Official 2019 HHN-29 Thread

[patster734]

What do they give you that is different in the private tour vs the public tour that gives you access to the express line after the tour is over? Price wise is it cheaper to do a private tour vs public tour plus buying express pass?

For a public tour, spots are purchased individually, can have up to 12 people in it consisting of strangers. The tour allows one visit per house where you are walked up to the entrance of the houses, skipping both the regular and express lines. Afterwards, your RIP pass gives express access to rides only.

For the private tour, there is one group price, which is 10x, 11x, or 12x the price of of the pubic tour for one person. Maximum participants is at 10, and I encourage you to hit that max number to help spread the cost around. The private tour lasts all night long, and houses can be hit multiple times with immediate access.

So the private RIP is the best way to do HHNs, but only if you can find 9 other friends to join the tour. Quite a few of us on this board have met each other by participating in a private RIP tour. If you can’t get enough people together to justify the group cost of the private tour, the individual cost of the public tour is still a very viable option.

As to your final question, I don’t suggest buying both a public RIP spot and EP for the same night. One alternative would be to book a later public RIP tour, and take advantage of the Stay and Scream holding area to visit a couple houses when the event starts and lines are short before your scheduled public RIP tour.

 

[neverenoughtime]

For a public tour, spots are purchased individually, can have up to 12 people in it consisting of strangers. The tour allows one visit per house where you are walked up to the entrance of the houses, skipping both the regular and express lines. Afterwards, your RIP pass gives express access to rides only.

For the private tour, there is one group price, which is 10x, 11x, or 12x the price of of the pubic tour for one person. Maximum participants is at 10, and I encourage you to hit that max number to help spread the cost around. The private tour lasts all night long, and houses can be hit multiple times with immediate access.

So the private RIP is the best way to do HHNs, but only if you can find 9 other friends to join the tour. Quite a few of us on this board have met each other by participating in a private RIP tour. If you can’t get enough people together to justify the group cost of the private tour, the individual cost of the public tour is still a very viable option.

As to your final question, I don’t suggest buying both a public RIP spot and EP for the same night. One alternative would be to book a later public RIP tour, and take advantage of the Stay and Scream holding area to visit a couple houses when the event starts and lines are short before your scheduled public RIP tour.

Just read a good article about the holding areas. Looks like I need to be in the park before it closes and be in one of the holding areas to be let out by 5:45. I am guessing closer to the night we will know which houses will be by certain holding areas.
Thanks

 

[Stosher]

Opinion on express pass - is it a must have early in September?
Coming from out of town for just the weekend
Friday sept 13th and Saturday 14th will be going to HHN
Family of 5- would love to save the $500 plus and not get express passes
Is it realistic between the two nights to see all?
Will be doing all the tips... staying on site, will get there early for opening, etc...
Thanks so much!

 

[patster734]

Just read a good article about the holding areas. Looks like I need to be in the park before it closes and be in one of the holding areas to be let out by 4:45. I am guessing closer to the night we will know which houses will be by certain holding areas.
Thanks

You’re welcome!

Opinion on express pass - is it a must have early in September?
Coming from out of town for just the weekend
Friday sept 13th and Saturday 14th will be going to HHN
Family of 5- would love to save the $500 plus and not get express passes
Is it realistic between the two nights to see all?
Will be doing all the tips... staying on site, will get there early for opening, etc...
Thanks so much!

You should be able to see it all over 2 nights without EP if you take advantage of the Stay and Scream holding area. In the first hour of release, you should be able to hit two houses each night. If there are 10 houses, that leaves 6 houses and the Scream zones over the remaining hours of both nights.

 

[Stosher]

You’re welcome!



You should be able to see it all over 2 nights without EP if you take advantage of the Stay and Scream holding area. In the first hour of release, you should be able to hit two houses each night. If there are 10 houses, that leaves 6 houses and the Scream zones over the remaining hours of both nights.

We actually will not be going to the theme parks portion at all - just horror nights.
Isn’t the stay and scream only if you are in the park already?

 

[soniam]

Just read a good article about the holding areas. Looks like I need to be in the park before it closes and be in one of the holding areas to be let out by 4:45. I am guessing closer to the night we will know which houses will be by certain holding areas.
Thanks

I don’t think the Stay n Scream holding area let’s out @ 4:45pm. We did it twice last year, and it was always closer to 5:30pm or even later. The holding area at Stranger Things would often fill up before 4:45. You want to get in around 4pm at the latest, if things are like last year on a busier night.

 

[soniam]

We actually will not be going to the theme parks portion at all - just horror nights.
Isn’t the stay and scream only if you are in the park already?

Yes, you must have already entered the park with a valid day ticket or annual pass.

 

[patster734]

We actually will not be going to the theme parks portion at all - just horror nights.
Isn’t the stay and scream only if you are in the park already?

That is correct. If you can’t be in the park before park closing with a day ticket, you can’t use Stay and Scream. Without having access to either Stay and Scream or Express, expect an average wait at each house on Friday and Saturday to be 60 minutes +. The less popular houses might have shorter waits (40+), but the more popular houses (such as Stranger Things) could hit 100 minutes +.

 

[neverenoughtime]

I don’t think the Stay n Scream holding area let’s out @ 4:45pm. We did it twice last year, and it was always closer to 5:30pm or even later. The holding area at Stranger Things would often fill up before 4:45. You want to get in around 4pm at the latest, if things are like last year on a busier night.

Thanks, I have corrected my post. This is the article I read which was really informative.
https://orlandoinformer.com/universal/halloween-horror-nights-early-admission

 

[Angeliamc]

I did it!!! I just bought the ROF pass w/express for my son's surprise 16th birthday trip!! I am beyond excited and can't thank you guys enough for all of your help deciding on what to do. I am about to burst and he keeps talking about how he hopes we get to go to HHN one year because it would be "epic". ahhh, so excited.

 

[glamdring269]

I just want you all to know that the last several posts are a perfect example of good information that can be learned from visiting this type of forum. I'm looking to do B2B RIP Tour nights and was a little bummed to learn I would only get to hit each house one time. But now that I'm reading about this Stay & Scream concept it looks like the best way to maximize will be to do Stay & Scream combined with a later RIP tour time. Should be able to get a couple of extra houses in on the front end and then take off after my tour is done. Gotta get some sleep in so I can wake up super early for Hagrid RD the next morning.

I do have a question about RIP tours. Frankly I'd much rather do a single private tour night than 2x public RIP tours. Generally speaking how far in advance do the public tours sell out? I want to wait as long as I feel comfortable waiting just in case a private tour for my dates pop up here. (Dates are 10/10 and 10/11)

 

[1GoldenSun]

This is probably a really dumb question, but I can't find the answer, so I've gotta ask...

Are the rides operating during HHN?

 

[macraven]

Last year I believe there were 6 rides open during hhn
Minions, RRR, Mummy, Simpsons, kanga, MIB

 

[patster734]

This is probably a really dumb question, but I can't find the answer, so I've gotta ask...

Are the rides operating during HHN?

Some are, but not all. In the past, if I remember correctly, the rides have been: Rip Ride Rocket, The Mummy, Gringott’s, MIB, and the Simpsons.

Not sure how accurate this is, but I found this concerning 2018 HHNs:

Here’s the ride lineup for 2018:

• Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
• Transformers: The Ride – 3D (closes early)
• Revenge of the Mummy
• Fast & Furious – Supercharged (closes early)
• Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (closes early)
• Men in Black: Alien Attack

The Simpsons Ride, which has long been a Horror Nights mainstay, will not be included in this year’s lineup.
Please note: if you purchase an HHN Express Pass, it works on the rides in addition to the haunted houses.

 

[Nobody352]

Didnt get a response and i got NOWHERE with tickets at work's customer service.. sigh.
I bought 3 express passes for October 2nd already, but not the actual base tickets.
I like to get the ticketsatwork dot com discounted tickets, but they are slacking on posting those up.
Anywhere else I can get discounted base tickets? Any coca cola codes or anything else im not thinking of?

 

[MaybeIDid]

About how much does the scare actors dining experience run? Can someone explain it to me? Like is it a buffet or sit down type thing?
Thanks!!

 

[macraven]

Some are, but not all. In the past, if I remember correctly, the rides have been: Rip Ride Rocket, The Mummy, Gringott’s, MIB, and the Simpsons.

Not sure how accurate this is, but I found this concerning 2018 HHNs:

Thanks Patster!
Yup, your list is correct for last year

I’ve been doing hhn for years and they start to blend together for me naming last years rides

 

[macraven]

About how much does the scare actors dining experience run? Can someone explain it to me? Like is it a buffet or sit down type thing?
Thanks!!

Serving line set up

You choose what you want to eat
And you can return to the food line as much as you want
Desserts and beverages also included

Tables and chairs are inside Monster Cafe
Look at last year’s thread about this to see what the charge was
I thought this year’s buffet price was listed in the UO hhn site

 

[hhoope01]

Per the HNN ticketing site (https://hhnap.universalorlando.com/permalink/tab-dining/upgrades/index.html), the tickets are $49.99 + tax.

 

[patster734]

Thanks Patster!
Yup, your list is correct for last year

I’ve been doing hhn for years and they start to blend together for me naming last years rides

You’re welcome, Mac!

Last year, I was so busy running from house to house on opening night, that I didn’t stop to see what rides were open. There were a few times I stopped to rest my feet, with one of those times on the chairs outside The Simpsons, and I still didn’t notice it wasn’t running. I think I was distracted by the chainsaws in the area.

I barely got to see the scare zones, and missed the Chucky show. I also missed the Academy of Villains show.