Official 2016 HHN-26 Thread

[avic77]

We went Halloween night Oct 31st. arrived at stay and scream Hello Kitty Check in (basically they lined us up in Krumpus Que to check HHN tickets) at 430 waited about 20 minutes then they checked us in and moved us to the front of Hello Kitty Store.
Im not sure what time we were released but i think it is right at 6pm. We walked right into AHS. Loved the house. we exited it and i wanted to do Ghost town but it wasnt open yet so we cut back to Halloween and walked right in. Then we went to Tomb but it wasnt open yet and we ended up waiting there about 30 minutes. Hit TCM and Chance next with little to no wait.
I posted a quick trip report in the trip report section and its a little more detailed.
We had a great time and will be back next year.
So should we go in Sept or Oct? we are very open with when we can travel. Annual passes expire Oct 31st 2017.

 

[macraven]

Sept usually has less crowds for Hhn than October

 

[schumigirl]

DD and DH went on October 30th for the first time and had a fantastic time. With stay and scream and Express Pass they hit every house once and three houses a second time, saw the Bill and Ted show, watched the dance troupe and rode Gringotts a few times. They said it was a fantastic night and was easily the highlight of the entire trip!
I was very glad I got them Express passes, as they seemed to make a difference. They followed the HHN touring plan from orlando informer and they felt it helped them see and experience everything in the best order. Dh says their longest wait for a house was approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Glad to see it was a big success!

Sounds like they really enjoyed it........good to hear.........

 

[Metro West]

So should we go in Sept or Oct? we are very open with when we can travel. Annual passes expire Oct 31st 2017.

I would suggest September...the earlier you can go the better off you'll be. I go throughout the event but I always attend opening weekend...Saturday is less busy than Friday especially if you do the passholder event. If you decide to purchase EPs then you can go whenever. They took quite a jump between last year and this year so there is no telling how much they will jump next year. It scares me to think about.

 

[Melanie415]

We did the RIP tour and thought It was great. After seeing the lines of people waiting to get into the houses there is no way we would have waited and enjoyed it. Really liked all the houses but not worth waiting in the looong lines...

 

[keishashadow]

We did the RIP tour and thought It was great. After seeing the lines of people waiting to get into the houses there is no way we would have waited and enjoyed it. Really liked all the houses but not worth waiting in the looong lines...

Worth is subjectiveknow many people who are local/visit often during HHN and only expect to get in 3 houses per night without EP. Say they enjoy visiting with their friends in line, good for them for having positive attitude!

Each year I squeeze out a few days @ HHN. For me, piggybacking onto a friend's private tour is a life-saver in that we are able to get'er all done - twice in one night A splurge that is well 'worth-it' for us.

Due to hurricane Matthew that tour was cancelled this year. We had to scramble to book a non-private tour, wherein we were put with 'strangers'. I'm in sales, get along with anybody, but this bunch was, well....calling them jerks would be a kindness. Continually hogging to go first in conga line, whining about everything from not being scared to loudly/rudely complaining as to quality of houses & scare-actors while among employees & totally monopolizing the guide's time with personal conversations/bragging sessions, sigh. Bonus points, they didn't tip the guide.


Could be I'm spoiled and just got the short end of the stick on this one, specific-tour; but not sure I'd book a non-private one again JMHO...YMMV. Likely, would just spring for the EPs if in that situation again.

Would be interesting to hear other's opinions of their non-private RIP tour experiences this year.

 

[macraven]

Totally agree
Was in the same situation as you

All I can say is ditto.....

 

[BagOLaughs]

Worth is subjectiveknow many people who are local/visit often during HHN and only expect to get in 3 houses per night without EP. Say they enjoy visiting with their friends in line, good for them for having positive attitude!

Each year I squeeze out a few days @ HHN. For me, piggybacking onto a friend's private tour is a life-saver in that we are able to get'er all done - twice in one night A splurge that is well 'worth-it' for us.

Due to hurricane Matthew that tour was cancelled this year. We had to scramble to book a non-private tour, wherein we were put with 'strangers'. I'm in sales, get along with anybody, but this bunch was, well....calling them jerks would be a kindness. Continually hogging to go first in conga line, whining about everything from not being scared to loudly/rudely complaining as to quality of houses & scare-actors while among employees & totally monopolizing the guide's time with personal conversations/bragging sessions, sigh. Bonus points, they didn't tip the guide.


Could be I'm spoiled and just got the short end of the stick on this one, specific-tour; but not sure I'd book a non-private one again JMHO...YMMV. Likely, would just spring for the EPs if in that situation again.

Would be interesting to hear other's opinions of their non-private RIP tour experiences this year.

OMG that's horrendous! What idiots. Who knew a group would pay so much to complain.

Out of curiosity how much would you tip a tour guide? (Not something we British really do and I have no idea what you'd give)

 

[macraven]

Public tours everyone pays the same price to be on the tour

Tips are between 10-20% to the tour guide
Have seen some peeps not tip but don't know why not since it is a tipped job

Private tours are what I favor but have done public Hhn tours at times

 

[BagOLaughs]

Thanks for the info Mac!

Mild morning here and it's Wednesday. Wish it was Friday. I had some dental work done and now my tooth has got a dull ache. Going back in a couple of weeks to get the work finished up. I hate the dentist.

 

[macraven]

Hope the tooth pain subsides soon

 

[BagOLaughs]

Hope the tooth pain subsides soon

Thanks Mac, but whoops! I didn't read the alert properly that came up and though i was replying to something about nothing. Oh well, now all the HHN peeps know about me tooth pain haha.

 

[BagOLaughs]

In case anyone wants to get nostalgic about an event that only just finished and hasn't seen this already, Universal released a cool you tube video...

 

[keishashadow]

OMG that's horrendous! What idiots. Who knew a group would pay so much to complain.

Out of curiosity how much would you tip a tour guide? (Not something we British really do and I have no idea what you'd give)

10% seems to be standard for tour guides for US peeps whether land or sea. More is doled out for exemplary service, usually the tour guide for HHN.

When we did Knotts Halloween festivities last year they had a whole, very creepy, house re a sadistic dentist...I feel your pain. Cool video, thanks for posting!

 

[BagOLaughs]

When we did Knotts Halloween festivities last year they had a whole, very creepy, house re a sadistic dentist...I feel your pain. Cool video, thanks for posting!

OMG... like my worst nightmare! Sounds awesome!

 

[keishashadow]

OMG... like my worst nightmare! Sounds awesome!

We loved Knotts Scary Farm! Let's just say their depiction of The Tooth Fairy was un-nerving lol

 

[Metro West]

When we did Knotts Halloween festivities last year they had a whole, very creepy, house re a sadistic dentist...I feel your pain. Cool video, thanks for posting!

Sounds like a great idea for an HHN house...I wonder why Universal hasn't come up with that in the past.

 

[keishashadow]

Sounds like a great idea for an HHN house...I wonder why Universal hasn't come up with that in the past.

Me too, the IP houses tend to be my favorites. Knotts tends to have the most popular houses in place for consecutive years. Paranormal was another great one, videos are out there.

Knotts doesn't have the budget for sets, etc. as Universal, but more than makes up for it with their unusual themes and quality of acting...1,000 actors for this year. So much fog in the park, ghouls seem to be lurking everywhere in lieu of scare zones, never know where they will pop up. Not sure how that number of actors compares to larger Universal.

One interesting aspect knotts does offer is their version of Express Pass, called Skeleton Key. Each house has a special room at the beginning of the maze, for the key holders only. A short vignette is acted out, gives some insight into the home and a more personalized experience. Entrance does tend to back up a few hours into the night, but guests are offered the option to pass on it and jump ahead directly to the houses. With the volume of guests @ Universal, don't think it would be adaptable unless priced much higher to limit the # of participants.

It seems as though there is a trend to offer pricey, 'exclusive' tours to enhance guests' experience... many people would likely 'bite' if U did decide to roll their version of this out. All comes down to U's bottom line. I'm sure Universal Orlando has already started planning on how to scare us silly next year.

 

[Melanie415]

Worth is subjectiveknow many people who are local/visit often during HHN and only expect to get in 3 houses per night without EP. Say they enjoy visiting with their friends in line, good for them for having positive attitude!

Each year I squeeze out a few days @ HHN. For me, piggybacking onto a friend's private tour is a life-saver in that we are able to get'er all done - twice in one night A splurge that is well 'worth-it' for us.

Due to hurricane Matthew that tour was cancelled this year. We had to scramble to book a non-private tour, wherein we were put with 'strangers'. I'm in sales, get along with anybody, but this bunch was, well....calling them jerks would be a kindness. Continually hogging to go first in conga line, whining about everything from not being scared to loudly/rudely complaining as to quality of houses & scare-actors while among employees & totally monopolizing the guide's time with personal conversations/bragging sessions, sigh. Bonus points, they didn't tip the guide.


Could be I'm spoiled and just got the short end of the stick on this one, specific-tour; but not sure I'd book a non-private one again JMHO...YMMV. Likely, would just spring for the EPs if in that situation again.

Would be interesting to hear other's opinions of their non-private RIP tour experiences this year.

I agree with you. Guess we were lucky our group was pretty mellow. I do wish we could have organized a private tour but did not have the time or the resources. I love haunted houses/ horror movies and hadn't been to a good horror house in forever so I was really looking forward to our HH night. We had a great time but was thanking my lucky stars I booked a tour after seeing the horrendous lines. Especially since we had just the one night. Would do it again but only with a a VIP tour to skip the lines.