pointybubble
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2009
- Messages
- 125
I really appreciated all the advice I read on the forums as it helped my husband and I make the most of what was a very expensive night, so I am going to pay it forward and share my observations and tips. We have both been to the event more than a few times but always as part of a large group that would never be able to finish the event (drinking & goofing off a lot).
We paid $42 each for the tickets (florida resident price) and $70 each for the EP- almost $250 with taxes for just one night. We don't go unless can we can afford EP these days. With it we were able to do all of the houses, the rockit coaster, mummy & MIB. We also saw both shows, stood in numerous lines for bars & food and had time to sit and people watch. Here are some of our notes, in order of how we did them:
1. If you arrive early wait at the center gate as it moved 10x faster than the turnstiles on the sides.
2. Since RRR doesn't take EP and it was pretty bright out we went over there first & walked right on. 15 min after we got in the park the regular lines were all at 30 min.
3. We didn't do this but the most efficient way to tour is definitely counterclockwise due to house exits (make a right at the entrance).
4. They must have heard guest comments because we saw hundreds of scare actors roaming the street throughout the night. I preferred it over the street zones of years past.
5. Silent hill was one of our favorite houses. If you have not seen the movie, you should try to before the event. We made sure to watch it the week before and were very glad we did as the theming was excellent. Gothic was great as well, when you come across the room above the chapel take a moment and look over the side, it is very impressive. The third house in this group was Dead End, another favorite, very classic haunted house feel that was so well done. All three houses had a 30 min wait posted in the first hour and we didn't wait for than 5 min for any of them.
6. The mummy was posted at 20 min and the express line took 10 min. I realize most people won't use their EP on something with that short of a wait however we are not the type to re-ride or re-visit anything so we used the 10 min we saved to relax on a bench with a cold drink and watch the scare actors do their thing, worked out great for us.
7. Be aware that the houses can break down, so leave flex time in your schedule, just in case. Luckily we felt stress free with the express pass because Walking Dead (wait time posted 100 min) closed down while we were waiting in line. We stood in a stopped EP line for 25 min before the line started giving up ahead of us and gave us the bad news. We chose to go eat, catch the next 20 penny and then try again.
8. The lines for food will eat up 20+ min of your time if you don't eat beforehand. Besides, the food is average at best and so expensive. We split a $10 cheeseburger.
9. We are magic junkies and we thought 20 Penny was super cheesy. If you are not a magic buff you may enjoy it more than us however.
10. Walking Dead was a good house, but we feel overhyped. "Once a mind has been blown it can't be re-blown". I think it was just missing a proper zombie horde. I am a huge fan of the show and of zombies in general but I would have been pissed if I had waited 2 hours for the house (as most did). For a 10 minute wait I thought it was great.
11. We just missed the cutoff for 10:30 Bill & Ted so we walked past it and did MIB. It was posted as 20 min but was really a walk on for everyone but single riders.
12. Penn & Tellers house is right next door so we did that as well. The 3D aspect of this house really helps bring down your guard due to reduced vision and increased distractions. Wait was posted at 75 min but EP took about 10. Thoroughly enjoyed this house, again a favorite.
13. We had to backtrack to get back to Bill and Ted for the 11:30 show. We thought it was fantastic, definitely a do not miss in our book. We got there about 15 min early and had great seats.
14. By now we had only an hour left and two houses so we headed straight for them. I noticed most of the food, the MIB and other random booths were closed at this time. House of horrors we did first since it exits in the same place, Alice cooper has a sign stating it ends allllll the way back at the MIB ride. Both were listed at 20 min, EP @HOH took 10 min due to changing of shift happening at the time. House of horrors was just okay to me. They did genuinely get my husband which is really tough since he is 6'5" and sees everything coming. When we came out Alice cooper had dropped to a posted 10 min at 15 min to closing time. There ended up being nobody in line but they scanned our EP anyway. It was super scary being the only people in the house, every scare actor was on us. I recommend staying until park close to they get this expetience, it was intense. It is true that they typically herd the lines through the houses, however if you just slow down a bit and let the group ahead of you get a few feet between you, you may get more scares. I didn't "get" the cooper house but it was pretty creepily themed.
15. We didn't see very much of the lagoon show although we heard it a few times while in lines.
Overall we felt the EP was money well spent. This was my favorite of the HHNs I've been to although hubby still pines after the year they did both parks. I feel certain that not having an EP would have significantly reduced my enjoyment, as US lets way too many people in these days. Knowing this is just the way it is allows us to be prepared at least. Hopefully my thoughts can help someone else out the way these boards have helped me (even if I am normally a lurker).
We paid $42 each for the tickets (florida resident price) and $70 each for the EP- almost $250 with taxes for just one night. We don't go unless can we can afford EP these days. With it we were able to do all of the houses, the rockit coaster, mummy & MIB. We also saw both shows, stood in numerous lines for bars & food and had time to sit and people watch. Here are some of our notes, in order of how we did them:
1. If you arrive early wait at the center gate as it moved 10x faster than the turnstiles on the sides.
2. Since RRR doesn't take EP and it was pretty bright out we went over there first & walked right on. 15 min after we got in the park the regular lines were all at 30 min.
3. We didn't do this but the most efficient way to tour is definitely counterclockwise due to house exits (make a right at the entrance).
4. They must have heard guest comments because we saw hundreds of scare actors roaming the street throughout the night. I preferred it over the street zones of years past.
5. Silent hill was one of our favorite houses. If you have not seen the movie, you should try to before the event. We made sure to watch it the week before and were very glad we did as the theming was excellent. Gothic was great as well, when you come across the room above the chapel take a moment and look over the side, it is very impressive. The third house in this group was Dead End, another favorite, very classic haunted house feel that was so well done. All three houses had a 30 min wait posted in the first hour and we didn't wait for than 5 min for any of them.
6. The mummy was posted at 20 min and the express line took 10 min. I realize most people won't use their EP on something with that short of a wait however we are not the type to re-ride or re-visit anything so we used the 10 min we saved to relax on a bench with a cold drink and watch the scare actors do their thing, worked out great for us.
7. Be aware that the houses can break down, so leave flex time in your schedule, just in case. Luckily we felt stress free with the express pass because Walking Dead (wait time posted 100 min) closed down while we were waiting in line. We stood in a stopped EP line for 25 min before the line started giving up ahead of us and gave us the bad news. We chose to go eat, catch the next 20 penny and then try again.
8. The lines for food will eat up 20+ min of your time if you don't eat beforehand. Besides, the food is average at best and so expensive. We split a $10 cheeseburger.
9. We are magic junkies and we thought 20 Penny was super cheesy. If you are not a magic buff you may enjoy it more than us however.
10. Walking Dead was a good house, but we feel overhyped. "Once a mind has been blown it can't be re-blown". I think it was just missing a proper zombie horde. I am a huge fan of the show and of zombies in general but I would have been pissed if I had waited 2 hours for the house (as most did). For a 10 minute wait I thought it was great.
11. We just missed the cutoff for 10:30 Bill & Ted so we walked past it and did MIB. It was posted as 20 min but was really a walk on for everyone but single riders.
12. Penn & Tellers house is right next door so we did that as well. The 3D aspect of this house really helps bring down your guard due to reduced vision and increased distractions. Wait was posted at 75 min but EP took about 10. Thoroughly enjoyed this house, again a favorite.
13. We had to backtrack to get back to Bill and Ted for the 11:30 show. We thought it was fantastic, definitely a do not miss in our book. We got there about 15 min early and had great seats.
14. By now we had only an hour left and two houses so we headed straight for them. I noticed most of the food, the MIB and other random booths were closed at this time. House of horrors we did first since it exits in the same place, Alice cooper has a sign stating it ends allllll the way back at the MIB ride. Both were listed at 20 min, EP @HOH took 10 min due to changing of shift happening at the time. House of horrors was just okay to me. They did genuinely get my husband which is really tough since he is 6'5" and sees everything coming. When we came out Alice cooper had dropped to a posted 10 min at 15 min to closing time. There ended up being nobody in line but they scanned our EP anyway. It was super scary being the only people in the house, every scare actor was on us. I recommend staying until park close to they get this expetience, it was intense. It is true that they typically herd the lines through the houses, however if you just slow down a bit and let the group ahead of you get a few feet between you, you may get more scares. I didn't "get" the cooper house but it was pretty creepily themed.
15. We didn't see very much of the lagoon show although we heard it a few times while in lines.
Overall we felt the EP was money well spent. This was my favorite of the HHNs I've been to although hubby still pines after the year they did both parks. I feel certain that not having an EP would have significantly reduced my enjoyment, as US lets way too many people in these days. Knowing this is just the way it is allows us to be prepared at least. Hopefully my thoughts can help someone else out the way these boards have helped me (even if I am normally a lurker).
