Official 2024 Universal Studios HHN 33 Thread

[GhostHost24]

I just had to cancel my private rip tour .. I was down to 3 people.. And I'm not splitting $4,500 3 ways

 

[keishashadow]

We're staying at Portofino Bay, so the stay and scream isn't a concern.

As offered above, your choice of onsite hotel has zero to do with utilizing stay & scream.

As a reminder…

*the EP offered with the deluxe properties is not valid during HHN

*If booking a tour, you still need to have valid HHN tix in hand that night

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You've sold me on the tour! which one is that? A HHN private tour or the regular tour with an add on? I'd love to get the proper name

It's the private RIP tour.
I think the non-private includes much the same, but one time per house access, and maybe not the valet parking & photos. If you can join a private tour that's filled to the max of 10 peeps, it'll be the same or cheaper than the non-private tour. Just make sure your expectations align with the tour holder, as they call the shots for the night.

 

[spookymickey]

I'm curious what you mean by this? Your hotel has nothing to do with admission to enter the park, and there is no HHN EP from the premier hotel.


If you can swing it, they are really good. They do include dinner (they say "reception" but it's certainly enough food for dinner), desserts, non-alcoholic beverages, unlimited front of the line access to the houses & rides, excellent seating at the shows, use of a private bar/bathroom area, valet parking (not relevant for you), 3 days of photos included (at least, they used to include this, not sure if they still do - if they do, it's all your daytime photos & ride photos too), and a private entrance away from the madness at the front gate. And significantly cuts down on walking, being able to go directly from one house exit to the next house without walking alllllll the way back to the park each time. It is especially nice on a crowded Saturday - literally does not matter how busy the park is or how long the lines are, because you merge in right at the house entrance regardless of whether the line is 2hrs or 3 minutes.

Oh, should have specified. We get a package through Costco that already includes multiple day park tickets with our stay. And I've already purchased HHN tickets online. And I know I would have to purchase EP's for HHN separately, I looked into that last year also but passed on them. I was just wondering if getting in the park earlier and hanging out was better then trying to get in through the hotel entrance line, which it seems like it would be.

Sorry for the confusion.

Oh and thank you for your second comment, would really love to do that sometime. It sounds like the perfect plan and so much less to deal with. We've gone on Wednesday's both times, and even then, the 2+ hours waiting to get into that back house, WAH, and TLOU, just are energy drainers if you go later in the evening. Probably should have started there instead of the New York area. But that is a perfect night from what you described. Sold on that.

 

[keishashadow]

I just had to cancel my private rip tour .. I was down to 3 people.. And I'm not splitting $4,500 3 ways

Will say of the same mind since the prices skyrocketed.

Not a fan of the public tours based upon my personal experience, YMMV.

The guides are not all equal, especially on the public tours. Thankfully, there are many engaging, knowledgeable ones that have made our evenings very special over the years.

If you get placed in a public tour comprised of a majority of friends (max is 6), the majority can easily influence the guide as to the tour’s pacing & options (more stops at bars, etc.).

 

[spookymickey]

As offered above, your choice of onsite hotel has zero to do with utilizing stay & scream.

As a reminder…

*the EP offered with the deluxe properties is not valid during HHN

*If booking a tour, you still need to have valid HHN tix in hand that night

Yeah, I know that from staying there last year that it's not included. I meant we have tickets for the parks included already and I have HHN tickets already, and would purchase EP's for HHN.

 

[patster734]

Yeah, I know that from staying there last year that it's not included. I meant we have tickets for the parks included already and I have HHN tickets already, and would purchase EP's for HHN.

In that case, you will use Stay & Scream (S&S). S&S are holding areas where day guests who also have a HHN pass are required to wait at while the park is emptied of day guests without a HHN ticket. There are several Stay & Scream holding areas throughout the park, and once you enter one, you can’t leave until the S&S area is released.

 

[spookymickey]

In that case, you will use Stay & Scream (S&S). S&S are holding areas where day guests who also have a HHN pass are required to wait at while the park is emptied of day guests without a HHN ticket. There are several Stay & Scream holding areas throughout the park, and once you enter one, you can’t leave until the S&S area is released.

Ok, so that's where we just went in early and sat around the last 2 years. Didn't have to pay extra for that. Just wondered if that was a better option to go with again then the hotel entrance like they were talking about prior. Sorry, I misunderstood how it was put. thought they meant to purchase it. My mistake. Guess if you want to get some of the food options early, it does make more sense too, was really bummed we missed out on TLOU ration cans last year.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You don't have to go into the S&S area that early though, just by 5pm when the park officially closes. You CAN go in earlier, and if you want to get in line for one of the "busy" houses you will need to get in line earlier. But you can either enter and just hang around in the area (such as taking a nice AC break in the Simpsons food court area), or ride with dwindling wait times until 5pm and enter, so you're not spending the extra time waiting in a line. At that point, you will not want to get in line for the most popular house since you'd be at the back of the S&S pack and have a long wait to start your night (we did that our first year, it was a terribly executed plan on my part).

 

[spookymickey]

You don't have to go into the S&S area that early though, just by 5pm when the park officially closes. You CAN go in earlier, and if you want to get in line for one of the "busy" houses you will need to get in line earlier. But you can either enter and just hang around in the area (such as taking a nice AC break in the Simpsons food court area), or ride with dwindling wait times until 5pm and enter, so you're not spending the extra time waiting in a line. At that point, you will not want to get in line for the most popular house since you'd be at the back of the S&S pack and have a long wait to start your night (we did that our first year, it was a terribly executed plan on my part).

I think purchasing the HHN EP this year will make the most sense so we don't have to go into the S&S earlier. That AC break makes a compelling argument for it. Thanks for the tips on that. Really wanted to make sure we got through Halloween and Stranger Things right away the last 2 years, and we did within 15-20 minutes being towards the front of S&S, but it's just another line before the lines...

 

[GhostHost24]

If you have express. Personally, no reason to go in early at all... I think it was here I said it.. But I usually don't go in til around 630 and I just stroll in with no lines at the gates.

 

[spewey]

Public or private RIP tours offer this. Public you only pay per person, but have less control. Private you pay the whole amount, $4000+, up front but have complete control of the itinerary. However, both months can well out quickly, so go but it now.

Will say of the same mind since the prices skyrocketed.

Not a fan of the public tours based upon my personal experience, YMMV.

The guides are not all equal, especially on the public tours. Thankfully, there are many engaging, knowledgeable ones that have made our evenings very special over the years.

If you get placed in a public tour comprised of a majority of friends (max is 6), the majority can easily influence the guide as to the tour’s pacing & options (more stops at bars, etc.).

My two cents, from our experience last year on opening weekend, is that I'd rather have EP than join a non-private RIP tour. The tour, though fun, does have too much time away from what we were focused on, which was houses and scare zones. IMHO it took far too long for the check-in process, and then in the middle of the evening was a near two-hour hole set aside for the show.

We thought we'd be skipping this year as we're at Disney the last week of August (which is traditionally when we visit from Canada, as that's the end of our DD's summer break) but when we saw Premium Scream announced we jumped on that. So we'll actually be attending the night before the official opening; fingers crossed "limited capacity" doesn't mean capping capacity at 59K rather than 60.

 

[kadwj]

If you have express. Personally, no reason to go in early at all... I think it was here I said it.. But I usually don't go in til around 630 and I just stroll in with no lines at the gates.

You are making me feel better about buying the EP and being able to see it all! Thanks!!

 

[soniam]

My two cents, from our experience last year on opening weekend, is that I'd rather have EP than join a non-private RIP tour. The tour, though fun, does have too much time away from what we were focused on, which was houses and scare zones. IMHO it took far too long for the check-in process, and then in the middle of the evening was a near two-hour hole set aside for the show.

We thought we'd be skipping this year as we're at Disney the last week of August (which is traditionally when we visit from Canada, as that's the end of our DD's summer break) but when we saw Premium Scream announced we jumped on that. So we'll actually be attending the night before the official opening; fingers crossed "limited capacity" doesn't mean capping capacity at 59K rather than 60.

We usually do a private RIP tour. However, this year I’m going 10 days, so we decided to just do EP. I have never done a public RIP tour, just the private ones we buy.

 

[kadwj]

Dumb question...where exactly is the Resort entrance and how do I get there from RPR? TIA!

 

[GhostHost24]

Dumb question...where exactly is the Resort entrance and how do I get there from RPR? TIA!

You'll see signs as you walk toward studios. It's been in different locations. But just take the walkway and walk along in front of where emporium and hard rock is and you'll start seeing it.

 

[keishashadow]

but when we saw Premium Scream announced we jumped on that. So we'll actually be attending the night before the official opening; fingers crossed "limited capacity" doesn't mean capping capacity at 59K rather than 60.

Good luck!

If u get a chance let us know how it goes

 

[spewey]

Good luck!

If u get a chance let us know how it goes

Of all goes as planned I’ll try to post thoughts live as we go along; I kinda was able to do that opening night last year, for what it was worth.

 

[namelessoracle]

We have had good experiences with the public tours, but we also go opening weekend when they surge and put all the guides on deck to get ramped up on the event.

The thing about public vs private is the experience of the guide from what i hear. They use rip tour as basically their try outs for people trying to get into guiding for the park because its such high demand. The long term guides get put on the private tours first because they will know how to juggle the private tour demands, the new guides can be given a playbook order of activities sense they know they need to hit every house and squeeze the show in.

But you may still get an experienced guide on your public especially the first couple of weekends which they treat as all hands on decks situations. We did and it was great. Good banter. The year we didnt it was ok. Your still skipping the line for every house.

From chit chat with the guides are you more likely to get an experienced one the earlier you start on public. The old hands like being done before midnight.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Adding to the benefits of the RIP tours - the guides will give you the backstory of the house and little fun tidbit details to keep an eye out for.

For a private RIP tour, you have your tour guide until the end of the event (if the tour buyer wants to stay that late).
For non-private, once you have done all the HHN stuff once (shows, houses, scare zones), they send you on your merry way - your RIP lanyard is also a ride EP for the rest of the evening.