In honor of “National Stranger Things Day” on November 6 (the day that Will Byers disappeared into the Upside Down for you obsessive fans out there), Universal Orlando Resorts will extend their ultra-popular Halloween Horror Nights’ House based on the Netflix darling, and it will be included in the regular admission price.
This is the first time that Universal has kept a house active past the end of the Halloween Horror Nights’ season. According to The Orlando Informer, “The hours of operation will be from 11:00 am until 7:00 pm, with a couple of tie-in food-and-beverage locations also joining in on the post-Halloween fun: San Francisco Pastry Company, Beverly Hills Boulangerie, and, most thematically appropriately, Benny’s Burgers, which may be just a standard Horror Nights food tent but which drives its name from the television show itself.”
This extension is also “… the third extension of Halloween Horror Nights 2018’s run (two additional dates were added to the calendar even before the annual event started, with the night before Halloween getting thrown into the mix just two weeks ago) – a move necessitated by Stranger Things‘s popularity and the massive crowds the property has continually attracted for nearly every single one of the now-37 event nights.”
Does this mean that Universal Orlando may be moving towards a permanent Stranger Things attraction? Last fall’s closure of The Terminator 2 3D: The Battle Across Time attraction lead many news outlets to speculate on the future prospects for the prime theme park real estate, with many suggesting that Universal Orlando could go the route of Universal Hollywood and turn the space into The Walking Dead Attraction. With the waning popularity of AMC’s hit and the continued fever pitch generated by Stranger Things (along with a coveted young fan base for advertisers and brand builders), Universal Orlando could certainly double-down on the success of the HHN house with a year-long attraction (and if the company wants to start dismantling Jimmy Fallon’s Race Through New York ride for even more developmental space, park-goers probably wouldn’t object to that either).
Stay tuned to other developments regarding “National Stranger Things Day” (and the possibility of a teaser trailer for season three) and all the horror-related theme park news you need, right here at Horror News Network.
