HHN - need plan for Thursday

[lborne]

Could not find a FAQ post, so here goes.

This is my first HHN and am taking my 16 yr old son. We have tickets for HHN only for Thursday, but won't be getting express pass. I see the park stays open until 1am. I'm not sure how the flow around the park works.

What time will they let us in, and when should we arrive?
What is the best plan of action?

I assume we won't get to do all the houses, but should I expect to at least see 3 or 4 within the time?

We definitely want to do the Transformer ride, but can skip all the others - this is mostly about haunted houses.

How do the street experiences and shows work? Is that what S&S means?

TIA

 

[Marquibiri]

Could not find a FAQ post, so here goes.

This is my first HHN and am taking my 16 yr old son. We have tickets for HHN only for Thursday, but won't be getting express pass. I see the park stays open until 1am. I'm not sure how the flow around the park works.

What time will they let us in, and when should we arrive?
What is the best plan of action?

I assume we won't get to do all the houses, but should I expect to at least see 3 or 4 within the time?

We definitely want to do the Transformer ride, but can skip all the others - this is mostly about haunted houses.

How do the street experiences and shows work? Is that what S&S means?

TIA

Are you visiting the park during the day? If so, you can take advantage of Stay & Scream and depending how fast you move around the park, could see most houses.

If you are not going to be in the park, consider arriving early to the front gate (4:45 ish). The longest lines form for The Walking Dead and Halloween house. Also consider getting in queue for one of those houses prior park closure (about half an hour) so you would be able to remain in the queue and do the house.

Study the map and don't waste too much time (restroom breaks and taking pics). You cannot enter a house with a drink, so time well beverage consumption speed or you will have to wait until you finish the drink before being allowed in the house. Since you are not using express pass, you should be fine with a drink before entering the line since you will have to do long waits.

You can work clockwise from Dusk Till Dawn up to Giggles n Gore, doing Transformers if you really have to, then skipping Halloween and heading back down to Roanoke, then Dollhouse (the latter house exits by Halloween entrance by Men in Black). Finally end the night in the Halloween queue.

Or, work counterclockwise, heading to Roanoke, then Dollhouse, exiting at Halloween and getting in that queue (should be at 75 minutes by then, or more). Afterwards, you can check the time and work around time with the rest of the Houses and Transformers, all being in the same area.

Don't spend too much time in the street experiences or you will miss out Houses. You simply walk through certain areas of the park that are themed after something specific (this year as The Purge, Face Off, Maskerade, Bayou of Blood).
The Bill and Ted's show was quite good this year compared to the last few years.

Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[lborne]

Thanks. Unfortunately, we are not going to be in the parks first. We have yet to get our annual passes - waiting until November (no idea why - wife plans all that). Should we try to hit all the houses? Or maybe skip the ones not worthy? From what I've read, it looks like Roanoke is not that great???

Thanks for the advice on the drinks.

Is there anything in line to keep you occupied? Do costumed characters come around and interact? Will it be as busy at 1 am as it is at 8 pm?

 

[Marquibiri]

Thanks. Unfortunately, we are not going to be in the parks first. We have yet to get our annual passes - waiting until November (no idea why - wife plans all that). Should we try to hit all the houses? Or maybe skip the ones not worthy? From what I've read, it looks like Roanoke is not that great???

Thanks for the advice on the drinks.

Is there anything in line to keep you occupied? Do costumed characters come around and interact? Will it be as busy at 1 am as it is at 8 pm?

I found the event this year much better than last year. To me, it was difficult to select my least favorite house (I've had quite a few in previous years)...

My favorite house is Alien vs. Predator, even though I find it a bit poor scare wise. It depends on the attitude you use towards the event. If you take in the surroundings and "let yourself go", you will probably have a blast. If you attend with a negative attitude or only looking for scares and without appreciating the effort put into the houses (facade, effects, smells, etc), you might not be 100% satisfied.

I suggest doing all Houses, which are the main attraction. I go commando style, rushing through the park. If you do get tired, just check the map and work your way around to do Bill & Ted which has several scheduled shows throughout the night.

There should be scare actors interacting in the queues, but sadly there aren't any.

Mostly, you talk with your group and do lots of eavesdropping will waiting in the eternal lines..

Certain house queues will be low around 1ish, but Halloween and TWD should remain constant with high wait times.. They could die down just a bit.


Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[PammyK]

Thanks. Unfortunately, we are not going to be in the parks first. We have yet to get our annual passes - waiting until November (no idea why - wife plans all that). Should we try to hit all the houses? Or maybe skip the ones not worthy? From what I've read, it looks like Roanoke is not that great???

Thanks for the advice on the drinks.

Is there anything in line to keep you occupied? Do costumed characters come around and interact? Will it be as busy at 1 am as it is at 8 pm?

Halloween has some cool projections on the facade and Giggles & Gore where there a video projected on the wall of the building beside the queue. Other than that, there is no entertainment in the queue lines except for the potential antics of your fellow guests. There is some sort of guessing game app that is very popular in the long queues so you may see a lot of people playing it.

As far as skipping houses, I personally like Roanoake (despite the lackluster performances last Friday) and recommend trying to make it through if you can. The only house that I don't think is worth trying to see is From Dusk 'til Dawn. It goes down as worst house ever for me and should only be visited after you've seen everything else. But that is just one woman's opinion - YMMV.

Regarding whether it will be as busy at 1am as it is at 8pm - typically it is not, even though the wait times will still be posted as quite long. During the early weeks this year, my friends were able to make quick work of 3-4 houses in the last 30-45 minutes of the night. However, this becomes less reliable the closer we get to Halloween itself.

One tip since you'll be entering the park after the event starts and will have to pass through the metal detectors. If you can skip a belt, then do it - one less potential delay at the entrance plaza. Also, remove any hats and take EVERYTHING out of your pockets BEFORE you get to the scanner. Unprepared guests who don't understand the meaning of the word "everything" are the biggest reason why the lines at the metal detectors are so frustratingly slow. Since you're somewhat local, grab a zip closure bag from your kitchen and stick it in your pocket. This way, while you're waiting in the queue to get through the metal detectors, you can empty your pockets and toss everything into the ziplock bag. It will expedite the process for you.

Also, once the event begins, no beverages may be brought into the park - not even unopened water or soda bottles - so don't even bother bringing any. It will only lead to disappointment.

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[macraven]

I didn't feel the love for dusk to dawn either.
Went thru it on four different nights, thought the sets were good but the only SA that helped the house was at the beginning at the tavern.
Talking about the SA that had the speaking role.

 

[HeatherFeather]

I was there last Thursday and was there on a Thursday two years ago. Two years ago, I was with my sister and we were able to see every house and ride several rides in one night without express pass. We did get express past this most recent time and without it, I doubt we would have been able to see all the houses but we also didn't go in with a plan of attack as I had done previously.

What worked for us two years ago was being at the gate and in line to enter by about 6 PM. We found that they did open the gate a little prior to 6:30 both times. My sister an I immediately went to the house furthest away at the back of the park to start, as most people just go right or left and work in somewhat of a circle. Look at a park map ahead of time and figure our where each house is so you aren't wasting time fooling with a map. For you, this will be the Halloween house near the MIB ride and that is a good one to get done before the line builds up as this one was one of the longest when we were there. I would probably head for The Walking Dead next as this one was crazy long too. Maybe hit Alien vs Predator and Dracula after that.

The shortest lines seemed to be consistently for Roanoke, Dollhouse of the Damned, and From Dusk til Dawn, so I would wait to do those until you have done the others. Giggles and Gore was probably a medium wait throughout the whole night.

My other advice is do not bother with any rides until you have been into every house that you want to go to. We also did not bother with the shows but I have heard that they are very good. The reason I am there is for the houses, so that is my priority.

Overall, if you are lined up before the gate opens and head immediately for the popular houses, especially in the back of the park, I expect you will be able to see at least three or four and would be surprised if you don't do much better than that. Don't waste time in line for food....eat before you get there. Get as much done as early as possible before the lines build up. The peak for lines seemed to be about 9-10:30 pm and after that they died down a little.

Good luck and many scares to you!

 

[PammyK]

Just curious as to how you made out on Thursday...

 

[lborne]

WOW - what a great night. We had a blast. We were in line around 5:15 and soon they let us through the metal detectors. We were then one of the first 10-20 people in front of one of the turnstiles. After The Purge pre-show, we were inside the park at about 6:15.

By 11:30 we had done all the haunted houses, ridden MIB and Transformers, and seen the Bill and Ted show. I was so glad I did not buy the express pass. And we did not even have a plan. Well, I did have a plan, and then my son changed it all, so we ended up doing a lot more walking than needed. The Walking Dead was the last house we visited and the longest wait. It said 120 minutes, but it was more like 60-70 minutes. Other than that, we waited no more than 20 minutes for any of the other houses. Up until about 10:00 it did not feel crowded in the park at all. Our only mistake was getting in line for RRR at about 12:30 with a 60 minute posted wait time. Actual wait time was more like 90 minutes. Last time we rode RRR, we walked on 4 times in a row with no wait, so this was a painful end to the night.