Staff Educational: Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort
Date Posted: 01/11/2023
Back in September, Hollie from our Social Media team was lucky enough to join Universal on a trip to Orlando, Florida. Experiencing all of the rides, VIP and Halloween Horror Night, we caught up with Hollie to see how much she enjoyed the trip
Day 1
We arrived in lovely, warm and sunny Orlando late afternoon and made our way to Loews Royal Pacific Resort where we spent the next 4 nights. The hotel was beautiful; from pristine furniture to the smell of ‘bright sunshine’ diffuser throughout, it was an experience to stay at this hotel and resort. The staff were very accommodating, greeting us with Hawaiian leis as we checked in.
We met for dinner at Jake’s American Bar, where we had a few drinks and shared some tapas. There was plenty to choose from; from Jake’s hot wings with ranch and blue cheese to homemade pretzel rods, there was something for us all.
We later made our way back to our rooms to have an early night ready for a full day at Universal.
Day 2
An early start, I watched the sun come up and headed for breakfast at 7:30 at Islands Dining Room – a Polynesian-inspired restaurant. The selection of food was never-ending. Cooked breakfasts with your choice of eggs, cereals, breads & cheese to doughnuts and patisseries we all fuelled up for a day at Universal. We headed to the hotels water taxi and took the 5-minute ride to City Walk. Here was where we first seen the famous ‘Universal’ globe. At 8:30am it was already packed with park goers eager to get in. As we were VIP, we were taken to the VIP entrance where we received little goodies that were SPF and hand sanitizer – just one of the perks of this experience! We headed into the park and straight away bumped into Marilyn Monroe, then just after it was Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine. Then it was Bumblebee from Transformers. The first ride we headed to was Return of the Mummy, then Transformers. We then strolled along to Jimmy Fallon soon it was time for lunch at the Illumination’s Minion Café. This café was amazing – the sounds of the Minions playing throughout and the whole place Minion’s themed – even the menu. I ordered Uncle Dru’s Belly Fillin’ pork sandwich with banana chips and a PX-41 drink. Probably not the best choice when riding rides all day, but worth it! After lunch it was time to head to Springfield, and this was the highlight of the day for me, being a huge Simpson’s fan! Walking into Moe’s was so surreal, as the buildings and town were exactly as they are on the show, only they were brought to life! Krusty’s Burgers and Lard Lad donuts were all there too, even the world recognised Duff beer! To top it off, the Simpson’s motion ride was amazing! Next up it was Harry Potter World; Diagon Alley, Gringotts Bank and naturally it was time to try Butterbeer and Early Grey Lavender ice cream…yum!! Well worth the years of waiting! We spent the rest of the day riding Rip Ride Rockit – a rollercoaster where you can select a song to play through your very own speakers and of course I chose Waterloo by ABBA. After spending the rest of the afternoon in the parks it was time to head back to the hotel for a quick change and to head out for dinner.
Before tonight’s dinner we headed to Aventura Hotel for drinks at the boujee rooftop bar. The sunset was stunning, and we watched it go down whilst sipping cocktails. A perfect warm up for heading to Vivo Italians at City Walk. Here I indulged in bread, oils, and dips before a huge portion of parmigiano and spaghetti. We then took a walk around and Dave asked us to head to Red Coconut for a cocktail, and we weren’t going to say no! I chose the Ooze cocktail, and the bar was such good fun. We decided to walk back to the hotel as it was only 20 minutes, and by now it was a lot cooler than it had been all day.
Day 3
Again, it was another bright eyed and busy tailed morning! The sun was up, and we met for breakfast at the Tuk Tuk market in the hotel – a grab ‘n go kind of place. Today we were off to Islands of Adventure, and it was finally time to ride the Velocicoaster – this was based in the Jurassic Park part of the park, and it was as good as everyone had told me. We rode a lot of the rides twice – front and back to enjoy the full experience. The Hulk was so good we rode this 3 times. We had more BTS experience here too – I was almost shaking when I sat in the same dressing room Ariana Grande had sat in to get her make up done when she had performed at Universal. Dave managed to get us a sneak peek at one of the houses from Halloween Horror Night and I think I can speak for us all when I say the nerves crept in. Popping our heads into the house gave us excitement for the following night, but who wouldn’t be nervous at the thought of ten haunted houses?! Back out in the park we walked around Seuss Landing – this was probably the most colourful, fun, bubbly place I have ever been. The music, the colours and the theme were fantastic. Toon Lagoon was on par with its colours and designs – Betty Boop, Popeye and Olive Oil, everything was comic themed and fun. We saw characters like Wolverine and Storm, Jean Grey and Spiderman. I’m not usually a water ride person but I couldn’t say no to these ones – Popeye, Ripsaw Falls and River Adventure. We got soaked but right through but was worth it considering the heat, it was actually nice to cool down!
We had lunch at Mythos Restaurant in the park. It was a historic Greek theme and was in my opinion the nicest restaurant of all the ones I went into. The views onto the park from here were amazing – ride after ride. We done a little souvenir shopping today before heading back, I chose a Duff and Grinch luggage tags, but the stores were full of everything – towels, cups pens, plushies, you name it, you could find it in there.
Tonight’s trip was to Portofino Bay – a spectacular Italian themed hotel resort. I was taken aback by the size of it, and the attention to detail. There were mopeds outside, an opera singer singing from a balcony and magically, the most amazing sunset took place to really set the scene.
From here we took a short walk to the Hard Rock Café, and it was the rockstar of all hotels; a saxophone chandelier, a guitar fountain and every megastar had their picture or some memorabilia scattered everywhere. As impressive as always and the pool at the hotel even had underground speakers! WOW. We dined here and I chose the chicken orzo soup and hearth baked focaccia bread.
We ended the night by walking back from here to the hotel, laughing on reminiscing on the day we had. Another early night as tomorrow was our biggest day and night…
Day 4
We took a short walk to Sapphire Falls for breakfast and this restaurant was stunning. We had a walk around to look around the hotel then continued to walk 10 minutes to Volcano Bay – a huge waterpark we were spending the day.
The park was huge, with an even bigger Volcano and full of slides, but my favourite part about today was the rapids. Being pulled around the rapids at an enjoyable pace, being able to see all parts of the park was fun. We went on the Krakatau Aqua Coaster – my first ever experience on a water rollercoaster! There was a lazy river, slides for children, several pool areas. Here at the park, we used the TapuTapu which is basically a watch given to you at the entrance and is for when you want to go on a ride but don’t want to queue, you tap your watch and enter a virtual line. So easy and gives you more time to swim, go on another slide or enjoy some time on a sun lounger around the Volcano and pool. For lunch I had coconut crusted fried chicken combo sat in a lovely, shaded area before relaxing around the main pool before we caught the bus back to the hotel.
Tonight, we were headed to Halloween Horror Night and it was a spooky experience from start to finish. We checked in at the event and made our way to HHN Sales Client experience. In here the events room was decked out in Halloween décor and all the food was on theme. Big appreciation for the food as when completing ten haunted houses and burning a lot of fuel by squealing, a few snacks throughout the night were needed!
The houses were so much fun. The Exorcist was my favourite as the attention to detail was brilliant – the smells and sounds made it. In-between doing the houses was the scare zones with the scare actors – again all the cast done such a good job of staying in character making everyone jump and squeal walking down these areas.
The parks were open until late – we rode The Mummy and Rip Ride Rockit, done some midnight shopping and didn’t get back to the hotel until after 1:30am. The whole night was full of different experiences, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their night.
Day 5
Our last day in Orlando but for this morning we were visiting hotels: Dockside, Surfside and Cabana Bay. Cabana Bay really stood out to me for it 50s theme throughout – cars outside the hotel, bowling alley, and gym; the rooms were vintage with a modern twist, even down to the toiletries provided. Depending on which room you stay in, you may have a full view of the Volcano at Volcano Bay.
After a morning of hotel visits, we met back at the Hotel in Jake’s for our last meal together. We laughed and reminisced about the trip, our favourite parts and how we planned on keeping in touch. Visiting Orlando with a group of people from different companies was the best way to experience the trip – none of us had been here before so everything was a first for everyone.
I always thought I just didn’t understand the whole process of booking a trip to Orlando, but once I was there everything clicked into place. I had the best time, with the best people and Dave Kneale who was our guide from Universal couldn’t have been nicer. He made the whole experience so comfortable and easy and I couldn’t thank him enough for what he done for us.
