Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - News & Info

[Mad Dog]

Only open hotel for sept 8-11 is cabana bay. I am so glad I bought express.

How things have changed over the years. 2013 was the first year I attended HHN. We stayed two weeks at Portofino in September. Hotel was only about half filled. Rates were $192
a night for a Bay View room. Didn't have to book until a couple of weeks before arrival. There were only three hotels on site for a combined apx. 2400 rooms (if full). Now there's three to four times
as many rooms and they're heavily booked for what used to be the slowest month of the year. Like, WOW.

 

[HHN Maddux]

We already knew this, but it is now official that there are no dividers in houses this year!

 

[brandonflupo]

God I wish I could get a refund on the 6 house tour and just get the 3 house tour. I wanted Halloween the most and honestly none of the houses on the 6 house tour interest me that much.

I literally did that just this morning. I would call the VIP services line and ask them to cancel the 6 house tour for you. They did it for me.

 

[Haunts27]

Hearing people are meeting up tomorrow night by front gate after park close to watch final street rehearsals through gate. First I ever heard people doing so. But then again I remember last year that video of 30 years 30 fears zone rehearsing. Just wasn’t sure if this was a thing that people do and interesting that it’s becoming a full on meet up tomorrow. Curious if anyone else heard this too?

 

[Brian G.]

Hearing people are meeting up tomorrow night by front gate after park close to watch final street rehearsals through gate. First I ever heard people doing so. But then again I remember last year that video of 30 years 30 fears zone rehearsing. Just wasn’t sure if this was a thing that people do and interesting that it’s becoming a full on meet up tomorrow. Curious if anyone else heard this too?

Please don't do that...

If anything, I think security will do a sweep.

 

[Bort]

Are these opening weekend sellouts from this year and last year "artificial" (sorta in the way that Disney caps capacity way lower now so as to not ruin guest experience), or full-on "we're expecting crowds as jammed as NYE at Epcot"?

 

[Brian G.]

Are these opening weekend sellouts from this year and last year "artificial" (sorta in the way that Disney caps capacity way lower now so as to not ruin guest experience), or full-on "we're expecting crowds as jammed as NYE at Epcot"?

They've prepared the Weeknd's house to handle up to 3 hours of queue, so.... Yeah, I'd expect some full-on crowds.

 

[Legacy]

Are these opening weekend sellouts from this year and last year "artificial" (sorta in the way that Disney caps capacity way lower now so as to not ruin guest experience), or full-on "we're expecting crowds as jammed as NYE at Epcot"?

I’ve never known Universal to do a “fake”sellout for HHN. It’s 40,000+.

 

[Tobias]

Are these opening weekend sellouts from this year and last year "artificial" (sorta in the way that Disney caps capacity way lower now so as to not ruin guest experience), or full-on "we're expecting crowds as jammed as NYE at Epcot"?

Full-on crowds. Sunday's sell-out is a combo of Labor Day weekend and cheaper prices for that day. Another factor to consider is international travel is most certainly back. During my WDW trip last weekend, it was pretty easy noticing all the Brits who were finally able to take their Holiday there, and that matches up with all the record number hotel bookings this season. Case in point, for the second weekend of September, the only hotel that's available at the moment is Cabana Bay, that's it.

 

[sparky]

They've prepared the Weeknd's house to handle up to 3 hours of queue, so.... Yeah, I'd expect some full-on crowds.

Holy ackkk I hope my express pass actually was worth the investment

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Busiest season I've seen Universal so far.

While the waits have been somewhat manageable, hotels are solidly booked and CityWalk is the busiest I've seen it.

I think this year we will get blindsided by how busy HHN can get (probably on par with 2019). Last year was a "buffer" year of sorts for crowds.

 

[Fear2010]

I’m not sure it could reach the pre-pandemic level yet cause we’re all facing against the inflations unfortunately, and not everyone might be able to attend the event, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s similar to last year’s crowds.

 

[dxwwf3]

I’m not sure it could reach the pre-pandemic level yet cause we’re all facing against the inflations unfortunately, and not everyone might be able to attend the event, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s similar to last year’s crowds.

If hotel bookings are any indication, this is going to be much more crowded than last year. I was able to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel with AP discounts last year. For the dates I'm looking at this year, getting any kind of AP discount is few and far between because there just aren't many rooms available.

 

[Brian G.]

I’m not sure it could reach the pre-pandemic level yet cause we’re all facing against the inflations unfortunately, and not everyone might be able to attend the event, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s similar to last year’s crowds.

Last year didn’t include a lot of international tourism, specifically UK - who have been running rampant the past few weeks here.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I’m not sure it could reach the pre-pandemic level yet cause we’re all facing against the inflations unfortunately, and not everyone might be able to attend the event, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s similar to last year’s crowds.

There's something about theme parks being able to withstand periods of financial pressure (crowds still increased during the 2008 recession). HHN also has 2 very popular IPs this year - much more popular than last year's slate.

 

[Jakemeister]

There's something about theme parks being able to withstand periods of financial pressure (crowds still increased during the 2008 recession). HHN also has 2 very popular IPs this year - much more popular than last year's slate.

They tend to just respond differently. Early 2009 did have some serious challenges for Universal & I remember that they had to launch a very competitive ticket type for 2009 prior to the recession pivoting. From having studied Hospitality professionally it reads like the corrections that should have happened years ago finally happen with pricing or deals. Right now, HHN nor Disney will probably slow down too much.

 

[MrRoamer]

Holy ackkk I hope my express pass actually was worth the investment

Just something I think many of us have noticed in the past, expect Express to be kind of random opening weekend while they try to get an idea of how the queues and everything work. Sometimes it will be absolutely fantastic and sometimes it will be a bit rough

 

[Tbad556]

Honestly? This may be my favorite buildup to the event in a long long time. The team has absolutely knocked it out of the park with the hype this year.

- Scarezones and food tents dressed to the max
- An insane variety of merch and they're slowly rolling it out which has kept things interesting day after day. Not to mention this is some of the best looking merch I've ever seen at the event.
- This is probably the most cohesive the event has felt since 2009
- They're giving hardcore fans plenty to latch onto between the Tribute Store teasers, the Dead Coconut Club hints, a mobile game coming soon, plenty of references (Meetz, Lil Boo, Pumpkin King, Revenge of the Circus Peanut drink, etc.), and so on.
- An entire special venue for HHN with the Dead Coconut Club
- Podcasts straight from the creative team giving us in-depth lore

Hats off to the teams involved this year. Incredibly impressed and excited for Friday.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Continuing the trend of house entrances being very weird this year, it seems Hellblock will be entering next to Minions, and Spirits will be entering in front of the music plaza.

 

[Mad Dog]

They tend to just respond differently. Early 2009 did have some serious challenges for Universal & I remember that they had to launch a very competitive ticket type for 2009 prior to the recession pivoting. From having studied Hospitality professionally it reads like the corrections that should have happened years ago finally happen with pricing or deals. Right now, HHN nor Disney will probably slow down too much.

Much of the Universal Orlando attendance weakness in 2009 had more to do with people delaying visits to coincide with Potter's 2010 opening than with any recessionary factors.