HHN 25 Tickets, Pricing, and General Event Operation Questions

[HHN_jsg277]

Anyone knows if there is something special on October 3rd?

I had booked the UTH tour two weeks ago on that date and got a call that there will be no tours on that day and I had to choose a different date.

Additionally, it is not in the list of dates for the RIP tours (although it says its sold out in the line above, the other dates mentioned there are still in the general date list)

Seems odd that its the only event night where there are no tours?

I was able to book by UTH tour for the 3rd earlier this week.

[CinemaOfTheDead]

Two Questions that always bothered me:

So there isn't any unlimited express passes posted so has there never been that option or was this only recently when there's so many people going to the event or is there an unlimited express that I haven't seen? Trying to think if there's an option or my best bet would buy FFP+w/express.

The Second, Public RIP tours to those who have experienced it or know very detailed. Is it worth it for a small group who wants to focus on the houses and a good location for the B&T show or is isn't really helpful because there would be guests wanting to ride rides and feeling forced doing the usual rides. Is there any other bonus for this tour? Is the lounge or the lanyard worth it?

[IheartNARWHALS]

To answer your first question, there has never been an unlimited express during HHN. Only during the day that is hella expensive. Express for HHN is you get one pass to each house and ride per night, and with the FFP+Express. Each night you go, you get one round of express. It's the pass i've been getting for the past 2 years and I feel it's very much worth it. 

Don't have much experience with the RIP tour so I couldn't help you there, sorry.

[biomegaceu]

I finally decided to go for FFP w/Express this year! After the long wait times last year, I wanted to be able to do all the houses every night I go and also be able to have time to just sit around and take in the event and spend more times wandering around the scare zones. 

I chose Will Call for my pick up option. Can I go there any time and pick them up or does it have to be the night of the event? I have always ust printed them at home before so I never had to do this.

Edited August 24, 2015 by biomegaceu

[Pandry]

I finally decided to go for FFP w/Express this year! After the long wait times last year, I wanted to be able to do all the houses every night I go and also be able to have time to just sit around and take in the event and spend more times wandering around the scare zones. 

I chose Will Call for my pick up option. Can I go there any time and pick them up or does it have to be the night of the event? I have always ust printed them at home before so I never had to do this.

Good move on FFP w/express.  This will be my 12th year in a row attending and last year my girlfriend and I broke down, after swearing we never would, and bought the EP to go with our FFPs.  Previously it had just been FFPs.  Since 2012 and TWD arrived, lines have been insane, even on non-peak nights.  It's a big chunk of change, but I do agree, well worth it.  And being the  25th anny, I think it will be record attendance, which is saying a lot.  And let's face it, it's once a year for a limited time.  A lot of the time we do Wednesdays and Thursdays so we'll stop in after work.  With EPs we can be out of there by 9:30p-10p having done all houses and a couple rides.

You can go there any time to pick up the passes.  You don't have to wait until the night of the event.  You may have already been doing this with your FFP in the past (we never did until last year) but get a lanyard.  That way your not pulling out your paper ticket multiple times a night through the season and getting them frayed.

[DarthSpielberg]

Can you upgrade a FFP to have express after the event starts. I am debating getting it, because I don't usually use express (I have a knee injury and make due with the Guest Assistant Card, getting return times) but the few peak nights I went to last year were insane. Even the rides had long waits, so I am considering buying into express perhaps in October when I'd be able to afford it, where as now I can onl afford the base FFP

[IheartNARWHALS]

Can you upgrade a FFP to have express after the event starts. I am debating getting it, because I don't usually use express (I have a knee injury and make due with the Guest Assistant Card, getting return times) but the few peak nights I went to last year were insane. Even the rides had long waits, so I am considering buying into express perhaps in October when I'd be able to afford it, where as now I can onl afford the base FFP

My friend had the same issue last year. He was an idiot and only got FF and no express. The guy at Guest Service was being a jackass. I'm not sure if he understood us or he did all he could. But my friend got upcharged but only gave him one night of express. So by that story alone, I would say maybe but no. Trust me, its worth the extra money to buy express. I did it one year and never went back. 

[Pandry]

Can you upgrade a FFP to have express after the event starts. I am debating getting it, because I don't usually use express (I have a knee injury and make due with the Guest Assistant Card, getting return times) but the few peak nights I went to last year were insane. Even the rides had long waits, so I am considering buying into express perhaps in October when I'd be able to afford it, where as now I can onl afford the base FFP

You can. They'll do anything to get more money.  Narwhals incident can happen if you get unlucky and end up with someone new or not so bright at the services window.  But lots of people upgrade with no issues.  Just make it clear to them that you're wanting it for the rest of your FFP nights.

[blacklagoontaylor]

I always try and do a UTH tour, but I was wondering do they always rotate morning and afternoon houses on the tour or have they usually stayed mostly the same day to day as far as the same 3 are on the morning tour everyday and the same 3 for the afternoon everyday? I only ask because I went to go book my tour yesterday and I was wondering if she could give me an idea of the houses on each tour now that the full reveal is out, but she said it changes daily. 

[foodstampsFTW]

I don't think that's the way it was last year, then again this is only my first year, but they should be able to tell you what houses are on the tour for the day you are going and it's most likely going to be the same 6 houses but maybe switched from mornings to afternoons some days 

[zombieman]

I always try and do a UTH tour, but I was wondering do they always rotate morning and afternoon houses on the tour or have they usually stayed mostly the same day to day as far as the same 3 are on the morning tour everyday and the same 3 for the afternoon everyday? I only ask because I went to go book my tour yesterday and I was wondering if she could give me an idea of the houses on each tour now that the full reveal is out, but she said it changes daily. 

Morning and afternoon tours always have 3 fixed houses each.  The morning houses are different than the afternoon houses.  Note that they sell morning, afternoon or BOTH.  So clearly they will have a different set of houses between the two tours.

Now, when you were told that things change daily, what she meant was that something COULD happen to change the itinerary.  For example, if maintenance had to be done in a house, it would be removed from the tour that day.  There are any number of things that could require juggling the itinerary.  But historically, people here report House A, B, C in the morning and X, Y, Z in the afternoon quite consistently.

One other thing about the UTH tour.  Because this year is so heavily IP related, sometimes Universal is not allowed to present UTH tour of a certain house.  They almost never allow video in any IP house, and sometimes restrict photos.  This is especially true when a house is related to a movie in release.

So don't assume that because they have 9 houses that they will/can have three unique variations of the UTH tour that they rotate among.  They might, but I think it's unlikely.

I finally decided to go for FFP w/Express this year! After the long wait times last year, I wanted to be able to do all the houses every night I go and also be able to have time to just sit around and take in the event and spend more times wandering around the scare zones. 

I chose Will Call for my pick up option. Can I go there any time and pick them up or does it have to be the night of the event? I have always ust printed them at home before so I never had to do this.

The Kiosk is THE best way to get a ticket there.  Takes about 1 minute.  Will Call usually has a line.  You can pick them up any time/any day.  I recommend trying the kiosk as you did get a confirmation number, and it may work at the kiosk.   kiosks are essentially ATMs located adjacent to the ticket booths.

Print at home works great, too, but if you do a FFP, make sure you print out several copies, as they tend to get torn/ragged/wet at the event.  Not great for multiple days.

 

 

FFP with Express is really the ONLY way to go.  For Rush of Fear, adding Express pays for itself if you go any two nights.  The biggest downside to the Express option is that they don't appear to cap the sales AT ALL, so the number of Express patrons per night is way more than it used to be.  When the Express line is 25 minutes, something is desperately wrong with the system.

Also, express for the non-soundstage houses has become a joke, as they merge the Express and standby line a full 10-15 minutes from the house entrance.  

 

[blacklagoontaylor]

Morning and afternoon tours always have 3 fixed houses each.  The morning houses are different than the afternoon houses.  Note that they sell morning, afternoon or BOTH.  So clearly they will have a different set of houses between the two tours.

Now, when you were told that things change daily, what she meant was that something COULD happen to change the itinerary.  For example, if maintenance had to be done in a house, it would be removed from the tour that day.  There are any number of things that could require juggling the itinerary.  But historically, people here report House A, B, C in the morning and X, Y, Z in the afternoon quite consistently.

One other thing about the UTH tour.  Because this year is so heavily IP related, sometimes Universal is not allowed to present UTH tour of a certain house.  They almost never allow video in any IP house, and sometimes restrict photos.  This is especially true when a house is related to a movie in release.

So don't assume that because they have 9 houses that they will/can have three unique variations of the UTH tour that they rotate among.  They might, but I think it's unlikely.

Thanks! I've been on the UTH tours the past couple of years and I thought they usually have a fixed set of 3 for each tour and sometimes due to certain things one might get changed around like you mentioned. I remember one year we couldn't go in one tent because of some issue. It was just the way the rep this year worded it made it sound like it was constantly changing daily, but I do agree that the various rotations would be unlikely. She also probably can't say a whole lot anyways, so that was probably her generic answer. I just wanted to compare in the past that it was typically the same pattern for the morning and afternoon tours. Thank you for clearing that up!

[Oysterhead00]

 

One other thing about the UTH tour.  Because this year is so heavily IP related, sometimes Universal is not allowed to present UTH tour of a certain house.  They almost never allow video in any IP house, and sometimes restrict photos.  This is especially true when a house is related to a movie in release.

 

 

FFP with Express is really the ONLY way to go.  For Rush of Fear, adding Express pays for itself if you go any two nights.  The biggest downside to the Express option is that they don't appear to cap the sales AT ALL, so the number of Express patrons per night is way more than it used to be.  When the Express line is 25 minutes, something is desperately wrong with the system.

Each time i've done the UTH tour they've said no video...but always wondered how they enforced that one unless you had a go pro strapped to your head or a 90's VHS camcorder   They better not restrict pictures for any of the houses, I never heard that one before and I'd be really pissed if they did!  None of the IPs this year have a movie coming out later this year or anything, so hopefully that's not an issue.  Granted, I'm sure Insidious 4 will be coming out, as well as The Purge 3 and the annual rumors of new Freddy and Jason movies...but nothing based on a future release that could spoil the movie for the GP if images leaked out.

Last year I heard that RoF+Express sold out.  Someone here or on FB or somewhere else was bitching about it.  But that's second hand knowledge from a not exactly iron clad source.  We go every year at the same time (late Sept - first week in Oct) and have had late additions to our party who haven't had any problems buying the passes...though we still all try to buy them early just to be safe.  It's really the best deal going.  We get 4 nights with express for $55 a night.  Can't beat that when you're an out of towner who flies down just for the event.  

 

[HHN Explorer]

Does anybody know which houses are included with the morning Unmasking the Horror Tour vs the afternoon one yet?

[blacklagoontaylor]

Does anybody know which houses are included with the morning Unmasking the Horror Tour vs the afternoon one yet?

I know none of the Universal VIP tour people I spoke to knew or would say anything when I booked my UTH tour. I'm not sure if anyone on here knows specific morning vs afternoon yet, but I know the 6 houses that will be options for the tour was vaguely tossed around on the discussion post. I believe it was discussed that TWD, Insidious, FvJ, The Purge, Anniversary House, and Body Collectors were all the most likely to show up on the tour and even maybe AWIL instead of one of those(Wolves!). Nothing is for sure though, we probably won't know until the first UTH tour happens.

 

Edited August 31, 2015 by blacklagoontaylor

[foREVer56]

See, my problem with not knowing yet is I want to know which tour has Monsters and Mayhem, because I'm not doing both, and the that's the house I want to see the most. If I don't know which tour has it, I can't book it.

 

 

Also, express for the non-soundstage houses has become a joke, as they merge the Express and standby line a full 10-15 minutes from the house entrance. 

 

But no they don't? Disaster's express merges right at the entrance, Tent 2 merges before the path that leads into the house, which isn't really the line, more you walking up and into the house. Tent 1 and Parade Building's merge points are a tad further back, but it's still at most 3-5 minutes from there into the house. With the way the entrances into the buildings are, it's really the only way they can make it work.

[Guest kiwisoup]

So, I'm going September 24th and am only able to go one night so was originally doing Express Passes. Turns out someone in our group has a rich relative that wants to treat us all to RIP Tour tickets, so now we are ditching the Express Passes. I personally don't get the point of the RIP tour, but hey...it's free. I know you're guaranteed to see all houses, Bill & Ted and a couple rides. Basically a guided Express Pass from what I can gather.

Do they also give you a tour of each Scare Zone or just some that they take your through to get to more houses? I'm also a little concerned that with only one night I'll miss out on The Carnage Returns show, as it seems it might only be playing during the tour, which apparently takes 4.5 hours long. Thoughts? Advice? Oh one last question. I know you get special VIP access, but can you use that to get into the park and maybe knock a couple houses out before the tour or do you have to still use the main entrance?

Edited September 1, 2015 by kiwisoup

[ItsMeBilly]

Would be helpful if they said which houses with on the tour. I emailed them and had no joy getting a straight answer. In 2013 I went and did AWIL and don't really want to get a repeat tour of the house. Plus knowing what was on each tour last time meant I could pick the best three.

Edited September 1, 2015 by ItsMeBilly

[blacklagoontaylor]

See, my problem with not knowing yet is I want to know which tour has Monsters and Mayhem, because I'm not doing both, and the that's the house I want to see the most. If I don't know which tour has it, I can't book it.

 

But no they don't? Disaster's express merges right at the entrance, Tent 2 merges before the path that leads into the house, which isn't really the line, more you walking up and into the house. Tent 1 and Parade Building's merge points are a tad further back, but it's still at most 3-5 minutes from there into the house. With the way the entrances into the buildings are, it's really the only way they can make it work.

Would be helpful if they said which houses with on the tour. I emailed them and had no joy getting a straight answer. In 2013 I went and did AWIL and don't really want to get a repeat tour of the house. Plus knowing what was on each tour last time meant I could pick the best three.

I feel the same way. I really want to see the Monsters and Mayhem house because I think that will be the most interesting detail wise to see lights on because of all the HHN history. I also saw AWIL on the tour back in 2013, so as much as I loved that house, I would rather see others on the tour. I wouldn't have booked mine so soon because I would rather know as well, but I was afraid it would fill up. I think dream tour would be FvJ, anniversary house, Body Collectors/Insidious (can't pick, I'd be happy with either).   

[Cooger and Dark]

 

I feel the same way. I really want to see the Monsters and Mayhem house because I think that will be the most interesting detail wise to see lights on because of all the HHN history. I also saw AWIL on the tour back in 2013, so as much as I loved that house, I would rather see others on the tour. I wouldn't have booked mine so soon because I would rather know as well, but I was afraid it would fill up. I think dream tour would be FvJ, anniversary house, Body Collectors/Insidious (can't pick, I'd be happy with either).   

Assuming they stick to what they did last year, expect two IPs and one original on each tour. 

[georgemoe]

Assuming they stick to what they did last year, expect two IPs and one original on each tour. 

Good info. Thanks!

[Cooger and Dark]

Good info. Thanks!

No problem.  Sadly I cannot use 2013 as a barometer as they only had 3 original houses with one being 3D and the other being in the Disaster queue (have they ever done a lights on tour in this location?) so the only original lights on was La Llorona.

Given the four originals, I am expecting Body Collectors and Monster and Mayhem to be the two originals with the IP houses all a toss up depending upon rights issues.

[Oysterhead00]

I was able to book by UTH tour for the 3rd earlier this week.

I can confirm that UTH tours are valid for Oct 3rd, RIP tours are NOT being offered that night:

There are certain event nights that we are not selling RIP Tours but those have been posted on our website for some time now. In regards to October 3^rd, it is one of the nights we are not selling RIP Tours. However, the Unmasking the Horror Tours you are attending on October 3^rd are still going out as planned during that day.  

[jek]

Any clue what's going on the 18th, 19th, 25th and 3rd?  All RIP tours read "sold out".  I contacted VIP Services to see if there is a wait list and was informed that they aren't sold out... they were never available to begin with due to special events.  Any word on what those events may be?

[georgemoe]

Any clue what's going on the 18th, 19th, 25th and 3rd?  All RIP tours read "sold out".  I contacted VIP Services to see if there is a wait list and was informed that they aren't sold out... they were never available to begin with due to special events.  Any word on what those events may be?

Annual Passholder Nights are the 18th, 19th, 25th, and 26th of Sep. Not sure about Oct 3.

https://www.universalorlando.com/rsvp/hhn25/rsvp.aspx