HHN 2024: Tips, Tricks & Planning Thread

[Wesker69]

Waittimes 1030pm:
Insidious - 70 (did hit 90)
Weeknd - 60
TCM - 60
DE - 45
UM - 35
Ghostbusters - 30
Terror Tram - 30 (did hit 40)
Monstrous - 20
AQP - 15

Temp: 85° & a nice cool breeze

 

[DTH]

What's the Early Entry protocol this year? When should I line up, what time do they start corralling people inside, when do they let you loose to go line up? I know mazes open at 5:30, but that's about it!

 

[Jerroddragon]

I went last night

So around 5 PM they started to hold people in the upper lot near Hollywood and Dine and told people this is where they had to be if they were going on houses but its not true. Some people were standing near WW waiting to be let into the Ghostbusters area and they just let them cut off the people they forced to stop near Hollywood and Dine. So if you just "lied" and said you were going on rides you could get out of the area and then go down to the lower lot or near WW and basically get in line faster then the people following the rules that TMs were telling them
As someone who went Thursday, I knew that the people held here were getting screwed because the people waiting for the Weekend are already lined up down stairs and at 5:20ish they let people go so by the time you get to the Weekend of TCM there will be a bigger line then if you just "lied" and said you were doing rides and ran off before they let EA people out of the holding area
I also pointed this out to TMs and they just said, sorry they have 2 PM entry and nothing can be done

Anyway, walked onto Ghostbusters when it opens...Insidous took 30 mins after that. The Garage area had fans and AC set up which was nice at parts but the the heat was so extreme i was still sweating in line. After that I walked back and while they took us from WW area to Ghostbusters area, when I was exiting Harry Potter gate was being used as an entrance and exit for that area

I got on Monstrous next it didn't open at 6:30 PM as posted and what TMs told people at the holding area earlier but it did open before Quiet Place. I then got in line for Quiet Place right as they let in more people which was nice but also...not a fan of the Quiet place line math. We waited 5+mins to move at all in the general line, I watched as they just kept letting in people with express and not letting any general in for a long time, this from what I could tell is one of the only houses doing this. When I did Monsterous later the General line moved like every minute or so. I know people will say the Quiet place has more demand but they need to let the express people wait a minute or two, its express not walk on pass. Its fine to let people wait 5 mins or less over just walking on houses and pretending like general guests didn't pay to be here. I didn't hit the lower lot so maybe the Weekend was worst with the general line but when I went Thursday it moved at a good pace but have heard TCM can be a mess for general as well

After the upper lot houses were done, I hit the Terror Tram it was a walk on for everyone and still was when I was exiting. No Wolf man part yet, I assume we wont see it until next Thursday when the heat does down...or longer if they are working on the area to make it better.
I then grabbed a Buzz Cola and hung out in Simpsons land for a minute before heading to the Chucky show, which starts at 8 PM and I got in line 5 mins before 8 and was done at 8:32 missing the Scareamony by just two mins. I also got choosen by the Co host, Chucky said all he needed was your name and will tell you how he (chucky) would kill you. I like this and adds to the show letting you somewhat interact with Chucky.
Then mainly walked aorund the scarezones enjoying the enivernments, the Luchadores area had wayyyyyy less actors when I was there then thursday. Whil the Crowz area was great, had the two ground actors and saw 4 Crowz in the and around the area.
The Punkz zone had one person in it when I was exiting the park....so seems like Skullz and Punkz are kinda jus combing the area near the fire towers and one or two people might greet you near the front of the park

Did Monsterous again and left. A solid night but yeah some Ops still need in my option tweeting and literally ghostbusters for EA, had like half the monsters so...yeah can't really judge the house when literally the end scene when the house opens doens't have the monster....feels like staffing could be improved during the early houses. I will say Quiet Place when it opened seem to be pretty much fully staffed and its a petty well done house.

 

[Rideguy70]

I went last night as well, and had a much better experience than Thursday. We also decided to wait until around 10pm to even arrive, seeing how many of the lines went drastically down after midnight--not to mention staying a bit cooler.

I'm sure it was more because of the heat, but for the most part, most mazes had lines about 30-45 min. But there were also lots of short fluxuations... for example, one minute a maze would be a 20 minute wait, and then half an hour later it'd be a 45 minute wait, and then an hour later it'd be a 15 min wait, and then later still it'd be an hour wait. Some of this could be just incorrect estimations of wait times, but I also do sort of feel the crowds are trying to figure out the high points as well.

As for the longest wait times, Insidious seems to be getting the most demand, hitting at least 80 minutes (the highest time we saw) for a good while... and even at 1:30am, it was still a 50 minute wait and looked it. Meanwhile, Ghostbusters right next door is a total walk on. TCM seems lower in the first half of the night, but gets longer into the night, settling in at about 60 minutes much later into the night, which it was usually 25-30 minutes for the earlier part of the night.

Terror Tram had about a 45 min wait at about 10-11pm. Only about half the queue was being used, but the line moved a lot slower than it usually does.

Weekend, while it does have some peak moments in terms of wait times, also had a lot of moments (especially later in the night) where it had 20 minute or less lines. We even did it twice, because at about 11:30pm, half of the queue inside the soundstage was empty. Aside from TCM, the lower lot really dies off late into the night.

And when we arrived at about 10pm, TQP and Monstrous were listed as about 20 minute waits, and basically stayed pretty short until around midnight, where both got to around 60 min or so and mostly stayed that long... clearly, a lot of people are hitting those mazes on the way out.

I should mention we got everything done except TCM, Insidious, Chucky, and WW without any sort of express or early entry.

 

[Freak]

Alright so my gameplan for Sunday is gonna probably look like this:

-Do early access and get there as early as possible. Do Weeknd first followed by TCM

-Right afterwards race upstairs and do Insidious then GB

-Terror Tram afterwards

-Hit up Quiet Place and then Monstrous

-Go back downstairs to do Minsters and then Dead Exposure.

What do y’all think?

 

[Wesker69]

What do y’all think?

Hold on... I'm still wheezing & trying to catch my breath after lower lot, curious George, Terror Tram, upper lot, lower lot...

Might be better to start with Insidious/Ghostbusters because it's the most inconvenient & out of the way. Weeknd/TCM waittimes will fluctuate enough throughout the night that it won't matter if you miss one during early entry

 

[DTH]

What's the Early Entry protocol this year? When should I line up, what time do they start corralling people inside, when do they let you loose to go line up? I know mazes open at 5:30, but that's about it!

Gonna just repost this because I'm going tonight and I need answers soon

 

[Rideguy70]

It's hard to tell, as I think the patterns have been skewed by this extreme heat... but IMO, the most consistant long line has been Insidious. So I'd hit that for Early Entry. Then head to TCM.

Weekend, at least so far, drops down quite a bit later in the night. Last night (Friday), it was basically 20 min or less from midnight on. But Indidious and TCM only got longer lines as the night wore on

 

[Wesker69]

Gonna just repost this because I'm going tonight and I need answers soon

Insidious
Ghostbusters
TCM
Weeknd
AQP
Monstrous
DE
UM
Terror Tram

That should be the best route to take. Worst case scenario, you hit Weeknd & TCM at the end of the night. Good luck, godspeed, stay hydrated

 

[Freak]

Insidious
Ghostbusters
TCM
Weeknd
AQP
Monstrous
DE
UM
Terror Tram

That should be the best route to take. Worst case scenario, you hit Weeknd & TCM at the end of the night. Good luck, godspeed, stay hydrated

I think I might go for this gameplan unless anyone else has any different ideas. I will be back Thursday night but work decided to hit me with an early morning shift on Monday. Hoping to knock out all the houses and do the shows on Thursday.

 

[DTH]

Any info on line up or being let loose times?

 

[Wesker69]

Any info on line up or being let loose times?

If I had to take a wild stab, they'll let you into the park by 430 at the earliest, but not 100% sure. It seems the safest time to be at the gate.

Without any delays, the 4 early entrance houses should be open between 530 & 545.
AQP & DE open at 630pm I believe, 645pm for Monstrous & Monsters.
(Checked the app, but they just say "closed" right now)

As to how they're handling holding/release, no idea. But hope this helps in some capacity.

 

[Lc.]

From both nights so far, Early Entry you kind of just have to pick your poison.
You can either complete the entire upper lot if u choose Insidious and Ghostbusters and the hit Monstruos and AQP before 7:30 and then complete the rest of the lower lot and tram.
Or you can do the inverse of that and start with Weeknd and Texas, then hit Monsters and Dead Valley, again, before 7:30. U should be able to finish all the houses + tran with 1 run each around 11pm

 

[StopMakingSense]

I was really surprised at how light the crowds were last night. The wait times were definitely much shorter than every other opening Friday night I’ve ever been, and it just felt like there was more room to walk in literally every area of the park. I assume it’s because of the heat, but it really wasn’t too bad once the sun set.

 

[Wesker69]

I was really surprised at how light the crowds were last night.

It was the complete opposite from opening night. Last night was not "light" at all, it was just tolerable due to the houses being spread out.

Seeing half the houses exceed 50min last night, I'm afraid how bad it might end up.. tonight will be an interesting adventure.

 

[StopMakingSense]

It was the complete opposite from opening night. Last night was not "light" at all, it was just tolerable due to the houses being spread out.

Seeing half the houses exceed 50min last night, I'm afraid how bad it might end up.. tonight will be an interesting adventure.

I’m used to seeing triple digit wait times for the top 2-3 mazes and never saw that last night. Walking through the lower lot and around the Parisian wasn’t shoulder to shoulder like it typically is. It just felt way lighter than usual to me. But maybe you’re right - splitting up early entry between CG and the lower lot may have helped, and maybe the shows/tram/SNW helped spread the crowds out even more. Either way, my anecdotal opinion is that it was not nearly as packed as every other year on opening Friday night.

 

[Wesker69]

Keep in mind, the past several years of opening weekend also weren't 100+ degrees either

 

[Jake S]

Keep in mind, the past several years of opening weekend also weren't 100+ degrees either

I assume it’s because of the heat, but it really wasn’t too bad once the sun set.

 

[Wesker69]

Heads up:

"EARLY ENTRY" is SOLD OUT tonight!

EDIT: For those playing along at home.. 5:45pm
Weeknd - 45
Insidious - 40 50
TCM - 30
Ghostbusters - 20
everything else not open yet

 

[Wesker69]

Not saying I've done Monstrous 4 times before 10pm, but....

EDIT: ....actually 5 by 10pm.

Everything else is 30min or longer