First Time at HHN (2021)- Looking for Tips and Advice!

[Cuchman]

Hello folks,
Let me apologize in advance if I missed a thread about this topic. I did some searching and only found scattered bits of HHN specific advice.
My family and I are making our typical end of August/beginning of September trip this year and for the first time since we've been doing this the first HHN nights line up with our trip!
We are very excited about going. Three of the five of us in my group (my two adult daughters and me) have gotten tickets for 9/3 - the first night. I am mentally prepared for it to be really crowded - owing to the fact that it is the first night and that there was NO HHN last year.
Are there any tips you folks can offer about how we approach the night?
I plan to be there as early as I will be allowed to get in or get in line to enter. We also won't really plan for food during the event so as not to squander our time.
I'm fairly sure we won't want to get HHN express passes as just the event tickets are putting a bit of a strain on the budget for the week+ trip.

Just to round out our details a bit (as they may matter):
We're staying at Cabana Bay.
We will all have 3 park seasonal passes.
I already bought HHN tickets for 9/3. It is the only night that works for us. I think I probably missed a potential AP discount there but I doubt I can fix that now.

Thanks folks for any suggestions/tips/caveats/and provisos!

 

[schumigirl]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/30-years-counting-hhn-2021-xxx-let’s-stick-this-one.3828923/
Best sticky on the boards......loads of info and advice on there.

 

[Cuchman]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/30-years-counting-hhn-2021-xxx-let’s-stick-this-one.3828923/
Best sticky on the boards......loads of info and advice on there.

I made the rookie mistake of not starting that thread from the beginning - you are right, there's some great stuff in there - thanks!

 

[nkereina]

I can't speak to how they will operate this year but in years past, they would have designated holding areas for people who are already in the park during the day and are staying for HHN that night. You would need a regular day ticket admission AND an HHN ticket to utilize the holding areas. If the park closes to the public at 5pm, you make your way to the holding area during this time. At some point shortly before the gates open for HHN, they release the holding areas so you are able to get a head start on the most popular houses. When we have done this, we looked at the map to see which holding area was closest to the house most important to us so that we could get a jump start on that one ahead of the crowd. Worked out well. If you have no preference on a holding area, the Simpsons one is nice because there is ample seating and you can get food and drinks usually while you wait.

I would also highly suggest buying the express passes for HHN. These passes are separate and apart from the EPs that come with a premier resort stay or that you can purchase with your day park tickets. The HHN EPs are an expense, but it allows you through the EP line for every house one time. The best strategy is to do the most popular houses early in the night in the standby line, and then go through them a second time later on with your EP when the lines get long. This lets you see the most popular houses twice while using your EP during the busiest part of the night. There are also some worthwhile tours that some choose to do in lieu of the EPs, and I'm sure that's outlined in the sticky linked above.