Universal Orlando announces expanded Halloween Horror Nights starting August 2024

Apr 04, 2024 in "Universal Orlando Resort"

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Halloween Horror Nights

Posted: Thursday April 4, 2024 9:45am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Universal Orlando will host its annual Halloween Horror Nights, offering its earliest-ever start on 48 nights from August 30 through November 3, 2024.

Halloween Horror Nights

2024 Halloween Horror Nights Event dates: August 30-31; September 1, 4-8, 11-15, 18-22, 25-29; October 2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27, 30-31; November 1-3.

Pricing begins at $82.99 per person, plus tax, and rises to $129.99 based on date.

The event promises to deliver 10 new haunted houses inspired by cinematic masterpieces and original stories alongside five scare zones populated by hundreds of creatures. Additionally, visitors can enjoy live entertainment, themed food and beverages, merchandise, and select attractions at Universal Studios Florida.

This year, a chilling new collection of horrifying experiences await guests, including 10 all-new movie-quality haunted houses inspired by cinematic greats and eerie original stories created by the twisted minds of Universal’s Entertainment team, and five scare zones filled with hundreds of menacing creatures who will reign the streets of Universal Studios Florida. And in between the screams, guests can enjoy an energetic live show, fuel up for the next round of scares with sinfully delicious food and beverage inspired by the event’s haunts, shop the latest merchandise at the highly-themed Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store, and enjoy some of Universal Studios Florida’s most exciting attractions.

Single-night event tickets and Express Passes for Halloween Horror Nights are available for purchase now. Guests can also stay, scream and save up to $200 (based on a seven-night stay) with a special vacation package that includes one-night admission to the event and accommodations at a Universal hotel located just minutes from the haunts. This package also includes admission to all three Universal Orlando theme parks to enjoy some of the most innovative rides and attractions ever created during the day, before facing the chills of Halloween Horror Nights at night. Plus, hotel guests receive exclusive benefits including access to a dedicated Halloween Horror Nights gate for faster entry into the event, Early Park Admission to the theme parks during the day, complimentary resort transportation, and more. Savings vary based on length of stay and this package is available for purchase now through November 2 for use from August 30 to November 3.

Halloween Horror Nights upgrades are also available for purchase now, including the guided, nighttime R.I.P. Tour experience where guests receive priority V.I.P. access to the haunted houses; and the Behind the Screams: Unmasking the Horror Tour that offers a glimpse into how the scares are brought to life via a daytime, lights-on journey through select haunted houses. For guests who can’t wait to peek at what’s in-store this year, there’s also a limited, three-house Behind The Screams: Unmasking the Horror Tour available for purchase for select days starting August 11.

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mkt2 days ago

Catch up and grab drinks?

WDWFREAK537 days ago

Yes, we purchased the Scream Early as well as the single-night.

Rob5627 days ago

If you're not doing a park during the day, you've bought Scream Early tickets for that day, correct? It'll be the only way to do Stay & Scream without daytime park admission. (The SE ticket gets you in the park gates starting at 3pm) As for food, I second the other poster's suggestion of Leaky Cauldron. It's often quiet and fairly empty throughout the night. A second option in the front end of the park is Minions Cafe. We were pleasantly surprised by the food quality and fast service last year during HHN. (We went twice) You may have to wait a couple minutes to be shown to a table, but once there the mobile ordering process is easy, and they bring your food right to your table. It's nice to get off your feet. -Rob

Andrew259 days ago

While true, you can still enjoy a few of the houses at the back with low waits even if your coming from outside. If you limit access to S&S, you'll just move those folks to the gate, causing even further back ups at the front. From an ops perspective, Universal prefers that a good chunk of guests are already inside the park so they don't have to worry about pushing people in through the front gates.

JT300010 days ago

Not everyone has the ability to do S&S or stay there until the end of the night, hoping the waits let up. As a former AP holder who took advantage of it numerous times, I know how useful S&S could be (at least in the days before half of the park's capacity started showing up for it), but I have no way of getting into the park before everything has at least a 40 minute wait anymore. S&S is in fact a big part of the problem for the common folk waiting outside the gates. If you really want to limit something, limit access to that. I used to be able to enter when the gates open and head to the back of the park, enjoying multiple houses without even having to use my Express. Completely impossible now. I might as well have arrived two or three hours into the event.

WDWFREAK5310 days ago

Awesome info. Thank you!

Andrew2510 days ago

Diagon is best experienced during HHN (at night it's incredible) since its less crowded (though it gets a bit busy some nights). Most shops and all dining venues were open last year, so I'd imagine it'll be the same this year. Make sure to get on Gringotts before 11PM though, it closes early for maintenance. Best option for a traditional quick service is Leaky Cauldron. Doesn't get horribly crowded like the other options at the park, and far better quality.

WDWFREAK5310 days ago

We don't have anything planned on day 2 so going until 2AM on Saturday won't be a problem (Plus, we're not doing the parks during the day). My daughter's friend is a huge HP fan and she'll never get to USF any other time so that "rush hour" sounds like a good time to check out Diagon. I know that they have unique food items for HHN but will the shops be open in Diagon or just the ride and Deatheaters?

Andrew2510 days ago

Should be easily able to (will appear tough, but it's doable). Stay & Scream in New York, and then make your way through the Soundstage houses as they open up. Eventually, they'll open up the gates when the rest of the park opens so you can make your way over to the back of the park to hit the tent houses, you will still be ahead of the masses at the gate. Once waits/crowds get too much, you can relax and roam the zones, eat at the F&B locations and watch Nightmare Fuel if you are interested. If you are able to power through until 2AM, you can then run through a lot of the original houses at the end of the night during the last hour or two. HHN's "rush hour" is 7:30PM to 12AM, use this time to eat, watch HNF, sit down and admire the zones (watch people get scared) and check out some of the rides if your interested. The bigger IP houses (Ghostbusters & Insidious this year) will be busy until park close, but waits should be lower (and will be exaggerated on the sign) at close, so do whichever you didn't stay & scream for. The next day, prioritize your favorites and any houses you didn't do.

WDWFREAK5310 days ago

We are doing two nights (Sat and Sun) and opting to not do Express. We will be doing Stay and Scream. I'd like to do all of the houses at least once, take in the show, grab a bite/drink, and not do much (if any) rides. Is this feasible to do? I'm taking my daughter and her friend and I'm trying to keep the costs down as much as I can for her friend so we decided against Express.

Andrew2510 days ago

I visit nearly 3-4 days each week during the event, well aware how busy the event is. My perspective comes from if your able to attend multiple nights, you can easily either rope drop or close the event and do enough run through the houses that make express unnecessary. While it's become difficult to do all houses in one-night, by night 2 you could easily do them all. If you don't want to stand in line all night, my strategy has always been to stay & scream and/or knock out as many houses as you can prior to 7:30-8 once the event gets really busy. From there, take your time to enjoy the zones/shows/f&b before going back into house runs closer to midnight.

JT300011 days ago

It's not about doing as many houses as possible, it's about not standing in line all night. I feel like people who say you don't need Express have never experienced how much less insufferable the event is with it.

Andrew2511 days ago

They need to remove express entirely from that option. If you visit 3 or more nights, you don't need express unless you only care about doing as many houses as possible (which is the wrong mindset to attend with).

mergatroid12 days ago

We find we can do all houses in 3 nights. We go Wednesdays and Thursdays usually and start to queue for entry about 4:30pm. Usually stay till around 9 - 9:30pm and it works for us. The Rush of Fear Pass is great value for us. From the 15 nights we're in Orlando it gives us the option of 10 nights to go. Considering it works out about $10 more than paying for 2 nights it's a great deal.