Halloween Horror Nights R.I.P. Tour: Is It Worth It?

Halloween has always been my favorite time of year! There’s nothing I love more than haunted houses, horror movies and that adrenaline rush you get when you get scared! It was no surprise that when I found out that Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights had ten haunted houses, five scare zones and an awesome dance show, I had to go! 

After seeing countless people saying how long the lines were and that they didn’t get to experience all the houses, we decided it would be best to purchase the R.I.P. Tour package. This package states that it includes a guided walking tour of haunted houses (but not how many) with front of the line access, a separate line to get into the park, valet parking, a pre-tour reception at Cafe La Bamba, access to exclusive cash bars throughout the park and unlimited express passes for certain rides that were open and a few other little things. All of this totaled a whopping $279.00 plus tax per person! Now I am here to discuss my experience, how I rate the houses and whether it was worth it or not. Bare with me as there is a lot of information!

Arrival

My husband generously bought these tickets as a birthday present to me. I was so appreciative of it as he knows how much I love this kind of stuff and he is the absolute opposite! He is a trooper for sticking it out!

We first started off the night by getting valet parking and honestly, I loved it! It was so nice parking that close. Parking at Universal can be so far! It always feels like it takes thirty minutes just to enter the park, but this time, we got the V.I.P. treatment! It was very nice!

As we got to the entrance of the park, we saw a huge crowd of people. We looked to the right and saw an employee holding a sign that said R.I.P. Tours. We were so happy that it was so smooth and easy to get in and we didn’t have to deal with the large crowds (we did later though).

We got our lanyards and were told that we were only going to get front of the line access to five houses. That was very disappointing to hear since it wasn’t specific in the details section on the website. Oh well, at least we did get to see some of them.

Our tour ended up starting thirty minutes late because some of the people in our group didn’t show up. There ended up not being a tour reception at Cafe La Bamba. This was extra sad for me because I was so hungry! Make sure you eat before taking this tour! 

Haunted Houses

Finally, the fun part! It was really cool to bypass everyone in line and go straight to the front, even in front of the Express Pass line! We started off the night going to the Stranger Things house. As a die hard fan of Stranger Things, this one blew my mind! It had so many details from all three seasons and the actors were on point with their looks!

They did so good with the fear factor in it, I jumped quite a few times! The art department outdid themselves with this house. The details in the Demogorgon and Mind Flayer were so good that it felt real! If you are only going to see one house, this is it! I give it a 10/10!

Next, we got to go into Jordan Peele’s Us house. Let me start off by saying that I have not seen this movie and I only saw part of Get Out so I wasn’t sure what I was going into. Our tour guide explained the plot to us before going in and it sounded so creepy but I got the gist of it. Basically, it involves people who live underground and study people to take over their identity and then kill them, it sounds pretty brutal and twisted!

Wow, this was a scary house! Not seeing the movie had me on edge a little more than the previous house! At least with Stranger Things, I knew what to expect but with Us, it was a crazy experience. That movie must be very twisted, I don’t want to give away too many spoilers but the last room gave me goosebumps! I actually ended up running out! I give this house a 10/10 as well because I love when something scares me that much!

The third house we got to go into was Yeti Terror of the Yukon. Now this one was really good and super scary too! It gives off the vibe that you are trekking through the Yukon and Yeti’s are chasing after you! The costumes were great and the setting was actually really beautiful. It felt like we were actually in the Yukon because it was so cold and there’s fake snow! I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this one because honestly, I was imagining Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom the whole time which I am not a huge fan of (don’t kill me Everest fans! It makes me too dizzy!), but it was far from it!

I loved the gore involved, some of the scenes made my stomach turn and the scares were so good, it really got my adrenaline pumping! I give this one an 8/10 only because it felt a little short and I had a hard time walking with the fake snow which is actually soap and I slipped a few times.

Here is where we took a break and got to utilize our R.I.P. passes at one of the exclusive bars! I had a delicious specialty drink called The Saturn and it was so good! It was made with Hayman London’s Dry Gin, Velvet Falernum Liqueur, a passion fruit puree and a sour mix. I have actually never had gin or the liqueur that was used so it was very unique and refreshing to my taste buds! If you get the chance to try this drink, take advantage! Also, the bartender was a really cool guy and let me sample the drinks!

Back to the houses…

The fourth house we went into was Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Clowns are my favorite scary thing! I really love how much people are afraid of them and use this as my advantage (I know, I’m mean!). I really wanted to like this house but unfortunately, it fell short for me. It was more of a fun, creepy carnival but maybe it wasn’t thrilling to me because clowns don’t freak me out.

Whatever the reason, there were some fun elements. There are buttons throughout the house that you can push, and let’s just say, I left being soaked! They don’t tell you that you can push them, luckily, our tour guide filled us in on it, so make sure you push them! The bright, colorful design and the buttons made me give this house a 5/10 making it my least favorite of the night. Sorry Killer Klown fans!

The last house we got to visit was the House of 1000 Corpses. When I say I’m a huge Rob Zombie fan, it’s an understatement! I am obsessed with his work! House of 1000 Corpses is my favorite scary movie which continues with The Devils Rejects and the recent 3 From Hell movies (R.I.P. Sig Haig).

This house follows the Firefly family through their chaotic and demented home and is filled with some pretty gory scenes! This was so nostalgic for me since I am such a huge fan and they did so well making it come to life! I actually wore my House of 1000 Corpses shirt that I had made a couple years ago to meet Bill Moseley who plays Otis Driftwood! It was a really great experience! Of course, I give this house a 10/10 because it means so much to me and it was so well done!

I really wish we got go see the other five houses but the lines were at two hour waits and there was so much more to see and do so we chose to skip them. The houses we missed were Universal Monsters, Ghostbusters, Depths of Fear, Graveyard games and Nightingales Bloodpit. 

Show

Although we didn’t get to see all the houses, we still had an amazing time! We got to see the Academy of Villians show called Altered States. This is a must-do so definitely plan this into your night! These dancers are so talented and dance to some of best music!

The production is about a scientist who likes to poison people into doing weird performances for him. This show was like no other I have ever seen! It included aerialists, contortionists and a guy who was really good at moving a ball around his body! Sounds weird but it’s absolutely amazing! The amount of talent these people have!

Aside from the talent, the costumes, the makeup and the entire stage was well thought out, there’s even fire! This show has so much going on that it would take several viewings to really see everything. If I could I would watch it that many times! Yes, it was that good so don’t miss it!

Scare Zones

Other than houses and a dance show, there are five scare zones. Scare zones are areas of the park that are dedicated strictly to a certain theme and, of course, scaring you! There were also areas where people will chase you with chainsaws which was pretty intense!

The first scare zone was called Vanity Ball and this was so twisted! The description for this area is, “Your flesh is the canvas in Hollywood. And these bladewielding artists can’t wait to take a scalpel to you.” It is as messed up as it sounds with people walking around covered in blood and botched surgeries! There are even “surgeons” operating on their victims right there and, of course, trying to recruit new ones! Some of the actors are so disturbing to look at because the makeup is so well done. 

The next scare zone we went through was Vikings Undead. This area was small but very well done! There were huge vikings in amazing costumes walking on stilts that have risen from the dead and are out to get you. It was so dark and eerie! There was even a Blood Eagle scene. Look it up if you don’t know what it is, but be warned, it’s pretty brutal! If you watch the show Vikings, you will know! 

Next was the Rob Zombie area called Hellbilly Deluxe which is also the name of one of my favorite albums of his! This area was my favorite because, as stated above, I love Rob Zombie!

This area had some of my favorite characters and props from his music videos from living dead girl to Dragula which was so cool! I got a lot of pictures here because my metal, rocker girl side came out! 

We then ventured off to Zombieland! This was the biggest scarezone and so much fun! I love this movie so it was really neat to see it come to life. The zombies were so realistic and the props on the street were very well placed, it really set the mood! They even had a Zombie Kill of the Week area!

If you have not seen this movie, you must as the second one is coming out soon! If you have seen it, then make sure you go see the second one! 

The last scare zone was Anarch-cade. This one was my least favorite as it didn’t offer much and I felt like I was at a rave. There were lasers flashing everywhere and giant video games throughout. It was pretty but extremely underwhelming to me. 

Is The R.I.P Tour Worth It?

We did get to do a lot overall, but a lot of it we did without the tour. The point of all of this was to share with you if I felt it was worth the money for the R.I.P. Tour and the answer is no! Considering that it didn’t include all the houses, there ended up being no pre-tour reception and no express passes for the rest of the houses, I did not feel it warranted a $279.00 (it’s even more expensive the closer it gets to Halloween) per person charge.

The details section and fine print was very misleading. I also forgot to mention that it doesn’t even include entry into Halloween Horror Nights so we had to pay an addition $80.00+ each for those tickets. It would be smarter and cheaper to have just bought an Express Pass and waited the average of 30-45 minutes in each line. It did not feel worth the price to just get valet parking and walk up access to five houses. 

Bottom line, we had a lot of fun and that’s what matters the most! This was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had and I am so thankful for this experience but you can have the same amount of fun for a lot less money! 

*Originally posted on www.wintergardenmoms.com