Official 2024 Universal Studios HHN 33 Thread

[kmc]

So, quick question. We just bought our HHN and Express Passes for HHN. I know the express pass is once per house. Is it also once per ride? Thanks!

Yes also once per ride

 

[pigletto]

We will be staying at Bonnet Creek over by Disney World and driving over to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights . We’ve opted to go with express passes and will not be purchasing the Scream Early Add-on.

So with that in mind what time should we aim to park and line up? We have that day free so we could potentially come over any time and have an early dinner before lining up. I’d just like to get an idea of what time people start lining up . Thank you !

 

[Skippyboo]

We will be staying at Bonnet Creek over by Disney World and driving over to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights . We’ve opted to go with express passes and will not be purchasing the Scream Early Add-on.

So with that in mind what time should we aim to park and line up? We have that day free so we could potentially come over any time and have an early dinner before lining up. I’d just like to get an idea of what time people start lining up . Thank you !

There will be people outside as early as 4pm maybe even earlier. I would try to get there midday to avoid the parking garage traffic for HHN, explore City Walk, eat , there’s an escape room, mini golf.

 

[pigletto]

There will be people outside as early as 4pm maybe even earlier. I would try to get there midday to avoid the parking garage traffic for HHN, explore City Walk, eat , there’s an escape room, mini golf.

Ok sounds great. Thank you .

 

[Skippyboo]

The park will close at 5pm. They normally let you in around 6 pm . The entrance area gets really crowded. There’s a second entrance over by Hard Rock Cafe for resort guest.

 

[zavandor]

Thanks for starting the thread. Makes it very exciting.

We will be over for a week from 10/11 to 10/18. Hoping for frequent fear with the Friday included so we can do 4 nights.

Just been pricing up the behind the scenes tours. Ds and I really fancy doing both the 6 house and 3 house this year. Dh just wants to do one so might just leave him at the pool.

I wonder if they will offer unlimited express again as an upgrade on the day. I plan to buy one night express and do the upgrade again as it was so much fun last year.

I didn't know it was possible, do you remember how much it was last year to upgrade?

 

[FoxC63]

I wonder what live show will be available this year. Our tour guide told us he believed this was the last year (2023) for The Nightmare Fuel story/series since it's debut in 2021.



I don't know her name but wow, so energetic and just amazing! Love her!

 

[mamapenguin]

Bring back Bill and Ted’s!!!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I have often done the RIP tour (public and private) and if you have never done HHN before I agree that is a great way to do it. I usually travel solo to the parks though so it keeps me out of really long lines as even the express lines can get long and being around all the switchbacks for people can get uncomfortable.

I did something last year though that worked for me and I felt was good value. I'm usually not interested in all the houses since I think the "scares" are a little repetitive after many years and that experiencing/noticing the details in the throng of people is hard but I do appreciate the effort put into them. I did the "Behind the Screams" 6 house tour before attending HHN one of the days last year (which I found a good value). I really like that it gave a much more detailed look at the storylines of the houses and gave things to look for in them (admittedly my favorite houses are usually some IP house and the Universal Monsters house). We also did talk on the tour about the houses we didn't see.

On the night I actually went to HHN, this allowed me to choose which houses I wanted to prioritize and to really be able to follow the storylines. While I have been to HHN the last 10 or 12 years, I am not as immersed in the history and storylines so the behind the screams allowed me to get the refresher/explanations I need about the characters that HHN focuses on that year (ex. Dr. Oddfellow and the integration into each scarezone) so I could better understand what was happening. It is also a lot of fun to see the behind the scenes magic/logistics for me. I feel bad that I don't remember the name of my guide off the top of my head, but she was also great.

Behind the Screams is probably my favorite thing about HHN. I love getting all the back story, and seeing the details in the houses (both because it's not so dark and you're not rushed through). I think it enhances our enjoyment of the houses at night because we know what effects and scares to watch out for. (I like spoilers.)

 

[wmoon]

I didn't know it was possible, do you remember how much it was last year to upgrade?

It was $30pp just checked.

 

[shh]

just a public service anncmt to get your express passes soon if you're still considering but haven't bought yet- seeing some price increases already on certain nights.

 

[Skywalker3]

just a public service anncmt to get your express passes soon if you're still considering but haven't bought yet- seeing some price increases already on certain nights.

yikes. Thanks for heads up. I 'm afraid to look.....I really don't know what date we'll be going in October, but I guess I should decide soon.

 

[shh]

yikes. Thanks for heads up. I 'm afraid to look.....I really don't know what date we'll be going in October, but I guess I should decide soon.

i know! I hate that they play these games - rushing to jack up prices literally days after they first make the passes available. People need time to plan, get approved time off work, etc.

The good news is some dates are still the same; others only went up by $10. The bigger price increases will probably hit late summer.

 

[soniam]

i know! I hate that they play these games - rushing to jack up prices literally days after they first make the passes available. People need time to plan, get approved time off work, etc.

The good news is some dates are still the same; others only went up by $10. The bigger price increases will probably hit late summer.

I saw Halloween go up $10 for EP. I’ve been screenshotting them. Waiting for some friends to decide what they are doing, but I don’t want to miss out.

 

[pigletto]

just a public service anncmt to get your express passes soon if you're still considering but haven't bought yet- seeing some price increases already on certain nights.

Ok thank you. I went and bought them. I couldn’t stand the thought of them getting even more expensive. I justified it with the fact that we don’t get to go every year and it may be a few years until we can go back. Add in that this is a trip with both of my adult kids and their partners. That gets harder and harder to make happen as time goes on. So we’re just going to enjoy it to the fullest !

 

[Cluelyss]

Thank you so much for this thread…and prior years as well! I have read through the 2023 thread in its entirety (and the start of this one) in attempt to try and speak intelligently about a topic I know little about

Quick backstory….we are a Disney Halloween family, have done MNSSHP or OBB annually for the last decade. We are WDW AP and DVC so go to the parks a lot. We’ve also done a handful of trips to USO. I have 2 teenagers now, and they would like to check out HHN during our annual fall trip.

We are currently booked at WDW for a long weekend in October (Thursday through Sunday) and plan to attend MNSSHP on Friday, which leaves Saturday open for HHN (I know it’s not the best option for pricing or crowds, but that’s what I’m working with!). After looking into EP and RIP, I’m leaning toward EP so we can go at our own pace, and we’ll likely want to sneak in a few rides and time in DA.

As well, I’m considering moving over to a USO hotel Sat - Sun to utilize the hotel entrance….but curious if we’d be ok without that if having EP? (I also like the idea of quick access to our room at the end of the night vs driving back to WDW!) It looks like stay and scream is only offered on stays of 2 nights or longer, so are there any other packages available for HHN, or would I just purchase everything ala carte?

Open to any other advice to get the most out of our night. Saturday will be a down day regardless of where we’re staying so we can hopefully hang till the end!

Thank you!

 

[CarouselofColor]

Thank you so much for this thread…and prior years as well! I have read through the 2023 thread in its entirety (and the start of this one) in attempt to try and speak intelligently about a topic I know little about

Quick backstory….we are a Disney Halloween family, have done MNSSHP or OBB annually for the last decade. We are WDW AP and DVC so go to the parks a lot. We’ve also done a handful of trips to USO. I have 2 teenagers now, and they would like to check out HHN during our annual fall trip.

We are currently booked at WDW for a long weekend in October (Thursday through Sunday) and plan to attend MNSSHP on Friday, which leaves Saturday open for HHN (I know it’s not the best option for pricing or crowds, but that’s what I’m working with!). After looking into EP and RIP, I’m leaning toward EP so we can go at our own pace, and we’ll likely want to sneak in a few rides and time in DA.

As well, I’m considering moving over to a USO hotel Sat - Sun to utilize the hotel entrance….but curious if we’d be ok without that if having EP? (I also like the idea of quick access to our room at the end of the night vs driving back to WDW!) It looks like stay and scream is only offered on stays of 2 nights or longer, so are there any other packages available for HHN, or would I just purchase everything ala carte?

Open to any other advice to get the most out of our night. Saturday will be a down day regardless of where we’re staying so we can hopefully hang till the end!

Thank you!

Welcome to the world of HHN, it's a VERY different beast from Disney's Halloween offerings haha. Just a word of warning, the event is VERY scary, and while I'd say most older teens can probably handle it, just be aware that this is going to be several steps up in intensity from any local haunts you visit.

I think Express over an RIP tour makes sense for your purposes, it does offer the ability to just go with the flow and manage the night however you'd like. As long as you arrive early and are diligent about hitting up the houses, you should have plenty of time to see everything plus fit in a few rides.

Getting a Universal Hotel for the night could be a really helpful thing (especially avoiding the 20 minute drive back to Disney at 1am) but I'd say it isn't necessary- as long as you're committed to "rope dropping" the event and getting there 30 minutes before park opens, you'll be fine.

Stay and Scream in years past has been offered as an ala cart option- I've never gotten it in Orlando because I'm an Annual Passholder, but in Hollywood I think it was like $30 per person- this would allow you to enter the park at I think 3pm (I could be wrong on the time, if anyone knows better feel free to jump in) and will allow you to avoid the mad rush at the turnstiles of everyone trying to enter when the event starts. It's super worth it, whether or not you are staying onsite

 

[Cluelyss]

Welcome to the world of HHN, it's a VERY different beast from Disney's Halloween offerings haha. Just a word of warning, the event is VERY scary, and while I'd say most older teens can probably handle it, just be aware that this is going to be several steps up in intensity from any local haunts you visit.

I think Express over an RIP tour makes sense for your purposes, it does offer the ability to just go with the flow and manage the night however you'd like. As long as you arrive early and are diligent about hitting up the houses, you should have plenty of time to see everything plus fit in a few rides.

Getting a Universal Hotel for the night could be a really helpful thing (especially avoiding the 20 minute drive back to Disney at 1am) but I'd say it isn't necessary- as long as you're committed to "rope dropping" the event and getting there 30 minutes before park opens, you'll be fine.

Stay and Scream in years past has been offered as an ala cart option- I've never gotten it in Orlando because I'm an Annual Passholder, but in Hollywood I think it was like $30 per person- this would allow you to enter the park at I think 3pm (I could be wrong on the time, if anyone knows better feel free to jump in) and will allow you to avoid the mad rush at the turnstiles of everyone trying to enter when the event starts. It's super worth it, whether or not you are staying onsite

Fantastic - thanks so much for all of this!
And yes, we know this is a whole other level of Halloween! Honestly, I’m probably going to be the biggest chicken LOL My kids have no appreciation for the build up and anticipation of classic “thrillers” - they want the blood and gore and jump scares!!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Stay and Scream in years past has been offered as an ala cart option- I've never gotten it in Orlando because I'm an Annual Passholder, but in Hollywood I think it was like $30 per person- this would allow you to enter the park at I think 3pm (I could be wrong on the time, if anyone knows better feel free to jump in) and will allow you to avoid the mad rush at the turnstiles of everyone trying to enter when the event starts. It's super worth it, whether or not you are staying onsite

If offered, Stay & Scream would also let you do a ride ahead of time, if you so desire. Either way, not being in the crazy crush of people waiting at the gates is well worth it. Especially on a Sat in Oct.

Be aware that prices will go up (and have started going up on some dates) so if your dates are firm, grab the EP & tickets sooner than later.

 

[shh]

If offered, Stay & Scream would also let you do a ride ahead of time, if you so desire. Either way, not being in the crazy crush of people waiting at the gates is well worth it. Especially on a Sat in Oct.

Be aware that prices will go up (and have started going up on some dates) so if your dates are firm, grab the EP & tickets sooner than later.

yup - the scariest thing at HHN is the express pass prices once summer/early fall hits