Universal Orlando is celebrating 25 years of Halloween Horror Nights with the biggest, loudest, and most terrifying event to date. There is also another anniversary, but you won’t know about it unless you go behind the scenes. Luckily for you, you can do that very thing with the Unmasking the Horror Tours. They are an exclusive, all access, VIP RIP tour that brings guests behind the scenes of all the carnage and terror at Halloween Horror Nights, and takes you inside the houses during the day, with the lights on to learn about the stories and secrets of the horror behind the houses.
The Unmasking the Horror Tours are a separate ticket event, that are offered only on Halloween Horror Nights event days. Is that confusing? Essentially you can only take the tours when Halloween Horror Nights is happening later that night. The tours start at $65 dollars for the morning tour, and $65 dollars for the afternoon tour, or you can take the combination tour for $109 dollars. The tours last roughly about 3 hours each. The combination tour not only saves you a little money, but also a little time, and depending on the tour group size, the tours can take about 4-5 hours. The morning tour begins at 10:30 a.m. with the afternoon tour starting at 2 p.m. Guests booking the tour not only get to see behind the scenes, but you also get a commemorative lanyard. This year it’s the same lanyard that is being sold in the park, which makes for a great collectors item.
This year’s tour includes Freddy vs. Jason, Body Collectors: Collections of the Past, Run: Blood Sweat and Fears, The Walking Dead, Asylum in Wonderland in 3D and Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters, Maniacs and Mayhem. If you take the combination tour, you get all three houses, if you take just either the morning or afternoon tours separately, you’ll get two of the six, plus Jack’s house. The people taking the tours really seem to be HHN fans, so you’ll almost always end (or begin) with the signature house this year.
There are a total of nine houses this year at Halloween Horror Nights, which makes it really hard for fans to pick which three houses they do not want to see. This year’s houses that are not included on the tour are Insidious, An American Werewolf in London and The Purge. However, because we took both tours (morning and afternoon) we had the extra special privilege of photographing the Insidious facade, as well as one of the wolves from An American Werewolf in London. In fact, it’s those little extras that make the tours completely worth it. We had the chance to take pictures inside of HHN house with the lights on, pose with our favorite movie maniac, and check out all kinds of hidden Easter Eggs that you normally don’t get to see as a regular guest.
On opening weekend we took the combination tour, which marks our fourth year doing it. Our tour guide for all three years has been David, who does an amazing job. In fact, we ask for him personally. After four years, David knows the kind of stuff that we love to hear, and pays extra attention to all the details. David keeps the tours rolling, but gives you plenty of time for pictures, and questions that you may have about the houses. In fact, all of the tour guides do. It’s pretty much a labor of love, as the majority of the guides who are doing it now, have done it for all ten years of the tour’s run. The tours do go in depth, and are very bloody, showcasing tons of gore from behind the scenes, while it is recommended for HHN Fans, and Horror lovers everywhere, it is not recommended for those 12 and under. It’s definitely a great way to cap off your HHN Experience.
The remaining tour dates are Oct 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31 and
Nov. 1, and they can run anywhere between two hours, and 6 hours, depending on the tour you choose. The tours do sell out, so advanced reservations are required. You can get more information about the tours by visiting the official RIP Tours website (click here) or by calling 1-866-604-7556.
Stay tuned, as we will be breaking down the tours, house by house and will take you inside each of the six Halloween Horror Nights Houses offered on the Unmasking the Horror Tours this year!
Stay tuned for more from HHN 25, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
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