Official 2022 HHN 31 - Horror is Universal

[TXAKDisneyFan]

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.

I'm curious about the Hollywood version based on the following about Orlando:

Spoiler

Our Unmasking guide said Orlando is part one and Hollywood is part 2. I'm not entirely sure how that works though. Each night there's a different "winner" - On Saturday Dracula was holding wolfmans head at the end of the house (our RIP tour guide said Dracula won on Friday too).

 

[csjordan]

Just getting back in now to Dockside from the evening. Despite a couple of rain scares, we were able to do Stay and Scream near Mummy and ride Men in Black, in addition to a couple trips to Finnegans and one trip to Duff Brewery. We did 8 houses (we have an accessibility pass, one standby line - Hellblock), just missing The Weeknd (no interest) and Descendants of Destruction (we were wiped out lol). Our rankings:

1) Halloween: we have a soft spot for Michael Myers, but this was plain awesome. Scares dead on each time with scare actors plentiful in the house.

2) Universal Monsters: another classic here. Sets well designed, scares well placed, and loved the Mummy heavy feature. Fun and scary, this one worked very well and seemed a good spiritual successors to Icons last year.

3) Blumhouse: This one wasn’t on our must-do list, but was a nice surprise. Both halves of the house were well done, and the Black phone may have been the scariest section of any house this evening. Mood and vibe were on point, loved the choice of location too!

4) Hellblock Horror: another good surprise for us! Not the longest house, but good scare actors and an intense ambience led to a successful house! Love original houses and Universal set a good time with this one.

5) Spirits of the Coven: This one was a beautiful house with great storytelling. It’s length worked to it’s benefit and was able to tell a beginning, middle, and end. Not the most scary throughout but very well done for a witch-based house.

6) Bugs: This one was low on scares, but high on fun. Loved the way the different bugs were displayed. The story was easy enough to follow, and the house looked good.

7) Fiesta De Chupacabras: Another well-designed house with a unique theme. Some good scares, but some of the creatures themselves fell a little flat.

8) Dead Man’s Pier: We wanted to love this one, especially after all the hype. This was absolutely the most beautifully designed house of the event. It may have just been a bad walkthrough, but we didn’t get any scares. Everything was gorgeous, but as a house it definitely fell flat. Had we stuck around, it would’ve been top of the list for a second trip.

Overall - the event this year felt higher budget, more intense, and overall just more successful than last. Hugely detailed house design, good thematic choices and unique details led to a great night! We can’t wait for next year.

 

[MinnieMSue]

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

oh that is different. Last year we stopped and could purchase lunch at monster's cafe. I guess we will have to bring snacks as 10-3ish is kind of long with no lunch break. Interesting. Thanks for letting me know

 

[disneyfanlincoln]

Ok stupid question, doing HHN this year for the first time. I have day tickets and HHN ticket and express for one night. Should I do stay and scream? How does it work? Also how does the express pass work? Are there two queues, what do you show to prove express pass etc. I know these are basic questions Help please

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Ok stupid question, doing HHN this year for the first time. I have day tickets and HHN ticket and express for one night. Should I do stay and scream? How does it work? Also how does the express pass work? Are there two queues, what do you show to prove express pass etc. I know these are basic questions Help please

You should do stay and scream but have you read the other posts cautioning against trying to do a full park day and HHN in one day. You really don't want to do that. The amount of walking needed for HHN is incredible. It's double, at the minimum, an entire park day, all on it's own. Just to get in and out of the houses.
So yes, you want to do Stay and Scream but you really need to take a break before that, like around lunch, for a few hours back at your hotel.
Express pass for HHN works similar to Express pass for regular park tickets. There are two lines, entered side by side. You merge at some point nearer to the entrance to the house. You show the actual Express pass ticket, either electronic or physical, just like you would for the one with the day ticket.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

oh that is different. Last year we stopped and could purchase lunch at monster's cafe. I guess we will have to bring snacks as 10-3ish is kind of long with no lunch break. Interesting. Thanks for letting me know

There is a lunch break, we just had to eat in City Walk. They gave us about an hour.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

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 the info. I was fairly certain that was the only reason they were using headphones. Funny about that prerecorded rumor thing though and how it got started in the first place.

 

[ShadeDK]

Quick recap of our third and final night: we did 9 houses and two repeats. Started in the NY S&S again and released at 5:40 to queue up for Dead Man’s Pier. Did that house when it opened at 6pm and Chupacabra right after (5 min wait posted). We then headed to Bugs around 6:25 - which was posted in the app and on the sign at the entrance at 5 min. It stayed 5 min even though standby line was well behind MiB. Real wait was closer to 25 to 30. Also started raining - so not the best start to the night. After that, started using express to hit houses (repeating Dead Man’s Pier and Chupacabra). Finished around 10:30. We did have about a 30 minute wait for Blumhouse - that express line seemed to be having some fits this past weekend as they get the rhythm/merge right.

Interesting to see everyone’s opinions and experiences. Although I know it’s not always possible (especially in one night), but repeat walkthroughs can really show how different the experience can be depending on the scares and timing. After last night, Monsters went way up for us as the scares didn’t stop after a lackluster first run. Weeknd went down a bit for the opposite reason. Chupacabra and Descendants were better as well. We probably did Bugs and Dead Mans Pier the most, and they were consistent in their delivery overall (although one particular scene in Bugs was noticeably missing the actor on 2 of 3 walkthroughs). We’d heard Coven got extra scareactors after opening night and was better - but we saw no difference last night.

A few house spoilers:

Spoiler: WARNING - potential major spoilers

Our Unmasking guide said that there is a different “winner” at the end of Monsters every set - not just every night. The outcome is controlled by the guests playing on the app and which allegiance wins at certain times.

Longest houses this year are Halloween, Monsters and Weeknd - a few extra scenes tacked on and the other houses all have the same number of scenes (IIRC - 8 for the standard houses and 11 for the ultra houses).

Chupacabra features five Chupacabra - they’re intended to be from the same litter and their names (in the order you meet them and as given by staff) are: Princess Coco, Dusty Bottom, Dante, Rocco and Skittles. The house also has a shill scare - there’s a TM dressed like a typical HHN guest who will quietly merge into the line and then the unsuspecting guests behind get to watch when they’re pulled into the house by a scareactor a scene later.

As always, the event number (31) is incorporated into houses wherever possible - so watch out for those references. Additionally, this year’s item appearing in every house somewhere is a small plastic spider.

 

[wdwrule]

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

FWIW, I just chatted with a TM in the Universal app asking this question. I kind of assumed my 18 year old could enter with me but wanted to make sure. In chat, they said that yes, so long as she’s accompanied by an adult she could enter and check out Dead Coconut Club. The TM also stated that there’s a yummy mocktail on the menu which I had read about. Looking forward to checking out this amazing place AND getting some mother and daughter beverages

 

[Monykalyn]

FWIW, I just chatted with a TM in the Universal app asking this question. I kind of assumed my 18 year old could enter with me but wanted to make sure. In chat, they said that yes, so long as she’s accompanied by an adult she could enter and check out Dead Coconut Club. The TM also stated that there’s a yummy mocktail on the menu which I had read about. Looking forward to checking out this amazing place AND getting some mother and daughter beverages

Thank you for checking!-will have my 19 yo with me and would love to check it out with her.

 

[tony67]

Thanks for the info. I was fairly certain that was the only reason they were using headphones. Funny about that prerecorded rumor thing though and how it got started in the first place.

Thanks for the update - I think it was just an assumption - glad to hear it was incorrect

 

[tony67]

For those that are interested TheViewFromTheCheapSeats posted a video on the scare actors dining - it was pretty underwhelming IMO

If you don't know his videos he is independent so he can tell it how it is and not worry about loosing his status

 

[Ghostface]

Can anyone tell me if this sounds like a bad plan? We are first timers to HHN(and Universal for that matter, so I think that's another reason we want to make sure our plan sounds okay) and have tickets and express passes for this Sunday. We plan on having a pool/lazy day and then heading over for HHN, but we really don't have any interest in doing stay and scream. Since we have express should we be okay with not lining up early for the houses? We won't be upset if we don't get to all of them anyway. Our main goal is three houses we have at the top of our list and then all of the scare zones and shows. We are thinking with express passes this should be okay and we might even have time for a few more houses if we don't get too wiped out from everything before then. Basically, we are looking to get a good taste of the atmosphere and not trying to rush to get everything done in one night, but we are worried that maybe we are approaching this in the wrong way since we've never been before.

 

[namelessoracle]

For those that are interested TheViewFromTheCheapSeats posted a video on the scare actors dining - it was pretty underwhelming IMO

If you don't know his videos he is independent so he can tell it how it is and not worry about loosing his status

The reason to do it seems more that you A) really want that picture with a scare actor in decent lightning and B) want to have a place you can sit comfortably during your stay and scream.

Considering how much food there is to try, the buffet doesnt sound too appealing. I wish they would have a sampling of the actual food stand items during it, then it would be very much worth doing.

 

[tony67]

The reason to do it seems more that you A) really want that picture with a scare actor in decent lightning and B) want to have a place you can sit comfortably during your stay and scream.

Considering how much food there is to try, the buffet doesnt sound too appealing. I wish they would have a sampling of the actual food stand items during it, then it would be very much worth doing.

Yeah that would make a lot more sense - of course they want you to buy that during the event.

It also did not look like they had photographers there - Maybe they just were not in the video - I though you got a downloadable 8x10 with the meal - Universal really does a poor job overall with the photo pass stuff

Anyway Ill be skipping this

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We have the Frequent Fear Pass this year and did our first HHN last night, Sunday 9/5.

We arrived for stay and scream and first stopped at the Tribute Store looking for the Lil Boo baseball hat. We were told they were sold out and most likely would be all around property, which I believe was correct. We looked all over and couldn't find any.

Did the NY Stay and Scream, lined up for Coven.

They released us a few minutes after 5:30 and I think we had roughly a 10 minute wait when we got into the actual queue.

This house looked pretty sweet but we were overall disappointed. It seemed like a very long house but we barely saw any scare actors. Maybe we just had a really bad run through or some were late but this house wasn't great for me. Will definitely do it again, though.

We immediately went to Dead Waters almost exactly at 6. This was a mistake. We ended up waiting 35 minutes, which I thought was crazy for stay and scream. Last year we could usually get about 4 houses before the lines started to get crazy.

This house was so beautiful, I loved it. We didn't get many scares but then again, I don't really get scared anyway so that was fine. I do think their audio was off, the scare actors would jump out but there was no loud sound, just them almost gently jumping out. Or is that how that house is meant to be? I still really loved the design, I can't wait to do it again.

When we were exiting this house it was pouring, so we sheltered at the Tribute Store for 10 minutes.

We got in line for a Lil Boo pumpkin bun but they were sold out so we shared an African lentil & potato coffin. It was surprisingly good and easy to eat with your hands. I would definitely recommend that and we'll be getting it again.



We moved on and checked out wait times and scare zones as we went.

I am beyond tired of the San Francisco scare zone, it just always creates a bottleneck and is terrible to walk through. I wish they would put it elsewhere.

We were still hungry and decided on a churro dog on a stick but that entire stand was out of food. Not sure how, but it was. We were pretty hungry at this point and disappointed that most houses were already listed at 30 minutes or higher. I had high hopes we could get 3-4 houses with stay and scream and not have high waits.

We tried to mobile order from Mel's but that had shut off at 5 pm and there was only one register open inside so we passed. It was threatening rain again at this point and we were frustrated and decided to head out.



We did peek into Dead Coconut Club on the way out which looked awesome. Can't wait to go back.





I am still excited to go throughout this season, but this was probably the worst experience we've had at HHN in years. The park seemed super crowded and hard to navigate. Maybe my wait time expectations shouldn't have been so high for a sold out night? But in the past we've never waited 35 minutes for our second stay and scream house. So I just don't know.

 

[tony67]

But in the past we've never waited 35 minutes for our second stay and scream house.

Yeah - I think it has just become too popular - I can remember times of doing 3 or 4 houses by 6:30 when I did stay and scream - now I buy the EP and go in late

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Can anyone tell me if this sounds like a bad plan? We are first timers to HHN(and Universal for that matter, so I think that's another reason we want to make sure our plan sounds okay) and have tickets and express passes for this Sunday. We plan on having a pool/lazy day and then heading over for HHN, but we really don't have any interest in doing stay and scream. Since we have express should we be okay with not lining up early for the houses? We won't be upset if we don't get to all of them anyway. Our main goal is three houses we have at the top of our list and then all of the scare zones and shows. We are thinking with express passes this should be okay and we might even have time for a few more houses if we don't get too wiped out from everything before then. Basically, we are looking to get a good taste of the atmosphere and not trying to rush to get everything done in one night, but we are worried that maybe we are approaching this in the wrong way since we've never been before.

If you are not trying to get in all the houses your plan is fine.
Be aware that the lines to enter at the ticket gates are really long to start. Are you staying on site by chance? There is a Universal resort guest line that should be shorter. We are always already in so I've never tried it myself.
I would personally do Stay and Scream just to avoid the long entry or wait to enter. I hate those long lines though. I once had to enter with a local guest and wow, it was a nightmare. Never again. We meet inside now.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I am still excited to go throughout this season, but this was probably the worst experience we've had at HHN in years. The park seemed super crowded and hard to navigate. Maybe my wait time expectations shouldn't have been so high for a sold out night? But in the past we've never waited 35 minutes for our second stay and scream house. So I just don't know.

Have you done Holiday weekend before? A sold out Holiday weekend at that? I'm sure between Holiday weekend, sold out, and pent up demand from International guests, you hit a trifecta for a pretty heavy wait time. Probably too soon to tell if that's going to be typical waits or not, do you think?

 

[tony67]

The Weeknd (no interest)

I really have no interest in this one either - but everyone seems to be very positive on it - but I guess you need to watch the videos for it all to make sense