IoA HHN for Thursday October 24

[Kermit_da_Frog]

I plan on being at Universal Studios this Thursday, October 24. I have been to Universal Studios before but have never been to Islands of Advenutre. I wanted to hit the HalloweenHorrorNights Thursday night and was looking for suggestions. . .

Should I just go to the Thursday night HHN and catch the rides then or will I not have enough time? How much would this cost? Should I instead go to IoA during the day and then buy the ticket extension for the HHN? And how much would this cost?

I am into rollercoasters so plan on riding all of them. Also want to see the attractions considered the best.

Any suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Thanks,

Kermit

 

[Mittman]

Kermit,
You have a few different options.

I just got back from doing HHN on Thursday the 17th, so I have a good idea what the crowds should be like for you. We went to Islands of Adventure during the day, then bought the extension for HHN, and also picked up a couple of the Caretaker's express books.

By doing the "Stay and Scream" package, basically going to the park by day and staying for HHN, you get some nice perks. You pay less for your HHN admission and you get to stay in the park at 5:30 when it closes. The people with regular HHN passes get to come in at 7:00.

That gives you almost an hour and a half to get a head start on the mazes. We got to do Fear Factor twice, Scream House once, and Maximum Carnage once all before the first Bill and Ted show. Then after the show the place was packed, and we used our express books to bypass the 75+ minute waits for the the things we hadn't done, and to do the mazes we had done again.

HHN has been extremely crowded this year. I went on an off peak night like you are going to, and the mazes all had waits of about 75 minutes and the rides had even longer waits. If you want to get all the mazes done and see the Bill and Ted show, the express book is essential.

I think the express book is a must have for only $15, and if you have the time I would go to IOA during the day as well. Not only will it assure you get all the HNN attractions done, you definately need it to see all the regular attractions. I highly doubt there is anyway to see all of HHN and all of IOA's regular rides without going during the day, even if you do have the express book.

By the way, I would make sure and buy passes for whatever you decide to do sometime before you go. HHN always has the possibility of selling out. I think last Thursday was almost sold out, so buying tickets early is a smart plan.

 

[wdhatter]

I went on 10/17 too but entered at 7pm. The Express books were being sold at the gate for $25 and not $15 by Universal Cast Members there. Ridiculous price. Yes, it was packed and absolutely horrible to be there. I ended up leaving at midnight after doing only 2 haunted houses (Screamhouse and JP:Extinction) as well as Bill and Ted's. (We only got in Bill & Ted's without waiting because we knew the Stage Manager who saved us seats.)

If you don't have the pass that the above person talked about that lets you stay in the park at 5:30, then it isn't worth it at all. I never complain, but I've been to HHN for the past 6 years and have never experienced what I experienced on the 17th. IOA is too small for that many people to be there. Just walking from land to land was a pain because of the amount of people in the walkways.

I think that it is so crowded because of all the people who quit going to it have come back since it's in a new location. Also, the new Fear Pass they are selling has a lot to do with it. For a certain amount of money (I don't remember how much.) you can buy a Fear Pass that let's you come back any night you want as many times as you want. So how do they track that? Let's say they "sell out" their planned amount of tickets for a night...say 20,000. How can they control how many Fear Pass people show up? You could have 5 people of 10,000 extra people which gluts the park with too many people. The passes have been selling really well according to a friend of mine. I think those passes made our night a horrible night.

I hope you have a good time, but I hope it is back at USF next year. You can spread out more there.

 

[Trixie]

Of course you probably realize that almost all the schools in the Central Florida area had last Thursday and Friday off. I think that contributed to the crowds also. I'd be interested to see how this Wednesday and Thursday crowds are. So write us back and let us know.

It will be interesting to see what happens next year for HHN. I happened to like the change. I thought the amount of "theme-ing" in each of the Islands was well done. I'm glad to be rid of Jack. I miss the parade, though.

 

[rangebob]

the frequent fear pass is only valid for ten days and on non-peak nights. I also believe it is limited to annual passholders also.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

my favorite radio station has a live bordcast from HHN tonight

 

[MsDisney]

Originally posted by Robert Walker
the frequent fear pass is only valid for ten days and on non-peak nights. I also believe it is limited to annual passholders also.

I have a map from the 17th and on the back it tells you that you can "Relive the Nighmare again and again" by upgrading to the Frequent Fear Pass for $19.95 (plus that nights paid admission)...that was for anyone...

Karen

 

[wdhatter]

See? Unlimited. How can those numbers be controlled?

 

[wdhatter]

See? Unlimited. How can those numbers be controlled?

 

[RoonGoon]

We went on Wednesday and let me just tell you....it was the best night to go. In the middle of the night, at around 9ish, the longest wait was about 20-30 minutes for Scream House. Everything else had a 0-10 minute wait, INCLUDING all of the rides. We left at 11, and everything, including Scream House, had a 0 minute wait. What a night to go. Also, we went to Bill and Ted's....got there 5 minutes before they were letting people in, and got seats RIGHT at the stage. Awesome night!

 

[rangebob]

The map that I have from last night says that the Frequent Fear pass isvalid Oct 10,13,16,17,20,23,24,27,29,30,31.

 

[wdhatter]

No offense, but that is a lot of nights still.

 

[grumbada]

Originally posted by Mittman

If you want to get all the mazes done and see the Bill and Ted show, the express book is essential... I think the express book is a must have for only $15....

Mittman,
How exactly do you go about getting the express book for $15?
We plan to be there Halloween night and I have a feeling we're going to need it.

 

[Mittman]

We simply went up to one of the ticket windows in the front of the park that morning and bought two of them. No special discounts or anything, the regular cost was just $15.

 

[MsDisney]

Originally posted by grumbada
Originally posted by Mittman

Mittman,
How exactly do you go about getting the express book for $15?
We plan to be there Halloween night and I have a feeling we're going to need it.

The word on the street is that Halloween night itself is dead. So to speak.

Anyone here ever go on Halloween and care to add some input?

Karen

 

[grumbada]

Hi MsDisney!

This will be our 3rd year in a row going to HHN on Halloween night. The last two years, crowds were big enough that wait times for the mazes with highest scare/fear/gore/blah ratings were 45 minutes or more at times... But they weren't bad enough that we didn't get to see just about everything, either.

I'm pretty good at predicting when lines will be longer (right after shows get out, etc), but again, I don't recall the event selling out on peak-nights in the past two years either. I guess I'm just a little bit paranoid about the crowds this year after reading all these posts about the numbers of people that are showing up this year.

I'll be sure to let you folks know.