Quick USH HHN & KSF Trip

[Nick]

So trip coming into focus. I leave tomorrow, get there pretty early pacific (a little after 9am - hoping to get some sleep on plane and a quick nap after).

Friday - Possibly go to beach while waiting to check-in for room, Partial day at USH, then Early Access for HHN.
Saturday - Possible Getty museum trip along with Griffith Observatory (both near where we're staying), then do the Steam and Steel Tour, and finish with Shaqtoberfest. We had many things we were deciding between on this day, but I think it was the tour + Shaq that made our mind up on this. We almost went with SFMM, but we wanted this to be a bit calmer of a day considering we're doing Universal Friday and Knotts Sunday.
Sunday - Knotts during the day, Boo-fet mostly because we're going to be hungry anyway, early access is just a bonus (plus I found out that the boo-fet gives you refillable cups that can be used in park after), then obviously KSF for the night.
Monday - This is a day where we actually don't have much talked about yet. Our flight back isn't until 9pm and have our rental car all day too. Neither of us are checking luggage so we feel pretty comfortable getting through airport within an hour after car dropoff. This is a day possibly we find a hike to do, or something outdoors

I was going in blind to USH HHN a few days ago before I finally looked into things to see what maybe some of the better routes are for the night to get the most done during this insane year (i've been using Thrill-data to help guide me). Knotts I literally AM going in blind aside from knowing that there's 10 houses and 4 shows, which I feel a bit overwhelmed at.

I do have a tentative plan for a route for HHN (one that does and doesn't include Express), but i'd love to hear what some of you guys think are the best ways to see as much as possible, while keeping in mind that the Terror Tram is a must for my friend (and I know that's going to be a time suck - but that's also why I feel like if I do it during one of the busier parts of the night it's probably best? Since at least we'd be sitting down for awhile once on the tram instead of standing in an insanely long line like the rest of the park will have anyway. Maybe i'm wrong on that theory though.

 

[PenguinCowboy]

Sounds like an awesome trip! I loooooved the Boo-fet last year, we stuffed ourselves silly and the cup alone was a massive deal (I committed sacrilege and brought my HHN cup sling with me though, haha). The SA are topnotch at the meal, and when one of them found out not only were we event newbies, but from the east coast, she took the time to sit down with us, give us her own personal plan of attack, and then rounded every actor to take a pic with us outside! With the early access I did Ghostrider immediately, then we were able to hit all houses with repeats on everything except Mesmer, saw both the outdoor circus show and Puppet Up, got some food, rode the Timber Mountain Log Ride, and spent some decent time in the Gore-ing 20's scarezone. It is certainly do-able, but even still we did miss out on the Candy Mountain train ride and a couple of the other shows.

I know if you go in with the right mindset you'll likely find Shaq charming! It's definitely small potatoes, and the trails are more just themed walking area rather than houses, but still, it has some fun vibes.

Edited in case you mean TRULY blind, as in not even maze names, lol

 

[Nick]

Sounds like an awesome trip! I loooooved the Boo-fet last year, we stuffed ourselves silly and the cup alone was a massive deal (I committed sacrilege and brought my HHN cup sling with me though, haha). The SA are topnotch at the meal, and when one of them found out not only were we event newbies, but from the east coast, she took the time to sit down with us, give us her own personal plan of attack, and then rounded every actor to take a pic with us outside! With the early access I did Ghostrider immediately, then we were able to hit all houses with repeats on everything except Mesmer, saw both the outdoor circus show and Puppet Up, got some food, rode the Timber Mountain Log Ride, and spent some decent time in the Gore-ing 20's scarezone. It is certainly do-able, but even still we did miss out on the Candy Mountain train ride and a couple of the other shows.

I know if you go in with the right mindset you'll likely find Shaq charming! It's definitely small potatoes, and the trails are more just themed walking area rather than houses, but still, it has some fun vibes.

Edited in case you mean TRULY blind, as in not even maze names, lol

Maze names don't bother me. I don't know what any of it means!

 

[DTH]

Do yourself a favor and get the Express for HHN. I think you're there already now, so I hope this message gets to you in time and it's possible to upgrade haha likely it's too late and sold out, but remember the After 11pm Express ticket is an option, just find a kiosk (that is if you are running behind, ofcourse, if you're doing okay with the game plan, proceed without).

 

[Clive]

Do yourself a favor and get the Express for HHN. I think you're there already now, so I hope this message gets to you in time and it's possible to upgrade haha likely it's too late and sold out, but remember the After 11pm Express ticket is an option, just find a kiosk (that is if you are running behind, ofcourse, if you're doing okay with the game plan, proceed without).

He was able to upgrade to express!

 

[Nick]

Quick update: Upgraded to Express when we walked in. Went down to LL after got in line for ST4 and Exorcist Standby during Early Entry then rushed over, did Chucky with Express, Monsters Standby, then back and did EDR with Express, Monstrous Standby, sat down for a few minutes at Blumhouse (used express), then Terror Tram (express) and 10pm Purge.

After Purge we hovered around the scare zones for a bit, did Terror Tram again (we really enjoyed it), and then finally went back down to LL again and did TLOU, Holidayz, ST4, and Exorcist all with Express. Went back up and did Monsters and Monstrous with Express. Finished the night by doing second runs of TLOU and Holidayz with little wait.

It’s hard for me to rank things, but I enjoyed the differences quite a bit and thought Hollywood’s shared houses were pretty much all better than Orlando. Very specifically Chucky, Exorcist, and TLOU, which I adored. Hollywood’s version of TLOU is so true to the source material, has a cohesive storyline following the lead characters, and it’s like actually stepping into the game. This is what I was hoping for from Orlando’s house.

In total, did every house twice except Chucky and EDR (so 14 house runs), Terror Tram twice, and also did Blumhouse and Purge. Walked 38k steps yesterday and I was feeling it after.

 

[Nick]

Really enjoyed Boo-fet. Nice assortment of options and good scareactor interactions. Filled me up and now ready to go for the rest of the night, waiting for gate to open to backlot.

A Ghost Town slider scare actor gave us these for being the first he’s encountered from across the country this season. Really cool.

 

[Jake S]

Really enjoyed Boo-fet. Nice assortment of options and good scareactor interactions. Filled me up and now ready to go for the rest of the night, waiting for gate to open to backlot.

A Ghost Town slider scare actor gave us these for being the first he’s encountered from across the country this season. Really cool.
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this is a really, really cool touch.

 

[PenguinCowboy]

Really enjoyed Boo-fet. Nice assortment of options and good scareactor interactions. Filled me up and now ready to go for the rest of the night, waiting for gate to open to backlot.

A Ghost Town slider scare actor gave us these for being the first he’s encountered from across the country this season. Really cool.
View attachment 19855View attachment 19856

That is sooo dope! So glad you had a great time at the Boo-fet! Absolutely was a highlight for us too, and I am so glad you mentioned you mentioned you were from across the country, they really love hearing it and go out of their way to show it!

 

[Clive]

this is a really, really cool touch.

I do love that some of the performers go the extra mile and have the freedom to do so. A couple years ago I encountered an older gentleman who was performing as a newspaper man in Gore-ing 20's. We got to chatting, in-character, and he told me of the "legend" of two other creatures, which could be found in Origins and Pumpkin Eater. The implication was this gentleman previously played these characters. When I explained I'd already been to those two houses and survived, he got wide-eyed, stepped behind the booth, and returned with a custom button featuring his three characters. Super cool.

 

[Nick]

So really enjoyed KSF, although there is certainly at least one glaring issue to point out. Did all of the mazes while doing Cinema Slasher, Bloodline 1842, Dark Entities, and The Depths twice. Cinema Slasher was potentially my favorite? Also Bloodline was really good on second run and I really enjoyed Room 13 and Chilling Chambers and wish I got to do them a second time.

We also did all shows except for the Music, Monsters, Mayhem show and hung out quite a bit in the Gore-ing 20's and Carnevil zones enjoying the antics that the scareactors were up to as it was something new every time. They were an absolute riot. They were seemingly able to just do whatever they wanted with their characters which was very refreshing. Most of the stuff going on in the streets you'd never get away with at HHN Orlando (although oddly I think you could in HHN Hollywood).

I need to praise the set design and the layout of some of the houses and feel that there was no bad house at all but the big thing holding a lot of them back, at least on initial runs, seemed to be staffing. On second runs of houses staffing seemed improved a bit, but I finished at least half by the time we went to see the first showing of The Hanging. Speaking of The Hanging - I quite enjoyed it. Wasn't great and maybe a bit all over and dated with pop culture references at times, but as someone who loved Bill & Ted, this show was like a blast from the past.

Also, did virtually all rides in the park between my daytime visit and being there at night. Focused on things not running at night during the day (along with most coasters).