HHN 2025: Tips, Tricks & Planning Thread

[Jerroddragon]

They won’t but EA would be helped if 6 houses were open

Jason, FNAF, scarecrow, and Fallout, Terrifer and poltergeist

Lines should be very manageable then for EA guests

 

[DTH]

My best guess for EA is FNAF, Scarecrow, WWE and Jason will open first. 2 of those will probably be like 15 minutes later or something. Then Fallout and Monstrous will open closer to park opening in the 6pm hour. Then Terrifier, Poltergeist and Terror Tram will open at 7pm. I think Terror Tram used to be an EA option, but if I remember correctly isn't anymore? Chainsaw Man will open at 7pm and Purge will probably have its first showing by 8pm, 8:30 absolute latest. I could be wrong, but going by venue location, that's what they have done in the last few years.

 

[BriefCasey]

I should have also asked this, but how are ride wait times compared to normal hours? Still busy because of the HHN draw, or they'll be nothing compared to the lines for the popular mazes? If they're still on the lower side, that'll be a nice thing to take advantage of.

 

[ladiesman217]

My best guess for EA is FNAF, Scarecrow, WWE and Jason will open first. 2 of those will probably be like 15 minutes later or something. Then Fallout and Monstrous will open closer to park opening in the 6pm hour. Then Terrifier, Poltergeist and Terror Tram will open at 7pm.

I have a feeling that they'll continue to do what they did last year. Open up the entire lower lot (maybe with the exception of Scarecrow which can open 30 mins after the other LL mazes) along with both mazes in H-lot as soon as the park opens for EA. It worked perfectly last year and eith Terrifier being in H-lot, it'd be a perfect way to disperse crowds this year rather than pack every single EA guest into the lower lot.

I think Terror Tram used to be an EA option, but if I remember correctly isn't anymore?

I don't believe that Terror Tram has ever been an EA option. Maybe they open it up 10 mins before the event officially starts but I swear I've never seen it as an actual EA option.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I have a feeling that they'll continue to do what they did last year. Open up the entire lower lot (maybe with the exception of Scarecrow which can open 30 mins after the other LL mazes) along with both mazes in H-lot as soon as the park opens for EA. It worked perfectly last year and eith Terrifier being in H-lot, it'd be a perfect way to disperse crowds this year rather than pack every single EA guest into the lower lot.

I don't believe that Terror Tram has ever been an EA option. Maybe they open it up 10 mins before the event officially starts but I swear I've never seen it as an actual EA option.

Yes, I think The Terror Tram was mostly 7 PM but I do think I saw it open 15 Mins before that during the season as well

I hope your right splitting people off helps so much. Like I said before they wont but if they did have 3 hours open at both areas...I think it would reallllly help this year

As a FF season passholder, I know I wont do FNAF and Terrfier all nights so would be nice for other houses open that have 15 mins or under lines to give people more options

 

[DTH]

I don't believe that Terror Tram has ever been an EA option. Maybe they open it up 10 mins before the event officially starts but I swear I've never seen it as an actual EA option.

TT was EA in the pre-Covid era. You could tell who the noobs were by who was splitting off in the Simpsons area by who was heading to the lower lot or to the Studio Tour after being let in. But also I remember when they used to corral people for EA in the entrance or by Waterworld, so I may be remembering way back.

 

[Lc.]

Last year, everything basically opened by 6:30 and before 7, and I suspect it will do the same. Having H-Lot be one of the first open is better for operations than trying to cattle everyone from Hogsmade like 2022 and 2023 15 mins before. In any case if H-Lot is open for EE I say do that first as you DO NOT want to be waiting an hour more or so later in the night over there lol.

Also, a tip for Early Entry users is to take advantage of the fact that anyone who doesn't have EE can't enter the queue lines before 7. So if you see a line forming but they don't have that day's Early Entry color wristband, you can basically skip that line waiting to enter the queue and just enter the queue. That was how I was able to do Weeknd 4x and Texas 2x in a row one night!

 

[Freak]

I may feel this out as it goes, but I might suggest what I think will be the winning formula, at least for opening night (Especially since opening night’s capacity should be capped as it usually has been post-Covid):

1) Get there as early as possible for EA, do FNAF first.

2) High-tail it to Jason as I imagine that will be the second-longest wait. If the line is too long, then I may hit up Wyatt Sicks.

3) After Jason (Or Wyatt), the event will be close to officially opening at this point. High-tail it to H-Lot and knock out Terrifier and then Poltergeist and come back later for Wyatt and Scarecrow.

4) Terror Tram

5) Do Fallout or Monstrous next, whichever one has the shorter line.

6) Take a break. Get a shot of espresso for an energy boost (No cream, straight black like a real man lol) Grab the birria walking taco at the Plaza or the Thai tacos from the Slash bar

7) Head downstairs and get Wyatt Sicks and Scarecrow out of the way.

8) Finally Chainsaw Man and repeat run through a of whatever is shortest

Thursday can’t come soon enough!

 

[BriefCasey]

I may feel this out as it goes, but I might suggest what I think will be the winning formula, at least for opening night (Especially since opening night’s capacity should be capped as it usually has been post-Covid):

1) Get there as early as possible for EA, do FNAF first.

2) High-tail it to Jason as I imagine that will be the second-longest wait. If the line is too long, then I may hit up Wyatt Sicks.

3) After Jason (Or Wyatt), the event will be close to officially opening at this point. High-tail it to H-Lot and knock out Terrifier and then Poltergeist and come back later for Wyatt and Scarecrow.

4) Terror Tram

5) Do Fallout or Monstrous next, whichever one has the shorter line.

6) Take a break. Get a shot of espresso for an energy boost (No cream, straight black like a real man lol) Grab the birria walking taco at the Plaza or the Thai tacos from the Slash bar

7) Head downstairs and get Wyatt Sicks and Scarecrow out of the way.

8) Finally Chainsaw Man and repeat run through a of whatever is shortest

Thursday can’t come soon enough!

What about Purge? I noticed that one doesn't seem to be on there but I'm sure that'd be good to know for the peeps who wanna do the whole thing.

and as the guy who's probably the only one here doing a diet HHN run, I'm gonna be doing a lot of winging and rides outside of the 3-4 things I think I can handle.

 

[Freak]

What about Purge? I noticed that one doesn't seem to be on there but I'm sure that'd be good to know for the peeps who wanna do the whole thing.

and as the guy who's probably the only one here doing a diet HHN run, I'm gonna be doing a lot of winging and rides outside of the 3-4 things I think I can handle.

Purge I might see another night. It’s basically going to be the same show as last year. If I have extra time then I might hit it up

 

[Jerroddragon]

I love Purge but kind of agree I would skip it or Chainsaw man

Not hate on either but If I had one night I'd only do shows if I was needing to waste time until it was later and lines went down

I will say i'm going with my wives friends the second week and we plan on trying to get all houses and shows done with EA and express, I think it should be do able and hopefully be able to go into SNW as well since they have never seen it

Also my plan for that night is start with Terriifer and then move to the lower lot and then come up and hit the Tram and then the rest of the upper lot but this is with express and EA

My plan on first night with EA and express unlimited is to hit Terriifer 2-3 times and then move on to any house since with express unlimited the only thing that will hold me back is if too many people have express, normally the lines move quick but one year it took almost an hour to get in the chucky house so hoping that does not happen again

 

[cdogsumo]

So I’m used to going on Sundays in September — is there going to be a meaningful difference if go on Friday of opening weekend crowd-wise? I was planning on springing for the EA…

 

[Jerroddragon]

So I’m used to going on Sundays in September — is there going to be a meaningful difference if go on Friday of opening weekend crowd-wise? I was planning on springing for the EA…

I mean this year is anyones guess

Last year was just a slow year, so maybe a slight difference but for the most part Insidious on many nights was 60-90 mind, DE in the lower lot was 40-60 mins

But this year we just have no idea on the hype, I mean in Orlando they over sold the preview event.....so seems like this weekend could be much busier then last year

Also more people could come if they see FNAF videos and Art the Clown roaming over on the east coaster over the next week

EA I would think is a must if you want to hit either FNAF or Terrfier

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

So I’m used to going on Sundays in September — is there going to be a meaningful difference if go on Friday of opening weekend crowd-wise? I was planning on springing for the EA…

It's hard to say, but if you go to the trouble of getting EA you'll probably be fine, Fnaf, Jason, and Terrifier are probably gonna be the really long waits this year, so I'd say try to do lower lot and haul up to H-Lot asap and you could probably get everything done on a Friday night pretty easily, if you don't mind sacrificing scarezone/show/food time. You could also prioritize Terrifier since that wait will probably get unbearable a lot of the time, but there's a good chance that that will come at the sacrifice of Fnaf or Jason having a shorter line.
Realistically even if its only the first week, I have a feeling it's still gonna be like 120 minute waits for the three i mentioned and then like 30-60 minutes for everything else by like 8-9 pm, so you're probably gonna want all the extra EA time you can get.

 

[DTH]

My guesses for peak maze wait times:
FNAF - 120-150
Terrifier - 110-140
Jason - 90-120
Fallout - 60-90
Poltergeist - 50-80
Monstruous - 40-70
Blumtram - 35-65
Scarecrow - 30-60

This is mainly based on property popularity, maze location, expected holdups, historical data, repeat falloff, and capacity. We'll have a much better idea on Employee Preview Night.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I think I might adjust my plans now...FNAF seems to be by far the biggest hit

So I will start with that before the express line gets insane after 7 PM

 

[BriefCasey]

I wonder if doing it multiple times during early access is a valid strat, but with how many might flock there first, the line might still be busy but probably still preferable to after the event opens in earnest.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I wonder if doing it multiple times during early access is a valid strat, but with how many might flock there first, the line might still be busy but probably still preferable to after the event opens in earnest.

Agreed but EA sort express should be somewhat limited

Also looks at Florida at least the hype was the first night after that FNAF was 60-80 mins
Jason seemed like it got good word of mouth and was taking highest line many times from what I could see tonight on the app

 

[DTH]

At around 12:30-1am, the lines for everything in the lower lot drop dramatically (5-20 minutes), even if the wait time boards say different. Without fail, every year, I've been able to run back down and get a few repeats in if I had the time. By 1:30am, they're all a walk-on. You could probably do 3-4 runs of the same maze over and over in that timeframe, or 2-3 mazes in a strategized circuit (for example, the exit popping you out in front of the entrance of another maze -- which in this case would be Jason to Scarecrow, Scarecrow to FNAF). I know Jason and Scarecrow are pushing your threshold, but if you get brave throughout the night and want to try them, that would be a good time without sinking too much time dedicated to them.

 

[Jerroddragon]

At around 12:30-1am, the lines for everything in the lower lot drop dramatically (5-20 minutes), even if the wait time boards say different. Without fail, every year, I've been able to run back down and get a few repeats in if I had the time. By 1:30am, they're all a walk-on. You could probably do 3-4 runs of the same maze over and over in that timeframe, or 2-3 mazes in a strategized circuit (for example, the exit popping you out in front of the entrance of another maze -- which in this case would be Jason to Scarecrow, Scarecrow to FNAF). I know Jason and Scarecrow are pushing your threshold, but if you get brave throughout the night and want to try them, that would be a good time without sinking too much time dedicated to them.

I’m going Friday with a general pass, I’ll brave it out and take your advice and see how many houses I can get done after 12:30 pm with no express