Do you think 5:00 PM dinner in Disney is too late to make it to HHN?

[SeeJackRunn]

We will be on the DxDDP and want to get the most bang for our buck, thus squeezing in a dinner in Disney before HHN. Unfortunately most places don't start serving till 5:00, so do you think we will be pressing our luck trying to get to HHN in time to have enough fun there?

Thanks

 

[Metro West]

We will be on the DxDDP and want to get the most bang for our buck, thus squeezing in a dinner in Disney before HHN. Unfortunately most places don't start serving till 5:00, so do you think we will be pressing our luck trying to get to HHN in time to have enough fun there?

Thanks

If you start eating at 5pm, you would never make it over to Universal, get in the gate and have any time to do anything...especially on a peak night...it would be a complete waste of money. I would go to HHN one night when you can be there at 5pm to be in the front of the line.

 

[Corryn]

Normally when we do HHN, we try to get in the gates as early as possible, don't recall what time...
Last year we went out to dinner with family around 4:00 or 5:00 o'clock and we didn't get to HHN until 6:30 - 7:00 o'clock.
What a bad decision.
Not only was it super crowded (even for a Sunday!)
but we weren't able to get into four of the haunted houses....

This year we will have a late lunch and get to HHN to take advantage of the WHOLE night! I suggest you do the same

 

[patster734]

Normally when we do HHN, we try to get in the gates as early as possible, don't recall what time...
Last year we went out to dinner with family around 4:00 or 5:00 o'clock and we didn't get to HHN until 6:30 - 7:00 o'clock.
What a bad decision.
Not only was it super crowded (even for a Sunday!)
but we weren't able to get into four of the haunted houses....

This year we will have a late lunch and get to HHN to take advantage of the WHOLE night! I suggest you do the same

A better idea is to visit the park during the day and use the 'Stay and Scream' option. Finnegan's is usually the 'Stay and Scream' wait area and many people will have their late lunch/early dinner there while they wait.

 

[inkkognito]

I will second Stay and Scream. If you don't want to do that, eat at CityWalk or one of the Disney restaurants that is open late for lunch, like Whispering Canyon.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We would agree - 5:00 pm is definitely too late - especially with eating at Disney. By the time you eat, and make your way over to Universal, the event will have already started. While you may miss the huge crowd waiting to get into the park, the line-ups for the houses will have already started and you may only get 3 or 4 houses in.

Also, depending on what night you go (peak or non-peak), the wait to get into the parking garage can be a nightmare. One year we made the mistake of going on a peak night and waiting until later to go ... we waited for over an hour just to get into the parking garage

Your best bet would be to visit Universal that day and utilize the stay and scream option, or if that isn't possible, eat at CityWalk so you're already basically there and will be one of the first in line to get into the event.

 

[macraven]

all the posters are so right on with the op's question.
all i can do is repeat what they have said.



peak nights the place closes at 2:00
non peak nights it is at midnight.


there is no way you would be able to do hhn if you got there after dinner at disney.
you could be tied up for 3 hours if you had the adr for 5:00.
you are best off skipping hhn that night.
the parking garage alone would be time consuming trying to get in and parked.....


stay $ scream is the way to go.
not only for gettting a head sta®t on the houses but to just be in the park.

for those without a day ticket and only the hhn ticket, you have to stand in line to enter the park for hhn.
those gates open at 6:30pm


i have seen the line start forming at 5:05 outside the gates for that.
ok, maybe you are about #10-20 in that line. you think it will be a snap just to walk in, show your ticket and then start your evening in the park.

most people assume that.

people that are coming in from the outside, have to go thru the metal detectors. depending on who is ahead of you and makes the detector light up, can add more wait time for you in that line.

on one night i had to go back to my room. this was in 07.
returned to the entrance at 7:00 and had a 23 minute wait plus wait time due to the metal detector lighting up on a group ahead of me.

if you decided to have that dinner at disney and still go to hhn on a peak night, by the time you got there the lines would be at their fullest.

your wait time for the houses and the time to walk thru the scare zones would be frustrating for you.

i buy the epp and still had lengthy waits last year on a saturday night.
nothing like the time those in the regular line had but still a good 30 minutes for the prime houses.

if you plan to go and don't have the day ticket, be at the park by 4:00.
park your car and walk over to the gates at the studio side.

just wait in the line until the place opens up at 6:30.
you would have a better chance to see a lot if you were in within minutes of the event opening.

 

[donaldduck352]

The event is growing more popular every year.With good reasons,its the best to be seen.What used to be so called non-peak nights are extremly crowded now!!

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

We will be on the DxDDP and want to get the most bang for our buck

I would suggest that you use 2 credits on your DDP at a signature location for dinner or do a charchter breakfasts one morning at wdw and then just eat at US/IOA/CW when you go to HHN. Universal has some great restuarants in all budget ranges.