Central Florida Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights failed to impress some guests who spoke with The Seminole Scribe, but all agreed that the “Stranger Things” house exceeded expectations.
Every year, Universal Studios Orlando goes out of its way to make sure that every visitor gets the fright of their life. To make this possible there is roughly about a year of planning the next year’s houses, scare zones, costumes and makeup, scare actors, and most importantly the themes. This event lasts for two months through the months of September and October.
This year the park contains 10 haunted houses, five scare zones, two shows, and seven of the parks normal operating rides. It can be difficult to experience all of this in one night which is why it’s highly recommended to buy one of the many multi night passes. Each pass comes with a set amount of days from which the passholder can choose days that work best for them. There is also an option to add on express passes, which can be extremely pricey, but helpful to those who don’t want to stand in line for possibly a few hours.
Lisa Shuck of Orlando, has been coming to Horror Nights for seven years.
“My daughter is a character in ‘Stranger Things’ (house) and she plays Dustin, which I am extremely proud of her of doing,” Shuck said. She added that she loves the event so much that she comes by herself to support her daughter.
Many people said they weren’t as scared as they’d like to be by the themes Universal had chosen this year. Jaden Rodriguez, 16, said he wasn’t too impressed.
“It’s lame this year no cap,” is how he described it after walking through a couple of the houses and scare zones. He said he believes previous years showed much more effort put into the houses and the techniques on how the actors frightened visitors.
He wasn’t the only person to think this, Haley Brossia, 18, explained how, “All of the houses I’ve been in so far are weak, except ‘Stranger Things’.”
Jimmy Lucas, 18, of Daytona Beach said he notices things about the park that the normal person wouldn’t. He is a scare actor at one of Universal’s many competitors, Busch Garden’s Hallowscream in Tampa.
Although Universal has a much higher budget for this production, they don’t seem to evenly distribute the money according to him.
For example, he said, the popular Netflix show, “Stranger Things”, draws a massive crowd every year full of superfans, therefore, Universal’s planning team spares no expense on the house.
Despite the critiques, most of the people who spoke with The Scribe enjoyed the atmosphere overall.
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando runs through Nov. 2.