Official 2017 HHN-27 Thread

[Raeven]

QUESTION...We are long time fans of US/IOA. Multiple visits...even WON a trip to Universal a few years ago. This year we are talking about going to the Halloween Horror Nights. We are going on a cruise and returning to Miami on October 15. We are talking about driving from Miami to Orlando, and going to HHN that night. It is a Sunday night and close to Halloween, so I am not sure what the crowd levels typically are for a night like that. Should we stay at HRH (our favorite) to get the Express Pass...OR can we get away with staying at Castaway Cay, since we never have stayed there and save a few bucks but no EP. What are your thoughts? WE will NOT be going to the parks during the day, just an afternoon by the pool, dinner at Bubba Gumps and off to HHN. Fly out first thing the next day. Do we need the EP or are the crowds not very heavy on a Sunday night?

EP is purchased separately for HHN so the hotel EP wouldn't be neccessary. You could stay at one of the non EP hotels, but I would advise purchasing the HHN one if you only have one night and want to see everything.

 

[Melanie230]

EP from the hotel does not work for HHN. It's a separate EP, specific to HHN, you will have to buy if you want EP.

Thanks! We haven't done HHN...my son loves The Shining...so I guess we do need the EP.

 

[Metro West]

Thanks! We haven't done HHN...my son loves The Shining...so I guess we do need the EP.

Always a good plan to have the EP.

 

[PatriciaH]

Got our tickets and EPs for 10/29! See you there.

 

[Nobody352]

I REALLY have to stress this. Im a VERY patient person.. but my line tolerance level tops off at 90 minutes. If a line is longer than that i simply wont do it... with that said.. i would NEVER do horror nights without an EP.. EVER. Its simply not enjoyable. If I couldnt buy the express pass i just simply would not go.. id go to howl o scream at gardens exclusively that year. If you go without a fast pass and you even crack out a super plan where you wait at the gate and run to your first few houses... MAYBE do a 60 minute wait house in the middle of the night.. and hit one or two as it slows down at the end of the night you are still missing 3-4 houses. I dont put any value on the scare zones personally because i dont find them to be very good at all anymore. If you LOVE the scare zones then it MAY be worth it. gardens has bushes and winding pathways where the scare zones are actually full of startles. The scare zones at universal now have people dressed up in weighty, lumbering, but elaborate outfits and there really arent many places for them to surprise you. With that said.. i still LOVE HHN and i appreciate the weighty, lumbering, but elaborate outfits because they put TONS of effort and budget into the makeup etc.

Then you look at the alternative.. you plop down an extra $90-$110 and you do EVERY HOUSE.. you may even do your favorite 2 houses twice.. you can do EVERY ride... you see BOTH shows... and you get the icing on the cake in the scare zones... and even doing all of that.. last year i left the event 35 minutes early and beat the MASS rushing through city walk.

 

[chs27]

I REALLY have to stress this. Im a VERY patient person.. but my line tolerance level tops off at 90 minutes. If a line is longer than that i simply wont do it... with that said.. i would NEVER do horror nights without an EP.. EVER. Its simply not enjoyable. If I couldnt buy the express pass i just simply would not go.. id go to howl o scream at gardens exclusively that year. If you go without a fast pass and you even crack out a super plan where you wait at the gate and run to your first few houses... MAYBE do a 60 minute wait house in the middle of the night.. and hit one or two as it slows down at the end of the night you are still missing 3-4 houses. I dont put any value on the scare zones personally because i dont find them to be very good at all anymore. If you LOVE the scare zones then it MAY be worth it. gardens has bushes and winding pathways where the scare zones are actually full of startles. The scare zones at universal now have people dressed up in weighty, lumbering, but elaborate outfits and there really arent many places for them to surprise you. With that said.. i still LOVE HHN and i appreciate the weighty, lumbering, but elaborate outfits because they put TONS of effort and budget into the makeup etc.

Then you look at the alternative.. you plop down an extra $90-$110 and you do EVERY HOUSE.. you may even do your favorite 2 houses twice.. you can do EVERY ride... you see BOTH shows... and you get the icing on the cake in the scare zones... and even doing all of that.. last year i left the event 35 minutes early and beat the MASS rushing through city walk.

You make a great argument for the EP. My date would have me spending an extra $276 for two eps. I'm going back and forth on this. Since it's so expensive, they are expecting the crowds. Agh! It's a lot of extra money.

 

[Metro West]

You make a great argument for the EP. My date would have me spending an extra $276 for two eps. I'm going back and forth on this. Since it's so expensive, they are expecting the crowds. Agh! It's a lot of extra money.

It's a lot of money but you will be glad you got it when you see the wait times! Here's another something...last year they sold EPs after 10PM for $20 at Guest Services...I have no idea if this will happen this year but you can always hope. We'll check once HHN actually starts and see what we can find out.

 

[macraven]

I am completely and totally addicted to hhn

I save and plan for it yearly
Been attending since 1999

I book my room over 11 months out

With all the money I put into this trip,
no way would I want to stand in a line up to two hours

FF+ep allows me to avoid those long line waits


For those that do only one night for hhn, that ep will allow you to cover most if not all of the houses

 

[WhiteWalkerNL]

First time poster here and not so long ago registered to this great forum.

Im from the Netherlands (hello fellow dutchies if there are any), and since our first visit to hhn24 we got addicted and visited every time since then. For us its quiet expensive to go to themeparks as they cost about 50 dollars here to get in our themeparks (yeah half the price and we have awesome parks as well).

From the 3 times we spend to hhn, we actually needed it the first year due to wait times of 2hours or more. The other two years we had max 45mins wait times during the peak hours, so i would now only buy them in the park if needed.
I dont mind waiting for max 45mins.

We are planning already for this event and our holiday in florida, it was good to read that there is a so called hell week, never heard of this before.

Thanks for all the great info being updated here!

 

[imprint]

Good info WhiteWalkerNL. Would you mind letting people know which days/dates you were at HHN when the waits maxed at 45 minutes? It might help others get a better idea of what to expect.

 

[macraven]

Most likely Friday, Saturday and some Sundays will have long house line waits hours after the hhn event begins

 

[WhiteWalkerNL]

Good info WhiteWalkerNL. Would you mind letting people know which days/dates you were at HHN when the waits maxed at 45 minutes? It might help others get a better idea of what to expect.

Last year i was lucky,my flight was delayed and couldnt make it on halloween itself, but i was able to visit the extended nights. I went on saturday. With wait times from 5 to 20 minutes most of the day and sometimes 1 or 2 houses had 60mins.

The year before i believe we went on a wednesday or thursday (around the 15th of oct), but i have to check at home to be sure. With wait times of 30mins to 60 mins max.

Our first year was on a sunday and it was packed. Cant recall the actual date, but i believe it was around the 12th of oct.

 

[Metro West]

Crowds have grown each year I've been going (since 2004) and some nights are lighter than others. That certainly isn't the norm any more. During HHN rain is welcomed to keep the lines down but it certainly makes it miserable for attendees. In 2008 or 2009 opening night turned into a monsoon...kept the lines down but also closed a few houses due to flooding. If only going for a single night, the EP is about the only way to see everything. And don't do the rides until all the HHN houses and shows are done...you can do the rides during the day.

 

[schumigirl]

Crowds have grown each year I've been going (since 2004) and some nights are lighter than others. That certainly isn't the norm any more. During HHN rain is welcomed to keep the lines down but it certainly makes it miserable for attendees. In 2008 or 2009 opening night turned into a monsoon...kept the lines down but also closed a few houses due to flooding. If only going for a single night, the EP is about the only way to see everything. And don't do the rides until all the HHN houses and shows are done...you can do the rides during the day.

Yep, I don't think there is such a thing as a quiet night anymore......some can be quieter maybe.......

The queues we saw opening weekend for some of the houses were scary! EP is a must for us even with visiting multiple nights.

 

[macraven]

The Sunday of the night before Columbus Day, has large crowds

Guessing it has been about 6 years ago many started including Sunday's for hhn

Many years back Sundays were a well kept secret of low crowds
Not any more.

And Sundays closes at 2 am

 

[Sheldonman14]

This is the first year that I'm buying tickets. I'm a little bit confused so hopefully someone can help. We are going to have a multi-day 3 park ticket and do HHN on September 22nd. I read that I may get a discount for having it sort of as an "add on." How would I get that discount? And does anyone know how much it is?

If you are planning to go to HHN for more than one night (highly recommended), get the rush of fear pass. It will save you significant money.

 

[keishashadow]

Just a reminder/PSA

Every year there are posters who are excited to finalize their plans & buy tix. Unfortunately, they often jump the gun before all the tix options are in place. Then come back trying to figure out how to modify things.

Soon my pretties, Soon

.

Long-time reader, first-time poster here.

I'm hearing some interesting things timeline wise. I'm expecting we should hear more about this year's host before the end of the month (and that's extremely liberal, honestly I'd be surprised if we don't know something by end of the week). Then we should likely get some more info in mid-July. I'm expecting some big Nintendo news around that same time to offset the D23 announcements with closures of Kids Zone to begin in mid-November and rolling through next year. The Christmas events will offset the need for kids stuff but next year I expect more family entertainment, including dance parties, around the park.

From my understanding, they were going to announce HHN stuff last week but decided to put it off due to the Pulse anniversary.

Looks like we might get more than one host, or a host and a side host if you will. Also, hearing some interesting stuff regarding the up-charge event this year. They learned a lot last year but the biggest issue was the low thru-put, expect this year to be much higher capacity if it happens.

The houses have mostly been leaked by now with no real big surprises to come, despite some issues with certain IPs already announced. Luckily certain IPs weren't announced earlier and it looks like the non-IP house we're getting instead will be much better.

Thoughts?

I'm content to wait to hear the details, helps pass the time till the event. So many of the fan sites have been dead lol wrong although there are a few goodies out there.

Knotts has a great system called skeleton key, tied into their version of FP wherein you get a small group/short interactive with a ghoul in a special room. It does back up later in the evening but pretty cool. Surprised U hasn't ummm adapted it yet as a special add on not tied to regular EP

Thanks! We haven't done HHN...my son loves The Shining...so I guess we do need the EP.

Or you do it first.

The Sunday of the night before Columbus Day, has large crowds

Guessing it has been about 6 years ago many started including Sunday's for hhn

Many years back Sundays were a well kept secret of low crowds
Not any more.

And Sundays closes at 2 am

Yes, since the holiday it makes sense but I am still shocked how busy the Thursday before has gotten vs same date just a few years ago. Even factoring in the Wednesday. It's such a popular week to visit the entire area.

 

[macraven]

Came back to say Keisha was very observant for that Thursday hhn attendance level


For past few years, that Thursday is no longer a short ten minute wait for specific houses for the stand by lines

Once the crowds grow you will find back ups around 8:30 pm

 

[CAS239]

I REALLY have to stress this. Im a VERY patient person.. but my line tolerance level tops off at 90 minutes. If a line is longer than that i simply wont do it... with that said.. i would NEVER do horror nights without an EP.. EVER. Its simply not enjoyable. If I couldnt buy the express pass i just simply would not go.. id go to howl o scream at gardens exclusively that year. If you go without a fast pass and you even crack out a super plan where you wait at the gate and run to your first few houses... MAYBE do a 60 minute wait house in the middle of the night.. and hit one or two as it slows down at the end of the night you are still missing 3-4 houses. I dont put any value on the scare zones personally because i dont find them to be very good at all anymore. If you LOVE the scare zones then it MAY be worth it. gardens has bushes and winding pathways where the scare zones are actually full of startles. The scare zones at universal now have people dressed up in weighty, lumbering, but elaborate outfits and there really arent many places for them to surprise you. With that said.. i still LOVE HHN and i appreciate the weighty, lumbering, but elaborate outfits because they put TONS of effort and budget into the makeup etc.

Then you look at the alternative.. you plop down an extra $90-$110 and you do EVERY HOUSE.. you may even do your favorite 2 houses twice.. you can do EVERY ride... you see BOTH shows... and you get the icing on the cake in the scare zones... and even doing all of that.. last year i left the event 35 minutes early and beat the MASS rushing through city walk.

I'd rather sit at home than go to howl o scream. Their event is just awful after you've been to HHN

But yea if going one night, then express pass is worth it. If going two nights then regular ticket can easily do everything

 

[shh]

Question: if you were planning on going Mon, Oct 30th, would you wait to get there and determine wait times before buying express pass or just buy in advance w/tic? It's one of the lowest priced express tics, so leads me to think it's one of the slower nights.