Official 2018 HHN-28 Thread

[4greatboys]

The last couple of years Saturday hasn't been too bad early, do stay & scream, but does get pretty crowded later on in the evening.

 

[ScottwPA]

Hi all - couple questions for a HHN newbie! I've been reading through all of these comments with excitement and anticipation - thanks for all the input!! My wife and I are attending our first HHN on Nov 1st. We purchased the EP and are attending the event only, so will not be in the park to take advantage of that perk. What time should we show up at the front gate for entrance into the park? Since we have EP, I'm not too worried about the lines but I don't want to lose much time at opening either! Also, is there any suggested order WITH the EP? Or is there a basic strategy that you should never use your EP unless the queue is over 20 minutes (would love to see some of the houses more than once if possible!). Finally, I've been reading that Gringotts closes 'early', but haven't seen a specific time. That is the one ride we are interested in checking out. Anyone know what time it has been closing? Thanks in advance!!! Happy Hauntings!

 

[CAS239]

Hi all - couple questions for a HHN newbie! I've been reading through all of these comments with excitement and anticipation - thanks for all the input!! My wife and I are attending our first HHN on Nov 1st. We purchased the EP and are attending the event only, so will not be in the park to take advantage of that perk. What time should we show up at the front gate for entrance into the park? Since we have EP, I'm not too worried about the lines but I don't want to lose much time at opening either! Also, is there any suggested order WITH the EP? Or is there a basic strategy that you should never use your EP unless the queue is over 20 minutes (would love to see some of the houses more than once if possible!). Finally, I've been reading that Gringotts closes 'early', but haven't seen a specific time. That is the one ride we are interested in checking out. Anyone know what time it has been closing? Thanks in advance!!! Happy Hauntings!

I go every year with just a regular ticket.. Express pass or regular, I recommend getting to the gate 45-60 min prior to opening. Earlier the better and more up front you'll be.

I personally wouldn't start using my express pass until later when lines are heavy. This year I'd hit stranger things first as it seems to be most popular, then do another house that's popular.

 

[soniam]

Hi all - couple questions for a HHN newbie! I've been reading through all of these comments with excitement and anticipation - thanks for all the input!! My wife and I are attending our first HHN on Nov 1st. We purchased the EP and are attending the event only, so will not be in the park to take advantage of that perk. What time should we show up at the front gate for entrance into the park? Since we have EP, I'm not too worried about the lines but I don't want to lose much time at opening either! Also, is there any suggested order WITH the EP? Or is there a basic strategy that you should never use your EP unless the queue is over 20 minutes (would love to see some of the houses more than once if possible!). Finally, I've been reading that Gringotts closes 'early', but haven't seen a specific time. That is the one ride we are interested in checking out. Anyone know what time it has been closing? Thanks in advance!!! Happy Hauntings!

Gringott's closed at 11pm on our 2am night.

 

[imprint]

Keep in mind that with 10 houses, there is a lot, and I mean a lot, of walking. The express lines not only save time, but they also save a lot of walking due to shorter queue lines. The tent and parade houses have very long walks in particular. I'm not trying to discourage you from using standby lines and later using express, but I just want you to be aware that there's a lot more walking than a regular tour of the park. If you think you might tire out early, then I recommend using express from the get-go and make sure you see all the houses. Regardless of which path you take, when you are near Diagon Alley, go ahead and ride Gringotts. Use your express there too, because the line was pretty long when we were there a couple of weeks ago. The last couple of years, DA has been fairly empty and it was great to go in there for a break, but it was almost as crowded as during the day when we went there during HHN. Have fun, it's an amazing event!

 

[JULIE21]

There is a mention of an ap for wait times - what ap? Going 10/26 excited and nervous about wait times!!

 

[crostorfer]

Here now, sitting the the Finnegans Stay and Scream area. Well, off to the side of it in the shade anyway. Lots of people are crammed in the holding pen and it's quite warm in the sun. Benny's Burgers, the Donut stand, and the drink station are open, so lots of food and drinks available for Stay and Scream folks. Really, really, really excited!!!

We decided to bite the bullet and pay for express vs the 5 house RIP.

 

[macraven]

Here now, sitting the the Finnegans Stay and Scream area. Well, off to the side of it in the shade anyway. Lots of people are crammed in the holding pen and it's quite warm in the sun. Benny's Burgers, the Donut stand, and the drink station are open, so lots of food and drinks available for Stay and Scream folks. Really, really, really excited!!!

We decided to bite the bullet and pay for express vs the 5 house RIP.

Have a great time and let us know your thoughts about tonight after you’ve been released from the holding pen

 

[crostorfer]

We had an amazing time! We were there from 4:30-11:30 and did 8 of 10 houses and rode 3 rides. We skipped Blumhouse and Dead Exposure by choice.

We sat off to the side of the holding pen in the Finnegans S&S area until 5:30, when they opened the pen. We decided to go to Poltergeist rather than. Stranger Things, where the majority of the masses were heading. Being in the back of the pack, we chose to use Express right off the bat. I was honestly shocked at how long the queues were for every house. We waited maybe 15 minutes. We stopped for a bathroom break then went and used express for Stranger Things, and I feel like we walked right in. We were done with both houses by 6:15, which is when we noticed people seemed to be coming through the main gate.

I could honestly write a novel about this, so I'll try to condense this and give some bullet point thoughts.

IP Houses vs Original: We thought the original houses blew the IP out of the water by a long shot. Both my 15 year old and I's top 3 houses are originals, and that surprised me.

Express Pass: Worth its weight in gold, especially if you only have one night. We couldn't have done nearly as much as we did without it.

Stay and Scream: If Stranger Things is your priority, do it. Especially if you only have one night, or are going on a night that's going to be more crowded.

Crowd level: I thought our Wednesday crowd was very manageable. The back of the park houses, (Slaughter Sinema, Dead Exposure, Seeds, Trick r Treat), were empty at 7:00. The park never seemed that crowded until 9-10, when the lines grew and the scare zones got very congested. I think the longest wait of the night was an 155 minute ST. Waits hovered between 45-90 minutes for everything else. The ride wait times were up to 40 mins at one point, but with Express we rode Gringotts, the RRR, and The Mummy with no more than a 5 minute wait.

Food: We ate the pizza fries, a twisted tater, the triple decker waffle sundae, my kiddo ate the chocolate covered waffle on a stick, and I drank the raspberry specialty drink. The pizza fries were better than I was expecting. We were disappointed in the tater, we expected it to be crispy and it wasn't. Had it been crispy, it would have been amazing. The waffle sundae was just a carb bomb, delicious but waaay too sweet. My daughter said the waffle on a stick was good, but it tasted more like a chocolate covered pancake. I didn't care that much for the drink, it was sweet and syrupy. I really just wanted the souvenir cup.

My House Rankings:

1. Slaughter Sinema
2. Seeds of Extinction
3. Carnival Graveyard
4. Scary Tales
5. Trick-r-Treat
6. Stranger Things
7. Poltergeist
8. Halloween

My daughter said she couldn't rank them all, but Seeds was her #1 and Carnival Graveyard her 2. She was making fun of Seeds before she went in, "how can they make a tree scary Mom, this is dumb". She ate her words. We had an OUTSTANDING run. It was absolutely the best run of the night for us, we got every scare.

I loved every single thing about Slaughter Sinema. Every. Single. Thing. If I had to design the perfect house, that's it for me. I'm a HUGE fan of B movies, that's my kind of scene. Our run through Seeds was better, but I loved the theme and the house more.

I wish I had gotten more time in each house. Particularly in Scary Tales, there is so much going on that when they are constantly herding you through and shouting to keep moving, it's hard for your brain to process what you are looking at. I wanted to go through a couple a second time, but our feet were wrecked and I didn't physically have it in me by 11 to walk anymore.

Walking: Holy crap wear comfortable shoes. With insoles. Or, just strap pillows to your feet and down pain relievers. The walk back from the back houses alone is INTENSE. I feel like I've run a marathon this morning.

Scare Zones: Twisted Traditions was beautiful. Killer Clowns was perfect, and come on, is there anything better than Vamp? That was the best atmosphere ever. I don't like chainsaw people that much but I have to say, we sat and ate waffles in San Francisco and had a ball watching them rove the street and scare the crap out of people. Quite entertaining.

I'm so so so so glad we went, and that we went with express. Thanks to everyone here for your advice.

 

[crostorfer]

Got a great pic of the full moon rising over Twisted Traditions.

 

[macraven]

For posting your reviews!

Good you included details and both your thoughts in your report

 

[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!

 

[Monykalyn]

I'm so so so so glad we went, and that we went with express. Thanks to everyone here for your advice.

Sums up our time there perfectly too! Sounds like you had a really great night. Dead exposure was my DD fave house (and the one we did the most) but it is definitely not for everyone with the flashy lights.
We had 4 nights (and we didn't stay open to close on any of them) but I too am glad we got EP our last night. Now that I know-well will get from start from now on probably (think I have DH talked into going next year-he couldn't with work this year but DD and I are working on him!)

Some cool pics too!!

 

[soniam]

Walking: Holy crap wear comfortable shoes. With insoles. Or, just strap pillows to your feet and down pain relievers. The walk back from the back houses alone is INTENSE. I feel like I've run a marathon this morning.

My son clocked our private RIP Tour from start to finish at over 25,000 steps! It's because you have to walk to the backstage areas on the periphery of the park. I don't think you really get it until you see it.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

There is a mention of an ap for wait times - what ap? Going 10/26 excited and nervous about wait times!!

It is the official Universal Orlando Ap.

 

[casperthegm]

Just got back. First, I want to thank everyone who left feedback and tips on the board- it was a huge help. Our plan was to knock the 5 front of the park houses on Thursday so we could the remaining 5 in the back on Friday, when it was busier. Summary below;

Thursday;

Got to Universal at 8 am for park opening. Felt like we had the park to ourselves the first couple of hours. By the time we got to our late lunch or early dinner at Lombard's we'd hit all the rides we wanted to, most of them multiple times (btw, not overly impressed with Fast and Furious).

We got out of Lombard's and made our way to the first pen, next to Finnegan's, probably in the front third of the group, maybe a bit further back, but solidly in the front half. Shortly after 5:30 they let us out and the mad dash to Stranger Things ensued. We held our own and were through within 20 minutes and on our way over to Poltergeist. I'd say about another 20 minutes or so to get through Poltergeist, perhaps a tad longer. Carnival Graveyard and Scary Tales came next, each with similarly short waits. By the time we got to Halloween the crowds were building up and the wait was posted as 60 minutes...And they shut down the house for some reason, so we improvised and headed to the back of the park. We found the lines for Trick R Treat and Seeds of Extinction were still pretty short. We finished both of those houses, making that 6 houses by 8:30 pm. We headed back to Halloween. Back up and running with a 45 minute wait time. We were pretty much dead on our feet after we got through. Still, 7 houses without express passes by around 9:30 wasn't too bad.

Friday;

Got to IOA by 9 am for park opening. Easily hit all the rides we wanted to, had lunch and we headed over to meet for our Behinds the Screams, Unmasking the Horror tour at 2 pm.

OMG, so glad we took this tour. We were scheduled to tour Stranger Things, Carnival Graveyard, and Scary Tales. We arrived about 45 minutes early, expecting to just chill for a while. Upon finding out that Poltergeist was not on the list of houses to visit, our son was a bit bummed, though still excited about the houses were planned to see. One of the tour guides took note, and since nobody else was there, offered to quickly show us around the Poltergeist house. Seriously? There are no words to describe how grateful we were. The rest of the tour was fantastic, giving us some amazing insight into how it all comes together. I can't recommend it enough.

Our 2 pm tour ended around 4:15 pm and we again headed over to the first holding pen by Finnegan's. Our plan was to hit Stranger Things and Poltergeist first again, and then head to the back of the park to visit the final 3 that we hadn't seen yet. We were in the front 1/4 of the pen and again out shortly after 5:30 pm. After a brief wait at ST we were quickly through and done with Poltergeist quickly as well. The park felt nearly deserted over by Slaughterhouse Cinema and Dead Exposure. We waited for a couple of minutes for Dead Exposure to open up, got through within 10 minutes and then waited another 20 minutes or less for SC. Blumhouse was about a 15 minute wait, if that. We were done with 5 houses by 7:30 pm with no express passes.

Finished out the evening with a couple of rides on MIB, Gringots, and Mummy. After another full day we were done and headed back to the hotel by 9:30 pm.

What a fantastic couple of days. It felt like everything really came together about as well as we could have hoped. We got to see ST and Poltergeist twice and hit all the other houses with waits of 25 minutes or less (except for Halloween). Thanks again for all of those who helped by posting on this thread.

Favorite houses; ST and Poltergeist
Least favorite; Blumhouse (not terrible, just not great compared to the others this year)

 

[imprint]

Great report! That is truly awesome they gave you a personal, bonus tour of Poltergeist! We did the 3-house UtH tour this year (our first UtH tour) and were equally impressed! I think we'll do it again next year.

 

[alanisrox69]

We made the mistake of doing both parks AND HHN on the same day on Sunday the 21st. I did not realize how far the walks to and from the houses would be! #newbiemistake

Upon entering HHN and seeing the wait times at 140min for Stranger Things, we decided to just buy the express pass. $170 per person. Holy smokes! Total ripoff price wise, BUT also totally worth it. I did check other nights and the pass was cheaper, but we were already scanned into the park, and pretty much you’re forced to buy the express pass at that point. I’m not going to wait 140min to get into a haunted house lol.

I think they need to re-do the lines, especially if you have an express pass, most of the houses are in groups, so when you exit one, there should be an express line entrance right to the next house right there. You shouldn’t have to walk 1 mile back to the entrance that runs along the entrance to the next house. Just my 2 cents.

Overall, we got 9 of the 10 houses done on this night. After Seeds of Extinction (which took about 20mins to get into even with Express!) and then another 10-15min to exit because it was SO FAR back there, coupled with how horrible this house was, we skipped Trick R Treat to save another mile round trip of walking since our feet were completely destroyed. Our fitbits clocked almost 17miles of walking this day

We headed to Halloween 4 and ended our night there.

We returned Thursday evening just for HHN, got there right at 7, and headed right to Trick R Treat since that’s the house we missed. Sign said 15min wait but we were in the house within 5 mins. After that we just rode the rides, Gringotts and Mummy a few times each. The rides had little to no wait times up until about 10pm when people started finishing houses. It was weird walking around an almost empty Diagon Alley, but cool at the same time! (Again, Diagon starting filling up closer to 10pm). We also enjoyed walking around thru the scare zones. We also watched the Cyberpunk show which was neat.

Overall HHN was super fun for us first timers.

Things I would want Universal to improve on and/or change:
-cheaper express pass ($170 pp is extreme!)
-quicker entry/exit system to/from houses, especially if you have a express pass. There should be an express pass entry from one house exit to another house entry - since most of the houses are in groups and next to each other

Things I won’t do again:
-go on a weekend night. Thursday night was much calmer than Sunday!!
-try to do both parks during the day + HHN at night. Nope!

 

[CAS239]

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

 

[tony67]

Things I would want Universal to improve on and/or change:
-cheaper express pass ($170 pp is extreme!)
-quicker entry/exit system to/from houses, especially if you have a express pass. There should be an express pass entry from one house exit to another house entry - since most of the houses are in groups and next to each other

People are willing to pay it - so I dont see that changing - if you wait till 10 it might be half price IF they did not sell out
At that price people might be better off with a RIP tour - but you really need to plan that in advance

I like the second idea - as it is a ridiculous walk back and forth to some of those houses - they could probably make that work for express