HHN Friday vs Saturday

[Purseval]

I was just over at the touringplans.com website and they had a pretty interesting take on crowds, a bit quoted here:

And more guests visit any Disney theme park on Sunday than on Saturday. In fact, Saturday ranks no higher than fourth (Epcot) on the list of busiest days at each park, and Sunday was listed more frequently than Saturday for every Walt Disney World theme park. Why? Our theory is that Saturday is a travel day for many families, and most families (71% of Orlando visitors in 2003) drive to Walt Disney World. The difference in water parks are more pronounced. During summer, it's not uncommon for twice as many guests to visit a water park on a Thursday than on a Saturday.

This theory gets some support from the Department of Transportation's National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). The NHTS data show Saturday and Sunday as the most frequent days to begin travel for one-way trips of less than 500 miles, and Friday as the most frequent day to begin travel for one-way trips of 500 to 1,000 miles. Assuming those longer trips take two days - a relatively safe assumption - then Saturday is the most frequent day of travel. To verify this, we called several Disney-area hotels, who confirmed that Saturday is usually their busiest night of the week.

Bottom line is that Saturdays are normally less crowded than Fridays, even when they factor in locals who are making day trips or getaway weekends. Do you think this holds true for Halloween Horrors nights as well?

 

[macraven]

I was just over at the touringplans.com website and they had a pretty interesting take on crowds, a bit quoted here:


Bottom line is that Saturdays are normally less crowded than Fridays, even when they factor in locals who are making day trips or getaway weekends. Do you think this holds true for Halloween Horrors nights as well?

totally wrong in my opinion. what you are reporting on disney is not correct.


disney and saturdays are total crowds.
there are many saturdays and no fridays where the magic kingdom is closed by noon. closed to all including resort guests at disney.

mondays comes in a close second for crowds at disney at mk.

touring guide is a poll taken by that group.
their research misses the mark many times.


then you ask if hhn is less crowed on fridays than saturdays.
can't compare the two parks/disney-universal on the hard ticket event.

some fridays at hhn are packed, same goes for saturdays.
it's a toss up depending on what date of the month you attend.

saturday hhn tickets/epp cost more than friday usually but this year that evens out somewhat.

if it is a local working crowd that comes to hhn on a specific friday night, it could have less of a crowd until 8ish. the dates near the mid to end of the month have crowds all the time.

i read how a lot of people will pick friday instead of saturday for hhn as they believe the crowds will be lighter and the cost will be cheaper.
sometimes they are, and sometimes they aren't

it's a flip of a coin.

the event is growing in size each year. too hard to predict anymore which date in the beginning will be the light one.



have been there and experienced that many times.
sundays are a much lighter day at disney than any saturday.

 

[Purseval]

totally wrong in my opinion. what you are reporting on disney is not correct.

Actually it wasn't me doing the reporting it's the Unofficial Guide, which is about as close to an authority on the subject as you can get IMO

disney and saturdays are total crowds.
there are many saturdays and no fridays where the magic kingdom is closed by noon. closed to all including resort guests at disney.

That's what I would think also until I read their article. You can go to their site and read the entire thing if you like, it's in the free section under Crowd calendar

then you ask if hhn is less crowed on fridays than saturdays.
can't compare the two parks/disney-universal on the hard ticket event.

I would think that the reasoning behind both is the same, people still have to travel to get to Orlando irregardless of where they are going to once they arrive.

saturday hhn tickets/epp cost more than friday usually but this year that evens out somewhat.

I would think, especially with locals, that the low cost of the Frequent Fear Pass would even it out more than the cost of a Fri vs a Saturday.

i read how a lot of people will pick friday instead of saturday for hhn as they believe the crowds will be lighter and the cost will be cheaper.
sometimes they are, and sometimes they aren't

Since we will have been there at least 2 times before we will be more geared towards getting to a specific haunted house at opening time and don't expect the crowd, other than adding to the party atmosphere, to be a factor.

have been there and experienced that many times.
sundays are a much lighter day at disney than any saturday.

I also would have expected that, not only because of travel but because of people taking a break for Sunday morning worship. It's funny how differently the UG folks see it.

 

[Metro West]

Do you think this holds true for Halloween Horrors nights as well?

No...Fridays and Saturdays are considered peak nights at HHN where the EP's are very expensive and since there is no school, the kids really come over in droves! Over the past few years HHN has gotten busier on all nights and I don't think there is a "slow" night anymore. Plus...except for the first weekend, Frequent Fear Passes are not valid on weekends...only Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

 

[thumbalyna]

we went to HHN on a sunday last year (granted it was the sunday before columbus day) but it was so crowded we only managed to get into 4 house.

this year we are going saturday and sunday (4-5) and are going to the AP party on the 4th - hopefully over 2 days we can get into all the houses and the scarezones.

last year was our first year and we didnt know about S&S so we missed some time there (you would think the people we were meeting who live in orlando and go to this event every year would have given us a heads up)so this year we are better prepared.

my daughter and bf are so exicted about this part of the trip and havent stopped talking about how Freddy managed to scare my daughter 4 times in freddy's house last year and the first time before he scared her he let her know he was standing there. we were walking through and there was a girl corner and we were getting ready to turn and she asked me what that was and i said a girl and freddy came out from behind a curtain and said "and a freddy" so i repeated that to my daughter and he still managed to scare her there and then (i am assuming more than 1 freddy existed in that house) 2 more got her and then one chased her out of the house. i dont think i ever laughed so hard in my life.

 

[macraven]

we went to HHN on a sunday last year (granted it was the sunday before columbus day) but it was so crowded we only managed to get into 4 house.

hey, i was there on that sunday last year, how come you didn't say hi to me..



i know, the crowds!! i totally know what you are saying.


i have gone to hhn on that columbus day weekend for the last 5 years/counting the one coming up.

i have seen sundays getting more crowded each year.
really!

last year on that sunday the crowds were great after the first hour of the opening. it is difficult to do all the houses, shows when you have that many people in the same place. after the saturday night at hhn last year, i was looking forward to the sunday for lighter crowds but it didn't happen.

the guests at the walkway from IOA to the studios last year on that sunday were allowed in when the early houses opened. what a rush of people!

hopefuly, this year, it will be different and better planned.

the point in staying at the S & S areas are to be ahead of the massive crowds and go thru the houses in the beginning without the mile long conga line.

i did the houses until 6:40 and was able to get 3 in. almost 2 hours for that and it surprised me.


i did the rip tour at 7 to closing and was glad for that.
the express lines were long even close to closing time.
this year my rip tour is on a friday so i'll just have to deal with the sunday crowd along with everyone else.

i saw all houses by doing the rip tour. that was not an issue for me
what my concerns were on that sunday were the crowds....

took forever to go to the RR, get a soda from a stand, trying to walk thru the pathways in the open areas...........so many people were there...

the lines for the beer carts spilled over to the walkways we had to go thru.
the lines for the RR's snaked around some of the buildings.
food lines were so long also.

 

[thumbalyna]

like i said that was my first experience, even though we loved it, it was just so overwhelming with the crowds. we managed to do jason, freddy, dead silence. now that i think of it we only did 3 not 4 - the people we were meeting up with were in line for jack's when we got there so we went on jaws and ended up wasting 30 minutes waiting for them (nice friends huh, dont tell us about S&S and then go to a house before we even got back into the parks.

hopefully this year since we are going a week earlier it wont be as bad, i know i am stretching here, but i am thinking since they are doing the AP party that night, maybe they are expecting slower crowds.

i tried to sell the bf on the RIP and even the express pass but no matter which way i tried he said he could not justify spending that kind of money (since there are 3 of us it came out to be alot).

maybe since we got AP's (i didnt tell him yet) and get the discount on HHN tickets if we dont get alot accomplished on saturday he will let us get EPs for sunday.

As far as not saying hi....i dont think that would have been possible the only time when i wasnt standing in a line i was running from scary hillbillie clowns and guys with chainsaws. i think i have figured out if you scream that harrass you more than if you just pretend they arent there

 

[Metro West]

maybe since we got AP's (i didnt tell him yet) and get the discount on HHN tickets if we dont get alot accomplished on saturday he will let us get EPs for sunday.

If you have AP's, make sure you do Stay & Scream on Saturday to get a jump on the lines. If you don't you're only hampering your chances of getting through the houses.

 

[patster734]

Hopefully, with the increase in houses and scare zones this year, it'll help spread the crowds out.

 

[hack2112]

Friday is less crowded than Saturday. Done both days, and prefer Friday. Also remember that the locals don't get to go on weekends with their FFPs. But as Halloween gets closer, all of the nights get much more crowded.

 

[thumbalyna]

definately doing S&S this year - since saturday is also the AP party we will be there at the earliest allowed - i believe it may be 5:30

i leave in 5 days and i cant wait -- i think the people at work want me to be gone already i have been doing nothing but walking around today saying 5 days