Travel Features
Halloween Horror Nights 21 at Orlando Universal Resort a top Haunted House destination
By April MacIntyre Sep 25, 2011, 20:57 GMT
Lady Luck, of course, ties in with the number 21, the years this film production quality themed event has been up and running.
Halloween month approaches!
Please make every effort to visit Orlando's Universal Studios to experience the Halloween Horror Nights' special "21" event, as Lady Luck is one twisted sister who freaked me out this past week for a special media preview (on September 21) run-through of their carefully planned and executed haunted houses and scarezones.
Lady Luck, of course, ties in with the number 21, the years this film production quality themed event has been up and running.
A year's worth of collaborative work, over 1100 crew, cast and production designers deliver the superb net result: Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights 21 - which opens for 25 nights (beginning September 23). This is the creme de la creme of Haunted Houses for the hardcore scare junkies, and NOT for children.
Wear comfortable shoes and prepare to experience themes haunted houses that will assault every sense, including a 3D house that will make a few people a bit queasy.
Lady Luck is the mascot and force behind this year’s event, and she awaits those brave enough to challenge her and take a chance. Her main weapon is choice, and her desire is for you to make yours.
Caveat: Due to the event’s popularity, tickets for weekend nights are expected to sell out and should be purchased well in advance.
Halloween Horror Nights runs September 23-24, September 29-30, October 1-2, 6-9, 13-16, 19-23 and 26-31.
A recommended hotel is the Loews' Portofino, where a touch of Italy is found in the Sunshine state. The lobby is grand and has Bar American for those who imbibe. The rooms are large, modern, beds high off the ground and comfortable. The bathrooms are large and well turned out with magnfying mirrors, blow dryer, soaker tubs and their guest services are A+. Plus, a charming water taxi takes you from the hotel over to the Universal Studios park, so no parking hassles.
Tickets and vacation packages are on sale now and can be purchased at www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando.
There are eight haunted houses, NONE are suitable for kids (under 12 year olds)
Let's discuss my favorites:
Nevermore: The Madness of Poe
5 stars
My favorite house. Beautifully decorated and scary from the get-go, the madness of Edgar Allen Poe’s greatest works and the author himself are brought to life. Step into the mind of the iconic writer, where every turn of the page takes you closer to the brink of insanity. Best room was the Tell-Tale Heart. This is one of the most artistic and clever concept creations that will freak you out. Nevermore, nevermore.
The Forsaken
Prepare to get schvitzed. Four ships began Columbus’s fateful voyage, only three became legend. Condemned to a watery grave, the mutinous and cursed crew of that fourth ship has returned with a vengeance. For within the walls of a Spanish fort, a maelstrom has brought from the depths....death itself. Scary, scary yellow eyed sailors, lots of sensory overload in this house, wear waterproof mascara.
H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror
My next favorite house. Hilariously demented, sick and wrong. There's a human turkey / roast that is quite suggestive in its pose. Say no more. Nudge Nudge. Every holiday is given the creature feature host, H.R. Bloodengutz touch. Fifties and early sixties TV lead us through a maze of holidays gone wrong. in his final televised broadcast as he presents a SCARE-athon of holiday-based horror that is guaranteed to cleave you screaming for more. The Presidents' day room won my heart.
The Thing
The precursor to the movie coming soon. Icy cold, desolate, creature makeup effects that would make "Walking Dead's Greg Nicotero beam with glee, you enter an abandoned scientific research facility in the midst of a vast and frozen Antarctica in this haunted house inspired by Universal Pictures’ upcoming thriller, at Universal Orlando Resort’s Halloween Horror Nights 21.
In the thriller “The Thing,” paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet. The new haunted house will offer guests a first-hand preview of October 14 release.
“The Thing” haunted house is elaborately designed with disturbingly real alien creatures and sets. They will match the film’s terrifying intensity and provoke both a memorable and disturbing experience. Universal Orlando has partnered with the film’s producers, Strike Entertainment’s Marc Abraham and Eric Newman (Dawn of the Dead) to create an experience that is authentic to the film. The sets, audio, musical score, creature and character references are all based on the film. Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights event will also offer a haunted house based on the thriller.
“Having recreated well known horror films in the past, the same level of attention to detail has gone into creating a house experience that will completely immerse guests into the storyline and environment of ‘The Thing,’ said Jim Timon, Senior Vice President of Entertainment at Universal Orlando.
Eric Newman added: “We want people to live the film and experience the same terror that affects the film’s characters. Our collaboration with Universal’s creative teams brought the vision of the film to life. We’re excited for Halloween Horror Nights guests to experience ‘The Thing’ in this frighteningly real way.”
The In-Between
Craziness! 3D madness and tactile scares abound. An ominous portal reveals a 3rd dimension where all is not what it seems: a realm where our world and another collide. Surrounded by fiendish creatures, your eyes will deceive you with every step through this phantasm of terror. Do not eat anything before you go into this one.
Winter’s Night: The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery
Beautiful, stark, cold and haunting, the snow falls on this normally serene gothic cemetery, the deceased souls that occupy its confines have their sights set upon you, insuring that the chill you feel up your spine is more than just the cold of night.
Nightingales: Blood Prey
I though of Boardwalk Empire's wounded WWI veteran Richard Harrow during my trek through this one. WWI was a bloody disgusting war, with casualties that were grotesque and massive. This haunted house has you marching through the trenches looking upward at ghoulish nurses. Within every war, the Nightingales have appeared. Able to transform themselves to fit any setting, these savage banshees feed on the weak and the helpless. Patrolling WWI era trenches, you discover that you are more than just at war…you’re being hunted.
SIX SCAREZONES
Acid Assault
For decades now the city has been degrading from the effects of Acid Rain that still falls today, caused by factories which sprung up on the city’s edges during the 20th century. Those that have lived and survived the blistering decay are all alone in the city. Survivors have stripped the city of all life to sustain their own…dare to enter the ACID ASSAULT.
Canyon of Dark Souls
Upon entering into the Canyon of Dark Souls, you will feel like a small spec of humanity as the overwhelming sense of death surrounds you. Creatures that dwell within the Canyon are not welcoming so walk slowly as to not disturb them.
Grown Evil
Enter, if you dare, into our garden where Evil grows. Nature has taken this once well manicured sanctuary back from the humans who once kept it. Now the creatures that inhabit the garden are making any human that enters their prey.
NightMaze
Journey through the ever changing maze of darkness. This all black maze will morph and change as you walk through it. You will not be scared the same way twice.
7
As daylight shines upon our Temptresses, their appearance, though evil, allows you the spectacle of beauty. As night falls, these 7 temptresses will show their true colors and take on their true Fatal Evil forms. Beware of your own temptations.
Your Luck Has Run Out
Enter if you dare into the lair of the LUCKY! Your choices will determine if you make it out alive. Witness lucks deadly wrath, will she choose you to be her next victim?
TWO LIVE SHOWS
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure
Party on as those two most excellent dudes return to skewer the biggest names in entertainment and pop culture.
Death Drums
A seductive, hard-hitting and raw extreme drumming experience.
