Another weekend in October, which means that of course, we are going to do another Halloween activity. This weekend was our first event in Southern California oddly enough but is definitely my favorite. Universal Studios Hollywood Horror Nights have houses that are longer, scarier, and are much more manageable to navigate as compared to other theme parks.
We took the convertible and drove from the 8, to the 805, to the 5, to the 405, to the 105, to the 110, and back to the 101. Our GPS had us basically going on any and all highways possible in LA to avoid the horrendous traffic. It kept adding extra miles but shortened the time. I think it was a success, but Grant kept grumbling like an old curmudgeon that we should have just stayed on the 5 the whole time.
During the way, we were notified by Grant’s brother Clint that he is getting married to his long-term girlfriend Jillian. We are thrilled for both of them as they make a great couple. Their date, unfortunately, falls on the same date as our really great friends Rachel and Joseph’s wedding….so Grant and I are going to divide and conquer going to each. We are still trying to find a way to go to both so it will be interesting to see what we can pull off logistically there.
We finally arrived and this year, like last, we stayed at the Hilton at Universal. This is the optimal hotel in my opinion because it was right next to the theme park so we can easily walk back to bed. The front desk attendant was particularly chatty and told us all about her amazing time at the Queen Mary, which was random. She let us check in early so listening to the story was well worth it.
Lara arrived shortly after we checked in with In-&-Out. For some reason, this fast-food dud actually tastes edible this time of year. I secretly think it may because we are starving at this point, or Lara slipped some drugs in the food. Either way delicious. After devouring our food, we left to start our second tradition, which was to go to a movie. This year we had the pleasure of seeing Hell Fest, which was about several college kids going to a theme park where the murders were not staged, but real. It was mildly enjoyable and hardly the worst film we have seen.
Due to the fact none of us like theme park food we decided to eat our big meal after the movie rather than wait. We attempted to go to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant that we normally go to, but it had been changed to Vivo Italian. Not a huge deal. We put our name and phone number down and were told 20-30 minutes. We left and I got a message that stated our table would be ready in 1 hour and 50 minutes. Umm….that is a lot later than initially promised. Reversing course, we went back to the hostess who assured us it would only be 20 minutes. We left again only to have my phone ring 2 minutes later that our table was ready. Come on! Dinner was fine and we left for the park.
Our idea this year was to start at the lower and back lot and work our way forward to the upper lot. This year that had 8 houses and each one was better than the next. We started with Strangers Things to get that out of the way. The three of us seemed to be the only people on the planet that had not seen the show, but the maze definitely made me consider watching the show.
The next two houses, The First Purge, and Poltergeist were my favorites. Having a projector play a “staticy” TV screen and a huge killer monster hand lunging from the screen definitely got me every time. We rounded out the houses with Trick r Treat and headed back to the upper lot. There we did the Terror Tram, which is always a dud. Followed by Walking Dead, Universal Monsters, and Halloween 4. There is always something about Michael Myers jumping out in the most random places that gets me. Well done Universal.
The night wrapped up a bit sooner than usual, which was great for all of our feet. On our way back we attempted to go to Saddle Ranch, this very awkward cowboy restaurant right outside the park, which has fire pits for s’mores. Unfortunately, they bulldozed it, which was a shock to all of us. Instead, we walked back to the hotel, changed into our swim trunks, and went to the hot tub that was open until midnight. At the room, we noticed that the AC was not blowing very cold and called maintenance.
Grant had made a chocolate Sangria…honestly…I do not know what that was. It was nasty. Lara and Grant drank it, but I am surprised they are alive. We started getting text messages from the hotel about the air conditioner and it was clear they did not want to send someone to the room. As soon as we got back to the hotel room, the maintenance team showed up to fix the AC. It was a quick fix, but we wanted to go to bed so it was annoying it hadn’t been done.
The next morning, I called the front desk to talk to a manager and put on my best mid-Western charm. “My family and I were so upset about the events that took place. I just wanted to let you know what happened so that this did not happen to any other family.” Yes, I was making a big deal about receiving text messages and a delayed maintenance response, which was not a huge deal. However, the manager did decide for the inconvenience to waive the rollaway bed fee and the parking fees, which totaled about $100. I guess the life lesson here is that if you do not want to pay for something— complain and it may be taken off your bill. Probably not a lesson you want to teach your kid, but as an adult one to live by.
Next year, our only goal is to get Lara to see the Jabbawockeez as she hates them.
