Something VERY strange is happening in Midweston…and we just got our first look inside.
Halloween Horror Nights 35 is almost here, and Universal Orlando Resort is already setting the stage for what could be one of the most fun (and bizarre) Dead Coconut Club transformations yet.
I’m out at Team Member Preview tonight getting an early look at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights offerings, and we were able to step inside Dead Coconut Club — Harvest at Universal CityWalk. And if you thought this was going to be your average small-town fall festival, you may want to keep an eye on the sky.
This year, the annual Halloween transformation of Red Coconut Club takes us to the fictional town of Midweston, where residents are celebrating their 35th Annual Harvest Festival. There are pumpkins, cornfields, carnival-style decorations and plenty of wholesome small-town fall festivities.
Well…there were.
Because something has apparently arrived in Midweston.
Welcome to Midweston’s 35th Annual Harvest Festival
Universal first teased the storyline with reports of strange lights, unidentified flying objects and townspeople behaving abnormally during Midweston’s annual celebration. Guests are invited to investigate what’s happening while enjoying specialty beverages, light bites, interactive elements and music — while hopefully avoiding an alien abduction of their own.
And after seeing the finished space tonight, Universal really committed to the concept.
The club essentially feels like you’ve wandered into a kitschy Midwestern harvest festival that has been interrupted by something extraterrestrial.
One area is transformed into Midweston Farmland, complete with pumpkins, crates of produce, corn stalks, hay bales and vintage farm-stand signage. Nearby, guests can walk through a full Corn Maze, surrounded by towering stalks beneath theatrical lighting.
There’s even a pumpkin patch area and a wonderfully cheesy vintage sign directing visitors toward the “Cornfield Maze & Pumpkin Patch.”
At first glance, it’s almost charming. Then you start noticing the other details.
Something Has Gone Very Wrong at the Harvest
Throughout the club, the wholesome fall festival begins giving way to the alien-invasion storyline.
The words “DEAD COCONUT CLUB” appear scrawled across harvest-festival scenery, eerie green lighting pours from mysterious containers, and the club’s upper level is washed in deep blues, purples and otherworldly greens.
One particularly cool detail is a mysterious container glowing bright green from within — the kind of thing that definitely makes you reconsider touching anything at the local harvest festival.
The stage area continues the Midweston setting with a large farm scene, cornfields, pumpkins and a windmill, while the Dead Coconut Club – Harvest logo is projected overhead.
And yes, there’s live music.
During our preview, performers were already taking the stage while guests explored the space, making the club feel less like static Halloween décor and more like a full extension of the HHN atmosphere.
The Dead Coconut Club Has a Corn Maze
One of my favorite additions this year is the actual walk-through corn maze. Guests enter beneath a giant CORN MAZE sign before winding between rows of corn stalks, burlap-covered fencing and harvest decorations.
It’s not a Halloween Horror Nights haunted house, but it adds another interactive layer to the venue and makes the transformation feel much more substantial than simply decorating a nightclub for Halloween.
Universal specifically promised “interactives” as part of Dead Coconut Club – Harvest this year, and the immersive harvest-festival spaces certainly help make Midweston feel like somewhere you’re exploring rather than just a backdrop behind the bar.
A Halloween House Hiding Upstairs
The upstairs décor takes the Midweston story in another direction entirely.
Guests can wander through what looks like a small-town home completely decorated for Halloween, with glowing jack-o’-lanterns, skeletons, black garland, purple-lit trees and old-fashioned Halloween decorations.
One room features a cozy living room celebrating the Dead Coconut Club, complete with bats covering the walls, vintage Halloween décor, a television displaying the club logo and a giant banner overhead.
There are even little details like Halloween pillows, blankets, candy, books and snacks scattered throughout the room.
It almost feels like you’ve crashed someone’s Halloween party. Which, considering what appears to be happening to the residents of Midweston, may not necessarily be a good thing.
The Pumpkin Carving Contest Is Incredible
Elsewhere, guests will find a display dedicated to Midweston’s annual pumpkin carving contest, filled with dozens of jack-o’-lanterns.
Some are cute. Some are creepy. And some look like the residents of Midweston probably shouldn’t have carved them in the first place.
The display is packed with pumpkins sitting among hay and fall foliage, making it one of the most photo-worthy areas inside the club.
It’s exactly the kind of slightly cheesy, vintage community-festival detail that sells the fictional Midweston setting.
What About Drinks and Food?
The bars are also completely worked into the theme, surrounded by Midweston signage, Halloween decorations and glowing red, purple and blue lighting.
Universal has confirmed that Dead Coconut Club — Harvest will feature spooky specialty beverages, light bites, interactive experiences and music. The addition of light bites is particularly notable because previous Dead Coconut Club iterations have primarily centered around themed cocktails and entertainment.
Dead Coconut Club — Harvest Has Multiple Specialty Drink Menus
We also got a look at the Dead Coconut Club — Harvest drink menus, and there’s an important detail to know before ordering: the different bars inside the club are serving different specialty cocktails.
So, if you see a drink you want below, pay attention to which bar you’re visiting!
The drinks also continue the storytelling throughout the venue. Depending on where you order, you’ll find everything from classic harvest and Halloween-inspired cocktails to some much stranger concoctions that fit right into the extraterrestrial mystery unfolding in Midweston.
Midweston 35th Annual Harvest Festival Menu
The lower-level bar located along the wall features the most traditional Midweston Harvest Festival menu, with four Halloween-inspired specialty cocktails.
Specialty cocktails are available in a 20 oz. souvenir cup for $19, 20 oz. refill for $15, or 12 oz. single serve for $15.
Scarecrow
Firefly Apple Pie Moonshine, lemon juice, simple syrup, cinnamon syrup and apple cider.
A mocktail version is also available for $10.
Jack-o-lantern
Old Forester Bourbon, Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, lime juice, pumpkin syrup, passion fruit syrup and cream of coconut.
Werewolf
New Amsterdam Vodka, blood orange syrup, lime juice and ginger beer.
Zombie
Appleton Estate Signature Rum, Planteray OFTD Overproof Rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice, cinnamon syrup, hibiscus syrup and grenadine.
This is probably the menu that feels most like something you’d expect to find at Midweston’s annual Halloween celebration — apple cider, pumpkin, cinnamon and blood orange all make appearances.
Another Menu
The bar near the live entertainment has its own completely different set of specialty cocktails, giving you four more drinks to choose from.
These are also priced at $19 for a 20 oz. souvenir cup, $15 for a 20 oz. refill and $15 for a 12 oz. single serve.
Lollipop
360 Vodka, Madagascar Vanilla, Cruzan Coconut Rum, lemon juice and strawberry syrup, topped with Sprite.
Stars Burst
Cuervo Tradicional Blanco Tequila, Pallini Limoncello, Dekuyper Watermelon Pucker, simple syrup and Sprite.
Apple Red Hot
Crown Royal Apple Whisky, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, lime juice, cranberry juice and vanilla syrup.
Mexican Candy Margarita
Cuervo Tradicional Reposado Tequila, Cruzan Mango Rum, lime juice, agave syrup and Cholula Hot Sauce.
This menu has much more of a carnival-meets-Halloween-party feel, which makes sense considering its location near the live entertainment.
And Then Things Get…Extraterrestrial
Another bar inside Dead Coconut Club takes a much stranger approach.
This is where the alien-invasion portion of the Midweston storyline really starts showing up in the drinks, with cocktails that sound like they came straight out of whatever has landed near that cornfield.
Again, specialty cocktails are $19 for a 20 oz. souvenir cup, $15 for a 20 oz. refill or $15 for a 12 oz. single serve.
Void Resin
Pusser’s Rum, Dekuyper Crème de Cacao, pineapple juice, orange juice, cream of coconut, dark chocolate powder and Bitter Truth Chocolate Bitters.
Proton Plasma
Planteray OFTD Overproof Rum, Fernet-Branca, Dekuyper Blue Curaçao, lime juice, pineapple juice, passion fruit syrup and cream of coconut.
Liquid Xenon
Torres 10 Brandy, Dewar’s Scotch Whisky, lemon juice, orgeat syrup, ginger syrup and Angostura Bitters.
Essence of Promethium
Ole Smoky White Lightnin’ Moonshine, Pallini Limoncello, Strega, lemon juice, simple syrup, blackberry essence, electric purple emulsion and Fee Bros. Lemon Bitters.
Even the physical menu changes here, trading the vintage harvest-festival aesthetic for a futuristic design that looks like something pulled out of a sci-fi movie.
It’s a really clever way of using the menus themselves to help tell the story: the deeper you get into Midweston, the weirder things become.
Draft Beer at Dead Coconut Club — Harvest
The two new menus also give us the complete draft beer lineup and pricing.
All Ale the Pumpkin Lord
- 20 oz. souvenir cup — $18
- 20 oz. refill — $14
- 20 oz. single serve — $15
Michelob Ultra
- 20 oz. souvenir cup — $14.50
- 20 oz. refill — $10.50
- 20 oz. single serve — $11.50
B. Nektar Zombie Killer
- 20 oz. souvenir cup — $18
- 20 oz. refill — $14
- 20 oz. single serve — $15
Crooked Can Burgermeister Oktoberfest
- 20 oz. souvenir cup — $16.75
- 20 oz. refill — $12.75
- 20 oz. single serve — $13.75
UFO Brewing Blueberry Wheat Ale
- 20 oz. souvenir cup — $16.75
- 20 oz. refill — $12.75
- 20 oz. single serve — $13.75
Elysian Space Dust IPA
- 20 oz. souvenir cup — $16.75
- 20 oz. refill — $12.75
- 20 oz. single serve — $13.75
There’s some fun theming hidden in the beer choices, too. All Ale the Pumpkin Lord fits right into the harvest celebration, while names like UFO Brewing and Space Dust IPA feel particularly appropriate once you know what’s really happening in Midweston.
Canned Beverages
The canned beverage selection appears consistent across the menus we saw:
- Maniac Mix — $15
- OddFellow’s Elixir — $15
- Canned Carnival Sour Ale — $14.25
- Modelo Especial — $12
- High Noon — $13.25
- Athletic Brewing NA — $11
Wine
The wine selection includes:
- Cupcake Prosecco — $13
- Noble Vines 446 Chardonnay — $11
- Spellbound Cabernet Sauvignon — $11
Guests must be 21 or older to purchase and consume alcohol, and the menus note a limit of one drink per guest, per ID.
So, Which Bar Should You Visit?
This is one of those details that will be helpful to know before heading to Dead Coconut Club this year because there isn’t just one universal specialty cocktail menu throughout the venue.
If you’re looking for traditional fall and Halloween flavors, the lower-level Midweston Harvest Festival bar has Scarecrow, Jack-o-lantern, Werewolf and Zombie.
If you want something that feels more like a Halloween carnival cocktail, head toward the bar near the live entertainment for Lollipop, Stars Burst, Apple Red Hot or Mexican Candy Margarita.
And if you’re ready to embrace whatever strange extraterrestrial substances have apparently made their way into Midweston, look for the menu featuring Void Resin, Proton Plasma, Liquid Xenon and Essence of Promethium.
Altogether, that’s 12 different specialty cocktails we spotted during Team Member Preview — plus draft beers, canned beverages, wine and the non-alcoholic Scarecrow mocktail.
And honestly, having different menus scattered throughout the club gives you another reason to explore the entire space instead of grabbing the first drink you see and calling it a night. Between the corn maze, pumpkin patch, live entertainment, Halloween house and increasingly suspicious alien activity, there’s quite a bit hiding inside Dead Coconut Club – Harvest this year.
Guests must be 21 or older to purchase and consume alcohol, with one drink permitted per guest, per ID.
One other little detail worth noting: the menu itself has been designed to look like some sort of classified extraterrestrial document or piece of alien technology, rather than a traditional bar menu. It’s another small touch that helps carry the Midweston alien-invasion storyline all the way down to what you’re ordering at the bar.
While Universal previously teased specialty beverages and light bites for Dead Coconut Club — Harvest, we got our first look at the specialty cocktail menu during Team Member Preview. The menu includes four original cocktails alongside canned beverages and wine, all served from bars incorporated directly into the Midweston Harvest Festival setting.
The Dead Coconut Club has become something of an HHN tradition at Universal CityWalk.
Red Coconut Club first received its Halloween transformation in 2022, with Universal continuing to reinvent the venue each spooky season. Previous concepts have included Universal Monsters, retro 3D B-movie horror, Blumhouse and 2025’s witchy KOVEN: Dead Coconut Club.
For HHN 35, however, the move toward a completely original fictional town gives Universal a lot more room to tell its own story. And the 35th Annual Harvest Festival isn’t exactly subtle…it’s a fun nod to Halloween Horror Nights celebrating its own 35th year.
There’s also an interesting thematic connection happening throughout HHN 35. This year’s event includes INVASION: Alien Abduction, while Killer Klowns from Outer Space is also bringing extraterrestrial chaos back to the streets. Midweston gives that alien-invasion energy another home outside the park itself.
When Can You Visit Dead Coconut Club — Harvest?
Dead Coconut Club — Harvest is located inside Red Coconut Club on the upper level of Universal CityWalk.
Universal Orlando Annual Passholders have announced early-access opportunities on August 26 from 7 PM–10 PM and August 29 from 4 PM–5 PM. Universal’s Passholder page confirms the special early access along with the venue’s specialty beverages and light bites.
Halloween Horror Nights 35 officially begins later this week, with event nights running on select dates through November 1, 2026.
And remember: Dead Coconut Club is located in Universal CityWalk, not inside Halloween Horror Nights itself, making it another way to soak up some of the spooky-season atmosphere outside the gates.
Based on tonight’s first look, there is A LOT to explore inside this year’s transformation. Just maybe don’t follow the strange lights.
We’ll be bringing you even more first looks, photos, updates and everything you need to know from Halloween Horror Nights 35 as Universal Orlando’s biggest spooky season gets underway, so keep checking back with Theme Park Scope for much more from the fog!
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