HHN 30: Tips, Tricks, & Questions

[grlhowl]

Now that the event has opened and crowd levels and waits are seen, will an express pass be needed for Friday 10/15? I want to experience everything at least once and likely some multiple times but don’t want to waste money.

 

[n i c k]

Now that the event has opened and crowd levels and waits are seen, will an express pass be needed for Friday 10/15? I want to experience everything at least once and likely some multiple times but don’t want to waste money.

Better safe than sorry

 

[Bort]

Now that the event has opened and crowd levels and waits are seen, will an express pass be needed for Friday 10/15? I want to experience everything at least once and likely some multiple times but don’t want to waste money.

While certainly doable to get everything done in one night (Orlando Informer offers a great touring plan each year), you will be under the gun with little room for dilly dallying. This also doesn’t factor in problems such as houses shutting down for flooding, which has been a common issue in the tents this year. And with the strain on staffing, trying to experience the food/beverage options may take additional time than usual.

My personal suggestion is to buy express. If you can do Stay & Scream, use that to knock out a couple houses without having to burn express. Can probably make it until ~8pm before lines warrant express (excluding Beetlejuice and Hill House which stay 45 mins or longer for the entire duration of the event, sans that 1am-2am window).

 

[wutisgood]

Now that the event has opened and crowd levels and waits are seen, will an express pass be needed for Friday 10/15? I want to experience everything at least once and likely some multiple times but don’t want to waste money.

my personal opinion is you can do everything once being at the front of the stay and scream in NY and hitting both major houses there possible a third (or maybe all 4 like I did) and then move to the back houses and knocking out the shorter waits first. Then you can come back to the front if you missed anything. I don't thinky express is worth it if you plan on coming early and leaving late esp on a 2 am night. I do thing the $30 charge for stay and scream is more worth it than express for value and if you don't want to do things twice. At least this year I would roll the dice on late express at half off if you really felt behind. I would not buy it upfront.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Now that the event has opened and crowd levels and waits are seen, will an express pass be needed for Friday 10/15? I want to experience everything at least once and likely some multiple times but don’t want to waste money.

well lines have kinda been around 45- to 60 minutes average. nothing crazy yet.
around 11:30 it starts to slow down a little bit. but it depends on the day and weather,

if you want to repeat then expressive necessary just because of how much is there to do

 

[uso345]

I have heard conflicting reports on using Stay and Scream for NY or Beetlejuice/Hill House. I’m just not sure how to go about it? My trip is planned on Sunday, Oct 17th, if that helps at all.

 

[ssirin88]

I have heard conflicting reports on using Stay and Scream for NY or Beetlejuice/Hill House. I’m just not sure how to go about it? My trip is planned on Sunday, Oct 17th, if that helps at all.

It's....tricky lol.

So we've done Springfield twice and NY once. With both, there are specific lines within the S&S areas for which house you want to do first. For Springfield, you have the option of SCarey, Hill House or Beetlejuice and NY I think was TCM and maybe Brides? I don't remember.

NY was easily the least busy and we blew through the front of the park (of which houses that were open) before general admission opened.

Springfield is easily the busiest area, but those back houses like Beetlejuice and Wicked Growth will likely have the highest wait times throughout the whole night. So if you prefer to get those done early enough and you don't have express, I would say do Springfield.

 

[jrn14]

Are fast food boulevard and duff gardens open during the holding period?

 

[ssirin88]

Are fast food boulevard and duff gardens open during the holding period?

I am not sure about Fast Food Boulevard, but Duff Gardens and Bumblebee Man are open. If you are in line for a house within S&S, the staff will give you a ticket to get back into line once done getting your food/drink.

 

[Neo]

Now that the event has opened and crowd levels and waits are seen, will an express pass be needed for Friday 10/15? I want to experience everything at least once and likely some multiple times but don’t want to waste money.

It's a crapshoot. From our experience over 5 nights with Express, the lines are a bit unpredictable. Like welcome to SCarey regularly had longer POSTED wait times than Hill House and Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice Express was ridiculous, seemed like they let more standby line people through than Express. Easily waited over 30min each time. Then other houses had posted 70min wait times and express didn't wait more than 5min. I doubt anybody can accurately predict if you can do everything in one night.

However, I'll predict if you splurge for Express you'll wait no longer than 10min per house and if you don't buy Express, each line will be 2 hours long. Murphy's Law.

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EDIT:

[RANT] Did the site update so that when the ad shows up at the bottom of the page it makes it so you A) Can’t type and B) If you hit BACKSPACE to fix a typo, you navigate to the previous page and lose your text? Soooo !@#$ing annoying, so apologize for typos in my posts…not worth going back to try to fix when you keep losing your stuff. [/RANT]

At the start of the event, the general consensus was that wait times were exaggerated. From conversation struck up at bars and what not, people seemed to think the times were pretty accurate and longer than the previous couple weeks. Anecdotal evidence at best, but what we heard. We regularly went in lines with posted 25min wait times to come out and them be as high as 60min. So it seems like the wait times fluctuate wildly.

 

[BlueHorizon]

I'll be visiting the event on Wednesday with two others who only have a single night ticket and no park admission (I have a multi night pass so can go anytime). I'm not sure they will want to pay for the early entry ticket, so how far in advance would you advise lining up outside the entrance gates in order to get in when it opens but not be stuck in the massive mob crowd far back?

 

[kingcooger]

Do the Stay and Scream areas still open at 4pm?

 

[PenguinCowboy]

I'll be visiting the event on Wednesday with two others who only have a single night ticket and no park admission (I have a multi night pass so can go anytime). I'm not sure they will want to pay for the early entry ticket, so how far in advance would you advise lining up outside the entrance gates in order to get in when it opens but not be stuck in the massive mob crowd far back?

If you are up there around 5ish you should be good, 4:45 you will be totally fine.

If you or anyone you know is staying onsite, you only need one person to flash their room key and you can enter in by the old Blue Man theater and they will bring you right up to the corner by Despicable Me, giving maybe a 50 foot head start on the crowds. They will hold you there until the opening at 6 still, but you can see the actors getting ready and the backside of the opening scaremony, so you don't miss much.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

FFB is open

 

[dxwwf3]

FFB is open

Is it only available to those that are doing sCarey for their first house? I'm assuming that Hill House and Beetlejuice people just have to wait outside in line right?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Is it only available to those that are doing sCarey for their first house? I'm assuming that Hill House and Beetlejuice people just have to wait outside in line right?

I don’t know as I was only doing Carey.

 

[ReelJustice]

I don’t find Stay and Scream to be essential this year unless you really care about Beetlejuice. Sure, it helps, but it’s not like previous years, especially in NY. I would focus on eating, hydrating, and boozing and jump in line as they open.

Eta, don’t forsake the above to kill yourself to be #first for *checks notes* SCarey Ohio…

 

[HandsomePete]

Is it only available to those that are doing sCarey for their first house? I'm assuming that Hill House and Beetlejuice people just have to wait outside in line right?

It’s technically open for people doing Beetlejuice and Hill House because they do let you go to FFB and then circle back to those two lines. You’ll just be at the end of the Stay n Scream line - not really the end of the world because you can still hit both of the ET houses by about 6:20-30 at the latest and then shoot to the back of the park. Plus you’ve already had dinner.

 

[dxwwf3]

It’s technically open for people doing Beetlejuice and Hill House because they do let you go to FFB and then circle back to those two lines. You’ll just be at the end of the Stay n Scream line - not really the end of the world because you can still hit both of the ET houses by about 6:20-30 at the latest and then shoot to the back of the park. Plus you’ve already had dinner.

Gotcha thanks. I'm one of the crazies that likes to be at the very front of the stay and scream line, so I'll just wait it out towards the front.

 

[Kichkinet85]

if you don't buy Express, each line will be 2 hours long. Murphy's Law.

Your way off there lol :grin: