HHN Newbies trip report

[avic77]

Today is the day! We have set off for our first Halloween Horror Nights experience.
Who are we?
I am Victoria, the planner and financer of this expedition. I baby sit, sew, do surveys, etc to earn fun money to blow on trips to Disney and universal.
Hubby is the chauffeur and body guard. He is always along for the trips but really not that into it.
DD17 is Missy Mouse. she loves all things Disney and horror. Sassy and sweet. She is the reason we decided on HHN.
DS14 Loogey Bear. He isn't too into horror so he may not fare well He will not freak out but he will react where the rest of us are more likely to be like "Oh Cool look!"

We woke up at 630 to a beautiful foggy morning in southern Alabama and we're on the road at 730. We just passed Tallahassee and are making great time.
I'll add pictures soon

 

[macraven]

I'm in for this one!

Anything about Hhn and I will be there reading

 

[avic77]

Madequate great time and arrived at Cabana Bay by 5pm. Hotel is lovely and check in was a breeze. the young man checking in said my requested building (Castaway) was not available so he upgraded us to a pool view in the Starlight building. we are directly in front of the hot tub on the 2nd floor.
The suite is a good size. It's not AKL but it was only $99 a night so I'm not complaining
I went to pick up my annual passes and the lady behind the counter kind of dismissed me with a wave to the kiosk. tried the kiosk, didn't work returned to the counter where she decided to actually help me with a slight attitude thrown in :/ I had a question about my husband comcast employee discount but she wasn't understanding or didn't care to listen so I'll have to check on that at the park tomorrow. I did get her to sell us HHN tickets finally
DH and I went to walmart and sent the kids to the lazy river. Walmart was super easy to get to! We grabbed supplies and Wendy's for a quick and easy dinner and headed back for a relaxing night at the hotel.
The kids got lost heading to the lazy rIverson and called me saying the were just going back to the main pool in front of our section. We will locate the lazy river Tuesday.
Tomorrow night is HHN!

 

[macraven]

I know Hhn will thrill youse!!!


If the hotel front desk TM can't help you, ask for a supervisor and that person will help you

 

[EdgeOfGlory]

Awesome! I'll be there in a few days myself, so glad they added on a couple of days in November for those that missed it during the hurricane. We will be following along with your adventures...

 

[avic77]

HHN was awesome! We arrived at 415 and after visiting guest services to try and get this whole employee discount issue worked out we went to the hello kitty stay and scream to hit AHS first.
AHS was our first house and it was awesome. We have never watched the show but the house was great. I think we walked right through no wait!
Next I wanted to go to Ghost town but it wasn't open so we headed back to Halloween 2. It was good I am not a fan of H2 but the house was well done. several good scares. No wait walked right through.
Next we hit Tomb of the ancients. it was not open yet and we ended up waiting 30 minutes here. This was my favorite house.
We went to TCM next and I think it was the scariest. another walk one with no waiting.
Chance house was next again a walk on no wait. Chance house was cool but made us all dizzy even without wearing the 3d glasses.
After Chance we went back to Krumpus and had about a 20 minute wait. We missed every scare. I was a bit disappointed there.
At this point it was only 8 pm and we had finished 6 of the houses.
We decided idea to stop for dinner and catch a little of the AOV show. Great show!
After dinner and the show the kids wanted to do RRR. the 15 minute wait was actually 30.
After RRR we hit Ghost town and that one gAve my biggest scare. I never look up...that got me. Ghost was about 20 minute wait.
We walked through Survive or die. it was pretty good. The scare actors like to target my 17 year old 102 lb daughter who just freezes when they come at her.
We went to Diagonal ally next and OMG it is jaw dropping gorgeous! we meandered around in awe and rode Gringotts.
We made our way to the exit as it was about 10pm and we had no desire to do TWD and little desire for Exorcist. Hubbys knee was hurting and we decided it was a successful night as it stood.
We passed through Banshee, warf, Vamp 55 and loved all of them. Chances zone was the least interesting by far DD liked Vamp best, I liked Warf.
My husband got a kick out of watching us get scared but we all really enjoyed HHN 26. I will do it again next year.

 

[macraven]

Avic sounds like the Hhn was a winner for your family !

Sorry husbands knee was paining him, makes it not fun when that happens
Hope it was better the next day

 

[avic77]

Im typing this up on my phone on the hotel sorry it has so many typos and is very basic.
We never got the employee discount fixed. Found out because we bought annual passes we did not get the discount it prints with the 4 days and under passes. Not sure what kind of bull crap that is but Hubby was mad! It never said anything about that on the employee portal. Of coiurse our annual passes are the power pass level and they do not include a discount either.

 

[macraven]

Don't know what to say but hope you can find out who to contact for fixing the issue of not getting the employees discount


I started with the preferred pass when they came out and it had the discounts

Used to be 15% but dropped to 10% some years back

 

[avic77]

Arrived home last night so im gonna do a sum up. Im not good at long story style trip reports, sorry!
Cabana Bay: Great resort, i liked the feel of it. We got a suite for $99 a night plus parking and tax. Our room was a Family suite on the courtyard side in the middle section of the Starlight building. I had booked standard view but got upgraded to pool view. The fridge does not have a freezer section but fut milk and sodas fine. Microwave was not very powerful but worked for quickie breakfast snadwhiches. We never ate at the resort and didnt end up getting any drinks at the bar area but both looked very nice! Starbucks onsite was great. Buses were awesome. We almost never waited more then 5 minutes. The only long wait was a late night run to Citywalk for dessert and we waited about 15 minutes both ways. New buses rolled out November 1st and are very similar to Disney Buses.
HHN26: We went Halloween night and i rate this event an 8/10. I loved the houses all were very well done with great actors. We got all we wanted to do done before 10pm. Scare zones need to be fleshed out more they all seemed like after thoughts. Dance stage show was great, I did not watch Bill and Ted so i cant judge it.
Diagon alley is Breath taking! Especially at night. I was totally blown away when I walked in. Gingotts is equally impressive! We went in for a little while during HHN and it was light crowds.
Train was impressive and i loved the platform 9 3/4 i missed the effect the first time we went past. Glad i spotted it the second go!
Hogsmead we had seen before. It always feels so crowded. The conductor was awesome and very good with chatting. Bus guy and talking head were also very good. some of our favorite character interactions ever. Also had an amazing meet with Spiderman as well. DD 17 is a huge spidey fan and dressed the part. Spiderman did a special pose with her and I of course has to buy the picture LOL.
For the week we were there 10/31- 11/4 there were low crowds i would guess a 4/10. Most rides were 5-15 minute waites which actually seemed more like 5 minute walk from the sign to the actual ride LOL.
Kong...we liked it. I know the reviews are mixed but i think Universal has done a great job. The mix of the screens and actually scenes is great and makes for a better ride experience. I dont like 3d much and im not a fan of all screen simulator style rides like DM, Starwars and Soarin. I like the ones like Kong, FJ, and Gingotts that mix the ride styles together.
We were not that impressed with the Shakes at Toothsome The brownie and Chocolate x5 were too over powering. The Key lime was too tart and the Hazelnut did not have the flavor of hazelnut!
We ate off site alot and it was so easy to exit the back of CB onto Turkey Lake and reach Walmart, Wendys, Chick fil a, and O Charlies (McDs too but we dont eat there). I spent alot less on food by eating off site! I budgeted $600 and came in under $400.

 

[avic77]

Universal you dont have that feeling of not getting everything done, i always leave Disney feeling like i missed something and wishing i had more time. im not sure why that is? We had a great time and we will be back next Sept or Oct.

 

[avic77]

Ohh and we did not "need" Express pass. i am so glad i did not splurge n the 1 night at RPR to get it.