Is Halloween Horror Nights Worth $83+ at Universal Orlando? We Have Thoughts

As we get closer and closer to September, that means one thing — fall is officially on the way and spooky season is upon us!

Well, Disney World’s already been celebrating for a few weeks since Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party began earlier this month, but now it’s Universal Orlando Resort’s turn! Halloween Horror Nights starts THIS week, but this event leaves a lot of families wondering — is it really worth the money? Let’s find out!

A regular ticket to Halloween Horror Nights starts at $83 and goes up to $123 on its most expensive nights, which are Saturday evenings in October. While this price point doesn’t seem bad at all — in fact, it almost seems like a no-brainer, especially when compared to the starting price of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party — however, there’s a catch.

The catch is that, at Disney World’s much less scary and more family-friendly event, you don’t need to buy their skip-the-line pass (called Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass) to experience the attractions during the event — in fact, it’s not even available during the party! However, if you want to experience all the Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses in one night, you’ll probably need to purchase an add-on. Otherwise, you can probably expect to make it through about 4-6 houses through the regular standby lines, depending on the crowds on that night, the specific houses you want to see, and how much you’re strategizing and hustling around the park.

There are a few different add-ons to choose from to give you access to skipping the lines at haunted houses, access to more nights at Halloween Horror Nights for a deal, and/or allowing you early access to the event. These options are:

• Halloween Horror Nights – Express Pass: Purchased on TOP of your regular event ticket, this allows you to skip the line at every haunted house ONCE during the night. It starts at $149.99 per person.
• Halloween Horror Nights Scream Early Ticket: Purchased on TOP of your regular event ticket, this allows you access to the event from 3-5PM. At 5PM you’ll wait in a Stay & Scream area until the event begins, which gives you a major head start to the haunted houses. It starts at $55 per person.
• Halloween Horror Nights Rush of Fear Pass: This pass allows a person access to the first 18 nights of Halloween Horror Nights at one price. It starts at $179.99 per person.

As you can see, unless you’re only planning on going to a few haunted houses and you want to spend the rest of the party checking out the food, merchandise, rides, and live entertainment, you’ll likely want to purchase an add-on, which brings the total cost of your ticket to around $138-$233+.

With all of that in mind, is the price of Halloween Horror Nights worth it? We attended the first night of Halloween Horror Nights to get our take on the value of this year’s event!

In a word, we think YES, Halloween Horror Nights is worth the ticket price! With 10 haunted houses, 5 scare zones, a live show, and a handful of regular rides open, there is a ton of entertainment available during the event, all of which is included in the ticket price.

Some people may spend more money throughout the event on things like merchandise and specialty food and drinks, but we didn’t feel that we needed to in order to enjoy ourselves. In fact, with how immersive the scare zones around the park are, we would have had a great time without even going through the haunted houses! Even the Tribute Store is packed with details that horror fans will love.

Of course, there are a few important caveats that can determine whether Halloween Horror Nights will also be worth it for you. First, unlike Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party, this event is seriously SCARY. If you’re not a fan of horror or spooky things, there won’t be a whole lot at Halloween Horror Nights that you’ll be able to enjoy. If you know you don’t like scary things, then the ticket price probably won’t be worth it. There are a handful of rides open, but with scare zones located throughout the park, you’ll still have to make your way through the spooky stuff to get to them.

Also, if you only have one night at Halloween Horror Nights and you really want to see all of the houses, you’ll want to swing for the Express Pass if you can make it work for your budget. It’s possible to see all of the houses without it if you optimize your time and take advantage of things like the scream early zones and starting with the houses at the back of the park while the lines are shorter. But even with all of those strategies in play, you’ll really have to hustle, and even then you might not make it through all the standby lines if it’s a super busy night. With that in mind, if you’re in “do it all” mode, you may need to add the cost of the Express Pass on top of the standard event ticket.

Spending extra on the Express Pass might be tough on your budget, but in addition to letting you get through more haunted houses, it can also buy you some time to enjoy the event at a more leisurely pace. That means grabbing some snacks, seeing the show, and exploring the scare zones, instead of just hustling from line to line. In the past, we’ve had nights where we were able to see all 10 houses by 9:30PM, and we spent the rest of the night just soaking in the atmosphere.

If you’re a local and want to visit the event multiple times, you’ll probably want to get the Rush of Fear Pass, which can also take away some of the pressure of “doing it all” since you can come back multiple times.

Our team LOVES this event and thinks that it is well worth the ticket price year after year. And after checking out the first night of 2024 Halloween Horror Nights, we can confirm that this year is no exception for us!

But, at the end of the day, it’s entirely up to you if a ticket to HHN is worth it for you and your family. If you’re fans of horror and feel you’d get the most out of a regular ticket, or want to upgrade to experience everything and more, then grab your tickets! However, if you’re not a big horror fan and are more unsure about if it’s right for you, maybe check out our coverage of the first night and decide based on what you see! (Check out our video from last year’s event below in the meantime!)

 

We’ll be updating you on all the latest HHN and Universal Orlando news, so stay tuned to AllEars!

FULL Menus Released for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando

How do you feel about Halloween Horror Nights? Tell us in the comments!