Some notable differences between Halloween Horror Nights 2024 at Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando – DePaoli on DeParks
Whether you visit Universal Studios Hollywood or Universal Studios Florida to experience Halloween Horror Nights during this spooky time of year, you’re in for a treat. But there are some differences between the two haunt events worth noting.
I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced Halloween Horror Nights on both coasts for a number of years now. I live close to Universal Studios Hollywood, so attending that event is a given for me. But the two events are different enough that I like to see what Orlando offers each year as well. There are obvious things, like Hollywood offers eight haunted houses while Orlando offers ten, but there’s much more to consider.
One of the big things that sticks out to me is how Universal Studios Florida leans into the idea of an original horror icon to host their event most years. This year’s 33rd anniversary brings us the icons Sinist3r and Surr3al. In the past, icons have included Jack the Clown, The Director, and more. I personally love the idea of an event icon and host, and wish this was something that Hollywood leaned into more heavily.
Having said that, Universal Studios Hollywood has a haunted house and show featuring a different kind of horror icon. One that Florida is lacking. Arguably, the most famous horror movie icons include Freddie Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Chucky.
In celebration of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” 50th anniversary, Universal Studios Hollywood presents the haunted house “The Legacy of Leatherface”. In addition, the “Late Night with Chucky” show brings yet another horror cinema icon to the event. Florida doesn’t feature any of these previously mentioned icons to its event this year.
Beyond the recognizable franchises and characters at the events, both coasts have some original haunted house themes and stories unique to each coast. In Hollywood there are two original houses while Florida features six. Uniquely this year, there is sort of a sequel of original haunted houses with one part taking place on each coast.
“Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America” is available this year in Florida. This haunted house concept and story originated at the Hollywood event in 2023. Due to its popularity, it can now be found in Florida. But that doesn’t mean Hollywood has let go of that story entirely. This year, Hollywood is offering “Monstruos 2: The Nightmares of Latin America”.
Considering Universal Studios Hollywood is part of a real working movie studio, one thing the Hollywood event offers that Florida cannot is a haunting journey onto a real movie studio backlot. The Terror Tram is a staple of the Hollywood event where guests load trams and head onto the backlot to visit the iconic Bates Motel set from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” crash site. Each year, Terror Tram is given a different theme. This year it is “Enter the Blumhouse” featuring various films from the Blumhouse movie catalog. I personally feel this year’s Terror Tram is the best one yet.
Since Florida doesn’t have a Terror Tram option, its “Enter the Blumhouse” offering is a scare zone. Although both events offer scare zones with four in Hollywood and five in Florida, they are considerably different. Hollywood’s theme park has much tighter quarters than Florida’s. With the blessing of size, the Halloween Horror Nights Orlando scare zones make a much bigger impact to the event. They’re an offering worthy of revisiting multiple times throughout the night. This year’s “Torture Faire” scare zone in Florida was among the best I’ve ever experienced on either coast.
A feature in Florida that I wish would come to Hollywood is the Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store. Year after year I’m blown away by the amount of detail and effort put into creating a unique, yet temporary, shopping experience in the park. It’s truly one of the highlights of the event for me, and I’m not even much of a merchandise shopper. It’s way more than shopping. If Hollywood doesn’t have the space in the park to do such a thing, I wish they would take it to CityWalk.
Both coasts offer shows as part of Halloween Horror Nights. The large-scale performance in Florida is “Nightmare Fuel: Nocturnal Circus” taking place on the old “Fear Factor Live” stage. And Hollywood has “The Purge: Dangerous Waters” in the “WaterWorld” stunt show space. Both of these are returning productions from previous years.
Both coasts get creative when it comes to where they produce the haunted houses. In both cases, some sound stages are used. To make up for the lack of stages, tents are used to house the rest. In Hollywood temporary “pop-up” tents are used, while in Florida they are more permanent “tents” which allows for air-conditioning in all the Florida houses. I’m grateful for the addition of air-conditioning on those hot Florida nights.
Even when these two events offer the same franchises as part of Halloween Horror Nights, it’s always fun to see how each of the coasts interprets them differently for the haunted houses. Of note, the “Insidious: The Further” house in Florida was particularly creepy and scary this year.
Overall, each of the events has its pros and cons, but they make for a great time. It’s always a joy to see how the different teams create unique Halloween experiences for their individual parks. Whether you visit one coast or both, Halloween Horror Nights is a Halloween tradition worthy or looking forward to each year.
Jeff DePaoli is an event producer and voiceover artist living in Los Angeles. He is the producer and host of “That Halloween Podcast” and works throughout the year with Halloween events including Midsummer Scream and Creep It Real OC. He can be heard as the voice of Disney Trivia on Alexa as well as the host of “Dizney Coast to Coast” podcast. Learn more and claim free gifts at DePodcastNetwork.com. DePaoli’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent Attractions Magazine.
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