If you’re the type of family that’s kind of over the trick-or-treating scene, the annual pumpkin carving competitions, and the (very unsanitary) bobbing for apples type of games, you’re probably a lot like our family.
With two teenagers and one in college, our kids – and their parents – definitely look for a little more excitement when it comes to Halloween events each year. That’s why we decided to give Universal Studios Florida’s Halloween Horror Nights a try.
Let’s just say, we enjoyed it so much that it’s now become a family tradition for us all. In fact, we’re counting down the days till we visit this year! Here’s what you can expect with this year at this terror-filled event:
Petrifying Haunted Houses, Scare Zones and Live Entertainment
All of us are huge fans of the TV series The Walking Dead. So the fact that we can all experience a taste of this spine-chilling show at The Walking Dead: End of the Line haunted house is, well … awesome! Plus, there is going to be an AVP: Alien vs. Predator house (my husband’s top choice), a house themed from the movie Halloween (my son’s favorite) and others that I’m sure will be just terrifying. In between houses, us victims will fall into the traps of evil-doers lurking in the shadows of the designated Scare Zones! Then, we’ll be sure not to miss the outrageously funny Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure – it’s great pop-culture entertainment we all loved last year.
Of course, if you do have little ones, this event is probably one to wait a few years to experience. But until then, we highly recommend it for parents and friends to enjoy!
So if you’re into getting a good scare to celebrate the holiday (and some seriously hilarious laughs at each others’ expense), you’ll love experiencing this frighteningly awesome event with the family.
What’s even better is that we’ve found the perfect Orlando hotel near Universal for our annual trip! Last year, we stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton Orlando hotel on International Drive, just a few minutes down the road, and it was exceptional in nearly every way.
The Food
Maybe this is a personal preference of mine, but one of my favorite things about a hotel is its on-site dining options. Because I’m very much a person who seeks convenience wherever possible – though am not willing to compromise quality in doing so – the restaurants at Four Points were exactly what I was looking for. The Tropical Palms restaurant offered a delectable, hearty breakfast that kept us full for hours throughout each morning. Some evenings, we stopped in for dinner, and that was equally as delicious. The hotel even has outdoor dining and a pool bar at the Oasis Lounge and Tropical Breezes Pool Bar.
The Amenities
Besides the dining, there are other very convenient amenities that our family thoroughly enjoyed during our stay. One thing we hadn’t anticipated taking advantage of was the scheduled shuttle service to several nearby theme parks. Although we didn’t use it for the Halloween Horror Nights event, it did come in handy for our trip to Islands of Adventure during one of the days we were there, and we hope to be able to use that again this year. Other amenities we used almost daily were the outdoor heated pool and fire pit. Although I was the only one to use it out of our family, the fitness center was certainly much more equipped than I thought it would be, offering access to cardio equipment, yoga mats, individual TVs and more 24 hours a day. We also enjoyed things like the game room, the laundry facilities and more – it was all extremely accommodating for us throughout our stay.
The Location
If nothing else, the location of the Four Points by Sheraton Orlando hotel will sell you. The property is convenient to everything on International Drive – which includes world-famous shopping, dining and entertainment – as well as to everything at Universal Orlando Resort. Four Points is a Universal Partner Hotel, so they were able to give us tons of information about the Universal attractions and the package deals available.
All in all, it was truly frightening how much we loved our trip. But we’re gearing up again for another bone-chilling family vacation to Orlando very soon!
