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

[Rideguy70]

Yeah, but that's open only to the day/night combo guests, and closes by 10.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Yeah, but that's open only to the day/night combo guests, and closes by 10.

My point is the land should not close

It's not like Nintendo is against it being apart of the event....it's open....for a price

 

[DTH]

I think it being closed this year was a good choice. It would've been havoc in there -- obviously that's up to the customer to make that mistake, but they at least made extra money for those that wanted to see it and avoided a nightmare at the same time -- I would've done the same from a business standpoint. Next year though, it definitely should be open and shouldn't be closed for years like Hogsmeade was.

 

[snes2]

Hello! I have a quick question before I purchase tickets. I've never been to hhn before always wanted to go and now I have the opportunity. I have also never been to Universal hollywood. I have visted Orlando though.
Because I want to experience the studios in regular operations as well is my best option to buy a day ticket and then a seperate hhn ticket?
The only sort of combo ticket I can see is the 2pm one, so just want to make sure I'm not missing any other combo ticket before I purchase.

 

[DTH]

@snes2 This is correct. It'll be insanely expensive, but I recommend an Express ticket for both. If NintendoWorld wasn't a factor, I'd say you'd be fine without daytime Express or just being able to do the 2pm Express, but NintendoWorld (if you want to do EEEEEVERYTHING in there, including Toadstool Cafe) can be a 3-5 hour ordeal, depending on how long the line is for Mario Kart, the mini games, and how many people have your Toadstool reservation time. NOTE: This is because NONE of those things have Express and there's no way to pay to see them. You can also do NintendoWorld early entry, but I imagine you'll be dead tired by 2am.

In addition, I recommend Early Entry for Horror Nights.
So you'll need --
Universal Studios Express
Early Entry
Horror Nights Express

I'd recommend the RIP ticket as well, if you want the exclusive mini Exterminatorz maze and Black Phone/Grabber photo op. I believe there's also some sets you visit on the backlot with exclusive access.

 

[Clive]

Hello! I have a quick question before I purchase tickets. I've never been to hhn before always wanted to go and now I have the opportunity. I have also never been to Universal hollywood. I have visted Orlando though.
Because I want to experience the studios in regular operations as well is my best option to buy a day ticket and then a seperate hhn ticket?
The only sort of combo ticket I can see is the 2pm one, so just want to make sure I'm not missing any other combo ticket before I purchase.

I think it depends on what you're most interested in. Do you care more about seeing all of the Horror Nights attractions, or more of the theme park, keeping in mind Hollywood shares quite a few experiences with the Orlando parks?

If you're happy seeing a lot but not everything, I think the 2pm combo ticket is sufficient. That gives you time to do the normal studio tour and a few other things before the event formally starts. The 2pm combo ticket holders are the *only* folks with access to Nintendo from 7pm to 10pm, so it shouldn't take you anywhere near as long to see Mario Kart, meet the characters, and do the games, if that interests you. Of course, you'll be sacrificing event time in the process.

If you must see it all, I'd recommend either buying a full day ticket (I don't think express is necessary) and an Express ticket for Horror Nights, with an early entry pass. Otherwise, I'd really recommend the 2pm combo, with you maybe upgrading to Express in the park if you start to fall behind and want to see more stuff. It seems they've been regularly offering upgrade options within the park regardless of whether Express is "sold out" on the site. (They also seem to sometimes be offering an "After 11pm" Express option, so that could be helpful, too.)

 

[Jerroddragon]

Hello! I have a quick question before I purchase tickets. I've never been to hhn before always wanted to go and now I have the opportunity. I have also never been to Universal hollywood. I have visted Orlando though.
Because I want to experience the studios in regular operations as well is my best option to buy a day ticket and then a seperate hhn ticket?
The only sort of combo ticket I can see is the 2pm one, so just want to make sure I'm not missing any other combo ticket before I purchase.

If you can afford it

Get the 2PM with Express.

You won't be able to ride everything but you can do all the exclusive rides and mazes easy with that.
SLOP, Water World, the Tour, Kung Fu Panda, and then head downstairs for Jurassic and the event

 

[CosmicGumbo]

Express is sold out on the website for Thursday 9/14. Does Hollywood have little booths in the park where they sell upgrades to Express at a higher rate? Or does sold out on the site mean totally sold out?

 

[Freak]

Express is sold out on the website for Thursday 9/14. Does Hollywood have little booths in the park where they sell upgrades to Express at a higher rate? Or does sold out on the site mean totally sold out?

Pretty sure they always sell after 11PM Express at the park during the event.

 

[CosmicGumbo]

Pretty sure they always sell after 11PM Express at the park during the event.

What have been the closing times so far this season? Their website is less than helpful lol

 

[Clive]

What have been the closing times so far this season? Their website is less than helpful lol

It's frustrating they are not just listing this on the website, but I am under the impression that the event is scheduled to close at 2AM for the remainder of the run.

 

[Brian G.]

They do reserve some in-park Express purchases as I was able to do so for Friday and Saturday - but you need to buy them early.

 

[DTH]

If you can afford it

Get the 2PM with Express.

You won't be able to ride everything but you can do all the exclusive rides and mazes easy with that.
SLOP, Water World, the Tour, Kung Fu Panda, and then head downstairs for Jurassic and the event

This completely forgets about NintendoWorld. I will say though, I had friends in my group who got to do NintendoWorld during the 7pm-10pm slot because Mario Kart was only 20 minutes and they luckily experienced the mini games earlier in the day (the ride itself was broken down), and they only missed Forbidden Journey, Hippogriff, and Blumhouse. With some more careful planning, we would've hit them easy. However, I can not say with certainty other people would be able to accomplish the same. With day time express and night time express, and early entry, I could say 100% they'd finish everything.

 

[Jerroddragon]

This completely forgets about NintendoWorld. I will say though, I had friends in my group who got to do NintendoWorld during the 7pm-10pm slot because Mario Kart was only 20 minutes and they luckily experienced the mini games earlier in the day (the ride itself was broken down), and they only missed Forbidden Journey, Hippogriff, and Blumhouse. With some more careful planning, we would've hit them easy. However, I can not say with certainty other people would be able to accomplish the same. With day time express and night time express, and early entry, I could say 100% they'd finish everything.

I thought SNW was apart of the 2PM one?

He can go once the event starts because there is no lines, at least the app makes it sound like SNW is empty

They do reserve some in-park Express purchases as I was able to do so for Friday and Saturday - but you need to buy them early.

Did you buy them during the event or during the day? I'll be in the parks early for HHN and if I can knock that out before the event I will if not, will grab them after my first maze

 

[CosmicGumbo]

They do reserve some in-park Express purchases as I was able to do so for Friday and Saturday - but you need to buy them early.

Can you buy upon entry around 5-7pm? Not the 11pm right?

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Can you buy upon entry around 5-7pm? Not the 11pm right?

You can upgrade your normal ticket to express before the event at the normal ticket booths, though they usually only have 1 or 2 open. They deduct the price of your ticket, so for example, on a saturday the upgrade at the start of the night would be 114 dollars because of the price of your general ticket, whereas if you were to get it for the after 11pm express it would be like 90.

 

[CosmicGumbo]

You can upgrade your normal ticket to express before the event at the normal ticket booths, though they usually only have 1 or 2 open. They deduct the price of your ticket, so for example, on a saturday the upgrade at the start of the night would be 114 dollars because of the price of your general ticket, whereas if you were to get it for the after 11pm express it would be like 90.

Even if express is sold out?

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Even if express is sold out?

Yep, sold out on the website doesn't usually mean sold out at the front gates, that said, upgrades are limited, so you still wanna try to be there sooner rather than later.

 

[Jerroddragon]

You can upgrade your normal ticket to express before the event at the normal ticket booths, though they usually only have 1 or 2 open. They deduct the price of your ticket, so for example, on a saturday the upgrade at the start of the night would be 114 dollars because of the price of your general ticket, whereas if you were to get it for the after 11pm express it would be like 90.

Sorry to ask another question but does that work with "free" Premium tickets? Like can I upgrade at the booth in the morning?

 

[DTH]

I thought SNW was apart of the 2PM one?

He can go once the event starts because there is no lines, at least the app makes it sound like SNW is empty

But my point is they won't have time to explore NintendoLand at night, risking missing some HHN stuff. It's not a guarantee it will continue to be empty. If they only care about Mario Kart, maybe, but if they want to do the mini games, meet & greets, Toadstool, you need to get there beginning of the day.