Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Lives On As It Makes Partial Return
ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) — Universal's Halloween Horror Nights lives on, in a modified capacity of course.
Universal Studios in Orlando is making two of its previously canceled Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses available to theme-park goers starting later this week.
The theme park announced July 24 that it was canceling the popular extra-ticket Halloween event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Universal's premier-level passholders who register for the event will have an opportunity to preview the houses called Revenge of the Tooth Fairy and Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives on Friday afternoon, theme park officials announced.
Regular theme park visitors will be able to view the houses on Saturday and Sunday for no additional charge. They will use Universal's Virtual Line system once in the park to receive a time to go through the mazes.
On its official website, Universal described the event as "Halloween Seasonal Experience Testing."
No additional dates for viewing the houses have been announced.
Face coverings are required at Universal, but no costume masks will be allowed for the event.
The park also announced it will offer trick-or-treating at Islands of Adventure for children ages 12 and younger this weekend. For this event, "family-friendly" Halloween costumes will be allowed.
There were clues that Universal might show off some of the horror-driven handiwork that was planned for the 2020 event, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Two sets of steel frames like the ones that indicate the entrance to houses during Horror Nights were erected at Universal Studios late last week.
Halloween Horror Nights was scheduled to be held on select nights between Sept. 10 and Nov. 1, and this year would have been the event's 30th anniversary.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)