Halloween Season

CharleneTheDM

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Hi all!

I've never visited Cali during Halloween season.
I'm not attending DCA's Oogie Boogie Bash, but am still visiting the DLR to soak up the amazing Halloween atmosphere that everyone raves about!

I also want to check out Universal Horror Nights and Knott's Scary Farm.

Are there any other recommendations or tips for those?

Thanks in advance :)
 
For Universal horror nights, I highly suggest getting the front of the line pass (forgot the name of it)..I just know it's $100 extra :sad2:
Anyway, the lines for the mazes are insanely long...they can give disneyland a run for their money with those wait times. At one point in the night Poltergeist, Purge, and Blum House were 110 minutes each!

A tip someone gave me for Horror nights was to begin at the back, and work your way to the front so that way you aren't trekking back and forth throughout the night.
 
I've done a Halloween trip down there the last four or five years and have done Disney, Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, and Knott's Scary Farm.

Universal Halloween Horror Nights - Teens and adults only, it's intense and a long night, if you have teens that don't like horror stuff but "will give it a try", seriously think again, there is no re-entry to this so you can't walk them back to a hotel to drop them off. Speaking of hotels, I HIGHLY recommend staying at the Hilton or Sheraton across the street (in Universal City), especially if you're going to be in the park during the day and then for the night time event. Traffic from Disney can be as bad as 90 minutes and that's without any accidents, traffic home is better at 30 minutes or so, BUT, it's probably going to be at midnight, 1 am, or even 2 am, think about how worn out you'll be and weigh that against the (relative affordable) cost of one of those two hotels. Get the front of the line pass or RIP pass. Front of the line will allow you to get to the front of the line ONCE for every maze and the attractions that are open during the night (not all are). Universal is fantastic about it actually being "front of the line", wait times are usually 5 minutes or less with this pass, even on the busiest nights. The problem with that, is you actually burn through the mazes long before the night is out. Don't get me wrong, it's a huge event and really well done, but each maze only takes 5 minutes or so to get through, and there are usually 8 to 10 of them plus a show and random scare zones around the park. So, if you're getting front of the line, kept the badge (bar code they scan) in your pocket and use the normal line during the start of the night up to whatever your limit is (20 minute wait, 30 min, etc) or until about 9pm, then bust out the front of the line and go experience some mazes for a second time and make sure to hit everything at least once. OR, the expensive option, get RIP. It includes valet parking, a very gourmet buffet dinner (like sushi items, hot meat stations, pasta dishes, etc, really good!) and a guided tour with about 14 people max and one tour guide. They'll make sure you get good seats to the show and hit every maze at least once, usually by 11pm or so. After that your badge allows for unlimited front of the line, so if there is one favorite maze that you love and has a bunch of detail, you could do it ten times in an hour easy before heading home, or go do everything two or three times, etc. Depending on the nights these passes are about $300 to $350/person. Usually they also include "early entry" where select mazes open and during when normal attractions are open, I think at 4pm. The park "closes" at 6pm I think and the Halloween event starts then.

If the price is just too much and you're buying a normal ticket, early in the season (early October, or even September) is usually manageable crowds and AFTER Halloween is usually better. (I suspect this year they'll just run one weekend after Halloween, so Nov 1st - 3rd will probably be the end) Past that as close to midweek as possible, except this year for the week OF Halloween. Good luck, but save up and buy a pass!

(To give you an idea of what's do-able with Universal's "relaxed" VIP treatment.... I'll usually do the park in the day with a VIP pass, starting at about 9am. It includes a nice little finger food type breakfast in the lounge, and a nice gourmet lunch at a private location. The tour usually ends around 3pm and people can break off and do unlimited front of the line for whatever they want. I'll hit a couple things two or three times and then drive across the street to the Hilton around 4:30pm. Usually shower and change into some non-sweaty clothes if it's been hot, or put on another layer if it's going to be cool out. By 5:30pm I'm driving back across the street to valet the car with Universal and pass security [they have LOTS of metal detectors setup by then, probably 20, but lines can still get long as the night goes]. Meet up with my tour group by 6pm when it's just starting to get dusk and request to be put in a group that is heading over "early" for dinner. Then usually my group is heading toward mazes by 7pm and I'm in the park till ~1am. I can do every maze at least twice if not three times in this amount of time. It's an expensive and long day and I sleep REALLY well when I head back to the Hilton, but I've been in the park for ~15 to 16 hours and don't feel like I want to die or that my feet went numb. VIP during the day and RIP during the night makes it really do-able in a non-miserable way, if you want to spend the money and do both things.)

Knott's is "2nd tier" to me, partly because of the crowds. I feel like there are A LOT more 14 to 18 year olds over there, screaming around either honestly scared, or just being stupid with their friends. It's probably because the ticket price is a lot cheaper. The mazes are good, but not as good as Universal. They tend to be "home made" in the sense that it's not based on a TV or movie property but instead just custom made. Most the Universal ones are based on some movie or TV property, except for one or two every now and then. Lines for some mazes can get insanely long at times so a front of the line ticket here is worth it too. The park is less decorated for Halloween and is extremely dark, I was frustrated and mad the first time there because I kept finding myself going in circles since I didn't know the park layout and it was too dark to read signs or the map, and if I put my head down to use my cell phone to light up the map I seriously risked getting jump scared by the roaming scare-actors. After the event I realized I was more on edge than any other time, I actually really enjoyed that, but in the moment trying to find a maze for 45 minutes while somehow ending up at the wrong spot five times in a row was maddening, lol. Knott's is about ~25 minutes or so from Disney on most nights and I probably would suggest staying near Disney during that time. Unless you plan on doing the park in the day, you could do Disney for over half a day, leave at about 4pm and get to Knott's and into the park by 6pm for the Halloween event. Then either drive back to your hotel near Disney, or, use this time as the transfer to a Universal City hotel since traffic will be empty at midnight or 1am.

The worst wait times I've seen at Universal Halloween Horror Nights is 180 to 200 minutes for some star mazes like Stranger Things.

Worst times I've seen at Knott's is about 140 minutes for one or two knock out mazes but ~80 to 90 for the rest.

I usually go the week before Halloween (so ~19th to 26th time frame give or take a day)

When are you planning to be there?
 
For Universal horror nights, I highly suggest getting the front of the line pass (forgot the name of it)..I just know it's $100 extra :sad2:
Anyway, the lines for the mazes are insanely long...they can give disneyland a run for their money with those wait times. At one point in the night Poltergeist, Purge, and Blum House were 110 minutes each!

A tip someone gave me for Horror nights was to begin at the back, and work your way to the front so that way you aren't trekking back and forth throughout the night.
I've done a Halloween trip down there the last four or five years and have done Disney, Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, and Knott's Scary Farm.
....
I usually go the week before Halloween (so ~19th to 26th time frame give or take a day)

When are you planning to be there?

Wow, thanks for the informative responses!!
For Universal Studios, I've done the VIP and loved it. I can't stand for too long in lines so I'm definitely willing to spurlge.

I'm going between 9/25-9/30. Pretty short, but hope I can squeeze in a day at DL, DCA and a night @ HHN and Knotts Scary Farm.
Tagging on to the beginning of Halloween season for sure.
 


Anyone remember when Universal's Halloween tickets usually go on sale?

Hopefully by July! I'm keeping my eyes glued too. I've subscribed to the HHN email list.
I think occasionally they send out a new email teaser about a new maze theme. They only announced 3 so far---hmm!
 


Anyone remember when Universal's Halloween tickets usually go on sale?
I believe they had a pre-sale for select dates at the very end of July last year and all dates went on sale end of first week in August? Something like that.

@Horrornights is John Murdy’s Twitter, he’s the creative director for Horror Nights Hollywood and will start ramping up his postings in the next month or so. Usually gives some hints to maze announcements, whatever ticket knowledge he has (though he isn’t in charge or pricing or on sale dates, so sometimes he doesn’t know any more than us), and as the event runs sometimes behind the scenes tidbits.
 
I've done a Halloween trip down there the last four or five years and have done Disney, Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, and Knott's Scary Farm.

Universal Halloween Horror Nights - Teens and adults only, it's intense and a long night, if you have teens that don't like horror stuff but "will give it a try", seriously think again, there is no re-entry to this so you can't walk them back to a hotel to drop them off. Speaking of hotels, I HIGHLY recommend staying at the Hilton or Sheraton across the street (in Universal City), especially if you're going to be in the park during the day and then for the night time event. Traffic from Disney can be as bad as 90 minutes and that's without any accidents, traffic home is better at 30 minutes or so, BUT, it's probably going to be at midnight, 1 am, or even 2 am, think about how worn out you'll be and weigh that against the (relative affordable) cost of one of those two hotels. Get the front of the line pass or RIP pass. Front of the line will allow you to get to the front of the line ONCE for every maze and the attractions that are open during the night (not all are). Universal is fantastic about it actually being "front of the line", wait times are usually 5 minutes or less with this pass, even on the busiest nights. The problem with that, is you actually burn through the mazes long before the night is out. Don't get me wrong, it's a huge event and really well done, but each maze only takes 5 minutes or so to get through, and there are usually 8 to 10 of them plus a show and random scare zones around the park. So, if you're getting front of the line, kept the badge (bar code they scan) in your pocket and use the normal line during the start of the night up to whatever your limit is (20 minute wait, 30 min, etc) or until about 9pm, then bust out the front of the line and go experience some mazes for a second time and make sure to hit everything at least once. OR, the expensive option, get RIP. It includes valet parking, a very gourmet buffet dinner (like sushi items, hot meat stations, pasta dishes, etc, really good!) and a guided tour with about 14 people max and one tour guide. They'll make sure you get good seats to the show and hit every maze at least once, usually by 11pm or so. After that your badge allows for unlimited front of the line, so if there is one favorite maze that you love and has a bunch of detail, you could do it ten times in an hour easy before heading home, or go do everything two or three times, etc. Depending on the nights these passes are about $300 to $350/person. Usually they also include "early entry" where select mazes open and during when normal attractions are open, I think at 4pm. The park "closes" at 6pm I think and the Halloween event starts then.

If the price is just too much and you're buying a normal ticket, early in the season (early October, or even September) is usually manageable crowds and AFTER Halloween is usually better. (I suspect this year they'll just run one weekend after Halloween, so Nov 1st - 3rd will probably be the end) Past that as close to midweek as possible, except this year for the week OF Halloween. Good luck, but save up and buy a pass!

(To give you an idea of what's do-able with Universal's "relaxed" VIP treatment.... I'll usually do the park in the day with a VIP pass, starting at about 9am. It includes a nice little finger food type breakfast in the lounge, and a nice gourmet lunch at a private location. The tour usually ends around 3pm and people can break off and do unlimited front of the line for whatever they want. I'll hit a couple things two or three times and then drive across the street to the Hilton around 4:30pm. Usually shower and change into some non-sweaty clothes if it's been hot, or put on another layer if it's going to be cool out. By 5:30pm I'm driving back across the street to valet the car with Universal and pass security [they have LOTS of metal detectors setup by then, probably 20, but lines can still get long as the night goes]. Meet up with my tour group by 6pm when it's just starting to get dusk and request to be put in a group that is heading over "early" for dinner. Then usually my group is heading toward mazes by 7pm and I'm in the park till ~1am. I can do every maze at least twice if not three times in this amount of time. It's an expensive and long day and I sleep REALLY well when I head back to the Hilton, but I've been in the park for ~15 to 16 hours and don't feel like I want to die or that my feet went numb. VIP during the day and RIP during the night makes it really do-able in a non-miserable way, if you want to spend the money and do both things.)

Knott's is "2nd tier" to me, partly because of the crowds. I feel like there are A LOT more 14 to 18 year olds over there, screaming around either honestly scared, or just being stupid with their friends. It's probably because the ticket price is a lot cheaper. The mazes are good, but not as good as Universal. They tend to be "home made" in the sense that it's not based on a TV or movie property but instead just custom made. Most the Universal ones are based on some movie or TV property, except for one or two every now and then. Lines for some mazes can get insanely long at times so a front of the line ticket here is worth it too. The park is less decorated for Halloween and is extremely dark, I was frustrated and mad the first time there because I kept finding myself going in circles since I didn't know the park layout and it was too dark to read signs or the map, and if I put my head down to use my cell phone to light up the map I seriously risked getting jump scared by the roaming scare-actors. After the event I realized I was more on edge than any other time, I actually really enjoyed that, but in the moment trying to find a maze for 45 minutes while somehow ending up at the wrong spot five times in a row was maddening, lol. Knott's is about ~25 minutes or so from Disney on most nights and I probably would suggest staying near Disney during that time. Unless you plan on doing the park in the day, you could do Disney for over half a day, leave at about 4pm and get to Knott's and into the park by 6pm for the Halloween event. Then either drive back to your hotel near Disney, or, use this time as the transfer to a Universal City hotel since traffic will be empty at midnight or 1am.

The worst wait times I've seen at Universal Halloween Horror Nights is 180 to 200 minutes for some star mazes like Stranger Things.

Worst times I've seen at Knott's is about 140 minutes for one or two knock out mazes but ~80 to 90 for the rest.

I usually go the week before Halloween (so ~19th to 26th time frame give or take a day)

When are you planning to be there?

Hi @AndrewC! Thanks for your elaborate response!

I'm definitely thinking of spurlging for the RIP tickets. I see that it says the RIP tour is about 5 hours long.
Since you mentioned that the mazes are mostly 5 minutes tops, what would be the majority of time of the tour be spent on?
How long is the Terror Tram? Does it include a backlot visit like the daytime VIP tour?
How late is the park open until on Horror Nights? Aside from the mazes, are all the rides open till very late as well? So we can utilize the unlimited FOTL pass to go on them after the tour, perhaps?

I arrive in the afternoon on Wednesday the 25th.
Would you recommend perhaps doing Knotts Scary Farm or Universal that night?
I was thinking of maybe Knotts since traffic to Hollywood would be quite painful due to rush hour on a weekday?

I might do Magic Morning to DL the next morning, so hopefully I can get back to the hotel by 1AM.

Gah, sorry I got so many questions, I'm so excited and a bit overwhelmed!
 
The horror tram is in the same area as the normal tour, but it will not include all of it. It does have some of the same areas done up for the event and you walk thru it, like the plane crash and outside of the hotel and house from Psycho. It closes at 1 or 2am depending on the day. I have done the VIP (RIP) tour and sometimes it is worth the money and sometimes not. When there are extras features like a special maze it is worth it. Otherwise all the VIP tour did was walk you to the mazes and answer questions you had. Most in our tour group left because that part wasn't worth it. What the above poster said about crowds and lines at HHN is spot on. I have seen 2-3 hour waits for mazes. All the rides (except Harry potter which close for HHN) are open minus the tram until closing.

Knotts - it can be teen night out. Tons of families with older kids who don't read the fine print and know what they are getting into. It isn't as scary as HHN,but some of them can be terrifying when they surprise you with something new. As they were the first to start the Halloween events they can and will do new things that will make you scream. This isn't Disney scary and cute. This is jump out and chase you. I have been grabbed by many a young kid. I think the Knotts as your first is a good introduction as the sets are not as good as HHN, but I have a better option.

For a short first night you may want to look into Queen Marys Dark Harbor but I am it sure if they run on Wednesday, maybe Thursday. It's a lot smaller, tickets are cheap at Costco (I know they are in California Costcos), you can do it all in a few hours (with front entry) and the mazes on the ship are atmospheric and unique. They also have the bonus of doing hidden bars which can be a lot of fun as in order to get the "key" you need to interact with a character and recognize the secret doors.
 
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The horror tram is in the same area as the normal tour, but it will not include all of it. It does have some of the same areas done up for the event and you walk thru it, like the plane crash and outside of the hotel and house from Psycho. It closes at 1 or 2am depending on the day. I have done the VIP (RIP) tour and sometimes it is worth the money and sometimes not. When there are extras features like a special maze it is worth it. Otherwise all the VIP tour did was walk you to the mazes and answer questions you had. Most in our tour group left because that part wasn't worth it. What the above poster said about crowds and lines at HHN is spot on. I have seen 2-3 hour waits for mazes. All the rides (except Harry potter which close for HHN) are open minus the tram until closing.

Knotts - it can be teen night out. Tons of families with older kids who don't read the fine print and know what they are getting into. It isn't as scary as HHN,but some of them can be terrifying when they surprise you with something new. As they were the first to start the Halloween events they can and will do new things that will make you scream. This isn't Disney scary and cute. This is jump out and chase you. I have been grabbed by many a young kid. I think the Knotts as your first is a good introduction as the sets are not as good as HHN, but I have a better option.

For a short first night you may want to look into Queen Marys Dark Harbor but I am it sure if they run on Wednesday, maybe Thursday. It's a lot smaller, tickets are cheap at Costco (I know they are in California Costcos), you can do it all in a few hours (with front entry) and the mazes on the ship are atmospheric and unique. They also have the bonus of doing hidden bars which can be a lot of fun as in order to get the "key" you need to interact with a character and recognize the secret doors.

Thanks for the tips! I'm now thinking of taking it easier on the first day I land and might do Napa Rose Chef's Counter that night.
Then I'm planning on doing HHN on Thursday evening!

Did you also leave the RIP tour to venture out on your own with your group?
You basically get a lanyard and have unlimited express pass to everything, right? :D
 
They change it up, but the two times I did RIP, one you had to be with the group and they took you to an extra experience on the backlot. That was fun as they used my sister's name ( it was a houses that they wrote her name on in blood-using special effect technology to call her to the haunted house). They got rid of that experience and the last time (last year) they gave you a time to eat (45 or 60 minutes to eat I can't remember the exact time, you could not come earlier, they made us wait outside when we were early) and then just guided you around to all the mazes. You could ask the guide questions about how they made them etc... I remember being annoyed we had to walk everywhere, I figured if this was a VIp experience they should at least take me in an golf cart, but nothing. We stuck it out, but only because we were hoping they would surprise us with something at the end, but they didn't. It was like"that's it! Have a good night everyone! " if you bought it already the manger benefit is being able to use the VIP line multiple times.


Yes, you get a lanyard with a scanable pass to prevent the teens from jumping in the line. They scan it right at the entrance and just look for the lanyard at the start of the line. I did enjoy the anger on the line jumpers faced when they attempted to enter the VIP lines only to be turned away at the front, especially when I gently reminded them the line was for VIP access.I



The big tip to do Knotts without a line pass is to start at the back and do a circle, either direction. Then fit in the shows as they are covenient. Go to the second or third shows when the lines are longer and your feet will need a rest. Like Disney be there before they open so you can go right in and do three or more in the first hour. The sections to the left past Ghost Rider is always busy at the beginning. Go there towards the end of the night and the lines will be much shorter. If you do this you can do it all in one visit and most of all of the shows.
 
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We purchased the 2019 "ghoul package" at Knotts Berry Farm Hotel and it comes with a Fright and Fast lane passes. Are these a scanned ticket that we will probably want to get a lanyard/id badge type of thing to carry them in?
 
We purchased the 2019 "ghoul package" at Knotts Berry Farm Hotel and it comes with a Fright and Fast lane passes. Are these a scanned ticket that we will probably want to get a lanyard/id badge type of thing to carry them in?

I believe they give you wristbands.
 

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