Disney's Happiest Haunts Tour

[Mouse Fanatic]

. Has anyone done the Happiest Haunts Tour? I have read some not so good reviews about it and I would like more opinions on the tour. It will be my first trip out to Disneyland and I don't want to waste 3 to 4 hours on a tour that is not fun.

 

[scrappymel]

I'm interested in responses too. Thanks for asking.

 

[Mouse Fanatic]

I have read some so-so reviews about it some say it's the really fun and others say it is a waste of time and money. I would like to get some more opinions. Any thoughts would be helpful

 

[alvernon90]

Here is what I wrote about the tour when I took it in 2012:

Happiest Haunts Tour a definite bust. I should have listened to the other reviews -- this tour is pretty lame. It's only real value was as a fastpass during the insanely crowded weekend (more on that later), but it was hardly worth that. We had to keep listening to two guys engage in acting reminiscent of a 1970's porno film, and the story itself made almost no sense whatsoever. It was disorganized, and we also had some bad luck with a couple of the rides. I would say the tour is not suitable for kids, because there were no kids except my daughter. Some of the adults did not even go on all the rides, which made the whole thing seem extra pointless to me. But we were backstage at DCA to take a back door onto Tower of Terror, which was mildly interesting.

I remember it was very weird that no kids were on the tour, because it seemed like something only a kid could possibly like. When my daughter and exited from our ride on the Matterhorn, we saw that the tour guides had taken off without us. We were almost relieved that we didn't have to finish the tour, but somebody came back for us. We only stuck with it for the Tower of Terror ride. I cannot recommend enough that you avoid this tour.

 

[sand2270]

My daughter and I also did the tour in 2012 and had a much different experience. Our tour guides were great. I don't want to give the storyline away but one of the guides was hysterical. My daughter and I wouldn't go on Tower of Terror so we were waiting with him while everyone else rode. He stayed in character and my favorite picture of that trip is him and my daughter interacting while we were waiting. We did 4 rides, I think we were supposed to do BTR but for some reason we skipped it. Our group was a mix of adults and kids, after everyone warmed up to each other that made it more fun. The treats and pin are nice. The little storyline was a little silly but we just went with it, the kids were very into it so was cute to see their enthusiasm.

 

[Mouse Fanatic]

Sounds like the guide makes or breaks the tour.

 

[DBL101]

We've gone the last two years and I see no reason we won't go again this year. The theme was different each year, and even though a bit silly made for a fun time. Front of the line for a few attractions, the snack, pin, and just something a little bit different makes it a fun event for our family. We've done the Christmas tour the last two years also.

 

[StarGirl11]

I did it back on September 29 of last year with a friend and her Mom. Funnily enough for two very long time AP holders they had never been on a Disneyland tour (plenty of WDW tours) but anyways.

Our tour guides were fantastic. I know one of them was named Gracey but I can't remember the other names unfortunately and he was great. And that's including my friend who ended up staying off of everything by Haunted Mansion (she thought about going on Tower of Terror but passed). She was just a few weeks post op from a knee surgery so couldn't get into the Matterhorn and Space Mountain vehicles. The tour guide we started out with initially actually spent the entire time our group was on Space Mountain (her Mom went with me on that ride) chatting with her. And actually made sure to accommodate for the wheelchair she was using the entire time during the tour going down the sloped parts of the sidewalk. Heck he waited with us and didn't get on Haunted Mansion until after we loaded a good 5-10 minutes after the rest of the group and rode back up the elevator with us if memory serves me correct. (I'll explain why we had to wait in a second)

Gracey we had fairly little interaction outside of her roles with she was in character most of the time. Which is to be expected. But she played her role well so I have no complaints.

We seemed to have more adults in our group I think then kids if memory serves me correct. Snack was pretty good (chocolate covered marshmallow, yeah I remember that over the tour guides name go figure ) . If you have allergies or anything you just either mention it at booking or again when checking in if memory serves me correct (no one in our group did but they asked).