Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - News & Info

[HHNObsession]

I can't remember food being shown in the maps like that ( is this the first time food is on the maps? )
And the lil boo at the end is pretty hilarious. Lol.

I think food was on the map last year? Maybe I just remember seeing food images in a similar style to this before.

Yeah they started putting it on the maps last year. Which makes sense, since the food offerings really increased starting last year.

 

[malice]

Can someone please send me a map? I went opening weekend and won’t be able to return. *Crossing fingers

 

[HHNObsession]

Can anyone give an updated review on the express lines this year. Been hearing lots of negative reports about the express lines not being controlled properly. Has this improved at all?

 

[HHNObsession]

Can someone please send me a map? I went opening weekend and won’t be able to return. *Crossing fingers

If worse comes to worst, and I hate to say it, but you should be able to grab them off eBay for pretty cheap. I bet you anything they’ll show up on there in a day or 2. Right now, they have HHN30 maps for 2.99 with free shipping. So I would assume around the same for this years.

 

[Sledge]

Can anyone give an updated review on the express lines this year. Been hearing lots of negative reports about the express lines not being controlled properly. Has this improved at all?

I was there for 4 days during the second week and no complaints here. The longest we waited was around 20-minutes for Halloween when it had a an hour stand-by.

 

[Clive]

I was there for 4 days during the second week and no complaints here. The longest we waited was around 20-minutes for Halloween when it had a an hour stand-by.

Seconded. We never waited more than 10 minutes for anything. Maybe a 15 each for The Weeknd and Blumhouse at some point. Some houses really prioritize express guests to the point of lunacy, Bugs especially.

 

[HHNObsession]

I was there for 4 days during the second week and no complaints here. The longest we waited was around 20-minutes for Halloween when it had a an hour stand-by.

Seconded. We never waited more than 10 minutes for anything. Maybe a 15 each for The Weeknd and Blumhouse at some point. Some houses really prioritize express guests to the point of lunacy, Bugs especially.

Thanks. Really good to hear that, as I’m about to cough up $1200 for my wife and I’s FFPP W/Express. Don’t know why I’ve seen so many complaints.

 

[Speed]

Universal seems to be trying double express lines

 

[MI1287]

Some houses really prioritize express guests to the point of lunacy, Bugs especially.

Completely agree on Bugs. Halloween was really bad with this as well, at least on Sunday night. The standby line would completely stop for 10+ minutes at a time.

 

[SeventyOne]

Can anyone give an updated review on the express lines this year. Been hearing lots of negative reports about the express lines not being controlled properly. Has this improved at all?

Mixed bag, tho improved from opening weekend. Seems to work best when standby under an hour.

 

[SeventyOne]

Universal seems to be trying double express lines

FWIW did Express around 11:30 last night, saw no evidence of this. So tight with Chupacabra and Coven where could you add a second queue?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Every year it takes a weekend to get operations and waits ironed out. It’s just a function of the fact queues are new every year, set up and break down every day, and new TMs. They hear you loud and clear.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

It seems like they improved the standby/express ratio to keep standby lines moving which is resulting in worse express lines. Lines are continuing to move at a decent pace.

 

[srbmarc]

Express is sold out for every night this coming weekend except for Saturday (which has jumped to $199). It's also the last weekend for Rush of Fear, so I'm expecting it to be crazy.

 

[Stonecoldfreak1]

FWIW did Express around 11:30 last night, saw no evidence of this. So tight with Chupacabra and Coven where could you add a second queue?

We went through at 9:30 or 10 and caught the end of the double express. Heard staff complaining that it was stupid and made zero sense. We were confused when we got scanned in and then merged with another line scanning in. I was worried something shifted by mistake and we were going to the wrong place now haha

 

[Jakemeister]

Every year it takes a weekend to get operations and waits ironed out. It’s just a function of the fact queues are new every year, set up and break down every day, and new TMs. They hear you loud and clear.

I agree, BUT and this is a big BUT, the event isn't more "affordable" the first two weekends. Express might be a little less, and RIP Tours might be a little less, but c'mon, those are premium products.

There's also still logistics problems that are happening that need to be solved, but that's on a different note.

 

[sjago13]

We went through at 9:30 or 10 and caught the end of the double express. Heard staff complaining that it was stupid and made zero sense. We were confused when we got scanned in and then merged with another line scanning in. I was worried something shifted by mistake and we were going to the wrong place now haha

Dealt with this last night and it was a complete cluster. They filled one corral with express and then the second corral with express. Problem is the guy meeting took from both corrals which is the equivalent of cutting a deck of cards and shuffling them. Some express people got in faster than others and others (me included) got in way slower than others. Basically if you are at the back of a corral you are screwed. I hope they take the feedback and dump that ideas immediately. Went though around 11ish last night and did say something to one of the people working by the express scanner. Like I hate to be that person but the way they were running that express line didn't move express faster and just made it worse for some people. What's the point of two corrals if you stop scanning for 5 mins at a time to clear a corral. Unless they were gunna bump ratio to clear express faster they just moved the bulk of the express line to post scan versus pre scan

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Someone at Universal needs to drive down I-4 and offer some competitive compensation packages to transfer over from the mouse house.

Universal ops are stuck in the early 2000s.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I agree, BUT and this is a big BUT, the event isn't more "affordable" the first two weekends. Express might be a little less, and RIP Tours might be a little less, but c'mon, those are premium products.

There's also still logistics problems that are happening that need to be solved, but that's on a different note.

I agree but that wasn’t the question at hand.

 

[SeventyOne]

Dealt with this last night and it was a complete cluster. They filled one corral with express and then the second corral with express. Problem is the guy meeting took from both corrals which is the equivalent of cutting a deck of cards and shuffling them. Some express people got in faster than others and others (me included) got in way slower than others. Basically if you are at the back of a corral you are screwed. I hope they take the feedback and dump that ideas immediately. Went though around 11ish last night and did say something to one of the people working by the express scanner. Like I hate to be that person but the way they were running that express line didn't move express faster and just made it worse for some people. What's the point of two corrals if you stop scanning for 5 mins at a time to clear a corral. Unless they were gunna bump ratio to clear express faster they just moved the bulk of the express line to post scan versus pre scan

Agreed, any time you add in a merge point, you're just going to increase wait times for everyone.

Out of curiosity, where were the corrals? Where did they separate? DMP feels like one of the more basic, straight-forward Express lines, I'm having trouble picturing this.

Also, as dumb as this idea was, it sounds like long Express waits have been enough of an issue that the order has come from on high to fix them.

It seems like they improved the standby/express ratio to keep standby lines moving which is resulting in worse express lines. Lines are continuing to move at a decent pace.

Only did the front 5 houses last night, but combined with reports here and on Reddit, I have a theory: once lines go up over 60, and especially 75, they begin throttling Express. Hellblock and Coven were posted 40 and 45, basically walk-ons with Express. Halloween was I believe 75, Express suddenly jumped to 30. This is all obviously speculation, but I'm thinking Ops is desperate to avoid triple digit wait times. Maybe that's the magic number that ruins GSATs or stops guests from entering a queue (further overwhelming the already busy streets and food booths). But Express waits seem to jump exponentially around that mark.