Universal Studios Florida presented park guests with an unadvertised Halloween surprise over the weekend, adding a third Halloween Horror Nights-esque Haunted House experience to day guests visiting the park themed to the movie, Beetlejuice.
What’s Happening:
- Earlier this year, quite literally while work was still being done on the elaborately themed “houses” of this year’s Halloween Horror Nights, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The timing of the announcement was so late compared to the actual start date of the event, that the Halloween Horror Nights fan community (and the social media that they’re active on) was quick to point out that the construction of this year’s offerings should be nearly completed, if they weren’t already.
- Widely speculated, but never quite confirmed, was a Halloween Horror Nights House themed to the popular film, Beetlejuice.
- Just before the event cancellation, Universal Studios Florida opened up the Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store and then later announced that they would be opening two Haunted House Experiences to guests visiting the park during the day over the Halloween Season, Universal Monsters: Bride of Frankenstein Lives and Revenge of the Tooth Fairy.
- Thanks to an expansion of the aforementioned tribute store with a room dedicated to Beetlejuice, it was all but confirmed that there was a house themed to the “Ghost with the Most” intended for this year’s event. But was it finished? If it was, is it just sitting in one of the soundstages or one of the other buildings that are used for the event?
- The answer was confirmed this weekend, as Universal Orlando surprised park guests by opening the portal to the Beetlejuice Haunted House Experience near the back of Kidzone for two days only.
- The experience was intended as a surprise and was not advertised in any way other than in the park, but once word got out, fans descended on the park grabbing up the virtual queue passes which were the only way park guests would be able to experience the Haunted House. The house had limited hours and there was no standby queue offered, and no Express access.
- The house was remarkably well themed and fans of the film would be very impressed. If you weren’t lucky enough to get to the park over the weekend (or snag a virtual queue pass), don’t worry JUST yet…
- In the waiting room scene of the house, themed around the one in the film that the Maitlands wait for their case worker, Juno, was an ominous sign near the reception desk that isn’t in the movie, and it read “Will Return in 364 Days.”
- Could this be a sign that Beetlejuice himself will return for next year’s event? Days before the surprise opening of the Haunted House, Universal Orlando dropped a sneak peek at next year’s Halloween Horror Nights event. Could this whole thing just be another sneak peek at what Universal is saying will be their biggest Halloween Horror Nights event ever? We’ll find out in 2021.
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