HHN and closing time

[conan617]

Universal Gurus - This Sept will be my first trip when HHN is occurring. My kids are small and we won't be attending HHN. Park hours are 9-5 in US both days we are there and HHN is also occurring both nights. My question is - if I stay til closing time, will I have a time to get my kids out of the park or into IOA before the scary stuff happens or should I plan to leave an hour or so before park closure. We have two full days planned with Express Passes so we are going to hit it hard. Just need to know when to get out before the scary stuff starts up.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Universal Gurus - This Sept will be my first trip when HHN is occurring. My kids are small and we won't be attending HHN. Park hours are 9-5 in US both days we are there and HHN is also occurring both nights. My question is - if I stay til closing time, will I have a time to get my kids out of the park or into IOA before the scary stuff happens or should I plan to leave an hour or so before park closure. We have two full days planned with Express Passes so we are going to hit it hard. Just need to know when to get out before the scary stuff starts up.

Yes, you will... You really won't even be able to linger... The Team Members are really good at making sure guests are out of the park in a timely, safe manner... Nothing HHN related starts until all guests are out of the park... And even then, all you may come across are signs pointing to the house entrances... The real stuff happens when the gates are closed to day guests and open to the HHN ticketed guests.... And mostly at night when it is darker...

[Mfarquar]

Agreed! If you leave at 5:00pm at official closing, you will be fine. As DisneyFreak2002 mentioned, they usher people out of the park at a nice pace. If you have an HHN ticket, they usher you into a holding area. Only when all of the guests are secured or left the park, do they begin to do the flip over to HHN.

In short, you will not see any scary actors, etc. during your entire time in the park. They are very aware that not all guests want to experience HHN (unlike Six Flags and their Fright Fest which always seems to start up as families with little ones are leaving for the day!).

What you will potentially see during the day are things such as:

- Nondescript decor that will be used later that night - mostly things that are just too big to keep moving back and forth. For example, last year, they had a tank in the New York area. Nothing scary, just a tank that was fenced off. Also, last year, there was a car that ran over a bike outside of Twister. It went with the decor and obviously didn't have any people, blood, gore, etc. I believe there were also some vacation-like trailers and pop-up tents in-between the Simpsons and the Kids' area. You may also see prop boxes with nothing on top or prop boxes that are covered.

- There may be very large signs at the main entrance to Universal Studios for the months of September and October that advertise the event or add additional theming. For example, one year they had giant thorned vines going up around the entrance ways. Other years, they had giant banners of horror movie characters. Nothing more or less than what you'd see on a billboard in Orlando.

- As you leave, you will see rectangular tables and metal detectors being setup for the evening's event. Again, out of the ordinary, but nothing scary!

[DizneyFreak2002]

To piggy back what Mfarquar said about the decor, some things just cannot be removed for the day and returned for the night... You will encounter a lot of decor and props... However, if the props are "gory" they are covered with tarps so day guests aren't subjected to anything... Especially those with children who may not want them to see certain "gory" sights...

Over all, you will be free and clear of the gore and scare of anything related to HHN...

[conan617]

Thanks for the updates. I'll probably just hop over to IOA (or take the Hogwarts Express). While I would personally love to see the Walking Dead - my little ones would probably not. Thanks again or the heads up!