HHN and a universal newbie

[amystevekai&bump]

Hi all,

we are hoping to bring our sons girlfriend to universal with us next October and they are really keen to do the HHN - me not so much! Lol! (My husband and I attempted it once over 20 years ago and we lasted in the park for 45 mins as I was petrified! - although I’m hoping that as we would be in a group of five this time, that I will feel there is ‘safety in numbers’ and I will be able to enjoy it more! Haha!)

Anyway, this will be the girlfriends first visit to Universal and we are currently planning to fly in from the U.K. and go straight to our Universal hotel - having two nights at the Hard Rock. I was thinking we’d get to Islands of Adventure for opening the first day, take a break in the afternoon to use the pool and then back to Universal Studios for HHN (ready for opening).

We would also go into Universal Studios for opening onour last morning and could stay there until around 2pm I guess.

I’m just wondering whether you guys would say that is enough time for a total newbie to experience all of the main rides at the two parks and enjoy HHN? Plus is there enough time at HHN to get some of the rides in as well or not really?

Many thanks for any thoughts

 

[davper]

Yes, 2 days should be enough. Especially with the express pass.

Sad news though, HHN has been canceled this year.

 

[macraven]

If you go on a weekend or during Columbus Day weekend, you will face large crowds.

Buy the hhn express pass for hhn since you are only attending one or two nights if your plans are weekend only.

There could be a surge if interest in many to attend next years hhn since it was cancelled this year

 

[cfoxga]

I can't speak about HHN, since my wife and daughters are too chicken to do something like that. But having been on 3 trips to Universal, I can say that 2 days is really on the short side to experience everything (especially during a sepcial event like HHN). Sure, you can ride all of the rides more than once in 2 days with EP. But there is so much more to Universal, that I recommend at least 3 full days so you can take your time and really look at all of the details (especially if you are Potter fans like us).

We've spent a total of 10 nights onsite over the last 4 years, and we still find new things to do each time. Assuming our plans are cancelled again because of Covid (already rescheduled 3 times now), we plan on spending 7 nights on this trip. The first 4 at HRH for the parks, and then moving over to ES for some non-park days around Orlando.

With the way that Universal (and Disney) is setup, you really pay a premium for the first day. Successive days get much cheaper. A Seasonal Pass is only a little more expensive than a 2-day park-to-park ticket, and opens up special APH rates for the hotels (saving around 30% off MSRP). So that 3rd night might not cost too much more.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Mixed views I see. We would be avoiding Columbus weekend - it would either be the following weekend or the weekend after that, so we’d avoid Halloween itself too.

I totally get the point about not being able to do everything in a couple of days - we’ve been visiting since the early 90s and always see something new -generally these days we just like to take in the atmosphere and stop to ‘smell the roses’, so it’s hard to put ourselves back into the shoes of a total newbie, especially a teenager - but I’m guessing she and my son will be all about the big rides - she isn’t a Harry Potter fan, but we plan to work on that before we visit so that she can really appreciate the details all around Diagon Alley etc.

I will definitely look into the HHN express pass as well, thank you!

Thanks everyone- you’ve all been really helpful!

 

[cschaaf]

When you say "next October" do you mean October 2021 or 2020? If 2020, there will be no HHN. If 2021.... we can only hope there will be an HHN at this point

 

[amystevekai&bump]

When you say "next October" do you mean October 2021 or 2020? If 2020, there will be no HHN. If 2021.... we can only hope there will be an HHN at this point

Sorry 2021 - I’ve sadly had two US vacations cancelled this year as we aren’t allowed in the country - just hoping by next year we will all be in a better place