Mog

Just a thought, although I am not a big fan of it, how would people feel about there being two stranger things houses with different themes from the show? That would go a long way to reducing the wait times. I cant see myself waiting 90+ minutes again this year for ST. It certainly won't be a priority for me. As far as I am concerned, the real highlight for me from last year was the original houses. I can t wait to see what Universal dream up and create this year. The original houses are getting so good, how long before a movie is released based on an original house theme?

I like the idea of another 3D house. I vote more of the houses should be originals, they were more memorable for me this year than the IP's were. All artists and performers involved did a great job in creating the original houses. (The IP's were very well done also)

Great review, pretty much agree on most things. I also noticed that it seemed far more family friendly this year. Maybe thats a reason why B&T got the axe? Just my opinion, but I hated the new show. I saw it twice to give it a chance, but the audience participation just made made me want to puke. Luckily not many took part. The show only worked anyway if you were sat on axis with the projectors, otherwise you missed most of the visual FX. Hope B&T or something like it comes back next year. Also this is the first year I have not got caught out by one of the roaming chainsaw hordes. The fact they have a security guy in a high-visibility jacket flanking them sort of spoiled any scares for me. I dont remember them being that visible in previous years?? But I still had a great time and am looking forward to next year.

Come to think of it, I do remember there being a two queues at Finnegans. They let out one lot first, then the second lot which we were in. We didnt queue in the first one because the second area had more places to sit. The first queue was tightly packed and standing in the sun. We had done over half the houses the day before, so were not in a great rush. I think you really have to prioritise what houses you want to go in. Zombiemans advice is good, keep a look out for the reduced price express pass if you need to.

Agree with you 100%, We stayed at Sapphire falls this year, after a night on your feet, the water taxis are great. Well worth the extra money. Last week when we were there, one of the hotel receptionists commented to us that all the onsite loews universal hotels were currently full to capacity! No wonder they are building new hotels. We dont rent a car during our stay. As you said, the car parking fees are very high. It also means we can have a beer and not worry. Good tip about the hotels though. We have provisionally booked Cabana bay because it is a bit cheaper at the moment, but will keep an eye on Sapphire falls rates.

Hey Zombieman, Thanks for the welcome, this really looks like a great forum. Appreciate the information you have shared. I enjoyed this year so much, I have already booked a hotel for next year, hoping to go last week in September. Hopefully the weather will be kind, and I can save enough money. I was in Orlando and planning to visit hhn when hurricane Mathew clipped the state in 2016. I was amazed how quickly and how hard the people at Universal worked to get the show back on. I think it only disrupted one night, but destroyed the Academy of villains stage (but I hear that happens a lot anyway ) So I try not to worry too much about the weather, and just make the best of it. Not being a big stranger things fan, I wasnt really that bothered about it, so I dont understand all the hype and the wait times. I actually preferred the houses like slaughter sinema and dead exposure, as you had no idea what you were walking into. Both of these we were able to get into multiple times with hardly any waiting.

Hi Casper, We might have been unlucky as far as wait times go, the park was very busy. From what I saw, (I could be wrong), they opened all the houses at the same time. As soon as finnegans area opened everyone seemed to go straight for stranger things. The stranger things queue didnt start moving for another 10 minutes after that, I think they were basically pre-loading the house queue. This is all before the main gates opened. I never saw the wait times for ST below 60 minutes on any night we went. Hghest wait time we saw was 95 minutes late on Friday night. Poltergeist and Halloween also got busy as the night went on. (We probably waited 30 mins for Poltergeist, 45 for Halloween). Like I said, we could have just picked a bad week. Orlando seemed very busy in general. Maybe people evacuated there to avoid the hurricane? The wait times dont feel as bad when you are in them, there is an amazing 80's soundtrack being blasted around the park. Great atmosphere. Have a great time

My first post here. Just wanted to share my experience of this years HHN. I really love this event, we save up and look forward to going to it every year. Been going to the event since hhn#25, only just really discovered this forum, it has some great information. We went last week (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). Managed to get through all the houses and see the show on Wednesday and Thursday. Spent Friday enjoying the food and beer, and just chilling out in the scarezones. Really busy this year. We did not have express pass. My tip (as others have pointed out), is to get a map early, really spend time planning the night, and if you are able, get in the park before the event starts. Wednesday we went to the Simpsons stay and scare area, then hit the houses in that area. Very low wait times to begin with. The highlight for me was going through Trick R treat house on our own, no other people in the queue or in the house!. We had the scareactors full attention! Really well done house. Thursday, we started in Finnegans stay and scare area. We started with stranger things to get it over with whilst we were not tired. They pre-loaded the queue before the house (and park) officially opened, we still had about a 60 minute wait!! Great to get all the houses done in two nights without express. Was a great year. Only thing that let it down a bit for me was the scarezones being a little tame. They just felt like selfie/photo ops (especially the killer klown area). Very few scares. But to be fair, I have never seen the park as busy as it was this year. The houses were excellent though. Looking forward to HHN 29 now!