HHN 2014 reviews and trip reports

[nj2ftl]

For the S&S houses (AVP and Drac), do you have enough time to do both houses before the general public comes in? Meaning, if we are there during the day and stay for HHN, can we do AVP then Drac, then start waiting in line for the other houses or do we have to wait after those 2 houses for the general public time to open? Or can we do AVP and then start waiting in line for another house if we want to skip Drac?

We'll be going October 18th Saturday, and can not pay $120 for the Express Pass, so we know we won't see all of the houses.

 

[DanniDeer]

For the S&S houses (AVP and Drac), do you have enough time to do both houses before the general public comes in? Meaning, if we are there during the day and stay for HHN, can we do AVP then Drac, then start waiting in line for the other houses or do we have to wait after those 2 houses for the general public time to open? Or can we do AVP and then start waiting in line for another house if we want to skip Drac?

We'll be going October 18th Saturday, and can not pay $120 for the Express Pass, so we know we won't see all of the houses.

I've never been on a Saturday, but last week we could have done both houses before it opened to the public with stay and scream, we just had other priorities for the night :] just make sure you start with AvP or the line will be out of control!

 

[nj2ftl]

Yeah I'm thinking we'll do AvP and then see how long the wait is for Dracula. I want to get in line for TWD and then Halloween in that order, knowing those are the only 2 houses we'll probably get to see besides AvP that night.

 

[PammyK]

Yeah I'm thinking we'll do AvP and then see how long the wait is for Dracula. I want to get in line for TWD and then Halloween in that order, knowing those are the only 2 houses we'll probably get to see besides AvP that night.

Unless you plan to leave very early, I think you'll be able to do more than you expect.

You may also wish to check and see if they're opening up Kid Zone for S&S now that the Annual Passholder events have concluded. If they are, you should be able to do Roanoke and Dollhouse (the latter is one you shouldn't miss) in quick succession and the exit of Dollhouse will drop you at the entrance to Halloween so you should get there pretty close to its 6:30 opening time and get through without a terribly long wait.

Upon exiting Halloween, head to Giggles & Gore which may still be fairly manageable since it will be before the 1st RHPS Tribute show dump. After that, you should still have plenty of time to visit AVP and TWD, even if they have really long waits. You can also skip G&G and head straight to AVP if you're concerned about timing (but do try to hit G&G later because it is a fun house to visit). Then, if time permits, you can try to visit Dracula and FDTD (though this house isn't worth waiting in line for more than 5 minutes), check out the Scare Zones, or attend one of the shows.

Obviously this is an optimistic plan, but if you are young and/or fit and can maneuver through the parks quickly, it should be doable unless that night is just stupid busy.

 

[nj2ftl]

Unless you plan to leave very early, I think you'll be able to do more than you expect.

You may also wish to check and see if they're opening up Kid Zone for S&S now that the Annual Passholder events have concluded. If they are, you should be able to do Roanoke and Dollhouse (the latter is one you shouldn't miss) in quick succession and the exit of Dollhouse will drop you at the entrance to Halloween so you should get there pretty close to its 6:30 opening time and get through without a terribly long wait.

Upon exiting Halloween, head to Giggles & Gore which may still be fairly manageable since it will be before the 1st RHPS Tribute show dump. After that, you should still have plenty of time to visit AVP and TWD, even if they have really long waits. You can also skip G&G and head straight to AVP if you're concerned about timing (but do try to hit G&G later because it is a fun house to visit). Then, if time permits, you can try to visit Dracula and FDTD (though this house isn't worth waiting in line for more than 5 minutes), check out the Scare Zones, or attend one of the shows.

Obviously this is an optimistic plan, but if you are young and/or fit and can maneuver through the parks quickly, it should be doable unless that night is just stupid busy.

Wow thank you! Makes me a lot more optimistic for my visit. I'm only concerned because it's the 2nd to last weekend, and it's a Saturday, and all I've been hearing about from friends is that the lines are soooooooooo long during the time I'm going, and I shouldn't expect to do more than 2 or 3 houses.


I'm a total newbie to HHN, but for the S&S, you said to check to see if they opened up Kid Zone for S&S. Do you have a choice of where you want to S&S if Kid Zone and the other area for AVP/Dracula are open? I had assumed it was one single area for all S&S and just the 2 houses mentioned, AVP/Dracula.

 

[PammyK]

Wow thank you! Makes me a lot more optimistic for my visit. I'm only concerned because it's the 2nd to last weekend, and it's a Saturday, and all I've been hearing about from friends is that the lines are soooooooooo long during the time I'm going, and I shouldn't expect to do more than 2 or 3 houses.


I'm a total newbie to HHN, but for the S&S, you said to check to see if they opened up Kid Zone for S&S. Do you have a choice of where you want to S&S if Kid Zone and the other area for AVP/Dracula are open? I had assumed it was one single area for all S&S and just the 2 houses mentioned, AVP/Dracula.

Obviously I can't guarantee anything because each night is different and I can only base my suggestions on my experience thus far this year. And just as obviously, crowds are lower the first two weekends, but that is a bit offset by the fact that the event closes earlier than it will when you're here. But getting a good start directly from S&S will go a long way toward helping you get through as many houses as possible.

There are multiple S&S areas in the park. Finn's will direct you to AVP and Dracula. I haven't done Lucy but I believe that goes to FDTD. If Kid Zone is used for S&S you'll be directed to Roanoke and Dollhouse. We were actually hanging out in DA on Sunday until they announced park clear so we headed to Halloween but ended up going to Roanoke and Dollhouse first because Halloween wasn't open yet.

What I've found challenging this year is that 2 of the more popular houses, TWD and Halloween, are the last to open (they don't open until 6:30) so by the time they get started, they've already got a 30-45 minute wait and it just doesn't seem to get any shorter. TWD seems to build earlier because of its location near the park entrance so I think you stand a better shot of getting through as many houses as possible if you begin with Roanoke and Dollhouse followed by Halloween but who knows what things will be like on the day.

Also, your level of fitness and ability to maintain a brisk pace at the beginning of the evening will impact how much you can get done when you are released from S&S. My level of fitness is "I think I'm gonna die if I take another step" and my team and I still managed to get through our first three houses pretty quickly on Sunday. If you're in good shape, can walk quickly, and don't need frequent rests, it can only help you.

Finally, unless they change things up, they will allow people to get into the queue for a house right up until the official closing time so if you can make it that long, you can usually get one last house in at the end of the night.

 

[nj2ftl]

Yeah, I'm in pretty good shape so I think we'll all be ok. We definitely want to hit TWD overall so we may just go there first after the S&S to ensure we get there. If we were the rank the houses based on where we want to go first, it would be TWD and then Halloween.

 

[glamdring269]

Thinking I may do the Sunday 10/5 one solo since my significant other isn't interested (she's a wuss). Any of you done this solo before? Seems like it would be fun regardless.

 

[DisneyLandMan]

Ok, this may be a little long for a review but here goes. Sorry this is so late, as we went LAST Sunday night(9/28), but I just haven't had time to post and we just got home yesterday.

Anyway, we arrived in the park around 3pm and rode a few rides and the lines were all pretty short. (10 minutes on Transformers, walk on to Mummy.) Once the park closed at 5pm, everyone was squeezed out of the park except those staying for HHN. These people were corralled into (two I believe) holding areas. We ended up in the holding area directly across Dusk Til Dawn. The holding areas have very limited seating (curbs, benches) and everyone else pretty much sat on the ground. The good thing is that there is a bar in the holding area so we took FULL advantage of that! Haha.

Just before 6pm, they open up the gate and lead us to the Dusk Til Dawn house and that was an immediate walk on. EVERYONE seemed to be heading toward The Walking Dead and AVP, so we made the executive decision to go against the grain and headed to Roanoke and Dollhouse. Both of those were walk-ons as well. At this point, it was about 630pm and we had already done 3 houses and headed for Halloween. The line here was about 30 minutes or so, maybe a tad less.

It was now around 715pm and we headed to Giggles and Gore which was about a 35 minute wait. Then we headed to Dracula which was about 20 minutes. At this point it was about 830 and we had AVP and The Walking Dead left. Both had times posted over an hour. We decided on Walking Dead and when we came out, it was drizzling a little and the line for AVP was down to 25 minutes. We hopped in line and that drizzle turned into a 25 minute freezing cold downpour! (My only gripe about the night, haha.)

So by 10:30pm, we had finished all 8 houses WITHOUT using an Express Pass. This included stopping for drinks after every 2 houses and a quick turkey leg while on the move. We did all 3 scare zones but didn't see either of the shows. We also did Walking Dead and Dusk Til Dawn a second time each, and we were walking out of the park just before midnight. (event ended at midnight.)

Dusk Til Dawn - Risque house with some decent scares. Theme was well portrayed.
Walking Dead - My personal favorite house. The strobe effects at the end were insane!!
Alien Vs. Predator - Decent house, not a lot of scares. Awesome effects and props.
Dracula - This house was my least favorite. Very few scares and nothing too outstanding.
Giggles & Gore - Fun house with good interactions. I LOVE the clown theme.
Halloween - Awesome house. LOT of scares. Felt like I was in the movie.
Dollhouse - Creepy house. Weird smells, weird scare actors, memorable to say the least.
Roanoke - Oddly good. The theme is creepy/scary. MUCH better than I had expected.

The scare zones were not as good as I had hoped, but my girlfriend would disagree. She had a scratchy throat the next day from all the screaming.

All in all, I would say that on a slow to moderate night, everything can be done WITHOUT an Express Pass IF you are aggressive and have a good plan. And to anyone who is on the fence about going, I give HHN 24 two thumbs up! Money well spent!

Few tips....1.) Wear comfy shoes. 2.) Bring a poncho JUST IN CASE! 3.) Try the Blood Shots!

 

[philliplc]

Thurs 10/2 it would have been possible to see all 8 without express in probably around 4 hours or less if moving quickly from a holding area with a good plan. It was our 3rd HHN night and we had limited time, so decided not to repeat waiting for TWD (time consuming no matter what you do since it doesn't open early) or Halloween as we had previous nights.

From the Lucy holding area which released at 6:02 we did in order FDTD, Dollhouse, Roanoke, Dracula, and G&G in a total of 65 minutes. From there it would have probably taken another 2.5-3 hours to wait for the other 3 if we had chosen to. TWD was at an hour when we left.

 

[micksterlee]

I saw a post on facebook that said they have removed the human sacrifice from the Bloody Bayou scare but they weren't sure if it was done because of technical problems or if it was deemed to graphic.

 

[patrickpiteo]

I saw a post on facebook that said they have removed the human sacrifice from the Bloody Bayou scare but they weren't sure if it was done because of technical problems or if it was deemed to graphic.

It was because they got feedback saying they didn't like it from guests on surveys.

 

[DanniDeer]

Has anyone done Unmasking the Horror?

No spoilers, please! We're doing ours in a few days! Fiancé still has no idea. I can't wait to see the look on his face when we check in and he figures out what's going on!!

 

[plutotek]

Has anyone done Unmasking the Horror?

No spoilers, please! We're doing ours in a few days! Fiancé still has no idea. I can't wait to see the look on his face when we check in and he figures out what's going on!!

I did Roanoke/TWD/AVP on the UTH tour and found it a lot of fun and informative on the gags that are used. Too bad it was more interesting than the actual houses during the event (Zzzzzzz)

 

[DanniDeer]

I did Roanoke/TWD/AVP on the UTH tour and found it a lot of fun and informative on the gags that are used. Too bad it was more interesting than the actual houses during the event (Zzzzzzz)

Ugh that stinks. But I'm glad the tour was good! I hope Dollhouse/Halloween/G&G are the other houses, even though it'll probably be Dracula and FDtD.

Where did you go to sign in for the tour? In the email it said to the far right before the main gates...is that after the ticket kiosks, or around on the side by the second entrance?

 

[Cais]

Ugh that stinks. But I'm glad the tour was good! I hope Dollhouse/Halloween/G&G are the other houses, even though it'll probably be Dracula and FDtD. Where did you go to sign in for the tour? In the email it said to the far right before the main gates...is that after the ticket kiosks, or around on the side by the second entrance?

The two houses not on the tour when I booked were Dracula and giggles and gore. Dracula I'm quite alright with but giggles is probably one of my favorite houses this year. My tour is on the 16th - we are doing am and pm.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[DanniDeer]

The two houses not on the tour when I booked were Dracula and giggles and gore. Dracula I'm quite alright with but giggles is probably one of my favorite houses this year. My tour is on the 16th - we are doing am and pm. Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

We're doing both tours on Thursday. Giggles and Gore is just so much FUN. I love that house.

 

[MickeysPal49]

My daughter and I went last Friday. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I found it funny. We attended the program based on Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Too funny. They poked fun at just about everything that took place in 2014 - with Disney getting the biggest hit. We only had time for one house - the Walking Dead house. I'm sure I'll be talked into going again, but from the video taken by the Dis - I saw the least scary places in the park.

 

[macraven]

We're doing both tours on Thursday. Giggles and Gore is just so much FUN. I love that house.

This Thursday? Both tours?

So am I

 

[dedex13]

We did the morning tour on the 5th (Dollhouse, Halloween, Dusk Till Dawn). Dollhouse was our favorite house so it was a lot of fun going through that one... even more creepy with the lights on!