Universal Horror Nights tickets and time About This Page:

[romarbeardies]

WE have booked 2 weeks at WDW from Oct 25 to Nov 8th and want to go to Universal as well as their Horror Night event during this time. I have already purchased the 7 day pass that was on sale.
What hints can you give us about getting Horror Night tickets. Should we just get an add on for the day, or would the mult evening pass be better. Should we do an express pass because of crowds and if go only one evening which evening is the least crowded. What are the hours for this event. Question, questions and more questions but then you guys have all the answers

Thanks

[BarryH]

I've gone to Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) since 1997. Every year it seems the crowds get larger and larger. I went on a Friday last year and the park was packed by 8:00! So surviving the large crowds is a necessity. HHN typically runs through Thursday to Sunday. Thursdays and Sundays are considered off-peak (closes at midnight) and Fridays to Saturdays and considered peak (closes at 2:00 am). I've never really seen a difference in crowds lately for off-peak and peak nights.

There are 3 ways to survive the crowds during HHN:

1.) Do "Stay and Scream" -- if you have a valid day ticket to the park (the 7 day ticket is a valid day ticket), then you can stay in a special holding area beginning at 5:00 pm. The holding area is usually a restaurant or another area where you can get food and drink. The first haunted houses will generally open at 5:30-5:45. Once the first houses open, you can get in line and have a minimal wait (usually less than 15 minutes). Then if your feet are quick enough, you can finish all the houses before the first Bill & Ted show.

2.) Buy the HHN Expres tickets -- depending on what night you go, the tickets can cost $50-$70 (HHN admission is not included). You will be able to enter the special Express line with these tickets. The Express line can be anywhere from 5-30 minutes, depending on the crowd. You are allowed to use the Express ticket once per house. Some houses will scan the ticket. Others will put a special mark on it. Some houses may miss scanning or marking the ticket. Some people may think you can use the Express pass again for the house, but you didn't hear it from me. *cough* The Express tickets in the past have included a few rides in the park (it seems to change every year).

3.) HHN RIP Tour -- This is a VIP tour of HHN. Depending on the night that you visit, the cost is $100-$140 per person (HHN admission is not included). You will be grouped in a 15 person tour group. The tour guide leads you around the park and tells you backstories of the event and houses. You get true front of the line access to the houses. There's no waiting in the Express line -- you're wisked right to the front and have to wait a maximum of a few minutes. You also get perferred seating at the Bill & Ted show and front of the line access to a few rides (time permitting). You can get an exclusive VIP tour for around $2,000 for up to 15 people. This group needs to be pre-formed, so you can't corral strangers at the front gate (sorry ). The tours on peak nights are 5 hours long (with a 30 minute break) and on off-peak 4 hours (with a 30 minute break).

IMHO, I would recommend the VIP tour. I think it's the only way to see HHN. You're treated like royality and you get a great tour guide. If you want to do the VIP tour, I recommend asking for the tour guide Chris C. I've had her for the past few years and she's great!

If you don't want to do the VIP tour, I would suggest doing 1 & 2. You can do as many houses as you can before the crowds come and make the lines long. Then you can use the Express pass to do your favorite houses again or re-do your favorites.

SIDENOTE: Each house has two groups of casts, called Cast A and Cast B. Each cast can give a different perspective or different scares in the house. Some people say that one cast is better than the other. So if you go through the houses twice using tips 1 & 2, you may be able to see both casts.

As for a good day to go, people say go during the off-peak nights, but like I said before, I haven't seen a difference in crowds for the off-peak or peak nights. The crowds on off-peak will be large and peak will be very large. Saturdays are just packed! I've heard of 3 hour waits for houses on Saturdays! If you can, avoid Saturdays. IMHO, I would recommend going on a Friday as a toss-up. Yes, it is a peak night, but I've visited on two Fridays on two different years. After midnight, the lines for the houses tend to drop. In particular, I went last year on a Friday and did the VIP tour. When the tour ended at midnight, I decided to check out some other houses. A few houses had 30 minute waits. Two of them had 15 minute waits! The "name" houses (with Freddy, Leatherface, and Jason Voorhees) still had 60-75 minute waits after midnight.

I would say figure out what is best for you and your budget, and do it! Like I said, if you can swing it, I'd highly recommend the VIP tour.

[BarryH]

Oh, I forgot to say something about tickets! As for an add-on, I don't think there is an add-on option for the 7-day ticket. If you're staying for that long at Universal and want to do HHN a few times, try the Frequent Fear pass. The pass costs as much as a 1 night ticket, but you can get admission on all the off-night days. I think you can get in during Halloween, but that is subject to change.

As for a one-night ticket, tey tend to be about as much as a regular day admission ticket -- around $50-$75. That's the "retail" price if you were to walk up to the ticket booth and buy them for the night. But remember the Ferengi Rule of Acquisition # 141: "Only fools pay retail." You can find discounts at many places. I've seen discounts through AAA/CAA, annual pass, and a Coke can code discount. You may not see the Coke can discount in Canada, but some people would think to post the code online somewhere. You didn't hear that from me, though. *cough* Off-peak night tickets tend to be cheaper than peak nights. Saturday nights are the pricest. Friday night tickets tend to be in the middle of the road.

Also, if you like HHN and enjoy the type of scares, consider going down I-4 and heading to Busch Gardens Africa for Howl-O-Scream (abbrevated by fans as HOS). It's not as lavish as HHN, but it does give good scares. Some houses at HOS tend to be better than HHN houses, and vice versa. The HOS scare-zones are a lot better than HHN's. The HOS Scare-Actors really work the scare-zones! Check out HOS here: Busch Gardens Tampa Howl-O-Scream

If you want another good Halloween event, try Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party if you choose to venture to the dark side, I mean, Disney property. It may seem like it's for kids, but it's good for adults who want to feel like a kid again. You get to ride the stuff with short waits, gather candy, watch fireworks and a parade, and gather more candy! I shouldn't be gathering candy because I'm diabetic, but the collecting part is a lot of fun (and a lot of hard work!). I give the candy to co-workers anyway.

I hope I didn't forget anything...

[BarryH]

I did forget something! There's a week in October the Scare-actors call "Hell Week." This week is when the kids are off from local schools and HHN crowds get very, very large. It's also a time where Scare-actors are attacked and punched more often, sets are vandalized, and the crowd becomes very roudy. This is a time Scare-actors hate. "Hell Week" usually occurs during the middle of October. I don't think "Hell Week" will occur when you visit, but it's something to watch for.

Also remember to buy HHN tickets and Express passes ahead of time. The best place to buy tickets is from the HHN website itself: Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. I know some hardcore fans want to buy tickets for next year a day after this year's event ends. I'm not that hardcore. However, don't be surprised if you go one Saturday and try to buy tickets from the ticket booth to find out that they are sold out for that night. I would say buy your tickets and Express passes at least a month before your visit. I see that you've visited Disney since 1990, so you know all about planning ahead. RIP tours tend to start booking around August/September. You can send an e-mail to viptours@universalorlando.com to be put on the list. They're probably not ready now, but you can e-mail them to be put on the list. You'll receive booking information in the e-mail.

Two sidenotes while I'm thinking:

1.) Your onsite room key is not valid for Express during HHN. Feel free to use it all you want during the day.

2.) Do not hit, strike, or attack a Scare-actor. You will be arrested and taken to jail. You'll most likely be ejected and banned from the park too. A Scare-actor will not touch you either. They will just scare the beejeebes out of you! If you accidentally touch or bump into a Scare-actor, don't worry. There's a difference between accidental touching and outright stupidity touching. Heck, I walked into a curtain and bounced off a Scare-actor. He was rather chubby and he just laughed it off.

Also, check out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios over the year. They start adding things bit by bit to tease and excite people. It's virual marketing! It's really neat and fun to watch as you find and see new things slowly added to the site.

A good resource to check out on HHN or HOS is chainsawwolf : Halloween Horror Nights - Howl-O-Scream. A lot of the Scare-actors hang out there. I know quite a few people there. I generally post when I'm visiting so they can give me a good scare. I dare them to give me their best scares! As a 6 foot talll Chinese guy, it's not hard to see me walking through a house!

One more random thought: There is a certain amount of roudiness and stupid drunkness at HHN. However, I've never felt unsafe at the park. Security is present, but unintrusive if you follow the park rules. I've only seen a few roudy drunks. People tend not to mess with me since I look scary anyway (but people say I'm a nice guy ). Rodiness and drunkeness is a concern and something to watch out for, but it's not like the end of the world riot. I've never felt unsafe or questioned security at HHN. Follow the park rules and you'll have a fun night!

I don't think I've forgotten anything, but if I can think of anything else, I will post it here!

[romarbeardies]

Barry,
All I can say is WHOW .
Thanks for all the great advise especially for the Busch Garden trip. We will be booking for MNSSHP and I will seriously look at the VIP tour as it really looks like something that would work better for us, except for the cost that is
The only problem with ordering these tickets far in advance is the last Halloween I pre ordered 2 of the Frequent HH tickects and then Roland ended up in ICU for the month so no vacation and worse yet no refund on the tickets. I did get a full refund for my MNSSHP tickets. If I have more questions I know who to ask and thanks
Marsha

[BarryH]

I think you can buy the Frequent Fear passes at the last minute and have no problems with them. I think as long as you buy the tickets a week in advance, you should have no problems with your particular dates. Saturdays do tend to sell out quicker, but then again, I would really avoid Saturdays at HHN if at all possible. If you need to pick a peak date, I'd recommend Friday.

Good luck with your planning! Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll answer one of your burning questions now -- no, Barney is not open during HHN. Ironically, though, last year it was part of the huge queue line for the Thing house. It took about 10 minutes to walk through the empty queue! Yes, the queue lines are massive and will fill up over the night.

[BarryH]

BTW, if you do HOS, you need to get into the park before 6 pm. Traffic tends to back up for miles the closer it gets to HOS. Also, buy your tickets ahead of time. During the first year of HOS, I left my hotel room about a mile away from Busch Gardens at 6:30 pm. Traffic was so backed up that I didn't get into the park until 8 pm! Then I stood in line for an hour for tickets. During subsequent years, I made sure I was in the parking lot by 5:30 pm. Also figure a 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive from WDW to Busch Gardens.

With HOS, I would recommend doing the Fright Feast. It's $20 for a buffet meal and whatever HOS show is running in the restaurant. You get to hit the haunted houses 30 minutes before they let in the main crowds. Sometimes, you will be the only ones in the house. Since you are the only ones, every Scare-actor comes after you. Believe me, I was alone in a house a few years ago and it was one of the most intense experiences in my life! I've never been alone in a house during HHN, though.

HOS tickets run around $30-$50, but remember the Ferengi Rule of Acquisition # 141 and find discounts. Busch Gardens usually has a Wendy's coupon discount and passholder discounts. Some people think to put these codes online. You didn't hear it from me, though. *cough*

[romarbeardies]

Barney???

[BarryH]

Yes, what about Barney?

[romarbeardies]

Sorry no kids so it didn't compute. You mean the kids Barney attraction right?? Not something I would go to durning the day let alone HHN.
When do they normally set the dates and hours for HHN??

[Nimros]

BarryH - just caught this post as I was getting ready to post some questions about HHN - and so glad I did!!! You're the expert!

Thanks for sharing all your knowledge - I may have questions later...let me absorb all of this first.

[BarryH]

Originally Posted by romarbeardies

Sorry no kids so it didn't compute. You mean the kids Barney attraction right?? Not something I would go to durning the day let alone HHN.
When do they normally set the dates and hours for HHN??

The hours and dates usually go up around July or August. However, historically, HHN occurs on Thursdays - Sundays in October. I would say Fridays and Saturdays are pretty much guaranteed.

[thumbalyna]

when went to HHN on a sunday this year and waited in line almost 3 hours for the Freddy House... did not know about S&S or RIP Tours --- just knew that the HRH told us Express passes were sold out for that night.

we will be there this year for Oct 4th and 5th hoping to be able to do a RIP tour this year and S&S with express pass the other night

[Narnia]

When me and dh went we didn't get a fast pass but we did see all the shows and go in at least four haunted houses. The houses we not my husband's thing but the light bulb swallower did the trick there was way too much drinking though they should have restriced enterence to any one under drinking age.

[Narnia]

Oh I forgot we people whatched. They has tons of fog and an actor had a chainsaw and would jump at people kind of mean but oddly entertaining! there are other oddities too. Try also to do seaworlds holloween it's fun you can trick or treat for free!