Official 2018 HHN-28 Thread

[soniam]

For those that have been this year, what time are they typically opening the front gate for regular guests? I'll be there tonight and opening is 6:30. Wondering if they've been opening at say 6 or 6:15 lately.

And with just regular tickets I'll be trying the most popular houses first. Stranger things will be number 1, but what's the second most popular, Halloween?

Hoping the crowds for tonight will be a little lighter than Friday and Saturdays

I have heard as early as 6pm or 6:15pm. There may have been some nights where people were let in a little before 6pm. Do you have day tickets? If so, definitely do Stay & Scream at Finnegan's for Stranger Things. I don't think Halloween is that popular. I think Poltergeist or Scary Tales would be the second one to hit. Carnival Graveyard seems to open after those two, so if you get in early, it may not be open yet.

 

[CAS239]

I have heard as early as 6pm or 6:15pm. There may have been some nights where people were let in a little before 6pm. Do you have day tickets? If so, definitely do Stay & Scream at Finnegan's for Stranger Things. I don't think Halloween is that popular. I think Poltergeist or Scary Tales would be the second one to hit. Carnival Graveyard seems to open after those two, so if you get in early, it may not be open yet.

No day tickets, just a HHN ticket. But thanks for the info, probably hit poltergeist or scary tales after ST

 

[FranDVCMadrid]

Hi! I know that you recieved complimentary Valet parking with the RIP Tour. We're planning to visit USO and IOA the same day. Shall we pay for Valet parking until the RIP Tour starts? Or it would be better to park in the normal parking?

Thanks!

Someone? Thanks!

 

[shh]

Hi all: hoping a few kind souls can chime in if they have any tips. All psyched to be at HHN this week....and accidentally caught my foot on a table leg late last week. Klutz strikes again! Not broken, but badly bruised. Lots of walking ain't happening this trip.
Pinkie toe and foot in general, not feeling so good. Came close to canceling, but decided to push forward, although it may have to be from a wheelchair I rent at UO.

Any tips from someone who's done the event from a wheelchair? I have no idea how difficult it is. I know it's probably exhausting for someone to push the chair such long distances, given how spread out houses are, but looks like I don't have much choice. (And my DH is in very good shape...lol).

I can walk much better in open toed shoes, but definitely not wearing those with the crowds - too many careless people. I'd be way too nervous someone would rear back suddenly and ram into me, causing further damage. Didn't have much luck shoe shopping for something today and don't have time to special order.

So I'm thinking I'll cut a hole in normal sneaker and walk through houses but maybe rely on chair to reduce the walking between houses.

Any tips to make it a smoother process? We're still planning to do Stay and Scream and don't have express as of now. Going mid week. (We were thinking we'd buy the 1/2 price ones at 10pm if they're still in.)

 

[macraven]

Someone? Thanks!

Frank
If you are not staying onsite with a car, might as well pay for garage parking

I assume you plan to be in the park during the day you are doing the private tour

Should be cheaper to garage park than to move your car later for valet parking

 

[soniam]

Someone? Thanks!

I have heard that valet can take forever at the end of the night, but I don't have personal experience with it or know if it's the same valet type that people have mentioned.

 

[patster734]

I heard that last night was sold out. Anyone go last night?

 

[FranDVCMadrid]

Frank
If you are not staying onsite with a car, might as well pay for garage parking

I assume you plan to be in the park during the day you are doing the private tour

Should be cheaper to garage park than to move your car later for valet parking

Thanks! I'm staying offsite, but I want to rest a little before HHN, it may be easy to have the car at General parking instead of Valet.

I have heard that valet can take forever at the end of the night, but I don't have personal experience with it or know if it's the same valet type that people have mentioned.

Yes, it's true! Last year I'd wait 15 minutes to bring the car for me.

 

[Sehsun]

I heard that last night was sold out. Anyone go last night?

Last night was indeed sold out. DH and I went, and we did Stay and Scream. We hit up Slaughter Cinema (5 min posted wait), Seeds of Extinction (10 min posted wait), and Trick r Treat (10 min posted wait). Seeds was our best run through yet, as there was no one in front or behind us, so we got every single scare.

Then took off (we were at VB all day). LOTS of cars coming in when we were leaving around 7:10ish. Backed up on Universal Blvd and the exit off of I-4.

 

[schumigirl]

Last night was indeed sold out. DH and I went, and we did Stay and Scream. We hit up Slaughter Cinema (5 min posted wait), Seeds of Extinction (10 min posted wait), and Trick r Treat (10 min posted wait). Seeds was our best run through yet, as there was no one in front or behind us, so we got every single scare.

Then took off (we were at VB all day). LOTS of cars coming in when we were leaving around 7:10ish. Backed up on Universal Blvd and the exit off of I-4.

Wow!!!

Glad to hear you had some nice non wait times and missed the crowds!!!

 

[CAS239]

I heard that last night was sold out. Anyone go last night?

Yes last night was definitely sold out and it was packed. Website was sold out prior to getting my ticket so I had to go by Publix and get my ticket.

In line for one of the houses a team member was saying how last night was sold out, it was one of the busiest nights so far, and he's heard that when a night is sold out it's around 36,000-38,000 people.

Wife and I did 4 houses and watched academy of villains. Didn't feel like waiting in another 60+ min line so we'll be heading back Thursday night in hopes of lower crowds

 

[Jtinsc]

I just got through with 2 nights (Wed 10/24 & Thur 10/25). I don't have time to give a full recap right now but I had a great time as usual. The crowds seemed to be heavier on Wednesday than Thursday. I will try to write a report in the next few days.

 

[imprint]

Tonight was the bonus night of HHN. I saw on Twitter that crowds were awesome, so I checked the Universal app for house wait times. Stranger Things was only 35 minutes at 9:00. Perfect night for those people that could go tonight!

 

[macraven]

Besides the short waits, read houses are pulsing the lines

Many having great scares !

 

[CAS239]

I'll be going tonight. Since it's Wednesday, even though it is Halloween, I'm hoping lines are lower than the weekend

 

[nkereina]

Just back from a great WDW trip, with a night for HHN mixed in to break it up! We attended HHN for the first time two years ago, and this was our second trip back. We LOVED it! Might be our favorite day of the trip! We got in line around 5:20 and were backed up to the ticket window building, so not too far back. The gates opened right around 6pm, and then the line dispersed among all the gates. We were in by 6:15, and not even all the houses were open yet. We went straight to the Chucky area and were only one of a few people walking through at that time so it was a great time to interact with Chucky without the crowds.

We did all the houses and scare zones as well as most of the rides. We made it a point to try pizza fries, waffle on a stick, and waffle sundae. Pizza fries were great but the waffle dishes were meh.

Our favorite scare zone was Chucky, but we may be bias because we are big Chucky fans anyway! Also loved Killer Klowns.

Our favorite house was Poltergeist. I love that movie and was so excited to see this house, and it did not disappoint. We had EP but it was also the longest house we waited for, around 30 minutes. We ranked Carnival and Halloween towards the bottom of our list, but honestly enjoyed all of them.

We left around 12:30am and walked over to HRH to catch an uber, hoping to avoid the craziness outside City Walk. Worked out well. I do think EP is a must if you only have one night like us and want to do as much as possible. We got in early and left near the end, and were beat. We only stopped for maybe 15-20 minutes to eat our snacks, but the rest of the time was spent going between the rides, houses, and scare zones. Took us almost the whole evening.

No real complaints, but thought some of the queues for EP were excessively long. I get that their hands are tied with the house placement, but I agree with PP that it would be great if there was a way for EP holders to hop over to the next house when some of them are adjacent to each other. Took us almost as long to walk in and out of the queues as it did the house sometimes!

I know it’s almost the end of HHN season, but if you have the chance to go this week – DO IT! And if you are already planning to go, have a great time!

 

[glamdring269]

Hope everyone has had a blast thus far this year. We were at Universal a few years ago and opted to bypass because my wife was not going to do this. We're heading back in Oct 2019 and no matter what I'm going this time. As of now we've strategically planned for Thurs/Fri night stay as I'm hoping this year's calendar is typical. And as of now I'm planning to go both nights. It's too bad I have to wait a year! Happy Halloween!

 

[patster734]

Hope everyone has had a blast thus far this year. We were at Universal a few years ago and opted to bypass because my wife was not going to do this. We're heading back in Oct 2019 and no matter what I'm going this time. As of now we've strategically planned for Thurs/Fri night stay as I'm hoping this year's calendar is typical. And as of now I'm planning to go both nights. It's too bad I have to wait a year! Happy Halloween!

My wife doesn’t do HHNs, so I’ve done HHNs with other family members, with DIS friends on RIP tours, and solo like this year’s visit. She still goes to UO with me, but will return to the room when HHNs starts.

 

[imprint]

Wow, this is really cool!

"On Tuesday, Nov. 6, the day that Will disappeared, from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., guests at Universal Studios Florida will have the chance to walk through the Stranger Things house from Halloween Horror Nights one last time to celebrate the occasion. This will be the first time ever that guests will get to experience an HHN house outside of the event.

The full house experience, as well as select specialty food and beverage offerings at Benny’s Burger Tent, San Fran Pastry and Boulangerie will be available to guests. As an added perk, Passholders will get exclusive access to the Express queue line for the house."

 

[PatriciaH]

We went to HHN last night and had a lot of fun, but man 10 houses was a lot! The walking back and forth to SOE and Trick or Treat was longgggggg. And we hike a lot- I think I would rather 7/8 houses done really well than 10 with 2 really good ones. Lines were 60 minutes-2 hours without express.

We have been going to HHN since 2004. I really liked Poltergeist and Stranger Things was good. The props in Carnival of Carnage were great, but the characters were Meh. Dead Waters was better last year. Trick or Treat and Slaughter Cinema were pretty good. I like when they do real movies like All Night Die In (still one of my favorites to date!) instead of the campy fake ones. Cute though.

The crowd was a lot of families. Past crowds were much rowdier and drunker. Houses used to be much more violent and gross too. Only Scary Tales was a bit gorey (Hansel ang Gretel.) I like this crowd better though. It was always sad to see people puking in garbage cans and falling down drunk!

Stayed at Sapphire Falls-really nice!