HHN 33: Tips, Tricks & Planning Thread

[drumlinetenor5]

Can anyone confirm early entry is at Islands of Adventure instead of Studios this year? Early Entry has been at Studios during HHN ever since I started going in 2018.

 

[Kichkinet85]

Can anyone confirm early entry is at Islands of Adventure instead of Studios this year? Early Entry has been at Studios during HHN ever since I started going in 2018.

USF opens at 8am this week for sure but ee is at IOA and is at 8am. If you want to know a certain date you can look in the app.

 

[drumlinetenor5]

I checked the website and the app and both are showing Early Entry is at Islands until the end of October. I thought they always did it at Studios during HHN to give non-HHN goers more time at Studios. Is the website/app incorrect? I just thought it was strange they would change that this year.

 

[Kichkinet85]

I checked the website and the app and both are showing Early Entry is at Islands until the end of October. I thought they always did it at Studios during HHN to give non-HHN goers more time at Studios. Is the website/app incorrect? I just thought it was strange they would change that this year.

It also shows studios opens at the same time as early entry. So it’s probably right. No one here can tell you for sure if the app/website is wrong. I would say it’s right but it also said studios closed at 6pm on HHN nights and was fixed around June/July.

 

[vgp]

It also shows studios opens at the same time as early entry. So it’s probably right. No one here can tell you for sure if the app/website is wrong. I would say it’s right but it also said studios closed at 6pm on HHN nights and was fixed around June/July.

Somewhat of a technicality, but USF actually opens to everyone at 8AM, while IOA opens at 9AM but has the early park admission available at 8AM. So anyone can go into Studios at 8AM, while only a select few can go into IOA at 8AM, thus making it the park with available early entry.

 

[Rikku]

Just watched Mammoth Club and Molly said New York stay and scream reached capacity? I have never heard of that before can anyone confirm? Also can someone notify when cutoff happen(s)??? I dont go until near end of event but always do New York for low capacity Finns to get our night started right lol

 

[Kichkinet85]

Somewhat of a technicality, but USF actually opens to everyone at 8AM, while IOA opens at 9AM but has the early park admission available at 8AM. So anyone can go into Studios at 8AM, while only a select few can go into IOA at 8AM, thus making it the park with available early entry.

Correct. Why I said USF shows It opens at the same time as early park and not that it was early park.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Just watched Mammoth Club and Molly said New York stay and scream reached capacity? I have never heard of that before can anyone confirm? Also can someone notify when cutoff happen(s)??? I dont go until near end of event but always do New York for low capacity Finns to get our night started right lol

I can confirm, as I had a horrible experience with ops/security this past weekend. I won't get into the details on here.

They are now enforcing capacity limits due to 'fire code' (understandable - as the past few years S&S has grown in popularity). However, they aren't making any sort of announcements nor are they warning people about this until they actually close it off unfortunately. My party was split up because of the lack of announcements from TMs on this being enforced this year. It led to a pretty unfortunate start to my HHN night on Saturday.

Part of my group had to stay inside the NY zone as security already sweeped the area of the park, and the others were forced to Today Cafe. I understand why they limited capacity, but a heads up would have been nice.

The TMs responsible for S&S entry/ticketing were wonderful... security & management not so much.

 

[Rikku]

I can confirm, as I had a horrible experience with ops/security this past weekend. I won't get into the details on here.

They are now enforcing capacity limits due to 'fire code' (understandable - as the past few years S&S has grown in popularity). However, they aren't making any sort of announcements nor are they warning people about this until they actually close it off unfortunately. My party was split up because of the lack of announcements from TMs on this being enforced this year. It led to a pretty unfortunate start to my HHN night on Saturday.

Part of my group had to stay inside the NY zone as security already sweeped the area of the park, and the others were forced to Today Cafe. I understand why they limited capacity, but a heads up would have been nice.

The TMs responsible for S&S entry/ticketing were wonderful... security & management not so much.

Wow that is wild….thanks for the intel….what is a time we should be checked into NY by you think? Guess we will have better judgement of this as the season goes but that is crazy!

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Wow that is wild….thanks for the intel….what is a time we should be checked into NY by you think? Guess we will have better judgement of this as the season goes but that is crazy!

I'm going to assume capacity will only be a factor these first two weeks, as S&S becomes less and less crowded (yet still busy) throughout the season. Having your 3 major IPs in the same S&S isn't ideal lol

 

[Carah]

“ Last name: Simpson! First name: Bart!”

And then it switches over to the metal music and everyone starts running for the houses.

Honestly, though, they had a good system over there. Being able to go from Duff Brewery to Krusty Burger while the park is getting changed over was really convenient. I’m hoping they have something similar setup when I attend next week.

Just in case you're still wondering, I asked on Zombie Chris YouTube channel (massive props to him if he reads this by any chance, love his vids!) and he unfortunately confirmed that we will not be listening to the Bart-man this year as Springfield is not open...see y'all in Lombard's I guess

 

[sjago13]

Went in at 1030 last night and did all 10 houses without express by 1:30. That is the least busy I've seen the event in years. Was it not that bad from the jump or did that lingering rain just put people off from coming in later? I didn't mind because this is my first year since 27 not having express.

My friend who is only coming for one night asked when he should come and I figure that first Wednesday after rush ends would be the best bet because last year September was crazier than normal and then dropped off once rush ended.

 

[johnathanm]

Wow that is wild….thanks for the intel….what is a time we should be checked into NY by you think? Guess we will have better judgement of this as the season goes but that is crazy!

I can confirm my group got locked out of NY S&S on Saturday and opted for World Expo (basically just hung out at a standing table in the shade behind Lombards - not a bad deal).

We were attempting to get in pretty close to the cut off - think it was in the 4:45-4:50 range that they started turning people away. So probably plan to be there before that, but I imagine it’ll hit capacity earlier on the busiest nights, so maybe even earlier.

 

[Chumpieboy]

Anyone know if you can swap out Doritos for Fritos in the walking tacos? The vegan taco features Fritos but the meat one has Doritos.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Just got back to our room. Not a busy night at all.

With Express - did all 10 houses and watched Nightmare Fuel by 10 PM.

 

[TheAlaskanBullworm]

Just got back to our room. Not a busy night at all.

With Express - did all 10 houses and watched Nightmare Fuel by 10 PM.

Yeah we got there tonight for our first night at 11pm and got 8 houses(two runs for insidious) by close. Was a great night

 

[SeventyOne]

Tag for next year's tips post, slowest night I can remember at HHN in a decade at least. Not sure if it was the rain, Beetlejuice,. the NFL, or a sign of a larger trend, but even Blumhouse was walkable. Of five houses, longest Express was just over 10 minutes, and whole line stopped for 5. Major Sweets was posted 50, I was by the facade in under a minute!

Mildly interesting, at 9:45 all parking tolls were still staffed. Even tho I had my pick of empty ones to go to . Meanwhile, at least half of the security and ticketing teams had been sent home already. I'm guessing requirements have been written into the third party contract. Which shows Universal could require better handling of parking overall if they wanted to.

 

[Bort]

What are the must-try foods and drinks of this year?

And has anyone noticed any F&B locations that seem to have quieter lines than others? I shiver just thinking about standing in some of those massive NY Food Booth queues...

 

[Acandrews12]

I’m in the Lombard’s S&S area right now. Do you guys recommend Eternal Bloodlines or Goblin’s Feast?

 

[Crypt Keeper]

I’m in the Lombard’s S&S area right now. Do you guys recommend Eternal Bloodlines or Goblin’s Feast?

Goblin's Feast