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Is 4 hours enough?


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I’m doing the WB thing in a few weeks and from early feedback it seems like we will “see it all” pretty fast. I was thinking Of being at WB for 2-3 hours then heading to HHN with express passes for the last 4-5 hours. Would this be enough for all the mazes? Won’t be too disappointed if we miss Jabbawockeezs or any rides. 

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I feel like this plan has potential to go very very wrong with any tiny misstep. And as close as WB is to Universal, there's still possibility of traffic on the streets and a long line for parking, and a long line to get into the park's entrance. So doing WB from 7-10, you realistically have to get back to your car (I'll say 7 mins), drive up Forest Lawn then up Barham, then into Universal (on a clear day, maybe 7 minutes tops, but in weird unpredictable LA streets traffic, up to 25 minutes) [32]. Then line of cars for parking and finding a parking spot (10-20 minutes - 15) [47]. Walk from City Walk through security line then through security (5-10 mins - 7)  [54], then go through an entrance line filled with late coming Angelinos (4-9 mins - 6) [60]. So it'd actually be around 11 by the time you get in, so you'd only have 3 hours. You'd have to hit Terror Tram first since that closes 11:15 or 11:45. You'd be off by around 11:30-11:45, so now you really only have 2 hours and 15 minutes to death march the mazes... I mean... it may be possible... maybe... walking time is a huge factor though, so you may want to run.

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Yeah traffic does seem like the wild card. However, people have been saying WB with the Losers’ Club pass is doable in 2 hours or less since it’s only 3 mazes, the tour, and Exorcist show (going to skip the drag show). Was just hoping to make it a longer night since WB offerings seem a little light. 

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Oh, with the Losers Club, you should be a lot better! I heard the Conjuring maze got up to 90 minutes last night with an advertised wait of 30 because they let in VIP whenever they came up instead of switching back and forth with the standby line. Honestly, with only 4 attractions, Exorcist, and Devil's Drop, I definitely see you being able to finish in 2 hours with VIP. I also heard there's an Exorcist showing at 6:45, so that could have you ready to go by 7 and save you a good 10-15 minutes from those 2 hours. I'd suggest do Exorcist 1st at 6:45, then Conjuring right at 7. Arkham has a photo op and kind of a pre-show, so maybe that'll be best to do second. Next I'd hit the tour, as the exit is the Exhibit, which lets you out right in front of IT. You may even be done by 8:30 at that rate haha.

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Absolutely! On General admission I usually get the most mazes done during early entry and from 11-2am.  I'm actually planning a third visit with my best friend for just the final three hours because fast walking from maze to maze is easily possible. Just keep in mind that Purge and Halloween have been rocking the highest wait times recently, so plan around that. 

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With the Loser's Club you will probably be able to execute this plan.  Honestly, get the Universal App and start tracking the wait times. 

Be aware that HHN is trying to push an "After 11PM Express".  I don't know how much it is, but you can buy it in-park at (I forget the official name) the place where you buy VIP pass, near the Starbucks.

So be prepared to buy them if the place looks slammed.

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20 hours ago, clipper6 said:

The after 11 express is only on sale at the event right? 

 

Correct.  And there's no guarantee they will even be available.  Don't wait till 11, either.  They can technically create an "after Xpm" express, if they decide to.  Not saying you would get a choice of options.  Just saying that over the years I've seen "After 10", "After 11" and "After midnight".  They monitor wait times and number of customers all night, and play with different options to see what rakes in the most $$$.  And now Hollywood has the Unlimited Express in their arsenal, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them offer that just to see what happens.  Unlimited Express is devastating - in 30 minutes you could go into the same house 10 times in a row in Hollywood.  In Orlando, you'd have to run at a sprint to even have a shot at three times in 30 minutes.  This is because of the physically short Express queues in Hollywood and the fact that they sell so few Express passes.

 

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I went ahead and got GA tickets to HHN. We will be there Saturday so it’ll be busy. I’m really hoping after 11pm express will be available. Based on reviews I’ve been reading, WB can easily be done in 1-2 hours with VIP. The X factor might be how long we stay in the museum part. Gotta get our pics on the Friends couch. Might hit the True Blood bar early on to enjoy my 2 free drinks. 

 

Looking at getting to HHN around 9-10, hopefully getting express passes, will probably want to eat at that point since WB food is getting bad reviews, and hopefully hit most mazes before 2am. Since I’ve been doing HHN for years, missing TT wouldn’t be the end of the world. I think if we manage to do ST, Blumhouse (I’m actually a big fan of Unfriended), TrT, and Monsters, I would be satisfied. 

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I know I won't be able to convince you to swap ST for Halloween because the hype for ST is the main reason everyone is there, but I've seen consistently ST on the lower half of rankings while Hween is on the upper half. I wasn't a fan of Poltergeist but everyone loved it. Definitely skip Purge if you have to though haha

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10 hours ago, clipper6 said:

I went ahead and got GA tickets to HHN. We will be there Saturday so it’ll be busy. I’m really hoping after 11pm express will be available. Based on reviews I’ve been reading, WB can easily be done in 1-2 hours with VIP. The X factor might be how long we stay in the museum part. Gotta get our pics on the Friends couch. Might hit the True Blood bar early on to enjoy my 2 free drinks. 

 

Looking at getting to HHN around 9-10, hopefully getting express passes, will probably want to eat at that point since WB food is getting bad reviews, and hopefully hit most mazes before 2am. Since I’ve been doing HHN for years, missing TT wouldn’t be the end of the world. I think if we manage to do ST, Blumhouse (I’m actually a big fan of Unfriended), TrT, and Monsters, I would be satisfied. 

 

If you get to HHN on a Saturday in mid October between 9 and 10, Express is a must.  You are not doing 4 houses without it - guaranteed.  You will be facing 90-130 min wait per house.  I seriously recommend you call and upgrade them to VIP.  

 

If you like Unfriended then definitely make BH a priority.  Monsters should be a priority.  And I agree with DTH that Halloween should take priority over ST unless you are a total ST fan.  TrT has done nothing for me on either coast, and Murdy has in my opinion wrecked it with endless black hallways.  I'd skip it.  If you don't do Express, flip a coin with Poltergeist, Purge, and TT.  

 

And you know what?  Next year fly to Orlando and do HHN there.  With the money you are dropping on two so-so haunts in one night, you could do much better there.  It'll change everything for you.

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What are the odds of me being able to get after 11pm express or even just to pay full price for a full upgrade when I arrive? I’m probably crazy enough to just upgrade to express now, but I know others in the group would be hesitant since it is a $250 night for express. 

 

TrT is probably my favorite of the properties. Disappointing that the maze isn’t getting great reviews, but I still want to see Sam. ST is completely for another member of the group that is a huge fan. If left up to me, it would be skipped in favor of Poltergeist. 

 

I used to do HHN every year, but I’ve been alternating with Knott’s for a few years. This was supposed to be a HHN year, but the line up didn’t appeal to me and Knott’s I have a hard time doing two years in a row due to lack of new content from year to year. Thought it would be a good year to do WB and maybe a smaller haunt like Sinister Pointe, but the reviews for WB got me to consider this last minute HHN addition. Kind of considering Fright Fest next year. Can’t find anyone willing to go to Dark Harbor since everyone seems to have had a bad experience in the past (so did I, but that was years ago; guess I’m more open to second chances than others). Would love to go to Orlando, but time off in October is difficult where I work. 

Edited by clipper6
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For what it's worth, TrT is by far my favorite maze this year. I am completely alone in that regard, however, and I usually see it on the lower end of people's charts. I did it twice at opposite ends of the night and it held up extremely well, catching new scares, the old scares hitting just as hard, and I think it's just a beautiful maze albeit broken down into segments by black walls... that have scares in them, so I don't mind too much. I feel like it's getting some weird unnecessary heat for them when other mazes are just as, if not, more guilty this year for the same thing. My whole group had the same opinion so I was shocked to see nobody else on the forums heralding it like we were. Maybe I just got lucky both times with the cast being relentless towards us. I still have to go back in about 2 weeks to see if it'll still be my favorite.

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13 hours ago, clipper6 said:

What are the odds of me being able to get after 11pm express or even just to pay full price for a full upgrade when I arrive? I’m probably crazy enough to just upgrade to express now, but I know others in the group would be hesitant since it is a $250 night for express. 

 

I used to do HHN every year, but I’ve been alternating with Knott’s for a few years. This was supposed to be a HHN year, but the line up didn’t appeal to me and Knott’s I have a hard time doing two years in a row due to lack of new content from year to year. Thought it would be a good year to do WB and maybe a smaller haunt like Sinister Pointe, but the reviews for WB got me to consider this last minute HHN addition. Kind of considering Fright Fest next year. Can’t find anyone willing to go to Dark Harbor since everyone seems to have had a bad experience in the past (so did I, but that was years ago; guess I’m more open to second chances than others). Would love to go to Orlando, but time off in October is difficult where I work. 

 

Express upgrade in the park - I rarely see these available.  After 11 - who knows?    Why not call them and ask to upgrade your ticket?  Unless they are sold out, they absolutely will over the phone.  Just give them your confirmation number and money.  Money always seems to work...

 

Sinister Pointe - Great haunt.  Always do it if you can.

Fright Fest - ....just say no to drugs, man.

Dark Harbor - It's a once every 5 years event.

Orlando - Quit your job and find one that will let you go in October.  

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12 hours ago, clipper6 said:

I would upgrade if it was just the two of us, but I’m bringing her family this year so it’s be almost $700 more. Was really hoping to save some money with the after 11pm express. Might just have to bite the bullet at this point...

 

Jeez!  With a group that large, there comes a point where a private RIP tour is something to consider.  It is a first class guaranteed perfect experience and you get to be the hero for arranging it

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9 hours ago, Fallow said:

They were selling After 11PM Express last night (Thursday), for what it's worth.

 

Best of luck!

Thanks for the info man! From what I remember, in the past they sold the after 11pm express (or after 10pm) even on sold out nights because by that time of night most of the express passes will be used up. Still with us getting there that late, I don’t know if those will sell out by the time we get there. 

 

Im actually kind of considering just getting the RIP at this point instead of taking the chance express won’t be there. Member of our group is dead set on Stranger Things and I’m not waiting 3 hours in line. Arriving that late we would miss the tour, but to be honest I’ve bought VIP and skipped the tour before in the past. Might still be able to get the meal I think. 

 

Edit: upon further thought, maybe I should just HHN first? HMH does close an hour earlier though...

Edited by clipper6
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I have posted reviews for both events in the appropriate areas. 

 

WB: Did all mazes, museum, and probably could have done the drop tower had we wanted to. Missed the drag show and the makeup demonstration. 

 

HHN: Did all mazes, TT, and Walking Dead. Missed all rides and shows. 

 

For anyone crazy enough to try and do what we did, it is absolutely doable, but you will need front of line at this point in the season unless you do a Thursday or maybe a Sunday. 

 

My advice for those trying to do both:

 

At WB, IT or Arkham are the only ones you should try and do twice. The ride out to Crystal Lake will eat up a lot of time. Conjuring gets a long wait even for VIP. In theory you can do Exorcist twice, but I wouldn’t want to. We spent way too much time in the museum, but still ended up ok on time. If you are VIP you can get both your free drinks at the same time to save some more time. Also, the photo location near the entrance for the tour will have a shorter line than the one in the museum. Depending on how much time you spend in the museum, you can easily do everything in 2-3 hours. 

 

At HHN, consider skipping TT unless you really want to do it. If the trams take too long to pick up, you will lose much precious time. If you are ok not doing everything, I would skip the express pass. I think wait times are slightly inflated to get people to upgrade. Blumhouse had a posted wait of 20 minutes but actually had zero people in line. Trick r Treat and Universal Monsters were around 15-20. You can cherry pick the mazes with low wait times. You will probably have to decide between Purge, Halloween, and Stranger Things. Halloween was listed around 150 minutes at 1:30 and I think they closed the line early. 

 

Thanks again to you all for your advice!

Edited by clipper6
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