HHN Was A Total Letdown...

[BrinkofSunshine]

I'm still not seeing a suggestion as to how to make the lines shorter. Personally, I would love that!

It's a matter of supply and demand. This year, there were 7 houses instead of 8, which I think was a big factor in the wait times. In previous years, one of my favorite things to do was to just hang out in the scarezones, because they were almost like individual attractions. Since there's a lack of them this year, I haven't been inclined to really stay on the streets. Maybe it's just me, but perhaps people are less interested in the street scares and more focused on getting into the houses.

The waits were pretty brutal this year... went on a Sunday a few weeks ago and only got 4 houses in.. the wait were 60, 75, 75, and 90. After waiting 90 minutes for Dead End I could hardly walk up the steps I can't stand lines.

Hopefully they'll see that the wait times were outrageous this year and try and come up with something for next year. Or at least try and make the lines somehow more interesting.

 

[macraven]

agree with sunshine.

for next year:
add another house, go back to the stationary scare zones and hopefully, this will help the long line issues experienced this year.


i think the scream early tickets really increased the numbers of homies that were able to hit the houses early for stay and scream period.

i did notice that peeps at the front gate were being released way before the 6:30 official opening time.
i am guessing that happened to pulse the crowds in the park for the first hour of hhn.

i prefer the set scare zones of years past.
it seemed that many in the park would take time to go thru them and then hang around longer after that to watch the SA in action.

 

[DOOM1001]

I gotta respectfully disagree, I can remember lines being over 2 hours the first year they put it in IOA (specifically the Maximum Carnage house). That was 10 years ago. Yes, this year was a down year, no doubt. However, it's not Universal's fault if you're eating in Citywalk at 7 expecting to zip through their houses afterward. Not gonna happen, and after 20+ years and how easy it is to use the Google, that's on you if you're willing to drop that kind of change without doing some small amount of research.

Wait times have been crazy for years.

Totally agree,long lines are nothing new.I remember that HHN in 2002 clearly as it was the first year it was held at IOA and lines were simply put horrible.I love IOA but I'm a strong believer HHN should be in USF as IOA is just too small,pathways are too narrow and I'm not sure of the capacity at the theater in Toon Lagoon compared to the Fear Factor theater but I remember trying to get into Bill and Ted's in the Toon Lagoon theater and it being a huge mission.That HHN in 2002 was probably one of the most memorable Horror Nights at least for me,the theme was the Caretaker,Toon Lagoon was covered in 6 feet of foam with evil clowns and I'll never forget the 2 hour wait for Scary Tales 2 where the entire wait we entertained ourselves by listening to the continuous music loop which consisted of silly music mixed with fart noises and by talking to the cute girls from Sebring in front of us.

 

[Rip]

I've seen long waits each of the years I've gone. I do think that this year is worse than most in recent memory. We go on Sundays, and I'd estimate the waits at double or more than previous years. I mean park wide. Normally there's a long line or two, but this year they were all thus.

That said, the length of time a problem has existed does not justify the problem's existence.

I don't think the OP really expected to "zip" through the lines. I also think there's a great deal of room between zipping through and 90 minute plus waits. I don't believe it's unreasonable to expect somewhere in the middle.

Google shouldn't really enter into it.

Research should allow for a better experience than average, absolutely. We're discussing the average though. If Universal takes your money, they have an obligation to make sure that the average is acceptable. It's on them.

We had a great time last night and expect to every Sunday next year. My wife calls me the most researched man alive. I totally get the need to do your legwork for added benefit. I just think when people like the OP who may not be the same have a bad time, we should hold Uni more accountable than the guest.

pax

I'm not real sure exactly what they could have done to help with the crowd levels, though. Sell fewer tickets? Raise prices? Both of those would have negatively impacted public opinion far more than the extra crowds have. It seems more that they are falling victim to their own success. I think the major problem this year was the construction - but the general public wants more attractions, so they kinda need that too. Losing a house definitely was an issue, but with Jaws being gone and all of that under construction for Potter-II, what else could they do? I'm not sure where they could have put another house. Also, just the amount of "space" currently inaccessible necessarily causes more crowding. The lack of actual scare zones may have played into the longer lines, but I'm not convinced that an appreciable number of people purposefully hang out in the scare zones rather than just walking through them to get to the next house.

The scream longer tickets (or whatever they are called) certainly increased the crowds in the S&S areas, but I doubt they made any impact on overall crowds and honestly, it didn't impact my ability to get the same number of houses done before having to use express.

I understand what you're saying, I'm just not sure that there is anything much they could have done this year without causing even more negative experiences other than maybe opening up IOA as well. Maybe that will be an option for next year since the whole Amity area will still be under construction.


And as far as Google not playing into it, I'm sorry but if I'm dropping that kind of money to go somewhere for the first time, Google are my friend. It's not realistic given the number of years this has been an issue to be in Citywalk at 7 and expect to get all or even most everything done. That part is on the OP for not doing his/her due diligence.

 

[Planogirl]

It's a matter of supply and demand. This year, there were 7 houses instead of 8, which I think was a big factor in the wait times. In previous years, one of my favorite things to do was to just hang out in the scarezones, because they were almost like individual attractions. Since there's a lack of them this year, I haven't been inclined to really stay on the streets. Maybe it's just me, but perhaps people are less interested in the street scares and more focused on getting into the houses.

The waits were pretty brutal this year... went on a Sunday a few weeks ago and only got 4 houses in.. the wait were 60, 75, 75, and 90. After waiting 90 minutes for Dead End I could hardly walk up the steps I can't stand lines.

Hopefully they'll see that the wait times were outrageous this year and try and come up with something for next year. Or at least try and make the lines somehow more interesting.

Actors in the queues? That is done by some local haunts and it can be fun. That's a great idea.

I can't speak for the rest of the time but on Saturday night we routinely found actors in certain areas. There would often be some "main" monster in the middle of the area posing for pictures while bands of monsters roamed in and around that area. The groups of monsters seemed to pop up in different main areas too. We didn't see how this differed much from scare zones since these areas tended to be packed with people too.

Oh, the areas around the girls selling shots were super crowded too. Why did they have to put them in the middle of the walkway so often?

 

[Swirly girls]

We (my two friends and I) went to HHN last night and I thought I'd tell you guys our take on the whole thing.

We arrived in Universal Studios about 7pm got some food at CityWalk and then went on to HHN. It was pretty crowded right off the bat and only got more crowded as the night went on. None of the three of us however, really mind large crowds so that wasn't a problem (at first).

Going in we headed straight for The Walking Dead themed house. While I don't consider myself a "diehard" fan, I do enjoy the walking dead and watch it whenever I can. When we got there the line said it had a 60 minute wait, so we waited. It took longer than that though, we were actually in that line about 90 minutes.

So, we enter the house and... nothing special, at all. It was such a cookie-cutter Halloween House, nothing special, nothing unique, nothing to even remind you of The Walking Dead other than the zombies, which without the Walking Dead signs could have been any regular zombies from anywhere.

We are funneled though the house pretty quickly in a massive line and then exit after about 3 minutes.

My friends and I didn't really talk about the house after leaving it, we just continued on through the scare zones and around the park until we reached the Penn & Teller house.

We stand in line for another hour and a half to be let into another run-of-the-mill Halloween House, very similar to any other one but with 3-D glasses (which made it no better) and black lighting. We are once again funneled though in a massive line and exit about 3 minutes later.

After that we went to the bakery across from the I Love Lucy store and got something to drink. Where we talked about the night so far.

To make a long story short we all agreed it was a let down and the houses were what you'd find at a county fair. By this time the lines had increased with wait times upwards of 100 minutes.



We left, and aren't going back.

We just got back from our 11 day vacation. We went to discovery cove, Disney (4 days all parks including MNSSHP) sea world and universal studios.

Our least favorite wad universal studios. The rides were good, but the wait time for rides was ridiculous! I'm not sure the rides were really worth the wait.
This is a less crowd time of year too.
We also thought the fact that they have a " fast pass" but, you pay additional money for it was a real joke too. You pay enough for your tickets, you shouldn't have to pay more money yet for this.
There were a couple different rides that people who had paid extra for universals fast pass version, were in the same exact spot in line, as we were ( and we didn't pay extra for the " fast pass". In fact, a couple times we ended up in front of these people and got on before they did.
There were some of these folks loudly voicing their opinions about that too. One guy said, this was a joke, he felt he had wasted his money on this, as he was still standing and waiting a long time and even being passed by non paying fast pass people.
I can't blame him, I would of been annoyed too. And, I'm glad I didn't spend the extra money for the 5 of us in my family!
The other complaint is that we paid full price for our tickets and had to leave early ( 5pm) so the Halloween horror nights could begin. Another joke! 5pm, really?
Between the long wait times, the fast pass thing, and closing the park at 5pm, we won't go back!
Also, in addition to all that, the people who work there have poor attitudes, and are not very friendly either. Sone if them seemed darn right grumpy! That topped the cake for us!
Universal studios have some things they could learn from the other parks!!

 

[Metro West]

The other complaint is that we paid full price for our tickets and had to leave early ( 5pm) so the Halloween horror nights could begin. Another joke! 5pm, really?

The Studios always closes an hour early at 5pm for set up for HHN and there are signs at the parking plaza and outside the Studio gates saying they close at 5pm for HHN. Did you expect to wander around inside the park after closing while they were trying to set everything up? A little bit of research on the DIS would have spelled out how HHN works and that day guests who are not staying for HHN have to leave. Disney does their Halloween event differently so maybe that's where you got confused? Depending on what type of ticket you had, you could have gone over to IOA for a couple of hours.

I'm not going to address your other complaints seeing as those subjects have been beaten to death.

 

[Planogirl]

The Magic Kingdom closes early to non-party guests too so that's a pointless complaint. As for the rest, I agree that that is an old tired subject and not what this thread is about. Except to say that many of the Universal team members also work for Disney.

 

[BryceMc]

All I have to say is HHN was a lot of fun! Though crowded, the only way to really do it is with Express Pass or an R.I.P. Tour.

 

[Swirly girls]

It was my own fault for not realizing that it closed at 5pm.
However, it can't be argued that universals version of a fast pass is a big joke. I heard many people complaining about it who HAD bought, and paid extra for this pass.
Thank goodness I didn't waste money on it.
And, the attitude and demeanor of universal's employees was by far the worst out of all the parks/ places we visited.
Not many smiles, waves, hello, goodbye, thank you, nothing..... Not much personality at all.
Quite a difference from the way other workers treated us at the other parks ect. If they work for Disney, they must use up all the friendliness they have when they work there, because it is the totally opposite at universal. Like I said, they could, and should take lessons from Disney, sea world, and DC.

My goodness but people take this stuff so serious! Calm down, it's just our opinion and really isn't worth taking such offense to. Seriously.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Swirly girls, you are absolutely entitled to your opinion; however I disagree that Universal's TMs are the worst of the bunch. I've always had positive experiences.. or at least, I've never noticed anything genuinely rude.

The saddest/least enthusiastic I've seen are at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.. Don't think I've ever seen attendants more miserable to be working.

I had the worst experience with a CM at Magic Kingdom. I won't really go into it, but it almost had me going to their guest services.. but I refrained, because I get that sometimes you just have a bad day.

 

[Swirly girls]

Swirly girls, you are absolutely entitled to your opinion; however I disagree that Universal's TMs are the worst of the bunch. I've always had positive experiences.. or at least, I've never noticed anything genuinely rude.

The saddest/least enthusiastic I've seen are at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.. Don't think I've ever seen attendants more miserable to be working.

I had the worst experience with a CM at Magic Kingdom. I won't really go into it, but it almost had me going to their guest services.. but I refrained, because I get that sometimes you just have a bad day.

Well,perhaps we were there on an " off" day.
We had nothing but good things at all other parks. In fact, I was at Disney on my birthday. I was greeted with a happy birthday all day long, from every cast member. I also got special cupcakes at each restaurant we ate at during the day, and even a special decorated table and cupcake from the crystal palace. ( I wore a birthday button)
Just sayin

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

That's great that you had a good birthday My friend and I went to MK last year for her birthday and she got a lot of attention, even the characters in the parade spotted her pin and wished her a happy birthday!

Don't forget that Universal also gives out pins for birthdays and celebrations!

 

[Planogirl]

Well,perhaps we were there on an " off" day.
We had nothing but good things at all other parks. In fact, I was at Disney on my birthday. I was greeted with a happy birthday all day long, from every cast member. I also got special cupcakes at each restaurant we ate at during the day, and even a special decorated table and cupcake from the crystal palace. ( I wore a birthday button)
Just sayin

Happy late birthday.

As for your experiences with Team Members we've luckily had just the opposite experiences during several trips. A few even post here and I'm hard pressed to find nicer people but of course YMMV.

 

[macraven]

i don't get the statement about the TM's, darkside employees.

there are many people that work part time at both parks.
disney and universal.




swirly, if you want to discuss your opinions more, you can create a new thread.



and getting back on topic of this HHN thread, i just want to say that i hope many of you did the exit survey and gave your suggestions of what went right and what needed to be changed for next years HHN.

emails to universal also are helpful if you did not do an exit survey.


i doubt that the future years, hhn will be at both parks.
potter and seuss sections would not be included which would make a lot of walking at ioa if a few houses were put over there.

 

[hugscot]

I went HHN many years ago before I bought DVC and it was so disappointing I said I would never go back. You just expect more from a place is known for its theatrics and special effects.

 

[keishashadow]

While I can't help but agree with most of your points, I do think the OP does bear some responsiblity for his dissatisfaction regarding HHN.

The challenges created by the construction, especially dropping the number of houses from 8 to 7, definitely impacted the crowds and queue lengths this year and this is something that I believe Universal should have taken into consideration when determining event capacity numbers.

However, I still believe that if you are spending the amount of money that Universal charges for a single night admission to HHN, you have the responsibility to do the research to find out how to make the most out of your visit. Waiting to enter the park until what was probably closer to 8pm than 7pm was a mistake on the OP's part. He entered just as or just after the biggest rush of guests was coming in and before people had started to leave. Long waits are to be expected.

And there are always going to be houses that fall short of expectations, especially when dealing with known properties such as Penn & Teller and AMC's The Walking Dead. Frankly, given that these are the only 2 houses the OP visited, I think he may have had unrealistic expectations due to the name associations for these houses.

Furthermore, while at least one house every year gets labeled as being the one that didn't live up to expectations, on the flip side there is always at least one house that nobody saw coming and just blows everyone away. Gothic fits that bill this year and the OP didn't make any effort to visit it, possibly due to being focused on the known properties. Had he started with one of the non-branded houses, he might have had a completely different experience but he'll never know because he gave up too quickly, IMO.

In any case, everyone's experience is their own and just because we disagree with their assessment, that doesn't make it any less valid for them. Hopefully, they took the time to share their feedback with the survey folks as they were departing so it can be used to create a better event next year.

well put

however, I've been to more than a few HHNs and was don't think my expectations were unrealistic to expect TWD to have acquired character licenses or even to just invest more effort in such a popular theme.

It was my own fault for not realizing that it closed at 5pm.
However, it can't be argued that universals version of a fast pass is a big joke. I heard many people complaining about it who HAD bought, and paid extra for this pass.
Thank goodness I didn't waste money on it.
And, the attitude and demeanor of universal's employees was by far the worst out of all the parks/ places we visited.
Not many smiles, waves, hello, goodbye, thank you, nothing..... Not much personality at all.
Quite a difference from the way other workers treated us at the other parks ect. If they work for Disney, they must use up all the friendliness they have when they work there, because it is the totally opposite at universal. Like I said, they could, and should take lessons from Disney, sea world, and DC.

My goodness but people take this stuff so serious! Calm down, it's just our opinion and really isn't worth taking such offense to. Seriously.

It's serious (or as much as you can apply the term to a fun-filled vacation)stuff to those of us who devote a vacation each year to enjoy HHN. We spend big bucks and do lots of research to make sure our trips turn out optimally, let's just say we're invested in a good time and HHNs continued success.

that said, all the parks i visited were even more crowded than same time period last year (even aquatica!)...a continuing theme over the last five years. It's a very popular time to visit Orlando. The HHN express pass lines did look crazy long, perhaps they should sell less of them per night?

re TMs & CMs, can't say i've ever experienced a less than satisfactory one. Naturally, some are better than others and everybody can have an off-day. Honestly, not sure how they manage to maintain a pleasant demeanor in such a rather thankless job that imo is a labor of love.

it's cute as heck to see the CM's waving their giant mickey mouse gloves at me after my zippty do dah day when I exit the MK, but it's the last sort of thing i'd want to happen at Universal where I expect the TM vibe to be less intrusive/laid back except for the character roles.

 

[mamajo]

I have been looking forward to attending HHN for 15 years, no lie. I was so excited that we were finally going to be doing it this year. Man, was I disappointed. We didn't realize it was a drinking/smoking/bad behavior party for everyone. I'm no prude, but we got through the line to crossover and a family from father to child were all drunk!! Sloshed!! And everyone was very intoxicated in all the lines we were in and smoking like no tomorrow, line cutters, bad language. No fun at all. We got out of the line to go to guest services an hour after we got there and we got our money back for the tickets. The very nice gal said it had gotten bad in the last couple of years and they really pushed the drinking thing, she apologized and even gave us two express passes for our other days in the park-- we were so disappointed in the lack of restraint and the free for all attitude of the guests. Not as advertised AT ALL. Universal should just come right out and say, "If you want to get drunk and PART-AY! Come on in!!" No frights from anything other than the other guests-- So sad. And then to think after drinking all night, they were then driving on the freeways!! EEK! Maybe that's the Horror of Horror Nights but certainly not the Haunted houses in the park.

 

[Rip]

I have been looking forward to attending HHN for 15 years, no lie. I was so excited that we were finally going to be doing it this year. Man, was I disappointed. We didn't realize it was a drinking/smoking/bad behavior party for everyone. I'm no prude, but we got through the line to crossover and a family from father to child were all drunk!! Sloshed!! And everyone was very intoxicated in all the lines we were in and smoking like no tomorrow, line cutters, bad language. No fun at all. We got out of the line to go to guest services an hour after we got there and we got our money back for the tickets. The very nice gal said it had gotten bad in the last couple of years and they really pushed the drinking thing, she apologized and even gave us two express passes for our other days in the park-- we were so disappointed in the lack of restraint and the free for all attitude of the guests. Not as advertised AT ALL. Universal should just come right out and say, "If you want to get drunk and PART-AY! Come on in!!" No frights from anything other than the other guests-- So sad. And then to think after drinking all night, they were then driving on the freeways!! EEK! Maybe that's the Horror of Horror Nights but certainly not the Haunted houses in the park.

Sorry you experienced that, I've heard those stories both from HHN and from the Food and Wine at Epcot on occasion. Having been 11 years to both, thankfully I've never experienced that.

 

[Metro West]

Sorry you experienced that, I've heard those stories both from HHN and from the Food and Wine at Epcot on occasion. Having been 11 years to both, thankfully I've never experienced that.

I guess I've been lucky too...I haven't experienced that kind of behavior either.