Over the past years, there have been some houses that did have long waits using the ep.
I can remember the year that Walking Dead house was enlarged from previous year.
(The regular line had about a 2 hour wait and the ep was a good 45 minute wait on a weekend night.)
But for me, EP well worth it as the house was a good one for me.
I always tell newbies to try to take in Unmask the Horror day tour.
You do 3 houses in the morning tour and 3 different houses in the afternoon tour.
It is a paid tour you book in advance or day of.
The houses are led by a tour guide and lights will be on in the houses.
You can see all the details up close and some allowed you to take pictures in them.
The tour guide will explain the props in the house and how it relates to the theme.
Great detail you will only find when doing the house tour.
You will hear about the theme of the house and how it all connects with the props inside.
In the evening/night, you will likely miss all the details in the houses.
Houses are dark and dimly lit
You go through the houses congo style and keep the same pace as the ones in front of you.
A person will easily miss the details inside the houses unless you know where to look for them.
I know the money adds up for all these extras for going to HHN, but for me, totally worth it.
I do both day tours so I can get in depth info on the houses and theme, do a private tour and a public tour each year.
Also go solo for other nights for hhn.
I"m just one of those homies that are completely and totally addicted to HHN.
I always buy the pass FF with the express.
I consider it like having full car insurance.
Don't necessarily need total protection but if i need it, I have it
So, buy the ticket pass that includes EP
(don't need the ep for tours as they have priority for entering houses with a tour guide)
A lot depends on the date and day of the week you do HHN
The crowds grow during the season.
Columbus Day weekend usually has high crowds
Going in the first week of the event can be less crowds but this can always change
HHN is gaining in popularity and hard to say the size of the crowds in the park in advance until it opens and we see reports on twitter, dis, facebook.