Review- Creeped Out at Halloween Horror Nights

So this weekend we decided to head to Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights 24. They were having an annual pass holder event and it was my daughter’s birthday, so there were two very good reasons to attend. I hadn’t been to the event since I was a young adult, a loooong time ago. I was very excited to go again – I live to be scared, I love horror movies, haunted houses, reality ghost shows, all of it. So some last minute arrangements had to be made.

I was surprised that that we couldn’t get a room at any of the Universal Hotels. They were all pretty much booked solid except for the Lowes Royal Pacific, at over $250 a night. It’s usually not hard finding a room in Orlando but staying in the park is always better and provides certain perks like early entry. We found a Westgate time share 2 bedroom unit for just $136 a night and jumped on it, so perfect since we had a guest coming along. The room was big, nice and clean perfect for just one night. By the way don’t fall for the timeshare sales pitch if you ever stay at one of these.

The annual pass holder event got us in at 4:15p before the regular opening time of 6:30p. When you can get in early for anything in Orlando you should because the lines are usually unbearable. I’d read that at the opening night the week before the minimum wait was 90 minutes and was afraid of not being able to enjoy all the haunts. Getting in was easy since HHN tickets were included with our Premier Annual pass. We picked up our tickets at Guest Services and then had to go to a separate tent/line in order to get our bands for the early entry. We were then guided to enter through a special entrance on the side of the park. I felt very VIP, I also live for that.

Entrance to Halloween Horror Nights 24

After being searched and scanned as if boarding a plane we were in and walking toward the back of the park. When we reached the end we had to two house choices, Roanoke- Cannibal Colony or Dollhouse of the Damned. We actually didn’t know we were standing in line for Dollhouse until it was too late to change lines. It was daytime so we weren’t creeped out yet, this was a good warm-up house. The line seemed to have gone on for ever moving most of the time until we finally arrived. The front of Dollhouse was ornate, kinda like a fun house. In we went and it was quite scary, one of the actors actually surprisingly touched me, which they are not supposed to do. Look out for the ballerina doll part, it was my favorite.

Dollhouse of the Damned

Dollhouse of the Damned

Out of there we went and into the Halloween house! This one being one of the scarier haunts, we didn’t wait for long. Considering 6:30p was approaching and there would be more revelers in the park, we were happy to get through quickly. On the way to the rest of the houses we picked up some Walkers (delicious glowing specialty drinks). By the way there aren’t a shortage of drinking opportunities at this event. We thought that was quite nice 🙂

You can get one of these while waiting in line- Bloody good!

The nurse is giving out transfusions he he

Next we walked through the Purge! It was amazingly realistic. Then we were able to walk through Dracula’s and AVP a very short time after that. Those were mildly scary to me. AVP seemed quite robotic and I dont remember seeing Dracula at all.  After we hit From Dusk Til Dawn, featuring bikini clad vamps growling at every corner, it was so true to the movie. Then back to where we started for Roanoke- Cannibal Colony. These two were awesome, I especially liked the ending of Roanoke, it reminded me of a scene from the HBO show True Detective (must see).

The Purge has begun

eeek Purgers

I did indeed

As you walk through the park the haunted streets are very well orchestrated. There are smoke machines that inhibit your vision so things can pop up and scare you. The costumes are very realistic and the actors are out to scare you; from the bayou to the masquerade they are are all pretty awesomely scary.

Masquerade- Unstitched -I tweeted this pic #HHN24 and it was featured

So elegantly scary

love this one

Would you like a kiss

Creepy Creepers

Face Off-In the Flesh

We left the best for last, the Walking Dead house. Being a fan of the show I can say it was very realistic and just wickedly cool. The wait was very long at this house. I can’t stress enough that luckily there are many places to drink while you wait. The average wait was from 90 to 60 minutes and totally worth it. We went at the end of the night and it said 60 minutes but it actually took less. The last house we hit was the Clown house (Giggles and Gore, Inc.)  which was scary but at that point we were quite hot, exhausted and unable to muster up a scare.

We were so glad to be able to see everything which is usually hard at the Orlando parks.  We left feeling very accomplished and had a blast while being thoroughly creeped out. I highly recommend HHN 24 especially if you enjoy a good scare, cocktails, and can appreciate high quality set and costume design.

Here is my rating of the best haunted houses from 1 (best) to 8

1. Walking Dead- End of the Line

2. Halloween

3. From Dusk till Dawn

4. Roanoke- Cannibal Colony

5. Giggles and Gore, Inc.

6. Dollhouse of the Damned

7. AVP: Alien vs Predator

8. Dracula Untold- The Reign of Blood