My friend and I took our kids to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios last Sunday and had an absolutely horrendous time.
We paid $277 for seven discounted admissions and drove down from Gainesville and spent 4.5 of 6 hours standing in line. We went on three rides and saw one show. I'm not exaggerating - 75 percent of the time we were standing in line.
There were so many people that I would bet the state fire marshall would have run out of ink writing citations.
I've been attending the event for years and have never seen anything like it. The Doomsday ride alone claimed 90 minutes of our time, even though the entrance sign read 45 minutes.
Lines snaked for hundreds of yards. They went behind buildings, into parking lots and into other areas where they normally don't allow guests.
I feel financially violated by the whole experience. By the time we left, we were so upset we wanted to stop by guest services and complain, but we were just too tired at that point.
After all that standing in line, we wasted gas for 40 minutes trying to exit the parking garage via a single lane out of the garage.
After living in Orlando for seven years and being a Universal and Disney Annual Pass holder for six years, I have done and seen my share of theme park line-standing - even during the busiest tourist season.
I have never experienced anything that came close to our most recent trip. It was a complete fiasco.
