Halloween Horror Nights 32 (UOR) - News & Info

[SeventyOne]

Effectively doubling the price for the “power users”. Hmmm.

Virtually every solution proposed comes down to "make everyone but me pay more." (With a small minority of "make other people do things during the event that wouldn't interest me.")

The discussion may be moot after last night--see below--but I think the best solution for out-of-town guests would be a buy-two-get-one (or two) deal limited to hotel guests, after single night rates are jacked up. If 1-night tickets are in the $125 range, 3 nights for < $300 seems a deal. That would also give UOR a better handle on when other multinight tickets are likely to be used.

For in-town guests, higher prices across the board.

New hypothesis: A lot of locals settled for RoF due to price increase and may have had a hand in the crowd stuff. We’ll see how the next few weeks are.

I still have lingering doubts, but yeah, that's the most obvious take-away from last night. Emptiest the event has been all year, from parking booths (choice of empty lanes at 7:30) to security (abandoned the forced queue into the JP garage from Spidey) to the ticket gate to houses and even zones. Jungle of Doom was an easy walk-through around 10! You could move through "MiB Circle" with ease. I saw multiple Freestyle machines without a line throughout the night. At one point, just as HNF was starting, Oddfellow was a walk-in despite a 60-minute posted wait.

Anecdotally on Twitter, I noticed a LOT of regulars commenting on that their time with the event had come to a close due to the rush of fear period ending…

For many, the event is no longer about Halloween. It's about seeing and being seen in the Orlando lifestyler community.

...

Unrelated to the crowding discussion, but while I've joked about calling DCF on HHN guests before, last night it almost became reality. Saw a maybe 7 or 8-year-old special needs kid with a toddler toy being pushed through a house. To say nothing of the proliferation of strollers and elementary school-aged kids. It feels like the next big issue Universal needs to get a hold on. I'd love a hard 17 or 18 year-old limit, but at least 13 seems necessary.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Virtually every solution proposed comes down to "make everyone but me pay more." (With a small minority of "make other people do things during the event that wouldn't interest me.")

The discussion may be moot after last night--see below--but I think the best solution for out-of-town guests would be a buy-two-get-one (or two) deal limited to hotel guests, after single night rates are jacked up. If 1-night tickets are in the $125 range, 3 nights for < $300 seems a deal. That would also give UOR a better handle on when other multinight tickets are likely to be used.

For in-town guests, higher prices across the board.



I still have lingering doubts, but yeah, that's the most obvious take-away from last night. Emptiest the event has been all year, from parking booths (choice of empty lanes at 7:30) to security (abandoned the forced queue into the JP garage from Spidey) to the ticket gate to houses and even zones. Jungle of Doom was an easy walk-through around 10! You could move through "MiB Circle" with ease. I saw multiple Freestyle machines without a line throughout the night. At one point, just as HNF was starting, Oddfellow was a walk-in despite a 60-minute posted wait.


For many, the event is no longer about Halloween. It's about seeing and being seen in the Orlando lifestyler community.

Yeah, this weekend felt like 4th of July at Disney. Makes me wonder if the post-COVID boom is really about domestic travel at all or if it’s just locals who latched onto that lifestyler vibe you’ve mentioned. On a similar note, Epcot’s parking lot was packed on Saturday but the park didn’t really feel full…seemed like a bunch of non-carpooling locals went to watch the concert because it was something to do.

I do know that as everything gets more expensive (anecdotally, I had a dinner for two last night that was $90 after tip and I was actually giddy that it came in under 100), going to HHN, Epcot, etc. with an annual pass just to hang out becomes a lot more appealing and even starts to seem economical.

 

[SeventyOne]

Yeah, this weekend felt like 4th of July at Disney. Makes me wonder if the post-COVID boom is really about domestic travel at all or if it’s just locals who latched onto that lifestyler vibe you’ve mentioned. On a similar note, Epcot’s parking lot was packed on Saturday but the park didn’t really feel full…seemed like a bunch of non-carpooling locals went to watch the concert because it was something to do.

Boys II Men, right? Pretty consistently the #1 draw during F&W for forever now. Probably skews things, park was dead Wednesday evening. But that also bolsters the locals theory--that's more locals now than any time since 1971.

 

[tyro]

One more thing about out of towners vs locals. I’m curious what percent of people that have FFP/ROF also have a UOAP and they could offer the same type of on-site only deals to APs as well. This comes from a place of selfishness as I can stay at the Hyatt across the street basically for free with my credit card points . But if almost everyone with a FFP/ROF also has a UOAP then it wouldn’t make sense as it would not have the intended effects of reducing use as much.

Either way if changes do actually get made to ROF or FFP will Universal announce this Earlier than a month in advance or will it be a surprise when the tickets drop?

 

[wutisgood]

There is definitely no way this year is an outlier. HHN is only going to get more crowded every year barring another pandemic or changes in ticket structure.

The number 1 goal for universal with this event is to keep the narrative going that for ANY event night the ONLY way to do all the houses is express. I think they are going to be pretty weary of making any major changes that might make people think twice about spending the extra money because they can count on some slower nights.

 

[Mad Dog]

Sept. daily park crowds, at both Universal & Disney, according to Touring Plans lines, seemed to be slow like they were before September became busier around 2017/2018. Crowds seemed to be limited to special events like HHN, and a few days at Epcot. I have no access to internal numbers, but my guess would be that HHN crowds are primarily being fueled by locals going many multiple times on the tickets that are relatively inexpensive if you go more than 4 or 5 times. And with what happened after a lid was put on purchases, Brian's theory probably holds up. I'd bet they change the ticket structure next year to discourage that hang out segment of the HHN crowd. Sounding a lot like the problem Disneyland was having with their AP's when the park basically became a hang out after 4:00 PM most days, and just got too crowded to even move.

 

[JohnHammondsCane]

Unrelated to the crowding discussion, but while I've joked about calling DCF on HHN guests before, last night it almost became reality. Saw a maybe 7 or 8-year-old special needs kid with a toddler toy being pushed through a house. To say nothing of the proliferation of strollers and elementary school-aged kids. It feels like the next big issue Universal needs to get a hold on. I'd love a hard 17 or 18 year-old limit, but at least 13 seems necessary.

Agreed completely. As someone with an almost 3 year old and a 9 month old that stayed with grandma at Sapphire Falls the two nights we did HHN, I was shocked to see multiple strollers. What are people thinking?

The other added benefit of an age restriction is the majority of issues I saw in lines were caused by groups of teenagers being teenagers.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Sunday being quiet is definitely a result of RoF no longer available. We'll see what happens in October when more of the "GP" make up the higher percentage of guests.

You can see the shift by referencing Rockit's queue as the GP loves it.

 

[sparky]

Sunday being quiet is definitely a result of RoF no longer available. We'll see what happens in October when more of the "GP" make up the higher percentage of guests.

You can see the shift by referencing Rockit's queue as the GP loves it.

I wonder what

 

[Brian G.]

Obviously, I still expect busy days, especially with Columbus Day Weekend and local schools being out and a Fall Break coming up; but it should be expected during those days. Not on a random Wednesday in the 2nd or 3rd weekend.

But that also doesn't fix the issues when it is busy as certain areas get uncomfortably congested. It's not a 2-park fix but there is a need to expand just a bit out of the normal USF boundaries.

That said, I do think RoF does need to go next year.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Unless ROF worked like frequent fear pass where Fridays and Saturdays were blocked for ROF. Or something like that.

Just allow the one time-ticket guests to enjoy the park . Friday and Saturday should be for single tickets only. ( or at least Saturdays) have Saturday be single ticket day only

 

[JungleSkip]

Unless ROF worked like frequent fear pass where Fridays and Saturdays were blocked for ROF. Or something like that.

Just allow the one time-ticket guests to enjoy the park . Friday and Saturday should be for single tickets only. ( or at least Saturdays) have Saturday be single ticket day only

What about out of town guests who come during Rush of Fear time? Should they not be able to enjoy the park Fridays and Saturdays?

Unless they’re going to introduce length of stay passes, can’t say I’d be happy with them getting rid of the pass that aligns with my travel habits best

 

[Lucky Planet]

Unless they’re going to introduce length of stay passes, can’t say I’d be happy with them getting rid of the pass that aligns with my travel habits best

And that's the problem really. For the past 10 years I have to hear everyone asking to end and destroy the frequent fear pass that I personally use, that I have used for 15 years.
Everyone always asks to end ffp. Year after year. End all forms of ffp. So I hear you. It's hard to see everyone gunning for multi days passes. Either ROF or FFP. if they get rid of ffp I'm affected immensely. This conversation happens year after year.

But this year I just realized that we need at least one day per week where only single ticket guests are allowed. I don't know, but I feel like maybe Saturdays could be for single day guests maybe. At least one day?
I don't know how the crowd problems gets solved but ROF seems to be when everyone got the worst wait times.

 

[Allison]

If they genuinely wanna do something about the crowds, they should start considering MNSSHP prices for one night tickets as well as either eliminating all multinight passes or drastically changing their format (including a very hefty price increase with blockout dates).

 

[Alsands]

There is definitely no way this year is an outlier. HHN is only going to get more crowded every year barring another pandemic or changes in ticket structure.

The number 1 goal for universal with this event is to keep the narrative going that for ANY event night the ONLY way to do all the houses is express. I think they are going to be pretty weary of making any major changes that might make people think twice about spending the extra money because they can count on some slower nights.

I live in the Northeast. HHN didn’t even hit a lot of people’s rader 5 years ago, now people I would of never thought would go to a horror event are going.

If they genuinely wanna do something about the crowds, they should start considering MNSSHP prices for one night tickets as well as either eliminating all multinight passes or drastically changing their format (including a very hefty price increase with blockout dates).

The problem is HHN is not a 1 night event and they would really alienate the die hard fans. The other issue is the people who stay a week on property just for HHN.

 

[Jake S]

The problem is HHN is not a 1 night event

I think the hope is that a dramatic change to available admission would solve this problem.

 

[Alsands]

My question is are there really a lot of people buying FFP or Ultimate? Would love to know the numbers. I truly believe selling out of FFP before October was a financial move masquerading as a way to cut down crowds. The people it really effected are the guests flying in for a week in October. Most locals wouldn’t wait to buy them passes.

 

[Jake S]

My question is are there really a lot of people buying FFP or Ultimate? Would love to know the numbers. I truly believe selling out of FFP before October was a financial move masquerading as a way to cut down crowds. The people it really effected are the guests flying in for a week in October. Most locals wouldn’t wait to buy them passes.

Most people traveling from out of town also would not wait until the month of travel to buy a pass that is essential to their experience and has been on sale for three months. I understand that people did this, but I have a hard time believing they're, uh, legion.

Meanwhile, capping the amount of passes sold absolutely positively impacts locals and one-day guests.

 

[Allison]

I live in the Northeast. HHN didn’t even hit a lot of people’s rader 5 years ago, now people I would of never thought would go to a horror event are going.


The problem is HHN is not a 1 night event and they would really alienate the die hard fans. The other issue is the people who stay a week on property just for HHN.

@Jake S answered it perfectly.

Generally speaking though, whatever change(s) they make (if any) will not make everybody happy—we know how people react to the design of the event, I don’t even wanna think about the reaction to a possible change in tickets in the future, but, if crowd control is a genuine concern I don’t see how they don’t start looking at every available option to change the experience for the better. Single night tickets, multinight, Express, employee passes, I’d think nothing would be off the table.

 

[Alsands]

Most people traveling from out of town also would not wait until the month of travel to buy a pass that is essential to their experience and has been on sale for three months. I understand that people did this, but I have a hard time believing they're, uh, legion.

Meanwhile, capping the amount of passes sold absolutely positively impacts locals and one-day guests.

Agree, but they don’t want to discourage the guests who are staying on property for multiple days for HHN.

They could dump a ton of money into the event and make it a 2 park experience , 6 houses in each park. I know that’s easier to say than pull off but I’m sure they want the event to grow . I don’t really see any other options. They must value multi night guests over single night guests.