Hollywood Horror Nights
Trip Start
Oct 17, 2009
1
Trip End
Oct 18, 2009
Where I stayed
Wingate by Wyndham Universal & Convention Center
Orlando, Florida
Saturday, October 17, 2009
On arrival in Orlando we checked into the Wingate hotel (http://www.wingateorlando.com/)
and then went for a late lunch / early dinner at TGIF (http://www.tgifridays.com/home/welcome.aspx). Our hotel was within walking distance of Universal Studios so "walk" we did.
We arrived at the park around 5:30pm and were confronted with thousands of departing visitors as Universal Studios was shutting down in preparation for their HHN event. The doors to HHN would open at 6:30pm so we wandered over to NBA City right within City Walk (http://www.universalorlando.com/OverviewPages/Nightlife/citywalk_nightlife_overview.aspx#) where they were having a 2-4-1 happy hour.
I was really excited about experiencing HHN, but to make a long story short it was "just" OK. Many of the rides were closed down, infact only 4 rides were open. We only went on The Simpsons ride (http://www.universalorlando.com/Theme_Parks/Universal_Studios_Orlando/Attractions/the_simpsons_ride.aspx#) and the Revenge of The Mummy ride (http://revengeofthemummy.com/) as the rest of night we spent visiting the haunted houses. The haunted houses were well done, but I was laughing my way through them more so than being frightened (the alcohol probably helped). The park closed at 2am, and after 8+ hours on my feet that was just fine with me.
In closing I am glad I went and experienced HHN 2009, however I am told by religious HHN annual goers that this year was a dissapointment in comparisson to prior years. The place was packed !!! Waiting lines topped 2 hours, and the only way around that was to buy an express pass that costs an additional $75 over the $50 admission fee - ouch !!!!
Oh by the way .... I definitely do NOT recommend young children to attend this event. Universal Studios recommends 13 years as the minimum recommended age.
That's all folks.
