Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - Tips & Tricks

[TheCodeMan95]

For us, they took us back to blue man group. We finished up Blumhouse and walked back.

So they just release you back into Citywalk for an hour?

*anxiety intensifies*

 

[Neo]

So they just release you back into Citywalk for an hour?

*anxiety intensifies*

No need to get anxious...but I've done the 6 house where they've offered us the option of 60min or 30min and the group has voted 30. I just ran to Annie's Pretzles worried about time, but they gave the 30min, then walked around BSing with each group/table and asking for feedback for another 10min, and then gave it "a few more minutes" for everybody else to get back. Unless you're waaaaay over the time limit, they aren't going to leave without you...and if they do, I believe someone from BMG looks you up and radios your tour guide so they can get you caught back up ad I think I've seen people do that.

If you do any kind of fast service, including going in park, you should have plenty of time and can bring it back to BMG and eat there. They aren't going to make you cut your meal short.

But you're likely not going to be able to go to Hard Rock and have a sit down meal (which I've done in the past and we had to repeatedly ask the bartender - ate at the bar - to get back in time).

 

[Tobias]

Didn't see this posted anywhere, but I figured it's good to share.

I did the 3-house tour on Sunday, and regarding photos it felt a lot less restrictive than last year's 3-house tour. (Brides, Tooth Fairy, Case Files.) Case in point, last year Brides only had three rooms you could take photos in, Tooth Fairy had a bit more, and Case Files only had three rooms where you couldn't take photos.

For this year with Halloween, Spirits of the Coven and Fiesta de Chupacabras...it felt like each house only had 3 rooms you couldn't take photos in which was great! The lone downside is you can't get photos of Spirit's facade, which has some great little details in that one. But they do let you take photos of some of the goriest rooms in the houses, Chupacabra especially. And it helps for Spirits since one of the rooms with a creative bit of gore has the best hidden "31" which is incredibly hard to notice on a regular run-through.

Also new this year, they're giving all tour groups listening devices! This is super helpful since there can be times the group is kinda' spread out in the house and you'll still be able to hear everything from the guide. Speaking of guides, I had Michael from CT who was great. He also helped open Beijing earlier, so it was nice chatting with him about that afterwards.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

No need to get anxious...but I've done the 6 house where they've offered us the option of 60min or 30min and the group has voted 30. I just ran to Annie's Pretzles worried about time, but they gave the 30min, then walked around BSing with each group/table and asking for feedback for another 10min, and then gave it "a few more minutes" for everybody else to get back. Unless you're waaaaay over the time limit, they aren't going to leave without you...and if they do, I believe someone from BMG looks you up and radios your tour guide so they can get you caught back up ad I think I've seen people do that.

If you do any kind of fast service, including going in park, you should have plenty of time and can bring it back to BMG and eat there. They aren't going to make you cut your meal short.

But you're likely not going to be able to go to Hard Rock and have a sit down meal (which I've done in the past and we had to repeatedly ask the bartender - ate at the bar - to get back in time).

Yeah, our plan was to order ahead for Breadbox, Today Cafe or Red Oven and do that (if we have 60 min).

I couldn't imagine going for a sit-down restaurant with a time limit, lol

 

[rinacee]

Where did your lunch break happen? In other words, what area of the park were you in/what house did you stop for a break after? I’m trying to plan ahead on where we’ll be grabbing food.

Sorry about the delayed reply! They took us back to Blue Man Group and told us we had an hour. We had the option to grab food and bring it back to BMG to eat, or we could eat at the restaurant. We were a little stressed about figuring out what would be quickest, but we ended up going into the park to Today Show Cafe and it worked out very well. Our tour guide also suggested if we were going to eat in City Walk that we mobile order to save some time.

 

[PenguinCowboy]

I did the 3-house tour on Sunday

Speaking of guides, I had Michael from CT who was great. He also helped open Beijing earlier, so it was nice chatting with him about that afterwards.

My guy, I believe we were in the same group, haha, I was with my brother and friend.

Michael was great, and I wholesale cosign what you said here, feels significantly less restricted than past years! Loved the little black cat on the facade of Spirits, and the newspaper headlines in the windows.

 

[Tobias]

My guy, I believe we were in the same group, haha, I was with my brother and friend.

Michael was great, and I wholesale cosign what you said here, feels significantly less restricted than past years! Loved the little black cat on the facade of Spirits, and the newspaper headlines in the windows.

No kidding?! I was the guy in the backwards cap and the only one who had an issue at first with the listening devices because I didn't plug it in all the way. X3

And yeah, the tour was great! I know there's multiple factors on what rooms can or can't allow photos, but I could've sworn last year a factor was if a scene was too gruesome/gory. Due to that, I was certain there were multiple scenes in Chupa that were gonna' be photos down, but they were free game! As for Spirits, the newspaper clippings in the windows were really amusing, and my favorite cat detail was the bell.

 

[Bort]

Idk if this deserves its own thread to discuss but wanted to talk about staffing and the holes this year in a majority of the houses, especially opening and closing hours it seems. Last year with COVID I understand an increased call out rate and is anyone hearing that it's people being sick again this year at a higher rate or universal having to be more accommodating to people's schedules (i.e. showing up later or leaving earlier) due to a lack of availability. I would assume howloscream orl eats some of that but also saw on Twitter people saying they weren't cast for HHN this year.

So kinda just curious for people's insights. I mean at the end of the day, these are people and I would hope universal is paying them enough to entice and retain talent year to year.

P.S. I've always wanted to do it just for fun since I love the event but enjoy going too much. I would totally do like part time fire crew type stuff if they ever did that but it always seems that universal demands full availability for the event.

No inside knowledge of any issues that could be occurring, but here's my general understanding of HHN house staffing (and sorta the haunt industry in general, from my experience working at Fright Fest):

• The Stay & Scream/beginning of the night may seem like there's excess holes largely due to makeup and costuming. The cast might be scheduled for 5pm, with a planned opening at 5:45 for S&S. If there's x amount of makeup artists, they may only be 80% of the way through getting that cast done up by the time you reach 5:45. If there's enough for a house to be "show-ready", it's better to open it on time and let the remaining scare actors fill in as they complete costume and makeup than it is to delay the entire house for an additional 30 minutes.
• Closing times, as I understand, are a bit optional. If you're only scheduled until 2:15am, it's my understanding that you don't have to stay any longer if you do not want to. The only time I've seen this become a problem large enough to warrant a line dumping post-park hours was the opening weekend of HHN28 with Stranger Things. While most nights by 2am the lines close to walk-ons, ST was going to be over an hour, which would've likely meant the final guests would walk through a totally empty house.
• Additionally, it's important to remember that the closing cast, should they choose to continue working past their scheduled time, do so at a length longer than they are used to. There's a reason why they flip back and forth every 45 minutes. It's mentally and physically exhausting to be going all-in for that long.

 

[wutisgood]

I never did the tours. It seems like the value for people is taking pictures? I never cared about that or the premium placed on pictures at any places.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

I never did the tours. It seems like the value for people is taking pictures? I never cared about that or the premium placed on pictures at any places.

Tbh, as this year was both my first time at HHN Orlando, and my first time doing the tour, I can say while taking pictures is great, and its a fun way to sort of archive the memories of everything, they give a lot of extra context and facts for every single room of all the houses that you visit, and for me that made it worth it and made me appreciate the houses a lot more seeing them in action later in the night. Even if youre someone like me and you try to read up on all the extraneous lore material Universal puts out and go through the houses multiple times to catch everything, it's a pretty different ballgame when you have a multi hour tour going into detail in every single room. So if that kind of thing is something you like, even if you dont like taking pictures, I'd say its absolutely worth it.

 

[Neo]

I never did the tours. It seems like the value for people is taking pictures? I never cared about that or the premium placed on pictures at any places.

With photography being my hobby, I do it mostly for the photos...but it adds so much to the event. It is truly ridiculous how much detail they put into some of the houses that you walk through in a conga line in near pitch darkness. Stuff like a throwaway newspaper on a table you never get within 5 feet of having an article about a prison break at Hellgate Prison...or a photo of the Munsters in a boohole in Monsters (those are somewhat accurate, I can't remember the exact things, but along those lines). They also explain how some boo holes, triggers and gags work. And the guide will usually go behind the curtain and operate a puppet or two to see it lights on and get a selfie with it if you want.

But you cannot do the tour before you go to the event, or after you are done with the event. You MUST do it mid way through the nights you go so you can see the houses as intended first, learn all this cool stuff, and then go through the houses again and experience and appreciate them on an entirely different level.

I'd liken it to watching The 6th Sense. You really enjoy the the movie, then at the end you have your mind blown with the twist ending. Then you feel compelled to watch it again in a totally different way and the movie takes on new levels you never noticed before. Little nuances now have extreme significance with your new knowledge.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

No kidding?! I was the guy in the backwards cap and the only one who had an issue at first with the listening devices because I didn't plug it in all the way. X3

And yeah, the tour was great! I know there's multiple factors on what rooms can or can't allow photos, but I could've sworn last year a factor was if a scene was too gruesome/gory. Due to that, I was certain there were multiple scenes in Chupa that were gonna' be photos down, but they were free game! As for Spirits, the newspaper clippings in the windows were really amusing, and my favorite cat detail was the bell.

So there ARE listening devices? I had heard rumors about that, and I even called Universal to make sure - and they ensured me that listening devices were not being used. WTF

 

[April]

So there ARE listening devices? I had heard rumors about that, and I even called Universal to make sure - and they ensured me that listening devices were not being used. WTF

I think it depends on your tour guide. Ours did not and he just projected. I did have headphones with me just incase. I liked it though because I didn’t want to have an earpiece/headphones on in every picture I took of me with facades and whatever else I wanted a photo of me with.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I think it depends on your tour guide. Ours did not and he just projected. I did have headphones with me just incase. I liked it though because I didn’t want to have an earpiece/headphones on in every picture I took of me with facades and whatever else I wanted a photo of me with.

I really hope not, lol. I'm not looking to go out and get some cheap earbuds to bring on vacation.

 

[HalfGlass]

Hi All -

First night is this coming Saturday without Express. Was following the Touring Plans guide and this is what it says for a game plan:

Rope drop
1) Universal Monsters
2) Descendants
3) Bugs
4) Blumhouse
5) Dead Mans

6) Break - see both shows (time pending) and walk through scare zones

7) Chupacabras
8) Hellblock
9) Coven
10) Halloween
11) Weeknd

Does this sound like a good plan? Any adjustments from what you’ve seen? This was written on 9/6 so not sure if there’s been any trends since last weekend.

 

[Stonecoldfreak1]

Hi All -

First night is this coming Saturday without Express. Was following the Touring Plans guide and this is what it says for a game plan:

Rope drop
1) Universal Monsters
2) Descendants
3) Bugs
4) Blumhouse
5) Dead Mans

6) Break - see both shows (time pending) and walk through scare zones

7) Chupacabras
8) Hellblock
9) Coven
10) Halloween
11) Weeknd

Does this sound like a good plan? Any adjustments from what you’ve seen? This was written on 9/6 so not sure if there’s been any trends since last weekend.

If you're doing stay & scream, this is exactly what I would do. It's pretty much the schedule I had for some friends who didn't want to pay for express... and then they changed their mind after seeing how many people were in Central Park haha.

 

[HalfGlass]

If you're doing stay & scream, this is exactly what I would do. It's pretty much the schedule I had for some friends who didn't want to pay for express... and then they changed their mind after seeing how many people were in Central Park haha.

Sadly no stay n scream - does the plan change if we enter at rope drop?

 

[wutisgood]

Sadly no stay n scream - does the plan change if we enter at rope drop?

The stay and scream add on is worth it. It's the only reason I don't have to buy express for a single night. You arent going to get value at the gates for the savings.

 

[HalfGlass]

The stay and scream add on is worth it. It's the only reason I don't have to buy express for a single night. You arent going to get value at the gates for the savings.

I get that - but we’re not going to be able to get there before 5 to enter the park. Probably going to be entering Citywalk at 5:15.

 

[srbmarc]

I wanted to buy express passes for tomorrow night and they're no longer available on the website. Same thing for tonight. Ugh..