September/October Visit

[thequeen63]

We are headed down for a quick two day first time visit ( Sept. 30 - Oct. 01 ). We are staying off site. Do we really need to purchase the Express Passes? We were going to do IOA on Saturday and Universal on Sunday ( no Halloween event scheduled that evening ). This weekend is a whole week before the Columbus Day Weekend. Thanks for the advise!

 

[macraven]

the parks will close early those days.

hhn on sept 30 makes the early closure necessary.

hope you enjoy the parks.

go early so you can see everything you want to.


i believe one of the rides will be down due to preparation of hhn events

 

[momof3disneyholics]

It's hard to say. Universal is usually a little more crowded on days that HHN is going on. The weekends are usually busy because of the normal crowds but also locals usually come out on the weekends too.

 

[macraven]

It's hard to say. Universal is usually a little more crowded on days that HHN is going on. The weekends are usually busy because of the normal crowds but also locals usually come out on the weekends too.

i have only been attending hhn for 6 years but what i find is the parks are not too crowded up to noon on the hhn dates.

for the last 4 years i have experienced larger crowds by 3 in the park.
many stay away for most of the day as they are resting up for hhn that night.
the park stays open to 2 am on the peak nights, friday and saturday.

when 3:00 rolls around, you wil see more people in the parks. some will be trying to catch the rides before the park closes as they concentrate on the houses and scarezones when hhn begins.

if you go on a hhn date to the park, go early and do expect long lines for rides when 3:00 rolls around.

 

[robvia]

Agree with small crowds early in the morning. I've gone the past two years on the first Saturday, and crowds were very light. Then around 3pm, the place gets packed as everyone shows up for the event and heads to the stay and scream area. They clear the parks around 4pm, and then HHN starts an hour later. You won't need the express passes if you show up early at 8am.

 

[macraven]

i agree with robiva to a point.
last year and the year before hhn was in IOA.
that park closed at 5 and they were clearing out at that time by park employees/security.

in 2004, hhn started at 7 pm. we left the stay and scream area on a saturday about 5:45 and had a head start.
studios side closed at 6 that night.

last year, 2005, same procedure but hhn opened to the general public at 6:30pm. again same closing time of the parks as above. ioa/5 and st/6


hoping the event goes back to a 7 pm start so the stay and scream areas have more time ahead of the crowd.

i know, i am selfish but after spending over $265 for tix and epp, i have become greedy............