JPH

It's supposed to be the top of the lantern.

Yep, does not matter as long as you are in the park before it closes. They don't really care how you get in as long as you have your HHN ticket.

Upgrading to stay and scream equates to purchasing a discounted HHN ticket. Depending on what day it will be $35 (Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday), $50 (Friday), or $65 (Saturday).

Yes, definitely go for Express if you want to make sure you get to see houses twice if you want. Just make sure you are in the park in plenty of time before they close the gates around 5 or you'll have to wait to get in with everyone else. It's usually slower the week of Halloween as others have said, so I'd go at that time. As far as what actual day, it's hard to say. I was there the entire last week last year and didn't really notice any difference.

No - as long as you have regular day time park admission and any form of HHN admission (obviously get the stay and scream ticket if you have regular park admission since it's cheaper), you can wait in a special holding area (usually in NY/Finnegans area and Kidzone) and get a head start on the houses. Stay and Scream is just a discounted ticket for those who have daytime park admission. Express is extra and like I said, you wouldn't use it until the lines get longer.

If you take advantage of Stay & Scream (i.e. enter the studios with your regular park admission before it closes to guests to prepare for the night), you'll be able to hit a majority (if not all if you walk fast) of the houses with no or very little wait. Most definitely do not use your express early on or if you are only looking at a minimal wait. I see people use their express passes every year when there is no wait and it makes no sense. Once the lines start getting long, use your express pass.

I think it's confusing because the concept art is for the inside right wall of the facade and not a straight-on view. You can see the ramp leading up to the house at the bottom of the drawing which makes it a little clearer.

The square tapered columns on the porch, along with the way the lites are divided in the window (and the door drawing we got on the earlier website) give the house a Craftsman style look which would be at least late 1800s.

I think the LT house being somewhat elevated could be for some interesting effects that haven't been pulled off so well in past houses. Note on permit a few days ago: Something to think about anyway.

I just noticed that if you look at the file name of the detective looking guy from the news/media site, it's called "steam monger character". Not exactly revealing but interesting anyway.

I get more of a Dia de los Muertos feel from that costume more than anything else. The black part of the costume has a Spanish look to it, similar to a bullfighting costume.

Yeah - and if you look at the facade from Shadybrook asylum (you can google and compare to the paper model) it has a lot of the same details.

General public gets in around 6:30. The park clears everyone out at 5:00 and everyone who has HHN admission can go to a stay & scream area that lets out to go to certain houses around 5:45. Like C_D said, A RIP tour is also a good option but you could get stuck with a group of obnoxious people you have to hang out with all night unless you go private ($$$). That happened to me last year - the people in our group were already drunk when they got to the park and were acting like children the whole time. Generally others on tours I've taken have been just fine, but it's always a risk.

Saturday will be packed so if you're going for one night Express would definitely help. You might also consider doing "Stay & Scream" if you have regular park admission. That way you can get to at least 2 or 3 houses before it opens to the public and there won't be bad "conga lines" at that point. I always do stay & scream and sometimes there is no one in front of me while walking through the houses. If you do that, don't waste your express early in the night since there will be very little wait early on and you can circle back and use express to experience the houses a second time. It's possible to do every house twice if you hurry.

That's right. It's called a RIP tour. Here are the prices from last year: Non-Private (you'll be in a group of no more than 12 people): $150.00+tax per person on non-peak nights, $175.00 on peak nights Private: Non-peak night $1,500.00+tax per group of up to 12), Peak night $1,800.00+tax per group of up to 12)

Unfortunately. Hopefully we'll see at least the code named permits show up mid-May like we did last year.

As I posted "over there", if you look at the original permit, there is a note at the bottom that references that same 1/27/2010 date about the plan documents being scanned. I think the SCN records just indicate that the drawings from the original permit have been scanned and provides a cross reference back to the original permit. There are other recent SCN records for other Universal projects such as Harry Potter, parade building construction, Mel's, etc.

My first year was 2007 - Carnival of Carnage. I've been going to Universal since the year they opened the gates but somehow managed to stay in the dark about the event until then. I actually read about HHN on Screamscape <gasp> sometime that summer when the first spoilers were posted and booked a quick trip to see what it was all about. Now we're hooked and go every year. Last year I ended up going for two event weeks (once mid-October and the last week), every night of the event from open 'til close. All that walking led to a stress fracture in my knee once I got home so I had two weeks of walking on crutches along with some great meds to recover! I'm already training for this year... if they have 10 houses I'm going to need it.

I think you have a very good point there. Maybe the reason for the website unfolding so slowly?

I'm still hodling out hope for UTH even though the closer we get without hearing about it, the chances are slim. It seems like there are some inconsistencies depending on whether you call or speak to VIP tours in person. A lot of people that said they called have been told a straight out "No" for some time now, but I've asked several times in person pretty recently and every time it's that they haven't heard one way or another. Maybe that's changed in the past few days. Regardless, I'm going to sign up for a RIP tour.

I agree and mentioned that elsewhere but it was shot down. Some can't wrap their heads around the fact that recycled things are used for the event all the time, especially things that need to look older.