HHNH Planning & Insider Tips (The 2016 Edition)

[Vampyr]

Does HHN Hollywood have a 'Stay and Scream'-type holding area inside the park for guests who have day+HHN tickets for the same day as does Orlando?

[HorrorNightsFan13]

49 minutes ago, Vampyr said:

Does HHN Hollywood have a 'Stay and Scream'-type holding area inside the park for guests who have day+HHN tickets for the same day as does Orlando?

There Is a day and night combo pass but I think you have to leave the park and re enter for HHN

[HailtotheKingBaby]

Hey all!

 

The last 2 years we have bought the day/night pass and then leveraged early entry. This combination allowed us to get everything in (mazes+rides). However, it was always on the Sunday of the 1st weekend in Oct. This year we can only attend on a Saturday and are planning next weekend (Sep 24).

 

Should I play it safe and go FOL or continue with the strategy that has worked in the past. I just want to make sure we get it all in since we are coming Kansas and it is our only shot.

 

Thanks in advance for the advice/tips.

[Grindhousehero13]

On September 12, 2016 at 7:56 AM, Vampyr said:

Does HHN Hollywood have a 'Stay and Scream'-type holding area inside the park for guests who have day+HHN tickets for the same day as does Orlando?

You are held in the lower lot

On September 12, 2016 at 8:47 AM, HorrorNightsFan13 said:

There Is a day and night combo pass but I think you have to leave the park and re enter for HHN

No you dontdon't

2 hours ago, HailtotheKingBaby said:

Hey all!

 

The last 2 years we have bought the day/night pass and then leveraged early entry. This combination allowed us to get everything in (mazes+rides). However, it was always on the Sunday of the 1st weekend in Oct. This year we can only attend on a Saturday and are planning next weekend (Sep 24).

 

Should I play it safe and go FOL or continue with the strategy that has worked in the past. I just want to make sure we get it all in since we are coming Kansas and it is our only shot.

 

Thanks in advance for the advice/tips.

You can get everything maze and ride done with early entry or day and night combo as long as you don't mind that you still wait in line just plane appropriately 

[Doctor Jeffula]

If you get general do as everyone else said and arrive EARLY and do EARLY ENTRANCE and BACKLOT MAZES FIRST THEN WORK YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT OF THE PARK. Honestly i wouldn't even bother doing rides if you already been on them before. We did that in 14 and 15 and it worked out good and we did see all the mazes. If you can afford FOTL go for it but what sucks is that its good for one time use at each attraction. Also, do keep your group small or if you have a group you all should be on the same page don't bring someone that is a sissy and they don't want to do mazes and just do rides or want to see the jabbawockees twice or something lol

[DTH316]

So last night was JAM PACKED.

My advice is EARLY ENTRY (obviously).

American Horror Story first. Then FVJ. Krampus last on the backlot.

Hit Halloween (it'll have a shorter line than Exorcist). Come back LATER for Exorcist.

Do Terror Tram, hit TCM before Terror Tram closes because that's when the line for it spikes back up.

Then hopefully you can get to TWD before the spike, see Jabbawockeez at 12:30 (don't do 1:30 unless you've finished EVERYTHING because the show is 30 minutes and the park will be closed after).

Then run back down between 1 - 1:30 and hit The Exorcist as the last maze, which will be sporting a long wait time, but will be much shorter to get you all out by 2:15 at the latest.

 

[Tich0las]

I'm going to HHNH for the first time on Thursday October 6th.  This is my first trip to Universal Hollywood - been going to UO for 25 years and HHNO for 5 years.

 

Following HHN, I have to drive to Palm Springs.  What ticket option do you guys suggest?

 

 

Edited September 18, 2016 by Tich0las

[DTH316]

The Day/Night combo is lame this year and you can only get in after 2, which is unfortunate for first time guests like yourself. Even with an FOL, that's not enough time to see everything. The thing that's unique to Hollywood is the Studio Tour, which is an hour long, but sometimes has an hour long line. So basically it'll be 4 by the time you're done with that and if you wanna do early entry for Horror Nights, you only have an hour left to see everything else.

 

My suggestion is buy a regular day ticket. Then buy a regular HHN ticket.

Get there early, see everything at USH.

Get back in line for HHN at 5 and wait until 6 and follow a game plan by hitting the backlot first and you should be pretty safe with seeing everything.

If you wanna splurge extra so you don't have to worry and get FOL, go for it, but I don't think it's necessary.

[eXpressives]

7 hours ago, DTH316 said:

So last night was JAM PACKED.

My advice is EARLY ENTRY (obviously).

American Horror Story first. Then FVJ. Krampus last on the backlot.

Hit Halloween (it'll have a shorter line than Exorcist). Come back LATER for Exorcist.

Do Terror Tram, hit TCM before Terror Tram closes because that's when the line for it spikes back up.

Then hopefully you can get to TWD before the spike, see Jabbawockeez at 12:30 (don't do 1:30 unless you've finished EVERYTHING because the show is 30 minutes and the park will be closed after).

Then run back down between 1 - 1:30 and hit The Exorcist as the last maze, which will be sporting a long wait time, but will be much shorter to get you all out by 2:15 at the latest.

 

So this sounds like a solid strategy, but I wanted to hit Krampus after AHS, because I wanted to get the twitter prize if possible. Do you think it'll still be fine if I do that, then hit FvJ last? I'll be going on Sunday, Oct. 2nd, so hopefully less foot traffic. How long was the queue for FvJ, I'm assuming long since the maze over there always has a huge line.

[DTH316]

I heard he had prizes until at least 8 pm on both nights which were sold out. I think you'll be safe. Read my review for specifics on how I did everything and wait times and such!

[Tich0las]

18 hours ago, DTH316 said:

The Day/Night combo is lame this year and you can only get in after 2, which is unfortunate for first time guests like yourself. Even with an FOL, that's not enough time to see everything. The thing that's unique to Hollywood is the Studio Tour, which is an hour long, but sometimes has an hour long line. So basically it'll be 4 by the time you're done with that and if you wanna do early entry for Horror Nights, you only have an hour left to see everything else.

 

My suggestion is buy a regular day ticket. Then buy a regular HHN ticket.

Get there early, see everything at USH.

Get back in line for HHN at 5 and wait until 6 and follow a game plan by hitting the backlot first and you should be pretty safe with seeing everything.

If you wanna splurge extra so you don't have to worry and get FOL, go for it, but I don't think it's necessary.

So you're saying Day/Night combo isn't like Stay and Scream?  We have to exit and enter again?

 

Having been to Orlando so many times and taking into consideration which rides are open during HHN, the attractions I'd like to see are the Studio Tram Tour,  Water World, and Cali's version of Harry Potter. You don't think I'd have enough time to knock these out in 3 hours?

 

[kwyjibo]

I've noticed over the weekend the line estimates and crowd control have been a nightmare. Last night at 8:18 we got inline for Halloween 2 with a posted 70 minute wait. We ended up walking into the maze at 11:05... Customer relations hooked us up with free FOTL for the rest of the night after I complained but still. That was beyond ridiculous 

[JGmoney1996]

Thoughts on this potential schedule for a Thursday night w/ GA?

 

Early Entry

The Exorcist (Don't want to deal with a 2 hour line after visiting the backlot and the maze opens 15 minutes earlier than the backlot anyways)

American Horror Story

Freddy vs. Jason

Krampus

Halloween

Jurassic Park

The Mummy

Terror Tram

Food

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Jabbawockeez

The Walking Dead

 

Edit: (Depending on time, food and Jabbawockeez can be cut out)

Edited September 18, 2016 by JGmoney1996

[Zero0]

Hey guys! I'm a little worried after seeing the reports about last night for my upcoming trip.

 

I'm going on Saturday, Oct 1st. I bought the 2pm Day/Night combo, just cause we haven't checked out the Harry Potter stuff yet. I wanted to do a Day/Night/FOL combo but that wasn't offered when I bought my ticket. I checked the site today and they are offering it now! So, I'm pretty upset now.

 

There is no way for me to buy a FOL pass online, and I don't want to risk waiting till the day of the event when I get there in the afternoon for my 2 pm admission cause they might be sold out. Any suggestions on what I could do to get a FOL pass for HHN in advance?

[DTH316]

1 hour ago, JGmoney1996 said:

Thoughts on this potential schedule for a Thursday night w/ GA?

 

Early Entry

The Exorcist (Don't want to deal with a 2 hour line after visiting the backlot and the maze opens 15 minutes earlier than the backlot anyways)

American Horror Story

Freddy vs. Jason

Krampus

Halloween

Jurassic Park

The Mummy

Terror Tram

Food

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Jabbawockeez

The Walking Dead

 

Edit: (Depending on time, food and Jabbawockeez can be cut out)

Wait to do Exorcist last, right before closing. I can not emphasize this enough. If you do one maze that's popular first, you're risking a wait of two popular mazes getting high wait times in the mean time. It's basic math. If you do two mazes that are popular first, that means you only have one left, instead of two left. 

 

Plus, while it is open 15 mins earlier, that just means everyone is heading to the backlot during those 15 mins (which is exactly what happened when I went). I was very fortunate to hit two mazes on the backlot with less than 5 min waits and it saved me hella time, then waited 10 mins for Exorcist right before closing.

1 hour ago, kwyjibo said:

I've noticed over the weekend the line estimates and crowd control have been a nightmare. Last night at 8:18 we got inline for Halloween 2 with a posted 70 minute wait. We ended up walking into the maze at 11:05... Customer relations hooked us up with free FOTL for the rest of the night after I complained but still. That was beyond ridiculous 

I'm glad they hooked it up. That would've pissed me off too. Honestly I would've left the line 30 mins in and realized where I was placement wise in line. But also, Halloween being 3  hours at 8 PM makes no sense haha

30 minutes ago, Zero0 said:

Hey guys! I'm a little worried after seeing the reports about last night for my upcoming trip.

 

I'm going on Saturday, Oct 1st. I bought the 2pm Day/Night combo, just cause we haven't checked out the Harry Potter stuff yet. I wanted to do a Day/Night/FOL combo but that wasn't offered when I bought my ticket. I checked the site today and they are offering it now! So, I'm pretty upset now.

 

There is no way for me to buy a FOL pass online, and I don't want to risk waiting till the day of the event when I get there in the afternoon for my 2 pm admission cause they might be sold out. Any suggestions on what I could do to get a FOL pass for HHN in advance?

Call them, I'm sure they can fix everything.

1 hour ago, Tich0las said:

So you're saying Day/Night combo isn't like Stay and Scream?  We have to exit and enter again?

 

Having been to Orlando so many times and taking into consideration which rides are open during HHN, the attractions I'd like to see are the Studio Tram Tour,  Water World, and Cali's version of Harry Potter. You don't think I'd have enough time to knock these out in 3 hours?

 

You can def do those 3 in 3 hours, it's just a matter of when the showtime for Waterworld is.

[Vampyr]

49 minutes ago, Zero0 said:

I bought the 2pm Day/Night combo, just cause we haven't checked out the Harry Potter stuff yet. I wanted to do a Day/Night/FOL combo but that wasn't offered when I bought my ticket. I checked the site today and they are offering it now! So, I'm pretty upset now.

 

19 minutes ago, DTH316 said:

Call them, I'm sure they can fix everything.

 

 

I'm in the same boat. I purchased my FOL ticket separately because the Combo did not include FOL. I called the number on the website that is listed as 'Ticket Help' and was told they are unable to upgrade it over the phone, and I would have to wait until I arrived at the park at Guest Services. Luckily for me though, I have not purchased my daytime ticket yet.

[DTH316]

Well that sucks haha just arrive super early to get it all handled!

[Freak]

Going for the first time September 30th. I'm going with some people that want to see all the mazes, but they're not fanatics. It's one of my buddies plus three of his other friends, which makes me scared about the sutuation. My buddy will be going next Friday so at least he'll be able to sympathize and find out (the hard way muahaha) that you need an aggressive gameplan. I'm going to try to communicate with everyone a clear gameplan. So here's mine and tell me what you think: 

 

-Arrive at 4PM and get dinner at CityWalk. Probably Johnny Rockets. Fifteen twenty minutes to get there then eat. Will probably take 45min-1 hour to eat. 

 

-5:15/5:30: Go into early entry to wait in the backlot tunnel. 

 

-6:30: Hit up AHS first.

 

-6:50?: Freddy Vs. Jason

 

-7:00ish?: Krampus.

 

-7:30ish: Halloween

 

-(Forget time at this point) Gonna try to talk my group out of rides and convince them to go to the upper lot. We'll do Terror Tram. 

 

-After tram, we'll probably get eat something. 

 

-Texas Chainsaw

 

-TWD

 

-Purge Gauntlet 

 

-Go downstairs to do Exorcist and maybe rides. MAYBE rides. 

 

-Try to make the last show of Jabawockeez.

 

-Go home. 

 

What do y'all think of my plan? 

[Stringless]

I did my damnedest on Saturday to follow DTH's gameplan and it didn't work. We ended up waiting nearly three hours for Halloween and never got to do Terror Tram, Walking Dead, or Exorcist (or Mummy).

 

Arrived at 5:20, waited near Early Entry gates (I have come to find out that they just open all the gates now. Great.), booked it to the backlot. On the Starway, already saw a huge line for Exorcist.

 

F vs J (20 min wait, but wasn't open? No people being let into any mazes as far as I could tell), Krampus (20min wait), AHS (1 hour wait, but 140 posted). By then, too late to try for rides, Exorcist posted at 150min. Halloween posted as 80, so it wins. Entered maze 150min later. Not looking good. Terror Tram closed. Fuck it, we ride JP and Transformers.

 

We headed up for the Purge Guantlet (pretty good actually, but this isn't a Trip Report). Walking Dead at 90min. Texas at 80. Texas wins. Enter maze 120min later. Yay.

 

 

I didn't mean to write out my whole day, but the point of it is I'm brining a group with me next weekend and want to see how I can change up the plan. I've used DTH's plan every year, it's worked great until this year. Is there a new cap of visitors? More FOL being sold? It's usually dead(er) this time of year.

 

What can I do to get us all into the houses next Saturday (and I need to see Exorcist, I've been dying to see it)?

Edited September 19, 2016 by Stringless

[Ghostsarejerks]

44 minutes ago, Stringless said:

I did my damnedest on Saturday to follow DTH's gameplan and it didn't work. We ended up waiting nearly three hours for Halloween and never got to do Terror Tram, Walking Dead, or Exorcist (or Mummy).

 

Arrived at 5:20, waited near Early Entry gates (I have come to find out that they just open all the gates now. Great.), booked it to the backlot. On the Starway, already saw a huge line for Exorcist.

 

F vs J (20 min wait, but wasn't open? No people being let into any mazes as far as I could tell), Krampus (20min wait), AHS (1 hour wait, but 140 posted). By then, too late to try for rides, Exorcist posted at 150min. Halloween posted as 80, so it wins. Entered maze 150min later. Not looking good. Terror Tram closed. Fuck it, we ride JP and Transformers.

 

We headed up for the Purge Guantlet (pretty good actually, but this isn't a Trip Report). Walking Dead at 90min. Texas at 80. Texas wins. Enter maze 120min later. Yay.

 

 

I didn't mean to write out my whole day, but the point of it is I'm brining a group with me next weekend and want to see how I can change up the plan. I've used DTH's plan every year, it's worked great until this year. Is there a new cap of visitors? More FOL being sold? It's usually dead(er) this time of year.

 

What can I do to get us all into the houses next Saturday (and I need to see Exorcist, I've been dying to see it)?

This was the first opening weekend in Hollywood's history that sold out

[DTH316]

From what I hear, it was a very unusually packed night and other people that used my game plan on Saturday didn't get through everything either! It's unfortunate they oversold the hell out of the event and hopefully they fix the issue in coming weeks, but for those that went opening weekend, the damage is already done and i imagine they lost a lot of future business. Honestly, I don't know if there is a better game plan. It just seems there is no way to do everything if the park is THAT crowded.

 

And perhaps Uni does it to convince more people to buy FOL, but look Universal... there is no FUCKING REASON why someone should HAVE to spend 200 damn dollars to make sure they go through SEVEN mazes. That's nearly 3-4 more times than the price of a REGULAR ticket (I only paid $49 with my student ticket).

 

In fact, there's no reason someone should HAVE to arrive for early entry. You fix your attendance cap and learn to manage your park because right now, you're being a bunch of assholes. A 3 hour line is a sign that y'all funked up. That's twice as long as a line should be. And even though I did everything, I don't know if I can support a company that ain't got their shit together! This is the 10th year in a row of being successful, they should know better.

[horror lover]

6 minutes ago, DTH316 said:

From what I hear, it was a very unusually packed night and other people that used my game plan on Saturday didn't get through everything either! It's unfortunate they oversold the hell out of the event and hopefully they fix the issue in coming weeks, but for those that went opening weekend, the damage is already done and i imagine they lost a lot of future business. Honestly, I don't know if there is a better game plan. It just seems there is no way to do everything if the park is THAT crowded.

 

And perhaps Uni does it to convince more people to buy FOL, but look Universal... there is no FUCKING REASON why someone should HAVE to spend 200 damn dollars to make sure they go through SEVEN mazes. That's nearly 3-4 more times than the price of a REGULAR ticket (I only paid $49 with my student ticket).

 

In fact, there's no reason someone should HAVE to arrive for early entry. You fix your attendance cap and learn to manage your park because right now, you're being a bunch of assholes. A 3 hour line is a sign that y'all funked up. That's twice as long as a line should be. And even though I did everything, I don't know if I can support a company that ain't got their shit together! This is the 10th year in a row of being successful, they should know better.

 

Potter needs to be open, pronto.. They can pay whatever fees need to be paid to keep the land open.. Forbidden Journey alone would eat up a good percent of the crowds

[DTH316]

Even Despicable Me would help at this point, shit! Haha

[dereksdominance]

Just want to say thank you again! Thanks to your guide we were able to do every maze except the Exorcist on general admission. Early entry was such a lifesaver, we did AHS first with a 15 minute wait, Freddy v Jason with a 30 minute wait, Krampus with a 35 minute wait, Halloween with a 105 minute wait, Terror Tram with a 55 minute wait, Walking Dead with no wait and Texas Chainsaw with a 60 minute wait. It was truly one of the most fun nights of my life and I'm already trying to visit again. Horror Nights is epic! 

[DTH316]

Too bad you didn't get to see Exorcist, hopefully you get to go back some time soon on a non-crowded Thursday or Sunday. I heard about Halloweens line problems and that's really unusual, it shouldn't have been that bad.