Take a full photo and video tour of the Halloween Horror Nights 33 Tribute Store, now open at Universal Studios Florida.
Halloween Horror Nights 33 Tribute Store
What Is the Tribute Store?
The Tribute Store is a themed retail experience — which is to say that it’s a heavily-decorated store with its own backstory. It’s home to the bulk of the Halloween Horror Nights merchandise for the year but can be almost an attraction on its own. The story is often unrelated to the rest of the event, but it carries its own and often has other tie-ins. This year, teasers leading up to the opening were installed in the nearby Sahara Traders gift shop at Revenge of the Mummy, drawing the Museum of Antiquities into the story.
Where is the Tribute Store?
The Halloween Horror Nights 33 Tribute Store is located in the New York area of Universal Studios Florida. The entrance is located at the Macy’s facade on the corner of Delancey Street and 57th Avenue. It’s next to Revenge of the Mummy and across from Gramercy Park. Find it on the map below, marked with an orange star.
What’s the Story?
The official description reads, “Step into a dystopian city where an ancient evil is wreaking havoc at this highly themed retail space. Guests will venture through a variety of haunted urban-themed locations, from an abandoned warehouse to a creepy subway station and beyond while also a serial killer on the loose and stalking them until they come face to face with the killer in the end.“
The serial killer is a huge bat creature seemingly summoned by an idol received at the museum. Mysterious things kept happening until ultimately the idol was stolen and used, purposefully or not, to summon the creature. The city was ravaged, and we entered the ruins.
Full Tour
The exterior of the Tribute Store is a maroon and rusted shipping container. The “Tribute Store” is written in graffiti across the side alongside other graffiti art.
Just above the shipping container Universal has themed the window in Stein & Co. with a wooden pallet and plastic tarp, making the building appear abandoned.
Though a concept teaser in Sahara Traders showed that scaffolds were going to be part of the final product, they were inexplicably removed. They were supposed to be part of the story explaining that repairs had to stop due to bat attacks.
Entrance
The story begins as we move through the storage container while being pursued by a “serial killer.”
We made our way into the Tribute Store and got a look at the start of our journey (and some of the merchandise that will be available inside).
The walls inside the hallways feature red and yellow graffiti that frequently mentions bats.
The notices on the wall warn of bats and explain what people should do if they see one.
Foyer
We then entered the “foyer,” which is right outside of the Tribute Store’s first room: Kurt’s Supplies.
An emergency alert repeats warnings about bat attacks and an impending thunderstorm as we enter the former convenience store.
Kurt’s Supplies
We then made our way into Kurt’s Supplies. A sheet with the words spray painted in blue sits above the entry.
Rain falls through the collapsed ceiling inside the convenience store. The sound design features water falling into buckets and occasional thunder.
The emergency alert that was repeating outside the room plays on the TV in the corner of the convenience store.
The convenience store is home to the “Become a Part of the Tribute Store” items.
There is a map of the museum on a counter. It is surrounded by brochures and newspaper clippings. These were part of the teasers in Sahara Traders leading up to the Tribute Store.
An array of weapons adorn the wall for fighting off the bats.
New York Street
After Kurt’s, we enter a New York street. “Boris wuz here” has been spray painted on a wall. This is a nod to Boris Schuster, the local gumshoe heavily involved with the supernatural happenings surrounding Halloween Horror Nights.
A former “Tribute Store” sign is on a wall above a tent and truck frame. The tent was home to the survivors of the first bat attacks, but it’s been long abandoned.
An Atomic Goth Punk skull with lightning bolts shooting out of its eyes surrounds the exit of the New York street.
Hallway
The transition hallway is also covered in graffiti, with many references to past Tribute Store lore.
Sewers
The next room guests enter is the sewers. There are plenty of creepy items here, and an “underwater” lighting effect around the giant tunnels and drain pipes.
The sewers are also where guests will be able to pick up snacks during Halloween Horror Nights 33.
The menu sits on top of the display case and lists all of the available items and their prices.
The Lil’ Boo sugar cookie features the orange jack-o’-lantern with his hollow black eyes and mouth.
This sugar cookie is shaped like a bat. The icing is black with a white border. “Batilda” appears in white across the entire cookie.
There are three caramels available at this location: ECTO-1 Caramel, Red Door Caramel, and Pumpkin Major Sweets Caramel. Each caramel is a reference to one of the haunted houses.
Three macarons are also available. The Chocolate Chili Macaron features Major Sweets and the Ghost S’more Macaron depicts the Ghostbusters logo.
The Pumpkin Lollipop Macaron has a jack-o’-lantern on it.
Another ghastly treat is the Ghost S’more. Each roasted marshmallow has two eyes.
The Candy Corn Blondie has white, orange, and yellow icing organized to look like candy corn. It sits on top of a blondie.
Another available blondie is designed to look like one of the ghost traps from “Ghostbusters.” Green “ectoplasm” oozes out of the top.
The Slimer Brownie is a typical brownie cover in green icing. On top of the icing is a chocolate ganache with Slimer above “Halloween Horror Nights 2024” in green and purple.
The Cookies and Cream Top Hat is shaped like the hat Major Sweets wears. The red band around the brim features a candy corn. Two lollipops stick out of the band, one of which depicts a jack-o’-lantern.
The Mini Puft S’more is purple and features the Stay Puft Man on top of it.
The Black Forest Triple Cake has a Me’s Die-In sticker on the cup that it comes in.
Subway Tunnel Beneath Museum
The final room in the Tribute Store is a subway tunnel beneath the museum. The train car pictured above appears to be from Descendents of Destruction. This room also features nods to previous Tribute Stores, including many fake HHN comics.
This is where guests will finally meet the giant bat creature that has been wreaking so much havoc — it’s Batilda, our “serial killer,” who first appeared in last year’s Shipyard 32 scare zone.
Exit
After the sewers, guests will exit the Tribute Store through a long hallway.
In this hallway, guests will find a Tribute Store collectible medallions kiosk.
Three of the four medallions pay tribute to houses guests can visit during Halloween Horror Nights 33. The first medallion is Slimer eating a slice of pizza with “Ghostbusters” in front of him. The second depicts a Death Angel from “A Quiet Place.” The third features Major Sweets in his infamous top hat.
The fourth and final medallion displays Lil’ Boo.
Just before exiting there is a dilapidated newsstand. This is the same newsstand from last year’s Tribute Store, and the Curator’s window is boarded over.
The newsstand features a “Mad Monsters” magazine depicting the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Tucked behind it is “Massacre at the Museum,” a Boris Shuster comic.
Video Tour
Watch our full tour video of the HHN 33 Tribute Store below.
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