Halloween Horror Nights 26 General Information

[Merlin]

Hey guys, Orlando Park News updated their website with some great aerial shots of the park. Clearly shows the tents, disaster area, and new Jimmy F ride area. Check it out!

 

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2016/02/updated-aerial-imagery-of-universal.html

[JDW]

<quote>You can add an Unmasking the Horror Tour starting from $79.87 per person, tax inclusive at the same time you book a Halloween Horror Nights Hotel + Ticket Package. Available dates to book a tour are: September 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30; October 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Shine a light on the darkness of Halloween Horror Nights® with an Unmasking the Horror Tour. On select days, get a chilling look into how Universal Orlando’s Art & Design team transforms the biggest names in horror into haunted houses on a lights-on VIP tour for up to 15 guests. Choose from the 2-2½ hour Morning Tour at 10:30am, 2-2½ hour Afternoon Tour at 2pm or a 4-5 hour combination of the two. Enjoy a guided walking tour of up to three houses per tour (six for the combination tour), a commemorative Halloween Horror Night lanyard and the chance to photograph every gruesome moment. Reservations are required and subject to availability.</quote>

 

bit.ly/1aRmFlH 

[zombieman]

Have they done this before?  I don't recall seeing this as an add on for a hotel + ticket package.  

 

I'm contacting VIP to see if these are available yet for non-package purchase

 

 

EDIT: Hmmm....

I went to site to price a pretend vacation, arriving Sep 30 and leaving Oct 2.  It said UTH tour was NOT available on Oct 1.  Weird.  Assuming it's a glitch

 

EDIT: VIP services are sticking to the "only available as part of package" story.  They say at some point UTH will go on sale to general public.  But get this - Oct 1 IS already sold out.  In February.  Amazing.  The one date I was planning to attend...

 

I'm a bit surprised they are using this marketing approach.  I mean UTH is for the hardcore fans, not the GP.  We account for the majority of the UTH ticket sales.  And we are the same people who buy a Frequent Fear or Rush of Fear pass.  

Yet they are not only giving high rollers first pass at tickets they probably don't want, they are not giving the fans a chance to get a package with a FFP yet.  We get whatever is left over.

If UTH tickets are largely sold out by the time they release FFP and ROF passes, there's gonna be a lot of unhappy people.

Edited February 25, 2016 by zombieman

[shadowlurker]

UtH Tours have never been offered anywhere near this early in the past.  A select number of spaces were opened up for pre-sale as part of a hotel package for this year, with select dates not even available for pre-purchase as part of the package.  This pre-sale add on option is very limited and the program ends at the start of the summer.  Eventually the tour will go on open sale for any and all interested and more than likely some of the dates currently listed as "sold out" will open up for sale as usual.  So fear not, these early bookings will more than likely not utterly sell out any particular date by the time open sales occur for all.  The only blatant mistake in the current pre-sale info is the inclusion of Sept. 16th being an UtH date, this is incorrect as UtH Tours do not go out the first day of the event.

Edited March 3, 2016 by shadowlurker

[ThNdIzNiR]

On 2/24/2016 at 8:32 PM, zombieman said:

EDIT: Hmmm....

I went to site to price a pretend vacation, arriving Sep 30 and leaving Oct 2.  It said UTH tour was NOT available on Oct 1.  Weird.  Assuming it's a glitch

 

EDIT: VIP services are sticking to the "only available as part of package" story.  They say at some point UTH will go on sale to general public.  But get this - Oct 1 IS already sold out.  In February.  Amazing.  The one date I was planning to attend...

 

I'm not sure if they do this every year, but last year they sold out/blocked out 1 particular Saturday's UTH Tours (far in advance) so that some sort of corporate/management type people could do them. I believe it was the 1st Saturday in October last year. I had to change the day I planned on going due to this. Maybe they are doing the same thing again this year? I seriously doubt that the day is actually sold out by customers this far in advance. 

[shadowlurker]

There are four major events that occur during HHN that are usually blocked out from the start.  Depending on the number of guides each event is going to require for staffing some of those dates (or all of them) can eventually open up and become available, though usually somewhat limited when it comes to the number of tours that can be sold.  It never hurts to check in from time to time with the tour office to see if a date that was "sold out" when sales began has become available.  Some of the internal events don't provide the tour office with a final headcount for their event until somewhat late in the game so if they are able to open up sales it doesn't always get changed on the online calendar, the only way to know would be to call and check.  

It's always a good idea to have two dates in mind when booking your tour just in case your primary date happens to be sold out or not currently available.  You can book your secondary date and then check back later to see if there's any chance of moving what you've booked.  So long as there is availability that usually isn't a problem at all.

[Badge]

I am confused on the dates. Here you list Sept 18th as a night of the event and a total of 31 nights. However on the official calendar that showed up with the new site redesign when TCM was announced, Sept 18th is not a night the event is being held yet 31 days are listed on the official website. Wed. the 5th was added to the official calendar to replace the 18th. 

 

So, what is correct? My gut is telling me the official website is correct and that they made opening weekend only two nights for three reasons:

 

1) Rush of Fear can be shortened down to just 10 nights allowing them to make more money from locals wanting to go more.

2) They can change/fix/add things faster. Last year things kept getting added or adjusted at the houses after week 2. By making opening weekend only two nights, they can see what needs to be changed and get it implemented faster by having an extra day to work hopefully allowing them to get things running perfect by week two instead of still making changes between week 2 and 3.  

3) They can promote a higher priced, multi night ticket by having the event run 5 nights a week more often. I still find it odd that besides Rush of Fear, they never really offered a weekend long pass. I feel like most people that travel down to attend HHN come for a whole weekend but they only offered Frequent Fear Plus that didn't include Saturdays. They should offer multiple event week tickets after Rush of Fear. Want to attend week 4's 5 nights (Oct 5-9)? That will be $140. Week 5, $160 and so on. 

[JDW]

18th was removed and 5th was added. Date were always subject to change.... and still could though less likely. That's the trouble with booking anything 7 months in advance.

 

not related but neat little picture of sapphire falls on the HHN website. I don't think I've seen that water feature thing before.

[Dr. Jimmy]

They have now corrected the error on the HHN Orlando website calendar. It now once again shows Sunday, September 18th and now no longer shows Wednesday, October 5th.

Thus it is now back to the dates as originally given.

[ttshowbiz]

Is there a special line to get into hhn if you stay on sight? I was thinking about staying at cabana bay, especially if there is this advantage.

[Alice]

33 minutes ago, ttshowbiz said:

Is there a special line to get into hhn if you stay on sight? I was thinking about staying at cabana bay, especially if there is this advantage.

 

No. None of the hotel Express benefits apply to HHN, and even if they did, Cabana Bay is not included in the onsite Express stuff.

[Oysterhead00]

2 hours ago, ttshowbiz said:

Is there a special line to get into hhn if you stay on sight? I was thinking about staying at cabana bay, especially if there is this advantage.

 

If you're going to have access to Universal during the day (ie have park tickets for that day), you can do the holding pen thing.  Not sure if it's called Stay and Scream or something special.

 

Basically, if you go to Finnegans when the park is getting ready to close to transition over to HHN you're golden.  You can hang out at the bar/restaurant or in the streets by the Blues Brothers show.  They come around and scan your HHN ticket to verify it's valid for that night, and then give you a wrist band.  They typically let you out of the area a few minutes before they open the gates...but you don't have to go through security and then swipping your tickets/fingerprints which always has issues.  So you get right into the park and can usually do like 3 houses without having to wait any longer than 10min per house.  Some houses don't open until after the event already starts and stuff.

 

Read up on the forums as there's TONS of info on it.  But that's your best bet for getting in as soon as possible.

 

[ttshowbiz]

2 hours ago, Alice said:

 

No. None of the hotel Express benefits apply to HHN, and even if they did, Cabana Bay is not included in the onsite Express stuff.

 

35 minutes ago, Oysterhead00 said:

 

If you're going to have access to Universal during the day (ie have park tickets for that day), you can do the holding pen thing.  Not sure if it's called Stay and Scream or something special.

 

Basically, if you go to Finnegans when the park is getting ready to close to transition over to HHN you're golden.  You can hang out at the bar/restaurant or in the streets by the Blues Brothers show.  They come around and scan your HHN ticket to verify it's valid for that night, and then give you a wrist band.  They typically let you out of the area a few minutes before they open the gates...but you don't have to go through security and then swipping your tickets/fingerprints which always has issues.  So you get right into the park and can usually do like 3 houses without having to wait any longer than 10min per house.  Some houses don't open until after the event already starts and stuff.

 

Read up on the forums as there's TONS of info on it.  But that's your best bet for getting in as soon as possible.

 

Last year when I was standing in line to get in, I noticed a sign that was for onsite hotel guest which lead to a separate line to enter. I read an article somewhere (which I cant find now of course) that the people in this line got in a little early but that its not advertised. So not the express pass or the stay and scream lines. Granted I could have mistaken it for stay and scream.

[georgemoe]

This link is from OI and shows a pic of the path to right side of the main entrance for onsite guests. I've always had park tickets and done S&S so have never used it. Not sure if it's still a thing for 26.

 

http://d3b8erylo0uriu.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/halloween-horror-nights-hhn-2014-0822-oi.jpg

[Alice]

18 minutes ago, georgemoe said:

This link is from OI and shows a pic of the path to right side of the main entrance for onsite guests. I've always had park tickets and done S&S so have never used it. Not sure if it's still a thing for 26.

 

http://d3b8erylo0uriu.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/halloween-horror-nights-hhn-2014-0822-oi.jpg

 

Heh. Kind of annoying for us grumpy locals who don't feel like spending $ on the hotels after buying into passes.

[georgemoe]

27 minutes ago, Alice said:

 

Heh. Kind of annoying for us grumpy locals who don't feel like spending $ on the hotels after buying into passes.

 

I thinks it's nice for some of us who have to pay for airfare and hotels along with non-resident passes to get thrown a bone every once in awhile. Yes you are grumpy.

Edited July 19, 2016 by georgemoe