Official 2018 HHN-28 Thread

[bas71873]

Hi again! We are attending HHN and have reserved a non private RIP for Sunday, Oct 7. I THINK our RIP time is 7:30. I need to confirm that somewhere because it's not on my confirmation email with my tickets.

Anyway, I have a few questions with regard to our stay if someone can help me out so we are better prepared:


We are staying at the Sapphire Falls resort and I understand that there is a dedicated park entrance for on site hotel guests. Where is that located?


How early should we make our way to that entrance point to be there when HHN begins at 6:30? We will NOT be IN the park that day. Only doing HHN.


Where is it that we go to pick up our HHN & RIP tickets AND, can we do that BEFORE Sunday night?


Finally, where is it that we meet for our RIP tour?



Thank you so much. We are very much looking forward to our trip!

 

[Iheoma]

Hi Everyone - we were at HHN 9/26/18. We went to VB in the morning and got to USF around 3:30 pm, did a couple of rides (with EPs) and wondered over to Finnegans around 4:30pm. My daughter(17) andDH(teen at heart) really wanted to see Stranger Things. After checking into through the HHN event line we walked toward Finnegans. There was a USF/HHN giving out wristband at the door. She said they would be required so that people wouldn’t be kicked out of the bar when the park officially closed at 5pm. We took a look inside and decided it was way too busy to be a place for a decent dinner or drink. We instead hung out on the “stoops” by the front of the Stranger Things holding area. It was hot as hades, people were packed in like sardines, but they officially let us “fast walk” over to the Stranger Things house at 5:45pm. We didn’t have EPs for HHN, but were in the House after waiting for about 5 mins. In fact, the walk through the queue in front of the stage in front of Rip R Rocket was longer than the actual wait for the house. We then went to Scary Tales and waited about 10 minutes and then Carnival Graveyard and waited 10-15 minutes. So my advice (if you’re in the park prior to close) would be to skip Finnegans and just wait in the holding area. My next advice would be to go to the very back of the park and do the houses back there. People are stuck in the front at the beginning of the night, and then wander to the back. I’m a big scaredy cat, so I was done with houses after the first three, but DH and DD, saw everything except Patient Zero. We also went to the 9pm Academy of Villians show (really good!) stopped for pizza fries (really gross!) and went through all of the scare zones. We stopped for a quick dinner in CityWalk and we were back at Portofino by around 11:30pm. It was a fun evening. We didn’t feel rushed, but saw everything we planned.

 

[soniam]

Kind of a dumb question but I want to make sure I buy the right ticket. My husband and son will be going to HHN on the 24th and 25th and I was looking to buy the frequent fear pass. Will they potentially be turned away if either night is sold out? If so, maybe they are better off with two single night tickets. Does anyone have a recommended tour plan for the haunted houses? Thanks for any suggestions!

I have not heard of them turning people away with the frequent fear pass. I don't think the park has reached capacity for HHN. I think you should be OK. I would definitely look at the wait times on the app to help with touring, but I would also recommend what @Iheoma recommended in the previous post #1222. It's not specifically a touring plan; it's more about geographic location.

Hi again! We are attending HHN and have reserved a non private RIP for Sunday, Oct 7. I THINK our RIP time is 7:30. I need to confirm that somewhere because it's not on my confirmation email with my tickets.

Anyway, I have a few questions with regard to our stay if someone can help me out so we are better prepared:

We are staying at the Sapphire Falls resort and I understand that there is a dedicated park entrance for on site hotel guests. Where is that located?

How early should we make our way to that entrance point to be there when HHN begins at 6:30? We will NOT be IN the park that day. Only doing HHN.

Where is it that we go to pick up our HHN & RIP tickets AND, can we do that BEFORE Sunday night?

Finally, where is it that we meet for our RIP tour?

Thank you so much. We are very much looking forward to our trip!

I don't know where the hotel guest entrance is. It might be to the left if you are facing the main entrance. Hopefully others will pipe up. I believe it's was previously said in the this thread, so you might be able to search.

Do you remember picking a certain type of pick up, ie ticket window or kiosk? Your emails should say in the "Shipping Method". If it says "Will Call Kiosk" then you can go to the unmanned automatic kiosks that are outside of the entrance of each park. If it says kiosk or ticket window, then you can go to a ticket window outside of the park entrances, one in Citywalk, or in the lobby of each hotel. You can pick these up whenever the ticket windows are open. I believe the kiosks are always available, since they are unmanned. I would definitely do this before hand. I don't know if you get RIP tickets or not, but you definitely can pick up HHN tickets. With RIP, you might just show the email. Look at the email for further instructions.

As for the RIP tour meetup, does it say anything in your email? If not, you either meet at Cafe La Bamba or the VIP entrance, which is to the right, when facing the park entrance, outside of the turnstiles. While waiting in line to get in, one of your party could go over to VIP and ask. Or you could ask at Cafe La Bamba, once inside the park.

 

[vrajewski10513]

Hey everyone! Just thought i would post my Pre-event hype list vs. my Post event actual ranking of the houses... I’ve seen a lot of different rankings but it seems that Poltergeist is consistently a top house which i have to agree with!

HHN Pre-Event Hype List

1. Slaughter Sinema
2. Dead Exposure
3. Carnival Graveyard
4. Poltergeist
5. Halloween
6. Trick R Treat
7. Stranger Things
8. Seeds of Extinction
9. Scary Tales
10. Blumhouse

HHN Post-Event Actual Ranking

1. Poltergeist
2. Dead Exposure
3. Scary Tales
4. Stranger Things
5. Slaughter Sinema
6. Seeds of Extinction
7. Trick R Treat
8. Halloween
9. Carnival Graveyard
10. Blumhouse

I do want to say that even though blumhouse is ranked last, it’s solely due to how awful the Happy Death day half was. I actually enjoyed The First Purge half.. i feel like it would have worked better with a whole house for the purge.

 

[sassy2000]

I’m sure it’s on this thread somewhere but can someone give me a list of the holding areas available if I stay in the park after closing and what houses they let out to? Thanks.

 

[5lilfish]

We are doing the RIP tour on Thursday the 4th. Our tour starts at 7pm. After we do the houses and whatever else the tour gets us in to, will there be time leftover to either re-do a house we liked or even venture to the Harry Potter area to look around?

Also....anyone know if warm butterbeer is 'in season' yet?

Thanks...
Jess

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

IOA was very empty this morning. We got the park right at opening (9 am). We were the first people on Kong and got a nice special tour of the queue. Did Forbidden Journey twice with a 5 minute wait, walked onto Hippogriff. Did all of Seuss land, ate at Mythos when they opened at 11 and then watched Poseidon's Fury (which I actually really enjoy).

Think we picked out our HHN merch. Brian is going to get the Hawkins AV Club t-shirt, I'm a little torn on the Killer Klowns shirt or the CyberPunk Vamp 85 shirt.

We got our $30 refillable HHN cup. I was told I couldn't get it at IOA, so we picked one up at Monster's Cafe. There is no AP discount on them.

 

[heidijanesmith]

Hi again! We are attending HHN and have reserved a non private RIP for Sunday, Oct 7. I THINK our RIP time is 7:30. I need to confirm that somewhere because it's not on my confirmation email with my tickets.

Anyway, I have a few questions with regard to our stay if someone can help me out so we are better prepared:


We are staying at the Sapphire Falls resort and I understand that there is a dedicated park entrance for on site hotel guests. Where is that located?


How early should we make our way to that entrance point to be there when HHN begins at 6:30? We will NOT be IN the park that day. Only doing HHN.


Where is it that we go to pick up our HHN & RIP tickets AND, can we do that BEFORE Sunday night?


Finally, where is it that we meet for our RIP tour?



Thank you so much. We are very much looking forward to our trip!

+

We have done the non-private RIP tour 4 years now, and we are always super happy with the tour! Hope you love it too.

You can call the Tour phone number and they can confirm your tour time. Check in 1/2 before your tour time at La Cabana. My tip is don't wait for the bar in the check in area. There is a bar in the inside area, where the food and seating is. We made that mistake and by the time we got to the food area all the tables were taken.

There is a dedicated On-site hotel check in line. There was a an employee in the front area directing you where the on-site entrance is. It's to the far right if you are facing the front of US.

You are directed in your e-mail to check in and get your credentials at the VIP check in Lobby or when you check in for your tour. We just got our credentials when you check into our tour.

I would get in line at the hotel entrance around 6:30. The line is usually not that big.

I was able to trade my paper HHN tickets for the small regular size tickets at the HRH ticket counter in the lobby. I am not sure if Sapphire Falls has one or not, we have never stayed there.

 

[heidijanesmith]

We are doing the RIP tour on Thursday the 4th. Our tour starts at 7pm. After we do the houses and whatever else the tour gets us in to, will there be time leftover to either re-do a house we liked or even venture to the Harry Potter area to look around?

Also....anyone know if warm butterbeer is 'in season' yet?

Thanks...
Jess

Our tour started at 8PM and lasted until 12:15 AM. We had time to go on the rides afterwards. I would plan on 4-4.5 hours for your tour.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but you would not have "Express Entrance" privileges with your RIP Tour credentials for the houses. I think they are only valid for the houses while you are on your tour. You would have to wait in the regular line.

The rides after your tour do have the Express Pass privileges. We did the Mummy, Gringotts and Transformers. The lines were so short the Express Pass was not needed.

It was so hot, like 96 degrees hot. So no warm butterbeer available for us. We went Sept 19-23rd.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

In the Simpsons holding area. Sun needs to go away.

I'll be posting pics on Instagram all night if anyone wants to take a look rjrook

 

[Monykalyn]

What time do you all suggest lining up at the gates for HHN if it starts at 6:30? We will not be staying on-site or have day tickets. We will have EPs, so we don't care about being at the front of the pack but don't want to waste the first hour of HHN waiting to get in either.

Do they ever open the gates early or is it promptly at 6:30?

Is the queue for HHN clearly marked outside? Last time we were able to wait inside in a holding area.

Thanks!

Before 5-early yes but parking and lines into parking were bad from reports. Heck we went on a Thursday after 10 and the line to get through parking was backed up (free after 10pm). Get in early and eat at Citywalk and get to gates early too

out of curiosity, has universal studios ever closed for capacity during hhn?
How about the parking garage?

We were on top of the garage the thursday we went (after 10-free parking had kicked in). We were always down and close when we went around 3-4 ish after that-preferred parking with our AP.

Also, they are kind of lining people up weird in the Finnegan's waiting area. Some people eating inside have gotten put back at the end of the pack. Also, people are reporting that the posted wait times are inflated.

There was 2 corrals the week we went (last week=has it been over a week already??). The super early birds got first corral and walk on to Stranger things and Poltergiest. We were back of first corral a week ago Friday (after eating at Finnegans) and go on Stranger things in 45 minutes. sunday we were near the beginning of 2nd corral and got into Poltergeist in about 20 minutes.
After hitting those 2 head to back of park and whip out most of other houses. Although Slaughter sinema, Seeds and Dead exposure I think are better after dark.

Are the inflated times from the app or from the house itself?

In my experience it depended on the day: Friday was inflated by a bunch early, Saturday was right on, Sunday was pretty close, inflated by 5 minutes in a couple places.

It also appeared our weekend that Stranger thing lined swelled early, then dipped after a couple hours, then swelled again - probably because everyone saw the wait times had dropped to 60 minutes lol! It is definitely a cool house, but Scary Tales, CG and Poltergeist were worth repeating more than Stranger things.

 

[cschaaf]

We got our $30 refillable HHN cup. I was told I couldn't get it at IOA, so we picked one up at Monster's Cafe. There is no AP discount on them.

Did you happen to see if the cup works during the day? I've seen mixed reports.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Did you happen to see if the cup works during the day? I've seen mixed reports.

We've been using it all day, during hhn and regular day. It's the one with the pumpkin on it.

 

[keishashadow]

They aren't on a skewer this year. They are on a plate with red frosting drizzled on top. They have powdered sugar and cinnamon. I don't know if they are cooking them fresh or not. I haven't been yet; I have just been following stuff very closely.



I don't think it has closed. However, opening weekend, people were waiting in very long lines to get into the garage. I'll PM you about parking with the RIP tour.



Honestly, it really depends upon the night. If you really want to see Stranger Things, and you get to HHN when it opens, then you might want to hit that first. I would check the wait times though on the app, because they will be a good estimate for the EP times. I have also heard that ST slows down in the last hour or so of the park. Otherwise, I would just look at the times and go see what you want.



I think that was opening weekend. Are you entering the park before it closes? A lot of people have been getting there early, like before 4pm on really busy days, and everyone wants to hit Stranger Things. Also, they are kind of lining people up weird in the Finnegan's waiting area. Some people eating inside have gotten put back at the end of the pack. Also, people are reporting that the posted wait times are inflated. So, 1 hour at opening, may really only be 20 minutes. The 1 hour+ waits at opening that i have hearing of are coming from people who did not do Stay & Scream. I would do S&S. Go to Finnegan's early on your day, like before 4pm, and see what the crowd looks like. You might even be able to talk with a Team Member to see how they are going to line people up. It might mean that you have to stand outside in the sun though. It really depends upon how busy the day you are going will be. Good luck.

ST was at 90 minutes well before 7 pm friday. Didn’t take long to hit 120 minutes.

More than a few groups of young adults pushing their way thru the standby lines. Going to get ugly if U doesn’t monitor the lines better on the grassy areas.

I've always already been at universal during the day for hhn, yesterday was the first time going at opening time, yeah traffic is insane, had to drop someone off and go back and pick my dd from work and go back at 9pm and it was so much better.
It was crazy busy but did 2 houses and the wait times are slightly inflated. Trick r treat said 60 minutes, real time was 40. Scary tales said 60 was actually 20. Btw scary tales is so far my favorite house
Tried the waffle sundae, delicious.
Can't wait for Friday

We waited a good 20 min in line after 3 pm yesterday when moving car over to garage from SF. Discovered many of vehicles were workers turning into the employee line assume big shift change time?

Hi again! We are attending HHN and have reserved a non private RIP for Sunday, Oct 7. I THINK our RIP time is 7:30. I need to confirm that somewhere because it's not on my confirmation email with my tickets.

Anyway, I have a few questions with regard to our stay if someone can help me out so we are better prepared:


We are staying at the Sapphire Falls resort and I understand that there is a dedicated park entrance for on site hotel guests. Where is that located?


How early should we make our way to that entrance point to be there when HHN begins at 6:30? We will NOT be IN the park that day. Only doing HHN.


Where is it that we go to pick up our HHN & RIP tickets AND, can we do that BEFORE Sunday night?


Finally, where is it that we meet for our RIP tour?



Thank you so much. We are very much looking forward to our trip!

Visit the ticket desk at SF with your confirmations & ID in hand and they will help you sort things out. Lovely lady there helped us print out various tix from the fat bunch of printouts I had in hand, including upgrading to an AP for DS. Whole process took a whopping 5 minutes start to finish. GS lines were daunting, so glad I stopped.

Your confirmation for RIP should have date/time as wel as instructions as to where you meet. Call universal

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

All right.

So we got to the Simpsons holding area around 5.

I had got spots in the Passholder Q&A session tonight and completely forgot about it until 10 minutes after it started So much for that.

They let us out around 5:40. We headed to Slaughter.

Slaughter: In line at 5:45, out of the house at 6.

Liked this house, but will definitely have to go back when it's dark. Couldn't even see any of the film clips that should have been projected on the screen, way too bright for that.

Dead Exposure was still not open, so we went to Blumhouse.

Blumhouse: In line at 6:06, out of the house at 6:10. There was absolutely no one ahead of me so no safety conga line. Of course I got lost in a corner and went to some backstage area. I swear I'm the worst at that. I'm probably more afraid of getting lost in the houses than getting actually scared.

This house was awful. Pretty much all I have to say about it.

Dead Exposure: In line at 6:13. Out of the house at 6:34.

Liked this house...I think. So dark. This would probably be a great house to see in the Behind the Screams Tour. I wish it was just a touch brighter in there.

Trick R Treat: In line at 6:43. Out of the house at 6:53.

I really like this house. Nice to see they reused some aspects of the scare zone from last year.

Seeds of Extinction: In line at 7. Out of the house at 7:22.

Enjoyed this house, definitely want to go back when it's dark.


On second reflection, I wish we had headed to the front of the park after Dead Exposure. Trick R Treat and Seeds stayed a bit lower for the next hour or so.

Waits were up at this time so we checked out all the scare zones and got a gelato waffle sundae (really good, prob not worth the $10 price tag, but it's theme park food so what are ya gonna do).

Vamp 85: Loved this so much. I wish I knew my 80s music better because I'm pretty sure that there are even more music icon vamps besides Thriller Michael Jackson, Prince and Run DMC.

Killer Klowns: Excellent. They even had the shadow puppets on the side of the building.

Chucky: I enjoyed it. It's pretty much just Chucky doing stand up and ripping on the audience.

Harvest/Twisted Traditions: I honestly don't know which is which. I thought the one with the pumpkins was just a pale imitation of the Trick R Treat zone there last year. The one at the front of the park is the typical selfie scare zone like usual.

House waits had stayed around an hour and we'd been up since 7 that morning so we tried one more.

Scary Tales: In line at 9:04, out of the house at 9:43. (posted wait said 55 minutes)

I reeeeeally liked this house. This was the only one we saw tonight after we got dark, so I'm sure that helped. Loved the witch and the lion was amazing. Got pretty wet in the Humpty Dumpty room, poor thing.


We are going again Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The game plan for Wednesday will be Finnegan's waiting area. We'll try for Stranger Things if we're near the front, if not Poltergeist will be up first then we'll knock out the front of the park then head for the back.

 

[sconnell]

All right.

So we got to the Simpsons holding area around 5.

I had got spots in the Passholder Q&A session tonight and completely forgot about it until 10 minutes after it started So much for that.

They let us out around 5:40. We headed to Slaughter.

Slaughter: In line at 5:45, out of the house at 6.

Liked this house, but will definitely have to go back when it's dark. Couldn't even see any of the film clips that should have been projected on the screen, way too bright for that.

Dead Exposure was still not open, so we went to Blumhouse.

Blumhouse: In line at 6:06, out of the house at 6:10. There was absolutely no one ahead of me so no safety conga line. Of course I got lost in a corner and went to some backstage area. I swear I'm the worst at that. I'm probably more afraid of getting lost in the houses than getting actually scared.

This house was awful. Pretty much all I have to say about it.

Dead Exposure: In line at 6:13. Out of the house at 6:34.

Liked this house...I think. So dark. This would probably be a great house to see in the Behind the Screams Tour. I wish it was just a touch brighter in there.

Trick R Treat: In line at 6:43. Out of the house at 6:53.

I really like this house. Nice to see they reused some aspects of the scare zone from last year.

Seeds of Extinction: In line at 7. Out of the house at 7:22.

Enjoyed this house, definitely want to go back when it's dark.


On second reflection, I wish we had headed to the front of the park after Dead Exposure. Trick R Treat and Seeds stayed a bit lower for the next hour or so.

Waits were up at this time so we checked out all the scare zones and got a gelato waffle sundae (really good, prob not worth the $10 price tag, but it's theme park food so what are ya gonna do).

Vamp 85: Loved this so much. I wish I knew my 80s music better because I'm pretty sure that there are even more music icon vamps besides Thriller Michael Jackson, Prince and Run DMC.

Killer Klowns: Excellent. They even had the shadow puppets on the side of the building.

Chucky: I enjoyed it. It's pretty much just Chucky doing stand up and ripping on the audience.

Harvest/Twisted Traditions: I honestly don't know which is which. I thought the one with the pumpkins was just a pale imitation of the Trick R Treat zone there last year. The one at the front of the park is the typical selfie scare zone like usual.

House waits had stayed around an hour and we'd been up since 7 that morning so we tried one more.

Scary Tales: In line at 9:04, out of the house at 9:43. (posted wait said 55 minutes)

I reeeeeally liked this house. This was the only one we saw tonight after we got dark, so I'm sure that helped. Loved the witch and the lion was amazing. Got pretty wet in the Humpty Dumpty room, poor thing.


We are going again Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The game plan for Wednesday will be Finnegan's waiting area. We'll try for Stranger Things if we're near the front, if not Poltergeist will be up first then we'll knock out the front of the park then head for the back.

Thanks for these details!

 

[nkereina]

Before 5-early yes but parking and lines into parking were bad from reports. Heck we went on a Thursday after 10 and the line to get through parking was backed up (free after 10pm). Get in early and eat at Citywalk and get to gates early too

Thanks. We were planning to get to City Walk around 2pm to do some shopping and have something to eat. We'll also be arriving via Uber, so parking and traffic are not a concern for us. What time would you recommend lining up at the gate to get into HHN?

 

[tony67]

Just got back - did 6 nights of HHN and the behind the scenes tour - probably wont have time to write up much before the weekend but:

1) if you can go on a Wednesday night it is far better than the weekends - the SAs were far more into it on Wednesday and seemed to be really having fun - not so much on the weekends - and Friday and Saturdays of both weekends were just crazy IMO

2) if you can wait till it gets darker out or wear sunglasses - it is hard to enjoy some of the houses until your eyes are adjusted - and you cant see the movies at the Slaughter Sinema till it gets darker

3) dont bother with the pre-mixed drinks unless you really just want the glass - they are about 1% alcohol (well maybe 2%) - I usually buy 2 so I can get 2 glasses and did not this year

4) get express pass- even with that some of the lines were a bit long - but still far better - I did Stranger Things every night and I dont think I ever waited more than 10-15 minutes - some of the other were probably 20 minutes as they merge in too soon - but still better than an hour for many of them

5) If you can do the behind the scenes tour it really improves the experience - the first weekend I was a bit disappointed overall - I did the tour and then the following weekend had a much better appreciation for everything

6) Find the HHN multi night cup as soon as you can - I think it is only in restaurants - I tried to get one the first few nights and had no luck - once I did find it it was not worthwhile for me

7) Finnegans used to be amazing - but now not so much IMO - I went there the first night and there is a line just to but a drink, you can only get 1 drink and getting back to the bar - even if you are in the place in next to impossible - I was in a roped off area and could not get back to the bar without going outside and getting in line again - normally I would go to Finnegans every night

8) the rest of the time - since I was staying on property AND had express pass - I showed about opening time and just used the resort entrance - that was pretty quick - other than on a Saturday - and I could just hang at one of the bars (get a real drink) and relax before HHN - went up to the back By MIB or Toon area and most of the houses were 15 minutes without express (if they were even open yet)

9) if you are at the on site hotels - even visiting - they have unfolded HHN maps that are on a harder card stock that are a cool (and free) souvenir

10) there are 2018 HHN tokens in the Universal Studio store at the left near the entrance just before the first scare zone to use on the Arcade machines - 2 for $1 - makes a nice souvenir as well

 

[Chumpieboy]

Not overly impressed with food options this year.........

Pizza fries we bought ended up in trash........fries with a slurry on top........not a fan of sweet options.

Drinks are mediocre...........shame. Still bought a couple of drinks to get souvenir cups though.........

Yeah - not a fan of the food-service too-sweet tomato sauce used for the pizza fries.

 

[Chumpieboy]

Question I'm curious about just because I've never been to universal in the fall - what is the park like in the day during HHN? Can you see the exterior of the houses as you walk around? Are any rides down?

The houses are either in soundstages whose entrances are away back stage or tents in the backstage areas. Either way there's nothing visible of the houses themselves during the day. There are covered signs at the entrances of the walkways to each house but if you didn't know it was HHN time you wouldn't know what these signs were for. Some of the set pieces for the scare zones are visible but nothing scary if you're worried about little kids seeing things.