Overview

• Universal Orlando introduced a free-range Stay & Scream system with 3–5 p.m. wristbanding and select houses opening to day guests as early as 4 p.m.
• A new soundstage house hub consolidates four entrances with indoor queues, a shift tied to the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit demolition.
• This year’s lineup stretches beyond slashers to Fallout, Five Nights at Freddy’s and WWE themes, alongside a gore-forward Terrifier house.
• Creative lead John Murdy has hailed Terrifier’s Art the Clown as “the new face of horror,” and the character now features prominently in houses, queues and roaming encounters.
• Guest-experience tweaks include a smaller relocated Tribute Store, expanded street entertainment, a light-up “Deathly Afraid” necklace that limits street scares, and the retirement of blinky souvenir cups.