Official 2022 HHN 31 - Horror is Universal

[tinkerbell1991]

this person on twitter made an awesome google sheet that you can check off and total costs. or you can save the photo if you want a plain list to refer to

https://twitter.com/x/status/1565794602958917637

This is amazing, thank you for sharing

 

[keishashadow]

What was the price?

No idea. Just saw pic of sign. U could probably Google it

 

[djmeredith]

My nephews ended up staying until around 10:00. They did Descendants of Destruction around 8:00 and said they said their wait was about 10 mins longer than posted. Then they did Halloween when it was posted at 70 but it only took 60.

 

[ShadeDK]

Doing an Unmasking the Horror tour now: nothing about flashlights or headphones - it’s the same way they’ve done tours in the past so don’t bring that extra stuff with you. They’re giving out UTH themed lanyards this year.

Update: our guide did say that tour guides have the option to use the listening assistance devices, but he chose not to. So YMMV depending on the guide you get. Maybe you need to pack the headphones after all.

 

[Skywalker3]

For those interested, here’s my ranking of the houses so far:

Spoiler: Spoiler: House Ranking and comments

1. Dead Man’s Pier - incredible sets, story, scares, and a completely immersive experience. “Haunting” in the best way. This one is quintessential HHN.
2. The Weeknd - I was skeptical of this house, but it won me over. Scary and fun at the same time. A “trippy” house in the best way. Makes a lot more sense though if you watch the videos first for the featured songs. Also surreal watching a thousand or more people dancing and singing along in an HHN queue.
3. Bugs - Eaten Alive - another fun house and more dark comedy/gross factors than scares.
4. Halloween - very good house and great scares. You’re gonna see Michael - a lot. Interesting use of a “prologue” at the start of the house and later on putting you in the “middle” of the action
5. Universal Monsters - great sets and interesting story, but feels a little familiar. On par with Bride of Frankenstein but not as good as the first Monsters house. Very Mummy heavy if that makes a difference
6. Blumhouse - I’d have put this at the bottom based on expectations, but this was really good. Separate sections for each movie and we’ll paced. Great section of curtains/SIF where you’re just waiting for something to happen. I preferred Black Phone to Freaky
7. Descendants of Destruction - good house and good scares, with great luminescent visuals at the end, but leaned a little heavy on the post apocalyptic Mad Max style survivor element than scares.
8. Hell Block - if you know the history of how this house came about, you’ll appreciate that they did as much as they did in a short time. But it still feels thrown together and incomplete. You’ll see some old favorites from past HHNs - including a few from Legendary Truth and past scare zones.
9. Fiesta de Chupacabra- this has potential to be amazing but falls kind of flat. Drab where it could have been colorful. Many more villagers coming after you than creatures. And the creatures - well, I’ve never seen Chupacabra that mostly look like werewolves. Great puppet work but not as many as would make it great.
10. Spirits of the Coven - another house with potential but doesn’t go anywhere. The witches aren’t particularly scary and the story isn’t terribly interesting. Decent sets but the house felt dead in places. Maybe a bad walkthrough but it felt like it was trying too hard.

HHN Night 2 recap: another busy evening, but a little more normal without the opening night craziness. We didn’t have Express tonight, so didn’t push as hard since we got through all the houses yesterday.

Tried to hit Mummy before going to the holding pens, but they closed the line at 4:30. Picked the New York Stay & Scream and got some snacks at Meetz Meats set up in the alley (which was open and had no line). This area officially releases to Halloween and Spirits of the Coven. Halloween had a line that snaked through the entire holding pen area and opened with a 40 minute wait. They released both lines to start filling the queues around 5:45 and were running by about 5:50.

They let us start an “unofficial” line at the corner of the pen across from the tribute store and let us through about 5:50 to start filling the queues for Chupacabra and Dead Mans Pier - those houses don’t appear to have a S&S area and open at 6pm. We opted for that and had about a 5 minute wait for Dead Mans Pier when it opened a little after 6pm.

Headed towards the back of park after that and hit Bugs. Posted at 10 minutes but was closer to 20. The exit spits out by Descendants of Destruction, but that was posted at 35 around 6:45. Blumhouse was listed at 10 minutes, so we headed over there. Real wait was again about 20 minutes - but posted wait hit 50 min while we were in line so we lucked out (ended up going through right behind Rick and Nikki from Rix Flix).

Got in the waiting area for Nightmare Fuel around 7:30 for the 8pm show. They sent us in about 7:45 and it was a full house by the start. Seems very similar to the last one. A few families with younger kids got up and left midway through - must’ve thought they weren’t serious about that “adult nature” warning at the start.

Wandered the scarezones and hit some booths after the show. I have noticed more of the scare actors in the zones constantly moving/pacing - far less stopping and posing for “photo ops” while in character. Most houses posted at 50-60 minutes (and Mummy at 35) around 10pm - so called it a night after a late one yesterday.

Thanks for sharing the rankings, and experiences. VERY appreciated! Trying to plan now where we will choose for Stay/Scream, leaning toward wherever you line up for Halloween.
Enjoy the rest of HHN/Universal! thanks again!

 

[nurseberta]

We walked in and there were a few workers and guests just kinda milling about. Then a worker could tell we were all confused and asked us if we wanted to go ahead and do the Hellblock Horror house or wait. I had no idea what we would’ve waited for but I think it was the direct entry to the main park area. We decided to go into the house and there was no wait.

In 2 hrs without EP we did Hellblock Horror (walk on), Spirits of the Coven (15ish mins), Diagon Alley (wands and Gringotts), Blumhouse (walk on) and went through 2 or 3 scare zones. We will do a holding area tomorrow using our APs, so I’ll report back with a comparison of the two early entry experiences.

Ok wait so they let you into the resort entrance right at 5:45? I didn't realize this could happen. we have stay and scream for all but the 1st night of our tip so hoping for the same experience.

 

[djmeredith]

Ok wait so they let you into the resort entrance right at 5:45? I didn't realize this could happen. we have stay and scream for all but the 1st night of our tip so hoping for the same experience.

Yes, they had already let a bunch of people in to do the prison house last night before 6:00. Because there was no line when we got in but the guy said there had been a line “earlier.”

 

[djmeredith]

If I want to do the Kid Zone houses first, I need to be in NY waiting area, right?

ETA: yes. We just got into the holding area. Make sure you bring an umbrella for shade, it’s brutally hot. Also, it appears they are letting people in the waiting area after 5:00. I wish we had waited longer on Mel’s where it is air conditioned!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Around what time do wait times typically peak? I've got no basis for comparison, but it seems like the waits for the houses are not all that bad for opening night??
It was a sell out

Thrill data website list wait times for WDW & U including hhn (still Last year’s data)

My take, if it’s really busy before 8 pm, it’s going to make for a very long night

Heavy rain does seem to lessen crowds, locals I’m guessing take a pass

Thankfully, I’ve not experienced that issue on outdoor or indoor tours. the guides have always stopped, turned around and made sure all could hear their comments

Any optional enhancement as to their live commentary is a good idea IMO. Just not accepting of any ‘pretaped spiel’ vs the live touch tho. If it is a mandated thing, should’ve been clearly stated & put in place before ticket sales commenced

Hoping to hear positive reviews next week that is is something about nothing

Chainsaw wolves!

And…

Lol

We 110% welcome opinions of the houses here.

If anyone is going to delve into deep specifics, please post a “SPOILER ALERT” before diving in the deep end

Haven't looked at newer posts so idk if anyones mentioned:
We did the 6 house unmasking tour sat (yesterday) morning. They provided the earphones (the kind that loop around the ear). I didn't notice anyone using their own headphones. There was nothing pre-taped. It was strictly so everyone could hear the guide.

 

[tinkerbell1991]

Sorry, me again.
Do any of the hhn specific food booths open throughout the day for regular guests too or do they all open only during the event?

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

For those interested, here’s my ranking of the houses so far:

Spoiler: Spoiler: House Ranking and comments

1. Dead Man’s Pier - incredible sets, story, scares, and a completely immersive experience. “Haunting” in the best way. This one is quintessential HHN.
2. The Weeknd - I was skeptical of this house, but it won me over. Scary and fun at the same time. A “trippy” house in the best way. Makes a lot more sense though if you watch the videos first for the featured songs. Also surreal watching a thousand or more people dancing and singing along in an HHN queue.
3. Bugs - Eaten Alive - another fun house and more dark comedy/gross factors than scares.
4. Halloween - very good house and great scares. You’re gonna see Michael - a lot. Interesting use of a “prologue” at the start of the house and later on putting you in the “middle” of the action
5. Universal Monsters - great sets and interesting story, but feels a little familiar. On par with Bride of Frankenstein but not as good as the first Monsters house. Very Mummy heavy if that makes a difference
6. Blumhouse - I’d have put this at the bottom based on expectations, but this was really good. Separate sections for each movie and we’ll paced. Great section of curtains/SIF where you’re just waiting for something to happen. I preferred Black Phone to Freaky
7. Descendants of Destruction - good house and good scares, with great luminescent visuals at the end, but leaned a little heavy on the post apocalyptic Mad Max style survivor element than scares.
8. Hell Block - if you know the history of how this house came about, you’ll appreciate that they did as much as they did in a short time. But it still feels thrown together and incomplete. You’ll see some old favorites from past HHNs - including a few from Legendary Truth and past scare zones.
9. Fiesta de Chupacabra- this has potential to be amazing but falls kind of flat. Drab where it could have been colorful. Many more villagers coming after you than creatures. And the creatures - well, I’ve never seen Chupacabra that mostly look like werewolves. Great puppet work but not as many as would make it great.
10. Spirits of the Coven - another house with potential but doesn’t go anywhere. The witches aren’t particularly scary and the story isn’t terribly interesting. Decent sets but the house felt dead in places. Maybe a bad walkthrough but it felt like it was trying too hard.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I'd mostly agree with ranking #1. I didn't necessarily find this house scary, more "haunting" and very well themed.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the Weekend house. It was like you said "trippy." I'm not familiar with any of his music videos but I can see how it would be cool for fans to be "in" one of his videos. I will say there was a LOT of strobe in it, more than I've noticed in other houses, and I did wear sunglasses to avoid a migraine.

I actually thought Bugs was a bit of a letdown. I appreciate the comedy but the story missed the mark for me. I didn't understand the emphasis on the ExterminAir "it heats, it cools, it kills bugs" (or whatever the exact language used is). I would rather they had gone a little different direction. I did laugh out loud when I saw the giant grub "dancing" in the corner. And I liked the effect of feeling the bugs are your feet/ankles.

I thought the Legends Collide sets were pretty, probably second prettiest after Dead Man's Pier. It did feel very mummy heavy. The story for Bride last year was easier to follow. And I thought the end "winner" scene was underwhelming (esp compared to Icons from last year). We saw Legends in the unmasking tour earlier in the day, but others on our RIP tour were confused about what was happening at the end of Legends.

Agree that Black Phone was superior to Freaky. I expected Freaky to be better since there's more to work with visually but Black Phone did a good job setting the atmosphere. I've seen both movies, but I think it would be much easier to follow the BF house storyline than Freaky for those who haven't seen the movies.

 

[keishashadow]

There was nothing pre-taped. It was strictly so everyone could hear the guide.

Thanks for posting. So, would you venture one would need to use the headphones to hear?

Did you have to carry some sort of device to plug the headphones into for the tour?

 

[MinnieMSue]

Haven't looked at newer posts so idk if anyones mentioned:
We did the 6 house unmasking tour sat (yesterday) morning. They provided the earphones (the kind that loop around the ear). I didn't notice anyone using their own headphones. There was nothing pre-taped. It was strictly so everyone could hear the guide.

Thanks for posting. What was the lunch stiop/menu. I was guessing same restaurant as the scareactor dinner but just curious. My daughter is a little picky and I want her to be prepared a little (we don’t go until mid October)

 

[soniam]

Sorry, me again.
Do any of the hhn specific food booths open throughout the day for regular guests too or do they all open only during the event?

Sometimes, like maybe the one near music plaza. The one that had arepas near Fast & Furious used to be open during the day too. Typically, no though.

 

[shh]

What was the price?

It's half off the regular price when you buy after 11pm but only IF express passes didn't sell out that night. If I go this year, I think that's what I'll try for....$150-170 is too rich for my blood. lol

 

[mamapenguin]

It's half off the regular price when you buy after 11pm but only IF express passes didn't sell out that night. If I go this year, I think that's what I'll try for....$150-170 is too rich for my blood. lol

I have 4 chances, so we’ll see.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Thanks for posting. So, would you venture one would need to use the headphones to hear?

Did you have to carry some sort of device to plug the headphones into for the tour?

There's a receiver you carry (it has a clip, but I put it in my pocket).

The times the headset helped were when the guide was talking as we walked between houses, and when we were transitioning between rooms.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Thanks for posting. What was the lunch stiop/menu. I was guessing same restaurant as the scareactor dinner but just curious. My daughter is a little picky and I want her to be prepared a little (we don’t go until mid October)

They walked us back to the old Blue Man Group building and we exited into City Walk. There was no specific restaurant.

 

[istillbelieve]

Does anyone know if you have to be 21+ to enter Dead Coconut Club? I’d love to visit there with my 18 year old to check it out. I know she can’t sit at the bar there, but we’d love to at least enjoy all the aesthetics.

Also wanting to know! Saw a video today and it looks cool!

 

[leiaorgana]

About Legends Collide:

Spoiler: Spoiler

I believe the reason why Orlando’s version is heavy on The Mummy is because it’s part of a 2 part story.

Orlando starts it off with the focus being more on The Mummy and Hollywood finishes the story off with the focus being on The Wolfman.