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133. Halloween Horror Nights: A Parent's Guide (Hub Episode) · Mom Street USA

• 0:05
  Welcome everybody to another episode of Mom St.
• 0:07
  USAI am your host Jackie and today you've got a Hub episode.
• 0:11
  However, we are down 1 Hub Co host as Jess is under the
• 0:15
  weather. But Duck is here with us today
• 0:17
  and it's a good thing that they are because we are discussing
• 0:20
  something that is not my Forte but is absolutely Duck's Forte.
• 0:25
  So the goal for today is to give you a parent's guide to HHN.
• 0:31
  So we're talking Halloween Horror Nights, Universal spooky
• 0:34
  time. Yes, I know it's July, but it's
• 0:37
  right around the corner. So that is the what is on the
• 0:40
  agenda for today. Before we jump in to all of this
• 0:44
  lovely information you've got for us today, Duck, how are you
• 0:46
  doing today? I'm doing great because I'm
• 0:49
  feeling spooky because everybody knows that the rule with modern
• 0:53
  holidays is the moment that that last 4th of July firework goes
• 0:57
  off. It's over.
• 0:58
  It's spooky season. Let's go, baby.
• 1:00
  I'm ready to carve a pumpkin. I'm ready to watch over the
• 1:03
  garden wall. It's spooky season.
• 1:06
  You know the crazy thing is most people complain about like
• 1:11
  Christmas season being too long, but like Halloween season is way
• 1:17
  longer. My only thing is, I wish that
• 1:23
  I'm fine with Halloween season being as long as it was if
• 1:25
  you're around in our house, right?
• 1:27
  Like it just is. I wish that what they would do
• 1:30
  is have sort of like waves of Halloween releases, right?
• 1:33
  Because then I could get merch in the beginning of summer and
• 1:36
  then I can get merch in the middle of summer and then I can
• 1:38
  get more merch at the end of summer.
• 1:39
  And I don't know why you people don't want my money badly enough
• 1:43
  to plan these logistics. I'm not the only one.
• 1:46
  I know there's lots of other spooky fans out there that feel
• 1:48
  the same because I keep checking for new spooky things and it's
• 1:51
  the same thing week after week starting in June.
• 1:53
  So I'm just saying maybe something to think about
• 1:56
  marketers. I will say that while it's not
• 2:00
  officially like Halloween merch, Disney did drop a new Haunted
• 2:04
  Mansion collection. True.
• 2:05
  So I think maybe. That's a fun way.
• 2:07
  Maybe. They're sort of lean into the
• 2:09
  exactly the Halloween, but without going full tilt.
• 2:12
  Exactly. Because they've got like a month
• 2:15
  until Mickey's Not so Scary starts, Yeah, so.
• 2:18
  And then we've got a few more weeks after that when HHN
• 2:21
  starts. So you always get Mickey's.
• 2:23
  Not so scary, always starts earlier.
• 2:25
  HHN is pretty tried and true to like Labor Day ish depending on
• 2:30
  when Labor Day falls. Sometimes if it's a little later
• 2:32
  they'll go the weekend earlier, which I think is what happened
• 2:35
  last year. Opening weekend was technically
• 2:37
  before Labor Day. It's happening this year again,
• 2:41
  OK, just because again, like the way like you said, it has
• 2:45
  typically been the last week. Well, in more recent years it's
• 2:48
  been the last week in August, which generally also coincides
• 2:52
  with Labor Day, just because it's always the first Monday or
• 2:55
  whatever. But this year, it's Labor Day is
• 2:58
  a little bit later, and they're still maintaining that last week
• 3:00
  in August opening. Gotcha.
• 3:02
  Yeah, which I think is good because people plan for that
• 3:05
  last weekend in August to be opening because there's so many
• 3:09
  people, yourself included, that plan for opening weekend every
• 3:13
  single year. So they can't, they can't break
• 3:14
  away from that too much because you got to plan, you got to plan
• 3:18
  ahead or else all the prices go through the roof.
• 3:20
  So. Especially when it's like a
• 3:23
  yearly tradition for us. We know we always in, we
• 3:25
  actually do not, it's usually opening weekend, but we actually
• 3:29
  pick Labor Day weekend just because that's what works out
• 3:31
  best for our schedules as well as the group that we end up
• 3:34
  going with. But yeah, like we know every
• 3:37
  single year that's that Labor Day weekend is when we're doing
• 3:40
  HHN. So it's very helpful to have.
• 3:42
  So you're right, they have to at least stick within the same time
• 3:45
  frame for for that kick. Yes, absolutely.
• 3:48
  Well, let's talk HHN again. The goal for today is the
• 3:53
  parents guide. So we're going to be talking all
• 3:55
  about kind of if you are taking a a kiddo and I say kiddo very
• 4:00
  loosely because we're really more talking teens, right when
• 4:05
  it comes to that. But the the goal is to kind of
• 4:07
  give you an overview and maybe some things to consider.
• 4:11
  So duck, what do you have for us to start off our parents guide
• 4:14
  to HHN? So before we launch into the
• 4:18
  actual information that we have a really want to emphasize this
• 4:22
  that HHN just and I talk it up all the time.
• 4:25
  We love it, but it is not your local haunt, right?
• 4:29
  As a parent, you need to understand that it is an intense
• 4:33
  and scary experience. So universals official
• 4:39
  recommendation is that it is OK for children 13 and up.
• 4:43
  We know that there's a little bit of wiggle room within that
• 4:46
  age range. Some kids, myself included,
• 4:49
  right? Like I went to many intense
• 4:50
  scary experiences when I was a touch younger than that.
• 4:54
  But that's because my parents knew that I would be OK with it,
• 4:57
  right? Like you, this is an absolute
• 4:59
  case of you need to know your child and I really wouldn't push
• 5:04
  it too much younger than 13, right?
• 5:07
  Like, I want to make that very clear.
• 5:08
  Like we, we talked about it and it's a fantastic event, but it
• 5:11
  is a, an intense Halloween scare fest.
• 5:16
  It it truly is, even when there are some cuter houses, quote UN
• 5:22
  quote, cuter that people feel may contain things that their
• 5:28
  children are interested in. A perfect example, this year
• 5:32
  there's a Stranger Things house. Last year there was a Five
• 5:35
  Nights at Freddy's house, right? Like, I want to make it clear
• 5:37
  that it is those IPS, those intellectual properties, those
• 5:41
  movies are tied into the event, but they are still scary.
• 5:46
  It is still a scary haunted house.
• 5:48
  It's still like cuter scary, right.
• 5:50
  So we out of this and Nightingale's Blood Pit.
• 5:53
  Yeah. Your kids probably going to be
• 5:55
  that, which by the way, it was a real house a couple years ago.
• 5:58
  I didn't just make that up. That was a real house, you know,
• 6:01
  like between those two, yeah, your kids probably going to be
• 6:03
  OK with snap if that's something that they're into, but you.
• 6:08
  But it is still a scary experience.
• 6:10
  Like I want to make that clear. And universals official stances.
• 6:14
  Anybody under 18 has to constantly be supervised by
• 6:19
  somebody who is 21 and older. So you must have an adult shop
• 6:22
  around with anyone who is 18 and under.
• 6:25
  Yeah. And that being said, Universal
• 6:26
  is not going to ask for IDs and check ages like it's not a hard
• 6:31
  13, right? That's just their suggestion.
• 6:35
  But it is a very good suggestion because it is truly like, I
• 6:41
  don't. Here's here's the thing.
• 6:43
  There are a ton of adults, myself included, that don't want
• 6:46
  to go to HHN because it is scary.
• 6:48
  I don't do, I don't do scary, scary, spooky.
• 6:52
  I do like cutesy spooky. Let's be real.
• 6:54
  You all know me. I am very Mickey's not so scary
• 6:58
  Halloween. That's my vibe.
• 7:00
  That's my jam. I have no desire to go to
• 7:03
  Halloween Horror Nights because it looks absolutely terrifying
• 7:06
  and I hate being scared. Yeah, and that's so fair.
• 7:10
  And as much as we talk of this event and we say, Oh my God,
• 7:12
  this is fantastic, we love it. It's a main focus of what we
• 7:16
  talk about on this podcast because Jess and I love
• 7:19
  Universal so much and love Halloween Horror Nights so much.
• 7:22
  It's like a yearly tradition for us now almost actually this,
• 7:26
  this is my beer 10th year, you know, So like, we love this so
• 7:30
  much, but it is really, really important to understand that
• 7:33
  this event is not for everybody, especially for kids, especially
• 7:38
  sensitive kids. I really want to make this clear
• 7:40
  that this isn't like, well, we're going down to the local
• 7:44
  corn maze and there's going to be my son's friends dressed up
• 7:48
  in some skeleton costumes. I mean, this is like, this is
• 7:51
  professional grade horror, like, right?
• 7:54
  You know, your children best. But I do want to make it clear
• 7:57
  that this is an intense, intentionally scary experience.
• 8:01
  Yes, absolutely. So we've got that kind of
• 8:04
  disclaimer, very lengthy disclaimer, but much needed
• 8:07
  disclaimer out of the way and out there for all of you that
• 8:11
  are listening. But let's talk about just.
• 8:13
  What? What is HHN?
• 8:15
  Where did it come from? What actually is it?
• 8:19
  Well, if you want the detailed history of HHN, I'm.
• 8:22
  Straight, we don't need to go that we don't need to go that we
• 8:25
  have. That discussed previously, so on
• 8:27
  a prior episode, just go dig through the catalog with this
• 8:30
  was true, yes, but like the very high level understanding of what
• 8:34
  HHN is. For the uninitiated, HHN is
• 8:38
  Halloween Horror Nights, which is an after hours ticketed event
• 8:42
  that Universal puts on. When we're talking about it,
• 8:45
  we're specifically talking about Universal Studios Florida
• 8:48
  because that's just our Home Park for a lack of better term.
• 8:52
  It is also put on in Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal
• 8:56
  Studios Japan. So Universal Studios Japan is
• 9:00
  like an entity unto itself. They have very different houses
• 9:04
  and very different rules and what have you.
• 9:06
  There is generally some unity between Hollywood and Florida.
• 9:11
  Some of the houses are often different, but the general rules
• 9:14
  and recommendations for 13 and up are still the same between
• 9:18
  those two parks. So as the name implies, it is a
• 9:22
  Halloween themed event. It is essentially made-up of two
• 9:27
  components. There are the houses and there
• 9:30
  are what's called scare zones. So the house is, if you look up
• 9:34
  anything online, it's themed haunted houses, right?
• 9:37
  Some people still call them mazes, but they're not like a
• 9:40
  corn maze where you're going to get lost.
• 9:41
  That's just the traditional name for, for a haunt like this.
• 9:45
  So it is basically a long collection of like hallways with
• 9:50
  large set pieces and scare actors who will jump out and
• 9:54
  scream in your face. They they will get you.
• 9:56
  They got, they get me good every year.
• 9:58
  I've jumped like 10 feet in the air before and got laughed at
• 10:00
  and it's very fun. But these these houses, I've,
• 10:05
  I've quite a few stories about that.
• 10:06
  But so these houses, they can either be original, like I was
• 10:10
  half kidding about Nightingale's blood pit.
• 10:12
  That's very much was a real thing, or they could be based on
• 10:16
  already existing intellectual properties.
• 10:18
  Like I said before, Five Nights at Freddy's, they've had
• 10:21
  Ghostbusters before and this year they're actually doing a
• 10:24
  Hellraiser house to give you an idea of the eyepiece that they
• 10:27
  select and the wide range, right?
• 10:29
  It's like classic horror movies. It's more modern stuff, do a
• 10:33
  whole gambit of things. The second part to this is the
• 10:36
  scare zones. So scare zones, I kind of
• 10:39
  explained them like they're houses without containment
• 10:42
  because it's essentially areas of the parks walkway that are
• 10:46
  also have large theme set pieces and scare actors like walking
• 10:52
  and running around and also popping out at you.
• 10:54
  And it's often pumped that with like the very fun thick fog,
• 10:58
  right? Like the studio fog or the stage
• 11:01
  fog rather. These can also be themes or they
• 11:04
  can be original. More often than not they're
• 11:06
  original, but we've had some themed ones before.
• 11:09
  We've had like, I think one of the first years that we went
• 11:11
  there was a Rob Zombie theme scare zone and they've had like
• 11:15
  a Zombieland theme scare zone, but these are usually original.
• 11:18
  Yeah. I think the thing that's so
• 11:20
  interesting about HHN is that it it's truly immersive.
• 11:26
  Regardless of where you are in the event, there are a few
• 11:31
  limited quote UN quote safe zones, which we'll talk more
• 11:35
  about some other things regarding that here in a little
• 11:38
  bit where you are not in a house and you're not in a scare zone,
• 11:43
  right. But generally speaking, you walk
• 11:46
  through the gates and you are like you are in, yeah, game on,
• 11:54
  like you are in an area that you can be scared or you're headed
• 11:57
  to a line to wait for an area that you could be scared in.
• 12:01
  So it's it's truly immersive across the entire theme park.
• 12:06
  And in fact, it used to be that you literally physically walked
• 12:10
  through the gates into the first scare zone.
• 12:13
  It's set up a little bit differently now that Minions is
• 12:15
  the first thing that you walk into because Minions was like,
• 12:18
  no, now you're not going to put torture fair outside of the
• 12:23
  minion. I thought, fine, why not, right,
• 12:26
  And basically everybody was like, but it's how it's always
• 12:29
  been, right? What are you talking about?
• 12:32
  So there is it is now instead, when you walk in there usually
• 12:35
  have something there, right, like a little minion or monster
• 12:41
  or if there's an icon for that year, which by the way, when I
• 12:44
  say icon for those who might not be familiar, that's usually sort
• 12:48
  of like the poster child's character, their original
• 12:50
  characters that usually come back every couple of years, what
• 12:54
  have you. But they'll have like the icon
• 12:55
  putting on a little stage show right when you walk in.
• 12:58
  So you're right, Jackie, from the second that you walk through
• 13:00
  those gates, it dude, it's game on.
• 13:03
  It's scare zone Palooza like it is.
• 13:06
  There is, there is. We'll talk.
• 13:07
  A little bit about it. So if you as a parent, like
• 13:10
  you're bringing your kid and your kid wants to get freaked
• 13:12
  out, but you want none of that, there is things that you can do
• 13:15
  to alleviate that. So I don't want to scare
• 13:17
  everybody off, but I do want to be upfront about the reality
• 13:21
  that it is. It totally transforms the park
• 13:24
  at night. Yeah, And I think one of the
• 13:26
  other big draws for the event is that it changes, right?
• 13:31
  So many local haunts or so many other theme parks that do
• 13:35
  Halloween events that are similar to this, but like on a
• 13:38
  much smaller scale. A lot of local places, like I
• 13:41
  know where Kings Island is, my local park, they do gardens
• 13:45
  exactly like they do those events, but they're smaller
• 13:50
  scale, right? The thing about universals is it
• 13:54
  changes like Duck said, they may rotate some of these icons or
• 13:57
  some of the themes like they've done Stranger Things before.
• 14:00
  This is going to be a different Stranger Things this time, but
• 14:04
  it changes year to year. So that's part of the fun of
• 14:07
  like, oh, I wonder what they're going to come up with this year.
• 14:09
  I wonder what, you know, IP or what original content or this
• 14:13
  year I believe is a big like anniversary year that we're
• 14:17
  we're hearing from the head. Yeah.
• 14:19
  So they're bringing back a lot of the like previous icons and
• 14:22
  things like that. See look, I'm learning things.
• 14:24
  Aren't you proud of? Me, I'm talking to you enough
• 14:28
  about this. Of the last however long we've
• 14:30
  done this podcast, you pick some stuff up.
• 14:32
  Right, right. Exactly.
• 14:33
  So I think that's another big draw also.
• 14:37
  So if you know, if you look at the list of things for this year
• 14:41
  and you're like, none of that really interests us, none of it
• 14:44
  looks like things that my kids will like, stay tuned for next
• 14:47
  year because it does change year to year to year.
• 14:49
  Yeah. No, that's a, that's a really
• 14:51
  good point. And that's actually why we go
• 14:52
  back because every year it's completely different.
• 14:55
  The only things that stay the same are the locations where
• 14:58
  they host each of these things, right?
• 15:00
  They have the sound stages that are set up to accommodate this
• 15:04
  as well as like a couple of they're called tents, but
• 15:08
  they're more like modular buildings with canvas over them.
• 15:13
  But you're right that it's a really good point that if you
• 15:15
  don't think your kids going to love Hellraiser this year,
• 15:19
  Hellraiser is not coming back next year.
• 15:21
  So you can you can maybe wait a little bit and see subsequent
• 15:25
  years. You know what, what if there's
• 15:28
  more houses that your kid might be interested in or more scare
• 15:32
  zones that they're interested in?
• 15:33
  That's a really great point. Yeah.
• 15:35
  And I will mention again like Doug talked about, we went into
• 15:39
  more detail about HHN about a a year ago almost at this point I
• 15:45
  think through. Like last.
• 15:47
  August yeah, when we went through our like full in depth
• 15:50
  Universal series. So like if you want more in
• 15:53
  depth, we're going to give you the overview and like focus more
• 15:55
  on like bringing your team for the first time.
• 15:58
  But if you want like more in depth, hop back to that episode
• 16:03
  because we did go through everything pretty in depthly
• 16:05
  over there. That being said, I am going to
• 16:08
  briefly talk about the tickets as.
• 16:12
  Briefly as anyone can talk about universal ticketing situation.
• 16:15
  Right, exactly it Universal is just well known for having
• 16:20
  10,000 different combination options, even more than Disney
• 16:24
  does. So just like their typical
• 16:27
  ticketing system, there are still that many systems and or
• 16:31
  options and add-ons for Halloween Horror Nights.
• 16:34
  They have also changed some of the procedures for this year,
• 16:39
  mostly around what constitutes getting you early entry into the
• 16:45
  area that you want to go to. But.
• 16:47
  I'm sorry to totally cut you off on this, but they have actually
• 16:50
  entirely changed the way that the early access is going to be
• 16:53
  set up. Not just like how you gain
• 16:56
  access, but also the way that the early access functions
• 17:00
  because they are starting way earlier this year than they
• 17:03
  ever. Have interest?
• 17:05
  Yeah, so I'll let you get into the spiel about your faggots.
• 17:07
  But that is, I do want to bring it up because it comes up every
• 17:10
  time because they've been tweaking this for a number of
• 17:12
  years. So it's a little different year
• 17:14
  to year. But if you're listening to this
• 17:16
  in 2026 from various social clarifying social media posts
• 17:21
  that I, I verified as of 10 AM this morning, they are, they
• 17:26
  have officially changed the way that the early entry stuff works
• 17:30
  and, and how early the early stuff works.
• 17:32
  So we'll walk into it. Yes.
• 17:34
  So are they doing wristbands again Because wristbands were
• 17:37
  new last year? So they are doing wristbands.
• 17:41
  They are also changing the time that all the early stuff starts.
• 17:45
  So we'll talk, we'll talk about baby tickets and then we'll get
• 17:47
  into the the add-ons. One thing, one thing at a time.
• 17:50
  I know I'm getting ahead of myself.
• 17:52
  Stop spending your money this quickly, Jackie, and you're
• 17:55
  desperate to get into these houses as quickly as possible.
• 17:59
  That is, that is the complete opposite.
• 18:01
  I am desperate to run the other way.
• 18:03
  But let's talk about tickets. I'm going to, I'm going to
• 18:05
  kidnap Pinhead for the both of us.
• 18:07
  Don't worry about it. OK, have fun with that.
• 18:13
  So let's talk about tickets because there are a couple
• 18:16
  options that you can get. There are, of course, just like
• 18:18
  your regular standard base ticket for Halloween Horror
• 18:20
  Nights. Again, this is a separate
• 18:22
  ticketed event, so you have to buy a specific Halloween Horror
• 18:25
  Nights ticket. You cannot just buy a Universal
• 18:28
  ticket for the day you want to go to HHN.
• 18:32
  So there are those base tickets that you'll need to purchase
• 18:36
  that again along with any of the other add-ons that we're going
• 18:38
  to talk about. The first add on is called
• 18:41
  Scream Early. So this will allow you to enter
• 18:45
  Universal Studios Florida starting at 2:00 PM.
• 18:48
  The events does not start at 2:00 PM, but this ticket will
• 18:52
  allow you entry at 2:00 PM. This is This is where I'm saying
• 18:56
  it's different because the way that it used to be was you could
• 19:02
  buy the scream early, add on, which would let you in a little
• 19:06
  bit early. It was usually 3:00 PM.
• 19:08
  You could go ride the Mummy 47 times or how many times you
• 19:11
  could fit that right in. And then starting between like
• 19:15
  4, like 4:00 and 4:30, you could go in line knocking these
• 19:19
  corralled areas and select houses would then open right as
• 19:24
  the event opens, usually a little early like 4:45.
• 19:27
  And that would let you go and run back and knock out some of
• 19:30
  the bigger, more popular houses early in the night.
• 19:34
  However, what is happening now is if you have an annual pass a
• 19:42
  day ticket to Universal Studios Florida.
• 19:45
  I want to be clear, Florida not Islands of adventure or you buy
• 19:49
  this scream early add on as early as 2:00 PM they are
• 19:54
  starting to run these houses. Wow.
• 19:58
  And yes, thank you a huge, huge deal.
• 20:01
  Now this was again, I'm not kidding.
• 20:03
  Like I, I saw it be clarified and several social media posts
• 20:08
  as it like between last night and this morning, because there
• 20:10
  was a lot of confusion around it.
• 20:12
  But they have confirmed to several people.
• 20:16
  That I saw like probably a dozen screenshots throughout various
• 20:19
  places that as long as you have access to the park and a ticket
• 20:24
  to HHN you will be allowed to enter.
• 20:29
  They're saying at least three houses.
• 20:31
  I'm guessing they're waiting to see how popular things are.
• 20:35
  They may open up more houses my around like very busy times, but
• 20:39
  starting at 2:00 PM, they are opening at least as early as
• 20:44
  2:00 PM. They're opening at least three
• 20:47
  houses. I want to be very clear with
• 20:48
  that wording because that may mean that they're not opening it
• 20:51
  at 2:00 PM every single day, but they will be opening it early to
• 20:55
  people who have physically been able to access the park and have
• 20:59
  a Halloween Horror Nights ticket.
• 21:01
  Now, you're right, Jackie, you still need to get that wristband
• 21:04
  to prove that you're supposed to be in that location.
• 21:08
  Wristbands are usually given out like towards the front of the
• 21:09
  park. There's a couple places that
• 21:11
  they'll give them out, but as long as you have access to the
• 21:14
  park and a valid Halloween Horror Nights ticket for that
• 21:18
  day, you can start enjoying some of these select houses very,
• 21:23
  very early in the day. Well, and that's a game changer,
• 21:26
  especially when we're talking about taking teens for the first
• 21:29
  time, right? Because that is going to be a
• 21:33
  much lower number of people that are accessing the houses at that
• 21:38
  time. And what I really liked about
• 21:42
  this and why I'm happy that this sort of happened as we're doing
• 21:45
  this episode, is it really gives you the chance to expose your
• 21:49
  kid to what the what the house is going to be like, right?
• 21:52
  Like, sure, maybe not every scare actor is going to be in
• 21:56
  the house. So maybe it'll be like a touch
• 21:58
  less intense, but you're going to get the general vibe of
• 22:00
  having somebody pop out and scream in your face.
• 22:02
  You know what I mean? Like that's going to be that's
• 22:04
  going to be the experience that you're having here and not
• 22:06
  really as a parent gives you the ability if you need to, to, to
• 22:11
  change tactics here, right? Like maybe you were going to go
• 22:14
  really hard on all the houses and maybe your kid got you.
• 22:17
  I'm scared by the wolf man. And you were like apartment and
• 22:19
  the kid was like, no, I'm not doing this.
• 22:21
  I got it. I got to get out of here.
• 22:22
  I'm not happy about it. Well, then you can focus on
• 22:24
  food, or you can focus on scare zones, or you can just take in
• 22:27
  the atmosphere. You can take a ton of photos.
• 22:30
  You can still enjoy the event, but it gives you much more time
• 22:33
  to be able to pivot that plan. So I know a lot of people have
• 22:36
  mixed feelings about this, but like from the perspective of
• 22:40
  somebody going for the first time and especially taking a
• 22:42
  teenager for the first time, I think this is a fantastic
• 22:45
  option. And it gives you more time in
• 22:48
  the daylight to experience it before it gets dark, because it
• 22:53
  has a totally different feel, right?
• 22:55
  Even if you're walking through scare zones that don't have
• 22:57
  scare actors because they didn't talk about scare zones, right.
• 23:01
  They just talked about houses at this early yes.
• 23:04
  So it but it will give you the ability to go through where the
• 23:08
  scare zones are because you're going to be able to see the
• 23:11
  structures where everything is set up like.
• 23:14
  The diet carp over the coffin isn't really pulling.
• 23:17
  No, it's not at all. Like literally there's already
• 23:20
  stuff going up for HHN like daily now, right?
• 23:24
  And we're well over a month and a half away from HHN starting.
• 23:30
  But it's going to give you the ability to walk through those
• 23:33
  areas and and talk to your kiddo about, hey, this is what this
• 23:37
  is, this is what's going to happen.
• 23:38
  This is this area, this is your safe zone.
• 23:41
  This is where you can go. That's outside of a scare zone.
• 23:44
  Like you can talk through all of that with being able to see it
• 23:47
  all, which I think is huge because like even me, like if I
• 23:51
  were ever to consider going to HHNI want to be there when it's
• 23:55
  still daylight outside. I don't want to be there in the
• 23:58
  dark for sure. That's totally fair.
• 24:01
  And it allows you as a, as a parent, like you said, to have
• 24:06
  those conversations of, OK, hey, here's what, here's what's going
• 24:09
  to happen. You could you yourself as a
• 24:11
  parent can pull up some videos. You can get a sense, right?
• 24:14
  Because this is always all over social media.
• 24:15
  The moment that open at night hits.
• 24:17
  In fact, there's, there's like the preview tickets that they'll
• 24:20
  usually sell for like the unlimited night or whatever they
• 24:22
  call it now. So like quite literally, and
• 24:26
  probably like a month from when this podcast is going up, we'll
• 24:29
  start seeing a lot more HHN content and we'll probably start
• 24:33
  seeing previews of some of these nights.
• 24:35
  And so are some of these areas. So you as a parent can look it
• 24:38
  up, You can have an understanding of what each care
• 24:40
  zone looks like, how it works, what each house kind of looks
• 24:43
  like. Cuz certain media entities are
• 24:46
  allowed to film in the house. Not you.
• 24:48
  You listening to this. Do not let your child film
• 24:50
  inside the house. They will take that cell phone.
• 24:52
  Yep. Don't do it.
• 24:53
  Do not. Care they will not.
• 24:54
  They do not tolerate it fairly. So, you know, but I, I really, a
• 24:59
  lot of people have mixed feelings about this.
• 25:00
  I like this a lot. I think this is a really great
• 25:03
  opportunity, again, especially as a first timer and a parent,
• 25:06
  bringing your kid to walk the kids through what's going to
• 25:08
  happen to let them get the exposure.
• 25:10
  And then they're still going out into the daylight.
• 25:12
  So even if they were a little freaked out, they still got to
• 25:14
  enjoy the haunted house and they're going out into the
• 25:16
  daylight to feel better about the whole situation.
• 25:18
  So I'm a huge fan of this. Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:21
  And if you're somebody who's listening to this and you're
• 25:24
  closer to your trip, highly recommend following our good
• 25:27
  friend work at Walrus Carp because he does a ton of HHN
• 25:32
  content. Also our good friend Lem at Live
• 25:35
  Laugh Lem, he also does a ton of HHN content.
• 25:39
  So checking out both of them to see what they've covered.
• 25:43
  They're already both covering HHN on you know, we're recording
• 25:47
  this July 9th so and they've been covering it for several
• 25:51
  weeks already. So go check out their stuff
• 25:54
  because they will have probably the info that you're looking for
• 25:58
  for being able to prep your kid for that.
• 26:01
  OK, let's get back to tickets now that we kind of.
• 26:04
  Went over that, but that was no, I really wanted to clarify
• 26:08
  because if you look this up, you're going to get a bunch of
• 26:10
  conflicting information because it's been different in past
• 26:13
  years. This is the first time they're
• 26:14
  doing it and they are just only now, again, it's July 9th as
• 26:18
  we're recording this. They are just now clarifying to
• 26:21
  people what this means. So it's confusing.
• 26:24
  If you guys have questions about how to, what the add-ons all
• 26:27
  mean, what the restrictions are, please message us.
• 26:29
  We'll be happy to walk you through it.
• 26:31
  Yes, and again, noting that scare zones aren't starting that
• 26:35
  early, food is not starting that early.
• 26:37
  It is just those limited houses that they have yet to announce.
• 26:41
  So a lot of that is still up in the air.
• 26:42
  A lot of that could change between now and a month from
• 26:46
  now. So keep your eye out.
• 26:48
  And again, like Duck said, message us if you've got
• 26:50
  additional questions for that. But let's talk about the other
• 26:52
  kind of options that you have. So we talked about your standard
• 26:56
  base ticket. We talked about the scream early
• 26:58
  option. The other option for an add on
• 27:01
  that you have for your tickets is an express pass.
• 27:03
  So you can do express passes for HHN.
• 27:08
  It is not the same as your express pass that you get for
• 27:12
  your standard day ticket. It is an HHN exclusive express
• 27:16
  pass. It is A1 and done express pass.
• 27:18
  So we've talked about the different kinds of that before.
• 27:20
  This is a 1 and done. They are very pricey, however it
• 27:27
  may be something you want to consider if you are like 1000%
• 27:31
  confident that the houses are your kiddos like sole focus and
• 27:36
  reason for going because those lines get very very long.
• 27:41
  Upwards of two hours, I've seen, I've seen three hour waves for
• 27:44
  houses. I mean, like especially as you
• 27:46
  get closer to Halloween and it gets busier, especially on the
• 27:49
  weekends, right? Like that's also part of the
• 27:51
  reason why we go when we go early in the season because it's
• 27:54
  less crowded. Well, we started doing that
• 27:56
  before we did what we'll talk about in a minute, which is the
• 28:00
  RIP tour, which I just love that, you know what I mean?
• 28:03
  But that was the way that we could also maximize what we were
• 28:07
  doing with the time and budget that we had when we started
• 28:10
  going, you know what I mean? I mean, earlier in the season,
• 28:12
  lower house weights, we're going to be able to knock out all of
• 28:15
  all of this with, we did couple houses with a basic pass.
• 28:19
  Then the next year we were like, all right, we're going to add on
• 28:21
  the express pass. And with the Express pass, if
• 28:23
  you're determined, you'll knock out all of them without issue
• 28:25
  through the night. So if your kid is fully in on
• 28:29
  the houses, the express pass, excuse me, the Express pass
• 28:32
  really could be a worthy investment, but it's not cheap
• 28:35
  that isn't. Right and I will mention also
• 28:39
  you've heard us talk to our good friend Kirk about his new theme
• 28:43
  park app mode. I highly, highly suggest if you
• 28:47
  are going with your at all to AJ 10, especially if you're going
• 28:51
  with your teenager download mode because they will have the house
• 28:56
  wait times included on your map. Universal doesn't even do that.
• 29:00
  They will also have all of the food menus loaded in.
• 29:02
  If you are someone that needs or once the ability to search or
• 29:06
  you've got dietary things that you need to be able to kind of
• 29:09
  filter out. Highly, highly suggest Mode MOWD
• 29:13
  in the Apple App Store or on the Google Play Store.
• 29:16
  Again, you've heard us talk about this app before.
• 29:18
  It is really a game changer. Highly suggest it specifically
• 29:21
  for HN but also just in general, so keep that in mind.
• 29:24
  Especially the house weights are are really key to planning.
• 29:28
  Yeah, we're not recommending this as if you like zigzagging
• 29:31
  across the park to maximize every possible house and get
• 29:34
  each done 4 times, right? That's not what this is.
• 29:37
  But it is still really helpful to have an understanding of, OK,
• 29:40
  if I eat now and wait 10 minutes, then I know that the
• 29:45
  Stranger Things house might be double the wait time, but it's
• 29:47
  only a 45 now, so I got to go run.
• 29:49
  You know that kind of that sort of planning and decision making.
• 29:53
  Exactly, exactly. OK.
• 29:55
  Last thing about kind of tickets and add-ons and things like that
• 29:58
  is they also have three different types of tours that
• 30:01
  you can do at HHN. So there are two different
• 30:05
  versions of the RIP tour that you heard Duck mentioned just a
• 30:08
  little bit ago. There is a public version of it
• 30:11
  and then there is a private version of it, which I'll get to
• 30:14
  that in just a moment. And then there is the unmasking
• 30:17
  tour that they offer. So the unmasking tour requires
• 30:21
  daytime park tickets, so access to the park before right?
• 30:27
  But it is basically like you're behind the scenes tour of the
• 30:32
  houses and they don't correct me if I'm wrong, they don't do
• 30:35
  everything, but they do a lot of it.
• 30:37
  They will do the last year. I haven't checked for this year
• 30:41
  but last year they did. I think it was 3-4 and six house
• 30:46
  offerings. So you can either see three,
• 30:49
  which is usually like the most popular.
• 30:50
  Like this year it'll probably be like Stranger Things,
• 30:52
  Hellraiser, and then maybe one of the originals, and then the
• 30:56
  Four, it will be like one of the other more popular ones, maybe
• 30:59
  Sinners. And then the six is almost all
• 31:02
  of them, right? So I assume the offerings will
• 31:05
  be similar this year. Right, so this option is really,
• 31:08
  really good if your kiddo is feeling a little nervous and
• 31:13
  maybe would do well with having the understanding of how the
• 31:17
  things are set up and like how they work, right?
• 31:20
  Because that'll give them a little bit more confidence to go
• 31:23
  in, help alleviate some anxiety. And is also just like a cool way
• 31:28
  to look at how it's run. And like if your kiddo is really
• 31:31
  into haunts and haunted houses and stuff like that is a really
• 31:35
  good way to show them the behind the scenes.
• 31:38
  And then later that night, let them or another night, depending
• 31:42
  on your schedule, like let them go through the haunted house.
• 31:45
  I think that's fun. Yeah, I had friends that ran the
• 31:48
  haunted house here in town. We had a 4H haunted house.
• 31:51
  They still run it, but I had friends that helped run it and
• 31:55
  like I could only help but think about them for this.
• 31:57
  You know what I mean? Like how how much they would
• 32:00
  have loved to do like a behind the scenes tour and then like
• 32:03
  maybe take some of those tricks back to their local haunt or
• 32:05
  whatever, right? Like I'm totally with you, if
• 32:07
  your kid is interested in like, you know, like practical effects
• 32:12
  or special effects makeup or just like generally into haunts
• 32:16
  and haunted houses. It's really cool.
• 32:18
  They show you a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, a lot
• 32:20
  of the way to do the tricks, a lot of the explanation behind
• 32:24
  like the house design and things like that.
• 32:26
  It's a it's a very good tour. And you get some more additional
• 32:29
  like back story with some of those two, which is also fun
• 32:33
  because in previous years, and I again, I, I am not the HHN
• 32:38
  expert, but I know in previous, previous years there have been
• 32:41
  some like houses that like tie in together or there's like
• 32:44
  little hidden things in all of the houses that you can look for
• 32:47
  or different tie insurance like that, that a lot of people get
• 32:50
  through those unmasking tours to show them all the different
• 32:55
  little hidden secrets and stuff too.
• 32:58
  Yeah, the lore dumps that come with these tours are like,
• 33:01
  frankly invaluable to the experience, in my opinion.
• 33:04
  That really gives you, like, a deeper appreciation, an
• 33:08
  understanding of just like, how much love and care goes into
• 33:10
  this event. Truly.
• 33:12
  Yeah. And you also get that at the
• 33:14
  other tours that we talked about.
• 33:15
  So let's talk about the RIP tours.
• 33:17
  So RIP is basically your VIP equivalent at HHN right?
• 33:22
  Cute little cute. Little pun on that there.
• 33:27
  And basically with this, you also get access to a lounge,
• 33:31
  which is super fun, food and soft drinks, free food and free
• 33:34
  soft drinks are included with that.
• 33:36
  And you also get front of the line access to each house.
• 33:39
  So that is alone a crazy good deal to get right.
• 33:46
  So they do have the public version and the private version.
• 33:49
  The public version has a set itinerary and hits each house
• 33:53
  once. The private tour lets you kind
• 33:56
  of be in charge of what you want to do.
• 34:00
  They do have different price points and we went over all of
• 34:02
  that before and there's certain limitations with like how many
• 34:05
  people and if you have a group for the private tour, then you
• 34:07
  can split it amongst up to like 10 people and all of that.
• 34:10
  So if you want more information on that, check out our old
• 34:14
  episodes, go to the Universal website because it's a lot of
• 34:17
  you could do this or you could do that or you could do this
• 34:19
  combination or this is your option.
• 34:21
  We're not getting into all the details today, but both of them
• 34:25
  are a really great option if that's within your budget and
• 34:28
  you want some more flexibility and the ability to not only have
• 34:34
  access to food and soft drinks, but then be able to go to the
• 34:37
  front of the line. Yeah, and again, like just to
• 34:41
  reiterate what we were saying before, you get so much
• 34:44
  information, if you get a good tour guide, which there are,
• 34:47
  they're all good tour guides. Some are just like absolutely
• 34:50
  Uber fantastic. We've had some excellent,
• 34:52
  excellent, excellent tour guides because it's generally who they
• 34:55
  put on HHN. But like you get so much more
• 34:59
  information. You will stop outside of each
• 35:01
  house. Your tour guide will tell you
• 35:03
  the background of the house. They will explain the story if
• 35:06
  there's a tie in to like you said, many of these things,
• 35:11
  these especially the original houses in the scare zones have
• 35:14
  like lore and back story and locations and characters that
• 35:17
  are recurring that tie this all together.
• 35:20
  And you really, really get that with the tour guides.
• 35:22
  The tour guides are fantastic. They're extremely knowledgeable
• 35:26
  and they are like very happy and excited to share that
• 35:29
  information with you. So if there's like a fun secret
• 35:32
  or an Easter egg or, or lore based connections, they will
• 35:37
  share that with you at the beginning of each house.
• 35:39
  And I also do want to point out, I, I, we had said that it do you
• 35:44
  get from the line access to the house.
• 35:45
  And that's true, but you will also be brought through each
• 35:47
  scare zone. There's like a designated path
• 35:50
  that on the public tour you'll follow, you know, so that way
• 35:54
  you get exposed to everything. And like I said on the private
• 35:56
  tour, you just kind of do what you will.
• 35:59
  Now, did those tours last you the entirety of the ticketed
• 36:03
  event or are they shorter than and you have like extra time
• 36:06
  after? Because I don't know that for
• 36:08
  sure. The public one is.
• 36:13
  I think it's technically five hours, so it will be from the
• 36:17
  beginning of the event. The event goes until 1:00 AM.
• 36:21
  Two AM depends on what what day you're going and time of year
• 36:25
  and whatever gets a little bit later as you go go through
• 36:28
  closer to Halloween. So the private one will get you.
• 36:35
  I'm sorry. The public one will end before
• 36:37
  the event ends like you will still have.
• 36:40
  I think it's usually 3 hours or two hours to walk around with
• 36:43
  your. They've done it this way in the
• 36:45
  past. I don't know if this still holds
• 36:47
  true with your public RIP tour. You will also get given an
• 36:51
  express pass, so that way you will be able to go.
• 36:54
  Your lanyard will service an express pass.
• 36:56
  So even after you're done with the tour, you will be able to
• 36:58
  join the express pass line. I still think it's once for each
• 37:02
  house. So even after that's done, you
• 37:04
  can go back and hit houses. You still have to wait.
• 37:06
  You have to wait in line. Now it's the express line, which
• 37:08
  is much faster. For the private tours, it sort
• 37:13
  of depends the way that your tour guide runs it.
• 37:16
  Because we've had them, they have to like take union mandated
• 37:21
  breaks, which like I'm all about absolutely taking contractual
• 37:23
  breaks. So some tour guides have opted
• 37:26
  to take the take their breaks and leave us a certain like an
• 37:30
  hour early because that will be like their dinner break and
• 37:33
  their 15 minutes or whatever. So then we can go and explore
• 37:36
  the rest of the scare zones in the park and by March or
• 37:39
  whatever. And some of them will stay with
• 37:41
  us until essentially like midnight or 12:30.
• 37:44
  So like almost to the end of the event, but it just depends on
• 37:48
  how they're taking their breaks and, and what have you.
• 37:51
  So that's a little bit more tour guide dependent than the public
• 37:54
  one, which still gives you like 2:00-ish hours to roam the event
• 37:58
  once you're done. Yeah, that's great that you
• 38:00
  still have the ability with either of them to access houses
• 38:04
  even after your quote UN quote official tour through, you know,
• 38:09
  the the entire event is done. That's really nice for for the
• 38:12
  amount because they're not cheap.
• 38:13
  Like don't get us wrong, it's not a cheap option to do.
• 38:16
  You have to budget accordingly and you have to plan for that.
• 38:19
  But it's nice that your money truly gets you access basically
• 38:25
  the entire event, which is nice. Yeah, for what it is, it
• 38:30
  especially if you, like us are only able to go one night,
• 38:34
  right. Like we just don't have
• 38:35
  unlimited time and airfare is very expensive.
• 38:39
  We do not live in Florida, so it can be tough for us to get down
• 38:42
  there. So by scheduling this to be like
• 38:45
  our one end all be all HHN night, we really want to
• 38:49
  maximize it and therefore it's expensive.
• 38:51
  But we do spring for the private RIP tour with a bunch of friends
• 38:55
  of ours and so again, it's pricey, but it could be a worthy
• 38:59
  option if this is like your one and only night that you have
• 39:02
  available for you and your kiddo.
• 39:04
  Yeah, for sure. So those are kind of your
• 39:06
  options. Sorry, that was a very lengthy
• 39:08
  explanation that we didn't intend to be that lengthy, but
• 39:10
  you know, here we are so. I've never been brief about
• 39:14
  anything. This is this is so true and I
• 39:17
  love you for it. I love you for it.
• 39:19
  I. Just love to, yeah, that's why
• 39:21
  I'm here. Yes.
• 39:22
  So all of those are your options.
• 39:24
  Again, if you need help deciphering like what makes
• 39:26
  sense for you, reach out to us like Duck would love to talk you
• 39:30
  through all of these options and figure out what it is that best
• 39:34
  suits your group and your needs. So definitely to talk about
• 39:39
  this, yes, OK, so now that we know kind of how to get there
• 39:43
  and what our options are, what do we do if we let's say we're
• 39:46
  not doing a tour, right, we're not doing the the Super pricey
• 39:51
  bougie fancy version of Access. We're just we're we're Joe Schmo
• 39:57
  in it over here. What do we do?
• 40:00
  The thing that we repeat through every time that we are saying is
• 40:04
  have a plan, right? Anytime we talk about any event
• 40:07
  or going into any park, we always say have a plan.
• 40:13
  But I'm going to tell you for HHN, you need a second plan and
• 40:17
  you need a third plan because everybody has a good plan until
• 40:22
  the wolf man jumps out and punches them in the face or
• 40:24
  however that phrase goes. Right, That's close enough for
• 40:27
  our purposes. He won't.
• 40:28
  He won't actually punch you in the face.
• 40:30
  It's OK he won't. He won't.
• 40:32
  No. They can't touch you.
• 40:33
  They can't touch you. I want to.
• 40:34
  I don't think we said that they can't touch you.
• 40:35
  They'll get real close, but they can't touch you.
• 40:37
  Yes. So I think we've made it clear
• 40:40
  AJ 10 is pricey and it gets really, really, really busy,
• 40:44
  especially as you go on later in the season.
• 40:46
  So our general advice of like pick the most important thing to
• 40:52
  you and your party, I think that still holds true.
• 40:56
  But again, you need to be flexible here.
• 41:00
  It might not go to plan. So all right, we're going to run
• 41:03
  through like a theoretical steps to take as you're analyzing
• 41:07
  this, right? Assuming this is your first time
• 41:09
  and you are trying to tackle one of the houses right at the gate,
• 41:13
  right? You know, you and your kid,
• 41:15
  we're going to try the house. We don't know how it's going to
• 41:17
  go, but we're going to try it. I suggest that you try one of
• 41:21
  the friendlier IPS, right? Like I don't think you should go
• 41:24
  right for Hellraiser. You probably should start with
• 41:27
  Stranger Things because it is, is generally cute, scary, right?
• 41:32
  Like the Ghostbusters house in the past was cute, scary, still
• 41:36
  scary or still still people getting in your face, still lots
• 41:39
  of things going on, but it it's it's a a it's the Bunny hill, if
• 41:46
  you will. You're not going triple black
• 41:47
  diamond yet. You're starting at the Bunny
• 41:49
  hill. Yep.
• 41:50
  So from there you can kind of make the determination of how
• 41:55
  are we feeling, right? Like if that, if your kid did
• 41:58
  great with the houses, then maybe you go on to another
• 42:02
  house. If your kid was kind of iffy on
• 42:05
  the houses and was like, I liked it, but like I'm not as like a
• 42:08
  little much. Maybe you prioritize scare
• 42:11
  zones, right? Like that's what I'm saying when
• 42:12
  like you kind of need to have an idea and an understanding of,
• 42:15
  OK, if this doesn't work out, where are we going?
• 42:17
  If your kid also doesn't like scare zones, then maybe you just
• 42:21
  focus on a food crawl, right? Because that's also a totally
• 42:25
  valid way to enjoy HHN. Maybe your kid doesn't like
• 42:29
  things jumping out at them, but they like the spooky vibe and
• 42:32
  they like watching people get scared in the scare zones, but
• 42:36
  they want to experience that from afar every house.
• 42:39
  Yet they're like, I don't like being scared, but it's funny
• 42:43
  watching people just fussy. Yeah, right.
• 42:45
  Was like completely valid, you know, like maybe maybe it just
• 42:49
  like this whole thing was not the in your face experience
• 42:52
  wasn't for them. You can still enjoy the
• 42:54
  atmosphere. You can walk around.
• 42:56
  Every house has a corresponding food booth.
• 43:00
  So maybe if your kid didn't want to do stranger things or
• 43:05
  sinners, but still really likes those properties and wants to
• 43:08
  check out something related to it, they can get a themed food
• 43:11
  item from that, right. So like, they're not missing out
• 43:14
  on the experience, they're not feeling left out just because
• 43:17
  they were a little too spooked to continue with the high
• 43:20
  intensity scares. There are still ways that they
• 43:23
  can enjoy it while observing the Spooks without necessarily being
• 43:28
  a part of the scares, if that makes sense.
• 43:31
  Yeah, absolutely. And I do think something worth
• 43:33
  considering really truly, again, I know we talked about it being
• 43:36
  expensive, but I really think getting that scream early access
• 43:41
  is going to be crucial. If you've got a kiddo that is
• 43:45
  kind of on the bubble, maybe maybe they think they're ready
• 43:48
  and you're not sure if they're ready as their parent.
• 43:51
  If you're able to do that, I think that is going to give you
• 43:54
  so much more room to breathe in between these experiences and
• 43:59
  not make you feel like you have to rush through it and you and,
• 44:03
  and they are going to feel like, Oh my gosh, my parents spent all
• 44:06
  this money, you know, because they're, they're older, they
• 44:09
  kind of understand that, right? Oh my gosh, my parents spent
• 44:11
  this money to bring me here and now I hate it.
• 44:14
  You know, you, you can alleviate a lot of that by giving them a
• 44:18
  more relaxed access by by getting that early access to
• 44:23
  those houses. Now, that being said, we don't
• 44:25
  know what houses are going to be included on that.
• 44:27
  Maybe by the time you're ready to look at that, maybe none of
• 44:32
  those houses are what you want to do, Well, then that makes
• 44:34
  your decision for you, right? Be smart about that.
• 44:36
  However, do keep in mind that some of those experiences and
• 44:40
  add-ons, I shouldn't say some, a lot of those add-ons will sell
• 44:45
  out before your date comes. So you just kind of have to
• 44:50
  cross your fingers, hope that it all works out the way that you
• 44:53
  want it to. But you, you know, keep, keep
• 44:57
  those things in mind because I really do think having that
• 44:59
  early access to the park can give you the ability to breathe
• 45:04
  a little more in between those scary events for your kid.
• 45:08
  Yeah, absolutely. And I'm, I'm just trying to
• 45:11
  figure out if I had to guess what houses would be available
• 45:17
  early, I would guess that it's going to be Stranger Things.
• 45:21
  They're going to want to have the big, the big weight houses
• 45:24
  like out of the way, right? They need a draw.
• 45:26
  They need a draw because they they want people to buy it.
• 45:28
  So they need people. They need it to be the some, at
• 45:32
  least some one or two of the most potentially popular houses.
• 45:37
  Right, absolutely. So if I had to guess, it would
• 45:40
  be and also they kind of want to be able to corral people and
• 45:44
  keep them, you know, sort of in one area.
• 45:46
  So if I had to guess, it's going to be the sound stage houses,
• 45:49
  which is if you know, if you've been to, I just keep calling it
• 45:54
  out. HHN If you've been to Universal
• 45:55
  Studios Florida, then there is like the Amphitheatre area.
• 45:59
  And then behind the Amphitheatre there are actual warehouses.
• 46:03
  So that's usually where the really big ones are.
• 46:05
  So I'm guessing that Stranger Things is going to be back
• 46:07
  there. So that feels like a pretty safe
• 46:10
  one that's going to be one of the ones that are regularly
• 46:12
  open. It's possible that one of the
• 46:15
  originals like HR, Blood and Guts is going to be in that
• 46:20
  soundstage. And it is also possible that I'm
• 46:24
  on the fence whether Sinners is going to be back there or it's
• 46:26
  going to be over in one of the tents on the other side of the
• 46:29
  park. But like, we don't, we don't
• 46:31
  know what it's going to be. I would be thoroughly shocked if
• 46:34
  they didn't have straighter things be included, especially
• 46:37
  since it's the first year and especially since people have a
• 46:40
  lot of like mixed feelings and confusion.
• 46:42
  And I'm guessing if you're a parent wondering if we should go
• 46:45
  to HHN that one of the big reasons is probably because it's
• 46:49
  going to be the last Stranger Things house.
• 46:51
  Probably. Who knows, Like who can say.
• 46:53
  True. Right.
• 46:54
  As far as, as far as we know, right.
• 46:57
  Yeah. Yeah, for knowledge, it's going
• 46:58
  to be the last Stranger Things house.
• 47:00
  So I, I imagine that's going to be a big draw and I would be
• 47:02
  pretty surprised if they didn't include it.
• 47:05
  Yeah. And that totally makes sense.
• 47:06
  So take that information again. That is our best guess.
• 47:10
  It is. Grain of salt.
• 47:14
  So take that information for what it's worth.
• 47:16
  But again, getting you you the ability to have that early
• 47:20
  access so you can slow down in between, I think is is going to
• 47:24
  be super helpful. So you have your plans, ABCD all
• 47:29
  the way through Z, right? Like you know what you're going
• 47:31
  to do. I do want to bring up that there
• 47:34
  is a show, it's called Nightmare Fuel.
• 47:37
  It is slightly different every year.
• 47:39
  It is basically an acrobatics and pyrotechnics show set to
• 47:45
  various remixes of heavy metal music.
• 47:48
  I want to be clear, this show can have some suggestive
• 47:51
  material in it. It is intended to be as HHN is
• 47:55
  historically an adult's adult. I don't want to say adult fiend,
• 47:59
  but adults focused events. It can be a little bit more
• 48:04
  mature than maybe some people are comfortable with having
• 48:07
  their children be exposed to, right?
• 48:09
  I imagine if it's an older teen, they've probably seen worse than
• 48:13
  a video game, right? But like, right, if you're
• 48:15
  talking about like an 11 or 12 year old, it might be a little
• 48:18
  much for them. So I'm not discouraging any
• 48:21
  parents or trying to shame anybody's choices, right?
• 48:23
  Like everybody's feels differently about what they're
• 48:25
  OK with their kids being supposed to and everybody knows
• 48:28
  their kid best. But I just want to make it clear
• 48:30
  that like it is generally a more suggestive show.
• 48:34
  And also you can go look it up. Like you can look up past
• 48:38
  versions. This every year they change it
• 48:40
  slightly. This seems to be probably
• 48:43
  totally different than than past shows.
• 48:46
  This seems to be like a noir detective vampire situation
• 48:50
  going on, so who's to say exactly how it's going to play
• 48:54
  out? But please, before you have your
• 48:56
  kiddo go to that show, just look up some footage online and make
• 48:59
  that best decision for you and your kid.
• 49:01
  Yes, and do keep in mind, like Duck said, this year's is like a
• 49:05
  total redo of the show. So you can look up past years,
• 49:09
  but nobody knows yet what this year is going to look like.
• 49:13
  So keep that in mind, especially if you're going opening weekend.
• 49:18
  It may just be something that you say, you know, we're going
• 49:20
  to opt out because we're not sure.
• 49:23
  Do keep that in mind. And Anna made a really good
• 49:25
  point here in our live chat. It's very loud, historically so.
• 49:28
  It's loud and it's very hot. Yeah, I'm going to say that
• 49:32
  about the show. And that's actually a really
• 49:34
  good point, Anna, that you bring up.
• 49:36
  I do just want to say from a parent's perspective, it's a
• 49:40
  really good idea for you to bring earplugs.
• 49:42
  I bring and wear earplugs in the houses.
• 49:44
  Those houses are loud as heck. They get really loud.
• 49:48
  It can be very overwhelming. I am somebody who is very
• 49:52
  overstimulated very easily, and I actually almost stopped going
• 49:55
  to HHN because it was simply too much for me to process.
• 49:59
  When I started wearing earplugs, I enjoyed it so much more.
• 50:02
  It didn't ruin the experience. It didn't take anything away.
• 50:04
  All it did was just take the volume down and make it far less
• 50:08
  overwhelming for me personally. So if you think that's a
• 50:11
  possibility that you or your kiddo, we're just going to be
• 50:13
  overwhelmed by the by the overstimulation of a house
• 50:17
  because it gets hot in there. It's a good idea to bring.
• 50:20
  Unfortunately, they don't sell them there, but like you can
• 50:23
  just pick up a pack of 1000 of those little orange doohickeys
• 50:27
  at the dollar store. I have ones and they're called
• 50:29
  heroes. I got them like 100 years ago at
• 50:32
  Guitar Center. I wore them to every concert
• 50:34
  that I go to because my mom lectured me at 17 about loud
• 50:38
  noises and I listen to my mother.
• 50:41
  So but they didn't make like loops headphones.
• 50:43
  There's a billion of them out there.
• 50:44
  But it's probably a good idea to get ones that specifically just
• 50:48
  like bring the decibel level down, which is what the ones
• 50:51
  that I have are. So just like general PSA, it
• 50:54
  gets pretty loud everywhere that you go in AJ John.
• 50:56
  Yeah, loops, vibes, erasers, any of those that are good highly
• 51:03
  suggest grabbing yourself a pair.
• 51:04
  And I mean, to get a good pair, you're looking at spending maybe
• 51:08
  $30.00 at the most. So not not a huge deal with
• 51:11
  that. No, and and if you're I can't
• 51:15
  believe, I think it might want be one of the smallest items
• 51:17
  that I own that I haven't lost, but I've I've kept those.
• 51:20
  I know I was probably like maybe 20 when I bought those.
• 51:23
  I've had those forever, dude. But yeah, you're right.
• 51:26
  Like it's not for your hearing and for your comfort and
• 51:29
  enjoyment of the experience. It's a totally worthy
• 51:32
  investment. Now, OK, if we don't want to do
• 51:35
  nightmare fuel because we're we're not so sure about that, we
• 51:40
  have other options. There are there is an option in
• 51:43
  fact, where everyone is fully clothed head to toe, including a
• 51:47
  mask, and that is the Death Eater is quote UN quote stage
• 51:53
  like the most clothes you can be.
• 51:58
  I never realized how polar opposite that was.
• 52:02
  I know this moment, and that's hysterical.
• 52:06
  Yeah, it's a. Shred of clothing and also the
• 52:10
  most clothes that anybody can be.
• 52:13
  They wear gloves, they wear masks.
• 52:16
  They're in full body robes. You're not seeing nothing.
• 52:19
  It's unbelievable. Yeah.
• 52:21
  So like you said, polar offices, but there is a Death Eater I'm
• 52:25
  quote UN quote stage show. It's not quite as intricate as
• 52:28
  Nightmare Fool would be, but it is still like a fun couple of
• 52:32
  minutes show. It's over in Diagon Alley and
• 52:36
  it's just a fun, quick little voice over stage show.
• 52:41
  The Death Eaters come out, it's really fun and spooky and then
• 52:44
  they just like Sprint off around all of the Harry Potter area.
• 52:49
  It's crazy. They're like, she's a runner,
• 52:51
  she's a track star. See they take off, dude.
• 52:54
  It's crazy. They just Sprint.
• 52:57
  The Death Eaters are like, not see it and they go.
• 53:00
  But yeah, it's also like, so that's, that's just something
• 53:03
  fun. It's quieter in the Harry Potter
• 53:05
  section. So if you just need a break,
• 53:07
  it's, you know, you can step away for a moment and that runs
• 53:11
  pretty frequently. I think it's like every 15
• 53:14
  minutes ish, half hour ish. You can ask a team member in the
• 53:18
  area when the next one will happen.
• 53:21
  And also in like that back portion of the Diagon Alley
• 53:24
  section. It is nice and cold cuz it is.
• 53:27
  It is like air conditioning. So if you're like feeling over
• 53:30
  simulated, it's too hot, go hide in the dark corner for a little
• 53:33
  bit. It makes me feel better.
• 53:34
  It's really good. Yeah, cuz there are no like
• 53:37
  houses or scare zones back in that section that that show that
• 53:42
  Doug just mentioned is is really the only thing happening back
• 53:46
  there during HHN. The other thing to note is that
• 53:51
  the there are three rides open during HHN Gringotts, The Mummy
• 53:56
  and Men in Black. I don't know why, like we do it
• 54:00
  because we have It gives you the express passes also give you
• 54:04
  friend line access to the rides. And so we'll do it with the VIP
• 54:07
  tour just because it's like it's there.
• 54:08
  But I I personally would not recommend that you use your time
• 54:12
  on the rides unless it's something that like, unless your
• 54:15
  kid is correctly absolutely just staunchly, they must ride the
• 54:20
  mummy. They're just all about it.
• 54:22
  That is the correct thing to take a break from Halloween
• 54:24
  Horror Nights, but that's it. That's the only.
• 54:26
  That's the only one. Yep, Yep.
• 54:29
  Rhonda in our live chat is saying Transformers is also
• 54:32
  open. Is that?
• 54:33
  Of course. Yeah, but I don't have to ride
• 54:35
  tricks on me. So no, I doubt you.
• 54:37
  I value my life and my motion shift, Miss Rhonda.
• 54:40
  Why farm? And I do that to myself.
• 54:43
  Wow. I was not ready for that
• 54:45
  reaction. Do not.
• 54:50
  OK, well if you like, if you like Transformers like Rhonda
• 54:53
  does. Thanks Rhonda.
• 54:55
  Transformers is open during HHN 2.
• 54:58
  I'm an adult, I ride men in black and cheat my wife out of
• 55:01
  pushing the big red button like an adult.
• 55:05
  Poor Jess, she's not even here to defend herself on that one.
• 55:09
  And. That's why I get to say what I
• 55:10
  want. No, I'm just kidding.
• 55:11
  No, I mean truly you're right, Rhonda.
• 55:13
  I forget about Transformers because it will make me
• 55:16
  personally so emotion sick, right?
• 55:18
  Unbelievable. So I just don't even touch that
• 55:21
  ride with a a 10 foot pole. Yes, so, but add that to your
• 55:24
  list of rides that we don't suggest you do anyway because
• 55:28
  you're there for HHN. Yeah.
• 55:31
  If now if they had Optimus Prime dressed as little Boo on the
• 55:35
  ride. Different conversation,
• 55:37
  different conversation. But until that happens on out.
• 55:40
  I'm glad that you appreciate it Rhonda.
• 55:44
  I will be outside with my horror themed churro waiting for you at
• 55:48
  the exit. I'm cool.
• 55:49
  Cool, yes. For sure.
• 55:52
  There is one more show that we do want to bring up.
• 55:55
  It's not a stage show, but it is a fountain show that includes
• 55:59
  projections. So this was new starting last
• 56:02
  year. They haven't officially said it,
• 56:04
  but I'm presuming they're going to bring it back this year.
• 56:06
  I don't see why they wouldn't. And it is called ghoulish.
• 56:10
  It runs I think 3 times during the night.
• 56:13
  It's usually right when it gets dark, like midway through the
• 56:16
  night. And then at the very end it runs
• 56:18
  again. Sometimes it's 2 showing,
• 56:20
  sometimes it's 3. So just check the app or ask a
• 56:23
  team member to be sure. But it's really good.
• 56:25
  It's like a bunch of excellent projections on the fountain
• 56:28
  show. It also projects on the
• 56:30
  buildings behind the waterfront and it is set to a good bunch of
• 56:35
  fun spooky remixes to songs, right?
• 56:38
  There's like DJ Bones or whatever his name is and he's
• 56:41
  like playing you a bunch of like Halloween themed tracks.
• 56:43
  It's actually really good. It is one of the better fountain
• 56:46
  shows that I have seen at a theme park.
• 56:48
  I really loved it. I think it was well worth the
• 56:51
  wait and the investment from Universal to fix the fountains
• 56:55
  because it was destroyed in a hurricane a number of years ago
• 56:57
  and they had to invest a lot, a lot of money to get it up to
• 57:00
  speed again. And I think it was worth it.
• 57:02
  I think that was it's a fantastic show.
• 57:04
  So I think that's also a really good time to grab a snack and
• 57:09
  then just like chill out for a couple minutes and really just
• 57:11
  like take in the spooky atmosphere.
• 57:12
  That's a that's a don't miss in my opinion.
• 57:15
  So, yeah, so those are your kind of extra show experience options
• 57:20
  that you can consider with your planning.
• 57:23
  Again, just brief plug for mode, mode has a planning feature in
• 57:28
  which you can list all of that out.
• 57:30
  Highly recommend. Anyway, let's talk about now
• 57:35
  something that is relatively new to HHN and something that I
• 57:40
  would participate in if you ever drug me kicking and screaming to
• 57:44
  HHN. I was going to pull a burlap
• 57:48
  sack off your head. Surprise.
• 57:50
  And that is the Deathly afraid necklaces.
• 57:54
  Now this sounds worse than it actually is.
• 57:58
  It's actually kind of the opposite because it is something
• 58:02
  that was introduced to HHN last year.
• 58:06
  And this is if you're kiddo falls into the category of I
• 58:10
  like the spooky vibes but the actual jump scares are too much.
• 58:15
  Or if you just don't feel like getting jump scared as you're
• 58:18
  watching your lovely little ghoul or goblin, then Universal
• 58:23
  Studios sells a light up necklace for $20 that you can
• 58:28
  purchase and wear that will let the scare actors in the scare
• 58:34
  zones know to not interact with the wearer so they will give you
• 58:40
  a it's like a get out of jail free card.
• 58:43
  When you're walking through the scare zones, please keep in mind
• 58:46
  these only apply to the scare zones.
• 58:50
  You will still be scared in the houses regardless of if you are
• 58:54
  wearing that necklace or not, but this is a way that you can
• 58:59
  give yourself a little less of a jumpy experience when you are
• 59:05
  going through the scare zones depending on your preference.
• 59:08
  But again, and I I love that they have this option.
• 59:11
  I think it is so silly that they make you pay 20 extra dollars to
• 59:16
  not be scared when you've already paid $200 to be there.
• 59:20
  I'm of the opinion I think yes it's definitely just like let's
• 59:24
  let's get these suckers for more money.
• 59:26
  It's me, I'm the sucker. I'll just pay money for anything
• 59:29
  to universal at this point. Think I've proven that, but I
• 59:33
  think it's also sort of a deterrent because what they
• 59:36
  didn't want to happen, there are a lot of local teenagers that go
• 59:39
  to HHN. Some of them are perfectly well
• 59:42
  behaved. Some of them act exactly as you
• 59:44
  expect a teenager to act in a public spooky setting, right?
• 59:47
  I mean, it's not perfect, it just is.
• 59:50
  And so I think what they didn't want to happen was a bunch of
• 59:53
  people take these necklaces and then just throw them at each
• 59:58
  other or throw them in the water or leave them around.
• 1:00:02
  It's also important to know that they also have, I don't know if
• 1:00:05
  they're doing it to see, I suspect that they are, but it's
• 1:00:08
  called frequent fear passes. And it's basically like if
• 1:00:10
  you're a local and you want to go multiple times to HHN, you
• 1:00:13
  can buy a discounted ticket that will give you access on certain
• 1:00:16
  dates. And there's no limit to like
• 1:00:19
  within these different package conditions to when you can go.
• 1:00:22
  So I think what they didn't want to happen was also we're going
• 1:00:24
  to make. 20 billion of these things and then the locals are
• 1:00:27
  just going to take them every time that they go because they
• 1:00:29
  forgot them at home or what have you.
• 1:00:31
  So I think, I think the $20 was like the psychological barrier
• 1:00:34
  that like, I don't know that some marketing intern came up
• 1:00:37
  with where it's like, if they really want it, they'll pay for
• 1:00:40
  it, But it's not so cheap that people who just like want to
• 1:00:43
  screw around with it will also just buy it.
• 1:00:45
  You know what I mean? I say I I'm of the opinion, but
• 1:00:48
  I agree with you. You should be able to have a
• 1:00:51
  little check mark on your ticket that says give me the necklace
• 1:00:54
  please. Right, like or something like
• 1:00:55
  that. Yeah, like pre-order it so that
• 1:00:58
  way they know and you can get it.
• 1:01:00
  And that's like the only way you can get it is if you you can
• 1:01:02
  pre-order it for free or you have to pay $20 on site.
• 1:01:05
  Yes. I'd be here for that.
• 1:01:07
  There's. Another way to do it rather than
• 1:01:08
  like nickel and diming right? Like I just want to be clear,
• 1:01:10
  I'm not defending with the mega conglomerate here.
• 1:01:13
  They've gotten so much money for me.
• 1:01:14
  It's I can say what I want about you.
• 1:01:16
  And first of all, I have given them disturbing amount of money
• 1:01:20
  that I'm not going to just admit to in public, but it's setting
• 1:01:23
  how much money I've given them over the years.
• 1:01:25
  So I want to be clear, I'm not like descending this choice, but
• 1:01:27
  I can kind of see why that decision got made rather than
• 1:01:31
  just like providing it for free that they were like A, we can
• 1:01:35
  make money off of it and B, we don't want that these, this can
• 1:01:39
  have larger consequences if we just handed up like necklaces.
• 1:01:43
  And I hear you. I just my gut reaction was like,
• 1:01:46
  for real, Why are we charging people?
• 1:01:49
  Why are we charging people for this?
• 1:01:50
  But I do, I do understand that you, you probably have some,
• 1:01:55
  some good points that you made. I'll give you that.
• 1:01:57
  Again, we can be mad at them. I'm not going to sit here and
• 1:02:00
  defend the multi billion dollar corporation.
• 1:02:03
  That's not who I am as a person. I get from like a parks logistic
• 1:02:06
  perspective why they did it and also I'm mad that is $20.00
• 1:02:10
  because those things are true. Right.
• 1:02:12
  Yes, exactly. But I do like that they have
• 1:02:15
  this option. This is something that I know
• 1:02:17
  like SeaWorld and Busch Gardens at their Hollow Scream events
• 1:02:21
  also have this kind of an option too.
• 1:02:24
  No brew necklaces. We used to have something at at
• 1:02:27
  Six Flags. I'm sure it's something.
• 1:02:29
  I think it's a necklace now, but they used to have like these
• 1:02:32
  little ghoul whistles or whatever that kids could get and
• 1:02:35
  you could just like blow the whistle and then they would like
• 1:02:36
  leave you alone or whatever. It's all these haunts have the
• 1:02:39
  same ideas. And it's actually interesting
• 1:02:41
  that Universal didn't add it for so long that they really like
• 1:02:44
  staunchly against it. But I think that they just saw
• 1:02:47
  like more people are coming than ever because they want to
• 1:02:49
  experience like the stranger things, like mega IP's, but they
• 1:02:53
  may not be in it for like the full scares on experience.
• 1:02:57
  So like, I, it's not, it's not for me.
• 1:02:59
  I'm there to get to jump 5 feet in the air because somebody
• 1:03:03
  dressed like a gargoyle, like really got me good.
• 1:03:05
  But I also respect and understand that like that's,
• 1:03:08
  that's not everybody seeing who wants to come to the event.
• 1:03:10
  Right. And I will also mention that
• 1:03:13
  these amazing scare actors that Universal has to do these roles,
• 1:03:19
  they want you to have a good time.
• 1:03:21
  They are not there to scare you so bad that you run away crying.
• 1:03:26
  That's not their MO, Like that's not what they're they're there
• 1:03:29
  for. I, I promise you that.
• 1:03:31
  So if you get into a situation where you are really that
• 1:03:36
  uncomfortable, ask them to stop and they're going to listen to
• 1:03:41
  you. Absolutely, they're going to
• 1:03:43
  listen. And I'm going to tell you they
• 1:03:45
  are every year there is I I either see it or somebody in the
• 1:03:50
  group experiences it. These characters are very
• 1:03:53
  attuned to what's going on. So if they see that somebody is
• 1:03:56
  like, like they are not happy that you're in your space.
• 1:03:59
  Actually a perfect example. I wish Jess was here to tell the
• 1:04:01
  story. But there was one year of
• 1:04:03
  Vikings in the I think it was in New York area.
• 1:04:06
  There was like Vikings. And Jess's only thing is that
• 1:04:08
  she does not like being followed at a very close distance.
• 1:04:12
  She's on jump scares. She signs what gore like all
• 1:04:14
  that, but when you're in a when you're in an open area like
• 1:04:16
  that, she don't like being followed.
• 1:04:18
  That's the only thing. And all it took was one nervous
• 1:04:22
  glance back and that 6 foot 3 Viking dude what?
• 1:04:26
  No, I'm done, I'm good. And like walked away and started
• 1:04:28
  scaring somebody else. They are very perceptive.
• 1:04:31
  They are all there because they love to have fun scaring people.
• 1:04:36
  But only if you want to have fun being scared, right?
• 1:04:39
  Like they are nothing if not absolutely professional about
• 1:04:42
  this the whole time. They have an A pretty thorough
• 1:04:46
  vetting process. They don't just hire anybody to
• 1:04:48
  be scare actors. Most of these scare actors do it
• 1:04:50
  year after year because they love it and it is so fun.
• 1:04:53
  And that has like their seasonal gig or what have you.
• 1:04:56
  And then a bunch of them also have like worked in unit for
• 1:04:59
  universal and other capacities and things like that.
• 1:05:00
  So like they are there to make sure you're having a good time.
• 1:05:03
  So like, if they see you're not having a good time, they're not
• 1:05:05
  really going to mess with you. They they are not.
• 1:05:08
  They're professional. They're not there to terrorize.
• 1:05:10
  You exactly so even if you like, let's say you're, you don't end
• 1:05:14
  up purchasing a necklace because you think I'll be fine.
• 1:05:17
  If you end up like not having a good time, they will read your
• 1:05:21
  vibe. So just be be feel a little bit
• 1:05:25
  of comfort in that because they they again, they want you to
• 1:05:28
  have a good time. They're not there to terrorize
• 1:05:30
  you. I think I love the way that you
• 1:05:32
  set up they're. Stopping Yeah 100.
• 1:05:34
  Percent, yeah. So keep that in mind if you're
• 1:05:37
  on the fence again, trying to give you guys the best
• 1:05:40
  information we can. If you're taking your preteen,
• 1:05:43
  your teen for the first time, we want you to be reassured that if
• 1:05:47
  they really want to go there, there are so many different ways
• 1:05:50
  to have a fabulous experience at HHN without having to do every
• 1:05:55
  single super scary thing. Oh my.
• 1:05:57
  Gosh, and this is so negligent on my part for not mentioning
• 1:06:00
  this during the houses section. If you or your kid is too scared
• 1:06:04
  during the house, there are exits.
• 1:06:08
  There are there are team members in every single room to make
• 1:06:12
  sure that everything's going OK, both for your protection.
• 1:06:15
  You know, if you need to exit the room if you're having a
• 1:06:17
  medical emergency. That way somebody can get to you
• 1:06:19
  very quickly if you're feeling sick or hot or uncomfortable,
• 1:06:22
  whatever. Also for the scare actors
• 1:06:24
  protection, right? Some people, their first
• 1:06:26
  instinct is to start swinging and they got to make sure that
• 1:06:28
  there's somebody there to make to save those scare actors.
• 1:06:31
  So if you or your kid are too scared and you're not having a
• 1:06:36
  good time because this house was more intense than you thought it
• 1:06:39
  was going to be, you can exit. There's a team member.
• 1:06:43
  All you have to do is you just have to flag them down and say I
• 1:06:45
  need to leave. And they will, they will gesture
• 1:06:49
  you down a hallway and they will be able to lead you out.
• 1:06:51
  There will be somebody waiting, a supervisor, somebody to be
• 1:06:54
  able to get you out of there. So don't worry.
• 1:06:57
  They're very visible. It's at the end of every
• 1:07:00
  basically every scene or every room in a house, there is an
• 1:07:04
  exit. So if, God forbid, there's an
• 1:07:05
  emergency, you know, a fire or a medical emergency or you, you
• 1:07:10
  and your kids just need to get out of there, there's absolutely
• 1:07:13
  a way for you to get out of there.
• 1:07:14
  So I don't want anybody to feel like I entered this house and
• 1:07:16
  now I'm stuck in it. You are not trapped.
• 1:07:19
  You can leave at any time. Yeah.
• 1:07:20
  And also remember with those scare zones, there are
• 1:07:23
  boundaries for the scare zones. So if you need to get out, there
• 1:07:26
  are places that you can exit those scare zones and the scare
• 1:07:29
  actors will not follow you anymore or will not come and
• 1:07:32
  interact with you anymore. There are those zones that you
• 1:07:34
  can get to. So no matter what aspect of the
• 1:07:38
  event you're in, there's always like what I would call like a
• 1:07:42
  safe space quote, UN quote for you to be able to go to if you
• 1:07:45
  if you need out. Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:07:48
  And the, and it's pretty clearly the demarcation.
• 1:07:50
  It's very obvious for like the beginning and end of the scare
• 1:07:52
  zones, right. It's pretty clear the set pieces
• 1:07:55
  will start and end so they won't follow you across.
• 1:07:59
  I will say sometimes there are roving packs of something or
• 1:08:01
  other around the park, so there might be like roving packs of
• 1:08:04
  chainsawers, which we also don't like.
• 1:08:06
  But you can always step inside a gift shop until they pass,
• 1:08:09
  right? Like it's not.
• 1:08:10
  Nothing at HHN is inescapable. I want to make that clear.
• 1:08:14
  Except for the fog that is inescapable.
• 1:08:19
  Well, let's talk about something a little bit more enjoyable to
• 1:08:22
  everyone, regardless of your preference of being scared or
• 1:08:27
  not being scared. Let's talk about food at HHN,
• 1:08:29
  just briefly. We're not going into menus,
• 1:08:30
  we're not going into details. That stuff hasn't even been
• 1:08:33
  released yet as we are recording this.
• 1:08:36
  But let's talk about what the food kind of looks like there.
• 1:08:39
  Yes, absolutely. So in case it hasn't been
• 1:08:43
  obvious over the last however many episodes we've had, I love
• 1:08:46
  food. So I will be the I am.
• 1:08:48
  I will be the boots on the ground journalism for this
• 1:08:51
  podcast to try as much food as HHN as humanly possible.
• 1:08:54
  Hey, what? So what's important to know?
• 1:08:57
  I think I mentioned this a little bit earlier, but just
• 1:08:58
  like the houses, the booths will rotate every year because there
• 1:09:02
  is each booth, food booth is tied into one of the houses,
• 1:09:08
  right? So like Jackie said, the menus
• 1:09:11
  aren't released now. They'll be released ahead of
• 1:09:13
  time so you will be able to have time to plan, but they're not
• 1:09:16
  released right now. What is offered at each food
• 1:09:19
  stall associated with each house tends to be seemed to, you know,
• 1:09:24
  that house specifically. So there is some like very wacky
• 1:09:30
  and wild, I call it stunt food, right?
• 1:09:32
  Like it looks ridiculous. It was like there was like the
• 1:09:36
  corn dog that was basically also a mozzarella stick a couple
• 1:09:39
  years ago, right? Like it's, it's all kinds of
• 1:09:42
  stuff, but there's also like very standard fair that you can
• 1:09:47
  find. There's always a booth that has
• 1:09:49
  like a burger of some kind. There's always a booth that has
• 1:09:52
  like some sort of seasoned fries and chicken fingers.
• 1:09:55
  So like if you want that Instagram shot of that crazy
• 1:09:58
  corn dog and that like crazy looking drink, you can get it.
• 1:10:01
  But also if you were your kid or like whatever, you're just picky
• 1:10:05
  eaters and it's not for you. You can absolutely find at these
• 1:10:09
  booths something that is familiar and you and your kiddo
• 1:10:13
  will be comfortable eating, but also is seems to whatever that
• 1:10:17
  particular booth is. I also want to say that if none
• 1:10:21
  of the booths are for you or just like you know, you want to
• 1:10:25
  make sure that you can have a solid meal, right?
• 1:10:28
  Even just chicken fingers and fries, you want to make sure
• 1:10:30
  that you can eat and then you can try like some of the snacks
• 1:10:32
  from the booths. A bunch of locations are still
• 1:10:35
  open and serving their normal food.
• 1:10:38
  So Richterberger is still open today.
• 1:10:42
  Cafe is still open. Traditionally, Finnegans would
• 1:10:45
  be open. It is not open right now.
• 1:10:48
  It is under for renovation, but in the future that will also be
• 1:10:51
  open. And there's also Louise in New
• 1:10:54
  York. Louise is also where you can
• 1:10:56
  most easily get the pizza fries. It's the only location that
• 1:11:00
  consistently sells them. And pizza fries are a must.
• 1:11:03
  It's exactly what it sounds like.
• 1:11:04
  It's a bunch of pizza toppings on top of fries.
• 1:11:06
  And let me tell you, it slaps. I don't know what it is, but
• 1:11:10
  it's it's like a, it's like a must for HHN.
• 1:11:13
  So you will be able to get some sort of normal food.
• 1:11:16
  You will be able to get the stuffed food in the cool
• 1:11:18
  Instagram shot food if you want to.
• 1:11:21
  It is just really important that you look at these menus closer
• 1:11:24
  to when you are getting or excuse me, when you're getting
• 1:11:27
  closer to your trip. Yeah.
• 1:11:29
  And again, keep in mind that you may see, oh, they've got a corn
• 1:11:32
  dog on their menu. You need to look at the
• 1:11:34
  ingredients of everything because some of it is those
• 1:11:37
  crazy combinations. Now don't get me wrong, maybe
• 1:11:40
  that's what you want, but you need to look at more closely.
• 1:11:45
  Don't just assume it's a standard corn dog.
• 1:11:47
  You need to look very carefully at what the ingredients are and
• 1:11:51
  what the entire combination is. Also keep in mind that with
• 1:11:55
  drinks, there are a lot of alcoholic drink options, but
• 1:11:58
  there are also several non alcoholic fun themed drinks to
• 1:12:02
  be very very careful when you're reading ingredients to make sure
• 1:12:06
  you know what is in everything that you are allowing your
• 1:12:09
  teenager to consume. I will say they have done a
• 1:12:12
  great job for usually like I'm going to say like the key
• 1:12:16
  booths, right? Like the booths that are
• 1:12:18
  associated with the bigger house, Stranger things, sinners
• 1:12:21
  people dead hell raiser, right? Like these bigger ones, they
• 1:12:25
  will almost always have an alcoholic drink option and a
• 1:12:29
  different, but still very cool looking non alcoholic drink
• 1:12:33
  option. So either just because you don't
• 1:12:35
  drink or you have a 14 year old child with you, right?
• 1:12:39
  It's, it's, it's done in such a way that like nobody feels left
• 1:12:42
  out, right? Like even if you aren't
• 1:12:44
  drinking, like you're, you have the non alcoholic version.
• 1:12:46
  Nobody is just like, I'm just drinking apple juice and this is
• 1:12:49
  dumb, right? Like you do get, it's
• 1:12:51
  essentially A mocktail. So you know, but and they do a
• 1:12:55
  good job labeling it and they're very careful when they're
• 1:12:57
  serving, But like you also careful that you're not mixing
• 1:13:00
  up which drink is which. So just a very valid disclaimer
• 1:13:04
  that there is a lot of locations that will serve pre mixed
• 1:13:08
  alcoholic drinks. Yes, absolutely.
• 1:13:11
  And again, tons of really good food options.
• 1:13:13
  So like, don't let us deter you from being like, oh, they said
• 1:13:16
  the food's going to be weird. It's not all weird.
• 1:13:19
  It's just very unique and very themed.
• 1:13:22
  And I'm going to tell you, even the weird stuff slaps.
• 1:13:24
  Like I I really like I've had some freakish things from HHN,
• 1:13:29
  but it is all been very good. You know, I mean, like it's all
• 1:13:32
  still edible and all largely tastes good.
• 1:13:35
  And you know, really, I mean, for having like such a mass
• 1:13:39
  produced scale of food, they do pretty good for like these
• 1:13:42
  outrageous types of things. So no, I want to be clear, I
• 1:13:45
  really enjoy the stunt food is not only fun for Instagram, but
• 1:13:50
  largely it tastes pretty good too.
• 1:13:52
  So you don't let us scare you off the food just because we're
• 1:13:54
  like, it's crazy looking. It's a corn dog and a mozzarella
• 1:13:58
  stick. Who would do that?
• 1:13:59
  Right? Like me, I would do that.
• 1:14:01
  But that's besides the point, you know, like we don't want to
• 1:14:03
  scare you off in the food. It is really good and it's also
• 1:14:06
  fun to just be like, Hey, kiddo, isn't this like fun and cookie
• 1:14:10
  and just like having like it really just like adds to the
• 1:14:12
  same experience that you were trying to share with your kid in
• 1:14:14
  that moment, You know, So like, I don't know, I'm I'm all about
• 1:14:17
  like the same food and drinks. I think that really can tie this
• 1:14:20
  event together. Yeah, it's super fun.
• 1:14:22
  It's a really little way that you can just have a super fun
• 1:14:26
  experience with your kiddo where you can go home and go.
• 1:14:29
  Remember when we tried that gross thing that looked like it
• 1:14:32
  was covered in blood? Like, you know, like that's,
• 1:14:34
  that's, that's part of the the experience in the memories of
• 1:14:37
  HHN. Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:14:40
  Very cool. All right.
• 1:14:41
  So I think that is the majority, but I think we've got one more
• 1:14:45
  little side note that we want to mention about photo OPS.
• 1:14:49
  What can you tell us about photo opportunities at HHN?
• 1:14:53
  Because it's really dark most of the time it.
• 1:14:55
  Is so First off perfect segue of being like, hey remember that
• 1:14:59
  time right there are it is really dark, but there is also a
• 1:15:03
  lot of opportunities to take great photos at HHN.
• 1:15:07
  So over the last two years, I believe it was introduced, there
• 1:15:12
  has actually been a photo op area.
• 1:15:14
  So it is specifically for you to take photos with characters from
• 1:15:19
  the houses as well as if they have like a theme or an icon
• 1:15:23
  that year, you can usually take photos with them.
• 1:15:25
  So for example, and last year they had like the IT was like a
• 1:15:29
  punk rock aesthetic. So they had like a punk rock
• 1:15:32
  skeleton man and woman that you could take photos with, right?
• 1:15:35
  So they're up on pedestals, so you can't like accost them,
• 1:15:40
  right? Like, but you can take a very
• 1:15:42
  cool photo with them. This most I want to be clear,
• 1:15:48
  the most popular characters may not be there.
• 1:15:51
  Like for example Art the Clown. It would be a safety issue to
• 1:15:55
  have him there. For anybody who doesn't know,
• 1:15:57
  he's from the film franchise Terrifier, which for some reason
• 1:16:00
  is very popular with the kids. I saw a lot of horror movies as
• 1:16:04
  a child and as an adult I'm good.
• 1:16:06
  I like Art the Clown as a character.
• 1:16:08
  I've seen the first Terrifier and that's enough for me.
• 1:16:11
  But yeah, so like they're like a super mega popular ones that are
• 1:16:15
  all over social media that all the kids are going to be
• 1:16:17
  chasing. Probably not going to be there,
• 1:16:19
  but but the really popular ones still are.
• 1:16:21
  Like they had Megan there one year from the film.
• 1:16:24
  Megan, they had, they also had. Oh, oh, who was it last?
• 1:16:31
  Year to oh like a. Goblin from the Goblins feast
• 1:16:34
  house. So like they have both the
• 1:16:35
  original and the IP characters, and so it is just explicitly set
• 1:16:39
  up for you to go take photos with them while they're kind of
• 1:16:41
  standing on this pedestal acting out however they would for that
• 1:16:46
  they're, you know, corresponding house or what have you.
• 1:16:50
  On top of that, there are a couple of like very iconic HHN
• 1:16:54
  photos that you can take Mel's die in instead of it smells
• 1:17:00
  diner, but they just like flick off some of the lights and it
• 1:17:03
  then spells out mills die in instead of dine in.
• 1:17:07
  It's fun. That's like a very it's like a
• 1:17:10
  super iconic photo that everybody always takes a photo
• 1:17:12
  of the sign and very often, if you can catch it well, still
• 1:17:15
  light out, you can take a good photo like in the twilight E
• 1:17:18
  time of you in front of the sign.
• 1:17:20
  There is also what I always, always, always recommend to
• 1:17:24
  people to take a photo in front of earlier in the night and then
• 1:17:28
  later in the night, just a photo of it is the neon sign that says
• 1:17:32
  Halloween Horror Nights. That's right in the front.
• 1:17:34
  That is that and Mel's Diane are like the two most iconic, right?
• 1:17:38
  So you can take a photo with it during the day and then it looks
• 1:17:42
  fantastic just lit up at night. So like, if you're looking for
• 1:17:45
  the Snapstagram shot, Mel's Diane and the and the Halloween
• 1:17:50
  Horror Nights neon sign in front are definitely the ones to do.
• 1:17:54
  Yeah, they also have that big, what do they call it, the
• 1:17:56
  medallion out in the very front of everything too, that you
• 1:18:00
  might want to catch on your way in and then on your way out of
• 1:18:04
  another option too. Yep, also very also very iconic
• 1:18:08
  photo application for sure. Yeah, but don't like, you don't
• 1:18:12
  get like photos in the houses and stuff like that.
• 1:18:14
  So like you can do photos with signs, you can do photos with,
• 1:18:19
  you know, with the scare actors and that are in the the scare
• 1:18:24
  zones and things like that. But just you're not going to get
• 1:18:27
  like your photo pass photo from inside the house.
• 1:18:30
  I'm. Just because you imagine that
• 1:18:32
  would be crazy. I'm I'm going to have to see if
• 1:18:35
  I can find it, but there has been more than one photo that
• 1:18:39
  I've taken just like posed 2 thumbs up next to like very
• 1:18:44
  gruesomely bloody scare actor. Like I'm pretty sure the one
• 1:18:47
  that I'm thinking of, we were at the torture fair and it was like
• 1:18:50
  the axe executioner and I was just like, that's the game
• 1:18:54
  looking like a giant dork. So they are totally there to
• 1:18:58
  play into your photos, your videos, your social media.
• 1:19:01
  They'll interact with your camera.
• 1:19:03
  If you have, if you're just like recording as you're walking
• 1:19:05
  through the scare zone, the scare zone specifically, you can
• 1:19:07
  record in. Do not record in the houses.
• 1:19:10
  You will be thrown out. They will snap.
• 1:19:13
  The wolfman will snatch that phone faster than you can
• 1:19:15
  believe. So.
• 1:19:16
  Yes, and they will like they seek out cameras.
• 1:19:19
  So if you want on the opposite side of what we've been talking
• 1:19:22
  about, if you want really good interactions in the scare zones,
• 1:19:25
  have a camera out, have your phone out recording because they
• 1:19:29
  those scare actors truly look for them and will go above and
• 1:19:33
  beyond to give you some really, really awesome videos or photos.
• 1:19:39
  So if you want that, have your phones out.
• 1:19:44
  Yeah, it's excellent. It's a lot of fun.
• 1:19:46
  So for you and or your children's snaps to Grams, there
• 1:19:49
  is plenty of social media opportunities.
• 1:19:52
  Absolutely there is. Well, I think that is kind of
• 1:19:55
  our little short and sweet parents guide.
• 1:19:57
  Again, if you want more, I know quote UN quote, hey, we did
• 1:20:00
  pretty good. We didn't go too long.
• 1:20:03
  Yes, if you want additional information or more in depth
• 1:20:07
  information about like all of the ticket options and the
• 1:20:10
  add-ons and what you know more descriptions about things hop.
• 1:20:14
  Back to that episode that we did before on HHN and special
• 1:20:18
  Events, I believe it's like Special events at Universal was
• 1:20:21
  the title of the episode. So if you can't find it, let me
• 1:20:24
  know. I'm happy to point you in the
• 1:20:26
  right direction. And as always, if you've got
• 1:20:29
  more questions, you need more help, especially when it comes
• 1:20:32
  to like your first trip to HHN or maybe it's your second or
• 1:20:35
  third and you just want more insight from Duck and Jess who
• 1:20:39
  have gone for a decade now, it sounds like.
• 1:20:43
  Please reach out to us US. You can always find
• 1:20:45
  usmomstusa@gmail.com or at Mom St.
• 1:20:48
  USA on all of our social media platforms.
• 1:20:51
  Again, our Patreon is a fabulous way to connect with us.
• 1:20:55
  Maybe we can put up some HHN photos over there from Duck and
• 1:20:59
  Jess that we can show off some of their adventures that they
• 1:21:04
  have had there. But all of that being said,
• 1:21:07
  thank you guys so much for joining us for this hub episode
• 1:21:09
  of Mom St. USA.
• 1:21:10
  We appreciate your support. Thank you for always being here,
• 1:21:14
  commenting, liking, sharing all of our stuff across everywhere.
• 1:21:18
  You guys are amazing. We love you so much and we will
• 1:21:20
  see you on the next episode of Mom St.
• 1:21:22
  USA. Bye.