Rumors HHN 2008?

[macraven]

Macraven, could you tell me more about the RIP tour (as I understand you are the expert on this matter)

Do you get much say in what you do and in which order? or is there a rigid structure?

What time does the tour start and finish?

if you go on a peak night/fri,sat/ the cost is higher but so are the express passes for peak nights. rip tours on peak nights are 8 pm to 1 am.
peak night hhn ends at 2:00 am

you do come out ahead on a peak night for many reasons:

you spend a bit more for the rip tour but do not pay the high ex pass price.
you have the tour for 5 hours and the last hour of the park you might get the ex pass free since you were on the rip tour. that is a maybe, depends on what the vip tour group decides.
peak nights are so crowded but you get into each house and main show.

what i do is i request a certain person for my tour guide.
i then let the person know what the majority of the group wants to do in advance.

the group i go with are into the the houses, scarezones( when they have them) bill and ted's adventure, another show and jaws ride at night, mummy, and repeats of houses.

i did the tour last year on the non peak night which are thursday and sundays.
it is a 4 hour tour and ends at midnight. it cost less for the rip tour on non peak nights

when you sign up for the rip tour, you have to pay your park entrance to the park and the hhn ticket for that day of your tour. there are discounts for ap holders.

groups for a tour usually range to about 12 people. it could be a few over if necessary.

the key is to have everyone or the majority of your group agree in advance what they want to do that night.
the majority of our group last year was in favor of the houses, shows, rides.

we ended up with additional people that night as they signed up after we did and we had openings. some of them did not want to do the houses so they waited for the group while they went in. no problem for the tour.

i have talked with others who have taken the rip tour and they prefer to make the stops for beer and shots besides the houses. like i said, the tour guide will do what the group wants to do.

in our group, some did grab a beer when we went into the bill and teds show
but our seats were reserved for the show and as long as we entered in before the beginning, it was not an issue.

looking at your question of the tour being a rigid schedule.....

ours was very structured. i talked to the person in advance and let them know what our group really wanted to do for the night.

because it was known in advance, the tour guide was able to set up a perfect schedule in advance. it was to our advantage as we, as a group, had talked on the thread way in advance about it.

when i made my ressie for the rip tour, i listed the others names and said we wanted to be in the same group.
in order to do that, we privately by pm's exchanged real names with each other back in the beginning of summer.

this year we will do it the same way.
we just have to decide if we want peak night or non peak night.
i'll go with the majority on that.
there are pros and cons both ways. saturdays are super crowded and the rip tour escapes all of that. it also gives you an hour after the tour to stay in the park til it closes.

non peak is cheaper and the ones that buy the FF pass get in cheaper in the long run on non peak nights.

the tour can be rigid or go with the flow. the tour guide will ask everyone "what do you want to do tonight?" to the group.
you meet about 30 minutes prior to the tour in a designated area, you get aquainted with others in your group for the night. you get a lanyard and glow stick and the rules and procedures are explained then.

you feel a bit more comfortable once you meet for that short time with others if you are strangers to each other.

it is kewl to sign up and have others in your group if you know them or maybe just have exchanged a few lines with them posting on the dis boards.


any more questions?


oh, i'm not an expert, not an employee just a homie for universal....
but i totally and completely am addicted to HHN and can tell you lots of tricks and good things about it.

 

[raph_b]

if you go on a peak night/fri,sat/ the cost is higher but so are the express passes for peak nights. rip tours on peak nights are 8 pm to 1 am.
peak night hhn ends at 2:00 am

you do come out ahead on a peak night for many reasons:

you spend a bit more for the rip tour but do not pay the high ex pass price.
you have the tour for 5 hours and the last hour of the park you might get the ex pass free since you were on the rip tour. that is a maybe, depends on what the vip tour group decides.
peak nights are so crowded but you get into each house and main show.

what i do is i request a certain person for my tour guide.
i then let the person know what the majority of the group wants to do in advance.

the group i go with are into the the houses, scarezones( when they have them) bill and ted's adventure, another show and jaws ride at night, mummy, and repeats of houses.

i did the tour last year on the non peak night which are thursday and sundays.
it is a 4 hour tour and ends at midnight. it cost less for the rip tour on non peak nights

when you sign up for the rip tour, you have to pay your park entrance to the park and the hhn ticket for that day of your tour. there are discounts for ap holders.

groups for a tour usually range to about 12 people. it could be a few over if necessary.

the key is to have everyone or the majority of your group agree in advance what they want to do that night.
the majority of our group last year was in favor of the houses, shows, rides.

we ended up with additional people that night as they signed up after we did and we had openings. some of them did not want to do the houses so they waited for the group while they went in. no problem for the tour.

i have talked with others who have taken the rip tour and they prefer to make the stops for beer and shots besides the houses. like i said, the tour guide will do what the group wants to do.

in our group, some did grab a beer when we went into the bill and teds show
but our seats were reserved for the show and as long as we entered in before the beginning, it was not an issue.

looking at your question of the tour being a rigid schedule.....

ours was very structured. i talked to the person in advance and let them know what our group really wanted to do for the night.

because it was known in advance, the tour guide was able to set up a perfect schedule in advance. it was to our advantage as we, as a group, had talked on the thread way in advance about it.

when i made my ressie for the rip tour, i listed the others names and said we wanted to be in the same group.
in order to do that, we privately by pm's exchanged real names with each other back in the beginning of summer.

this year we will do it the same way.
we just have to decide if we want peak night or non peak night.
i'll go with the majority on that.
there are pros and cons both ways. saturdays are super crowded and the rip tour escapes all of that. it also gives you an hour after the tour to stay in the park til it closes.

non peak is cheaper and the ones that buy the FF pass get in cheaper in the long run on non peak nights.

the tour can be rigid or go with the flow. the tour guide will ask everyone "what do you want to do tonight?" to the group.
you meet about 30 minutes prior to the tour in a designated area, you get aquainted with others in your group for the night. you get a lanyard and glow stick and the rules and procedures are explained then.

you feel a bit more comfortable once you meet for that short time with others if you are strangers to each other.

it is kewl to sign up and have others in your group if you know them or maybe just have exchanged a few lines with them posting on the dis boards.


any more questions?


oh, i'm not an expert, not an employee just a homie for universal....
but i totally and completely am addicted to HHN and can tell you lots of tricks and good things about it.

Wow - Thanks Macraven. You're a superstar

The RIP tour sounds absolutely fantastic.

Well I think I'm def gonna be up for the RIP tour on opening night, if anyone else here would like to join in that's be great!


Macraven - if you guys decide against opening night, could you help point me in the right direction of how to organise one?

 

[macraven]

Wow - Thanks Macraven. You're a superstar

The RIP tour sounds absolutely fantastic.

Well I think I'm def gonna be up for the RIP tour on opening night, if anyone else here would like to join in that's be great!


Macraven - if you guys decide against opening night, could you help point me in the right direction of how to organise one?

i have gone to opening night before and love it.

usually for the first weekend hhn is on, the sunday is not a hhn night.

i'm coming from north of chicago illinois and really need to do at least 3-4 nights in a row at hhn. that is why i switched over to the columbus day weekend 4 years ago.

if i lived closer, i would surely go opening night also.

i make my hotel and air ressies in early january for my fall stay.
with prices climbing for air and the new penalties, i can't switch it around and the hotel nights


do what i did last year.
i made a new thread in the main forum at Universal on the dis.

i stated it this way:

planning on RIP on sunday oct. 12 ( or whatever date it was then)
i used something similar like that for the title.

i then stated what i was looking for in a group.
i asked for anyone else that wanted the same, to sign up and we'll talk about it.

i had many people post.
i held the first 3 posts open for me to create a set where it would show who is going when as the posters started.

the people that signed up also wanted the houses to be a priority.


aim for 12 to sign up. if you only get a handful, still book the rip tour.
hopefully the majority will be wanting what you want in a tour

i did the post in may and made contact with the tour group than also.
everything was finalized in early july when the tours opened up to the public.


it is good to have an alternative date in case the night you all want is closed to the public. there were 2 nights at the beginning of hhn that were not bookable. they were set aside for a private event function.


many will wait until the dates are announced before they make plans as we can NOT predict which nights are open to the public for booking RIP tours.

i was looking for any poster in the U forums since they had an idea of what it was all about.
there are some people that don't know a thing about hhn and book a tour.
i wanted to avoid anyone that was not interested in concentrating on the houses.

if i could not find anyone wanting the same thing as me, i would still have booked the tour as a solo.
it is worth it no matter what.
especially if you only have one night to spend at HHN........

if i can help you i will

 

[keishashadow]

while mac gave a good recap/primer, i'm still confused as to:

1) the merits/advantage of RIP vs Express Pass (i thought the express pass granted you fotl to all the houses ), does RIP trump that somehow other than a personal guide?

2) Any educated guess on the usual non peak night cost factoring in AP discount & Express Pass?

help me, i'm slow

 

[Troiandan]

i have gone to opening night before and love it.

usually for the first weekend hhn is on, the sunday is not a hhn night.

i'm coming from north of chicago illinois and really need to do at least 3-4 nights in a row at hhn. that is why i switched over to the columbus day weekend 4 years ago.

if i lived closer, i would surely go opening night also.

i make my hotel and air ressies in early january for my fall stay.
with prices climbing for air and the new penalties, i can't switch it around and the hotel nights


do what i did last year.
i made a new thread in the main forum at Universal on the dis.

i stated it this way:

planning on RIP on sunday oct. 12 ( or whatever date it was then)
i used something similar like that for the title.

i then stated what i was looking for in a group.
i asked for anyone else that wanted the same, to sign up and we'll talk about it.

i had many people post.
i held the first 3 posts open for me to create a set where it would show who is going when as the posters started.

the people that signed up also wanted the houses to be a priority.


aim for 12 to sign up. if you only get a handful, still book the rip tour.
hopefully the majority will be wanting what you want in a tour

i did the post in may and made contact with the tour group than also.
everything was finalized in early july when the tours opened up to the public.


it is good to have an alternative date in case the night you all want is closed to the public. there were 2 nights at the beginning of hhn that were not bookable. they were set aside for a private event function.


many will wait until the dates are announced before they make plans as we can NOT predict which nights are open to the public for booking RIP tours.

i was looking for any poster in the U forums since they had an idea of what it was all about.
there are some people that don't know a thing about hhn and book a tour.
i wanted to avoid anyone that was not interested in concentrating on the houses.

if i could not find anyone wanting the same thing as me, i would still have booked the tour as a solo.
it is worth it no matter what.
especially if you only have one night to spend at HHN........

if i can help you i will

Thank you so much, macraven, for all the great info on this. I've done peak, non-peak, express pass and frequent fear and all have had their pluses and minuses, but never did the RIP, so this info was extremely helpful. As a local, it's great for me to have physical access to HHN every year. I'll keep an eye open on the boards once the dates are announced - I, too, would be interested in joining a pre-arranged group for RIP, concentrating on houses. I really love opening night myself, but I've done almost every night other than Halloween and enjoyed them all, so I'm open to consider almost any arrangement.

 

[macraven]

while mac gave a good recap/primer, i'm still confused as to:

1) the merits/advantage of RIP vs Express Pass (i thought the express pass granted you fotl to all the houses ), does RIP trump that somehow other than a personal guide?

2) Any educated guess on the usual non peak night cost factoring in AP discount & Express Pass?

help me, i'm slow

i'll type slow for you........

the rip tour is a private group of guests up to about 12 people per tour guide.

it is a hard ticket. on nonpeak night last year, i paid something like $118. for the rip tour since i had the ap for the discount.

non peak nights are when the parks close at midnight.
the tour starts at 8:00 and is over at midnight.

the peak night tour is one hour longer. it runs from 8:00 to 1:00


if you pay for the RIP tour, you are guaranteed entrance as a group into all the houses before the express line people. therefore, yes, it trumps the express pass line. the express pass line is held back and you enter as a group.

the tour guide will be in front and you all follow. TG usually has some type of light so you can see them all the time when you are going thru the crowds to get to the houses or shows.

there are 2 lines for the houses.
regular line
express line

express line is for anyone that bought the express pass for that night.
it allows you to be in that line once for each ride, show, attraction.
once only, no repeats. express pass is expensive. there are no discounts for express passes. i think i paid about $65 for the express last year on a peak night. i might be off i should check my journal and give the correct number. (will do that later)

Stay and Scream:

anyone can do this. if you have a ticket for the nights HHN, and you are in the park that day, you do not have to leave the park.
you go to a designated area to wait for the park to be cleared out from the day guests.
once the park is clear and security gives the thumbs up, all are allowed to leave the stay and scream area and get a head start on the event.

you can buy the hhn ticket as an add on if you have a day ticket.
there is a discount to buy the ticket this way.

i have the ap so i don't qualify to buy the s & s ticket.
i used to buy it that way before i bought the ap
i do the stay and scream always.

people that do that have a head start of at least 30 minutes before the general crowd is allowed into the parks. sometimes the head start is 60 minutes. not all houses are opened that early but there will be 3 houses opened at 6:00 each night.

i do those houses twice before the crowd comes in.
when the park officially opens, i go to the houses i have not been in and do as many as i can before the lines are long.
once the lines are long, i start to use my express pass so i can avoid long waits.

believe it or not, some waits in the regular line can be up to 2 hours.
the longest i have waited in an express line for hhn since i have been attending has been 17 minutes.

at the entrance of the line, there will be a TM and a sign which will reflect estimated waiting time in line for the house.
i always do the regular line unless the wait time is over 20 minutes and late in the evening.
if the lines are long in the beginning of the evening, say 9:00, i use the express exclusively. crowds tend to thin out before closing time and its a short wait for the house lines then.

there are two different teams for each house.
team A
team B

they have 45 minutes on set then 30 minutes off set.
the teams alternate.

since i go for 4 nights to hhn, i try to catch both teams in the houses while i am there.

there is or can be a difference of the effects you get in the houses when you have different teams working it.

if you area going to hhn, do the rip tour and you will be treated like royalty and miss waits in line.

if you don't want to pay that money out, go to the park around 3 and at closing time (5) head to the stay and scream area.

do buy the express pass if you are doing that.

most people only go for one night. if that is the case, take full advantage of ways to make your wait less so you can see all the houses.

i kept a journal of each years trip with all my receipts.
i can pull that up and give you exactly the cost of express tickets for peak and non peak nights and the hhn ticket costs also.

in a way, it does cost more for the peak night, but you see everything more than once and when the tour is over, you still have one hour to do more in the park. some years you were able to use your rip pass as the express pass for that last hour. it is not a guarantee but it has happened before.

 

[macraven]

Thank you so much, macraven, for all the great info on this. I've done peak, non-peak, express pass and frequent fear and all have had their pluses and minuses, but never did the RIP, so this info was extremely helpful. As a local, it's great for me to have physical access to HHN every year. I'll keep an eye open on the boards once the dates are announced - I, too, would be interested in joining a pre-arranged group for RIP, concentrating on houses. I really love opening night myself, but I've done almost every night other than Halloween and enjoyed them all, so I'm open to consider almost any arrangement.

i have been doing hhn for the last 8 years.
in the beginning i would buy the express passes and some nights didn't even need them.

i figured it was like car insurance, better have it in case of a dire need.

i have done the day tours since they started.

hoping you all have signed my thread which is a sticky
save the UTH tours......


before the dates are out, i'll make a new thread in the main forum and ask who is interested in going as a group for the main concentration for the houses and bill and ted.

at that point we can decide first and second choice dates for the group to do rip tour.

once the dates come out, we can book.
booking has to be done individually unless the person wants to have me make the ressies for them. which they would have to give me the money in advance.

since you live local, you should join us for the rip.

i did it last year and did not realize how great it was.
i always in the past did the touring of the park for the houses, shows, zones, etc based on past experience and info from friends that work there.

the rip tour is well worth it.


when you see a thread started by me about hhn in the forum, be sure to jump on board with it.

 

[macraven]

i just got a heads up....

the october calendar for park hours for the studios and ioa are up.



when the studios park closes at 5:00, it is an indicator that hhn will be held that night. ioa will list closing time of 7:00 on those nights.



the dates are the same as the ones that were listed prior on this board for hhn.

 

[hayanyujah847]

no discounts on the express passes
discounts on the hhn tickets though.

if you are only going for one night, do the rip tour.
you only need the tour cost and entrance ticket for hhn for the night.
no express ticket needs to be purchased.

if if you work the numbers, you can see the advantage and disadvantage of going on a peak/non peak night with a tour.

Thanks for all the info.! That actually sounds like a great idea with your explanation of what it is. I think DBf will absolutely love that~! DBf and I would definitely join a RIP Tour group! I'll watch for your special thread.

And you're in the 'burbs, eh? I'm from Glenview but just moved to Palatine.

 

[Troiandan]

before the dates are out, i'll make a new thread in the main forum and ask who is interested in going as a group for the main concentration for the houses and bill and ted.

when you see a thread started by me about hhn in the forum, be sure to jump on board with it.

That sounds like a plan!!!

 

[keishashadow]

thanks mac i'm bookmarking this thread - wish it were a sticky

 

[macraven]

Thanks for all the info.! That actually sounds like a great idea with your explanation of what it is. I think DBf will absolutely love that~! DBf and I would definitely join a RIP Tour group! I'll watch for your special thread.

And you're in the 'burbs, eh? I'm from Glenview but just moved to Palatine.

yup, northern burbs.
come on over to the chicago thread sometime. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=24794616#post24794616


what dates do you have planned for universal?
mine include october 9th - 13th.

thanks mac i'm bookmarking this thread - wish it were a sticky

i'll try to find out if it can be.
give me a day to work on it.

 

[Sneakiestpete]

Just a quick question then,

10 people going, budgest is already tight, so RIP is out and Express is in doubt.

Better to go on peak or non peak? And if non peak is a Sunday or a Wednesday/Thursday better to avoid at least some of the crowds? I'll be there from the 25th through the 30th. It looks like:

Saturday 25th
Sunday 26th
Wednesday 29th
Thursday 30th

are my options and with a plane leaving early Friday morning, I'm leary of the Thursday night showing. Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[Metro West]

Just a quick question then,

10 people going, budgest is already tight, so RIP is out and Express is in doubt.

Better to go on peak or non peak? And if non peak is a Sunday or a Wednesday/Thursday better to avoid at least some of the crowds? I'll be there from the 25th through the 30th. It looks like:

Saturday 25th
Sunday 26th
Wednesday 29th
Thursday 30th

are my options and with a plane leaving early Friday morning, I'm leary of the Thursday night showing. Any opinions would be appreciated.

I would stick to to any night except Friday or Saturday...the lines are simply too long. I would strongly recommend getting Express Passes for everyone in order to see everything. Otherwise, you're dead in the water. Been there...done that...never again.

 

[maggieb9975]

Wow! Thanks macraven and metro west for all the info!! I am going to HHN for the first time and I am really looking forward to it. My DD age 25 and I age 49+ .

....the only thing is I jump and scream VERY easily and do not want to make a total fool of myself......

We will definately buy the express, thanks for the heads up...the RIP does sound pretty good ......

we are going Oct 22-26 so not when you are there.......

 

[macraven]

Just a quick question then,

10 people going, budgest is already tight, so RIP is out and Express is in doubt.

Better to go on peak or non peak? And if non peak is a Sunday or a Wednesday/Thursday better to avoid at least some of the crowds? I'll be there from the 25th through the 30th. It looks like:

Saturday 25th
Sunday 26th
Wednesday 29th
Thursday 30th

are my options and with a plane leaving early Friday morning, I'm leary of the Thursday night showing. Any opinions would be appreciated.

i have been doing hhn since 2000.
my opinions might be different from other homies that attend regularly.

i agree with metro on the fri/sat mess of large crowds.
i still do the saturday event and it is almost all the time the biggest crowd night of each week.

the last few years i have found that friday has been lighter in crowds than saturday. crowds do tend to thin out some around midnight. on those peak nights, the park closes up at 2 am.
i think with the locals after they have worked all day, it is difficult to stay at the park the entire evening on a friday. also, friday is pay day for many workers and most do their shopping after cashing the pay check.

i think you will find the lightest crowd on the wednesday.
thursday also would be good.

sunday for the last couple of years has more of a crowd.
i go on the columbus day weekend and believe more people stretch that holiday out for a 3 day weekend which makes the attendance higher on sunday.

non peak nights the place closes at midnight. tickets cost less.
peak nights, it closes at 2 am and the tickets cost more.

if you are going for only one night, i strongly suggest to buy the express pass. it seems like a lot of money for one event to spend besides the hhn ticket cost, but, i found it worth it.

once you pay for a motel,air, transportation, food, etc, you would hate to miss some of the houses and shows at hhn due to the waiting in long lines.
for that reason only, i would buy the express so you will be able to do everything hhn has to offer.

utilize the stay and scream and get a head start on the houses and a discounted hhn ticket.

if you stand in line at the entrance, you will have to pass through a metal detector. also, that line ususally starts up right around 5 when the park closes.

i have to check my notes to see when hell week is this year.
that is what is referred to when the high school and colleges in the florida area have a short break from school for a certain week.


if you go on thursday, you will be leaving the park at midnight.
don't know where you are staying so if you are off site, you will have to travel to the hotel.
you could be in your rooms at 1 in the morning after you leave the park.
you leave early on friday for the airport. i can see why the hesitation of going to hhn on a thursday.

that leaves you wednesday or sunday if you want a non peak night.
i'd go for the sunday if i had to chose just one night.

 

[maggieb9975]

Can someone explain what frequent fear is and how it works, price etc. It looks like every night I am there will be an HHN night. Oct 22-26.

Thanks!

 

[macraven]

Can someone explain what frequent fear is and how it works, price etc. It looks like every night I am there will be an HHN night. Oct 22-26.

Thanks!

the frequent fear pass is the discount pass.
in the past 2 years, it allowed the holder of it to attend opening night and all non peak nights.

i went for 2 non peak nights last year and it was cheaper to buy the FF pass than to pay for 2 non peak night hhn tickets.

the Frequent Fear pass is valid for each hhn non peak night admittance to HHN


this is something you want to buy if you are going to attend 2 non peak nights during the hhn season


we don't know yet if the opening night or weekend will allow the FF for entrance. that info usually comes out in september

 

[macraven]

i just checked the calendar.

if you buy the FF pass, it will be valid on wed/thur/sun only
those are non peak nights.

if you attend hhn for fri/sat, the FF pass is not valid.
you would have to buy a ticket for fri/sat, 2 peak night tickets.


tickets are date related.
they are only valid for the dates you specified when you bought them.

 

[maggieb9975]

Thanks macraven! So if we wnated to go Wed and Thursday, it would make sense to buy the FF right? and we would still have to buy the express pass...do you know approx. what the FF pass costs and is it available to everyone?