Do both parks close early every night of Halloween Horror?

[MamaBear12]

We'll be in Orlando Oct 11-16 and are planning to go to Universal 3 days. Our dates overlap with Halloween Horror every day and my kids are definitely not old enough for that event. Will both parks be closing early every night of Halloween Horror? Does that usually mean lower crowds during the day? Thanks!

 

[Smugpugmug]

IoA does not close early for HHN but USF does. HHN is only in USF so I'd recommend heading to that park early in the day.

 

[MamaBear12]

IoA does not close early for HHN but USF does. HHN is only in USF so I'd recommend heading to that park early in the day.

Perfect! Thank you! Do you happen to know if they still do the nighttime lights at Hogwarts when HHN is going on?

 

[wdwrule]

Perfect! Thank you! Do you happen to know if they still do the nighttime lights at Hogwarts when HHN is going on?

They have in the past although the nighttime lights were under a refurb lately but it might be back up and running?? Also, last year they had a few Death Eaters roaming around randomly in Hogsmeade which was very cool to experience. Not sure if they’re doing that again this year.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

They do a "Dark Arts" projection on Hogwarts - if the kids have read the books, it's not too scary. Creepier music and things like spiders & skulls projected onto the castle. Still very much worth a watch. And like @wdwrule said, they'll have a few Death Eaters come out and interact - including right around/shortly after park close, once the crowds thin a little bit.

Mid-afternoons can actually be pretty quiet in Studios sometimes on HHN weekdays - once people either start heading into the HHN holding pens, or head out to Islands. You can experience some nice short lines. Like 10min on Minions & such. Studios doesn't close until 5pm so I'd suggest staying right up until the end, then grabbing dinner in CityWalk on your way over to Islands (you will want a reservation for more popular table service places at that time on HHN nights). Then you head into Islands all refreshed for a few more hours of fun!

 

[MamaBear12]

They do a "Dark Arts" projection on Hogwarts - if the kids have read the books, it's not too scary. Creepier music and things like spiders & skulls projected onto the castle. Still very much worth a watch. And like @wdwrule said, they'll have a few Death Eaters come out and interact - including right around/shortly after park close, once the crowds thin a little bit.

Mid-afternoons can actually be pretty quiet in Studios sometimes on HHN weekdays - once people either start heading into the HHN holding pens, or head out to Islands. You can experience some nice short lines. Like 10min on Minions & such. Studios doesn't close until 5pm so I'd suggest staying right up until the end, then grabbing dinner in CityWalk on your way over to Islands (you will want a reservation for more popular table service places at that time on HHN nights). Then you head into Islands all refreshed for a few more hours of fun!

Thank you! Really helpful information!

 

[ClapYourHands]

Just FYI - on the nights US closes early, IoA can see a big uptick in guests not going to HHN. The death eaters and fog and green lighting in Hogsmeade are all very cool, and worth seeing, but do brace yourself for some crowds.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

Just FYI - on the nights US closes early, IoA can see a big uptick in guests not going to HHN. The death eaters and fog and green lighting in Hogsmeade are all very cool, and worth seeing, but do brace yourself for some crowds.

Is IoA busier all day, or just in the evenings as people move over?

We’ll be at the parks on a Sunday/Monday, after a long trip to WDW. I was going to plan IoA on Sunday, and US on Monday to maximize park hours, but we’ll probably be at our limit for crowds (especially DD6 who doesn’t do well in crowded environments) so might switch that around if IoA is more crowded all day because of HHN.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Is IoA busier all day, or just in the evenings as people move over?

We’ll be at the parks on a Sunday/Monday, after a long trip to WDW. I was going to plan IoA on Sunday, and US on Monday to maximize park hours, but we’ll probably be at our limit for crowds (especially DD6 who doesn’t do well in crowded environments) so might switch that around if IoA is more crowded all day because of HHN.

Busier at night. The vast majority of people have park-to-park tickets, so it’s pretty common for people to start in US and move to IoA later. If you look at the Hogwarts Express wait times, you’ll see a huge disparity starting around 3pm, as people go to IoA. On the other hand, those of us going from IoA to US for HHN have nearly a walk on with the train.

I can’t tell for sure from your post, but if you have one park per day tickets, know that you cannot ride the Hogwarts Express. It’s actually two rides (different storylines depending on the direction), but because it’s also transportation to the other park, your ticket is scanned at the start of the queue.

 

[Skippyboo]

Is IoA busier all day, or just in the evenings as people move over?

We’ll be at the parks on a Sunday/Monday, after a long trip to WDW. I was going to plan IoA on Sunday, and US on Monday to maximize park hours, but we’ll probably be at our limit for crowds (especially DD6 who doesn’t do well in crowded environments) so might switch that around if IoA is more crowded all day because of HHN.

There is no HHN on Mondays/Tuesdays (other than Halloween itself). If you take advantage of the mornings that should avoid most of the HHN crowds who are staying late into the night so probably not rope dropping park open after getting back home/hotel after 2am.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

Thanks for the info guys!

One park per day tickets for us - DD isn’t into Harry Potter (yet), so I figured it wasn’t worth the added expense this trip. Next trip she’ll probably be 9-10, so it’ll be a must do then. We do have unlimited express, but when it’s packed, my DD just doesn’t have any fun.

It sounds like either way we do it we’ll have to plan for Sunday being a shorter day - either because of early closure or crowds. If I do IoA on Sunday, I might have to leave earlier in the day as the crowds get bigger from the US influx, but could stay until closing if crowds aren’t too bad. But if I do US on Sunday, I’ll have to contend with Scream Early ticket holders, and will have to leave at 5 regardless.

So sounds like IoA on Sunday and UH on Monday. We’ll try to get to the parks early, but on days 9 and 10 of our trip, sleeping in may win out over maximizing the park visits.

 

[Skippyboo]

If you not doing the big coasters then I would do IoA on Sunday and do Studios on Monday with full park hours. There’s more kid friendly stuff on Studio side plus you have the Bourne Stunt Show, Animal actor show, etc. There will still have some of the physical props in the scare zones areas but they will cover up the gory stuff.

The express pass will work on everything but Hagrid’s

 

[ClapYourHands]

Thanks for the info guys!

One park per day tickets for us - DD isn’t into Harry Potter (yet), so I figured it wasn’t worth the added expense this trip. Next trip she’ll probably be 9-10, so it’ll be a must do then. We do have unlimited express, but when it’s packed, my DD just doesn’t have any fun.

It sounds like either way we do it we’ll have to plan for Sunday being a shorter day - either because of early closure or crowds. If I do IoA on Sunday, I might have to leave earlier in the day as the crowds get bigger from the US influx, but could stay until closing if crowds aren’t too bad. But if I do US on Sunday, I’ll have to contend with Scream Early ticket holders, and will have to leave at 5 regardless.

So sounds like IoA on Sunday and UH on Monday. We’ll try to get to the parks early, but on days 9 and 10 of our trip, sleeping in may win out over maximizing the park visits.

Is your express from staying at a premier hotel? If so, then don’t worry about the crowds. On Sunday, you can plan to go back to the hotel in the afternoon if the crowds are too much. Take a nap, chill by the pool, whatever you want to do for a rest. Have dinner out of the park. Then go back in after dinner to enjoy some after-dark park time, including the dark arts at Hogwarts stuff.

As for sleeping in, go for it! The IoA ropedrop is insane for Hagrid’s coaster, so if you’re not at the front of the pack it’s a two hour wait very fast. Better to go later, use your express on other things, and then, if you want to ride Hagrid’s, do it after lunch. Waits tend to dip slightly in the afternoon, but even if you do wait 70 minutes, it will be your only real wait of the day (Pteranadon flyers also does not accept express, but it doesn’t get 2-3 hour waits). With express and only one park, you want need to be there open to close. On Monday, you’ll be at US, and all the rides there take express passes, so there’s really no advantage to rushing over.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

They do a "Dark Arts" projection on Hogwarts - if the kids have read the books, it's not too scary. Creepier music and things like spiders & skulls projected onto the castle. Still very much worth a watch. And like @wdwrule said, they'll have a few Death Eaters come out and interact - including right around/shortly after park close, once the crowds thin a little bit.

Mid-afternoons can actually be pretty quiet in Studios sometimes on HHN weekdays - once people either start heading into the HHN holding pens, or head out to Islands. You can experience some nice short lines. Like 10min on Minions & such. Studios doesn't close until 5pm so I'd suggest staying right up until the end, then grabbing dinner in CityWalk on your way over to Islands (you will want a reservation for more popular table service places at that time on HHN nights). Then you head into Islands all refreshed for a few more hours of fun!

So if I went two nights in a row, one HHN and one not, would I see two different projection shows (the Dark Arts and the regular) or is it the Dark Arts one all season regardless of whether it’s a HHN night?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Dark Arts all season, at least based on previous years.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

Is your express from staying at a premier hotel? If so, then don’t worry about the crowds. On Sunday, you can plan to go back to the hotel in the afternoon if the crowds are too much. Take a nap, chill by the pool, whatever you want to do for a rest. Have dinner out of the park. Then go back in after dinner to enjoy some after-dark park time, including the dark arts at Hogwarts stuff.

As for sleeping in, go for it! The IoA ropedrop is insane for Hagrid’s coaster, so if you’re not at the front of the pack it’s a two hour wait very fast. Better to go later, use your express on other things, and then, if you want to ride Hagrid’s, do it after lunch. Waits tend to dip slightly in the afternoon, but even if you do wait 70 minutes, it will be your only real wait of the day (Pteranadon flyers also does not accept express, but it doesn’t get 2-3 hour waits). With express and only one park, you want need to be there open to close. On Monday, you’ll be at US, and all the rides there take express passes, so there’s really no advantage to rushing over.

Thanks! Hopefully we’ll be adjusted to early East coast mornings by this point in our trip, and can be at the parks early. This will probably be the only trip for 4-5 years, so want to be able to fit I as many re-rides on the rides my daughter like as we can. Big advantage for us is my DD isn’t into rollercoasters so we won’t have to stand in many of the really long lines. And the Unlimited Express passes will definitely help. (RPR).