Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios

Beware of what you wish for because it someday might come true!  That's what happened to me.  I've always stayed at home for Halloween, living in Nevada for Nevada Day, even though for most of my life it was a local holiday.  Local laws changed and now we get the last Friday of the month off so we can celebrate with a 3 day weekend. {Don't ask me why because I much rather have the old traditional day of Halloween off like we did for the first 100 years!}  Anyways I have often thought it would be fun to get away, like half of Las Vegas does on this day, and go to California.  This year the opportunity came up and I had the chance to take my children and go to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Yes who wouldn't want to go to Universal Studios and have fun?  Well let me warn you it was not all fun and games but chills and thrills were in store for us this night!  For many of the nights in October, usually Thursday through Sundays, the typical Universal Theme Park is transformed into a Halloween Wonderland!  On those days the park closes to all other general admission at 6pm and then re opens at 7 pm for all of the Monster Madness a person can handle and goes strong until 2am!  My suggestion is to get there early because at 6pm they let the group that is already there in line go into a side entrance for early admission, at no extra charge.  This really lets you get in and then have time to experience everything that they offer.  Unless you want to pay a considerably higher entrance fee and get "Front of the Line" or "VIP" Passes you really get the best experience possible in going early.  On busy nights, and they do usually sell out at ALL of these special Horror Nights, you can wait in line for some of the Haunted Houses or Rides for 2 hours!

Yes this is more typical of the type of clown that we saw this night.  They were all over the park with creepy costumes and were chasing everyone with chain saws and more!  The bright neon lights everywhere really mixed well with the darkness of the night and made for so many cool effects!  You must be warned that Halloween Horror Nights is not for the faint of heart and definitely not recommended for children under 13 years old.  You need to know your own family and what is best for them to have a good time.  You also are not allowed to wear masks or costumes.

With the motto this year as "Once You're Inside... There's No Way Out", I knew I was in for a scary good time.  To say I screamed a lot would be an understatement since I left with NO voice at all!  All of the usual rides that are opened at Universal during the day, are open at night but have been creeped out for Halloween, like Jurassic Park in The Dark!  This was also my first chance at riding the NEW Transformers 3D ride and it was AWESOME!  

Back to Halloween though...  There were at least 5 different Mazes {Haunted Houses} and each had a different theme.  I'm remembering "The Walking Dead" (based on the TV Show), "Silent Hill" (based on the movie), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (based on the movie), "La Lorona", "Alice Cooper" and more.  There are MANY different "Scare Zones" throughout the Amusement Park and the normal food places are open all night as well.

 One of the highlights of the night was going on The Terror Tram with this years theme of "Invaded by The Walking Dead"!  You ride throughout the back lot and then are "dropped off to find your own way home" right before you get to the famous "Bates Motel".  You walk along the front porch, of course with zombies chasing you all along, then you continue up the dark mountain and you even walk all through the plane crash area from a famous movie set!  But first you get to walk up the hill from The Bates Motel and up to the famous house of Norman Bates and pose for a picture with him.  The whole time I was keeping an eye on the silhouette of his mother in the window!   It was all in good fun, well except for most of the night when I was running and screaming for my life!

So what are you doing for Halloween?  Have you ever gone someplace out of town or new for this holiday?  Have you been to any great Haunted Houses that I need to know about?  I'm "dying" to hear all about it!