HHN w/ express pass, arrival time?

rrali33tt

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 30, 2011
Messages
478
This is my 2nd trip to HHN and the first time I did a stay and scream (still didnt get to see 2 houses).

I will be staying on Disney property and taking a Mears shuttle over. What time should I plan to arrive at Universal. Do I have to arrive early (like 5pm), even if I have an express pass?

Will I still be waiting on long lines for the houses with an express pass?

I would like to see all the houses this year and the shows. :)
 
You should OK with wait times at the houses with Express. If you are unable to enter the park early and do S & S this year, try to get into the line as close to 5pm as possible. The line outside gets long...very quickly. Since you'll have Express for the night, you should be able to tour at your leisure but try to get into the park as soon as possible once the event starts.
 
we have done express for the past 3 years. We don't do the SS, instead we have a couple of drinks back at the hotel (hard rock club level) once it gets dark we walk over and then work our way around the park and we get to see everything including bill and teds and what ever the other show is. We even have time left over to walk around a bit.
 
we have done express for the past 3 years. We don't do the SS, instead we have a couple of drinks back at the hotel (hard rock club level) once it gets dark we walk over and then work our way around the park and we get to see everything including bill and teds and what ever the other show is. We even have time left over to walk around a bit.

I would agree with this. In fact, why don't you get dropped off at the hard rock and have some drinks at the velvet lounge. They even have Happy Hour from 5-7. Around 7 walk on over towards Universal, as it should start getting darker around then. The experience is that much better!
 

I would agree with this. In fact, why don't you get dropped off at the hard rock and have some drinks at the velvet lounge. They even have Happy Hour from 5-7. Around 7 walk on over towards Universal, as it should start getting darker around then. The experience is that much better!

Just don't do it this Thursday. Bret Michaels will be doing a Velvet Session.

Love that they have happy hour - thanks for that tip - I never knew! We'll do that the other nights we're staying there.
 
Just don't do it this Thursday. Bret Michaels will be doing a Velvet Session.

Love that they have happy hour - thanks for that tip - I never knew! We'll do that the other nights we're staying there.

not to go off topic but the velvet session is a great bang for the buck - before the show in the lobby of the HR they have some finger food and 2-3 drink stations set up serving specialty cocktails, beer, and liquor - you can have as many as you want up until show time :cool1:

It is the last Thursday of every month (except Nov and Dec due to holidays).
 
not to go off topic but the velvet session is a great bang for the buck - before the show in the lobby of the HR they have some finger food and 2-3 drink stations set up serving specialty cocktails, beer, and liquor - you can have as many as you want up until show time :cool1:

It is the last Thursday of every month (except Nov and Dec due to holidays).

We've done it twice over the years - just worked out with our vacation dates. We saw Tonic and Gin Blossoms. Another time we were there, didn't attend and sat in the lobby and still enjoyed listening to the concert. We really enjoyed it also and the drinks were great! If we weren't doing HHN Thursday we would be attending Bret's concert but not this time. Maybe I'll get a glimpse of him. :)
 
We were there on Saturday. We got to the park around 6, started going through security, and was in by 6:15. The express pass allowed us to visit all the houses, eat a quick snack, ride Men in Black & the Mummy, and be back on Disney property by 10:15ish!
 
we have done express for the past 3 years. We don't do the SS, instead we have a couple of drinks back at the hotel (hard rock club level) once it gets dark we walk over and then work our way around the park and we get to see everything including bill and teds and what ever the other show is. We even have time left over to walk around a bit.

Does this depend on the crowd levels?

We'll be there Oct 24th and 25th. I'm debating on both nights without express or just Thurs. with express. Also thinking that going in after dark would be better, but we would like to be able to see everything (this is our first HHN). We arrive in Florida on Wednesday so I'm kinda worried about getting up at 4am and doing HHN until midnight :faint:
 
If you go early, do the soundstage houses first, as they aren't really affected by light since they are on the sound stages
 
Does this depend on the crowd levels?

We'll be there Oct 24th and 25th. I'm debating on both nights without express or just Thurs. with express. Also thinking that going in after dark would be better, but we would like to be able to see everything (this is our first HHN). We arrive in Florida on Wednesday so I'm kinda worried about getting up at 4am and doing HHN until midnight :faint:


Busy nights are Friday and Saturday.. you will be there mid week so the park won't be crowded. You'll do everything and some rides too. We go on Sunday nights and we do everything well before park closes.

If you are going with a big group and there will be tons of food / bathroom breaks then it will take you much longer. However mid week is not crowded and you will be in the houses in no time at all.

Honestly - walking there in the dark after a few beers and seeing the LED HHN screen all lit up and hearing the loud music gets you amped up!! you will have a blast! We move quickly, but also stop at the food stands to get a "drink" every other house or so.. and that slows us down a bit.. and what goes in must go out.. and that takes up some time. However we have a great time, go our own pace, enjoy every minute of it and do everything!! Express pass is worth it
 
We'll be there Oct 24th and 25th. I'm debating on both nights without express or just Thurs. with express. Also thinking that going in after dark would be better, but we would like to be able to see everything (this is our first HHN). We arrive in Florida on Wednesday so I'm kinda worried about getting up at 4am and doing HHN until midnight :faint:
If you enter after dark on either 10/24 or 10/25, you will not be able to see much w/o an Express pass. That's one of the two Hell Weeks this year and HHN will be crawling with high schoolers. Wait times will reach two hours by 9pm so be prepared. If you are going two nights, do one with Express and the other without and assuming you did everything you wanted the first night, the second night can be a relaxing evening.
 
I've been twice and both times did 2 nights, one with EP and one without. The night with the pass we just did houses and the mummy then concentrated on the shows the other night. We went mid week both times and the lines even with a fast pass were getting to be 45-60 minutes later on the evening especially for the houses further into the park.

I reckon you could do it all in one night but it just felt more relaxed to us to do it this way.
 
oh yeah - I forgot that mid week HHN does not stay open as late as on the weekends.
 
I am going to assume that if you are not staying at the Hard Rock you can't partake in the happy hour festivities mentioned above, but does anyone know of any good places to go at Citiwalk? Last time I was at HHN we got a bunch of drinks in the party.

@CPA Esq. - btw I am a CPA Esq. as well :banana:
 
If you enter after dark on either 10/24 or 10/25, you will not be able to see much w/o an Express pass. That's one of the two Hell Weeks this year and HHN will be crawling with high schoolers. Wait times will reach two hours by 9pm so be prepared. If you are going two nights, do one with Express and the other without and assuming you did everything you wanted the first night, the second night can be a relaxing evening.

I will follow this very helpful advice! thank you. exactly the ifno I was after :)
 
If you go early, do the soundstage houses first, as they aren't really affected by light since they are on the sound stages



very good point!


Busy nights are Friday and Saturday.. you will be there mid week so the park won't be crowded. You'll do everything and some rides too. We go on Sunday nights and we do everything well before park closes.

If you are going with a big group and there will be tons of food / bathroom breaks then it will take you much longer. However mid week is not crowded and you will be in the houses in no time at all.

Honestly - walking there in the dark after a few beers and seeing the LED HHN screen all lit up and hearing the loud music gets you amped up!! you will have a blast! We move quickly, but also stop at the food stands to get a "drink" every other house or so.. and that slows us down a bit.. and what goes in must go out.. and that takes up some time. However we have a great time, go our own pace, enjoy every minute of it and do everything!! Express pass is worth it

thanks for the input! we'll have our 18 year old with us so not a ton of bar stops...but i'm sure we'll have a few ;) but i'm thinking we should get the EP. we're so excited!
 
I am going to assume that if you are not staying at the Hard Rock you can't partake in the happy hour festivities mentioned above, but does anyone know of any good places to go at Citiwalk? Last time I was at HHN we got a bunch of drinks in the party.

@CPA Esq. - btw I am a CPA Esq. as well :banana:

:cool1: Wow!! birds of a feather :)

If you are staying on property or at a hotel ask the concierge if they have any coupons - in the past they used to give us a huge stack of 2 for 1 drinks / beers etc coupons. Some of the 2 for 1 coupons have dried up (many of the staff would abuse those too - ha ha).

If nba city has $.25 wings and a beer deal that is well worth it! grab the coupons, or call a few places and see what is going on.
 





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