Official Halloween Horror Nights 2018 thread

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
(Part 2)

I got to the front gate of USF just before 5:00pm. I managed to find a spot in the shade near the gate itself to wait until park opening. I was towards the front of the line, but it was still a long, hot wait before we could get inside. The one cool thing was seeing all the monsters rush to the turnstiles just before opening and hearing the crowd cheer.

Like the rest of the mob I went straight to Stranger Things. In hindsight, that was a mistake. the Scareactor Diners (which I thought I had booked...ugh), were already filling up the queue which meant the line was already an hour long when I got there. It did peak at 2 almost immediately, but had I known it was going to let down later in the night I would have done something else first. However, since it was the only maze I REALLY wanted to see, I was impatient to see it.

But it was awesome. They did a fantastic job recreating the sets and finding look alikes for all the characters (something I did not expect). It was so busy inside I could see many of the scares coming, but the Demogorgon still got me at times.

I had dinner at the Monster Cafe anyway, which reopened around 7:30pm. This is my favourite place to eat in the park.

Next I went to Diagon Alley for the first time. Was jarring going from the tone of HHN to Harry Potter, but the place still looks great. So great in fact, it kind of makes the rest of USF look bad in comparison. Gringotts queue was fantastic, but the ride was just OK. Didn't help that everyone in line talked through both preshows so I couldn't hear anything.

Next was Mummy and Transformers (which was oddly closing at 11:00pm, 3 hours before the rest of the event). Mummy is still the best ride in the park IMO. Transformers gave me a bit of motion sickness, that I did not remember last time.

Of the three scare zones I saw, Vamp 85 was the best if for no other reason than the music. Fun to see people dancing and screaming at the same time. Chainsaw guys were on the path to London and they were more annoying than anything else IMO. Sticking to the sidewalk did help to avoid them.

And then...I left. It was 10:00pm by this time and the park was so hot and busy I was done. I did not do any other rides or mazes or see the AoV show. In hindsight, it was not the best idea to go on the last night of Rush of Fear, or go without Express. Starting out on the wrong foot didn't help either and I found the crowds to be more obnoxious than the usual Universal mix (dumb teens and middle aged men acting like dumb teens). If I had to do it again, I would have started with Poltergeist and Scary Tales than did the rides and then ST.

It was my first time and I made rookie mistakes. Would I go again? Depends upon what themes they do and what nights I can go.
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
(Part 2)

I got to the front gate of USF just before 5:00pm. I managed to find a spot in the shade near the gate itself to wait until park opening. I was towards the front of the line, but it was still a long, hot wait before we could get inside. The one cool thing was seeing all the monsters rush to the turnstiles just before opening and hearing the crowd cheer.

Like the rest of the mob I went straight to Stranger Things. In hindsight, that was a mistake. the Scareactor Diners (which I thought I had booked...ugh), were already filling up the queue which meant the line was already an hour long when I got there. It did peak at 2 almost immediately, but had I known it was going to let down later in the night I would have done something else first. However, since it was the only maze I REALLY wanted to see, I was impatient to see it.

But it was awesome. They did a fantastic job recreating the sets and finding look alikes for all the characters (something I did not expect). It was so busy inside I could see many of the scares coming, but the Demogorgon still got me at times.

I had dinner at the Monster Cafe anyway, which reopened around 7:30pm. This is my favourite place to eat in the park.

Next I went to Diagon Alley for the first time. Was jarring going from the tone of HHN to Harry Potter, but the place still looks great. So great in fact, it kind of makes the rest of USF look bad in comparison. Gringotts queue was fantastic, but the ride was just OK. Didn't help that everyone in line talked through both preshows so I couldn't hear anything.

Next was Mummy and Transformers (which was oddly closing at 11:00pm, 3 hours before the rest of the event). Mummy is still the best ride in the park IMO. Transformers gave me a bit of motion sickness, that I did not remember last time.

Of the three scare zones I saw, Vamp 85 was the best if for no other reason than the music. Fun to see people dancing and screaming at the same time. Chainsaw guys were on the path to London and they were more annoying than anything else IMO. Sticking to the sidewalk did help to avoid them.

And then...I left. It was 10:00pm by this time and the park was so hot and busy I was done. I did not do any other rides or mazes or see the AoV show. In hindsight, it was not the best idea to go on the last night of Rush of Fear, or go without Express. Starting out on the wrong foot didn't help either and I found the crowds to be more obnoxious than the usual Universal mix (dumb teens and middle aged men acting like dumb teens). If I had to do it again, I would have started with Poltergeist and Scary Tales than did the rides and then ST.

It was my first time and I made rookie mistakes. Would I go again? Depends upon what themes they do and what nights I can go.
Sounds like my first time absent the ticket snafu. It gets better now that you have the lay of the land.
 

raven

Well-Known Member
(Part 2)

I got to the front gate of USF just before 5:00pm. I managed to find a spot in the shade near the gate itself to wait until park opening. I was towards the front of the line, but it was still a long, hot wait before we could get inside. The one cool thing was seeing all the monsters rush to the turnstiles just before opening and hearing the crowd cheer.

Like the rest of the mob I went straight to Stranger Things. In hindsight, that was a mistake. the Scareactor Diners (which I thought I had booked...ugh), were already filling up the queue which meant the line was already an hour long when I got there. It did peak at 2 almost immediately, but had I known it was going to let down later in the night I would have done something else first. However, since it was the only maze I REALLY wanted to see, I was impatient to see it.

But it was awesome. They did a fantastic job recreating the sets and finding look alikes for all the characters (something I did not expect). It was so busy inside I could see many of the scares coming, but the Demogorgon still got me at times.

I had dinner at the Monster Cafe anyway, which reopened around 7:30pm. This is my favourite place to eat in the park.

Next I went to Diagon Alley for the first time. Was jarring going from the tone of HHN to Harry Potter, but the place still looks great. So great in fact, it kind of makes the rest of USF look bad in comparison. Gringotts queue was fantastic, but the ride was just OK. Didn't help that everyone in line talked through both preshows so I couldn't hear anything.

Next was Mummy and Transformers (which was oddly closing at 11:00pm, 3 hours before the rest of the event). Mummy is still the best ride in the park IMO. Transformers gave me a bit of motion sickness, that I did not remember last time.

Of the three scare zones I saw, Vamp 85 was the best if for no other reason than the music. Fun to see people dancing and screaming at the same time. Chainsaw guys were on the path to London and they were more annoying than anything else IMO. Sticking to the sidewalk did help to avoid them.

And then...I left. It was 10:00pm by this time and the park was so hot and busy I was done. I did not do any other rides or mazes or see the AoV show. In hindsight, it was not the best idea to go on the last night of Rush of Fear, or go without Express. Starting out on the wrong foot didn't help either and I found the crowds to be more obnoxious than the usual Universal mix (dumb teens and middle aged men acting like dumb teens). If I had to do it again, I would have started with Poltergeist and Scary Tales than did the rides and then ST.

It was my first time and I made rookie mistakes. Would I go again? Depends upon what themes they do and what nights I can go.
Attendance for HHN gets extremely crowded in October. This weekend they’ve been sold out every night. Crowd numbers were still very high when it closed at 2am.

Most of the rides that are open for HHN close before the event ends (except Rip Ride Rocket). This is normal actually because it gives 3rd shift maintenance time to work on them since that park opens at 8am currently.

Stranger Things is the main pull for guests attending HHN this year and Universal has really pushed hard in advertising for it. But it’s not a scary show by any means. The house is more just scenes from the show which is done very well, but it isn’t scary per se. The underdogs for the event this year have really surprised people and guest reviews have put Poltergeist and Dead Exposure on the top of their lists.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
I was there tonight. It was absolutely insane, the busiest HHN night I've ever seen. They seriously need to sell less tickets because for a while there it was a nightmare. It finally eased up a bit around 12:30 AM but even then the crowds were still huge when normally this is the time when most of the houses start having short waits.

On a positive note, every house's wait time ended up being much shorter than what was posted, and all of the lines were continuously moving - I noticed a very strong lack of Express pass holders, especially for such a busy night. I suppose when Express is up to $150 less people want to buy it. I also suspect that the reason the wait times were over-posted is they are calculating based on nights where more people have Express.

I don't see any reason why the rides can't at least stay open until midnight, and if Rocket, Mummy, and MIB can run until closing, why can't Transformers, Gringotts, and Fast & Furious? They very clearly NEED the capacity the rides add if they're going to be selling out event nights regularly now.
 

JT3000

Well-Known Member
Not only was it super crowded, last night was also Obnoxious Teenagers Night. I sadly didn't get the memo. Guess I'm too old.
 

macefamily

Well-Known Member
I must say that the stretch on the right side of the outdoor ampitheater that runs from New York to underneath the Rip Ride Rocket is filled with drunken idiots. We went to use the bathroom when we were down there last year, and there was a guy puking in one of the stalls. People were smoking, cursing, and obviously hammered. It was the same this year. Where's security ?
On a positive note, I have to say that the pizza fries located in Kidzone were awesome. A nice portion loaded with pepperoni, sausage, and gooey mozzarella.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member

macefamily

Well-Known Member
I had to send that pic to my wife and kids. That is crazy !! Entrance to Universal is slow enough in my opinion. That must take more than an hour to get in. I always seem to get behind someone whose ticket won't scan and I end up standing there for an additional 10 minutes. Why don't they have separate lines for Annual Pass Holders ?
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
I had to send that pic to my wife and kids. That is crazy !! Entrance to Universal is slow enough in my opinion. That must take more than an hour to get in. I always seem to get behind someone whose ticket won't scan and I end up standing there for an additional 10 minutes. Why don't they have separate lines for Annual Pass Holders ?
They do for HHN
 

The_Jobu

Well-Known Member

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Yeah, it needs to be re-iterated so more people complain - they should sell at least 30% fewer nightly tickets than they do. If it means adding more nights like Mickey's Not-So-Scary, then so be it.
 

JT3000

Well-Known Member
Photo of crowds from last night:
https://www.facebook.com/HHNCrypt/photos/pcb.1846216078759466/1846215622092845


Obnoxious teenagers and trashy drunk adults are par for the course for Halloween Horror Nights. This, combined with the insane crowd levels, makes for one extremely overrated event - even if the houses are really good.

While the event does usually have those things, I go to HHN at least once a week and this was definitely an abnormality. Apparently area schools had Monday off.

Yeah, it needs to be re-iterated so more people complain - they should sell at least 30% fewer nightly tickets than they do. If it means adding more nights like Mickey's Not-So-Scary, then so be it.

It already begins midway through September and ends after Halloween. Adding any more nights would be pushing it. Sadly I don't think there's any practical solution to the crowds other than raising prices even higher. Even if they agree to sell less tickets, that will be the inevitable side-effect of such a decision.

Of course, it would also help if they had given us another show that wasn't playing to a half empty theater.
 

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
I was there tonight. It was absolutely insane, the busiest HHN night I've ever seen. They seriously need to sell less tickets because for a while there it was a nightmare. It finally eased up a bit around 12:30 AM but even then the crowds were still huge when normally this is the time when most of the houses start having short waits.

On a positive note, every house's wait time ended up being much shorter than what was posted, and all of the lines were continuously moving - I noticed a very strong lack of Express pass holders, especially for such a busy night. I suppose when Express is up to $150 less people want to buy it. I also suspect that the reason the wait times were over-posted is they are calculating based on nights where more people have Express.
Were you there Sunday? I was there as well and it definitely felt more crowded than any other day I've been. However, posted wait times seem not even close to accurate, even on Sunday. The wait is almost half of what's posted every time, it's almost not even worth looking at it.
 

raven

Well-Known Member
Yeah, it needs to be re-iterated so more people complain - they should sell at least 30% fewer nightly tickets than they do. If it means adding more nights like Mickey's Not-So-Scary, then so be it.
They added 2 more Wednesday’s this year that were announced before the event started. And last week they announced they are adding Oct. 30th as well.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Were you there Sunday? I was there as well and it definitely felt more crowded than any other day I've been. However, posted wait times seem not even close to accurate, even on Sunday. The wait is almost half of what's posted every time, it's almost not even worth looking at it.
Yeah I was there on Sunday. Apparently all the area schools were off Monday and that contributed to the high crowds. Since all these kids can’t afford the express pass, that’s probably why the lines were still fast.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Photo of crowds from last night:
https://www.facebook.com/HHNCrypt/photos/pcb.1846216078759466/1846215622092845


Obnoxious teenagers and trashy drunk adults are par for the course for Halloween Horror Nights. This, combined with the insane crowd levels, makes for one extremely overrated event - even if the houses are really good.
Go at opening, leave by 10 or 11, and avoid hell week. Honestly, you sometimes see a bit of bad behavior at HHN, but the crudity of the crowd gets blown way out of proportion. In over a decade of attendance, sometimes on multiple nights of the event, I’ve never really encountered any truly misbehaving crowds.
 

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
Yeah I was there on Sunday. Apparently all the area schools were off Monday and that contributed to the high crowds. Since all these kids can’t afford the express pass, that’s probably why the lines were still fast.
I took off from work Monday not even realizing schools had off. I thought that would have been a good night to go, ha. Unlucky.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
My bruises and countless witness statements as a scareactor beg to differ.
Oh, I have no doubt that scareactors are subject to a great amount of guest idiocy - and worse. I don’t mean to diminish that at all. They do a great job, and people are often belligerent fools. I was simply opining that, in my experience, while crowds are certainly more raucous then those during the day, they aren’t such a riotous mob that they ruin the event. And as I suggested, unlike scareactors, guests can take steps to avoid the worst times.
 

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