Yes, there are two types of RIP tours. One is private that one person buys and covers up to 10 people. The other is public, that you can buy yourself, to join. Not sure the number in a public tour, but is not a large number of people. And yes, you must enter HHN with a valid ticket before joining your tour inside the park.
Pricey night, having to pay for a ticket and a tour price. But with either type of tour, you get front of line, and will see all the houses and do some rides. And depending on the night, the houses can have some very long lines. So being in a tour will get you to bypass those long lines.
And yes, sometimes someone who bought a private RIP, will offer others or another to join their group. The ones I have joined, I have always prepaid my share of the tour price. The person who bought those tours, always kindly divided total, that was paid when booking tour, by the number of people and asked for payment of that divided amount from each person. And also, the private tour does have a discount for being an AP buyer.
All info about tickets, express passes, and tours, should be available when they finally publish the HHN pricing. And hoping that will be soon. Though I think I remember buying my ticket last year in July. Sigh. Lots of us are ready to buy already.
