Hello there! It’s Hailey, back once again to give you the scoop on our latest adventure! We arrived back home from Florida just in time to experience a spell of chilly and rainy fall weather, which was a pretty sudden change from the hot and humid Florida climate. We weren’t expecting to trade in our shorts and linens for pants and hoodies when we got home!

Anyway, after a delay and tight connection in Charlotte, we made it to Orlando. Our first hotel of this trip was Universal’s Aventura Hotel, located right across the road from Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort and a quick walk from Loews Sapphire Falls Resort. Right after we checked in, we headed straight to their food court, called Urban Pantry, for some (very late) dinner. I don’t know if it was just because I was starving, but I had some of the best salmon and potatoes that I have ever eaten that night. The salmon had a delicious citrus beurre blanc, and the roasted potatoes were amazing!!! Smashed, fried, perfectly seasoned… I’m drooling at the thought of them! If you know me, then you know I LOVE a good potato product.

The next day we slept in and spent the afternoon exploring Universal Studios, until it was time for Halloween Horror Nights to start. My dad has been going to HHN solo for several years now, but in 2024 my mom went with him for the first time…and then last year they were able to convince me to go with them. In the past, I thought there was no way that I would ever go to HHN, and boy was I wrong! However, there is some truth to the fact that my mom and I won’t go without an R.I.P. Tour, lol.

For the past few years, my family has been doing the R.I.P. Tour during Halloween Horror Nights. These tours are fantastic, and are such a great way to get to see and do everything all in one night. There are ten houses, four scare zones, one stage show, and one water show to see all in one night. And with an R.I.P. tour, you can do it all! These tours take you straight to the entrance of all of the houses, which saves so much time considering the fact that the waits for the houses can be over an hour long each depending on the house. The tour also has special seating areas for the stage and water shows, which means that you don’t have to worry about arriving to the shows early for a good seat. The three of us have absolutely loved our R.I.P. tour experiences so far, and cannot recommend it enough!

Our tour was a group of 12 people, and we had an awesome guide for the evening, who was ironically named Amber! Before you go into each house or scare zone, your guide will give you a bit of backstory for each theme so that you have an idea of what you are about to walk into. I feel that this is especially helpful for the houses that have an original theme, rather than being based on a popular movie or TV show.

My mom’s favorite houses this year were Stranger Things 5 and Sinners, and my dad’s favorites were Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness (he’s a huge Ozzy fan, more on that later!) and H.R. Bloodengutz. All of those were also my favorites, but I thought that Cybergoria was pretty cool too. I liked the kind of Fallout-esque theme, and how they made it feel like we were going into some kind of sleeping pod, only to wake up thousands of years in the future in this creepy robot world.

We all really enjoyed the stage show this year, Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir, which had a vampire theme. As always, the show leaned into a burlesque style that is not for the younger audiences. The stunts and dancing were amazing, and the performance by the Fuel Girls (who dance with fire) was impressive as usual. However, we did not love this year’s sword swallowing act, especially because of the corkscrew shaped object that the performer screwed up into his nose and out of his mouth. That was a bit much for me, and grossed me out quite a bit, lol.

Also included in the tour was a reception with a buffet of light appetizers at Cafe La Bamba. One of my favorite things about this buffet is that it includes a few of the food items that you can get at the themed food stands during HHN. To name a few of these options: the Vegan Pizza Skull, Bloody Bones, Skin and Chips Nachos, Pizza Fries, Steve’s Smuggled Peanut Butter Bites, and Carnevil Smashed Tacos. We weren’t a fan of the pizza skull, but the peanut butter bites were really good and my dad LOVED the smashed tacos. My mom also really wanted to try the Meat Grinder Red Velvet (which they really put in a meat grinder right in front of you, yuck!), but we were all exhausted after our tour finished around midnight and ended up heading straight back to the room. My dad also got The Prince of Darkness Cake, a carrot cake with cream cheese mousse, which he said was some of the best carrot cake he’s eaten.

My mom and I slept in the next morning, but my dad had to be up early for a full day of HHN activities. Here are the exciting details from his busy day (and third late night in a row):

After staying up half the night for our R.I.P. Tour, I got up bright and early the next morning for a Behind the Screams: Unmasking the Horror Tour. (The tour was actually at 9am, but I think that counts as bright and early in vacation terms.)

Universal offers both 3-house and 6-house behind-the-scenes tours. I chose the 6-house option, which included lights-on looks at a nice mix of both licensed and original-themed haunted houses:

• Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control
• Stranger Things 5
• Evil Dead Burn
• Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness
• Sinners
• MADLANDS: Caged Cannibals

Upon arriving at the V.I.P. check-in, I was ushered upstairs, assigned to a 12-person group, and given a lanyard, button pin, and headset. After a quick introduction to Tour Guide Dave and a stock-up on bottled waters (it was HOT), we were on our way for a whirlwind tour of four haunted houses, a leisurely buffet lunch break at Cafe La Bamba (included in the tour), then two more houses before parting ways around 2:30pm.

I won’t go into intricate details on each of the haunted houses (that’s what the tour is for!), but suffice it to say that as impressive as these sets are at night while you’re having your pants scared off by scare actors, the level of detail you can take in when you’re able to stop and look around is truly astounding. You’re even allowed to take photos in many areas, though it seemed to me that any section where Universal is using some kind of proprietary technology to achieve their Halloween magic is a strictly no-photo zone. (That said, the jaw-dropping decapitated Deadite head animatronic in Evil Dead Burn was free to photograph… Go figure.) While the final house we toured — MADLANDS: Caged Cannibals — was a free-for-all in terms of photos, it was also one of the goriest, making their shareability somewhat limited. Although the houses are of course free of scare actors during the day and the effects are turned off, our guide called ahead to have one of the animatronics in the final house — a giant, robot rhinoceros with a bloody drillbit for a horn — turned on so we could see it in all its gory glory. Nice touch.

After the tour, I returned for one last, solo visit to Halloween Horror Nights 35 later that night. Experiencing some of the haunted houses again, I had a whole new level of appreciation for the momentous amount of hard work and creativity that goes into creating these immersive experiences. There’s a reason Halloween Horror Nights is my favorite special event in Orlando.

While it’s probably not something I’d do every year, I believe the tour is more than worth it when there’s something special in the lineup. As a longtime Black Sabbath fan, this year’s Ozzy Osbourne tribute ticked that box for me with a big, bold, blood-red pen. I highly recommend both the tour and our guide, Dave, whose wide knowledge of the subject matter and sometimes (okay, usually) cringeworthy jokes made the whole experience that much more fun. Just ask for the guy who could easily be mistaken for The Rock; they’ll know who you’re referring to. (Spoiler: He looks absolutely nothing like The Rock.)

Here’s Hailey! I’ll include some of the (least gory) pictures he took throughout the day:

After spending our morning hanging out at the hotel, my mom and I headed over to Epic Universe. Our afternoon and evening was spent riding Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, Fyre Drill, Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, and Monsters Unchained. We also spent a while in Super Nintendo World trying out the Power-Up Bands and trying to collect coins and keys. Once you collect three keys from doing the various challenges in the land, you are able to enter Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown, an interactive game where you punch, jump, duck, and throw items on a projected screen. I had no idea what we were going into with this game, but it was pretty fun! Definitely a must-do for fans of the game or for people/kids who want to have a fun and interactive experience in this land.

For those of you that haven’t ridden Fyre Drill in the Isle of Berk yet, keep in mind that sometimes you might ride and barely get wet, but other times you could ride and get completely soaked. This was one of those “completely soaked” times for us. I got wet standing in the queue, from someone who was already on the ride and shooting over the wall, and then we both proceeded to get soaked by someone in the boat behind ours. Sometimes you can aim towards other boats, so be prepared to shoot back when another rider aims at you! Of course, neither of us were complaining about getting all wet, because it was pretty refreshing in the intense Florida heat. This ride also has two safe boxes (one at the front and one at the back of your boat) to put your belongings in, which is great because I wouldn’t want my bags to get as wet as we did!

One more Epic Universe tip I want to share: get ice cream at Frosty Moon in Celestial Park!!! I absolutely love their ice cream, and it’s a must-do for me while we are at Epic! You get to pick your flavor of soft serve in either a cup or a cone, as well as two toppings. I highly recommend the strawberry soft serve with strawberry cheesecake pieces and mini marshmallows. The mini marshmallows are mini Lucky Charm marshmallows, so super delish!

The next day we spent some time walking around Islands of Adventure. We also spent a good bit of time in Kingpin’s Arcade in Marvel Super Hero Island. If you know my dad, then you know he always looks to see if any arcade he passes has a pinball machine. But if you know my mom, then you know that she will always be on the hunt for a coin pusher! We spent some time on our first day in the Palace Theater Arcade in Universal Studios, where she played a Wizard of Oz themed coin pusher, nothing super fancy. But in this Marvel arcade, the coin pusher she played was a Marvel themed one, where your goal was to aim the coin to go through the center of infinity stones! It was so much fun to watch her play, and she even won three collectible cards from the machine: Thor, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther. Such a cool souvenir!

After heading out of the park and grabbing some Voodoo Doughnuts, it was time to ride over to Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter resort, our home base for the Disney part of our vacation. Once we got checked in to our room (with a super convenient location right near the food court!) we decided to go to Disney Springs for dinner at Raglan Road, an Irish restaurant. If my mom has ever told you that it’s a bad idea to go to Disney Springs on a weekend (especially on a Saturday night like we did), I would suggest listening to her advice, lol. It was packed, and I mean PACKED. We don’t go to Disney Springs much for this very reason, but this was a great reminder of just how bad crowds can get over there. Also, Raglan Road was great, as always!

The next morning was spent as a pool day, until the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in and the pool closed down. During this trip, we had some of the worst thunderstorms that we’ve had on our trips in a while. On this day in particular, I heard some of the loudest thunder I might have ever heard! My mom and I were reminiscing on the last time we stayed at French Quarter, back in December 2018, when we had some crazy weather and a tornado warning. Weird coincidence! If you want to read more about that, check out the blog my mom posted in January 2019.

Anyway, we had to gather up our umbrellas and ponchos, because that night we were attending Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! This year, the party is celebrating 31 fang-tastic years. I love this event, and the parade is easily my favorite Disney parade. The music is so nostalgic for me (and I get it stuck in my head all the time, especially this time of year, lol) and I absolutely love the Haunted Mansion grave diggers and ballroom dancers. I even have a Loungefly mini backpack with the Haunted Mansion ballroom dancers on it, they are one of my favorite parts of the ride!

As a party guest, you can enter the park as early as 4pm, even though the party doesn’t start until 7pm. Party guests are funneled into the park (avoiding Main Street) through a backstage area to the left of Tony’s Town Square Restaurant that leads over towards Tomorrowland Terrace. Usually there are some cool props and characters to see in this area, and I loved the characters they included this year! There was a stage area where a Haunted Mansion steward/maid came out to welcome guests to the party. In addition, there were a couple of grave diggers greeting guests with spooky stares, as well as Lady Fermotta who was also talking to guests.

As usual, this area also served as the first treat stop where you got your candy bag and a special treat, which was a full-size Ghoulish Green Twix. At the regular treat stops throughout the park (which open once the party starts), you can find normal fun or mini-sized Mars candy bars, including smaller versions of the green Twix bar. I’ve eaten a few of these green Twix bars so far, and while I don’t notice a difference in taste, they are super delicious!

During the party, we met Chip and Dale in their super cute skeleton bat Halloween costumes, saw the Cadaver Dans singing in Frontierland, and saw Belle, Maleficent, and the Evil Queen at various treat stops. We also watched Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular (firework/castle projection show) and Mickey’s Boo-To-You Halloween Parade from Main Street. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the Headless Horseman this time around. It had been a very rainy afternoon and he often doesn’t run on days when it has been rainy, because of any potential slipping hazards for the horse. But of course the parade was still fantastic!

As soon as the parade was over (at 11:47pm, the party ends at midnight), we headed straight for Tomorrowland to squeeze in a quick ride on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We’re all still trying to figure out how to master the new handheld blasters since the refurb, lol. But before we hopped on the ride, we made a quick stop at the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Treat stop and also ran through the treat stop outside of where Stitch’s Great Escape was located. It was 11:57 or so when we went through this last treat stop and my candy bag wasn’t far off from being full, but the person who I went up to for candy told me to set my bag down straight in the candy bin and proceeded to stuff as much candy as possible into my bag until it was literally overflowing. Our candy bags were HEAVY! But if you’re looking to leave the party with a bag stuffed(!!!) full of candy, make sure to enter a treat stop line just before midnight, and I’m sure the cast members would be more than happy to do this for you. And keep in mind that you will have to transport this candy home somehow, which can be a challenge if flying, lol. We made it on to Buzz right at 11:59, and then headed back to our resort as the park closed down for the night.

The next morning we had to pack up our things and check out of the hotel. But since we had a late flight, that meant that we had just enough time to head into Hollywood Studios and check out the new Magic of Disney Animation and Animation Courtyard areas. We had visited the Animation Courtyard back in July, but the new Magic of Disney Animation (replacing Star Wars: Launch Bay) opened just before our trip in September. Perfect timing!

We visited the Once Upon a Studio Theater and watched the super cute short that showcases so many wonderful characters from the history of Disney Animation. The waiting area for this show also has several interactive games, like filling up balloons with Baymax, which are super fun to play! There is also the Drawn to Wonderland play area (ideally for children 6 months to 5 years old), which is adorable from what I’ve seen but we didn’t get the chance to experience this area. There is also the Off the Page! area which has a bunch of character meet and greets.

Another cool new offering here is the Olaf Draws! class where you and Olaf learn how to draw popular Disney characters from a Disney animator. This was a fun experience and the character being drawn seems to change after every class, which is super neat, since you don’t know who you will be drawing until it’s your turn. But I think that some characters that you learn to draw might not have been that well thought out. The class before us was Stitch which would have been easy enough for most people, because I’d say most people aren’t going into the experience with a ton of drawing experience. But our character was Moana… and I knew that would be a challenge, lol.

I believe the experience was around 25 minutes long, which is NOT enough time to learn how to draw a human with no prior drawing experience. The instructions were way too fast and I think that they really should stick to the non-human characters for the drawing classes, since drawing human anatomy isn’t exactly an easy thing for the beginners to master in 25 minutes (especially since most people expect to come out of the class with a semi-recognizable drawing). While characters like Stitch or Mickey would be much more doable, I do understand that some people want a greater variety of characters. I just think they should stick to the non-human options.

On the way out of the area, there is a gallery that is full of concept art and figures from the upcoming Disney movie titled Hexed. In the next room, Treasures Untold, there are a ton of cool items to look at. The items in this room are “on loan” from Disney characters, so you can find all sorts of iconic items in these displays. You can catch a glimpse of the collars from The Aristocats, Scrump on loan from Lilo, the enchanted rose from Beauty and the Beast, Maui’s magic fish hook, Rapunzel’s frying pan, and SO many more! This was such an awesome display!

Also, in the Animation Courtyard just outside of the Magic of Disney Animation, you can interact with all kinds of roaming Disney characters! We have saw characters like Moana, Rapunzel, Goofy, Donald, Chip and Dale in this area playing with guests in this area on our July visit. This time, we saw rarer characters like Suzy and Perla (two of the mice from Cinderella) and Geppetto from Pinocchio! Also, be on the lookout for little statues throughout the area including: Oliver & Dodger, Pua & Thumper, Zazu, Lucifer, and lots more! And also check out the feet and hand/paw prints to the right of the Mickey’s sorcerer hat. Lots of fun ones there! I’m super excited to spend more time in this area and see how it continues to evolve.

After we finished in Studios, we took the bus back to French Quarter and enjoyed some beignets (YUM!) while waiting for our time to head back to the airport. Right before it was time for us to leave, a huge storm started and it was pouring some heavy rain by the time we had to get into our Lyft. Gotta love the Florida weather and its afternoon rainstorms!

After a few more lovely delays and an annoying connection in Charlotte, we finally made it home around 4am (way later than expected). We came home to cold weather (yuck!), but now it’s starting to get back into the 80s (yay!). I’d say we all had a blast on this trip, and can’t wait for the next Halloween season!

Until next time!

Hailey