Halloween Horror Nights 2023 Touring Plan

Halloween Horror Nights 2026

There is a single purpose to the Orlando Informer Halloween Horror Nights 2026 touring plan: to get you through the haunted houses – and, ideally, the scare zones and everything else – at Universal Orlando’s most popular annual event with as little waiting as possible.

Does our plan really work? Why, yes, it does:

Skip to: First steps | Touring plan | FAQ

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 touring plan – first steps

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 Opening Moment

Before we can get to the touring plan properly, we need to lay the groundwork first. Don’t worry, though – this’ll just take a moment.

To minimize overall wait times, we strongly recommend that you take advantage of Halloween Horror Nights early admission (sometimes referred to as Stay and Scream). If you do not have daytime access to Universal Studios Florida, then you must arrive at the park turnstiles by 4:45 pm. This is important because the crowd waiting to get into the theme park can be significant, and you really want to be at the front of that crowd. But don’t worry about having to stand at the gates for an hour and a half – Universal starts letting guests in around 20 to 30 minutes before the official starting time of 6:30 pm.

Once you’re inside Universal Studios Florida, get ready to visit some haunted houses!

It’s imperative, for the purposes of minimizing wait times, that you head directly for the houses and do them in order without stopping at the scare zones, other attractions, or live shows. We know – you’ll really want to check out a zone after you exit the first haunt, but every extra minute you spend straying from the warpath will equal five to 10 minutes more of standing in line.

If you have questions about using this plan, be sure to read through the whole page and then see the FAQs at the bottom. If you want to learn more about each of the mazes, click any of the links provided to visit their individual announcements and our analysis of them.

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 touring plan – the touring plan itself

Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control at Halloween Horror Nights 2026

Please note that we’ll be tweaking this touring plan as the event goes on to ensure it’s as optimized as is (in)humanly possible. Keep checking back before your descent into Halloween Horror Nights’ horror!

1. Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control (Production Central, to the left of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem)
(If you have daytime admission and are doing stay and scream)
Step right up and discover the origins of the biggest icons in Halloween Horror Nights history in one final battle that is years in the making. Will chaos or control reign supreme?

2. Stranger Things 5 (Production Central, to the left of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem)
(If you have daytime admission and are doing stay and scream)
Help Dustin, Lucas, Will, Mike, and Eleven in their final battle against Vecna and his army of Demogorgons. Based on the hit series finale, you will fight alongside this Hawkins gang and save the town once and for all.

(If you aren’t doing Stay and Scream, start with Sinners and circle back to Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control and Stranger Things 5 at the end of the night.) If time allows before 6:00 PM, this would be an excellent time to knock out Evil Dead Burn after you get away from Vecna in Stranger Things 5.

3. Hellraiser (World Expo, between Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir and Men in Black: Alien Attack!)
(If you have daytime admission and are doing stay and scream, do this third. If not, do this first)
Enter a realm inside of a solved puzzle box where the line between pain and pleasure is blurred. Escape from this demented dimension as Pinhead and his Cenobites attempt to add you to their list of torment.

4. Sinners (World Expo, between Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir and Men in Black: Alien Attack!)
As vampires infest the opening of Club Juke, join infamous twins Smoke and Stack as they fight off these bloodsuckers from ruining their jazz-filled night. Based on the Academy Award winning film, this house will leave you wondering if you can survive until dawn.

5. H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-tacular! (World Expo, near Men in Black: Alien Attack! restroom entrance)
Carey’s favorite criminal TV host has returned to host one more broadcast featuring his gruesome and unaired favorites. Encounter Doctor Pumpkin Spyce, the Pumpkin Lord, and many other whacky characters in Bloodengutz’s final showing.

6. INVASION: Alien Abduction (Springfield, near The Simpsons Ride)
Aliens have taken over and crash landed in small Southwestern house. Help fiend off this colony of Grays as they search for new prey to test on.

7. Shows
Take a break between scares to see some fun but frightening shows. Here’s the scoop on what’s showing this year:

Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay – Enjoy this fan favorite staple for Halloween Horror Nights Orlando as it comes back for its fifth annual rendition. Experience a film-noir take on its classic gravity-defying stunts and high-energy choreography with the same feel as its past predecessors.

Show times: 8:00 PM, 9:30 PM, 11:00 PM, 12:30 AM

Stranger Things: Return to Hawkins – Rewatch the last ten years of Stranger Things with this nostalgic take on the popular Netflix show. Gather your scream squad and circle the lagoon for a chilling, immersive retelling — told through towering water screens, emotional melodies, and unforgettable visuals.

Show times: 9:00 PM, 9:45 PM, 10:30 PM, 11;15 PM, 12:00 AM, and 12:45 AM

We also recommend using this time to check out the Death Eaters that roam Diagon Alley.

8. Zones
There are five original scare zones this year at Horror Nights. We suggest strolling through all of them after the sun goes down.

Infernal Carnival of Nightmares (Production Central) – Enter Jack and Dr. Oddfellow carnival of carnage, where statues pay tribute to the terrors of Halloween Horror Nights 35.

FORTNITEMARES (Central Park) – Drop in the middle of this battle for the victory royale as these characters fight beside you with their larger-than-life props. This iconic video game takes terror and fun to a whole new level once it hits the real world.

Downtown Clowntown (New York) – Escape a variety of clowns from legendary franchises such as Terrifier and Killer Klowns from Outer Space on their journey of torment. Alongside this chaos, Chance commands another large assortment of clowns to obey their true ruler and icon: Jack.

Sideshow of Decay (Hollywood) – Join the infamous Cindy Caine as she teams up with Dr. Oddfellow to bring in iconic characters from Horror Nights past to torment those who come by.

This year, Halloween Horror Nights features additional street experiences that aren’t full-fledged scare zones but are just as entertaining. Check out the Zombie Car Hops near Mel’s Drive-In (or Mel’s Die-In, as it’s known during HHN) or head to San Francisco for Club Horror, complete with an undead DJ and dancers.

9. Cybergoria (Production Central, near Music Plaza Stage)
Immortality may sound like a dream for some, but it quickly turns into a nightmare for all. Machines with the purpose of making you live forever have taken over as they cross the line between life and death.

10. MADLANDS: Caged Cannibals (Production Central, near Music Plaza Stage)
The animals are long gone from the defunct zoo in this post-apocalyptic world, but beastly tendencies will never go away. As cannibals take over, guests are left wondering how far humanity has devolved.

11. Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness (Production Central, near Music Plaza Stage)
One year after his passing, Halloween Horror Nights has created a beautiful and horrifying tribute to one of the most beloved names in rock n’ roll history: Ozzy Osbourne. Enter the sets of some of his most famous music videos and stand beside the Prince of Darkness himself.

12. Evil Dead Burn (Production Central, to the left of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem)
In-laws are never easy to deal with, but this undead family that is hungry for vengeance really makes you wonder if blood is thicker than water.

13. Stranger Things 5 (Production Central, to the left of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem)
(This is the part of the night you would do this maze if you did not do Stay & Scream)
Help Dustin, Lucas, Will, Mike, and Eleven in their final battle against Vecna and his army of Demogorgons. Based on the hit series finale, you will fight alongside this Hawkins gang and save the town once and for all.

14. Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control (Production Central, near Music Plaza Stage)
(This is the part of the night you would do this maze if you did not do Stay & Scream)
Step right up and discover the origins of the biggest icons in Halloween Horror Nights history in one final battle that is years in the making. Will chaos or control reign supreme?

15. Rides and repeating houses
If you’ve managed to complete all the above and still have time to spare, consider lining up to experience your favorite houses again. You could also hit up one of the rides open during HHN:

We want to hear how your night went!

Our community of Horror Nights and Universal fanatics wants to know about your experience at Halloween Horror Nights 2026. Be sure to join our Orlando Informer Community on Facebook!

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 touring plan – FAQ

Halloween Horror Nights Stay & Scream Wristband Distribution Signage

Now that you know your first steps and have looked over your battle plan, it’s time to dive a little more deeply into a few choice aspects of our 2026 touring plan.

What do I need to be aware of if I use HHN early admission?

When using Halloween Horror Nights early admission (Stay & Scream) – which we really can’t recommend enough – you will wait inside Universal Studios Florida as Universal transforms the park from daytime operations to the nighttime event. You will still want to follow our touring plan with one extra instruction: since you will get early access to one or two haunted houses (the specific houses may change from night to night), you will, of course, want to visit these first. When early admission is over and everything opens (between 6:15 and 6:30 pm), simply scratch the haunts you’ve already seen from the list above, then work the list from top to bottom as usual.

Please, please see our HHN early admission page and take advantage of it if you can!

What if I can’t get to Halloween Horror Nights early, like you advise?

If you can’t take advantage of early admission, buy a Halloween Horror Nights Express Pass. If this is also not an option, be at the park turnstiles by 5:00 pm. If you can’t do that, either, then please go to Horror Nights on a Wednesday, Thursday, or a Sunday during the first three weeks, or on a Wednesday during the second half of the season – even so, still be prepared to do a lot of standing around.

What if I have an HHN Express Pass?

If you have Express – which can only be used once per haunted house, we should make clear that you absolutely still want to follow the list above in order. Remember that Express Passes can sometimes only be expected to cut down the standby wait time in half, so if the Sinners’ maze is at two hours, the Express line may be up to a one-hour wait. That’s why, even if you have Express access, we still want you to follow our touring plan and minimize overall wait times.

Also, the general wisdom is not to use your Express Pass if the haunt has a lower wait time since, later, you can visit it again – when it has a longer line – and then use your Express. This is definitely a smart move, but only do it if you are certain you will want to visit the maze again; the posted wait times at Horror Nights houses tend to be a little optimistic, so a posted time of 25 minutes may easily turn out to be 30 or 35 minutes.

That’s all we got for our Halloween Horror Nights 2026 touring plan. Please keep in mind this is only one page in our HHN insider’s guide. For the most effective planning, please be sure to read through all of our pages, which you can access at any time using the navigation links at the top and bottom.

Did you know that this isn’t our only touring plan? You can view all of our exclusive Universal Orlando touring plans, including our ultimate one-day Wizarding World of Harry Potter plan, by clicking here.

Do you have a question about the information on this page or would you like to provide feedback? Please let us know by posting in our Orlando Informer Community on Facebook.

Halloween Horror Nights 2025

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 Touring Plan