Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has been canceled on both coasts, joining the long list of 2020 events felled by COVID. But while Universal Orlando’s eagerly anticipated HHN 30 event may be deceased, its spirit lives on inside the newly reopened Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store at Universal Studios Florida.
For the past several years, Universal Studios Florida has transformed the space behind the Macy’s department store facade, which normally serves as Revenge of the Mummy’s extended indoor queue, into a seasonal store dedicated to Halloween Horror Nights. The HHN Tribute Store is a combination of museum, merchandise shop, and miniature haunted house catering to fans of the perpetually crowded creepfest.
On its opening day, the Tribute Store attracted one of the longest lines in the park, spilling out into Jimmy Fallon’s extended queue across the street.
These days, you can usually get inside in 15 minutes or less, but be prepared to line up for at least a little bit.
The store’s entrance is appropriately decrepit and disorienting. Hint: Your destination is to the left!
The HHN Tribute Store’s first room is dedicated to Universal’s Classic Monsters and is dominated by a shrouded Frankenstein-like figure that’s being jolted by projection-mapped lightning bolts.
The second room features the original icons created for past Halloween Horror Night events, from The Caretaker and Storyteller to Jack the Clown, whose eerily lifelike sculpture stands in the center of the chamber.
Longtime HHN fans will have fun hunting down all of the Easter eggs hidden in this room’s decor.
There are even hints of further areas inside the HHN Tribute Store that may be revealed later in the fall!
The Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store might not exactly be the full HHN experience Universal fans have come to expect, but in 2020 it’s probably the closest we’re going to get. Take a full first-person walk with us through the Tribute Store now by watching this video:
UPDATE: The secret rooms in the HHN Tribute Store have been unveiled! Check out the new Beetlejuice merchandise and spooky treats in this video:
For all there is to see and do at Universal Orlando, check out The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and sign up for our newsletter here. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
