Was Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights Premium Scream Event Worth the $350 Price Tag? | Events

Universal Orlando Resort kickstarted Halloween Horror Nights this 12 months with an unique Premium Scream occasion earlier than the official season started. We bought tickets and attended the full evening so we might share an trustworthy assessment of the worth.

For comparability, we additionally attended the occasion on a number of nights with common admission. Now that the occasion has been underway for a couple of weeks, we’ll break down the Premium Scream expertise versus what company can count on on a daily occasion evening.

What is Premium Scream Night?

Premium Scream Night was a one-night, limited-capacity occasion with the normal Halloween Horror Nights choices and a few bonus perks. The ticket didn't embody admission to the parks throughout the day, nor did it grant entry to every other evening of HHN. It was held on August 29, 2024 — at some point earlier than opening evening.

What Did Premium Scream Night Include?

Premium Scream Night was held from 6:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. These are the common occasion hours for HHN33. Stay and Scream was not an possibility that day, so company needed to exit the park at shut and wait outdoors the gates of Universal Studios Florida till the occasion started. That additionally meant there was no early entry to the homes.

All the homes, scare zones, and leisure have been obtainable. Food and non-alcoholic drinks, self-parking, and a memento lanyard with occasion credentials have been additionally included.

How Much Did Premium Scream Night Cost?

The Premium Scream Night ticket was $350 plus tax. Universal Orlando Annual Passholders might get a reduced value of $325 plus tax.

The Premium Scream Night Experience

Parking and Entry

We bought to Universal round 5:30 p.m., since we didn’t know what to anticipate. Instead of scanning our Annual Passes, they scanned our Premium Scream tickets at the parking kiosk. Just like Prime Parking, somewhat paper flag was tucked beneath our windshield (and it was orange, you realize, for theming).

They directed us to the fourth ground of the Jurassic Park part of the storage. It was a handy location instantly by the escalator all the way down to the points of interest degree. When we first arrived, there have been solely a handful of different autos, although by the time we truly left the storage, a lot extra have been pulling in.

With no Stay and Scream, everybody was outdoors the gates. Some waited by the turnstiles, however we (and plenty of others) stayed in the middle to look at the Opening Scaremonies. We risked an extended entry line to take action, however the strains moved so shortly that it didn’t matter. The Scaremonies began at 6:00 p.m., and we have been let into the park round 6:07 p.m.

Each visitor was given a memento lanyard and occasion credentials upon getting into. Like a daily evening, SINIST3R and SURR3AL stayed up on the catwalk for some time, speaking to company and making obscure threats.

Food & Beverages

The again of the lanyard had a QR code to scan. Upon getting into, we have been instructed that it might give us specifics about the complimentary meals and drinks, nevertheless it truly simply led to the common Halloween Horror Nights menu webpage with none additional data.

The Team Members have been not sure about what was included, although they believed “everything from the booths.” As we made our approach round the park, indicators directed company to a few of the common venues as effectively, which have been working with restricted menus.

We had a couple of gadgets from round the park, principally from the themed cubicles for the occasion. Neither of us are foodies, so we didn’t spend a variety of time on meals. We had the Say “Cheese” Burger from Triplets of Terror, the Harissa BBQ Turkey Wing and Goblin Pie from Goblin’s Feast, and the Sour Cherry Lemonade Boba from Major Sweets Candy Factory.

This was solely the second evening of totally working these venues (the evening earlier than was Team Member Preview), and by the time we returned to assessment the full record of specialty meals and drinks on Saturday, they'd already made changes to the dishes. You can evaluate our pictures above to the ones in our full assessment.

We additionally ended up at Mel’s Die-In at the finish of the evening for fries and a vanilla shake, since most of the themed cubicles ran out of meals and non-alcoholic drinks earlier than midnight. We had hoped to attempt the Mini Stay-Puft S’extra, but additionally knew that given its cute look, it might in all probability be a sizzling ticket merchandise. If we had cared extra about attempting meals, we might have prioritized that, however we have been there for the homes.

Houses

Our first home of the evening was The Museum: Deadly Exhibits, for which we waited about 12 minutes. That was the longest wait of the evening. Everything after that preliminary rush of company into the park was posted at 5 minutes, nevertheless it was actually simply how lengthy it took you to stroll the queue.

The spotlight of the evening, and the largest draw for me personally, was that as a substitute of the typical endless conga line of individuals going by the home, it was simply your celebration. That meant stumbling by the homes with nobody in entrance of you to comply with, hitting each scare, and never being as rushed as typical. Yes, we needed to hold shifting, however we might transfer slower than we normally would. The expertise was so a lot better than a daily evening.

Unfortunately, as a substitute of highlighting a perk of the particular occasion, it actually simply showcased how good issues might be.

Is Halloween Horror Nights Premium Scream Worth the Price?

My quick reply isn't any.

The lengthy reply is extra sophisticated than that.

There is a market right here. There is a gaggle of individuals that will discover a worth. Is it a large enough market to make the occasion worthwhile for Universal? Probably not. We have heard the occasion didn't promote in addition to Universal hoped, regardless of the last-minute advertising push.

What Makes it Worth It or Not?

Back in the “good old days,” you may scan into Universal Studios Florida at 4:58 p.m., put up up in a Stay and Scream pen, and have 4 (or extra!) homes finished earlier than the occasion began for the evening. Knocking the relaxation out by the finish of the evening was no drawback, even when the waits for the massive IP (Intellectual Property) homes bought lengthy. I bear in mind some years we might do all the homes, get pleasure from the zones, and watch each exhibits (bear in mind after we had multiple present?).

That’s usually not potential anymore. The occasion’s reputation has skyrocketed over the previous few years, leading to lengthy waits for many homes. That’s to not say it’s inconceivable to do all ten homes in a single evening with out Express Passes — we did it final 12 months.

The occasion’s largest attraction is the alternative to expertise the homes with limited-to-no wait. So how do you place a greenback worth on that?

By evaluating it to the different choices. We’re this assuming a visitor goes to reap the benefits of Stay and Scream, which lets you keep in the park after closing and get early entry to homes. It’s included with common park tickets to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Orlando Annual Passes.

Let’s Do the Math

For the sake of this instance, we’re going to make use of the beginning value earlier than tax and with out reductions to check to the $350 tag on Premium Scream. Let’s evaluate a few of your different choices to the worth of the Premium Scream Night.

Versus a Single Night Visit

A single-night ticket begins at $82.99. Express prices no less than $179.99. If you need to be sure you are able to do every home no less than as soon as and also you don’t care about leisure, you’re higher off spending the $262.98. If you don’t care if you happen to miss out on some homes, the single-night ticket is the apparent winner.

Best worth? Single evening admission + single evening categorical.

Best expertise? Premium Scream Night.

Versus an R.I.P. Tour

A non-private R.I.P. Tour, which is a guided tour of the occasion with as much as twelve folks per group, presents precedence entry to every home as soon as, and sometimes, you can even see Nightmare Fuel with precedence entry. These excursions are fast-paced, with not a variety of time for lingering, however they do embody snacks earlier than your tour kicks off. The value for a non-private R.I.P. Tour begins at $399.99.

This places the tour at the next value level than Premium Scream Night. If you select Premium Scream over R.I.P., you lose out on having a tour information. If you prefer to get the backstories and enjoyable details from the information, chances are you'll not take into account the $50 financial savings price it.

However, if you happen to’re somebody who doesn’t care or somebody who already is aware of the data, Premium Scream presents an opportunity to do the homes greater than as soon as and eat all through the evening at no further price.

Best worth? Premium Scream.

Best expertise? That depends upon your touring model. Foodies, or those that need to do homes a number of instances, will need to select Premium Scream. Those who need a informal evening or insider data? Choose an R.I.P. Tour.

Versus a Multi-Night Ticket

There are a number of choices for multi-night tickets, however earlier than we even have a look at the numbers, I’ll let you know my vote: the multi-night ticket is a greater expertise than Premium Scream. I, personally, would slightly go a number of nights than pack all the things into one evening, no matter how quick the strains are. There’s probably not a profit to doing each, both. It’ll simply price a fairly penny.

But I mentioned we’d do the math, so right here’s the math. The multi-night ticket choices are:

• Rush of Fear (consists of the first 18 nights of the occasion) – $179.99
• Frequent Fear (consists of 30 nights, no Fridays or Saturdays) – $239.99
• Frequent Fear Plus (consists of 40 nights, no Saturdays) – $289.99
• Ultimate Frequent Fear (consists of all occasion nights) – $399.99

The solely multi-night go that prices greater than Premium Scream is the Ultimate Frequent Fear, which provides you entry to each single evening of the occasion. With any of those passes, you may simply knock out the homes with out lengthy waits over the course of the season, whether or not you utilize Stay and Scream for early entry or come late and reap the benefits of smaller crowds previous midnight.

If you’re staying in Orlando for an extended interval otherwise you’re a neighborhood, there’s no purpose to pay $350 for one evening when you will get 40 nights for cheaper.

Best worth? Multi-night ticket.

Best expertise? Multi-night ticket.

Overall Thoughts on Halloween Horror Nights Premium Scream

We had a good time at Premium Scream Night, and I can see the place it is sensible for some guests to decide on it.

Pros

• Short wait instances
• Less crowded
• Free themed meals
• Free non-alcoholic drinks
• Smaller, pulsed teams as a substitute of conga strains by the homes

Cons

• Ran out of meals early
• Cost greater than most multi-night passes

I stored saying, “Tonight cost more than our other 18 nights.” Ultimately, I feel that’s why it’s a “no” for me. We’re not going to be pleased with one evening at HHN, and if we’re shopping for the multi-night go, Premium Scream actually doesn’t have worth. Again, I’m not a foodie, so there was no attraction there. It was nice to do all the homes twice at our personal tempo. Having finished a personal R.I.P. Tour earlier than, I'd select Premium Scream over that. But as a substitute of a multi-night go? Not an opportunity. And as a daily visitor, I wouldn’t pay for each once more.

Universal hasn’t mentioned something about Premium Scream since the occasion evening, so we don’t know if it can return as an possibility in 2025. If it does, we hope this assessment helps you resolve the finest worth in your cash and what you need out of the occasion.

Until then, we’ll see ya in the fog.

Looking for extra Halloween Horror Nights 33 protection? Check out our full information to this 12 months’s occasion for all the particulars, critiques, and extra.

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Katie Francis