Official 2023 Halloween Horror Nights 32 (Orlando)

[keishashadow]

Supposed to get a half inch of rain from 5 pm to 7 pm tonight. Talk about a cluster in holding pens there with ponding water lol.

Probably bop in after rain as we witches tend to melt in the rain

 

[keishashadow]

Ck out the timestamp on the line already

 

[keishashadow]

ST line

Our spot


End of line that-a-way

 

[wdwrule]

Supposed to get a half inch of rain from 5 pm to 7 pm tonight. Talk about a cluster in holding pens there with ponding water lol.

Probably bop in after rain as we witches tend to melt in the rain

Phew glad we got it in last night. We were worried about forecasted rain yesterday but not a drop fortunately.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

What's going on in the 3:31 pic? I can't tell where the line is.

 

[Gary2T]

Went Saturday 9/16. Just booked this trip less than 2 weeks ago. Wanted to get express, but it was sold out online. They did have it night of for $23x something, or $25x something for unlimited. Went with the after 11 option for something like $107.

It was a tiring, whirlwind weekend. Got home from work on Friday night just before midnight. Slept 3 hours, then headed to PHL to catch a flight. Got to Dockside, dropped our backpacks and headed to Citywalk for lunch. Entered at 3pm for Scream Early. Rode ET (DW's favorite) then headed to NY stay and scream. We were in the 3rd ST corral about the middle. Did ST, Dragons and Chucky by 6:30 or so. Then went to Oddfellow which was posted at 25. Waited about 50. By the time we got out of that one wait times for everything were long and the entire park felt packed. We made it into the 8pm Nightmare Fuel show, then spent some time eating, drinking and enjoying the scare zones. Rode MiB to kill some time, then jumped in the express line for Darkest Deal right at 11pm (about 20 minute wait). Used express on everything from this point on. Next up was Last of Us (about 35 minutes after the long walk back to the scan point). Monsters, walked right up to the scan point and into the house. Then Yeti and Bloodmoon with 15 minutes waits max. It was after 1:30 by that point and DD had enough, so we skipped Exorcist or a 2nd run through Dragons and went back to the hotel. Got about 4 hours sleep before heading back to MCO on Sunday morning for the flight home. Total time spent in Florida was about 23 hours.

Houses: Had the best run through in Monsters. Seems like we got every scare in there and it was our favorite. Had a terrible run through on Last of Us. We must have missed most of the scares, as the house felt pretty empty. Did enjoy one scareactor that had creepy movements like a contortionist. Really enjoyed Yeti, Oddfellow, Dragons and Bloodmoon. Also enjoyed Chucky. We had a pretty good run through Chucky, and had just binged the first two seasons of the show this past week. ST4 was nice to look at, but we didn't get many of the scares.

Scarezones: Felt pretty let down by scarezones overall. Vamp 69 was active and DD enjoyed it. Central park was ok. So much fog i couldn't see the person 2 steps in front of me at times. Made for good hiding for the scare actors. The others felt kind of empty and lifeless. I did appreciate the return of some chainsaws though.

Overall we had a good time. We usually go for a long weekend at the end of September and it never seemed as crowded and usually a bit cooler as well. We'll probably go back to that timeframe next year to avoid the Rush of Fear crowds.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Wanted to get home and on the computer to post my thoughts. Went for the first time ever on 9/15 and 9/16. Had Express both days and did Stay and Scream both days. On Saturday I was one of the first 30-ish people inside Stranger Things. I would 100% recommend Stay and Scream as on both days, I did Stranger Things, Dueling Dragons and Exorcist before people at the gates were let into the park. On both days, the people at the gates were let in at 6 pm which was odd since it said 6:30 on the map and at the entrance to the parking lot. The wait times posted on seemed inaccurate at times - Darkest Deal was a posted 20 minute wait but ended up taking 60 minutes. Monsters Unmasked said 60 but it visually did NOT look like an hour. The line ended in the middle of the ET queue.

Longest wait with Express was almost 40 minutes for Chucky. Yeti took 30 minutes on saturday and everything else was 20 or less. Exorcist, Last of Us, Bloodmoon Dark Offerings and Monsters Unmasked were almost walk ons. I 100000% recommend Express, especially if you're going on a weekend day. I know it's expensive but it's totally worth it IMO. The standby lines visually were nuts. I was so surprised at how insane they were. I also saw a lot of RIP tour groups (I counted over 15 within 2 days).

Crowd wise saturday was WAAAY busier and had more groups of teenagers walking around the park. The lines for the Freestyle machines were just as long as the houses. The Freestyle machines with the coldest water were the ones in Minions Cafe (had an insane line in the middle of the event) and the ones by the Kidzone pizza restaurant. Absolutely no one over there every time I used them. Lines for the specialty food were also long and they do run out of certain items, so get there early. My favorite snack was the Surfer Boy Hawaiian pizza. The portion is quite large for theme park food and I thought it was good. I went on line right when Stay and Scream ended and I walked right up to the register.

As for the houses, my top 3 (in no particular order) were Exorcist, Bloodmoon Dark Offerings and Yeti Campground Kills. I loved the set design in these as well as the scares. I was very surprised to see that online people were putting Bloodmoon in bottom 3. I guess I'll be one of it's fans lol My dad hated the smell in Exorcist though for me it reminded me of an East Meets West store in the mall LOL. The only house that I thought was bad was Chucky. Extremely lame set design, not a lot of scare actors present and it seemed very boring compared to the other houses. I am not disrespecting the scare actors in this house, they were doing a great job! I just thought this one didn't stack well against the other ones. This also REALLY pains me to say (as this house was one of the 2 I was looking forward to the most), but Dueling Dragons was bottom 3 for me. Maybe this is just a me issue but I couldn't hear anything that was being said. It also looked nice visually but the scares were minimal and idk it was sadly not that engaging. Last of Us was probably my 4th favorite though I wished Orlando received something similar to Hollywood's. I'm not a Stranger Things fan so that house was just okay and was middle of the pack for me.

The most disappointing part of the event for me were the scare zones. It seemed like they didn't have a lot of actors roaming around, which made them feel boring and lifeless. I liked the jungle and 60's ones as they felt the most "alive" though I wish they were a bit scarier. Zodiac had awesome costume designs but used too much fog to a point where I couldn't see where I was going. The shipyard one and the one by the entrance of the park were lame and uninteresting.

I didn't see the M3gan hordes on either day and I skipped the Death Eaters in Diagon Alley, so no comment on them.

For merchandise, I was able to get the shirt with all of the houses on the back at a cart at City Walk and the Dueling Dragons AP shirt in the at the Tribute store. I recommend going into the Tribute store before the event. I went in around 1 pm and there was barely anyone in there. I was able to leisurely walk around and look at the details while shopping.

Overall the event was super fun and I would absolutely go again! I'm very happy I went!

 

[keishashadow]

Phew glad we got it in last night. We were worried about forecasted rain yesterday but not a drop fortunately.

A very nice surprise indeed!

What's going on in the 3:31 pic? I can't tell where the line is.

That looking at the entrance to holding pen.

I was stunned to realize when we walked down towards tramsformers to go to movie show…turned and the entire area on other side was wall to wall waiting to get in

I 100000% recommend Express, especially if you're going on a weekend day. I know it's expensive but it's totally worth it IMO. The standby lines visually were nuts. I was so surprised at how insane they were. I also saw a lot of RIP tour groups (I counted over 15 within 2 days).

Did ok yesterday w/ST being an hour in the ‘middle’ of the pack. Chucky afterwards only 20 min.

I have gotten yeti & DD done right away some nights via hotel guest line.

Holding pen worked well for LastoU another night other than that wait in blazing sun

Have been doing an informal nightly poll of the TMs at lines. They still are getting rampant complaints that EP lines are often taking longer than standby

 

[Smugpugmug]

A very nice surprise indeed!

That looking at the entrance to holding pen.

I was stunned to realize when we walked down towards tramsformers to go to movie show…turned and the entire area on other side was wall to wall waiting to get in

Did ok yesterday w/ST being an hour in the ‘middle’ of the pack. Chucky afterwards only 20 min.

I have gotten yeti & DD done right away some nights via hotel guest line.

Holding pen worked well for LastoU another night other than that wait in blazing sun

Have been doing an informal nightly poll of the TMs at lines. They still are getting rampant complaints that EP lines are often taking longer than standby

On friday I waited about 20-30 minutes for Stranger Things and saturday I walked right in. I saw there were multiple pens though I didn't know which one I was in on friday. I did hear on Saturday that they closed off the line for Stranger Things before Stay and Scream ended due to it hitting capacity. I only know because the family behind me in line for Exorcist was complaining about being denied entry into the line.

That sucks if Express isn't really Express. I didn't experience something like that but wouldn't be happy if I did.

 

[zavandor]

A very nice surprise indeed!

That looking at the entrance to holding pen.

I was stunned to realize when we walked down towards tramsformers to go to movie show…turned and the entire area on other side was wall to wall waiting to get in

Did ok yesterday w/ST being an hour in the ‘middle’ of the pack. Chucky afterwards only 20 min.

I have gotten yeti & DD done right away some nights via hotel guest line.

Holding pen worked well for LastoU another night other than that wait in blazing sun

Have been doing an informal nightly poll of the TMs at lines. They still are getting rampant complaints that EP lines are often taking longer than standby

The worst offender for me was Yeti. Multiple times I got a very long wait for Express, more than the wait declared outside for standby. Also, it has the longest line after the merge point, with a lot of switchbacks.
I think I encountered this because it opens at 6pm and a lot of people with Express finish the other open houses in the area and then line up for Yeti, causing congestion. Next time I plan on either enter right at 6pm if I can or skip it for later if I get there only after 6:10.

Another that has a bit of wait is Darkest Deal. Since is one of my least favorite, I might even skip it if it continues to have a long Express wait. However, I think I've been unlucky at least once, with technical issue with the ticket scanning machine.

The first night I went (it was the second night of the season), Chucky and Last of Us had 40+ minutes wait with Express. But this hasn't happened to me anymore, they migh have heard the complaints. A part the two houses above I have always waited way less with Express than half the standby line (which is all that is guaranteed). Most time saved is at ST, straight to the merge point with a 60+ standby wait.

Has anyone tried the Korean cheese dog? It looks good.

 

[caketalks]

I am struggling to find out if Universal's AAP can also be used at HHNs. Is anyone able to advise please? I have an email in to Universal guest services but am not getting a reply! Thanks in advance

 

[soniam]

I am struggling to find out if Universal's AAP can also be used at HHNs. Is anyone able to advise please? I have an email in to Universal guest services but am not getting a reply! Thanks in advance

Is that the guest assistance card, like DAS at WDW? If so, then yes, assuming you went through the new process.

 

[keishashadow]

I am struggling to find out if Universal's AAP can also be used at HHNs. Is anyone able to advise please? I have an email in to Universal guest services but am not getting a reply! Thanks in advance

https://www.disboards.com/threads/u...t-to-a-third-party-for-accessibility.3924604/

U has changed their system recently

You now need to initially apply thru IBCCES

 

[mamapenguin]

Tonight would have been fantastic weather for HHN…here’s hoping tomorrow is as mild and nice.

 

[mamapenguin]

Where’s the resort entrance. I’m in the ST4 line so I can’t look, but I need it tomorrow for guests arriving after stay and scream. I used it in 2021, is it the same far left?

 

[spewey]

Where’s the resort entrance. I’m in the ST4 line so I can’t look, but I need it tomorrow for guests arriving after stay and scream. I used it in 2021, is it the same far left?

It is to the left of the main US gates, about halfway between those and the Hard Rock. The path is close to some of the footers for Rip Ride Rocket if that helps, but when we went there was a sandwich board sign pointing hotel guest towards that gate so it was easy to find.

 

[CoasterGT24]

Last night's event was a mess in the rain. Multiple houses were closed until around midnight due to leaks and flooding.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Last night's event was a mess in the rain. Multiple houses were closed until around midnight due to leaks and flooding.

I’m coming for the weekend, and was watching the wait times last night. Those closed houses meant the other houses had sky rocketing waits! Plus no scare zone actors meant even more people going to the remaining open houses as they were the only thing to do. At least it was a
Wednesday and not a Saturday because weekend crowds would have been truly ridiculous concentrated like that, but really miserable for the folks looking forward to a lowish midweek crowd.

 

[Robo56]

Last night's event was a mess in the rain. Multiple houses were closed until around midnight due to leaks and flooding.

In the old days rain meant house lines were short for attendees. Everyone has figured that out now and head to the park when the rain lets up a little.

The back 3 houses by MIB were on Delay for hours yesterday evening.

Monsters Unmasked had a 100 min wait. People were backed up to the entrance of E.T. I had EP and it was only a 20 minute wait.




Universal was moving the regular line very well even though it was long.

The TM’s were really working hard to keep the large puddles cleared so our feet would not get soaked when walking back to Monsters Unmasked. They were under duress too. I’am thankful for their hard work and consideration.

These were the wait times about 11 pm.

I’m coming for the weekend, and was watching the wait times last night. Those closed houses meant the other houses had sky rocketing waits! Plus no scare zone actors meant even more people going to the remaining open houses as they were the only thing to do. At least it was a
Wednesday and not a Saturday because those crowds would have been truly ridiculous concentrated like that, but really miserable for the folks looking forward to a lowish midweek crowd.

Hopefully it will be lighter this evening. Thursdays have been light in the past, but all bets are off, because nothing has been as it has in the past.

I will be there tonight.

 

[NileNellie]

We were there last night as well. The lines were insane given the house closures throughout the night. . No scare actors in the scare zones and it seemed very crowded for a Wednesday. We rode MIB (10 minute wait), got some pizza fries and headed on out of there.