Let's Hear Some HHN Reviews!

[Jason71]

For the record, as a 5-year HHN vet, I feel I qualified to say crowds were bad Thursday the 12th as well. At 6:40, Psychoscarapy had a posted 45-minute wait; timed it, closer to 30, but still, in the past you could walk right into houses during the daytime.

Psychoscarapy was at least worth it--highly themed, real scares. All Night Die-In was ok, far from great, saved by a scene from a crowd-pleasing movie at the end (I won't spoil it). I remember the original Run being much better. Screamhouse showed promise at the beginning, but became repetitive and boring. Left before seeing the other three, by 9 it was impossible to even move down the streets. Funniest B&T in years, definitely the high point.

I liked the harvest scare zone, the vampire one felt like a Disney photo op staged by Anne Rice, Deadtropolis might have worked had I seen more than one zombie--I swear at first I thought I was supposed to be Vietnam or something.

The roped-off areas around the park early on are annoying. Was also disappointed they didn't use the globes in the lagoon during the entire event, just to add atmosphere.

I realize HHN and Mardi Gras are basically keeping the park afloat, so I expect Uni to squeeze all the cash they can ($9 beer anyone?). The thing is, Mardi Gras seems to handle a capacity crowd better, people stake out a spot for the parade or concert and stay there. When the crowd is constantly shifting, it seems more crowded. They need to take that into account when determining the number of tickets to sell.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

I 100% agree. The roped off areas WERE stupid, and even after the official "rope drop" at 6:30, they still wouldn't let you walk straight towards Twister...you HAD to follow around the way the brochure told you to.

Beer prices were not the same through out the park. Many of the charged either more or less than what the signs stated. Jell-O shots were pretty lame.

The park itself has just gone downhill. They're not introducing new rides as quickly as other parks are, and the ones that they do have are in need of rehabs...and badly! I mean...c'mon. T-2 needs to be updated (Shaq is STILL in it with Magic gear?!), the rides need to be taken care of properly (moldy Jaws) and the park just needs to be cleaned up (ripped cushions covered in black duct tape in different restaraunts).

I'm not saying Disney is better, but this is the WORST that I have EVER seen UO.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We just came back from our third night this year of HHN. I keep meaning to share photos and forget...
This is only our third HHN year.
Like anything, there are some good and some items that can be improved. (Just as with a Disney event.)
We could tell the crowds are heavier, no matter how early, the closer to Halloween. Which really stands to reason.
The Frequent Fear Pass is the only way to go!

 

[Jason71]

An addendum after a return visit last night (Sunday).

Still packed out, I shudder to think how Fri/Sat must be. Got there a bit late, but waits for houses were all 45-90 minutes thru the night.

Psychopath was quite good, surprised me a bit, but an interesting tribute to a classic movie. Probably the most scares in a house this year, too, a great cast. 2d only to Psychoscarapy. Only drawback was the line, which stretches back I'd swear to the edge of the property with no theming.

People Under the Stairs was just mediocre for me, and I was the only one in my group who had seen the movie and knew the premise, that's not a good sign. Not sure how this one made the cut--I watched the movie like 20 times in college but it's hardly a horror classic, or even much of a cult classic. Mining hat gimmick didn't work for me last year in Terror Mines, didn't work again this year.

 

[PatriciaH]

DH and I went last night. We had a much better time than last year but that is probably because we bought the Express pass like in 2004 It was packed! We got there at 6:15pm and the parking and bag check moved pretty quickly so we were in the park by 6:30pm. A few characters were out on the walk in but zero in Harvest of The Souls at about 6:45pm so that was kind of an empty walk through

We walked to Psychopath/People Under The Stairs and waits were already 30 minutes/45 minutes so we used our Express Pass. With that smoking crowd (cigs and cigars-grosssssss) I will not wait in any line if I can avoid it. Then we saw the first Bill and Ted show-VERY funny! We rode Men In Black and then walked around the lagoon to Mummy and the other houses. The Directors Cut started late and they did not lower the other sounds (helicopters, gunshots, etc..) so you could not hear it at all (at least where we stood.)

With the Express pass we got pictures, saw all 7 houses, most of The Directors Cut, Bill and Ted and did Men In Black and The Mummy all by 11pm. The waits were 50 minutes-90 minutes most of the night so without the Express Pass on a non peak night you would never see all the houses! This is the order I rate the houses:

All Nite Die-In (great characters)
Psychoscareapy (awful smell! Great acting. Jack-shudder)
Dungeon of Terror
Run
Screamhouse (these three were really on a par for me)
Psychopath (good theaming and acting but where was the shower scene-could have been great!)
People Under The Stairs (the actors really were good but no theaming! Very disorienting-I got lost )

It was weird-SO packed and they shoved you into the houses but in only 2 could I see the people in front of me! I don't know if they all ran through without looking at anything but I nearly got lost several times since I was going 1st and had no one to follow! I liked that.

Not too many really little kids like last year. I did not see one stroller thank God. Just a few 7-9 year olds and they seemed fine. Only one crying going into Psychoscareapy saying he did not want to go in and his father made him. LOTS of smoking in line.

 

[macraven]

i just went back and reread all the new posts on this thread since i posted.

i am totally and completely addicted to HHN.
yes, i stay on site and drop big bucks on a 4 day stay at the hotel.
yes, i dropped $265 on hhn and ep tixs for 3 nights this month.
yes, finally bought the pap this year.

this was my 6th hhn in a row.
no matter how bad the crowds were managed on one of the nights i went, i could never say i would not return. i guess it is people like me that drop too much money that UO loves...........

there are some of us that will pay the high prices for the love of HHN.
i don't like it anymore than the rest of you, but i accept it as it will take XXX number of dollars to do this event for a 3 day weekend. no one wants to pay lots of money out, but i bite the dust do it and not complain.

the way the s & s area was handled on oct 8th at finnegans was outrageous.
i have no idea how different nights can be so different for the s & s sections.

i learned the hard way in 03. after that, i always bought the ep tixs for the nights i would attend. i spend too much money to travel to orlando in order not to be able to enjoy hhn. no way would i ever go without the ep.

i do the rides in the daytime and the houses and scarezones in the evening. i start the event in the stay and scream area.
i hit each house 3 times each evening by using the ep when the line is long.
i go away from the directions the crowds are going in order to hit the houses without lines.
i do some houses when it is light but use the ep to see them when it is dark.
i get a different opinion and feel for the house when it is light or dark.

each night i favored a different house. there was some difference in touring the houses when cast A or B was on.

scream house, pyschoscarepy, die in were on the mark all three nights i was there. i have no complaints with dungeon or psycopath/bates houses. some nights they were fantastic. run was good for me on saturday. PUTS was only strong on one of the nights i went thru it.

i don't like to rate the houses as i know some of the scareactors and there is a csw in at least one of each house and scarezone this year.
the scareactors give it their all. i marvel on how well they do and how much they enjoy entertaining the guests.

i enjoy reading your reviews of the houses.
and, it makes me long to hop on a plane out of chicago just to go down for one more night of hhn.

i only go either the first or second weekend of hhn. hell week is too crowded for me, high schoolers off 2 days that week and they fill the park. on site hotels totally packed then also.

i'm now planning the 07 trip.

 

[Melisa1]

Well said Macraven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was my first HHN and I have no complaints at all!! Everything went perfect for us and we were there on opening weekend.
I will definately go back next year - same weekend. I am only 4 hours from Orlando and wish I could go back this year, but we are too busy.
I do have the PAP, and I did buy the express pass and stayed at HRH. It was expensive but well worth the money to us!

 

[tricky1]

Well hello Macraven, it was nice to meet you at the s&s sun.
we did get 5 of the houses and b&t done that night, bought express
passes for wed but did noy use them and got thru all the houses
and b&t again, my wife got a little under the weather that night
before we was able to use them, we gave them to a couple
before we left. I think the s&s area around jaws worked better
than the one at finnagans,got a lot bigger of a headstart .
How did you like the rpr?

 

[macraven]

Well hello Macraven, it was nice to meet you at the s&s sun.
we did get 5 of the houses and b&t done that night, bought express
passes for wed but did noy use them and got thru all the houses
and b&t again, my wife got a little under the weather that night
before we was able to use them, we gave them to a couple
before we left. I think the s&s area around jaws worked better
than the one at finnagans,got a lot bigger of a headstart .
How did you like the rpr?

it was great meeting you also!

sorry your wife was not feeling well and you left before finishing the night on wednesday. don't you hate that when that happens, being sick suxs.....

absolutely the stay and scream at jaws was better than finnegans.
on sunday the 8th, the jaws area had a handful of people, couldn't have been more than 15 people while finnegans s & s flowed out into the front and street area.

i think i will have to stay at rph one more time before i can say how i feel about it.
had a great view of room 1746 . did not get to eat at the places at that hotel as i was always on the go the 4 days.

i only compared rph to hrh when it came to the room size and layout.
the lobby at rph was fantastic and no comparison to hrh. i liked the open fountain area in the middle of the lobby.

and of course, the rates at rph were sweeter to the wallet than hrh...........

 

[Slacking]

If you know how to tour, lines shouldn't be a huge deal.

Went last night. Stayed in the holding area near DOT. DOT opened at 5:45, went through twice, no wait. Waited 5 min. for Psychopath to open, went through it 3 times, no wait (this is my absolute favorite house this year). Then, waited 10 min. for PUTS to open (opened at 6:30), and went through it, no wait. I then hit DOT two more times (no wait), and Run twice (less than 5 minutes both times.) It was no around 7pm. Screamhouse had a 10 minute wait, and Die-in had a 15 minute wait. I then wandered around the zones and grabbed dinner. I ended up waiting an hour for Psychoscarepy, but by 9:30, I had been through all houses at least once, and left a happy camper. (Note: Have seen B&T twice this year, didn't need to see it a 3rd time)

 

[callahanjulie10]

As a Disney LOVER and a USO liker, I have to tell you that we LOVED HHN. We went Friday 13th- without express passes! We loved it and I didn't think that 60 minute waits were bad. We will go back and have a great time. I will purchase express passes but we had never been before so it wasn't a big deal. We did the first 2 houses with little wait but after that it averaged about 60. We loved the scare zones and I though they outdid themselves. Of course, I have never been before so I couldn't compare. I have done MNSVSP and never really enjoyed anything other than the parade with the headless horseman!

 

[DadtheKid]

From Slacker:

"If you know how to tour, lines shouldn't be a huge deal.

Went last night. Stayed in the holding area near DOT. DOT opened at 5:45, went through twice, no wait. Waited 5 min. for Psychopath to open, went through it 3 times, no wait (this is my absolute favorite house this year). Then, waited 10 min. for PUTS to open (opened at 6:30), and went through it, no wait. I then hit DOT two more times (no wait), and Run twice (less than 5 minutes both times.) It was no around 7pm. Screamhouse had a 10 minute wait, and Die-in had a 15 minute wait. I then wandered around the zones and grabbed dinner. I ended up waiting an hour for Psychoscarepy, but by 9:30, I had been through all houses at least once, and left a happy camper. (Note: Have seen B&T twice this year, didn't need to see it a 3rd time)"

Did you have the express pass, or were you able to do this without it?

 

[Slacking]

No Express Pass for me last night.

 

[LOLA2]

wHAT TIME DO i NEED TO GET INTO THE PARK BY TO GO TO STAY AND SCREAM AREA?

 

[macraven]

wHAT TIME DO i NEED TO GET INTO THE PARK BY TO GO TO STAY AND SCREAM AREA?

i strongly suggest you be in the park at 4:50 in order to go to the stay and scream area.

on the 7th, a saturday, i got to the park at 4:55 and was stopped by employees telling me they were in the process of clearing out the park and were not letting anyone else in.

i protested and the employee was distracted by a larger group of people trying to go past me. when he turned to them, i scampered off..........

i was afraid they would make me wait in line outside at that point.

on the sunday, the 8th, i was talking to someone that received a cell call from friends. they were at the entrance at 4:58 and were not allowed in to the park to go to the stay and scream area.

the later in october it becomes, maybe the stricter it becomes.
don't chance it.

be in the park by 4:50 and then head to the s & s area just to be on the safe side.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We have USO PAPs. We cut it too close last night. I did not realize we had to be in the park by 5:00.
Of course around 4:20 we pull up and there are long congested lines just to get into the parking area.
We lucked out, knowing our way around, and $pringing for Preferred parking.
Under the entrance arch there were two team members stopping guests to check for passes. Since they were busy with other guests, we whizzed by. Three team members yelled we had 5 minutes to enter as we headed for the gates!
We were greeted with a smile, allowed in, and told in a few minutes we could not have entered.
I won't cut it that close again!
As we entered, a young couple entered at the same time. Once inside the woman yelled at her companion -- Can we stop walking so fast now!?

 

[BigTiggerGuy]

Ok, here is my two cents.....
There was 9 of us total attending our first HHN and I can tell you our expectations were high! I had been reading everything I could get my hands on and felt that my research would really pay off. I was right!
We were staying at the Portofino so on Thursday the 12th we headed to Universal around 4pm. We went straight to Finnegans and easily got a seat at the bar. The entire time we were in Finnegans there couldn't have been more than 50 people. We were even able to walk outside to watch the Chainsaw Brigade(awesome!) and then went back inside to get another drink. No problem.
I knew that when the S&S area opened everyone would head to Screamhouse since it's the closest. We went past it and tried All Nite Die In. It wasn't immediatly open but we only waited about 5 minutes. I loved it....thought Hellraiser was amazing! My friends didn't quite understand what the "wet stuff" was that they got hit with in the Silence of the Lambs scene I didn't bother to explain.....
Next, we went to Psychoscarepy. I have a horrible fear of clowns so my friends couldn't wait to see me in this one. Awesome scares and great atmosphere......although we now refer to it as "Jack's House of Poop!" Without spoiling it for anyone......there is something that happens at the very end that I can honestly say sent me running out of the house. Great scare!
Next we backtracked to Screamhouse and walked right in. The people in front of us took off running so I was leading our group. Then, someone in my group got so scared she just stopped moving. I didn't realize this and kept walking.....so I did Screamhouse completely by myself! Wow was that an experience...needless to say the Caretaker had a field day with me(On a side note, later in the night two of my friends were trying to find a bathroom and ended up in some weird location. As they were walking, the Caretaker came around the corner and offered to take them to the bathroom-but never came out of character!)
Next we hit Run and Dungeon of Terror(still without Express!) Liked them both but Run got a bit repetitive.
By now it was getting crowded so we used our Epress for Psychopath and PUTS. Loved Psychopath but felt PUTS could have been much better.
We decided to hit the Scarezones next. Loved Harvest of Souls....lots of scareactors walking aroung and great theming. Next was Bloodharvest.....kind of like a satanic Maxim spread if you ask me. Just ok. The one I had been most excited about was Deadtropolis. I pictured dozens of zombies lurking about and creeping down alleys. All in all we counted about 8 zombies. Not so scary
We decided to use our express passes to hit the first 5 houses a second time and then caught the Lagoon Show.
All in all, my group loved HHN and will definitely go back again. I don't know how anyone could even attempt it without an Express Pass. We had a great time because we were able to keep moving from area to area and saw everything we wanted to see.

 

[lzrdkng123]

If I get the Stay & Scream tickets (non-peak night) and decide on that night that I want to return (If it's too crowded & don't get to see everything) can I upgrade to Frequent Fear passes?

 

[Luv2Roam]

I really enjoy HHN. But I say the same every year -- after awhile all the houses seem the same. My favorite this year is Psychopath. My favorite overall was Castle Vampyre.
I think Horror Come Home and The Arrival is a great idea. (Street of past monsters of HHN and continuous stage show.)
The Harvest of Souls is nice and well done. But too short. We have only been to HHN three years now. I REALLY liked the 2004 walk through between IoA and USO. That was the best walk through from these three years. HoS really is not in that good of a location.

Last year an effect that was VERY cool was the smokey green mist (mist and green lasers) about a foot or so over guest's heads.

US is cracking down more this year on drunks, smokers and general idiots. More so than we have seen these past two HHN years. (finally!) They still have a way to go yet.

This year we have seen MANY more CHILDREN than the past two years. And I mean SMALL kids, from strollers to toddlers even. I hope these kids can sleep at night now. Disney HHN ain't. Kids use to be a rarity. Now seeing small kids at this year's HHN is very common.

Lot less stilt performers. But many street performers. The scareactors do a good job. But some areas are rather boring (such as Deadtropolis as someone else mentioned. That whole area just seems like an after thought and they just threw something together.)

We have not seen Bill & Ted's yet. Last year it did not do much for me, although DH liked it. I am just not that into pop culture and TV, that is why. I could pass on that and not feel bad. But I know we will see it Sunday. Maybe I will like it better than last year. The only good thing was sitting down duringthe show. I thought it was rather boring last year. And the Dude-speak is annoying and OLD. I rather hear Crush the Turtle if I have to listen to Dude-speak.

And I also think they should show film clips or something on those lagoon balls all evening. We have not yet seen that show (HHN version). I am looking forward to that.

But even with the minor not so positive items, HHN is a GREAT time.

 

[macraven]

If I get the Stay & Scream tickets (non-peak night) and decide on that night that I want to return (If it's too crowded & don't get to see everything) can I upgrade to Frequent Fear passes?

stay and scream area does not need a special ticket.

it is a holding area and all you have to do there is have your hhn tix scanned for entry in that area.
you are held here until security gives the heads up that the park has been cleared.

people in the stay and scream area are allowed to have a head start then on the houses and rides before the general admission guests are admitted at 6:30.

if you are talking about purchasing the frequent fear pass, call universal or guest services as i do not know on special event ticketing.

i do know that you can upgrade any ticket for universal park admission even after you are in the park and have used that ticket.

i have upgraded myself for the general park admission and only paid the difference to do so.

for the hard ticket events, i am at a loss to help you. thus the statement of contacting guest services at universal to get that info.