What rides are open at HHN 12?

[BryceM]

I won a local radio contest where I won 4 tickets to HHN, 4 tickets to either Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure, a completely paid for hotel, an "R.I.P. Tour" and a general parking pass! (yay, so excited!)

My question is, what rides are open during HHN? My dad isn't completely enthralled with the idea of being constantly scared and has never liked it, but I really want to use these HHN and free hotel tickets now (of course) and the actual park tickets later in the year. I just want to be able to actually ride the normal rides with him though, specifically HRRR, RotM, MIB, Minion Mayhem and The Simpsons Ride.

And also, how long will the wait times be on October 28th? And does anyone know what the "R.I.P. Tour" actually is?

P.S. by HHN 12, I clearly mean HHN 22.

 

[cheezbat]

Despicable Me, Shrek 4-D, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Revenge of the Mummy, Men In Black, and the Simpsons ride were all open the night I went last week.

 

[BryceM]

Despicable Me, Shrek 4-D, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Revenge of the Mummy, Men In Black, and the Simpsons ride were all open the night I went last week.

Really? That's awesome! Thank you! I hope I can convince my dad to take me, since my mom has already opted out and I'm sure that I can't drive down there by myself and stay at a hotel by myself. (which I totally would, but I don't think anyone under 18 can stay at a hotel by themselves)

 

[timeman]

The one thing is that you will not have to worry about the lines for any of the rides or houses. You will need to see what time they have you set up for the RIP Tour and make sure you check in at least 45 minutes before at guest services. They actually have a separate place for you to check in, so you won't have to wait in the crowd to get in. The VIP Guest Security checkpoint will be on the far right side of the entry plaza for Universal. The tour guide will take you to all the houses a back way and you will not have to stand in any lines for them. After the tour you can use the RIP lanyard you are given as an Express Pass for all the rides that have Express Pass. If your father doesn't want to go through the houses the tour guide can tell him where to wait for the group to exit. You also get reserved seating to the Bill & Ted show also. The tour usually lasts around 4 hours. Since you have four tickets make sure you to get some friends to go with you. You can reach the VIP Services by either calling 407-363-8295 and choose option 2, or you can email them at viptours@universalorlando.com with any questions about the RIP tour.

 

[BryceM]

The one thing is that you will not have to worry about the lines for any of the rides or houses. You will need to see what time they have you set up for the RIP Tour and make sure you check in at least 45 minutes before at guest services. They actually have a separate place for you to check in, so you won't have to wait in the crowd to get in. The VIP Guest Security checkpoint will be on the far right side of the entry plaza for Universal. The tour guide will take you to all the houses a back way and you will not have to stand in any lines for them. After the tour you can use the RIP lanyard you are given as an Express Pass for all the rides that have Express Pass. If your father doesn't want to go through the houses the tour guide can tell him where to wait for the group to exit. You also get reserved seating to the Bill & Ted show also. The tour usually lasts around 4 hours. Since you have four tickets make sure you to get some friends to go with you. You can reach the VIP Services by either calling 407-363-8295 and choose option 2, or you can email them at viptours@universalorlando.com with any questions about the RIP tour.

Thank you so much!

 

[BryceM]

Despicable Me, Shrek 4-D, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Revenge of the Mummy, Men In Black, and the Simpsons ride were all open the night I went last week.

And do the rides close at a certain time or are they open throughout the night?

 

[Skip]

And do the rides close at a certain time or are they open throughout the night?

The rides should be open all night. I'm surprised Shrek was open - it wasn't last week when I went. The rides advertised as "open" (and thus the only guarantees) are Rockit, Mummy, Men in Black, Simpsons, and Despicable Me. All rides will have an Express line except Rockit. I recommend hitting Rockit ten minutes or so before the park closes... they'll advertise the wait as something crazy like 60 to 90 minutes, but it's never been more than 30 when I've done this tactic. Rockit at night in the cool air is a brilliant way to cap your evening. (And you don't waste valuable HHN hours standing in the line.)

 

[Timekeeper]

I haven't seen Shrek open yet either. I don't see the need, especially since the bigger/better/newer Dispicable Me has had such short wait times...

 

[HTF]

As we prepare for Hell Week, look for additions to be made to the line up to handle and disperse crowds.

 

[Skip]

As we prepare for Hell Week, look for additions to be made to the line up to handle and disperse crowds.

They're going to need all of the help they can get - Universal really screwed up operations/crowd flow this year with the lack of an 8th house, no scare zones to specifically visit, and numerous construction detours. But what rides to open? Despicable Me barely draws a crowd - it only gets the wait it gets because it's new. Shrek would likely do little to nothing... Disaster, Twister, and ET are out due to their queues/exits being heavily involved in house infrastructure.

Could we see a cross over to Marvel Superhero Island for Hulk, Spider-Man, and Fearfall? Wouldn't be the first time... Maybe one of the new reported "permanent zones" could make a home there.

 

[timeman]

I just got back from Orlando last night and did the RIP tour Sunday night. Once you have done the RIP Tour you will never want to do HHN without it. Our tour was suppose to start at 9pm, but since everybody was checked in way before than, we started at 8:30pm instead. Your tour group will have a set time to be at the Bill & Ted show, so before that time you will hit a few houses. Depending on the time of the tour and the tour guide, you may start with the three houses between the entrance & Men In Black or you may do the three houses between Despicable Me & Twister, since these are all close together. We did two rides during the tour and after the tour you can use the tour lanyard as an express pass. The rides are open until closing, so after the tour you hit the rides until the park closes that night. I would at least try to get your dad to go thru at least one house as he might actually like it and want to go thru the other houses.

 

[BryceM]

I just got back from Orlando last night and did the RIP tour Sunday night. Once you have done the RIP Tour you will never want to do HHN without it. Our tour was suppose to start at 9pm, but since everybody was checked in way before than, we started at 8:30pm instead. Your tour group will have a set time to be at the Bill & Ted show, so before that time you will hit a few houses. Depending on the time of the tour and the tour guide, you may start with the three houses between the entrance & Men In Black or you may do the three houses between Despicable Me & Twister, since these are all close together. We did two rides during the tour and after the tour you can use the tour lanyard as an express pass. The rides are open until closing, so after the tour you hit the rides until the park closes that night. I would at least try to get your dad to go thru at least one house as he might actually like it and want to go thru the other houses.

Thank you so much! This was very helpful!

Where do I meet to start the tour? Do I enter the park through the normal gates? I still have yet to find out what time my tour starts...

 

[timeman]

You will not enter through the normal gates. Once you go under the arch head immediately to your right, toward guest services. to the left of the guest services windows you will see a door that says VIP Tours. This is where you will enter. The door is locked, so just knock on it as there will be somebody just inside and they will open it for you and check you in for the tour.

If you look at the arch with the Penn & Teller banner you can see a doorway. This is the door for VIP Tours where you will want to go. The awning to the right of it is guest services. I have always entered from inside the park for HHN, so I'm not sure where the VIP Security Checkpoint is, but it should be somewhere over to the right of the main arch before you go under that arch as they have the security checkpoints set up under that arch for the normal guests.. They have the gates closed on the smaller arches during HHN nights, so they may use one of these as the entrance for VIP Tours. Over to the right of these arches is usually a security guard station at the walkway entrance for the Hard Rock entrance and if you don't see the VIP Security checkpoint in that area ask him and he may be able to point it out to you.

 

[BryceM]

Wow, thank you so much!