Halloween Horror Nights 2023 (USH) - Tips, Tricks, & Planning

[saint.piss]

 

[Nick]

Okay, thank you!

If you have Early Access, how early are they currently opening the lines to wait in?

5 it seemed based on yesterday. As long as you’re in line right around then, you should be good. Had a pretty breezy standby-by wait for Stranger Things. House opens at 5:30, we walked into the house at 5:38.

 

[DTH]

I've always felt like splitting the lower lot makes the most sense. I did Express my first time so I'm thinking this will be my game plan for general in a few weeks on a peak Saturday night:

Stranger Things for Early Entry (or should I skip it and throw it in at the end of the night?)
Last of Us, if I can somehow get to it before it opens at 5:45 and the line isn't insane to the point I think I can be out by 6:45
Chucky right at 7pm (or do they open this a bit earlier?)
Unmasked
Terror Tram, if it is somehow before 8pm...maybe, seriously considering skipping it because of the time suck
Monstrous
Evil Dead Rise
Terror Tram, right at final trams and if it I didn't get to it earlier and if I need to kill time
Purge, but only if I am waiting for the lower lot to die down anyway
Blumhouse, if it is still early in the night, like before 12am somehow
Last of Us, if I missed it earlier in the night
Exorcist
Holidayz

 

[saint.piss]

You are able to upgrade the day of and in advance. It is cheaper. BUT.... RIP will sell out or they have very limited slots.

How much cheaper though? I've been texting and asking anyone this and nobody can tell me

EDIT: I got too anxious about it selling out by the time that I get there that I booked it. I'm pretty excited. My first ever RIP TOUR

 

[saint.piss]

FYI: For someone with a FFP, RIP TOUR costs $330 in park. If you already booked it online you can go to Guest Services and get the money back of the difference

 

[SailwiththeTide]

FYI: For someone with a FFP, RIP TOUR costs $330 in park. If you already booked it online you can go to Guest Services and get the money back of the difference

Yeah I did the same for the VIP tour. They should make it easier to use passes to book online without jumping through hoops.

 

[chris.g]

Might not have luck but going to try my gamble - anyone know where I can get a good deal for late month Saturdays, preferably the 28th, outside of the official HHN website for GA? Don’t have a pass anymore for that 40% off lol.

 

[DTH]

I'm going on a Saturday with GA soon and it got me thinking about my gameplan and what made last year successful for me. Let me know your thoughts --
Early Access:
Oddly enough, up first -- Holidayz in Hell. Kinda like how we did Killer Klownz first to get it out of the way as it'd be the shortest of the lower lot early access lines.
This way I am there super early in line to be at -- The Last Of Us. Some people line up here even though this opens a bit later but I'm hoping Holidayz will be short enough that it'll still be okay.
Skip the rest of the lower lot for now.
Run up for Chucky at 6:30-6:45.
Unmasked immediately right after that.
Half the mazes done by 7:30pm would be amazing. Honestly, I was debating just straight up skipping Terror Tram because it is so terrible and such a time suck, but if my group is really begging for it, I think I can put it here.
Monstrous afterwards, which I assume may be my longest line of the night (hopefully less than an hour).
Then going to Evil Dead, which I assume will also be short-ish.
Dinner break, if it's still super early, Blumhouse since I missed it last time with Express, and just like Terror Tram, if they want to see The Purge, okay.
Head back down to Lower Lot like at 12:30-1am. Stranger Things, then Exorcist to end the night.

Is Holidayz a good idea to do first? Idk how backed up Exorcist gets as a first during Early Access, but I assume everyone is lining up for Stranger Things by a good majority, Exorcist second, then the leftover few who really want to do Last of Us -- Holidayz should be virtually empty, right?

 

[mccgavin]

Is Holidayz a good idea to do first? Idk how backed up Exorcist gets as a first during Early Access, but I assume everyone is lining up for Stranger Things by a good majority, Exorcist second, then the leftover few who really want to do Last of Us -- Holidayz should be virtually empty, right?

Holidayz has a very short wait if you get there when Early Access starts, but just be aware that the staffing is quite bad, even compared to the other houses during EA. We went there first thing and only about half of the scare actors were there, with entire scenes being empty. We tried an hour later and it still was only 75%. I'm a little disappointed I never got a good run through it.

 

[Wishmaster]

Is there any chance Universal works on crowd management for the houses next year? I know they mainly care about profit but damn it was BAD this year.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Is there any chance Universal works on crowd management for the houses next year? I know they mainly care about profit but damn it was BAD this year.

I mean we all hope but I've only see Ops stay about the same....it's been bad for over 10 years in my mind. Like I've gone without express and it's just not that fun, but with express the event flows like it should but that also costs over 200 bucks.

 

[Wishmaster]

I mean we all hope but I've only see Ops stay about the same....it's been bad for over 10 years in my mind. Like I've gone without express and it's just not that fun, but with express the event flows like it should but that also costs over 200 bucks.

That’s exactly the problem. $200 for express just to get through the night. I definitely want to address it in the next survey.

 

[Jerroddragon]

That’s exactly the problem. $200 for express just to get through the night. I definitely want to address it in the next survey.

I would love them to find a happy place so General tickets have a good time but.....I've just been going for long enough to see they don't care
Universal makes money and just doesn't care past that

 

[DTH]

Kinda wild Express is sold out for the rest of the season. Express unlimited has one night left. RIP has a few scattered openings. And After 2PM Express is pretty wide open. But insane to me the Expresses are selling this much. I know I bit the bullet this year, but it’s just hard to imagine this many people being okay with the price it’s at in October (300+, almost 400!). Mine was on the low to mid end of 200 and even that was pushing it for me!

I really hope they’re just underselling them the rest of the season but I know that’s a pipe dream.

 

[highdefrex]

After nearly 15 years of going to the event, I think this year (coupled with '21 and '22) has kind of solidified for me that I'm only going once from now on. I haven't even gone a third time this year to capitalize on my Frequent Fear Pass to make it "worth it" yet for the first year ever because every time I think, "Hey, maybe we should go use it on this day or that day," I immediately think of 180-minute wait times, hourlong waits for drinks, and general misery. I got invited to go with friends this upcoming Wednesday, but seeing how even weekdays have been hectic and overcrowded is just a colossal turn-off, and I don't envy them going without early entry. It's such a bummer for something I've loved for so, so, so long, but it just doesn't even feel entirely... fun... anymore, like the whole event is now a game to stress over playing rather than something to kick back, enjoy, and still get your money's worth while still experiencing it all. I'm hoping something -- anything -- can change operationally, but at this point when it's clear people haven't rejected things like paid early entry or exorbitant express costs, people willing to drown hundreds or even thousands on a single night, Universal isn't going to care about the experience of people who don't want to (or can't) shell out for privileges.

 

[ParksandSights]

I visited last Wednesday and saw none of the massive waits. I waited less than an hour for ST4 at 9 pm. Terror Tram and Monstruos never had a wait, EDR was minimal. The only lines that were consistently long were Exorcist (presumably because the movie was just released), and Chucky, cuz that house is effing awesome (but there's very little wait if you rope drop like I did).
I accomplished everything except the Purge show and Exorcist before midnight, without Express or Early Access. I ate pizza fries at Stellar bar during Early Access (it opened around 5:40, with no wait to enter). Wait times throughout the night:

 

[Guygas]

Hey everyone! Im going to the event this saturday without express(really wanted it but 500$ was a bit of a stretch for me) i have the 2pm combo so i get early entry so is there a bonafide plan to hit up the mazes for this year? I've seen people say to line up for everything between ST4 Exorcist and TLOU but if anyone has tips for how to get everything(or most since this year seems to be unprecedently busy) done i'd love the advice!

Also does anyone know how early entry would work for people who have a daytime ticket and an HHN ticket but not the early entry one? It seems to be sold out for saturday and i have some people going with me that dont have the EE, so do they actually kick them out of the park before HHN starts or are they allowed to go through the mazes as well?

 

[DTH]

Emergency. Some of my family didn’t buy early access in time and it’s sold out for Saturday. Is this something that can be bought on property if arriving super early?

 

[Jerroddragon]

After nearly 15 years of going to the event, I think this year (coupled with '21 and '22) has kind of solidified for me that I'm only going once from now on. I haven't even gone a third time this year to capitalize on my Frequent Fear Pass to make it "worth it" yet for the first year ever because every time I think, "Hey, maybe we should go use it on this day or that day," I immediately think of 180-minute wait times, hourlong waits for drinks, and general misery. I got invited to go with friends this upcoming Wednesday, but seeing how even weekdays have been hectic and overcrowded is just a colossal turn-off, and I don't envy them going without early entry. It's such a bummer for something I've loved for so, so, so long, but it just doesn't even feel entirely... fun... anymore, like the whole event is now a game to stress over playing rather than something to kick back, enjoy, and still get your money's worth while still experiencing it all. I'm hoping something -- anything -- can change operationally, but at this point when it's clear people haven't rejected things like paid early entry or exorbitant express costs, people willing to drown hundreds or even thousands on a single night, Universal isn't going to care about the experience of people who don't want to (or can't) shell out for privileges.

As someone who used to go a few nights a year as well

It sucks how bad it's gotten, it used to be like....one maybe to houses with super long waits but normally before you could hit 3 plus houses

Emergency. Some of my family didn’t buy early access in time and it’s sold out for Saturday. Is this something that can be bought on property if arriving super early?

I think I’ve only ever heard of buying express the day of

Call USH to make sure but sadly like SNW early entry, I think once it’s sold out it’s gone

 

[Rideguy70]

Emergency. Some of my family didn’t buy early access in time and it’s sold out for Saturday. Is this something that can be bought on property if arriving super early?

We have done it by around 4:30 or so on the day of when it said it was sold out... but obviously it's not guaranteed and depends on demand and availability.