Halloween Horror Nights 32 (UOR) - Tips, Tricks, & Planning

[jseal777]

Dumb question. If I activate a freestyle cup in the park during normal park hours, is it still good during HHN or do I need to deactivate it during HHN hours?

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Dumb question. If I activate a freestyle cup in the park during normal park hours, is it still good during HHN or do I need to deactivate it during HHN hours?

Yes - it's good all day including HHN!

 

[jseal777]

Yes - it's good all day including HHN!

Thanks. That is a pleasant surprise.

 

[PenguinCowboy]

Dumb question. If I activate a freestyle cup in the park during normal park hours, is it still good during HHN or do I need to deactivate it during HHN hours?

If you have a Freestyle cup from a previous year, I would recommend bringing it along too. I usually purchase the new one each year as I collect them, but my friend has a Freestyle cup from 2019 that he has brought every year since and so long as you don't care about the new design, it is cheaper to just pay to reactivate.

Also, this is entirely random, but for some reason at least twice in the past two years he randomly tried the cup in a Freestyle machine before reactivation and the cup was still activated somehow. This is entirely a glitch and I would never bank on it, but worth trying to see, as water is also always free.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

If you have a Freestyle cup from a previous year, I would recommend bringing it along too. I usually purchase the new one each year as I collect them, but my friend has a Freestyle cup from 2019 that he has brought every year since and so long as you don't care about the new design, it is cheaper to just pay to reactivate.

Also, this is entirely random, but for some reason at least twice in the past two years he randomly tried the cup in a Freestyle machine before reactivation and the cup was still activated somehow. This is entirely a glitch and I would never bank on it, but worth trying to see, as water is also always free.

Same here - we've been using the HHN 29 one ever since.

 

[ParkRumors]

Has that been confirmed? The website specifically says "Experience EVERY night". I guess we'll have to see if any wording changes when/if a night sells out.

They added a FAQ section to the About page of the site and yes, it appears that's how it will work:

Why do I need to select a start date for my Fear Pass?
Due to high demand and in an effort to help preserve the event’s unique guest experience, Fear Pass purchasers will be prompted to select a start date for their pass. We strongly encourage guests to purchase their Fear Passes early as nights are expected to sell out.

Why are some dates that are supposed to be a part of my Fear Pass entitlement not available as a start date?
Due to the event’s popularity and high demand, Halloween Horror Nights event nights are expected to sell out. If one of the applicable dates for the Fear Pass selected is not available as a start date, that means the event is sold out for that evening.

Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando Resort

www.universalorlando.com

 

[Drumfreak]

You could always go with Crocs

I've had a decent experience with Vessi shoes myself. Not as comfortable as my usual park shoes, but miles better if it gets wet outside. They do a pretty good job keeping your socks dry, only issues I've had are if there are deep puddles.

 

[srbmarc]

They added a FAQ section to the About page of the site and yes, it appears that's how it will work:

Why do I need to select a start date for my Fear Pass?
Due to high demand and in an effort to help preserve the event’s unique guest experience, Fear Pass purchasers will be prompted to select a start date for their pass. We strongly encourage guests to purchase their Fear Passes early as nights are expected to sell out.

Why are some dates that are supposed to be a part of my Fear Pass entitlement not available as a start date?
Due to the event’s popularity and high demand, Halloween Horror Nights event nights are expected to sell out. If one of the applicable dates for the Fear Pass selected is not available as a start date, that means the event is sold out for that evening.

Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando Resort

www.universalorlando.com

So it only applies to start dates. So if a random night in the middle sells out (Friday 10/13 for example), the passes will still be valid as long as the start date was before then.

 

[Jake S]

Last year we used it as late as 8pm.

just to confirm that the hotel entrance will be open until 8 p.m.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

just to confirm that the hotel entrance will be open until 8 p.m. View attachment 19362

SUBLIME

 

[jseal777]

Dont see a thread for it, but what/where is the Peacock Halloween Horror Bar?

 

[Jake S]

Dont see a thread for it, but what/where is the Peacock Halloween Horror Bar?

not confirmed — appears to be behind lombards.

 

[Acandrews12]

So this will be my 10th HHN. Typically my stepbrother and I go opening weekend. He can’t go this year, so I’m going with my wife and her little sister and friend. We’re going a few weeks after opening night this year. I’m going back to work nights, so I will be able to hit Alton houses. My wife only cares to hit Stranger Things, Chucky, and may be one or two others. We can’t stay and scream that night because that’s the day we’re getting into town. So, I assume that most everybody will be in the Stranger Things or Last of Us stay and scream lines. Those that are getting into general mission will probably run towards those houses as well.

So would the best course of action be to start in the back at Oddfellow and then work our way to the front to do Chucky and Stranger Things or should we follow the crowd and run towards Stranger Things?

 

[jseal777]

Anybody else get the HHN Fanny pack last year and it was pretty snug around your hip? Has anybody succeeded in finding some sort of extension buckle or something for that? (I know the trend is to wear it around your shoulders but that’s irksome to me)

 

[Bort]

So this will be my 10th HHN. Typically my stepbrother and I go opening weekend. He can’t go this year, so I’m going with my wife and her little sister and friend. We’re going a few weeks after opening night this year. I’m going back to work nights, so I will be able to hit Alton houses. My wife only cares to hit Stranger Things, Chucky, and may be one or two others. We can’t stay and scream that night because that’s the day we’re getting into town. So, I assume that most everybody will be in the Stranger Things or Last of Us stay and scream lines. Those that are getting into general mission will probably run towards those houses as well.

So would the best course of action be to start in the back at Oddfellow and then work our way to the front to do Chucky and Stranger Things or should we follow the crowd and run towards Stranger Things?

What you said in the first paragraph is likely accurate. ST and TLOU will be the major Stay & Scream gets, with both probably sitting at 60 minutes or more throughout most of the night, from the second S&S lets out. So, in that case, guests running from the main gates aren't actually getting into those any quicker than they would be if they just hop in line later in the night.

Blumhouse did really well in Chucky's location last year, and with an even more notable IP there now, I think it'll be a sizable draw. Keep an eye on the forums during the first week or two of the event to see how the line does (or even hop on the UOR app on event nights periodically).

I would go towards the tent houses via the San Francisco route, so that you'll pass by Chucky anyway. If it's a short wait, hit it. If it's already over 30 mins (or whatever arbitrary number you'd like to apply), go bang out the tents with minimal waits, and then work back in reverse.

 

[kingcooger]

So this will be my 10th HHN. Typically my stepbrother and I go opening weekend. He can’t go this year, so I’m going with my wife and her little sister and friend. We’re going a few weeks after opening night this year. I’m going back to work nights, so I will be able to hit Alton houses. My wife only cares to hit Stranger Things, Chucky, and may be one or two others. We can’t stay and scream that night because that’s the day we’re getting into town. So, I assume that most everybody will be in the Stranger Things or Last of Us stay and scream lines. Those that are getting into general mission will probably run towards those houses as well.

So would the best course of action be to start in the back at Oddfellow and then work our way to the front to do Chucky and Stranger Things or should we follow the crowd and run towards Stranger Things?

I would track crowds as mentioned above.

As well, we don’t know the house opening times yet for Chucky or both tents, so that could play into things too.

We keep an eye on this for crowds:
Theme Park Halloween Event Wait Time Data - Thrill-Data

 

[Tobias]

So this will be my 10th HHN. Typically my stepbrother and I go opening weekend. He can’t go this year, so I’m going with my wife and her little sister and friend. We’re going a few weeks after opening night this year. I’m going back to work nights, so I will be able to hit Alton houses. My wife only cares to hit Stranger Things, Chucky, and may be one or two others. We can’t stay and scream that night because that’s the day we’re getting into town. So, I assume that most everybody will be in the Stranger Things or Last of Us stay and scream lines. Those that are getting into general mission will probably run towards those houses as well.

So would the best course of action be to start in the back at Oddfellow and then work our way to the front to do Chucky and Stranger Things or should we follow the crowd and run towards Stranger Things?

As @Bort and @kingcooger mentioned, you'll certainly want to track the crowds during the first couple weekends before you go, to get a sense of what gets busy quick or not. Though as a preface, the first weekend can be a bit of an anomaly for wait times as that's kind of its own thing in terms of crowd due to the combo of media/vloggers/people who have to see everything first etc., plus the usual opening weekend snafu's that can happen.

 

[Acandrews12]

Keep an eye on the forums during the first week or two of the event to see how the line does (or even hop on the UOR app on event nights periodically).

I would track crowds as mentioned above.

As @Bort and @kingcooger mentioned, you'll certainly want to track the crowds during the first couple weekends before you go, to get a sense of what gets busy quick or not.

Yeah I forgot since I’m not going opening this weekend this year, I’ll actually have two weekends worth of data to be able to base my decisions on.

Though as a preface, the first weekend can be a bit of an anomaly for wait times as that's kind of its own thing in terms of crowd due to the combo of media/vloggers/people who have to see everything first etc., plus the usual opening weekend snafu's that can happen.

I hope that I’m expecting the worst from going opening weekend the past few years and it won’t be as bad On a random September weekend. It’ll still be bad because it’s a weekend, but maybe not quite as bad. *finger crossed*

 

[tyro]

I’ll be going for my 2nd year this year but this time for 3 nights( last year I only had one night so I did a RIP tour) Since I will be going to the event alone and going multiple nights I decided to buy express for 2 of the nights (thanks to ST and LTOU) I know express can still have some decent wait times at certain times, is there a strategy for how to use express most efficiently? I would just like to avoid waiting more than 30-45 minutes since those cattle pins back stage do not look fun for an introverted solo traveler like myself.

 

[sparky]

not confirmed — appears to be behind lombards.

We went to that location last year. The line was really short compared to the other bars