Halloween Horror Nights Day 1
“I ain’t afraid of no ghost” — Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr)
Before this trip, I had never attended Universal's Halloween Horror Nights on either coast. I've had plenty of opportunities over the years, but I've always avoided it. I was very tempted the year they had the Ghostbusters house, but even that wasn't enough to convince me. However, when you're a Hufflepuff, and therefore extremely loyal, and one of your bestie co-agents suddenly has a roommate drop out of a trip because of a calendar error, you step up and fill the spot. Then you show up on check-in day and immediately start questioning all of your life decisions.
I had to work my day job that day, so once I finished work, I headed over to Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort to meet my co-agent Emily. Cabana Bay has some of my favorite theming of all the Universal Orlando resorts. I love the retro 1950s and 1960s vibe. On top of that, we were assigned a Family Suite for the event, which is one of my favorite room types at the resort. Even with only two people staying in the room, I love having the extra space, the separated bathroom areas, and, most importantly, two sinks!
Once we checked into the resort, it was time to check in for our event. There was a separate event table set up in the lobby where we received a packet with everything we would need for the next few days, including our Halloween Horror Nights tickets.
After getting settled into the room, we walked over to CityWalk for our opening cocktail party. You can take a bus from Cabana Bay to CityWalk, but the resort is also within walking distance, which can be a great alternative during busier times.
Our cocktail party was upstairs at Margaritaville, and I hadn't been up there in YEARS. There was more than enough food to count as dinner, and I certainly wasn't complaining about having access to endless guacamole and margaritas. Honestly, that's basically all I need in life to be happy.
After being social for a while, we headed out to browse all of the Halloween Horror Nights merchandise. I was also on a mission for my sister's friend, who had given me a long list of Fallout merchandise he was hoping I could find. Some of the items were already in high demand, so we knew we'd probably have to check every merchandise location we came across over the next few days.
We had a little bit of success that first night before heading back to the resort.
Once we were back at Cabana Bay, I refilled the resort mug Universal had gifted us and happily enjoyed some Diet Cherry Coke from the Coke Freestyle machine. Then Emily and I settled in for what turned into endless girl talk until VERY early in the morning.
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