South Campus Bureau Chief
There’s a place to find magic, monsters and more, all in one spot. It’s that time of year where Universal Orlando turns its park into another world with Halloween Horror Nights and the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Platform Nine & Three Quarters and Hogsmade look like the exact sets from the movie. The items and stores located around the area fit the theme and it’s not just “oh hey look, a ‘Men in Black’ shirt is being randomly sold in a wand shop.”
Featuring many items and shops from the series, any one visitor can visit series shops like Ollivander’s Wand Shop or Leaky Cauldron, or try some Butterbeer or Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.
There is a dragon on top of the Gringotts Bank roaring and breathing fireballs, helping to promote the feeling that a visitor is in a world of fantasy.
There is a new train system if you have both passes for parks on the same day. You can ride the Hogwarts Express to get to Islands of Adventure and back. Enjoy Harry Potter spectacles like Hagrid flying his motorbike outside window or Harry and company fighting Death Eaters on the train through silhouettes.
The King’s Cross Station looks like its actual London counterpart. Appearing as if you went from Florida to the U.K in an instant after stepping foot onto the paved streets.
Dining at the Hard Rock Café before entering Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) was great. The place was lively, and the service was fast and timely as the waiters were eccentric, only helping to enforce the larger than life experience.
Just entering HHN, there was a creepy atmosphere about the park. A drastic change in appearance, compared to when we were there, earlier before.
Ghoulish creatures and deviant masked figures now filled the streets, lunging at any incoming visitors that crossed their paths.
I puffed up my chest and walked into the streets…ended up being the first one to jump like Scooby Doo into someone’s arms at the first ghoul to jump out.
The horror houses featured this year are “Halloween,” “The Walking Dead,” “Alien vs Predator,” “Dracula Untold,” “Dusk Till Dawn” and more.
It doesn’t matter if you saw something jump out the corner in one of the horror houses. When walking up to that same corner, a heart attack will come up just the same.
Nobody is safe just because they left a horror house; there are zones throughout the park like the “Face Off” and “The Purge” sections.
Entering “The Purge” is an effective scare tactic, because it feels like Universal just fell into complete chaos and everything is real.
People walking around with chainsaws, machetes, and more are among some of the items these individuals carry around.
A human auction takes place at certain times in the night and is entertaining to watch. Fans of the film will enjoy it that much more.
“The Walking Dead” and “Dusk” are less scary and more so cool recreations of their respective settings. It’s surreal to walk through the prison or the bar in its respective series.
Some advice would be to get an Express Pass to make the lines much shorter and the night will go much smoother.
Entering the Halloween house went like this: “We’re all gonna to stick together.” Then it became “every man for themselves; throw the women for escape,” really quick.
In an interview with the director of HHN on what’s the most effective type of scare, he said. “I think just when you boil everything down, pop out scare is the best scare… There’s a lot of tweaks and different ways you can do it,” said the director.
“Rocky Horror Picture Show” was going on and it was a nice palate cleanser, as the cult classic engrossed and raised some eye brows in the audience. It’s weird, over-the-top and just the kind of entertainment needed after being scared half to death.
Overall, it’s impressive that Universal is always changing up its park and adding new elements. HHN possibly has the scariest horror houses ever made, second only to living in an actual haunted mansion.
If you can come out of a horror house with a smile (and pissed jeans) then something has to be going incredibly right. Right? Don’t judge. There is a reason why Universal and its Halloween Horror Nights are a staple of Orlando.
Featuring many items and shops from the series, any one visitor can visit series shops like Ollivander’s Wand Shop or Leaky Cauldron, or try some Butterbeer or Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.
There is a dragon on top of the Gringotts Bank roaring and breathing fireballs, helping to promote the feeling that a visitor is in a world of fantasy.
There is a new train system if you have both passes for parks on the same day. You can ride the Hogwarts Express to get to Islands of Adventure and back. Enjoy Harry Potter spectacles like Hagrid flying his motorbike outside window or Harry and company fighting Death Eaters on the train through silhouettes.
The King’s Cross Station looks like its actual London counterpart. Appearing as if you went from Florida to the U.K in an instant after stepping foot onto the paved streets.
Dining at the Hard Rock Café before entering Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) was great. The place was lively, and the service was fast and timely as the waiters were eccentric, only helping to enforce the larger than life experience.
Just entering HHN, there was a creepy atmosphere about the park. A drastic change in appearance, compared to when we were there, earlier before.
Ghoulish creatures and deviant masked figures now filled the streets, lunging at any incoming visitors that crossed their paths.
I puffed up my chest and walked into the streets…ended up being the first one to jump like Scooby Doo into someone’s arms at the first ghoul to jump out.
The horror houses featured this year are “Halloween,” “The Walking Dead,” “Alien vs Predator,” “Dracula Untold,” “Dusk Till Dawn” and more.
It doesn’t matter if you saw something jump out the corner in one of the horror houses. When walking up to that same corner, a heart attack will come up just the same.
Nobody is safe just because they left a horror house; there are zones throughout the park like the “Face Off” and “The Purge” sections.
Entering “The Purge” is an effective scare tactic, because it feels like Universal just fell into complete chaos and everything is real.
People walking around with chainsaws, machetes, and more are among some of the items these individuals carry around.
A human auction takes place at certain times in the night and is entertaining to watch. Fans of the film will enjoy it that much more.
Some advice would be to get an Express Pass to make the lines much shorter and the night will go much smoother.
Entering the Halloween house went like this: “We’re all gonna to stick together.” Then it became “every man for themselves; throw the women for escape,” really quick.
In an interview with the director of HHN on what’s the most effective type of scare, he said. “I think just when you boil everything down, pop out scare is the best scare… There’s a lot of tweaks and different ways you can do it,” said the director.
“Rocky Horror Picture Show” was going on and it was a nice palate cleanser, as the cult classic engrossed and raised some eye brows in the audience. It’s weird, over-the-top and just the kind of entertainment needed after being scared half to death.
Overall, it’s impressive that Universal is always changing up its park and adding new elements. HHN possibly has the scariest horror houses ever made, second only to living in an actual haunted mansion.
If you can come out of a horror house with a smile (and pissed jeans) then something has to be going incredibly right. Right? Don’t judge. There is a reason why Universal and its Halloween Horror Nights are a staple of Orlando.
