HHN??s

[ebtbmom]

Ive never been to HHN but DH and I are considering it for 2012. How terribly crowded is it, is the express pass worth the $$? Which night of the week is best to go to avoid huge crowds but have enough time to go through most of the houses?

 

[Metro West]

Ive never been to HHN but DH and I are considering it for 2012. How terribly crowded is it, is the express pass worth the $$? Which night of the week is best to go to avoid huge crowds but have enough time to go through most of the houses?

HHN is crowded any night any more...especially weekends and yes...the EP is definitely worth it. As far as keeping the crowds down, you would want to go on a Thursday night but as I said, it's still going to be crowded. Once we get a lot closer to HHN, there will be several threads on here so keep your eyes open for them.

 

[macraven]

Ive never been to HHN but DH and I are considering it for 2012. How terribly crowded is it, is the express pass worth the $$? Which night of the week is best to go to avoid huge crowds but have enough time to go through most of the houses?

thursdays is the lightest based on crowds.
going earlier in the month tends to have less crowds than the mid to late part of the month.

i always buy the epp for hhn.


this way i can do the houses at least twice.
the epp are costly, but to me, that is not an issue.

 

[donaldduck352]

Without EP's,ya be lucky to see 1/2 the houses!!

 

[syenisch]

I went on I think the second Friday this year with no EP. We did every house but one and also did Mummy. We also got started about an hour and a half after it opened. I don't think EP is necessary if you go at the right time and are satisfied doing the houses only once. If you get there at opening then I'm sure you could do a few twice though.

 

[DOOM1001]

I've done like 18 of the 21 years HHN has been in existence,the express pass hasn't always been around but since it has been I've yet to purchase it and have seen every haunted house,scare zone and show in all the years I've been.There are however some things you have to know,first of all if you're going on a weekend near the end of the month you're probably going to have to get the express pass or you'll probably only see half the houses.If you want to avoid buying it go on a non-peak night earlier in the month and if you have park passes during the day stay in the Stay and Scream area where they'll let you out earlier than the people in the front gate and you'll be able to do 2-3 houses with little to no wait.If you do 4 or 5 houses as fast as you can it might only be 8-9pm and you can try and see the Bill and Ted show around that time,then you can hit the rest of the houses or whatever the second show might be and hopefully the crowds can ease off by 11-midnight to get a couple of your favorite houses in again with smaller waits.They've actually extended the hours on some non-peak night until 1am as they used to be midnight a couple of years ago,that extra hour can be helpful as the lines should be smaller by then.One thing there's no way I'd do during HHN are the rides as it seems silly to have an AP and take time from HHN to ride the rides,if you're not a regular visitor I can understand trying to get a ride or two in.

 

[kenban]

I have done HHN about 6 or 7 years now. Except for Saturday nights the crowds just seem to be a little random. I have been there on Friday nights where it was so dead it would be a complete waste to have an express pass and then the following Sunday it was so packed you would get almost nothing done without an express pass. But more then likely the park will be crowded no matter what night you go. The best recommendation I can make is avoid Saturday.

I like the express pass and feel that it really improves the overall experience. If your only going to go one night and want to be certain you can do everything get the express pass.

Having said that you can get through all of the houses without the express pass almost any night. The secret is simple you have to be in the park when it closes. The park has normally 2 or more holding areas where people who were in the park wait for security to clear out the remaining park guests and for the houses to start opening. Normally they start opening the houses 30 minutes before the gates open for HHN. So you have a 30 minute window to hit several houses before there will be any line. This year I was able to get through 4 to 5 houses with no wait before HHN officially opened for the night.

I recommend getting into the holding area in the children's section of the park. Normally the houses in the studios have shorter lines later in the evening so I try to hit the parade building + sprung houses first. I was also able to do the house in the Jaws queue and the house in the disaster queue before lines started building this year.

I went two times this year both nights I got through all of the houses at least twice (a few houses even more then that) plus one of the nights was able to see Bill and Teds twice.

 

[Troiandan]

I like the express pass and feel that it really improves the overall experience. If your only going to go one night and want to be certain you can do everything get the express pass.

(...)

I recommend getting into the holding area in the children's section of the park. Normally the houses in the studios have shorter lines later in the evening so I try to hit the parade building + sprung houses first. I was also able to do the house in the Jaws queue and the house in the disaster queue before lines started building this year.

I second the idea of doing the Stay and Scream early entry in the Kid's Zone area. I found that, not only do you get a great head start on the houses, but you can get some "alone" time in there as well. This past year, I would start with the Parade Building, and then when everyone exited they would head to the next house in the first Sprung tent. I would loop back and do the parade building again, and most nights I was able to go through the second time all by myself. That usually only works on the first house; however, there was one night that Sprung tent 2 opened early, so I was able to get a solo was through the first Sprung tent as well.

If you go Thursdays VERY early in the event, you might be okay to see everything in one night. With that said, I agree with the others that the EP, albeit a bit pricey, is very worth the ability to see everything in the one night, with the possibility of a second run on some, and maybe even catch Bill and Ted.

 

[donaldduck352]

Yes,the S&S is the way to go.But in our times of going we HATE CROWDS and standing in lines.The EP's,to us are worth thier wieght in gold to see everything in the houses.

I do not like the conga lines at all.So I take my time to go thru the houses too take it all in.

The peeps behind me hate me for this.But OH"WELL,I pay alot of money for this and I WILL get my moneys worth!!!

 

[macraven]

yea, the stay and scream area is always a great idea.

i can get the first 4 houses that are opened early done before the general public is let in.

then i do repeats with the epp on those houses once it becomes dark.

last year when i went/columbus day weekend, the s & s area over by the kids section didn't have those houses open early.
othewise, i might have started in that section.

i started doing hhn back in the late '90's.
i never get tired of hhn.......