Universal Orlando Resort (USF, IOA, Epic) Discussion Thread

[jedimaster1227]

Universal Destinations and Experiences has announced that Jason Voorhees will return to Halloween Horror Nights in 2025 with a new house at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood, Jason Universe. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonthompson/2025/06/13/jason-voorhees-slays-at-universal-studios-halloween-horror-nights/

Titan of terror Jason Voorhees rises again at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights, and he is going to slay.

Jason Universe sees the iconic killer from the infamous Friday the 13th films get his own haunted house at the seasonal event at both Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time. The all-original immersive nightmare will take brave guests back to the summer camp where the gruesome legend was born.

Jason Universe is being described as "a vengeance tour through the summer camp to see where it all began, from the creaking floorboards of Jason's ramshackle cabin to the decaying main lodge and the eerie forest that offers no refuge for his victims."

Fans are being promised recreations of classic kills from the multimillion-dollar franchise that launched 45 years ago with the theatrical release of the first film. Expect Jason, decked out in his legendary hockey mask, to "taunt and stalk" his victims who learn too late that everything they heard about him and his reign of terror is true.

Described as an "homage to the machete-wielding slasher" who is considered one of the most notorious villains in cinematic history, Jason Universe sounds like a classic execution of an enduring and ever-popular 12-film horror franchise.

Jason Voorhees Has A History Of Killing It At Halloween Horror Nights

Jason Universe isn’t the first time Jason has appeared at Halloween Horror Nights, a mecca for fans of the genre. Most recently, at Universal Studios Hollywood, he was joined by Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, and Chucky on the Titans of Terror Tram on the Studio Tour Backlot in 2017. It has been nine years since he last featured in a haunted house there. The last one was 2016's Freddy Vs. Jason. In Orlando, his last appearance was in 2015 when he appeared in both a Freddy Vs. Jason attraction and the All Nite Die-In: Double Feature scarezone.

Created by Victor Miller, the first Friday the 13th movie, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, arrived in theaters in May 1980. The most recent film was 2009’s identically titled reboot, Friday the 13th, directed by Marcus Nispel and produced by Michael Bay. The most successful film in the franchise was the 2003 A Nightmare on Elm Street crossover, Freddy vs. Jason, which grossed $82.62 million worldwide.

Although it has been a while since a new Friday the 13th movie has dropped, Crystal Lake, described as "an origin story for Jason and a prequel to the Friday the 13th franchise," is on the way. It will stream exclusively on Peacock debuting in October 2025. Confirmed cast members include franchise mainstay Adrienne King, Dead to Me’s Linda Cardellini and Abigail's William Catlett. It's not known how or if the Halloween Horror Nights haunted house will integrate the new show.

Jason Universe isn’t the first of this year's attractions to be announced. Fallout, inspired by Prime Video's acclaimed smash hit show, was recently confirmed. Similarly to the horror homage, it will also appear at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort. Fallout will place fans in iconic scenes and face-to-face with their characters on a journey from Vault 33 to the Wasteland.

Both parks have also recently teased that Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy's, based on another widely popular videogame IP that inspired a hit movie and an upcoming sequel, will be featured in some form at Halloween Horror Nights.

The blood red carpet gets rolled out for horror fans at Universal Studios Hollywood on Thursday, September 4, 2025. Universal Orlando Resort kicks off the festivities a little earlier on Friday, August 29, 2025. Tickets are now on sale. More news on additional Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses, scarezones, and live shows is expected in the coming weeks.

[jedimaster1227]

Universal Orlando has announced several original houses coming to this year's Halloween Horror Nights!

Haunted House Announcement: Gálkn: Monsters of the North In a remote northern village, a wicked being rises from the dead with a horde of monsters. Try to escape the belly of the beast. Tickets are now on sale: http://spr.ly/60114gThB 

Haunted House Announcement: Grave of the Flesh Welcome to your funeral, where it’s about to go from bad to worse. You’ll enter the underworld and be hunted by flesh-eaters for eternity.

Haunted House Announcement: Dolls: Let’s Play Dead You’re about to become doll-sized and be hunted by toys that have been burnt, melded and stitched together by a twisted little girl.

 

Haunted House Announcement: Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters. In this Old West town, all hell is breaking loose. Red-hot lava demons are trying to possess everyone, melting everything in their path.

Haunted House Announcement: El Artista: A Spanish Haunting In 19th century Spain, a tortured artist moves into an isolated country manor for inspiration, but the art comes alive and possesses him.

 

 

[teacherkim]

I am beyond excited that we are going back to HHN this year!!! Haven't been since 2019. Epic and HHN and Howl-O-Scream and MNSSHP in the same week. I. Am. Speechless. Which my husband will probably declare as a national holiday. 

[jedimaster1227]

A few weeks ago I had a chance to visit Universal Studios Florida and it gave me a chance to see a bit of the construction progress on the successor to Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit as well as checking out the park's offerings celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws.

Construction on the new coaster is happening all around Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, despite that coaster still being in operation.

Over in the San Francisco section of the park, a mini version of Amity had sprung up in honor of the 50th anniversary of Jaws. 

It was nice to see this iconic sign back up in the park.

Featuring food booths inspired by the food locations that used to be found in the former Amity section of the park.

Chez Alcatraz continues to serve up Jaws-inspired alcoholic beverages.

There's a neat Amity Boat Tours photo ops featuring imagery from the former Jaws ride and at times, former Jaws skippers come out to perform the ride's spiels live for guests. 

The San Francisco Candy Company has received a temporary overlay to match the outside Jaws theme.

Some former props from the film and former ride queue can be found in this display case.

Eagle-eyed fans will notice this lanyard which was given out to riders on the final night of operation for Jaws at Universal Studios Florida.

Theme Park Review was there on the final day of operation, filming two different POVs before the ride's closure.

  

Props inspired by the former park land can be found throughout the shop.

I love this poster!

Fans of the ride will surely recommend these boathouse doors.

There is even a neat 3-D map of the ride's layout and show scenes.

The candy shop even has a few Jaws-inspired treats.

Just totally normal theming...

Totally normal.

Amity Fried Chicken certainly brings back memories...

Time to take the plunge...

Geronimo.

This trip report being posted two weeks later confirmed one thing... I lived.

This was actually quite good.

Another Amity throwback.

But I passed on this menu.

Shifting from one extinct attraction to a soon-to-be one...

This view will be very different soon.

I wonder if the firehouse will be restored once Rockit is removed.

Artsy.

A new resident from The Secret Life of Pets can now be found in the New York section of the park.

Not long for this world.

Going down...

The non-inverting loop does have a neat silhouette. 

This fly-by turn has always been one of the coaster's better elements.

Oh those ringy-ding-ding-a-lings.

Only a few more weeks to Rockit. 

Outside the park, the path between Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure has become a city of walls while preparation is under way for the new coaster.

On my way out I noticed that the Hemisphere Dancer, the famous plane once belonging to Jimmy Buffett had been restored and placed back at its home at the Lone Palm Airport bar. 

Apparently this was the bar's grand reopening.

A little bit of backstory to close out this report...

[jedimaster1227]

Last Friday I had the chance to attend one of two "UOAP Nights" at Universal Studios Florida, hosted for annual passholders at no additional cost (though reservations were required and did "sell out"). The event featured a significantly reduced capacity in the park, resulting in shorter wait times for the rides that were open. Also included was a pre-party event, a number of surprise meet and greets, speciality food and beverage options, a private showing of the Cinesational nighttime spectacular and a party atmosphere throughout the park. It was also notable that these two event nights took place during the last two days of operation for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit before its permanent closure.

Not previously announced or included in past events was this "pre-party" offering...

At first glance this looks a little overwhelming but to Universal's credit, it is a well thought-out queue that leads guests to a number of neat meet and greets and other offerings to enjoy inside.

Plus we were given a free UOAP button to commemorate attending the night's event. 

Beyond the special meet and greets in the pre-party, there were additional meet and greet options available throughout the park. 

In addition to many of the normal dining venues being open with their normal menus served, the event had a few special tastes available to order at key locations in the park.

The pre-party featured a DJ playing lively music to keep the vibes going.

While Doc Brown isn't uncommon to still find roaming Universal Studios Florida, it is incredibly rare to see him accompanied by Einstein!

John Hammond was another rare character brought out for the event.

The Ecto-1 from the Universal Mega Movie Parade was parked in the pre-party studio and served as a backdrop for a rare meet and greet with the Spenglers from Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Frozen Empire.

It's easier to appreciate the little details on this float when it isn't in motion.

This was a nice surprise and delight moment for the event. 

Woody and Winnie Woodpecker were available for meet and greets as well. 

The UOAP Nights event was presented by Coca-Cola and as such, they had a free sample bar for Coca-Cola Orange Cream as well as the zero sugar version. While not my favorite flavor, it was still a delicious and refreshing Coca-Cola. 

There was special event merchandise available to purchase as well.

After the pre-party it was time to head back out into the park to enjoy all that was available to us. The app featured a narrowed filter on the offerings exclusive to the event. 

Exiting the pre-party studio presented me with a chance to snag a few more photos of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit operating during the daytime. 

Only a few more drops left in this one...

Edgy angles for an edgy coaster.

Given that we had our five year old with us for the event, our priorities were clear.

I'm not going to complain that my son loves Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon.

A look at the event's exclusive cupcakes. 

A must-do, especially when the queue is short.

A pretty sunset and a reminder that there would be an exclusive showing of Cinesational later in the evening. 

A photo op for those who really wanted to flaunt their status as passholders.

I went to go ride Rockit for the last time, only to find that it was temporarily closed with riders stuck in recline on the lift hill.

On the other side of the park it was time to wait for something out of this world...

\

When it comes to special meet and greets, I'm easy to please.

I mean, this is awesome.

"The world is a carousel of color..."

Cinesational features a combination of water fountains, lasers, projections (on water and on buildings), fireworks and drones.

Being totally honest it isn't my favorite show. The projected visuals are nearly impossible to make out clearly and the choice of segments is odd. That said, the fountains, drones and lasers paired with the fireworks make for an enjoyable spectacle. I just wish the content was more in line with the Universal Cinematic Spectacular--a show that highlighted some of Universal most iconic scenes and sounds on the lagoon. 

The show has a few highlights.

A fun little nod to the event at the end of the night.

Over in the Music Plaza there was a DJ playing the Cha Cha Slide for those who wished to dance along.

Now it's time to say goodbye...

After about a 35 minute wait, I hit it one more time with a final "Hasta!" in the front row. 

I'll give them credit... This shirt plays to my local nostalgia. 

This UOAP Nights was quite possibly the best passholder event I've attended at Universal to date. The unique pre-party, the extra meet and greets, the short wait times and the event showing of Cinesational really made for a great evening in the park... 

Not realizing the significance of the date, I got this souvenir to close out my saga with Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. 

While I didn’t plan it this way, it was kind of fitting that my last ride on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit was exactly 16 years to the date from my first, during its first day of soft opening guest previews.

I watched the track arrive in the staging land that now is Volcano Bay as I took the bus to high school every day. And at least once a week I’d visit Universal to document the construction progress, including the installation (and in some cases, removal and reinstallation) of each section of track.

It wasn’t a particularly great coaster but it also wasn’t the worst. Some unique elements, and in the right seats, great airtime, all with the added benefit of a solid selection of default songs and a plentiful set list of hidden songs to Rockit through. The ride had a troubled start and a rocky lifespan but it was memorable enough.

My favorite songs to listen to onboard were:

• Kickstart My Heart by Motley Crue
• Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk
• Float On by Modest Mouse
• Moving Right Along by The Muppets
• Crocodile Rock by Elton John

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger was the first song I ever experienced while riding and Float On closed out my final ride at the UOAP Nights event.

Something bigger, better, more reliable is coming in to replace Rockit and I’m fine to see it go. I’m thankful for the memories (rocky at times as they may have been) and ready for something new to take a spin in its place…

 

[abovethesink]

Just to confirm what it looks like I am seeing online -- There is no park hopper style ticket that includes Epic Universe, right? For my birthday in late January, we are traveling down from NY for literally one day for Epic Universe. My son hasn't ridden Velocicoaster, however, and I would open to gate dropping Islands, running right to Velocicoaster, and then immediately leaving for Epic Universe. I was assuming there would be a multiple parks in one day type ticket to facilitate this, however, and it doesn't seem to be the case.

[jedimaster1227]

^That is correct in that today, there is no ticket you can buy that gives you parkhopping access that includes Epic Universe.

It appears that Universal has been exploring the possibility recently with longer Universal vacation packages where multi-day parkhoppers are included have been quietly enabled to allow for same-day Epic visits, but which packages and how many times they have done that has yet to be seen, and for this reason it isn’t anything you can plan around.

I think you have to consider what matters most for your day, or what you’re willing to spend to accomplish what you’d like to. Express for Epic is very expensive and even with it, lines have been significant enough to fill a majority of your day in the park (if you’re wanting to experience everything on Express). Without Express, the odds of getting to experience everything ride and show-wise that the park has to offer with enough time to even consider going to another park are slim—not impossible but also nothing to bet on.

[Masquerade]

Universal doesn’t even give its own employees free tickets to Epic yet. The same-day parkhopper isn't in the conversation yet.

And as said above, not like anything less than spending a full day there is possible (1/3 of which is blown on line for Ministry).

[jedimaster1227]

^Team member complementary tickets were reportedly opened up for use at Epic Universe starting last week.