel like my eyes were closed at times. The jump scares and loud noises really get you. We learned so much about how they get you in the tour we did.
The Bug house, not for me, mostly because of the stuff you were feeling In The dark, creepy!
We really wanted to try more snacks, darn burger
I actually slept really well, probably from all the walking and screaming, it tired me out!

 

[disneyAndi14]

You are one brave lady!!!
Love all the descriptions of the houses and I think I’d be screaming my lungs out if I was brave enough to go inside them. Really looking forward to hearing about your tour and whether or not they are more scary in daylight. I suspect they might be

Ahhh Thank you! I can’t believe how much I actually enjoyed this event.
The production that goes into these houses is amazing! We learned so much about that on the tour!
They are really scary in the daylight as well!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Are these houses more terrifying with the lights on? You decide!”

9/8/22, Today, we had the Unmasking the Horror tour. This included 3 houses with the lights on. The tour was scheduled at 12:30pm.

We did sleep in some today and took our time getting ready for the day. Our original plan was to spend a few hours is US, do the tour, get a quick lunch and relax at the resort until HHN, part 2. Well, this plan did go sideways some, blame the Florida afternoon monsoons!

We had a light breakfast of yogurt and donuts before heading out around 10am. Here is the picture I sent Andi. I was thinking I was pretty cool until I noticed I spelled Inversal instead of Universal oh my, another reason I shouldn’t use Snapchat!


We decided to do ET again, we got the front bike 🏍 my favorite!

Two teen boys were sitting in our row and told us are you ready for a wild Rollercoaster ride! I told them, yes this is my speed for a Rollercoaster They must have thought it is just right for an old lady lol

Guess what we did next? If you said MIB, you are correct. We had a wild ride shooting aliens . We had a girl in our row and she was really good, she took her job seriously Her score was super high and she of course got the extra points!

We wanted to spend some time checking out the Halloween Tribute store so we headed there.

We loved this store. There was several different rooms with so much Halloween decorations and souvenirs. I bought Andi a shirt and reusable bag. I bought a shirt for myself. Andi’s shirt features Michael from Halloween

We picked up a Diet Coke and headed to the meeting area for the tour. We got there and checked in and found our table. There was several other tables filled with people. At one table, far from us, a twenty something guy was coughing and looking very sick yikes! He had his head down on the table and looked miserable. I thanked our lucky stars he wasn’t in our group!

I think we had a total of 11 in our group with the guide. We got a free lanyard with the tour. I gave mine to Andi.

The 3 house tour included Halloween, Spirits of the Coven, and Fiesta De Chupacabras. This is a walking and standing tour expect 2+ hours of being on your feet.

Our first house was Halloween, it was very cool to see the house with the lights on, we were able to take pictures in certain areas. It was very interesting learning about the makings of the houses. Michael is still terrifying even in daylight.


We found out each year there is some type of symbol in each house. This year it is a spider! No way you would see it screaming through the houses, unless you are an expert at HHN. The houses also have some other type of theme and this year it was birds. There are so many Easter eggs. The lengths the creators go to with the houses is amazing. Certain moving props have to have their own sprinklers and fire safety, just amazing.

We also learned about the jump scares and how they have you focus on something else, like a scary open window, and in actuality, the scare actor is on the side of you and scares you good! We learned about the loud noises and how these are operated by a foot mechanism on the floor the actor steps on.

We learned about the extensive sound proofing in each sound stage! Several houses are right next to each other and you do not hear anything from house to house.

We did the Chupacabras house next. We were able to take a few pictures in the Dead Man’s Pier house. Such a beautiful and haunting house.


Here is a picture of the animatronic demon canines!


Our last house was the Spirits of the Coven. I learned the most about a back story in this house. I really had no idea what the house was about.

The story is about a coven of witches who lure men into the speak easy with the young, attractive witches. The witches kill the unsuspecting men and drain their blood to make the drinks they serve..


As you go through the house you go deeper into the devolution of the witches. The house ends in the very ancient medieval times with the first witch!

I learned how much goes into the storyline for these houses.

We loved this tour. I highly recommend doing this tour! It was well worth the price of around $100.00 per person.

We finished the tour around 2:30 and the skies were looking ominous!

We walked over to the Chocolate Factory to get some of my all time favorite macarons. I picked out 6 different flavors and our plan was to head back to the resort. Well, the skies opened up, it was raining very hard with thunderstorms ⛈ in the area.

We decided to stay put and put our name in to eat here. I was told the wait would be about 30 minutes.

We did wait a good 30 minutes. It was very busy, I think a lot of people found refuge here and stayed. I heard the hostess saying they could not take any more walk ups.

We were seated on the main floor in a circular booth. We ordered a couple of Stella beers. Our waiter was very nice, however, the restaurant was very busy and service was slow.

We actually didn’t mind, it was good to relax and sit after standing for hours.

We decided to share the southern fried chicken BLT sandwich with truffle fries.


When the sandwich finally arrived, it was delicious and perfect to share. I love truffle fries and these fries were yummy

The robot was walking around.

We decided to splurge and get the sundae called it may contain nuts. Without Andi, I took advantage of having peanut treats!

This sundae was delicious. It was peanut butter ice cream, peanut brittle, peanut butter cups, chocolate peanut butter pie, whipped topping, peanut butter sauce, and Reese’s pieces.

Decadent and delicious. We literally could not stop eating this!

We were full and happy!

The thunderstorm was over but it was still raining slightly.

We really couldn’t go back to the resort now because HHN was starting soon.

We powered through and put on our ponchos and headed to the hotel entrance for HHN.

The TM told us we could go in to a holding area until 6pm or if we went through Hellblock Horror now, we could go into the event. I wasn’t looking forward to this blinding strobe light house again, however, we thought it was the best choice. I think because it was before the event started the SA’s were not all in place. We didn’t have to many scares. We were the only people in there.

Once out of there, we went to line up for the Dead Man’s Pier. We were 2nd in line. It was still lightly raining. I noticed the park was not crowded at all.

We went through the house and loved it again.

Our next house was Halloween, we had to do it again, especially after seeing it with the lights on. It was good with a lot of scares for us!

The Scare zones were not to active because of the light rain.

We went to the Monster’s Collide house and we did see a glimpse of Dracula and at the end the Werewolf won!

We decided to do Descendants of Destruction and The Horrors of Blum house. The Blum house is the creepiest house in my opinion! I was really glad I picked the night before to have the EP because tonight was not near as crowded.

We decided to walk around Diagon Alley and ride Escape from Gringotts. It was fairly quiet in there.

We were tired and decided to leave after the ride.

Thank goodness the boats were running again!

It felt really good to put our feet up and enjoy our last night at Portofino Bay!

What a great day, other than the big storm, it was a wonderful experience!

Stay tuned for a relaxing morning lounging at the resort, before heading to Disney AKL, yay! I will also show pictures of the tribute store and our purchases!

“Disney, here we come”

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Ok if I was in awe of your bravery before I’m even more so now that I’ve seen inside those houses in daylight! They would freak the flippin life outta me!
That “may contain nuts” dessert on the other hand is right up my alley! Yum!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ok if I was in awe of your bravery before I’m even more so now that I’ve seen inside those houses in daylight! They would freak the flippin life outta me!
That “may contain nuts” dessert on the other hand is right up my alley! Yum!

It was very scary With the lights on. I didn’t even put in the really terrifying pictures!
It was very scary but also very interesting!
The dessert was so yummy, it was truly decadent but not enough to make us sick of it!

 

[disneyAndi14]

It is time to move from very scary to not so scary!

9/9/22. Today is moving day. We have 8 nights at AKL starting today.

I did text the front desk at Portofino Bay, the day before, to ask about a late check out. The staff was so nice and gave us until noon.

We had a leisurely morning, packing up our things and eating a few macarons, bananas, and donuts.

Here are a few pictures of the Halloween Tribute store and my purchases.


Andi’s shirt, lanyard, and reusable bag




My shirt


After lounging some in the room, we headed out to look around the grounds at Portofino. It really is a beautiful resort and I would recommend staying here!

We decided to try some gelato from the shop next to Starbucks.

I had the pistachio and D had a hazelnut flavor. Both were delicious!

We sat and people watched for awhile. The weather was hot and sunny, a beautiful late morning.

We went up to the room and made sure we had everything packed and called bell service to help us out.

It was right around noon when we said goodbye to Universal and all things very scary!

I have to say our stay, park experience, tour, food, and HHN was all positive. We would give it all two thumbs up

I highly recommend all of the experiences we had at Universal. I think even if you are Horror adverse give it a try, it is amazing. I think we are making this an annual trip for D and I. I also hope Andi can come with us next year!

We ordered up a Lyft to take us to “home” for the next 8 nights!

Hello beautiful, we are so happy to be home!


Stay tuned for our room tour, an afternoon and evening at DHS.

What a great first day at WDW! Coming up soon!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I like your purchases and think it’s lovely to have an annual getaway with your sister and hopefully Andi makes it next time too

The lobby of AKL is beautiful.

 

[VAtink]

Ohhh, I love AKL! We're finally staying there again for the first time in like 20 years next December (last time we stayed there was 2 months after it opened!). Can't wait for the room tour!

 

[missjackiemcg]

You're so brave!! I think I would honestly really enjoy the Unmasking tour way more than actually attending HHN. I love seeing how they make things work in our favorite theme parks! I haven't ever really looked into it, but do they do other tours at Universal like the behind the scenes Disney tours??

Looking forward to the Disney portion of your trip!!

 

[vamassey1]

The tour sounded very interesting. I love learning how they do things and the backstory. I would have wanted to go back through the same houses after the tour too.

Sounds like the rain really helped on the scares and crowds.

Looking forward to your next chapter.

 

[schumigirl]

Caroline, I`m so glad you enjoyed HHN so much and the daytime tours too.....once you do it once, you`re hooked!!!!

Enjoyed your pictures and happy to see PB was so nice too for you....

AK lobby is quite stunning isn`t it.......

 

[suse66]

This sundae was delicious. It was peanut butter ice cream, peanut brittle, peanut butter cups, chocolate peanut butter pie, whipped topping, peanut butter sauce, and Reese’s pieces.

Decadent and delicious. We literally could not stop eating this!

Oh my goodness, that looks amazing!

I highly recommend all of the experiences we had at Universal. I think even if you are Horror adverse give it a try, it is amazing. I think we are making this an annual trip for D and I. I also hope Andi can come with us next year!

You are definitely braver than me! I don't think I could handle it at all. Glad you had so much fun though.

Stay tuned for our room tour, an afternoon and evening at DHS.

Nothing like the gorgeous AKL lobby!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I like your purchases and think it’s lovely to have an annual getaway with your sister and hopefully Andi makes it next time too

The lobby of AKL is beautiful.

We really enjoyed the event and I see us coming back next year! I hope Andi can come with. I know she would love it
AKL is such a beautiful resort, we loved it

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ohhh, I love AKL! We're finally staying there again for the first time in like 20 years next December (last time we stayed there was 2 months after it opened!). Can't wait for the room tour!

I was very happy we switched to AKL, we loved coming back here each day. It really lets you have an oasis of sorts after park touring!
I’m excited you are staying next year, it is wonderful!

 

[disneyAndi14]

You're so brave!! I think I would honestly really enjoy the Unmasking tour way more than actually attending HHN. I love seeing how they make things work in our favorite theme parks! I haven't ever really looked into it, but do they do other tours at Universal like the behind the scenes Disney tours??

Looking forward to the Disney portion of your trip!!

The tour was very interesting and I loved it. I usually refuse to go in Haunted Houses. I would wait for others lol This was a big leap for me and it really was so fun and the production value alone is amazing!
I think Universal does a VIP tour and a few at Christmas season.
All Disney coming up soon!