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Tickets, Pricing, and General Event Operation Questions


JDW
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I still can't decide if I want RoF with or without express for opening weekend. I've been told one way or the other by various HHN experts. Some say it's a waste of money, other's say it's worth it. I would love to get away with not spending the extra money. However, I hate waiting longer than 20 minutes in line for any attraction. Maybe I should go without on Friday, and decide if I want one for Saturday night?

Honestly, I have never gotten an express pass since I have started attending in 2009 and I have ALWAYS been able to get through every house in one night and (depending on how busy the night is) repeat a couple of houses. That being said, I do waste time in lines, but that's what spouses/friends are for. I usually attend multiple nights and divide the rides/shows/scarezones between the nights so that I can see everything.

I guess it all comes down to which do you hate more: spending extra money or waiting longer than 20 minutes?

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This will be my 4th year going to HHN but I would like to offer some advice to people who buy Express passes. I see it every year and it upsets me. An express pass you can only use one time for each house and ride. If the wait is 30 mins or lower, wait it out and save that pass. I tried to stop a group from using it on CitW and they literally gave me the middle finger, later that night i saw them going through it again in the stand by line, i think the wait was 180 or something crazy like that. Moral of the story, don't be dumb with your express. With great power comes great responsibility xD

Ha ha ha. We've gone into our first house after hanging out in Finnegan's and saw idiots using their express passes...we literally walked up side by side and waited at the house for it to open since it wasn't quite ready. Having said that...it's worth EVERY PENNY on Fri and Sat night if you're like me and out of state and only down for one weekend (granted, we go Thur-Sun) and want to be sure to do every house at least once each night. We were idiots the first two years we went and paid full price (I think $79) for each night. So now that we get the Rush of Fear + Express, it seems like a bargain at $200 for 4 nights.

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Honestly, I have never gotten an express pass since I have started attending in 2009 and I have ALWAYS been able to get through every house in one night and (depending on how busy the night is) repeat a couple of houses. That being said, I do waste time in lines, but that's what spouses/friends are for. I usually attend multiple nights and divide the rides/shows/scarezones between the nights so that I can see everything.

I guess it all comes down to which do you hate more: spending extra money or waiting longer than 20 minutes?

I made the same argument for years...and now will NEVER go back :) We like to check out the shows, rides and scarezones when we go, and with the Express, we never have a problem doing every house at least once. Most nights, we'll do a full sprint through the houses, then have a few frosty beverages and check out the zones, then use our express pass on the 3 or 4 longest waits, then hit the rides, then do the last 4 houses. Then it's people watching, Scarezone exploring, picture taking, and another frosty beverage or two and maybe catch a show. Then, when the crowds die down, hit the short wait houses again.

I don't think I'd do it for one day, because the cost per day isn't worth it. But with Rush of Fear for 4 nights...paying $25 extra per night to guarantee you get to do everything you want is well worth it for me.

PS - LET'S GO YANKEES!

(sorry, reflexes when I see someone with Mass in their profile)

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Ha ha ha. We've gone into our first house after hanging out in Finnegan's and saw idiots using their express passes...we literally walked up side by side and waited at the house for it to open since it wasn't quite ready. Having said that...it's worth EVERY PENNY on Fri and Sat night if you're like me and out of state and only down for one weekend (granted, we go Thur-Sun) and want to be sure to do every house at least once each night. We were idiots the first two years we went and paid full price (I think $79) for each night. So now that we get the Rush of Fear + Express, it seems like a bargain at $200 for 4 nights.

LMAO the first year i went that happened multiple times...with the same group. I didn't understand at the time that you could only use it once. Looking back on that i find it so hilarious. But that is so true about Friday's and Saturday's. I've seen lines get up to 300 min waits. It gets insane. But if you go multiple nights than you definitely get your money's worth and get to experience everything. But when you have that express pass you don't feel rushed to get out of one house and run essentially to another. My group of friends always wait until the sun goes down to start going into houses. Express, in my mind, is so worth the price.

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Hey I was wondering does anyone know the set times for Cast A and B? I have always tried to go to each house twice in order to enjoy both casts, but I never knew when they switched so I had to cross my fingers and hope they were the other cast, and usually I could tell the differences.

Is there a schedule for each cast to switch or do they switch every 30 min/ every hour?

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About the "should I get express" talk: it really boils down to whether or not you want to wait in lines.

It's not necessary any night of the event, honestly. Let's say you don't do Stay and Scream or any kind of early entry and get into the park at 6 when the main gates open on the busiest night of the event. You don't start at the house everyone else is starting at (in this case, FDTD). You start at the SECOND house. If opening times are the same as last year, your best bet is to start at AvP which will already be open with at most a 15-20 min wait. Then TWD right next door at 6:30 with a similar wait. Skip Dracula for later as it is sure to have the shortest wait of the SSs and go to Giggles at Disaster. Then Halloween in Tent 2, then Roanoke, then Dollhouse. There's 6 knocked out right there and would probably still be around 8, and then lines will be pushing towards the 60-130 min range. If you want to do at least your 2 favorites more than once, go do FDTD and Dracula at this time with waits probably around 60-75, then shows/rides/repeats. If you're content with seeing every house once per night, then now go see the shows, eat, do some rides, then after 12:30 do the remaining 2 houses with at most 45-60 min waits.

Express is never a necessity. If you don't mind waiting in lines, it's a waste of money, especially on the nights where it's $79-109. If you're going during a busy time and want to do a lot of repeats, then it's very much worth it. But if you want to see everything just once (or once per night), you don't need it.


Hey I was wondering does anyone know the set times for Cast A and B? I have always tried to go to each house twice in order to enjoy both casts, but I never knew when they switched so I had to cross my fingers and hope they were the other cast, and usually I could tell the differences.
Is there a schedule for each cast to switch or do they switch every 30 min/ every hour?

I don't know specifics or anything, but knowing when a few of the houses will open will help you determine.

(this is assuming they start with Cast A every night, which they might not do)

Cast changes are every 45 minutes, so just count sets of 45 from the time the house opened. For example, AvP will open at 5:45 with cast A. Then 6:30 for cast B, 7:15 for cast A, etc.

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In my case Express is an absolute necessity.

I have read all the various scenarios about how to do all the houses without Express and they all boil down to one thing: you have to arrive at opening and go into houses immediately during daylight hours.

I don't know if it genetic, or is related to some sort of impairment or what - but the light differential is apparently much worse for me than for most of you.

Should I enter a house before the sun has set, I might as well walk through it blindfolded.

I reluctantly went into Dracula: Legacy of Blood with some friends back on the opening night of HHN 19 right about 6:00. I was unable to see anything at all, no details whatsoever. That was HOTY in 2009 and all it was for me on the first walkthrough was noise and dark.

I vaguely made out a doorway in one room and thinking it was the exit into the next scene I staggered blind my hands extended and thus accidentally grabbed the face of the poor scareactor whose Boo-Hole I was mistakenly entering!

Fortunately I had many opportunities later to experience that house after dark when I could actually see in there.

But if I had no Express? And was only able to go on the one night? That blind embarrassing stagger would have been my only walkthrough.

So, for me at least, there really is no other option as I simply cannot enjoy a house until after full dark.

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In my case Express is an absolute necessity.

I have read all the various scenarios about how to do all the houses without Express and they all boil down to one thing: you have to arrive at opening and go into houses immediately during daylight hours.

I don't know if it genetic, or is related to some sort of impairment or what - but the light differential is apparently much worse for me than for most of you.

Should I enter a house before the sun has set, I might as well walk through it blindfolded.

I reluctantly went into Dracula: Legacy of Blood with some friends back on the opening night of HHN 19 right about 6:00. I was unable to see anything at all, no details whatsoever. That was HOTY in 2009 and all it was for me on the first walkthrough was noise and dark.

I vaguely made out a doorway in one room and thinking it was the exit into the next scene I staggered blind my hands extended and thus accidentally grabbed the face of the poor scareactor whose Boo-Hole I was mistakenly entering!

Fortunately I had many opportunities later to experience that house after dark when I could actually see in there.

But if I had no Express? And was only able to go on the one night? That blind embarrassing stagger would have been my only walkthrough.

So, for me at least, there really is no other option as I simply cannot enjoy a house until after full dark.

I totally agree on the going after dark. My group of friends usually do rides until the sun goes down. I would imagine it would be even worse going through a sprung tent house while there is still light out. (Not sure if the house you were talking about was in a sprung tent or a sound stage lol) Express for me is also must have. Hearing all of these plans for doing everything in one night just sounds exhausting and there is no way they can appreciate all the minute details, especially this year with all that's going into Halloween and AvP. I also need my Rocky Horror or else my HHN experience isn't the same :D

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Guest kiwisoup

In my case Express is an absolute necessity.

I have read all the various scenarios about how to do all the houses without Express and they all boil down to one thing: you have to arrive at opening and go into houses immediately during daylight hours.

I don't know if it genetic, or is related to some sort of impairment or what - but the light differential is apparently much worse for me than for most of you.

Should I enter a house before the sun has set, I might as well walk through it blindfolded.

I reluctantly went into Dracula: Legacy of Blood with some friends back on the opening night of HHN 19 right about 6:00. I was unable to see anything at all, no details whatsoever. That was HOTY in 2009 and all it was for me on the first walkthrough was noise and dark.

I vaguely made out a doorway in one room and thinking it was the exit into the next scene I staggered blind my hands extended and thus accidentally grabbed the face of the poor scareactor whose Boo-Hole I was mistakenly entering!

Fortunately I had many opportunities later to experience that house after dark when I could actually see in there.

But if I had no Express? And was only able to go on the one night? That blind embarrassing stagger would have been my only walkthrough.

So, for me at least, there really is no other option as I simply cannot enjoy a house until after full dark.

Back in 2009 that was much more of an issue. The studio houses I did last year during daylight, you could see perfectly...but a big complaint is that houses were too brightly lit.

Non-studio houses, I'll admit are a different experience during daylight hours, but if I really have an issue, I'll catch them again the end of the night.

I make not having express work to the best degree I can and we all see everything without spending all night in line. For me it's a necessity because it's either that or go by myself. For people that act like it's go express or go home and that it ruins the experience somehow...I'll admit express is nice, but honestly the difference I've experienced by splurging on express were nice but it wasn't some magical improvement to my experience. Also going the beginning of the event on a non peak night and going well into October on a peak night with express...I'd take the former.

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There are some execeprions to the daylight problem, such as Dead Exposure in 2008 and probably House of Horror in 2012, and if you include it, all the 3D houses up to date. The daylight in fact improved upon the houses either making them more disorienting or making us more susceptible to scares especially with DE's UV-style scares, which made the scareactors only noticeable when it was too late. Other than those, most houses are kind of difficult to see I agree.

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I guess my hesitation stems from going on opening weekend. No one knows what to expect crowd or quality wise. Reading reviews last year, it seems the heaviest wait times are from 8-10. Closing at midnight shortens the experience as well. If i were going in the middle of October, there would be no debate; express would be a must. If I get to skip 3-4 45 min+ waits each night, I think the extra $50 per night is work it.

Since I've only been one night in the past, I'm looking forward to two nights. I just don't want those two nights to be rushing around getting everything done quickly. Perhaps I'm over thinking this, but I don't know what to expect this time around.

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...am I the only one who has had no problems with wait times without an express pass? I've only been for two years, but I've only gone one day per year, it closed at midnight, I had no express pass, and still got into every single house.

I have no problem getting into every single house without Express, however it does me no good if I can't actually see the houses.

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...am I the only one who has had no problems with wait times without an express pass? I've only been for two years, but I've only gone one day per year, it closed at midnight, I had no express pass, and still got into every single house.

I can stand in line just fine. Doesn't mean I like it. The return on investment is worth it for me. Could I do all the houses in the 4 days I'm there without the Express Pass? Of course. But it's worth $25 a day be able to use those 4 hours I would have spent in line each night enjoying other aspects of the event. Obviously I'm in the minority...or else the express lanes would be longer than the regular ones :)

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You have better eyes than mine.

Should my sight grow any worse I will need a dog and a white stick and enjoy the houses by braille.

Which is kind of what happened in that one house in 2009!

I remember that Dracula house being particularly bad. Frankenstein/Wolfman were alright, if not ideal, coming in during daylight, but Drac was just darker, walked into a scare-actor or two myself.

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But a pair of sunglasses and keep them on until you enter the house. Then take them off and you have no issues seeing. When the sun sets rent a locker by the exit and store them. Problem solved.

Glasses do not work, Believe me, I've tried....

the only way to work around the light problem would be to do what they did lol, just wear eye patches

Edited by clash
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Cover one eye/close one eye. until you get into the house. That works! I thought my sister was crazy until I tried it.

Wear dark sunglasses a few min before you go in and take them off when you get in. I wore welder's goggles a few years back. That worked really well :P

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Here's a question I haven't seen yet: how does rain effect the event? If it's rainy, does this mean lines are longer for indoor/covered attractions? Or, if it's raining, does it mean crowd levels end up being lower than expected?

didn't some houses get closed when it rained before? I recall something like that

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