Any Knott's Haunt and HHN USH advice?

[shepp]

So does anyone who's been to this year's Knott's Haunt and/or USH HHN have any words of wisdom to share? Things not to miss, to skip, itineraries for most efficient use of time (w/o FOL passes)? I'll be heading down there later this week, and figured I'd ask. Thanks!

[the ghost]

^ I went on opening day to HHN, so this may be different, but heres some advice. Also we did every maze, attraction besides NOES and the mummy as there was a lack of time.

 

1. Head to house of 1000 corpses first. Its towards the back, but it had a 70 minute line all night. It is also IMO the best maze there.

 

2. Friday the 13th is not too far and also pretty awesome, second favorite maze of the night.

 

3. Try to hit the lower lot as early as possible, but try hitting the first two first. The crowds take a while to get to the lower lot from experience, and for some reason the saw line moved very slowly.

 

4. Skip the rides, they do nothing for halloween except Jurassic Park, and thats only some strobe effects in the t rex room.

 

5. See the final show of Bill and Ted. I believe it stays open after the park, because if I remember right the park closed at one, but the show started at 1:15. It was weird and we were all kind of confused by that, but if thats still the case(showtimes will be on the wait times list) then use the rest of the night for houses.

 

6. The line for the terror tram seemed to move very fast considering the que was partially full, but we were on in about 10 minutes.

 

7. Get there early. We knocked out a house, the simpsons ride, and we were on the terror tram within an hour of arrival.

 

Expect long lines, but it is an awesome event and is the scariest haunt Ive ever been to, and Ive done Knotts for years. It is very cool, detailed and you really do feel like your in a movie, which is incredible. Have an awesome and terrifying time!

[What Now]

Goldstar has some pretty good discounts for Haunt (and SFMM if your planning on going).

[thrillgeek]

As far as HHN goes get the Front of the line passes. They are well worth it!! Also a very underrated maze but I thought was the best by far was the Vampyre: Castle of the Undead. It not only was really scary but very long as well. I didn't even think about how long it was while walking through however because I was worried about what was going to pop around the corner next!

[shepp]

Goldstar has some pretty good discounts for Haunt (and SFMM if your planning on going).

 

Thanks, but it turns out that the Goldstar dates aren't for my planned visit, and Goldstar's per ticket service charge is a killer: you're really better off ordering directly through the Knott's site, especially with an additional buck per ticket off for Joe Cool. (And I got an additional 5% back through Discover Card last month.) And I already have a SFDK season pass, so that's taken care of...though I'm bummed about Deja Vu being down.

[Sir Clinksalot]

For Knott's, I would suggest you get the pre-scare dinner. Not only does it take care of dinner so you don't have to worry about it later in the night, but you get into Haunt 30 minutes earlier than the General Public.

 

Once you are in head straight for the Log Ride and Mine Train.

 

After those I would hit the two new mazes Virus Z and Fallout Shelter, then head for the 8:30 showing of The Hanging.

 

After the Hanging I would hit the rest of the mazes in this order:

 

Bobo's, Dia De Las Muertos, Doll Factory. Terror of London, Lockdown/Club Blood, Slaughterhouse, Labyrinth, Cornstalkers. If you want to hit VIrus Z and Fallout Shelter again it will be easy when you exit Cornstalkers.

 

Don't worry about any rides. When we were there last week Ghostrider had a 2 hour wait, which is insane IMO.

[robbalvey]

For Knott's, I would suggest you get the pre-scare dinner. Not only does it take care of dinner so you don't have to worry about it later in the night, but you get into Haunt 30 minutes earlier than the General Public.

QFT

[downunder]

To add, I did the pre-scare dinner last thursday, and even before they dropped the rope for buffet people Ghostrider was available to ride as soon as you left the buffet.

 

For HHN I can't agree enough about getting Front of Line, but also buying you tickets in advance (Club TPR has great discounts) because it sold out Fri-Sun last week (I presume during the night). I was there Fri/Sat and Front of Line was my best friend. Also get to HHN early, like 5.30pm so you don't have to line up for your FOL credentials and also the opening ceremony is pretty cool, it's well worth being at the front to catch it.

[socalMAN123]

Definitely do Pre-Scare at Knott's, that has always been the best experience for my personal visits during Haunt. The extra 30 minutes gets you through the two most crowded attractions before the park even opens to the public. Also, if you have extra time, I hate to whore myself out, but you should come visit the haunted attraction that I work at, The Empty Grave. We're across the street from Disneyland!

---Brent

[jray21]

Another vote for Pre-Scare dinner. Awesome food, and early access! I did Club TPR for the Front of the Line Pass, and will never do HHN without it. I saved a pretty good amount through Club TPR, and It was absolutely worth it. You should automatically just include the front of the line price into your plans. The lines for a few of the mazes were 90, 80, and 65 minutes, and with the pass we walked right in with absolutely no wait. We also had the best seating at all of the shows. Also, look at the pricing online for the best days to visit each park. If Sundays are cheaper than Saturdays, then go on those days.

[shepp]

Well, bought the Boo-fet tickets this morning. Thanks for the encouragement! I've already bought the HHN tickets, and not sure if/how I can upgrade to front-of-line. So for now I plan on getting there hellishly early and keeping my fingers crossed.

Edited October 7, 2010 by shepp

[Sir Clinksalot]

^ If you haven't done the Front of the Line, you can get them the day of (if they aren't sold out already). Get to Group Sales (to the left of the entrance, closest to Frankenstein parking) at or before 4:00pm and get in line to buy your FOTL. Any later than that and you most likely aren't going to be able to get one.

 

I'm not sure if you can get the FOTL pass online separately if you already purchased your ticket.

[shepp]

Hey. Just checking in following my trip.

 

Went to the Haunt on Thursday. The Knott's Boo-fet, despite being on the pricey side, was pretty much worth it. Food was mostly quite good, service friendly, and despite the 5:00 seating being let in 20 minutes late, we had time to gorge, ride Ghostrider, and get to a few mazes before the masses hit. Maybe because it was a Thursday night, but the park seemed relatively uncrowded. We had time to hit all the mazes, a few favorites a second time, and ride XCelerator and Supreme Scream.

 

HHN on Friday was a somewhat different story. We arrived at 5:30, headed for Rob Zombie - where we were among the first 10 people there - then over to Friday the 13th, another walk-on. As per advice, headed down the hill, hit the Saw maze twice with 5 minute waits. Things kinda bogged down then, as we decided to ride the Mummy (I'd forgotten just how inferior it is to the Orlando version) and saw Kong 3-D twice. By that time, waits in the Upper Lot had grown. Had we headed up right after Saw, things would have gone easier. Still, the worst we endured was a 40-minute wait for the tram and about the same for Nightmare, and were able to squeeze in Bill and Ted, a ride on the Simpsons, and still wander around the scare zones. So even without the front-of-line pass, and with our spending extra time in the Lower Lot, we did everything we wanted to do with waits that averaged maybe 10-15 minutes.

 

Thanks again for the advice.

[the ghost]

^ Thats amazing! I had been told it is impossible to do everything(rides, shows, etc) at HHN without a front of of the line pass! The only thing you skipped was Jurassic Park, but it is not nearly changed enough to be worth it. Wow,that is VERY impressive!

[robbalvey]

I've noticed that crowds for this year's Halloween events have not been as busy as previous years. I was SHOCKED at Knott's Haunt, on a weekend night, to find most mazes have zero waits during the peak hours of the evening (9pm - 11pm.)

[KGA29]

I've noticed that crowds for this year's Halloween events have not been as busy as previous years. I was SHOCKED at Knott's Haunt, on a weekend night, to find most mazes have zero waits during the peak hours of the evening (9pm - 11pm.)

 

This past Saturday was definitely different than your experience. All mazes had waits longer than 15-20 min, some longer (Virus Z, Doll Factory, Sleepy Hollow Mountain). Although they do move very quickly because they let a constant flow of people into the maze at one time; something different than CGA which separates groups. Maybe KSF separates on less crowded days, I don't know.

[The_Mad_Hatter]

Would you recommend this Friday or Saturday? (Which would be less crowded?)

[robbalvey]

I've noticed that crowds for this year's Halloween events have not been as busy as previous years. I was SHOCKED at Knott's Haunt, on a weekend night, to find most mazes have zero waits during the peak hours of the evening (9pm - 11pm.)

 

This past Saturday was definitely different than your experience. All mazes had waits longer than 15-20 min, some longer (Virus Z, Doll Factory, Sleepy Hollow Mountain). Although they do move very quickly because they let a constant flow of people into the maze at one time; something different than CGA which separates groups. Maybe KSF separates on less crowded days, I don't know.

Well, for one I'd expect Saturday to be the busiest days, but even on a Saturday I can remember a time at KSF where you'd never see a maze line UNDER 60-90 minutes on a Friday or Saturday night.

 

So 15-20 for a Saturday? That's nothing!

 

--Robb