Spooky Theme Parks in Florida
Photo Credits to Halloween Horror Nights
Halloween, you either love it or hate it. This is the time of the year where is can get spooky. Since this is Florida we are talking about, we are a tourist destination, so there are plenty of things to do during the season besides trick or treating. There are haunted houses, roller coasters, family-friendly thrills, and if you are into the spooky stuff, there are plenty of gory thrills. We have gone to four different theme parks or events this year in Florida: Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, Busch Garden’s Howl-O-Scream, Seaworld’s Howl-O-Scream, and Disney’s After Hours Boo Bash.
Photo Credits to Halloween Horror Nights
Photo Credits to Halloween Horror Nights
To start off with the busiest event among the four different parks we went to is Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, Florida. This year was the 30th anniversary, so the park had 10 haunted houses, 5 scare zones, live entertainment and more with the return of the one of the original icons Jack the clown. It is recommended that if you go to this event, you also invest in a fast pass so you can get through everything if you are not making this a couple day event because you are going to want to go through everything. Not only do you have the Halloween entertainment with the scare zones and haunted houses, but they also have a lot of their rides open for your enjoyment. Because this park is so busy, we recommend getting there around 6pm or possibly earlier and before you get there, you will want to get a bite to eat where it’s a little bit cheaper. When you get inside the park, here is what we recommend. Follow the circle and go in order of the circle, do not walk back and forth hitting different things, it wastes time and you won’t get through anything.
Favorite thing at Halloween Horror Nights: the FX between the costumes, makeup, and haunted houses is super realistic and when you go through a scare zone, you cannot really see so they are able to scare easier.
Quick Facts:
Halloween Horrors Nights (HHN) was created by Julie Zimmerman and John Paul Geurt and began as Fright Nights over in Hollywood, California and was brought to Florida in 1991 for three nights.
The original concept of this HHN was to have a huge Halloween party throughout the Universal Studios Florida theme park.
During 1991, performers in The Dungeon maze were able to add their own spin to frighten guests by adding slime.
Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Tours took place in the Bates Motel with a story around The Blues Brothers looking for a room with Norman Bates there to check them in.
In 1992, the event was renamed Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights instead of the previous Fright Nights.
During the second year each attraction that was open would have an additional layer of terror added to it such as the Alien Forest in E.T. Adventure.
In 1994, Horrorwood was the first scarezone that featured the Chainsaw Drill Team, the Lizzie Borden Band and Axe Corps. This new concept provided a safer way of organizing the crowds on theme park streets.
1994 also brought about the “scareactor.” Since HHN was becoming one of the most popular Halloween events in the country, Universal wanted to have a school to organize and teach the actors of the event.
HHN 5 also offered safe zones for guests who needed to take a break from the terrors of the evening.
Insanity premiered on Soundstage 22 in 1999 as the first house to start using the Shadybrook asylum reference complete with demented inmates running wildly.
2000 brought about the introduction of Jack the Clown who was officially created based on the results of various guest surveys from previous years.
For the first time in HHN history, the 2004 event would be in both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure complete with the largest scarezone created called Field of Screams.
2016 was the first time that Universal Orlando released the Unmasking the Horror Tour which took guests through a “lights on” walkthrough of selected house of the current HHN year.
Next up is Busch Garden’s Howl-O-Scream in Tampa, Florida. This amusement park might only have 5 haunted houses, but there are 8 different scare zones, 9 top thrill in the dark rides, and 2 fan-favorite shows. We recommend you getting there 30 minutes earlier than the official opening at 7pm, so you can hit some of the rides and houses while the lines are still short. You honestly will not need to get a fast pass in order to get through everything, but if you want to get through everything faster and not leave closer to closing, get the pass. Because there are so many scare zones you will find yourself always on edge and you will find yourself forgetting the “scare” factor when you get off a ride and that is where they get you. Another thing you will find out if you go is that in the haunted houses, the scares are all back to back and if you’re not paying attention, they notice, so watch out.
Favorite thing at Busch Garden’s Howl-O-Scream: When you get off the rides (which are lit up in all sorts of colors), you are typically in a scare zone so you completely forget about the scarers. Also, in the haunted houses the scarers blend in with their environment in every corner so you cannot see them coming.
Quick Facts:
Busch Gardens hosted another Halloween themed event, 1999’s Spooky Safari. This was a kid-friendly event featuring hayrides, face painting, and fun Halloween shows.
Howl-O-Scream officially began in September of 2000.
The first Howl-O-Scream only ran for 10 nights in September and October of 2000, making it the shortest Howl-O-Scream in the event’s history. It was also the smallest, only featuring two haunted houses, one haunted trail, a haunted safari ride, and a single park-wide scare zone.
With a family-focus, Howl-O-Scream avoided showcasing blood and gore in its early years.
For the first and only time, scare zones were completely hidden from the public. 2001’s Howl-O-Scream featured three of these surprise scare zones.
There have been over 30 major and minor icons highlighted in Howl-O-Scream’s history.
In 2011, Howl-O-Scream had no set scare zones. Instead, there were over 20 roaming zombie hordes all over the park.
In 2019 there were nine scare zones.
Howl-O-Scream has two methods to further the stories of their haunted houses. One is to revamp the maze and props, making tweaks here and there to continue the story. The other is to provide guests with an entirely new experience, a new chapter of the story so to speak.
Howl-O-Scream has featured over 60 different haunted houses in its 20 years.
The haunted house that has been featured the most is Death Water Bayou.
Howl-O-Scream was first launched in Williamsburg in September of 1998, making Tampa Bay the second Busch Gardens location to begin the event.
Next in line is Busch Garden’s sister park, Seaworld for their Howl-O-Scream, which is Orlando’s newest Halloween event. Because this is a new attraction for the season and the park itself isn’t huge, there are a total of 4 haunted houses, 4 scare zones, and 2 shows available, which one of them is actually outside. There are two rides you can enjoy while you are there. One of them is Mako, which is Orlando’s tallest and fastest roller coaster based around the shark and then the other one is Infinity Falls, which is actually Florida’s tallest rapid falls. You will get wet on Infinity Falls, so we recommend going on that ride very last because there is no Florida sun to dry you off. Because there is not too much to go through, you can get there even an hour after it opens and still get through everything before it closes. At this Howl-O-Scream adults have the opportunity to visit different bars such as the Siren’s Last Call, Longshoremen Tavern, and Tormented. At both the Howl-O-Screams the scarers will consistently mess with you the entire time and it could either have you crying from laughter or fright.
Favorite thing at Seaworld’s Hall-O-Scream: The scarers are not afraid to interact with you when you pass by them… they will even follow you for a solid 5 minutes. Plus, if you have not rode Mako at night, it is something you should really experience.
Quick Facts:
In 2013, SeaWorld San Antonio joined the Howl-O-Scream crew, and the newest installation of this successful scare event has come home to SeaWorld Orlando.
SeaWorld Spooktacular is more family friendly where you can experience the family fun by day with trick or treating, pumpkin gardens, dance parties, and mermaid meeting and the bone-chilling terror by night.
The theme of this first year’s event revolves around the Bayside Lake Siren.
Sirens’ Song takes place during select times in the Wild Arctic plaza.
Near the “Beneath the Ice” haunted house, guests can pay to bring the scares to their friends braving the frights inside. A stand is setup near the Glacier Bar where guests press a button and watch their friends or those inside get a scare.
Finally from the four Halloween events we attended this year so far, is Disney’s After Hours Boo Bash in Orlando, Florida. This event is more kid-friendly than the other events we attended and this attraction is for those that are not the biggest fan being spooked, but love the holiday. The entertainment you get when you’re there is enjoying their Halloween Cavalcades where you can find yourself enjoying the parades of Mickey and pals dressed up in Halloween costumes, the Disney villains you grew up watching, and Jack’s nightmare from The Night Before Christmas. You can also enjoy the character sightings and catch the performances by the Cadaver Dans, fill up your bag or bucket with candy from the trick or treating throughout the park, and go on over 20 different attractions.
Favorite thing at Disney’s After Hours Boo Bash: Being able to enjoy the free things that are included like the Mickey premium bar with Mickey ice cream, sandwiches, frozen strawberry fruit bar, popcorn, soda and water, and then all the candy.
Quick Facts:
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has been canceled for 2021.
The event takes place from 9:30PM to 12:30AM on select nights in August and September.
In Tomorrowland, you’ll get to enjoy a DJ Dance Party throughout the event.
Guests of all ages can wear costumes.
Mickey's Happy Halloween Cavalcade, which starts and ends in Frontierland.
Boo Bash has a apple ginger dale frozen drink and a foolish mortal funnel cake.
When you are trick or treating and if you have allergies, ask for a teal bag because they are allergy-free.
