A few weeks ago, I was able to visit Universal Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights and did the add-on HHN Scream Early Ticket! Today, I will examine if it was worth it or not to help others decide if they should spend the money.

HHN Scream Early

In prior years, I had an Annual Pass to Universal Orlando. So, I could enter the park whenever I wanted. However, I haven’t had an AP to Universal in a few years. This new Scream Early ticket sounded good to me. It gave me entry to the park at 2 PM and access to some houses early. So, I purchased the add-on ticket for $74.55, including taxes and headed on my way.

Sidenote: A tip I gave in my Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando: Tips for Anxious Folks post years ago was to get acquainted with the park and its layout before the sun goes down. This new Scream Early ticket allows you to walk around the park during the day and spot where the scare zones, food booths, shows, and houses are. I highly recommend entering early if you are a nervous person.

Early Entry Houses

As I stated above, I was able to enter the park at 2 PM. However, due to the heat and rain, I opted to wait until closer to 4 PM to enter the park. Immediately upon entering the park, I headed towards Strangers Things since three houses open at 2 PM for Scream Early attendees. I could have also entered the lines for Hellraiser or Jack & Oddfellow as those also open at 2 PM. After a really reasonable and pretty quick 20 minutes or so wait, I was able to complete the Stranger Things house.

Opening at 5:15 PM, I lined up for Ozzy Osbourne’s house an hour early around 4:15 PM. Thankfully, Universal has opened additional sound stages for guests to wait in this year. So, I sat in a cool area for about an hour. Then, the line started moving and we went back outside for another 20-30 minutes. I was done with my second house by 5:50 PM. Then, I hopped over to the Tribute Store and purchased an Ozzy shirt.

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Early Food

After knocking out the two houses I wanted to do, I headed towards some food. The food booths in Gramercy Park opened early. So, I got the Deathbringer Tempura Shrimp to enjoy around 6. Then, I walked around and got the Fried PB&J Bites around 6:20 PM. By 6:30 PM (the official start time for the event), I was sitting down enjoying some Pork BBQ Eggrolls from Sinners!

Is HHN Scream Early worth it?

As I stated above, the HHN Scream Early ticket is perfect for folks who want to wander around and get comfy in the park before it gets dark. It’s also perfect for folks who want to hit up multiple houses. The main drawback is the heat/sun and possibly afternoon storms. However, as I have proven, even if you wait until almost 4, you can still accomplish a lot before the event officially begins! I highly recommend this ticket and thought it was a great deal. I was able to see two houses, eat some food, and grab some merch before the event even began!

I’ve just returned from a visit to Universal Orlando, where I was lucky enough to take the 2026 Unmasking the Horror 6 House Tour! Here’s a look at that experience.

2026 Unmasking the Horror

Back in 2023, I went to Halloween Horror Nights to see the Stranger Things house. While there, I did the Daytime Lights On Tour and posted a review of that experience. I’ve gotten a couple of comments on that post over the years, so when Stranger Things and Ozzy was announced for 2026, I decided that a trip back to UO was in order! Today, I want to go over my experience and compare it to 2023’s tour.

I’ll start by pointing out that in 2023, I received an email from Universal with a list of houses included on the tour. This year, that wasn’t the case. I booked my tour after someone posted on the HHN subreddit claiming that both Ozzy and ST were on the 6 house tour. So, I don’t know if that’s a permanent change or not. However, I would have preferred some communication from UO stating the houses. Nonetheless, the list the person shared on Reddit was correct.

Once again, this tour is listed as a 5 hour tour. I selected a 10:15 AM slot in order to sleep in some after attending HHN the night before. My tour wrapped up a little after 4 PM. So, I guess the new time guidelines are a little over 5 hours of tour, plus 45 minutes for the included lunch. Also, you have lunch after the 4th house instead of the 3rd now.

This year, the six house tour included: Sinners, Stranger Things 5, Evil Dead Burn, Ozzy Osbourne, Jack & Oddfellow, and Madlands. New for 2026 is that each tour did the houses in the same order, just 15 minutes apart. That way, all of the tour groups cleared the houses that open early for Scream Early (Stranger Things and Jack & Oddfellow open at 2 PM).

Light On Tour Before Lunch

We started out with Jack & Oddfellow. Our tour guide walked us through the story for the house and used his flashlight to show some of the effects in the house. Next up, was Stranger Things. I was happy that we were allowed to take so many photos in this house. Unfortunately, you can’t take photos in the scene where Will uses his powers against a Demogorgon for the first time. I loved being able to photograph the Wheelers kitchen though. Then, we paused for a restroom break.

Afterwards, it was time for Evil Dead Burn. No one in our group had seen the movie, so the guide walked us through the house and the storylines. Our tour guide made it seem interesting enough. I was impressed that he told us that a Universal creative hand-drew some of the artifacts in the room to match a book given to Universal from the film’s folks.

Then, it was time for Ozzy’s house. Unfortunately, we were only allowed to photograph in the first and last rooms of this one. I would have loved to have taken a photo of the train, but that wasn’t included. It was neat to see the little Easter eggs or references to various albums/songs in this house.

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Tours After Lunch

We had a 45 minute break for lunch before heading over to Sinners. Once again, we couldn’t photograph a really big scene here: inside Club Juke. However, it was neat to see how the club can appear to be on fire.

Lastly, we toured Madlands. This was an original house that allowed you to photograph to your heart’s content. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really into the premise and didn’t feel compelled to take many photos here. I was impressed with Universal creating a park map and tickets for this fake zoo. So, props for attention to detail. It just wasn’t for me.

Lunch

In my previous review of this tour, I mentioned the stress of having to find lunch during the tour’s break. I’m happy to report that Universal heard our complaints and added a lunch buffet to this tour. Granted, the cost of the tour has increased significantly since I took it three years ago. However, a large part of that is probably going towards the food. It was great to not have to run around looking for food and being scared of missing part of the tour.

We were given 45 minutes to eat lunch. Unfortunately, I was on the last tour group of the day and they were literally taking down the buffet as we entered. In fact, we didn’t get a chance to try all of the food because they ran out and didn’t replace it. So, if food is important to you: don’t book the last tour.

The food itself was ok. I enjoyed some salmon, chicken strips, broccoli, and ravioli. I also liked the pumpkin pie. Supposedly, there were some crepes, but I never even saw them on the buffet. Again, I felt like it wasn’t right that they were clearing the food before we had a chance to eat.

Should you book a 2026 Unmasking the Horror Tour?

I paid $276.89 for this tour, after taxes. That’s a pretty good chunk of change. It also took almost 6 hours to complete the tours. I think it’s worth it if you are a big fan of one of the IPs, HHN in general, want to take photos in the houses, or are interested in seeing how the houses are built. However, I don’t think it’s necessarily a must-do to enjoy the event given the cost and time.

So, have you done a 2026 Unmasking the Horror Tour?