Hot for Halloween: Disney, other parks kick off spooky season
Sure, the calendar indicates there are 11 weeks until Halloween. But Florida’s theme parks say it’s about to get spooky in these parts.
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, the after-hours, extra-ticket event at Magic Kingdom, kicks off Friday night. And while that may seem scary early, demand is here. Five of the first seven Not-So-Scary nights — all in August — are sold out, including opening night.
There’s still time to get tickets and your act together. This one-stop list covers the big Halloween events at Orlando-area theme parks — the when, the where and the howl.
Marching pirates are a flashy part of Mickey’s Boo-to You Halloween Parade during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. (Courtesy Walt Disney Co.)
Main Street treats
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party runs on select nights between Aug. 15 and Oct. 31. The event starts after the park closes to regular day guests, and it requires its own admission ticket.
The evenings are filled with returning favorites such as Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade; “Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular,” a fireworks and lasers presentation; and “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular,” a Sanderson Sisters stage show at the foot of Cinderella Castle.
There are also dressed-up character interactions, dance parties (one is inspired by Disney Channel’s “Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires”) and park-wide trick-or-treating included with Not-So-Scary admission. The Storybook Circus area of Fantasyland will be geared to families with younger children, Disney says.
Ticket prices vary with dates and range between $119 and $229 per night. Ticket holders can get entry to Magic Kingdom at 4 p.m. on their event date. More info: disneyworld.com
Haunted house party
Halloween Horror Nights is an intense fright fest staged at Universal Studios Florida. It’s held on select nights between Aug. 29 and Nov. 2.
The key part of HHN is its elaborate haunted house program. This year there are 10 mazes, four of which are based on existing media, including the “Terrifier” films, “Fallout” videogame and TV series, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” and Jason Universe, featuring the villain from the “Friday the 13th” franchise. One house carries a WWE theme and is named the Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks.
The five original houses are called Grave of Flesh, El Artista: A Spanish Haunting, Galkn: Monsters of the North, Dolls: Let’s Play Dead and Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters.
The event will have four scare zones, essentially outdoor, queue-free haunts. Themes will include a decaying conservatory, a vampire masquerade ball, 1920s mobsters amid radioactive cargo and a cat lady. Universal is introducing, with little explanation, two “street experiences” named Mel’s Die-In Zombies and Club Horror (featuring undead DJs).
As these descriptions and details indicate, Horror Nights is for mature audiences. Even Universal Orlando considers this event to be rated PG-13, although it has no age requirements for attendees.
HHN shows include “Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay” on stage and “Haunt-O-Phonic: A Ghoulish Journey” above the lagoon.
Single-night tickets, purchased online, range between $85.99 and $131, depending on the date.
There are several types of multinight passes that can have express lane powers for haunted houses added. Those range in price from $199.99 to $1,199.99 (peaking with Ultimate Frequent Fear Pass — valid every night — with Express).
Universal also offers R.I.P. tours for behind-the-scenes of the mazes. New this year is a tour that includes a buffet lunch, but read all the fine print about availability and timing for these activities.
Lastly, Horror Nights again offers Premium Scream Night on Aug. 28, the eve of opening night. It includes limited capacity (meaning shorter wait times), staggered entry into the houses, food and drink opportunities and self-parking. It’s $415 per person.
More info: universalorlando.com
Gentle versus jarring
SeaWorld Orlando is the only local park that presents two different kinds of Halloween events. It’s Spooktacular, which runs Aug. 30 to Nov. 2, is a gentle, family-friendly time included with regular daytime admission to the theme park.
It’s Howl-O-Scream, an after-hours/separate-ticket event, rests solidly in the bloody/intense category. Howl runs on select nights between Sept. 5 and Nov. 1.
Howl-O-Scream has five haunted houses, three of them appearing at the event for the first time. The fresh ones are Rave Yard (underground party, so to speak, at a cemetery), Collector’s Curse (artifacts, secrets, mutations) and Widow’s Nest (seamstress driven mad by grief). Returning mazes are Farm 51 and Water’s Edge Wellness Center.
Six scare zones are planned, with four new ones featuring reflections in glass, a festering swamp and an abandoned scrapyard with disfigured souls, according to the SeaWorld website.
Hellzapoppin Circus Sideshow will be featured in “The Grave Danger Thrill Show” with stunts and illusions and “Monster Stomp” stage show returns to mix percussion with the Jack the Ripper era.
Single-night tickets for Howl-O-Scream range between $34.99 and $58.99 if purchased online. The event sells an unlimited admission ticket for $109.99 as well as a two-park ticket that includes the Howl-O-Scream event at sister park Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
The daytime Spooktacular includes the Sesame Street Halloween Parade, scavenger hunt, crafts, scarecrow-themed dance party, pumpkin garden with storyteller, costume contest (Fridays only), a dry-land interaction with a mermaid and a harvest maze. The park offers a trick-or-treat trail for guests who purchase a reusable bag.
More info: seaworldorlando.com
Lord Vampyre appears at a dance party at Legoland Florida during its Brick-or-Treat celebration. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)
Take your brick
Legoland Florida throws what it calls a Monster Party at its Brick-or-Treat event at the Winter Haven theme park. It happens on select days between Sept. 20 and Nov.1, sticking primarily to weekends.
The Halloween event leans heavily into its monster minifigures, including rarely seen characters such as Lego Shark Suit Guy and Lego Square Foot. They’re also featured at Brick-or-Treat dance parties. Legoland, which caters to the 2- to 12-year-old demographic, spreads its trick-or-treating stations across the park.
The days are capped with “Monster Skytacular,” a drone show with fireworks.
Brick-or-Treat is included with regular Legoland Florida admission.
More info: legoland.com/florida
We expect smaller attractions to announce more Halloween plans as October draws closer. Check back for more information about those Central Florida holiday additions. Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.