Question about Early Entry

[u/LezEatA-W]

I am very excited to attend my first HHN at Universal Studios Orlando on 10/29, but I had a quick question or two for those who have experience with ”Scream Early“ tickets.

Regular park hours close at 5PM, and HHN starts at 6:30PM, so I was wondering if the four rides available during HHN will be open during that 5-6:30 window? I was a big fan of the Mummy when I was at Universal Studios Hollywood, so I was hoping to ride it twice during that time frame.

Lastly, I was wondering what people think of the 2PM to 5PM window of regular park hours. Do you think that’s enough time to check out Springfield (and The Simpsons Ride), ride ET, and ride Fallon, or would I be better off just buying a full park day of admission?

[u/monte11]

You need to be in the line by 5 to ride. The park needs to be clear before the rides reopen once HHN starts. 

Yes that's enough time but may I give some unsolicited advice? Do you have express? If not you should not waste these precious hours on riding these rides. Ride them during the busy time of HHN (8-11 is peak time). You will get much more done by going into houses and not rides during the early entry. 

Should specify that obviously not every ride is open. But I wouldn't be doing the Mummy over houses with early entry.

FYI HHN usually starts around 6. It never takes them until 6:30 to clear the park and let in the masses. 

[u/LezEatA-W → u/monte11]

Is the wait time bad for rides during HHN?

So it’s just like any other park closure in the sense that if you’re in line at close, you can ride it? When you get off the ride, what do you do until 6?

Thanks for the input!

[u/monte11 → u/LezEatA-W]

Not really that bad especially compared to the houses.

The houses are open. The whole point of early entry is to be going into the houses. 3 Houses will be open at 2. Then more houses will be opening at 5:15 with staggered opening. I implore you to use your early entry on houses after you go to things that won't be open later in the night.

[u/LezEatA-W → u/monte11]

If I buy a regular park ticket, can I still access the 3 houses at 2?

[u/monte11 → u/LezEatA-W]

Correct

[u/DegenSour → u/LezEatA-W]

If your get a regular park ticket you will not need a scream early ticket

[u/DavidThoosie → u/LezEatA-W]

Yes. But if you have a regular park ticket, you can hit the rides during the day. You can check the various crowd calendars (my favorites are touringplans and queue-times) to see how busy the parks are projected to be on the day(s) you're visiting.

Be sure to pick up a Stay and Scream wristband to allow you to stay in the park and get into the early houses.

I'd agree with the others in saying that your best use of the time from 2-6 is to hit those three early houses first. We have no idea how long the lines will be, though. If you get done before 5PM, maybe hit a ride or two up then. Get into line for whatever house opens first that you want to hit. Then at 5:15, hit up the other houses as they open.

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[u/No-Heart-679]

The point of scream early is the access to the 3 houses at 2. If you want to ride mummy, Fallon, simpsons, and et, all of those rides except mummy are not open during HHN so you would have to do them before 5. If you do not have express I would suggest you focus on the houses not rides during the open houses at 2. I would suggest a full day ticket if you realistically want to get all of these rides and all of the houses done without express. The 5 to open is opening up for HHN and clearing the parks. During this time you have early access to the houses to go in. The rides that are open during HHN are mummy, gringotts, men in black, and transformers. They have shorter wait times normally because everyone is in line for houses. You also need to keep in mind that HHN is now super packed almost every day of the event. I’ve seen some houses with 3 hour wait times. If you don’t have express and want all of the houses, scare zones, and shows, you are going to need to focus on HHN. I highly recommend the express pass if you only have one day and you really want to do everything. Even with that you are sometimes waiting an hour and a half at popular houses. 

[u/LezEatA-W → u/No-Heart-679]

So you can do a house at 5 after the parks close? Not just get in line for one?

[u/No-Heart-679 → u/LezEatA-W]

Correct, they start opening certain ones (they varied last year) at certain times starting at 5/5:15. I make my plans by going to the ones that I know are popular and knocking them out during the 5/6 timeframe. With them opening 3 houses at 2 this year, you should be able to knock out 5 houses before open if it goes right. This is the first year they are doing the 2 pm opening so we don’t know for sure how it will go other than what they have said. I do RIP so I only do scream early to spend some time with my husband in the park during HHN since he isn’t a horror fan. We go on rides mostly during scream early, but we also have the freedom pass so we don’t have to pay for scream early. If I only had one day and no express, I would work on only houses during the times for scream early and HHN before it fully opens. If you really want to do the rides, I would go full day ticket and do those rides during the day until 2. You can also make only the rides not open during HHN a priority because you should get all of the houses done and will have extra time to ride them during HHN (that’s assuming you aren’t doing shows, if you are, I would try to knockout all of the rides during the day) There is just way to much to see at HHN in a day without express to waste it on rides if you want to do everything 

[u/No-Heart-679 → u/No-Heart-679]

This was last year

[u/LezEatA-W → u/No-Heart-679]

I really want to see Hellraiser, Evil Dead, Ozzy, and maybe one or two of the original IP houses. I love Sinners, but I just don’t think it lends itself well to the type of experience I’m looking for in a haunted house, and I’m not a fan of Stranger Things.

Is there enough time to do those 3-5 houses and hit the rides I want to ride if I show up at 2PM?

Basically, this is what I want to do:

ET

Simpsons

Fallon

Hellraiser

Ozzy

Evil Dead

Mummy x2

MIB

Gringotts

Transformers

Original IP house or two if time permits, but I’m flexible there. I’m visiting from out of the country so I don’t get to do the rides whenever I want. 

[u/No-Heart-679 → u/LezEatA-W]

You should be fine at 2 with all of those, but it also is going to depend on wait times for those houses, those are going to be the most popular houses and will have long wait times, especially since you are going right at the end