Within mere minutes of the gate opening on the first night of Halloween Horror Nights 2018 at Universal Studios Florida, waiting times to enter the haunted mazes grew to more than two hours.
When you factor in the time it takes to walk through a maze, the time spent walking between the mazes through the "scare zones" and a food or bathroom break or two, that means there's a good chance visitors who arrive at the 7 p.m. opening will only be able to make their way through two or three of the park's 10 mazes before the place shuts down at 1 a.m. Not a whole lot of thrills and chills for the price of admission, which starts at $62.99 for weeknight visits.
There are, however, a few ways to avoid those crazy-long lines. Guests can add the $79.99 Express pass to their admission price, which offers a single skip-the-line opportunity at each house. However, this increasingly popular upgrade still nets you about a 10- to 15-minute wait at each maze.
Another option, with even more perks, is available, as well: the guided R.I.P. Tour, which I was thrilled and chilled to be able to experience on the first night of Halloween Horror Nights this year.
The R.I.P. tour, which starts at $159 per person (in addition to the admission price), offers two options for seeing the most scares, either a private tour or the option to join a tour with other guests. For either option, the group is capped at 12 guests. Private tours enable guides to personalize the tour for the guests' preferences, while joining up with other guests for the tour means the itinerary is set by Universal's schedulers who make sure there aren't too many R.I.P. tours at any one house at the same time.
We met up with our tour guide, Ron, who led us around the theme park to all 10 houses and five Scare Zones in about five hours, with time in between for a nice 30-minute break to cool off, catch our breath and refuel with snacks. Each house had a specific entrance at the beginning of the maze for R.I.P. tour groups, so we walked right in to each maze without waiting even a second.
Before entering each Scare Zone or maze, Ron gathered us around to set the scene for the scares we were about to experience. He described the atmosphere of the maze or Scare Zone and also offered some cool insight into how the area was produced by the Universal Creative team of set designers, prop masters, makeup and hair artists, including some Easter eggs to look out for.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is the theme of one of the five Scare Zones at this year's event. Photo Credit: Cliff Alejos
For example, every prop and piece of furniture in the headliner Stranger Things maze was from 1983 or prior. As I walked through the house, I took greater care to appreciate the set design than I might have if I hadn't been offered that piece of information. We walked into the maze themed for the film "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers," where the opening set was from the sanitarium where Michael Myers escapes at the beginning of the film. The journalist in line in front of me bent down to check the date on the National Geographic magazine in the "waiting room" of the sanitarium. The magazine was from 1988 -- the year the movie was released. Universal's creatives leave out no details.
I particularly liked that, before we headed into a maze based on a film, Ron offered a synopsis of the plot for those who hadn't seen it, assuring there would be context for the experience. It had been about 15 years since I'd seen the film "Poltergeist," for instance, so Ron's Cliff's Notes version before entering the movie-themed maze was just what I needed to recall my favorite scenes as I walked through the opening scene in the muddy, excavated swimming pool, where the gravestones were discovered underneath the Freelings' California split-level.
As part of the R.I.P. Tour, our group was also privy to reserved front-row seats for the Academy of Villains: Cyberpunk show. The high-energy, plot-driven dance show combined the futuristic feel of "The Matrix" with the acrobatics of Cirque du Soleil. We were riveted to the performers' every move and were more than happy to participate when they asked us to join the rest of the amphitheater in performing the wave or showing off our best "robot" dance moves.
R.I.P. Tour guests receive valet parking for one vehicle plus a welcome reception inside the park before meeting up with their tour guide. They also get exclusive access to cash bars throughout the park and Universal Express passes to the regular theme park rides that are open during Halloween Horror Nights. This year, those rides include Transformers: The Ride 3D, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Revenge of the Mummy, Men in Black Alien Attack and the new Fast & Furious: Supercharged ride that opened in May.
The R.I.P. Tours are commissionable to travel agents and can be booked at https://iun.www.vaxvacationaccess.com/iun/promotions/halloween-horror-nights-vacation-package/.