Universal Studios announced that both the East Coast and West Coast version of Halloween Horror Nights won’t be happening this year.
“Universal Orlando Resort will be focusing exclusively on operating its theme parks for daytime guests, using the enhanced health and safety procedures already in place. Universal Studios Hollywood continues to face ongoing business restrictions and uncertainty around its opening timeframe,” the park said in a press release. “We know this decision will disappoint our fans and guests. We are disappointed, too. But we look forward to creating an amazing event in 2021.”
Amid the pandemic spreading through the US, this isn’t really that surprising. Lots of Horror Night events involve tight quarters indoors and close contact with actors (and other guests), so any version this year would need to be heavily re-imagined. Plus, in California theme parks are still shuttered.
In 2019 Universal Studios Hollywood added a Ghostbusters maze. Sadly, no Ghosts will be busted this year.
This was going to be the 30th anniversary of the beloved Halloween event in Orlando, and guests were excited about what extra the park might pull out for that. Now, as with cancelled anniversary events at Cedar Point and Knott’s Berry Farm, we’ll have to wait until at least next year to celebrate.
As for overseas Universal Parks, it looks like the events may still happen at them. The Japan Halloween Horror Nights page still says coming in November, while the Singapore page says “stay tuned for updates”. Of course, right now those countries aren’t letting in American tourists.
As always, to keep up on the latest theme park news, make sure you’re following Coaster101 on Twitter and Facebook. And remember, if you want to have theme parks get back to normal, wear a mask.
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