Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando: Tips for Anxious Folks

I tend to be what you might call an anxious person or easily spooked. However, I recently had a trip booked to Universal Orlando Resort during their annual Halloween Horror Nights event and decided to brave the event (along with my sixty-something year old mother). So, here are my tips if you are considering attending the event but are skittish and need some support.

Halloween Horror Nights for Anxious Folks

Halloween Horror Nights, or HHN, is Universal Orlando (and technically Universal Hollywood’s) top tier scary fall event. They have some of the best themed haunted houses each year and really set the standard for what a scary event should look like. However, it’s supposed to be scary and because of that, it scares people (myself included) away. I’m here to say that the event is doable for anxious people and here’s how I did it.

1. Arrive early. I believe it eased my anxiety knowing the park layout as well as scare zone locations prior to arriving to the park. I also recommend seeing the park in the daylight to acquaint yourself with the scare zones and theming ahead of time.
2. Ease into it. I started with the front scare zone (Horrors of Halloween) and headed to get some food. The event has really been stepping up its game in the food department, so I knew which foods were must-gets for me and I got them immediately. I mean who doesn’t love starting an event with a pepperoni and cheese pizza skull and red velvet cake pop?! Then, I ate my goodies while taking in the nearest scare zone (Sweet Revenge). It was fun to watch the scare actors attempt to scare people and listen to the special effects being played. This was a nice way to ease into the scares.
3. Watch a show. Next, after another scare zone or two, we watched a few shows. I will admit that the Halloween Nightmare Fuel Wildfire show has suggestive material and is not for everyone. However, I really enjoyed the music before and during the show. Plus, the show was really entertaining and not scary at all. I also watched Ghoulish, the waterway fountain show, which isn’t scary either. It was neat and kind of relaxing to view.
4. Brace for darkness. The park takes on a more scary vibe once it gets dark. So, all of the research and prep comes in handy when you are running into massive crowds and thick fog in the park. Just don’t panic and keep walking. If you look scared, I think the actors are more likely to try to scare you. Just keep walking. Looking straight ahead seemed to help me. Meanwhile, they tried to scare my mom several times. Ha!
5. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. The waits for the haunted houses were over an hour the night we went. So, we actually didn’t even attempt to visit any. I don’t regret it necessarily, but just know that the experience is what you make it. If you want to be scared, you certainly can be. If you just want to enjoy an adult evening at a theme park, you can do that as well.

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So, there you have my tips for surviving Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando as an anxious person. Do you have any other tips? If you definitely can’t handle a few frights, might I recommend the much calmer and more family friendly SeaWorld Orlando Spooktacular Halloween or even Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party?