halloween horror nights for next year (2014)

[tsabs22]

My wife and I are heading down to Florida the first weekend of october. We will be in the park early morning on Sunday Oct 5th and are also attending horror nights that night. My question for you guys, seeing as neither of us have ever been to horror nights, is should I purchase express passes in advance, or should I wait and see how it is. If I didnt have to pay a extra $150 for express passes, I would be very happy, but again like I said this is our first time for horror nights and will only be there one night. I want us to have a great time, and do the shows and just take in the atmosphere without worrying. I dont mind waiting in 30-45 min lines, its more like the 1.5-2 hr lines Im worried about. Do you think theres any chance of those happening on a sunday night? Any help with opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[macraven]

My wife and I are heading down to Florida the first weekend of october. We will be in the park early morning on Sunday Oct 5th and are also attending horror nights that night. My question for you guys, seeing as neither of us have ever been to horror nights, is should I purchase express passes in advance, or should I wait and see how it is. If I didnt have to pay a extra $150 for express passes, I would be very happy, but again like I said this is our first time for horror nights and will only be there one night. I want us to have a great time, and do the shows and just take in the atmosphere without worrying. I dont mind waiting in 30-45 min lines, its more like the 1.5-2 hr lines Im worried about. Do you think theres any chance of those happening on a sunday night? Any help with opinions would be greatly appreciated.

this year will be my 15th or is it 16th year..........HHN has been growing steadily the past 7 years crowd-wise.

sundays used to be the best night of the week for going and getting thru everything until about 4 years back.
at one time, sundays closed at midnight but that changed years back to the 1:00 closing.
gives you an idea that there are more crowds there on sundays now.


you can buy the express pass while at HHN but it can sell out on some nights by 8:00-8:30 pm.
i haven't been to many sundays that have sold out before the 4th week of the event.

closing will be at 1:00 am for that sunday you are going.
you can kind of judge by how long the lines are by 7:00 pm if you need to buy the ep then.

house waits of 30-45 minutes can be the average.

you will start to see long line waits for houses around 10ish.

since this is your first time doing hhn, i would buy the ep.
it will help you do all the houses, scare zones and both shows.
if you are hesitant to spend that money, you can make that decision in the first hour or two you are in the park.
if you are seeing one hour waits for houses at 7:00, make the decision then.
if it storms the night you are there, crowds will thin out fast.
ep would not be a necessity.

be in the park that day and utilize the stay and scream holding area.
you will be able to catch, more than likely, 3 houses before the park is open to the general public.
don't use the ep during that time of the early entry.

repeat those houses later in the evening with your express.
it's a big difference on how the house feels once it is dark outside.

be sure to get the park hhn map so you can plan the two shows.
the last show of the evening is always crowded.
the first show of bill and ted's can be used w/your ep for the first show unless they change that this year.

as long as you are in line for a house before the park closes at 1:00 am, you will be allowed to do that house.

avoid doing the rides unless you have completed the houses, shows, zones.
there will be 6 rides open during the hhn event.

last year i did 5 nights at hhn.
a couple of the nights only 2 houses were open to the people from the holding area.
the third house opened at 6:30 so i had a bit of a wait before i completed the first 3 houses.

i don't know if that happened on all the nights during the event or only on those couple i was there.

everyone can have a different experience than i did.
some use their phone to get time waits on houses and have not bad waits.
some will zig zag around the park and do the houses in a different order.
i'm sure others will share how it was for them last year in order to give you their opinion on buying the express pass for that sunday.

i see having the ep compared to car insurance.
i have it if i need it and if i never have to use it, for me, it is peace of mind..

 

[steery1]

Would I be right in thinking that its a good idea to visit US on the morning/afternoon of a Horror night?
Thinking that some might avoid the park that day and others might arrive later in the afternoon to do some rides then go to HHN?

 

[babesboo99]

That's a good question I was wondering the same thing. We plan on staying in the park so we can go in the holding area was wondering if I can do IOA in morning and go over early afternoon to US. Since we will be there 5 days before heading over to Disney I figure I can see the parks multiple times.

 

[patrickpiteo]

That's a good question I was wondering the same thing. We plan on staying in the park so we can go in the holding area was wondering if I can do IOA in morning and go over early afternoon to US. Since we will be there 5 days before heading over to Disney I figure I can see the parks multiple times.

Sure as long as you have a two park ticket..

 

[babesboo99]

Thank You, I do have PTP passes I always get them just in case I want to go over the same day.

 

[Metro West]

Would I be right in thinking that its a good idea to visit US on the morning/afternoon of a Horror night?
Thinking that some might avoid the park that day and others might arrive later in the afternoon to do some rides then go to HHN?

Yes...during the morning hours the Studios should be relatively quiet but will fill up later in the day. You could visit in the morning then head over to IOA for the afternoon and evening.

 

[Rip]

http://blog.universalorlando.com/whats-new/hhn24-original-content/

 

[Metro West]

Dollhouse of the Damned looks interesting.

 

[sarahwill]

yes you can do that

 

[babesboo99]

Is there anything else left to tell. once more house

 

[plutotek]

I would swear I had a post on FB from Universal saying they were doing American Werewolf in London? Did anyone else see it?

 

[patrickpiteo]

I would swear I had a post on FB from Universal saying they were doing American Werewolf in London? Did anyone else see it?

That's universal Hollywood.. Not Orlando.

 

[Pirate1+Princess4]

How does Universal handle transition to HHN? There is some overlap with regular admission and HHN as parks close at 7 and 5, but HHN begins at 6:30.

Why does US close 2 hours earlier than IOA? How should we plan around HHN crowds? Should we just plan to be out of the parks before 6:30? I assume those with a regular + HHN ticket don't have to leave and re-enter based on the schedule I read.

Arrive MCO 9:15 AM on Monday 10/20. Parks close at 8.
Tuesday parks close at 8.
Wednesday Parks close at 7 and 5 for HHN
Thursday parks close at 7 and 5 for HHN
Friday depart MCO 11:00 AM

We'll either have 3 Day Park-to-Park tickets or 4 Day 3 Parks Unlimited (unless offerings change dramatically on care.com). One of us will have an Annual Pass. We are family of 7- 2 adults, b14, g12, g12, g12, g12.

Focus is Harry Potter and big coasters. Don't care about the backlot.

Thanks

 

[Senator Tressel]

There is no overlap. HHN is only at Universal, which closes at 5PM every HHN night. IOA is open until 7.

 

[Bluer101]

Yep, only at US not IOA.

There is no transition either. If you have a HHN ticket and a day ticket then you stay in a couple of holding areas. Employees come around to those areas and scan your hhn ticket and issue you a wrist band. If you don't have a ticket you have to leave.

So go enjoy IOA on those nights.

 

[Marquibiri]

I would swear I had a post on FB from Universal saying they were doing American Werewolf in London? Did anyone else see it?

That was an amazing house last year. One of my favorites... The werewolves were out of this world!

Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[Metro West]

How does Universal handle transition to HHN? There is some overlap with regular admission and HHN as parks close at 7 and 5, but HHN begins at 6:30.

Why does US close 2 hours earlier than IOA? How should we plan around HHN crowds? Should we just plan to be out of the parks before 6:30? I assume those with a regular + HHN ticket don't have to leave and re-enter based on the schedule I read.

As others have mentioned, there is no overlap at the Studios for HHN. At 5pm you either have to go to one of the holding areas where your HHN ticket is scanned or you are instructed to leave the park. The Studios closes at 5pm so TMs can set up for HHN. There is a lot of activity going on before the gates open at 6:30pm and they don't want to have to walk around anyone trying to get set up. IOA is open later to accommodate those park goers who have access to both parks.

If you are not going to HHN but visiting the parks on an event night, you will be better off going to the Studios in the morning and then heading over to IOA in the afternoon. You will avoid most of the HHN crowd. I say most because there has been a holding area in the past at IOA in Seuss Landing. It is unknown if there will be one this year.

 

[kwatt]

Just how terrifying is Halloween Horror Nights? I would classify myself as a bit of a scaredy cat. Love Universal and all the big thrills to be had but not sure if this one is too much for me. Don't want to waste the money or embarrass my husband with a meltdown. Thoughts???

 

[Metro West]

Just how terrifying is Halloween Horror Nights? I would classify myself as a bit of a scaredy cat. Love Universal and all the big thrills to be had but not sure if this one is too much for me. Don't want to waste the money or embarrass my husband with a meltdown. Thoughts???

HHN is all about in your face scares, blood and gore. You will have scareactors jumping out at you throughout the houses and scarezones. If you don't think you can handle it, save your money because you're right...it's a lot of money to waste if you melt down after the first house and can't do anything else. You'll have to decide what's best for you.