Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 33

Spooky season has started earlier than ever before at Universal Studios Florida, so prepare yourself for Halloween Horror Nights 33 with our annual Unofficial Guide to surviving all the scares at Orlando’s top-rated haunted event!

Halloween Horror Nights 33 has returned to Universal Orlando, offering 10 haunted houses, 5 scare zones, and one live show, along with select attractions and seasonal treats. Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights is notorious for its congested streets and conga-line queues, but don’t lose hope: With the following updated touring advice from the upcoming 2025 edition of The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando, you should be able to experience all of Halloween Horror Nights 33’s headliner offerings—including visiting every maze once—in just one evening, without requiring the use of extra-cost Express Passes!

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights Background

The godfather (or is that gorefather?) of all Universal Orlando seasonal events, Halloween Horror Nights (or HHN, as it’s known to its legions of bloodthirsty fans) is recognized as the nation’s most popular and industry-awarded haunted theme park events. Originally a locals-friendly filler during a normally slow season, USF’s Halloween celebration started in 1991 as a single weekend of Fright Nights. Since then, HHN has grown so famous that the eight-week-long scare-a-bration can provide a significant percentage of USF’s annual attendance statistics. Much like visiting any of Orlando’s theme parks during a peak holiday season, an evening at Halloween Horror Nights 33 can be tremendous fun if you go in with a solid plan and sane expectations. Without those things . . . well, you might be better off getting eaten by zombies!

We’ve been attending HHN every year since 1996, and it has become one of our favorite after-dark activities in any park, but it isn’t for everybody. Before attending, make sure that Universal’s brand of Halloween is right for you—this ain’t Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. HHN is a gory, gruesome bacchanalia of simulated violence and tasteless satire, marinated with a liberal dose of alcohol and rock ’n’ roll. In other words, it’s a heck of a party as long as you know what you’re getting into. If the idea of copious blood, guts, and booze doesn’t appeal to you, we advise staying far, far away. Needless to say, it’s not appropriate for young children, though you will likely see many there anyway.

The three basic elements of each year’s event are haunted houses (or mazes), outdoor scare zones, and theater shows. Universal also makes many of its regular rides available during HHN, including Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (though not the Hogwarts Express) in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Diagon Alley.

Planning for Halloween Horror Nights 33

Even more so than daytime touring, a successful HHN visit requires a careful date selection. In 2024, Halloween Horror Nights 33 runs for a record 48 nights, on Wednesdays through Sundays from August 30 to November 3; visit orlando.halloween​horror​nights​.com for the calendar. In short, you want to avoid all Saturdays (especially the final three Saturdays leading up to Halloween) like the plague. Fridays in October—particularly the last two Fridays before Halloween—aren’t much better. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are usually the least crowded, followed by Thursdays (especially the first two) and Sundays (especially the first, but excluding the last). Opening weekend brings out all the local fans, so your best bets are the last two weeks of September or the first week of October. Halloween night itself and any nights after it are often extremely quiet. The price of Express Passes on a given night (as listed at tinyurl.com/HHN​Express) is your best guide to how busy it will be: the larger the cost, the larger the crowds.

If you walk up to the box office on the night of the event, you’ll pay over $150—a frightening sum for as little as 7½ hours in the park—and likely wait in a ridiculously long line for the privilege. Instead, study the myriad online ticket options in advance and purchase before you leave home.

Deep discounts are offered on advance purchases of date-specific tickets. You need to know what night you want to attend when purchasing online because prices range from $88 (including tax) for a Wednesday in September up to $131 on October’s busiest Saturday. If you already have daytime admission to a Universal park, you can purchase an add-on ticket at the park that allows you to remain through the evening’s event for a discounted price, depending on the night.

Finally, if you are a hard-core haunt fan and are spending more than a night in the area, you’ll want a Frequent Fear (valid every Sunday–Thursday event night plus opening weekend, with Fridays and the final Saturday also included in the Plus version for an extra fee) or Rush of Fear (valid every event night through the first four weekends) multiday pass. Universal also offers an Ultimate Frequent Fear Pass (valid every event night), in case you feel like spending more than the cost of an annual pass for a few weeks of scares. Multiday passes range from $192 to $426 and are only available online, but you must select a starting date for the pass at time of purchase. If you come for an evening and like what you see, any single-night ticket (except the free one included with Premier Annual Passes) can be upgraded to a seasonal pass before you depart.

TIP: You can buy a Rush of Fear ticket and upgrade it to an Ultimate Frequent Fear ticket on or before its expiration date.

Universal Orlando’s paid line-skipping service is a welcome luxury during the day but an absolute lifesaver at night. On peak event nights, queues for the haunted houses will approach 3 hours, and even on the slowest nights, they’ll hit 60 minutes. HHN Express Passes reduce that wait to 25%–50% of what it would otherwise be, which can make the difference between experiencing two or three houses in a night to visiting seven or more. The only catch is that Express starts at $160 per person and goes up to more than $256 depending on the night. Express is also available as an add-on for Rush of Fear multi-night passes for an additional $300. Express Pass add-ons for Frequent Fear passe are sold out for HHN 33; single-night Express passes often sell out and may be more expensive or unavailable inside the park, so if you do want them, buy in advance. On off-peak nights it’s possible to experience all the haunted houses and at least one show without Express, if you arrive early and stay until closing. On peak nights it’s virtually impossible to do the same without Express Passes, and it can be challenging even with them.

If you’re feeling particularly flush and are fed up with any kind of queue, the RIP guided tour will whisk you to the head of every line for $394–$501 depending on the night, admission not included; half-night tours may be available for half price. A private RIP tour for you and nine of your friends starts at just around $4,000 and goes up to almost $10,000, with the ability to add up to two more guests at an additional cost (again, admission not included, but annual pass discounts apply). When money is no object, the RIP tours are highly recommended. Call 866-346-9350 or email vipexperience@universalorlando.com for pricing and reservations.

For the superfans with extra spending money, Universal offers a choice of in-depth HHN experiences. Join one of Universal’s designers on daytime lights-on trips through three or six houses on an Unmasking the Horror behind-the-scenes tour ($106-$170 for a three-house tour, $192-$224 for six; no admission required).

A Premium Scream Night event is held the evening before HHN officially opens, with limited attendance and staggered entry for the haunted houses, plus unlimited food and nonalcoholic drinks. Tickets cost $373 plus tax ($346 for passholders). These upgrades can be booked online at tinyurl.com/HHNExtras.

Finally, when preparing for Halloween Horror Nights, be especially sure to pack raingear (bad weather is an HHN tradition), comfy shoes, and a refillable cup or bottle because getting scared is sweaty work!

Haunted Mazes at Halloween Horror Nights 33

The 10 haunted houses are the signature attractions at HHN and quickly develop wait times ranging from moderate to absolutely ridiculous. Five haunted mazes are housed in the huge production soundstages behind Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit; four are located in large sprung tents erected backstage behind Springfield and World Expo; and one takes over the queue of Fast & Furious: Supercharged.

Each year, due to theme or location, some houses seem to attract longer queues than others. Typically, the houses near the front entrance and those based on films and TV shows have been the most popular, while the original-concept mazes in the rear of the park draw shorter lines than average. Even the least popular houses, however, will have peak waits of 30 minutes or more, even on less busy nights. Keep this in mind when deciding whether to bite the bullet and queue up for a particular maze.

Here’s the full breakdown of this year’s Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses at Universal Orlando:

• A Quiet Place: Silence your screams if you want to survive this terrifying, post-apocalyptic world based on the films A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II. Like the Abbott family, you must keep quiet as you travel from the farmhouse, to the woods, to the foundry. As soon as you make a sound, monstrous creatures, who can hear the slightest noise, will hunt you down and silence you for good. (Soundstage 22)

• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: In this bone-chilling haunted house inspired by the film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Ghostbusters must team up to save the world from a second Ice Age. A new specter, Garraka, has escaped from an ancient artifact. He’ll stop you cold with a whole army of ghosts. Try not to freeze in fear as you dodge spears of ice and watch as he freezes people solid before your eyes. (Soundstage 23B)
• Insidious: The Further: Don’t get trapped in The Further as terrifying demons try to ensnare you. The Red-Faced Demon will lure you into his lair behind The Red Door, so he can possess your living body. And KeyFace will unlock your fears with his key-tipped fingers to keep your soul trapped in The Further forever. (Soundstage 24A)

• Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America: ¡Ten cuídado! With La Muerte as your guide, you’ll be asking for mercy from these three terrifying monsters: the blood-sucking Tlahuelpuchi, owl-faced witch La Lechuza, and bone-ripping El Silbón. (Soundstage 23A)
• Slaughter Sinema 2: If you’re dying for a B-movie horror marathon, head to the Carey Drive-in. Scream through scenes from creature features, grindhouse gore, spaghetti westerns, and more. (World Expo Tent)
• The Museum: Deadly Exhibits: You decide to visit the new folklore museum exhibit, The Rotting Stone, when an evil escapes from within, destroying everything in its path. (World Expo Tent)
• Goblin’s Feast: Visit a goblin village, where hordes of bloodthirsty goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and witches would love to have you for dinner. (World Expo Tent)
• Major Sweets Candy Factory: You’ve been invited to chaperone a field trip to a candy factory. But this sweet tour is about to turn sour when free samples transform the kids into candy-coated killers wielding sharpened candies. (Fast & Furious)
• Triplets of Terror: You’re invited to the Barmy triplets’ birthday bash. But beware, they celebrate by recreating their family’s murders. Prepare for a gory gathering. (Soundstage 24B)
• Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines: Get caught in an epic battle for dominance as Saskia Van Helsing and the Bride of Frankenstein go up against Dracula’s daughter and her monstrous mavens She-Wolf and Anck-su-namun. (World Expo Tent)

Halloween Horror Nights 33 Arrival Tips

The event officially begins each evening at 6:30 p.m., but the front gates typically open as early as 6 p.m. If you have an HHN ticket but not daytime admission, you’ll want to be outside the park gates, ticket in hand, by 5:45 p.m. at the latest on slow nights, and as early as 5 p.m. on peak nights. Be sure to leave ample time for I-4 traffic and parking, which is full price until midnight. Valet parking is available, but remember that the usual annual pass discounts on valet parking don’t apply on event nights.

After navigating the security screening in the parking hub, your goal is to secure a spot as close to the USF turnstiles as possible. On-site hotel guests get their own exclusive entrance near the Hard Rock Cafe. (Note that the Express Unlimited access included with some resort rooms is not valid during HHN.) Early arrivals may also get a view of a gate-opening performance, which occurs just inside the main entrance. Don’t worry if you miss this minor event; it’s a nice touch but not essential.

Stay & Scream

The best way to get a jump on the general public outside the gates is by already being inside the park before they open. The park closes to daytime guests at 5 p.m. on event nights, but anyone holding a ticket for that night’s HHN is allowed to remain inside the park in designated holding areas. Anyone can access this opportunity if they have any valid daytime park ticket, including annual pass holders, or you can add a $59 Scream Early option onto your HHN ticket to enter the park between 3 and 5 p.m.

The park is officially open for regular operations until 5 p.m., but guests taking advantage of Stay & Scream will want to enter before 4:30 p.m. to avoid dealing with the arriving evening crowds. Between the park’s closing and reopening, guests remaining in the park are confined to one of the following locations:

• World Expo and the adjoining Springfield section offer priority access to the haunted houses behind MEN IN BLACK and The Simpsons Ride. Stay & Scream guests can check in near Lombard’s at 4 p.m., and they should be released into the first two houses by 5:45 p.m., with the remainder of the mazes opening around 6 p.m. You can enjoy a selection of food and drink for purchase while waiting for daytime guests to exit. By using this Stay & Scream location, you should be able to enjoy four or five haunted houses before 8 p.m.
• The New York holding area includes Finnegan’s Bar and Grill, which offers a full bar and table-service food, though reservations aren’t accepted and tables are virtually impossible to secure on event afternoons. Guests can check in across from Minion Cafe by 4 p.m. and are released around 5:15 p.m.
• A San Francisco holding area may be located at Richter’s, where you can get a burger while waiting for first access to the house inside the Fast & Furious Supercharged queue. (This area may not be available.)
• A small overflow holding area is located in Hollywood near the Today Cafe, where food and beverages are available. From here, you may get early access to the maze closest to the park entrance. Another small pen across the street is dedicated to hotel guests using their exclusive entrance, but it doesn’t offer early access to the houses.
• Finally, Diagon Alley is not a holding area for HHN, and the Hogwarts Express train stops running in both directions as soon as USF’s closing time arrives. However, Lord Voldemort’s masked Death Eaters may be spotted roaming around Diagon Alley, lurking along the London waterfront, and stalking Knockturn’s dark alleyways. They emerge about an hour before the regular park closing time and continue haunting the area throughout the evening event.

Halloween Horror Nights 33 Touring Strategy

Your first hour at the event is essential to making the most of the evening, and your initial plan of attack is determined by which location you start your night from:

• World Expo/Springfield Holding Area: If you’re among the first inside the World Expo holding area, queue up for the house with the biggest buzz. If one of the houses already has a long line by the time you get there, grab a snack and wait in the shorter queue instead. After experiencing your first house, get in line for the other World Expo haunts if the wait is less than 25 minutes; otherwise, save them for the end of the night. Next, move on to the house entrances near The Simpsons Ride and Fast & Furious.
• Finnegan’s Bar and Grill Holding Area: Enter the New York holding area between 3:45 and 4 p.m. (the earlier the better, especially if you want to get food or drink), and relax in the holding pen for your pick of the designated early-entry mazes. You’ll be walked to the soundstage queues around 5 p.m., with the scares starting up around 5:15 p.m. Once the general public is admitted through the front gates (as early as 6 p.m.), queues at the soundstage houses will swiftly build. See as many as you can until waits exceed 30 minutes, and then proceed to the houses in the back of the park.
• Richter’s Holding Area: Enter the San Francisco holding area between 4 and 5 p.m., grab some food or a cocktail from Chez Alcatraz, and wait to be released toward Fast & Furious Supercharged. Once you’re through the house found in that attraction’s queue, head toward the back of the park and hit the ones in World Expo before crowds build. (This area may not be available.).
• Hollywood Holding Area: Check into the holding area outside the Today Cafe before park closing, and work your way through the plaza as close to Despicable Me Minion Mayhem as possible. Guests will be released shortly before the front gates open, when they can make a mad dash to the nearest maze entrance. By the time the first holding area guests exit the haunted house, the line behind them may be an hour or more, so you should head toward World Expo immediately afterward.
• General Admission: If you’re among the first folks through the gates when they open around 6 p.m., head straight to the open soundstage houses and jump in line if the wait is still 15 minutes or less. Otherwise, the majority of guests will mob the four houses in the soundstages near the front of the park. You should avoid the horde by heading in the opposite direction, toward Springfield, which should have processed the majority of guests who were already in the park by now. You can also continue through Springfield to the houses in World Expo or San Francisco.

Halloween Horror Nights 33 Entertainment and Scare Zones

After the haunted houses, the live pyrotechnics-packed Nightmare Fuel: Nocturnal Circus dance show, held inside the former Fear Factor Live stadium, is the top draw. The scantily clad performers are all dynamic dancers, and their crowd-enflaming gyrations are accompanied by daring acrobatics, explosive fire-juggling, and electronic music loud enough to wake the dead. The first and last performances of the night are always the least crowded, but you shouldn’t have trouble finding a seat if you arrive at least 30 minutes in advance of any showing.

After the sun sets (around 7:30 p.m.) and the waits for the houses become unbearable, begin exploring the Scare Zones, which have evolved over the years from open-air haunted mazes (minus the conga-line queues) into social media–friendly selfie opportunities. Just as much fun as getting scared yourself is finding a vantage point to stand still and see others getting spooked; this is some of the best people-watching you’ll ever find. Be on the lookout for staged scenes, in which actors attack planted “victims” within the crowd.

Here are this year’s Halloween Horror Nights 33 Scare Zones:

• Duality of Fear: As soon as you enter the gates of Halloween Horror Nights, you must choose a path: follow SINIST3R, the manifestation of visceral horror. Or follow SURR3AL,the incarnation of unearthly terror. (Park Entrance)

• Demon Queens: Get caught in an otherworldly hellscape ripped from the darkest corners of your mind. Four merciless queens loyal to SURR3AL rule, surrounded by hordes of fanatical followers. (Hollywood)

• Enter the Blumhouse: Escape a terrifying gauntlet of Blumhouse characters. From sinister sadists from The Purge and Black Phone to M3GAN dancing into your nightmares, you’ve never known horror like this. (San Francisco)
• Swamp of the Undead: In backwaters Louisiana, you unwittingly wander onto private property, where you’re swamped by zombies borne from the bodies of other trespassers who were killed and dumped in a nearby bog. (Central Park)
• Torture Faire: Come one, come all, to SINIST3R’s Renaissance faire with the devious theme of medieval torture. Brave the gloriously gory homemade torture devices till you’re put out of your misery. (New York)

By the midpoint of the evening, standby waits for all the houses will be substantial, and lines for the rides will be astronomical on Saturdays, but experiencing several top attractions should still be manageable using single-rider queues. Men in Black Alien Attack, Revenge of the Mummy, and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts all have fairly efficient single-rider operations. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit has a single-rider line, but it’s often as long as the standby queue. On off-peak nights, you may find ride queues shockingly short; just be aware that some rides (including Gringotts) shut down at 11 p.m..

Halloween Horror Nights 33 Food and Drink

Even on a slow night, Horror Nights crowds can drive you to drink, and many of your fellow guests will doubtlessly be imbibing. Temporary bars serve beer and overpriced premixed cocktails on seemingly every spare square foot of sidewalk, but for serious in-park boozing, we prefer Finnegan’s Bar in New York or Duff Brewery in Springfield. Better yet, get out of Dodge for an hour or so and retreat to CityWalk, where you can grab a drink at the Red Coconut Club (which gets a monstrous makeover into the Dead Coconut Club).

Listening to complaints from HHN guests that alcohol was easily obtainable but actual edibles could be harder to find, Universal offers food festival–style booths around the park, serving exclusive gut busters
like twisted taters, walking tacos, and Ghostbusters-themed s’mores.

The Halloween Tribute Store (located in New York next to Revenge of the Mummy) is open to both daytime and event guests throughout the fall.

The tribute store doubles as both a haunted shopping opportunity and seasonal confectionery, serving up ghoulish treats.

Ending Your Evening at Halloween Horror Nights 33

As the evening’s event approaches its final hour, wait times at the haunted mazes drop dramatically. If you are interested in the Nightmare Fuel show and didn’t catch it earlier, show up 20-30 minutes before the last performance on peak nights (or 15-20 minutes before showtime off-peak).

Otherwise, use the final hours to catch up on the houses you missed earlier. The last 30–60 minutes before park closing is the best time to hit the most popular houses. If you didn’t see the most popular mazes at the start of the night, step into line for one of them about 15–20 minutes before closing; you should be allowed to stay in the queue until you’re through, barring technical difficulties.

Using this touring plan, you should be able to experience most or all of the remaining mazes, and perhaps repeat some houses, without ever waiting longer than 30-40 minutes in line.

Finally, unless you leave significantly before closing time, you’re best off dawdling in the park or CityWalk on the way out. The parking garage exits will be at a standstill, so you might as well grab a seat outside and relax rather than breathing fumes in a traffic jam.

What are you most excited to experience at Halloween Horror Nights 33? Let us know in the comments below!

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 Threads, X, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

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