Lance Around Orlando

Welcome to the Enzian Swamp Walk of Terror

There’s no better place than Orlando to enjoy Halloween!

You could try out a different haunted venue every night and still not experience all the Halloween Orlando has to offer. Every street corner seemed to host a new “Halloween City” store. Haunted experiences ranged from the highly popular Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios to Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween party at Magic Kingdom. There’s the “Screamline” zipline at Forever Florida, Halloween Eves at Kissimmee’s Pioneer Village, the “Haunted Hangar” at Fantasy of Flight, or even a gentle Pumpkin Harvest tractor drawn hayride at Green Meadows Farm.

The small Disney town of Celebration gets jammed on October 31 as busloads of children from all the resorts and local towns come to trick or treat in a place where the homes are conveniently located close to one another. The residence go all out for the festivities.  One of them even created a fake pirate ship completely covering the front of his home. He would put on a pirate show every couple of minutes. It was fantastic.

Halloween has come and gone for 2010–but if you enjoy this zany season as much as the LanceAround family, start making your plans to come to Orlando in 2011. Every year it just gets better and better.

This Halloween, the LanceAround family enjoyed the Haunted Swamp Walk of Terror at our favorite arthouse movie theater–the Enzian. Here is a video of the first few moments of this attraction. (Warning, may contain inappropriate language for young children.)

A Fashion Show Turns Ghoulish at the House of Vayne

This time of year the Orlando Area comes alive with Halloween activities.

The most popular is Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios.  Every year it gets bigger and better.

Not to be out done, Busch Gardens in Tampa has their Howl-O-Scream.  Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in October, Busch Gardens closes their park at 6:00pm to prepare for the 7:30pm opening of Howl-O-Scream.  It ends at 1:00am on Thursdays and 2:00am on Fridays and Saturdays.

# 1 Daughter and Best Friend Bryana Are Enticed by a Vampire in the Mist

General Admission is advertised at $69.95 but advance web tickets only cost $39.95 on Thu/Fri and $49.95 on Saturday.  In addition, there are upgrades such as the “Viewing Tour,” “Funeral Tour,” and “Embalming Tour.”  There’s also a “Club enVy Happy Hour” and “Fright Feast” buffet upgrade available.

Mrs. LanceAround and I took Number One and Two Sons and Number One Daughter with Best Friend Bryana to experience Howl-O-Scream for this post.

Scares Abound Around Every Corner

In many ways, Howl-O-Scream is similar to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Orlando (as reported in this blog post and another blog post by Office Manager Anne from last year.)  There is a “theme” to the evening.  In this case, it is the vain vampires from the House of Vayne who turn evil in the middle of a fashion show. 

# 1 Daughter Opts Out of this Haunted House

There are several “haunted houses.”  There are “scare zones” where various creatures of the night attempt to startle you as you walk down the sidewalk.  And there are a couple of shows.

One thing that sets it apart from HHN, however, are the many roller coasters at Busch Gardens.  The combination of scary thrill rides with the ghoulish Halloween activities makes for a night of fun-filled fright!

The Macabre Magic of Jason Byrne

This year’s Howl-O-Scream features an excellent, though macabre, magic show by Jason Byrne.  Be sure not to miss it.

The general consensus of our party is that Howl-O-Scream, although it did not provide the intense level of scare you get at HHN, does provides an acceptable alternative to the crowds at Universal Studios.  It is especially convenient if you are staying on the gulf coast.  From the Orlando area, your ticket also includes a free shuttle that departs from the Orlando Premium Outlets at 3pm and then departs Busch Gardens at midnight for the ride back to Orlando.

Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival are all good reasons to plan your trip to Orlando during the month of October–If you dare!