Top Tips for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights: Houses, Food, Rides & Must-Know Tricks

Step into the fog, the screams and the chaos! Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios isn’t just an event, it’s a survival mission. Navigating 10 haunted houses, dodging scare actors in the streets, and deciding whether those menu items are worth the price… it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But don’t worry – I’ve got you covered.

In this guide, I’ll share the top tips for conquering HHN in Orlando. I’ll tell you the best days to visit, what time to arrive, and which houses to hit first. We’ll cover where to grab the must-try snacks and which ones to skip. You’ll learn when to ride the open attractions and which shows to see. And I’ll give you insider tricks that will save you time, money and sanity. If you’re wondering “How scary is HHN?” or “Can you do it all in one night?“, we’ll tackle those too. First, check out my latest videos on the different HHN ticket types and who each type is good for.

Whether it’s your first time or your fifteenth, these strategies will help you maximize the thrills. And even avoid the chills if you grab the new Deathly Afraid necklace. Ready? Let’s dive into the fog!

It’s the question I’m asked the most: “When should I go to HHN to not wait in long lines?”

While in some cases you just aren’t going to escape waiting, there is a strategy to it. And that starts with when you actually attend the event.

Outside of opening weekend, Halloween Horror Nights is less crowded in early September. The closer you get to Halloween, the busier the event becomes. So if you can plan to go early in the run, you’ll face fewer people. However, you’ll also deal with more Florida-type weather in September versus October. Be prepared for it to rain during the event, and battle the nasty humidity that comes with that.

I was at the Premium Scream event on August 28, and it absolutely poured for over an hour. The rain moved out, it was windy and cool for about an hour, and then the humidity set in. So if you go earlier in the run, you’ll need to factor in the weather. October sees less rain and generally cooler temps.

Weekdays are also less crowded than weekends. Halloween Horror Nights heavily targets locals, so it fills up on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. If you can go during the week there won’t be as many people. The 2025 event runs from August 29 to November 2, but the event doesn’t happen every single night. Make sure you check the Halloween Horror Nights event page so you know when it takes place during the week.

If you love Halloween and want to be surrounded by people who also love Halloween and you just have to visit HHN on Halloween night – brace yourself. Crowd levels are absolutely insane on October 31. It’s a vibe, but it may not be worth trying if you don’t already have an enormous amount of patience.

Wondering whether you can get through all the houses in one night? It’s tough to do, even early in the season. But there are a couple of strategies that can certainly help.

If you buy the “Scream Early” add-on, you can enter Universal Studios after 3pm without buying a park ticket. You can ride the rides that aren’t open during the event, check out the Tribute Store and get your shopping out of the way before HHN even starts.

You’ll pick up a wristband at one of the designated pickup areas in the park, and then when Universal Studios closes to daytime guests at 5pm, you get to stay. The benefit here is a lot of the houses will open BEFORE the event start time, which is 7pm. So you’ve got the chance to knock out one or two houses before HHN guests even get into the park! It’s a great add-on that can save you a ton of time up front. It is an add-on, however, which means you still have to purchase a ticket to HHN for the same night.

If you don’t have the “Scream Early” ticket, you’ll want to be at the front gates no later than 6pm. The gates are scheduled to open each night at 6:30pm, and the line is known to build up from the entrance all the way back into CityWalk. If you can pick up your tickets from Will Call or the kiosks earlier in the day, I would do that as well. Those lines also get really long, and once the gates open, you won’t want to have to worry about anything other than getting in and getting to your first house.

Halloween Horror Nights promotes itself as THE premiere horror event in the world. And that’s a fair statement to make.

The scare intensity level can be high, especially after dark and in some of the more gruesome haunted houses. There are warning labels up everywhere that the event isn’t recommended for young children, but teens and adults who like being scared or like theme parks after dark will love this event. I am a no-go when it comes to gore, and I don’t usually volunteer to have the crap scared out of me. But I absolutely love going to HHN. I love the vibe, I love the food, I love riding rides at night, and I love the shows. I can walk through the scare zones with minimal fear, and the select houses I do walk through I usually laugh through. My head may not be up the whole time, and I might pee my pants a bit, but I always leave with a smile on my face.

The haunted houses have different levels of scare and gore factors. For example, in 2025 the “Terrifier” house is being touted as the “goriest house ever” at HHN. It even has a route choice inside the house; you can take the regular path or the “blood bath” path, which is supposed to dump blood on you (it’s just water) and possibly leave you soaked.

On the other hand, the “Fallout” house is more spooky than scary. A few jump scares, but a really great recreation of the vaults, and the scare actor who plays “Ghost” looks EXACTLY like the character in the Amazon Prime series. I watched the series and enjoyed it, and I enjoyed this house and laughed at myself all the way through it. So read the warnings outside the houses and know your scare level before you get in line. Also note the scare actors cannot touch you. So please don’t touch them…

The scare zones are entirely different. These are set up in the middle of the streets of Universal Studios. Each scare zone has a theme, just like the houses, and once you walk into the scene you are surrounded by creepy props, some staged performances, and scare actors walking the streets with you. Again, they cannot touch you, but they will walk right up to you and get in your face. There’s usually fog pumped into the streets to make things more spooky, and there will be loud music and sound effects happening all around you.

I like the scare zones a lot more than the houses because they feel more open and I don’t feel trapped. I can also see things better in the scare zones, so I feel less likely to have someone jump out at me than when I don’t know what’s around the corner in a haunted house.

If you don’t want to walk through the scare zone, you can always take the sidewalk off to the side and walk past the zone. Scare actors don’t approach people on the sidewalks, just in the streets.

So which HHN houses have the longest lines? That will always be the IP houses, which stands for Intellectual Property. Those houses are always based on movies, series, or franchises that you’ve definitely heard of unless you live in a household without access to TV or the internet.

In 2025 the IP houses are “Fallout,” “Terrifier,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “Jason Universe,” and “WWE: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks.” These lines will have the longest lines throughout the entire event, so you need to be strategic when visiting them.

First strategy is to get the “Scream Early” add-on we discussed earlier. As soon as houses start opening, go through them. All five IP houses generally open before 6pm, so my advice would be to hit the three at the front of the park first (“Terrifier,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” and “Wyatt Sicks”), then head to the back of the park.

Second strategy, if you don’t get in early, is to go to the back of the park as soon as you enter. Most people will stop at the three IP houses that are near the entrance, so bypass those for now and go to the back. You can hit either “Jason Universe” or “Fallout” before the lines get really long.

The third strategy is to make sure you stay until the event ends at 2am, and go to the IP houses late in the night. Most people begin leaving the event after midnight, so you’ll notice the crowds start to thin out and the lines start to go down by 1am. If you can stay until the end, you may only wait 15 to 20 minutes for some of the popular houses.

And the fourth strategy is to buy an Express Pass or do an R.I.P. tour. Yes, they are expensive. And yes, they save you a TON of time. The Express Pass lets you use the express line once for each house and open attraction, which is probably the only way you’ll get through every house in one night. And the R.I.P. tour is the only way you’ll get through all 10 houses plus the open rides and attractions in one night. So if waiting in lines makes you grumpy, or you know you’ll only attend one night and want to make sure you do it all, this is the strategy to follow.

The specialty menu items at Halloween Horror Nights are often their own reason to visit! There are delicious staples like the pizza skull that come back every season. Plus each year there are new food items at specialty booths themed to the haunted houses.

I attended the Premium Scream event so the food was included in the ticket price. I tried as many new menu items as I could. My favorites were the Cupcake from “Five Night’s at Freddy’s,” the Pickle Bucket Baked Chicken at the “Fallout” booth, and the Ramblin’ Rabbit Fried Carrot Cake at the “Wyatt Sicks” booth. There’s also a Phantom Punch drink this year, which is vodka-based, and sold at a few booths around the park. It was very fruity and very tasty.

There’s also plenty of overhyped items as well. The Clown Cafe Bloody Popcorn at the “Terrifier” booth was a real letdown. My popcorn chicken was flavorless and had very little of the promised marinara sauce on it. The Huskus’ Muscle Man Slop at the “Wyatt Sicks” booth is also skippable. It’s supposed to be a sloppy joe with dill pickle chips on it, which sounds interesting… but the meat was a weird texture, the chips were soggy, and the chocolate almond bun just added too many differing tastes for this to be considered good.

The food lines at HHN are always crazy long, no matter the time. If you want to save time and money, eat before you go to the event, and make sure you look at the full menu ahead of time so you know what you really want to wait for. The restaurants begin closing around midnight, and the food booths start closing around 1am, so watch your time!

With the closure of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (rest in peace, my favorite musical coaster), there are only four rides open this year during Halloween Horror Nights: Transformers 3-D, Men in Black: Alien Attack, The Mummy and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. The rides are certainly not the focus for most people, but I think they are fun to ride at night.

The best time to ride the rides is either right when the event opens or late in the night when most people are eating or are in line for houses. If the houses are your focus, just watch the wait times in your Universal Orlando Resort app and swing by a ride on your way to another house. If you don’t plan on going through many (or any) haunted houses, I advise riding the rides first thing or between 11pm and close.

One thing to note – Transformers 3-D and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts will close at midnight due to noise ordinance, so be sure you ride them before they close!

Halloween Horror Nights can be a lot of fun… if you know what to expect. Here’s a few extra tips and tricks to help you have a horrifically fun night.

• Wear comfortable shoes. You will be walking and standing. A LOT. I know you spooky girlies want to look cute in your costumes, but I strongly suggest you take care of your feet and go for comfort over fashion.
• You will probably get wet. It’s probably going to rain, so bring a poncho to help cover you and your bags. And bring extra socks. Blisters from soaked socks are the worst.
• Stay hydrated. Orlando is HUMID. You will most likely feel disgustingly sweaty during HHN. So drink some water at some point during the night. Yes, try the drinks, but just be smart about it.
• Budget for food and merch. The specialty items add up quicky, so budget ahead of time. If you’re a collector, you’re going to find HHN merch that is new and themed every year, and Universal normally releases first looks before the event starts. So save your coins before you get there.
• Check out the Tribute Store during the day. The Tribute Store is a Universal Studios staple, and changes themes througout the year. This year’s HHN setup is pretty disappointing, unfortunately. It feels like an oversized merch store, not a Tribute Store. So save yourself some time and go through it during the day if you can.
• Don’t skip the Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay show. This show was absolutely mind-blowing. The aerial feats, the fire dancers, the disjointed performers… it was crazy and shocking and just so good. Get in line early and go see it.
• Be sure you have the right ticket for you. If you haven’t already, watch my video above about ticket types and see which type is right for you. This alone will save you a lot of stress and regret.

Halloween Horror Nights is one of the most thrilling events of the year! With the right game plan, you can turn a chaotic night into an unforgettable adventure. If you found these tips helpful, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I share ticket breakdowns, menu tastings, and even more HHN strategies in action. Also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for updates, behind-the-scenes peeks, and tips you won’t find anywhere else. If you’ve already been, be sure to comment below with your own HHN tips and favorites!

And when you’re ready to plan your own visit, I’d love to help! As a U-Preferred Travel Advisor I can put together the perfect HHN trip for you. Everything from park tickets to hotel stays and the perks in between. Just shoot me email here or check out my Contests and Promotions page for more info. Let’s start planning your ultimate Universal Orlando adventure!

See you in the fog!