Advice needed: Knott's Scary Farm or HHN Hollywood?

[coasterbill]

We have flights booked for a California trip this September and I need a little advice. We're flying in on a Friday night (late) and leaving on a Tuesday night. This is the last week in September so I do expect that all haunt events will be running.

Initially I got over-excited with my planning and figured that we would do Knott's Scary Farm one night and HHN the other night with Disney on Monday. After looking at that again though, I apparently forgot that I'm not Superman and wouldn't really want to get into a hotel at 3 AM and then go to Disney that same day, a park where you have to be up stupid-early to get Lightning Lanes.

I've now mostly settled on a far more reasonable plan but it means picking one haunt event or the other:

• Saturday: Disney. We'll rope drop because 8am will still feel like 11am to us since it's day-one.
• Sunday: Dodgers game (We've never been there and it's a day game) and a Haunt event that night. This also means we can sleep in a little after a Disneyland midnight close.
• Monday: No clue, but we're sleeping in.
• Tuesday: No clue, but sort of irrelevant. Fly home that night.

The question is, do we go to HHN or Knott's Scary Farm? A little background with some pros and cons that I have in my head already:

HHN
Pros:

• I've never been to this park and HHN might actually be the cheapest way to go. We're Universal Orlando passholders so I basically only care about a few rides and Mummy and Jurrasic World are open for the event. Aside from that I would happily just do houses.

Cons:

• It's a dry event
• If we didn't do HHN and went another day we could ride Secret Life of Pets (I believe this is closed for HHN, right?). I don't know how good it is but at-least it's something different from what we have in Orlando.

Knott's Scary Farm

Pros:

• Haunted Timber Mountain Log Ride. I've still never been on this ride despite going to this park twice.
• Not a dry event.

Cons:

• We already have passes, so not only would this cause us to buy a more expensive ticket to Universal to go as day guests one day but it would also cause us to buy tickets to a park that we already have passes to. I don't mind spending the money since we're already spending a lot anyway and we don't get out there very often but if one event is not significantly better than another then I guess I should probably at-least factor this into the equation.

Also: We know about Oogie Boogie Bash. It honestly looks great, but doesn't work with our plans. If they shock the world and announce that it's running on Monday night then I'm 100% in but I'm sure that won't happen. We also know about Six Flags Fright Fest and... no.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[KBrylczyk]

HHN Hollywood is not worth the money they charge.  They like to think they're Orlando but they're not.  If you're lucky you'll get one soundstage haunt, the rest are in existing queues or tents.  The budget is simply not there, either.  Endless empty black hallways with occasional lightweight sets and the only scares are sudden loud noises, possibly accompanied with an actor or dummy and flashing lights.

Scary Farm is the clear winner between these two options.  You'll have much more fun at Knott's and they have almost every ride open for the event.  HHN has maybe four rides operational if you're lucky.

[jarmor]

HOnestly, you can do both.  They both offer early entry options that can help maximize your eperience.  I have never stayed past midnight at either as I had did everything by then.  HHN offers early entry to the lower lot at around 4-5ish.  That way you can make your way down to the lower lot (or sneak into hogsmead lol) they usually open a maze or two early down there.  Knock out those maze and by that time, most would have made it to the lower lot and the upper lot is more accessible and less wait times.  Knotts offers the dinner with the early entry.  you get to be in the park before KSF opens and take advantage of the houses past ghostrider then head to the back by xcelerator, knock out dark ride and the one behind xcelerator and finish the rest.  I would do KSF that sat and HHN that sun. but if you had to chose one, I would go to HHN because knotts recycles mazes for forever before changing out so you wouldn't miss it if you go the next year.

 

oh and your platinum pass doesn't work for KSF so you'd have to eventually buy passes for each event.

[SharkTums]

^I agree, do both and just don't stay super late!

[Nrthwnd]

^^ That definitely sounds like "the right idea," in tackling both parks.

Hope you have/find fun and enjoyment, too!

[tndank]

The Boofet with early access to Ghostrider was excellent.  I did Scary Farm in 2019 and HHN (Orlando) last year.  Wife and I both enjoyed Scary Farm better.  The puppet show is excellent and not something I thought I'd enjoy.  The Hanging, if it returns, was pretty cool even if I didn't know half the jokes.

I'm hoping to make the last day of Scary Farm this year and then spend the next day or two at Knotts and MM.  In 2019, the were absolutely dead both days. Sat on Xcelerator for 7 or 8 laps without leaving the station.

 

[Arthur_Seaton]

They're both very good, and a SoCal Halloween for us generally includes both. That said, the Knotts event has more character and charm. Universal appears more professional and high-budget, but you quickly see how the mazes are just variants of one another. Knotts is much more creative overall. Crowds can be brutal at both, so do what do have to do to either avoid them or get FOL passes.

[Canobie Coaster]

Of the two last year, I much preferred Scary Farm.  For HHN, not all the rides are open and many that are open close early. 

[coasterbill]

Thanks everyone!

Since we'll be at a Dodger game and LA traffic exists, getting to the event early on Sunday is most likely not-happening but I am willing to shell out the cash for the skip-the-line pass.

One more thing that I somehow forgot to mention is that we'll probably be in Orlando like a month later and we're definitely going to HHN. I assume that the events are different enough that it's worth doing it on both coasts, but am I wrong and it's basically just the same thing? In that case it sort of makes my mind up for me.

[jarmor]

Whenver I go to HHN hollywood, I always take the red line and get there in no time.  Not sure where the game is but I have learned that public transportation really moves you faster than private.  As far as the HHN on each coast they are TOTALLY different.  Hollywood is more in your face, black walls a plenty lol while orlando is more thematic and have movie set quality houses.  Ironically, you'd get the best alcohol experience at orlando vs hollywood.

[pianojohn]

I'd say definitely do Scary Farm and skip Disneyland. We went last year and had the BEST time at Knotts. Disneyland felt like a chore with early admission, rushing to grab passes, and then just feeling stressed all day trying to fit everything in. 
I have not been to HHN in Hollywood, but the park itself is very nice. Seems more laid back than Orlando.

Just my opinion!

[ryder]

The Orlando and Hollywood HHN are very different.  Even when they share properties, each coast does their own version of it, and they'll have very little in common.

In a nutshell, Orlando has much, much better sets.  I'm sure you're aware of the joke that HHN is a lot of black walls, and there's truth to that (though it is improving).  But the trade off is I feel the Hollywood scareactors are on point and are the best in the biz.  Very consistent, aggressive, and very in your face.  I've found the Orlando scareactos can be hit and miss.

That's also a flaw of Knott's... they also have some great, and very original and unique themes and set design... but aside from the Ghosttown scareactors, the maze scareactors are really, really inconsistent.  There's been many times I've walked through a Knott's maze and see a scareactor every 20 feet... and then, doing the same maze 30 minutes later, have only 1-2 scareactors for the entire maze.  (It tends to happens more towards the end of the evening.)

If you go to Knott's, I definitely recommend a FOL... the lines are well managed, and you can often get to every maze more than once, which is something you'll want to do, because you'll get a very different experience even in the same maze.  Boofet would be a good idea, because food lines during the event are nightmare (and not the good kind for a haunt).

Oh, and you mentioned going on a Haunted Log ride... lately, they haven't been making it haunted.  It'll be open, but aside from a few minor Halloween decorations, that'll be it.  No scareactors.  To be honest, even when they did, it was fairly underwhelming, so you're not really missing that much.

[boldikus]

I've never been to either park so I have no dog in this fight but I picked flumes and booze because duh. I also want to go to Knotts more than any other park in Cali.

[Nrthwnd]

For myself, the ease and more 'casual' atmosphere of Knott's made it all the more likeable, compared to the intense Get Ready attitude for The Disney park(s) visit, we felt. That's not to say that stuff wasn't going on at Knott's while we were there (a Sept. visit), lots of atmosphere 'players' in the Ghost Town, and pretty much everything was running great with the staff they had, then. My only mistake was wanting to sit in one of the front row seats of Xccelerator (sp?). That took for ---- e ----- ver. Especially with the numbers of other riders passing our oh-so-slow queue. Wasn't worth it. I enjoyed other seats, as well.

P.S. to add: Also, this was a great hotel to stay at (Knott's own), more reasonably priced as far as we were concerned. And it included a shuttle to Disney, if we wanted to use it. Which ... we did. <g>

[CedarFlags]

I've always been more partial to Knott's because HHN is entirely dependent on if I happen to care about the movies they picked that year (and i usually don't).  Also I get very tired of the HHN formula (open door, push button, loud noise, close door, repeat), Knott's feels more immersive and creative to me.  The crowds at HHN used be way worse but Knott's was jam packed last year too, so it might be a toss up now... though Sunday early in the season shouldn't be too bad.

If you want to do HHN but also go on some rides, you should check out the Day/Night combo ticket.  It lets you into the park starting at 2:00, so you can catch some rides and a Water World show and then already be inside the park once the mazes open.

Also, if you're looking for a haunted attraction in the LA area that's not an all night commitment, check out Reign of Terror.  It's a bit of a drive (Thousand Oaks) but I cannot recommend it highly enough.  It's a stand alone independent haunt that is EVERY BIT as good as the mazes at the theme parks.

 

[coasterbill]

Thanks everyone!

Quick update to this... Delta changed our flight by 2 hours, giving me the opportunity to switch the days for free so now we're there Friday through Monday instead of Saturday through Tuesday.

We now have two nights for Halloween events but now Oogie Boogie Bash is a possibility with the new days so HHN got cut anyway. We're doing Scary Farm one night and Oogie Boogie Bash another night. I'm pretty thrilled with this new plan.

[jarmor]

And with those parks being so close, traffic should not be an issue.

[anonymouscactus]

I know it doesn't matter anymore, but i definitely vote Scary Farm over HHN Hollywood. In September you'll have a great time. It's more unique and if you're not seeing repeat houses since you've never been, it'll be a good time for sure.

Glad you now get to experience Disney too! Still never been to Oogie Boogie, let alone Disneyland or California Adventure. Was hoping to go this year but it's just not going to work out. ..... I don't think....