Halloween Horror Nights Universal Studios Hollywood (And other Fall Fun)

 

We had so much fun over the Summer, we decided to keep it going in the Fall.

Our October activity was Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. I cannot believe how long it took me to go to this place. They have nine haunted houses. Nine! The challenge is, how many can you make it to between the hours of 5:30pm and 2:00am. The tickets actually weren't as expensive as I thought they would be. We paid $112 + an extra $25 to get in at 5:30 pm instead of 7:00 pm. We figured it would be worth the money to get a jump on the lines and boy were we right. That extra 1.5 hours was crucial. We got an advantage on our first two haunted houses Stranger Things and The Last of Us, waiting for 45 minutes and then an 1 hour for those, but all hell broke lose after that once the general admission and Express folks were let in. The Exorcist jumped to 240 minutes! We could not spend the rest of our night in line so we had to skip it and hope it would go down later. 

 Halloween Horror Nights: Check it out on YouTube

I was really hungry when we got there, but we were running late and couldn't lose our early access advantage so we waited. We finally took a dinner break after the Last of us. We ate at what is essentially the most expensive Panda Express in the world. We paid $40 for 2 meals and 1 fountain drink. By this time I was 7:45 pm and I hadn't eaten since 8:00 that morning. I devoured that entire plate of food in about 15 minutes flat. We headed over to Evil Dead Rising next, which was my absolute favorite of the whole night. I just saw that movie not too long ago and felt like I was in the movie! I screamed so much my stomach was tired. It was great. Next we did the Terror Tram, which was 30 minutes long! The Exorcist was down to 70 minutes so we went there next and then ended the night with Universal Monsters Unmasked. We did not have the energy to wait for Chucky Ultimate Kill Count, and we also missed out on Holidayz in Hell and The Monsters of Latin America because we just ran out of time. We did catch one of the two shows Blumhouse Behind the Screams on the way out. It was quick and really just previews plus a Megan dance performance. We didn't have time for The Purge. We were able to fit in one regular roller coaster ride because the line was really short. The lines were brutal. My back and feet were so tired at the end of the night.

All of the haunted houses we made it to were so well done. Stranger Things was probably the most disappointing. There weren't a lot of jump scares, but the production value was still really good. The vibe throughout the park is really spooky. It's dark and there is loud music blaring everywhere. They have scare zones , fun cocktails (that we didn't have time to stand in line to buy), and where else can you get chased by multiple psychopaths with chain saw? I loved it! There were some older folks; but mostly a lot of teenagers wearing a lot of too big clothes with holes in them. I don't care that we were surrounded by kids. We love haunted houses. The Universal Express tickets were $289 for the day we went. Now that definitely would have felt like a lot of money to spend, but I think if I had it to do over again it might be worth it. You don't get in early with those; but I think having access to shorter lines would have made the difference in having time to see everything. If you love Halloween, haunted houses and all things horror this is the place to go. You will not find that many haunted houses with that kind of quality in one place anywhere else. 

The last haunted house we went to was 17th door haunted two years ago. The first year we went wasn't too too bad, but the second time we went I was so traumatized I'll never go back. Yes, there was physical pain involved. Having to sign a waiver should have been a red flag! This is the video about my experience at 17th Door if you are interested. Needless to say, after that experience Universal was refreshing. Yes, I did a lot of screaming; but nobody got hurt. We also went to a local haunted house Scream Zone Del Mar a a week ago and it was fun; but it wasn't the same! I think it will be hard for anything else to compete with the production value of Universal Studios.

Universal Studios is about a 2.5 hour drive for us to Los Angeles or more, depending on traffic. We don't like driving home late so we booked a hotel at a little gem of a hotel. The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Holiday Walk of Fame was just what we needed for the night. Hotels in that area are so expensive, but this one was actually pretty budget friendly. It was modern, clean, and only a few miles from  Universal Studios. I think we will want to stay there again whenever we go back. 

We're not dressing up this year for the first time since 2018! After many years of not dressing up we got into it when we moved to our current neighborhood. MJ is out of town and with him gone my heart just isn't in it. I'm not even handing out candy this year so I'm glad we got in some Halloween fun before he left.

In September we went to the Zoo Food Wine and Brew Celebration. We love food. We love wine. We had a really good time at the zoo during the day so we decided to try it at night. I was a little bit nervous to buy the tickets because when I checked the FAQ regarding event cancellations I found out that in the event of a cancellation the tickets should be considered a donation. Yeah. So that would be a $150.00 donation if it rained. Times two!! September can be a bit hit and miss. San Diego is a bit hit and miss period lately, but we bought the tickets anyway and hoped for the best. 

The event started at 6:30 pm for regular admission and ended at 10:00 pm. We got there about 15 minutes early. We didn't have to wait too long before we got in. I was HUNGRY when we showed up and as we stood in our first line for the sliders I was a little bit skeptical that this place could satisfy my hunger. I was wrong! The slider line was probably the longest one we waited in. Overall the lines weren't too bad and before we knew it we had made our way through numerous vendors and I was stuffed and tipsy. The cost of admission covered as many tastings of beer, wine and food as you can get your hands on. We had so much good food and drinks from local San Diego restaurants and wineries. And we got to ride the people mover which was really cool to do at night. We didn't make it over to the live music section until the very end. I'm not sure how; but the time flew by and before we knew it the vendors were packing up their tables. This event was really fun! It was really dark so I only got one picture.

I think next time we'll consider splurging on VIP tickets because with those you get in early and have access to a special lounge section with it's own set up of food and drinks right there. It would have saved us waiting in line a bit and given us a nice spot to hang out. There was some seating at various locations but there was a lot of eating and juggling plates of food while standing. We saw some pros with plates that come with a cup holder and now we know why! We stayed until the very end and had a great time. I love it that San Diego has so many fun events.