Universal’s House of Horrors

JAWSJAWS

Experience movie monsters from the studio that invented the horror genre.

Experience some of the scariest monsters in the world in this immensely themed year-round maze. Based off Universal’s long and storied participation in the horror genre, Universal’s House of Horrors allows you to get a glimpse of Universal’s historical background within the horror genre. Who knows, you might even have a chance to see and experience them in real life…hint hint.


House of Horrors

Description

As the attraction’s title would suggest, this is a house filled with Universal’s classic and modern movie monsters – including the likes of Frankenstein and Chucky.

Of course, remember that this is a scare maze, so do expect to get…well…scared. This – of course – translates to scare actors, fake chain saws, guts, gore, and the likes, so do be prepared. There’s no escape one you’re inside.


Checklist

Duration: 5-10 minutes

Average wait time (not including peak days): Walk on – 10 minutes

Wheelchair Accessible: Yes, ask for assistance.

Flash Photography and Video Taping Policy: For the most part, no. You might get away with it if you don’t use flash or bright lighting equipment.

Height Restriction: No.

Child Switch: Yes. Child Switch is a program that allows you to stay with your child in another room while the rest of your party goes through the maze. When your party is finished, the roles simply reverse – in that you go through the maze, while your party waits with the child.

Child Friendliness: Not recommended for children. See the intensity meter below for an explanation.


Intensity Level – 10/10

Loud noises, dark alleyways, gruesome effects and images, and best of all: scare actors. Unless your child has gone through a few scare mazes before, we’d strongly recommend skipping this and finding something else to do. Universal’s House of Horrors just wasn’t designed with children in mind, so we’ve awarded this a 10. In short, don’t bring your child to this attraction.

Priority Scare Tips & Tricks

Scheduling: During peak days, Universal’s House of Horrors runs throughout the day – so don’t make this walk-through a priority. During the off-season however, House of Horrors runs in scare intervals throughout the day – typically during periods that have high crowd levels. If you don’t want to wait, we recommend hitting this attraction before WaterWorld or early during the day. If House of Horrors runs on intervals, hit the attraction 10-15 minutes after the attraction opens.

WaterWorld: Avoid House of Horrors after any WaterWorld show. According to various sources, the wait time can easily jump from being a “walk on” to 10-20 minutes.

Actors: Please don’t hit the actors. Employees can see the entire maze, so just keep that in mind.

Exits and Staff: There are exits and employees throughout the maze, should you need assistance. Just keep a lookout for employees.

Our Take: From the Editors

As far as year-round scare mazes go, this is probably as good as you’ll get. Given Universal’s vast expertise in the horror genre, Universal’s House of Horrors definitely has a few tricks up its sleeve that will try to scare the crap out of you – and for what it’s worth, it’s very done.

Jon Fu – Inside Universal Editor

I’ll start out by stating I’m not a huge fan of scare-mazes – let alone year-round scare-mazes. It always seemed peculiar as to why Universal would put a scare maze in between the Blues Brothers and a photo shop, but I digress. It’s there and it’s here to stay. So, what do I think?

Well, again, for a year-round maze – it’s relatively good, if not great. The theming is superb and Universal has a good habit of changing out the ‘zones’ throughout the year with something different to keep things interesting. The only damper to this otherwise great attraction would be the lack of scare actors during off-seasons. Perhaps it’s because I’ve gone through this maze so many times, but I usually get one or two (on the rare occasion three) scare actors at a time. When there’s a lack of staff, you’re simply walking through rooms.

“For what it is, it’s a pretty good maze. This is Universal after all – the very studio that invented the horror genre.”

Would I recommend it? Sure, if it has a ten minute wait. Anything over and I’d most likely skip it. Maybe I’m being overtly harsh, but Universal’s House of Horrors isn’t anything to write home about. I mean, it is a scare maze after all, and I’d rather see something more elaborate in its place. But then again, I doubt you’d find another year-round maze that could top this one.


Want more?

Want to learn more about Universal’s House of Horrors? Have a question? Feel free to contact our editors or ask our friendly forum. We look forward to hearing from you.