August 6, 2025 • 45 mins
It's August . . . and you know what that means. It's spooky season at Orlando theme parks. This week, Krystle and Julie's friend and fellow travel agent, Margie, joins in on the discussion of all the Halloween happenings at Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and SeaWorld.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to Wanderlust and Wishes, the
podcast where we explore theworld one destination at a time.
I'm Julie.
And I'm Crystal.
As travel agents withFantastical Vacations, we are
here to share our passion fortravel and help you turn your
wanderlust into reality.
From hidden gems to bucket listadventures, join us as we dive
into the sights, sounds, andstories of our favorite
(00:20):
destinations.
So grab your passport, pack yourbags, and let's embark on this
journey together.
Hi everybody, welcome to episode63 of Wanderlust and Wishes.
Today we're going to talk aboutall of the Halloween offerings
at three of the Orlando themeparks, SeaWorld, Disney World,
(00:45):
and Universal Orlando.
We also have our friend andfellow agent Margie Reynolds on
today to help us get throughthis episode with all the fun
things.
But first, we have a little bitof news.
You've heard us talk before thatDisney Cruise Line does not
offer any real discounts.
And when they do, they're halffake discounts.
(01:05):
They're not really discounts.
They're basically letting youpay fewer dollars up front.
Yeah.
So they kind of surprised us.
They are doing a limited timeoffer, 50% off your third and
fourth guests on selectsailings.
Some things of note.
This is available for the Magic,Wonder, Dream, Fantasy, and
(01:26):
Wish.
between October 3rd and March30th of 2026.
So no treasure, no destiny, noadventure.
Must be booked by October 12thof this year.
It excludes any discounted roomsalready.
It also does not includeconcierge staterooms or suites.
We can stack our onboard creditwith this.
(01:48):
So this is a great time tocruise.
It does not include every singlesailing on all these ships, but
most of them.
It's a fantastic offer.
It really is.
I'm out there scrolling,looking.
Yes.
Well, and basically, you'regetting that fourth guest free.
So, yes.
Find me on a cruise soon,hopefully.
Are you ready to get started?
(02:10):
Let's do it.
Just a quick little disclaimerbefore we dive in.
Most times mentioned, we'vetried to update as best we
could, but they might be fromlast year, so...
And they are subject to change.
So just double check your appsand maps and get the most
accurate up to date info the dayof your trip day before.
All right.
Let's start with UniversalOrlando Resort.
(02:31):
Their offering is HalloweenHorror Nights.
You might also see it as HHNjust because it's a mouthful.
Horror has always been at thevery core of Universal's DNA, so
Halloween Horror Nights bringsthat legacy to life, placing you
inside your favorite scarymovies, twisted original
stories, and nightmarish worlds.
(02:51):
These are specialty after-hourstickets are needed for Halloween
Horror Nights.
So if you purchase your daytimetickets like you typically would
to go to Universal Orlando andyou want to do this, you would
have to purchase separatetickets for this event.
The Nights are from August 29ththrough November 2nd.
It starts at 6.30 and goes to 2a.m.
(03:15):
The pricing ranges from$83 to$123 per person, with the most
expensive being the Saturdaybefore Halloween.
This is at Universal StudiosFlorida.
And this year they've gotseveral houses that they've
already told us about.
We've got Fallout and just abrief description of all these.
You've got Face Your Fears in apost-apocalyptic LA devastated
(03:38):
by nuclear war based on the hitshow Fallout.
You'll travel into the vaultsand be attacked by raiders
alongside Lucy.
You'll escape the wasteland ofPhilly and confront the
formidable bounty hunter, theGhoul.
You'll even encounter Maximuswith the Brotherhood of Steel
and see T-60 Power Armor.
I don't know any of that.
I don't know what any of thatis.
(03:58):
Right over my head.
We watched the first season, soI know kind of.
Yeah, if you watch the show,you'll know what that means.
Yep.
All right, the next one isJason's Universe, in where you
come face-to-face with theiconic horror villain, Jason
Voorhees, and you step into theterrifying world of this silent
killer, flee through the woodsand into his sinister shack,
(04:18):
enter the summer camp where hisgruesome legend began.
Jason is back, and nothing cansave you now.
Is this Universal's, like, oneof their characters?
that is only for HalloweenHorror Nights, or is this a
different Jason?
Isn't this Jason from Jason the13th, Friday the 13th?
Yeah, it's Jason.
Yes, it's Jason Voorhees.
He's the one that wears the skimask.
Ski mask.
Who was actually not theoriginal killer on the first
(04:40):
one.
Great.
I don't remember that.
But yeah, he has a ski mask andcarries around a machete.
Next, we have Terrifier.
Nothing can prepare you for thisgrisly haunted house based on
all three of Damien Leon'sTerrifier films.
Try your luck against sadisticArt the Clown, So I think
(05:02):
Halloween and clowns, like scaryHalloween clowns, they're
terrifying.
So this would probably likescare the crap out of me.
Yeah, I agree.
I do not like clowns in aHalloween setting.
Oh, Terry.
Oh, Artista, A Spanish Haunting.
(05:25):
In 19th century Spain, atortured artist moves to an
isolated country manor to seekinspiration.
Instead, as he wanders theghostly hallways and haunted
conservatory, malevolent spiritsbreak into our realm through his
paintings.
He tries to resist, but the artcomes to life and possesses him.
Now you're about to be part ofthe permanent.
That seems terrifying as well.
Well, I don't go to Halloween.
(05:48):
I would love it.
I mean, I would love it, butthat sounds terrifying that art
comes to life and basicallycomes to kill you.
Okay, the next is Hatchet andChains, Demon Bounty Hunters.
In this Old West town, all hellis breaking loose.
Masses of red-hot lava demonsare crawling out of hell's well
and trying to possess everyone,melting everything in their
path.
As you flee from the post officeto the bank, the prison to the
(06:10):
graveyard, your only hope isHatchet and Chains with their
arsenal of mystical weapons.
I might be able to handle thisone.
Yeah, that one doesn't sound asbad, although...
This one, uh-uh.
Yeah, the next one, Dolls, Let'sPlay Dead.
You're about to becomedoll-sized and witness the
unnatural creations of a twistedlittle girl.
You'll be hunted by fashiondolls.
She's melded and burned.
(06:31):
Then you'll go under her bed andbe stalked by toys she stitched
together.
You'll end in her creepyVictorian dollhouse where undead
whores await you.
That sounds so scary.
That sounds terrible also.
I'm going to die.
I'm literally going to die.
Aren't you so excited you get todo all of these, Crystal?
No, I've never been.
And I'm going.
We'll talk about that in aminute.
(06:53):
But I'm I'm like shaking overhere.
I don't know.
But the next one is the grave offlesh.
Welcome to your funeral wherethings are about to go from bad
to worse.
You'll enter your grave and thenpass through the gates of the
underworld where flesh eaterswho feed on the dead will be
waiting for you.
Get lost in their cavernousunderground world where an
(07:15):
endless gauntlet of flesh eatingcreatures will hunt you
mercilessly for all eternity.
Sounds a little bit like themummy there.
Yeah, it does.
Yeah.
The next one is Gaelkin,Monsters of the North.
In a remote northern village, awicked being rises from the
dead, bringing a horde ofmonsters and demons from the
fjords to wreak havoc on thetownspeople.
(07:37):
You'll fare icy, horned, winged,and wolfish fiends that
gradually merge into one gianthorror.
Then you'll try to escape thebelly of the beast.
None of these sound super fun.
That one sounds kind of cool.
That one sounds more interestingto me.
So the other thing thatHalloween Horror Nights has.
So it has the haunted houses,which are, of course, like a
(07:58):
huge thing.
And you walk through and you getthe life scared out of you.
But in a fun way, right?
But they also have what's calledscare zones.
So the streets of UniversalStudios turn into scare zones.
They turn them into scare zones.
They're open-air terror arenaswhere creatures roam freely,
waiting to scare the soul out ofyou.
(08:19):
Think demons, mutants, and thoselovely chainsaw-wielding
maniacs.
So this is where they mightchase you with a chainsaw.
And to me, that's scarier thanthe house, if somebody's running
after me with a chainsaw.
And everyone needs to keep inmind that these scare actors do
not touch you.
So please don't touch them back,but do not hit them.
They are just there to scareyou, and it's all in good fun.
(08:40):
So don't worry.
They're not going to grab you.
They're not going to touch you.
That's good to know.
The first one is The Origins ofHorror, entering a decaying
conservatory of twisted vineswhere artists carve tributes to
Halloween Horror Nights 34.
You'll encounter monstrouscrows, gargoyles, and more.
Another one is Masquerade Dancewith Death.
You're invited to a masqueradeball where bloodthirsty vampires
(09:01):
lurk behind ornate disguises.
When their masks fall, youbecome their prey.
A couple others.
You've got The Cat Lady ofCrooked Lane.
I can see all these cats.
It says you'll travel down aspooky winding path to a
mysterious home wheretrick-or-treaters are
transformed into feral felines.
Be careful or you'll be next.
(09:21):
That just sounds reallyinteresting.
Yeah.
And then you've got mutations.
Toxic 20s.
In a bustling 1920sneighborhood, a buzzcon truck
with radioactive cargo crashesinto a mobster getaway car,
sending the city into toxicpandemonium.
It mutates everyone in its path,including you.
(09:42):
Yikes.
In addition to the scare zonesand houses, they have live
entertainment throughout thenight.
So if you need a little bit of abreak from getting jump scares
and things like, you know,jumping out at you, they have
some live shows that deliverhigh energy performances with
fire stunts, dark humor, and jawdropping effects.
So a couple of those are theNightmare Fuel Circus of Decay.
(10:05):
This once vibrant circus hasfestered into an unending
nightmare.
It's a sinister spectacle ofpyro aerialist and illusions.
Secondly, they haveHauntophonic, A Ghoulish
Journey.
A ghost story is rising from itswatery grave to haunt the
Universal Studios Lagoon,featuring towering water screens
and eerie music.
(10:26):
That sounds really cool ifthey're doing it on the water.
That sounds really fun to me.
That sounds neat.
We saw The Nightmare Fuel lastyear.
That's the only reason I went tothe Halloween Horror Nights.
And it is just an absolutelyfantastic show.
Those performers are trulyamazing.
The skill set is just thisworld.
That's awesome.
They also have some streetexperiences.
(10:47):
So basically, that'll just bezombie car hops, undead DJs, and
more.
They don't have all the detailsout about these.
So those will be released soonas it's starting within, I
think, about the next month.
And it's not specificallyadvertised as part of Halloween
Horror Nights, but you dotypically see Death Eaters in
(11:07):
Diagon Alley during the HHNevents.
And that, to me, is...
terrifying as well, because I'ma huge Harry Potter fan.
And if you all know DeathEaters, they're so evil and
horrible, horrible people.
And so having them out withtheir mask on is terrifying to
me.
We didn't specify this, but ifyou can't tell, they recommend
13 and older for this event.
(11:30):
If you have brave younger kidsand know that they can handle
it, great, go for it.
There'll be younger kids there.
But And if you have kids over 13and you don't think they can
handle it, 13 is not a magicalnumber.
Don't take them if you don'tthink they're going to enjoy
this.
Yeah, true.
But they have a huge disclaimeron their site.
Pretty much every page that hasanything about Halloween Horror
Nights has that disclaimerbecause I'm sure that they've
(11:53):
had people bring their kidsbefore not realizing it.
Maybe they went to Mickey'sNot-So-Scary Halloween Party and
came over to Halloween HorrorNights thinking it was going to
be something similar and it'scompletely different.
It's You know, it's just a totaldifferent vibe.
All right, let's talk about someadd-ons that you can get.
There is one called the PremiumScream Night.
So one night only, Thursday,August 28th, 2025.
(12:17):
It's$415 per person.
Be one of the first to scream atHalloween Horror Nights at this
exclusive event.
So you enjoy access to hauntedhouses with shorter wait times
and entry to haunted housesstaggered by group.
You can treat yourself to allyou care to enjoy select food
and non-alcoholic beverages.
New for this year, takeadvantage of the only
opportunity to wear costumesduring HHN.
(12:37):
No mask allowed.
One souvenir credential andlanyard per guest and
complimentary self-parking mustshow valid Scream Night
admission for that.
They also offer an express passfor Halloween Horror Nights.
This starts at$159.99 perperson.
And this is over and above thecost of your ticket.
You still have to have a ticket,but you can start using it right
away or you can come back tohouses later if you want to
(12:58):
repeat houses.
The lines do go down betweenmidnight and 2 a.m.
So like if you wanted to use itearly when there are a lot of
lines and then come back and doit, but you can go to each house
one time.
Now they also offer a Behind theScreams Unmasking the Terror
Tour.
This is a daytime tour withoutthe scare actors.
And this starts at$99.99 aperson.
(13:18):
And I did this two years ago.
I'm a little chicken, and so wewanted to see all the houses.
And the kids, I think, werehoping that if they got me there
during the day, that I would bemore likely to go with them at
night because they do love goingto the Halloween Horror Nights.
And the Behind the Screams is adaytime guided tour that allows
guests to explore the hauntedhouses with the lights on.
(13:39):
This provides abehind-the-scenes look at the
intricate details, storylines,and scare tactics used in the
houses.
Now, these tours are offered inboth three-house or six-house
options.
And of course, the price isgoing to depend on the day and
the tour chosen.
And then the theme parkadmission is not required for
this tour.
They actually walk you inthrough the old Blue Man group
tour so that you can come inwithout a daytime ticket.
(14:01):
They will tell you when you cantake pictures during this tour.
You can take photographs duringselect haunted houses, but they
will also tell you when to putyour cameras away.
You're not allowed to takepictures.
You do get an exclusivecommemorative pin.
for each guest, and it includesa buffet lunch with the
six-house tour.
That's pretty cool that they'reincluding lunch now.
(14:22):
Yeah.
It's a long time.
I mean, they do a good job ofwalking you through and
explaining everything at thesehouses.
We did the three-house tour, andit was easily three hours.
Wow.
So you do six, you're going toget hungry in there.
Yeah, for sure.
They must go through a lot ofdetail.
They really do.
They're walking you through thesetup, the attention to detail
(14:42):
that they put in these houses.
And remember, most people aregoing through at night in the
dark, but the attention todetail that they put in these
houses is just over the topincredible.
This is just, that's one of thereasons it's been so successful
is because they don't spare asingle thing.
Even if you can't really see itall the time, that one person's
going to catch it and they'regoing to make sure that the
details are correct.
Yeah.
(15:02):
I mean, I think that one of thefirst things when Crystal was
describing the the event itselfis it puts you in that story.
It puts you in that like horrormovie, you know, I mean, it puts
you in the story itself and youhave to have all the details to
make that seem real.
Something else that they offeris the RIP tour.
So similar to a VIP tour, thisis actually what I'm going to
(15:23):
do.
And I'm, I'm freaking outalready.
I really wish that you couldhave a GoPro on like the entire
time, but I know you can't.
UNKNOWN (15:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (15:32):
You wouldn't be able to hear anything.
I'm not going to have a voiceleft.
I want the person in front ofher to have a GoPro turned
around so we can look atCrystal's face.
I'm going with enough agentsthat I'm sure they'll have a
huge recap of how just freakedout Crystal was the whole time.
I asked someone to bring me anadult diaper and make sure to
drop it off for me that date.
So we'll see if that happens.
(15:54):
This starts at$389.99 perperson.
There are a couple differentoptions, but you basically get
front of line access with guide.
You skip the regular and expresspass lines, gaining immediate
entry of haunted houses andselect attractions.
And then some of the benefitsare you, so you're saving time,
the guided tour, like I said, soyou have a dedicated guide that
(16:15):
leads your group, providinginsights, tips, and behind the
scenes info about the houses andscare zones.
You get reserved seating for thelive shows.
You get a specialty food anddrink.
Some include a pre-tourreception with the food and
drink, then this is where itkind of varies.
There's private or shared tours.
So private, you gather yourgroup and you guys get to choose
(16:38):
exactly what you do.
And a shared, you could have agroup of two or three or four
and meet up with another groupof four or however.
And then your tour guide kind ofdictates based on everybody's
wants and needs.
Valid parking, exclusive accessto...
You gain exclusive access toareas not available to regular
(16:59):
guests, like backstage tours,exclusive VIP areas.
And then it's just an enhancedexperience and you have a
flexibility.
So it can be a great way torevisit your favorite houses.
Great way to hit all the housesin a night.
I've heard that a lot of times,like if you go just like on a
typical night and you don't haveExpress Pass or you don't have
(17:19):
an RIP tour, it can be hard tovisit all the houses.
Like there's no way you're goingto visit all of them.
So you kind of have to decidewhich ones you want to go to.
So like Crystal was saying, thisis a good option where you
actually would get to go to allof the houses.
It's more expensive, but if youlook at it as you're going to
have to visit multiple timeswith a regular ticket to be able
(17:41):
to get to all the houses, thisactually probably doesn't end up
being that overly expensive.
You're able to hit all thehouses and you also get food and
drink.
that you don't get with theregular ticket.
So this is a really fantasticoption for anybody that wants to
go and make the most out of it.
With the VIP, if you love onehouse and want to go through it
five times, you can go throughit five times.
(18:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
And I think like Julie, like youwere saying, if you went twice
and got Express Pass bothnights, I think it would easily
pay for it.
Oh, absolutely.
Agree.
Another option that you canpurchase, another add-on, is the
Scream Early ticket.
park entry starts at 3 p.m.
This starts from$55 per personand it is an add-on to your
(18:24):
regular ticket.
So you'd have to purchase aregular HHN ticket and then you
would add this$55 ticket on topof it.
The Scream Early Ticket allowsearly entry So this is just,
yeah, this is just an easy wayto kind of get in early and make
(18:46):
the most of your time.
The nice part of this, we'vedone this because we have annual
passes.
So we don't have to pay for it.
If you actually have a ticketfor that day, you're already in.
This is for people that didn'twant to buy a full ticket, just
wanted to come in early.
It's great because you can getin that line and you can knock
(19:07):
out two, sometimes even threehouses before they open up the
front to let everybody else in.
Because you're at the very frontof the line of the first house
that you're going to do with thestay in stream.
So if you don't really want tospend the money for a full
express pass, this is kind of alittle bit cheaper way to get
those first couple of housesdone very inexpensively.
(19:28):
Yeah, this is kind of like apaid for like early drop.
Exactly, exactly.
So like Margie was saying, youget priority access into these
holding areas where they putguests that have this ticket to
wait on the haunted houses.
And it's just a good way to geta head start on the night.
(19:49):
So there's a couple of passesthat kind of like season passes
or like an annual pass typescenario for those that want to
go a lot to Halloween HorrorNights.
Right now, there are two passesthat are still available.
There are actually additionalpasses that are already sold
out.
So these passes are Knights Rushof Fear Pass.
(20:13):
It starts at$1.99 per person.
This allows you up to 18 visitsto Halloween Horror Nights.
Obviously, this depends on whenyou purchase it because there
are selected nights that you'reallowed to use it.
So if you purchase it later inthe season, you may not actually
get 18 visits.
The frequent fear pass, thisstarts at$249.99 per person.
(20:35):
And this allows you up to 30visits per season, so per HHN
season.
And again, this is going todepend on when you purchase the
ticket or when you purchase thepass, you may not get in 30
visits.
The other two that were offeredare There was a frequent fear
plus pass that was 40 nights andan ultimate frequent fear pass
(20:55):
that was 48 nights.
But they're both, as I wassaying, already sold out for the
season.
So that kind of gives you anidea of how popular this event
is, that if they've already soldout of those passes, that there
are a lot of people that lovethis event.
They have a lot of specialtyfood here, and you're going to
get themed booths like the pizzafries and the twisted taters and
the Blumhouse specialtycocktails and, you know,
(21:17):
Stranger Things and ChuckyIP-themed snacks.
You're also going to have thetribute store with merchandise
that's exclusive to HalloweenHorror Nights.
So you could do this, you know,with your Scream Early Pass.
Just a couple of pro tips forwhen you're going to the houses.
If you really would rather notget super scared, go with a
(21:38):
group.
Getting the daylight scared outof you is a lot more fun when
you're with your friends.
And like universal visits duringthe day, use a lanyard to hold
your ticket and keep just asmall bag like a crossbody or
fanny pack.
That makes it much easier goingthrough.
If you want the lower crowds andthe cheaper pricing, go early in
the season.
Late August, early September isusually your best bet.
(22:00):
eat before the event and thentake a snack break when the
times are really high.
A lot of people don't get theresuper early and they might not
stay super late.
So that's when it's the busiest.
So if you can get that earlyscreen pass, get there early
into a couple of houses, stop,take a break, get something to
eat or drink, and then go backafter about 11, 30, 12 o'clock.
Last year, my daughter was ableto walk into pretty much every
(22:22):
single house after 12, 30 andgot all 10 done without a pass.
So keep that in mind.
When did she go?
Was it in September?
It was in September.
Yep.
And something fun to do is ifyou know you're going, you know
the themes of the houses, watchthe movies that are featured in
these haunted houses so you kindof know the storylines before
you go in.
And if it rains, you're goingthrough haunted houses.
(22:42):
Just run to the next house.
You won't get too drenched.
They don't shut them down.
They don't shut them down forbad weather, do they?
They do not.
And actually, the lines go downsignificantly.
So it's a great time to getlower lines.
You might walk through thehouses a little wet, but it's a
nice way to get the lineslowered.
And then make a plan.
Don't just go...
(23:04):
house to house to house to houseand then miss the one that you
really, really wanted to see.
It's not that bad walking acrossthe park.
Maybe get a map ahead of time ofwhere the houses are and your
plan of attack.
The least busy restrooms are theones by Animal Actors and
Transformers because if you'reenjoying all those adult
beverages, you're going todefinitely need those restrooms.
And then they have a blinky cup.
(23:26):
What this is, is it does lightup.
It comes in two different sizes.
And if you get the cup, everytime you get a refill, you get a
a discount on it.
And then you have a souvenir totake home at the end of the
show.
But do not, like Crystal wassaying earlier, do not show up
in a costume.
You are not allowed to wear acostume.
Absolutely no masks.
There will be people with somemakeup a little bit, but again,
(23:48):
they have the right to denyentrance.
So if you're pushing the line,be aware.
You don't want it to ruin yournight.
The only exception is that veryfirst night, premium spring
night, they do allow costumes.
Again, no masks.
All right, this next section isall for me.
Tips for those nervous aboutHHN.
Start as early as possible.
Daylight makes everything seemless scary.
(24:10):
Start with less scary houses.
I don't think I get an option onthat.
Walk in the middle of yourparty, which will be me.
I'll be like clenched ontoeverybody around me.
Wear ear protection.
I've heard this helps.
Don't look at your phone inscare zones.
This makes you a target.
If you walk on the side of thescare zones versus the middle,
that's also a good way to kindof skirt the scary and then
(24:33):
consider doing behind thescreens like Margie.
So we talked about the detailsfor that earlier.
And then one other little thingis for CityWalk.
They turn the Red Coconut Clubinto the Dead Coconut Club.
And it's just fun themed for HHNwith cool photo ops inside.
So it's a fun little hangout inCityWalk if you are around and
(24:54):
you don't necessarily need aticket to go there.
So it's a really good tip towear ear protection because that
can really help with theoverstimulation you know all the
noise can definitely at leastyou know for I think for most
people it can overstimulate youand not having it be so loud can
(25:14):
maybe help a little bit my onlyworry with that is that would be
very that somebody would sneakup on me but yeah otherwise I
can see where that could behelpful oh boy I need all the
prayers that you're willing tosend me.
We are eager to hear all aboutyour, your RIP tour, Crystal.
I know I am.
I'm so, I'm so excited.
(25:34):
I'm so jealous and excited.
This is definitely something Iwant to do, but I'm, I'm kind
of, I'm waiting.
I really honestly, likeseriously thought about like,
you know, jumping in onCrystal's trip, but I think I'm,
I'm waiting on Ella to turn to,to get like one more year under
her belt.
Cause she'll be 13 next year.
And I know they don't, Theydon't necessarily restrict it,
(25:54):
but I think that it would be, Ithink, giving her one more year
and make sure that she's readybefore we go.
I think she would love it.
Okay, so we're going tocompletely switch gears now
because we're going to head overto Walt Disney World where
everything is, you know, magicaland fun and it's not so scary.
It's all about Halloween, butit's not a very scary Halloween.
(26:18):
So if you have kiddos or evennot kiddos, like Margie said, if
you have just people in generalthat don't enjoy getting the
life scared out of them, this isa way to enjoy Halloween and all
the fun things without it beingsuper scary.
So this event is called Mickey'sNot So Scary Halloween Party.
It is a specialty after hoursevent.
(26:39):
So similarly to HHN, if you goto the park during the day, if
you have a day ticket afterHalloween, seven o'clock.
I think it's around 630.
I think they start kickingpeople out of the parks if you
don't have a ticket to the NotSo Scary Halloween Party.
And then this is at MagicKingdom.
There are some things that youcan, we'll talk through some of
these things probably in moredetail, but there are some
(27:01):
things that you can add on.
You can add on PhotoPass MagicShot.
So if you have your MemoryMaker, there's tons of options
throughout the parks for thisparty that are specific to the
Halloween Party.
There's obviously going to beparty exclusive merch.
And there's also just ingeneral, there's all the
Halloween merch, which they arealready starting to release and
(27:22):
has me wanting to get in my carand drive eight hours down to
Orlando to buy the pumpkinshaped Squishmallow, the Mickey
pumpkin head shape.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When I was looking through doingnotes yesterday and I saw it and
I was like, I need that.
UNKNOWN (27:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:39):
And so, of course, this includes apparel, pens,
cups, just pretty much any kindof collectibles.
They always have popcornbuckets, the specialty popcorn
buckets.
This is not specific to theparty, but they'll have those as
well.
And then you can also add on thedessert party to your Halloween
party ticket as well.
(27:59):
And then they, of course, have afoodie guide because it wouldn't
be Walt Disney World without afoodie guide.
And they do highlight the food.
So they've got specialty treatslike Jack Skellington mousse and
Hades hot dog, pumpkincheesecake and funnel cake.
You can experience Prefix Partyexclusive menu at some locations
like Be Our Guest orCinderella's Royal Table.
(28:20):
Like Julie mentioned, afireworks dessert party.
This is a great way to get greatviewing and a little bit of
treats.
You can do before, after, orduring.
And they'll have some sweet anda few savory snacks.
But I always kind of recommendeat beforehand.
You're paying for this party.
There's great low wait times.
I hate to waste a good meal whenI paid for a specialty meal.
(28:41):
So we eat beforehand and thenjust go straight through and
enjoy the snacks.
And speaking of snacks, theyalso have Trick-or-treat trails.
Oh my goodness.
Bring your backpack.
Bring a pillowcase.
Bring a ice chuck because theywill give you so much candy, you
will go crazy.
We brought in a frozen waterbottle last Halloween party and
(29:04):
kept it in our backpack to keepthe candy cool because we got so
much.
And they have the good candy.
They have the M&Ms and thechocolate bars.
But they also have special treatbags that are allergy-friendly.
And you just get tokens and youcan redeem that for all these
wonderful allergy friendlytreats as well.
And those treat centers are onLiberty Square and on Main
(29:26):
Street.
It's not a Disney Halloweenparty without a fun parade.
So they have the Boo to YouParade featuring the Headless
Horseman, Making Friends inCostume, the Waltzing Ghosts,
Disney Princesses, and ofcourse, the villains.
It's also where you'll see theiconic gravediggers with the
shovels sparking on the road.
(29:46):
You can get into the spirit whenyou attend this frightfully fun
parade.
Mickey's Boo to You HalloweenParade begins in Frontierland at
8.15 and 11.15 and ends on MainStreet, USA.
So it just follows the regularparade route.
It will fill up.
Our favorite spots are usuallynear like the wall statue in
front of the castle or down MainStreet because there'll be
projections beforehand and stuffgoing on in front of the castle.
(30:09):
So if you want to do both andjust kind of camp and set up you
can do that max power line willappear before around town square
and main street so he's usuallya good chunk ahead of the actual
parade so if you want to seepower line make sure you're
paying attention and the secondparade is usually less crowded
especially for you'll have likeall the little kids do the first
(30:31):
one and then they're usuallydone and head out by 11 15
something else you're going tosee along main street the
cadaver dance do theirbarbershop quartet, that's
always neat to see.
You also have special charactermeet and greets.
In the past, they've had Poohand Friends and Special Costume.
For popular characters like Jackand Sally, they're at the front
(30:55):
of the park and they have a hugefollowing and a very long wait
time.
If this is something that youwant to see, you really need to
go there as soon as possible,like get there first as soon as
you can.
because once the party kicksoff, the line will get really,
really long.
I suspect it's going to be worsethis year because Jack is new
(31:15):
and improved.
Yes, he has a new face.
Yeah.
Something else that's new thisyear is that Minnie and Mickey
are meeting together and they'regoing to be in their Halloween
costumes at Town Square Theater.
Minnie used to be at the back ofthe park in the Oh, what's it
called?
I always get this.
I always say this wrong.
The circus, the storybook circusarea.
(31:35):
She's usually back there, butnow she's going to be up front
with Mickey.
So that also might turn into.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking that also mightturn into a complete craziness
if having them together in theirHalloween costumes.
That line might get a littleridiculous as well.
And then we have the Hocus PocusVillain Spectacular.
That is a live stage show infront of Cinderella's Castle
(31:58):
starring the, of course, theinfamous.
Sanderson sisters and otherDisney villains like Hades,
Cruella, Jafar, Dr.
Facilier, and the Evil Queen.
The performance schedule duringAugust and September is 9.05
p.m.
and 10.35 p.m.
and midnight.
October, they will add anadditional time for the show at
(32:20):
7.35.
It wouldn't be Magic Kingdomwithout fireworks.
So they do a Disney's Not SoSpooky Spectacular.
And this is fireworks and castleprojections hosted by Jack
Skellington himself.
And Mickey and friends are goingto explore a haunted house led
by Zero, the ghost dog, and beon the lookout for Ursula and
the Queen of Hearts and evenOogie Boogie.
(32:41):
Now, this is scheduled nightlyat 10 p.m.
But keep in mind, if you'regoing to Magic Kingdom during
the day, because they are doingthis Not So Spooky Spectacular,
you will not get to see afireworks show if it is a party
night and you do not have partytickets.
So I'm going to throw that inthere.
Some other things that they havegoing on around, they have a
(33:01):
Disney Junior Jam over at CosmicRays.
They're going to have a danceparty for some of the younger
guests, and this is going to gofrom 7 p.m.
to midnight.
So you get a lot of kids gettingtheir dance on and meeting some
of the Disney Junior people.
And then last year, they hadsome grim grinning ghosts
singing in Frontierland.
So maybe we'll see some of thoseas well as, like Julie
(33:21):
mentioned, Mickey and Minnietogether.
You've got Storybook Circus istransformed into a happy haunt
for younger children.
Again, very, very not so scary,as the title says.
And then you're going to haveanother fun dance party based on
the film Zombies 4, Dawn of theVampires.
So look for that dance party aswell.
I will say that the DisneyJunior Jam would probably be the
(33:44):
only time that I would ever gointo Cosmic Ray.
Poor Cosmic Ray, such a bad rap.
It'd probably be the only timeI'd willingly go in there.
And I've been unfortunatelyforced, sorry, sorry, Disney,
but I've been forced to watchZombies 4.
So if you have any preteens ortweens, they'll be very
(34:07):
interested in that.
I watched it with my grandsonwho loves the zombies.
So we've seen all the zombiemovies.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My preteen was very interestedin whoever the new character is.
I think she thinks he's verycute.
So I think that's the onlyreason she was watching it.
Just a couple of tips as weround out Disney World.
(34:28):
Choose your date strategically.
August and September offer lowerprices and lighter crowds, but
be extremely hot and you canwear a costume to this party.
So be strategic about yourcostume.
Late October is more expensiveand the busiest because you're
nearing the season.
Arrive, I would say before 4p.m.
(34:48):
So you're in the park by 4 tomaximize park time.
You pick up your eventwristband, your trick-or-treat
bag and your map.
And then just kind of make apriority list of what you want
to do.
Focus on your entertainmentfirst.
Flying keys for candy canconsume a lot of time.
So save trick-or-treating towardthe end if you need to maximize
shows and rides.
There are a couple of rides thatusually don't stay open too
(35:09):
late, but most of them will andthey'll be shorter wait times
because you cannot use LightningLane Multipass during the party.
I also wanted to make a notethat Margie said that they took
a frozen water bottle to keeptheir candy cool because if you
go, especially in August orSeptember, your candy's probably
(35:30):
going to melt because it's sohot even in the evening hours.
Well, Disney keeps it in thefreezer before they even bring
it out to serve.
That's how hot it is.
So when you get it, it isfrozen, but if it is August, it
will start to melt.
I don't care how it started out.
Yeah, exactly.
So that kind of wraps up theNot-So-Scary Halloween Party.
(35:52):
We're going to move over toSeaWorld.
They have something as well.
It's called Hallowscreen, whichis an evening event, and then
they have something calledSpooktacular that is during the
day.
Margie has been to theSpooktacular event, so I
definitely want to hear a littlebit about her experience with
that.
We love SeaWorld.
It's tough to compare whenyou've got two amazing parks,
(36:14):
Universal and Disney, but Ithink SeaWorld often gets
overlooked, but we went, Ibelieve it was three years ago,
and didn't even know we weregoing to the Spooktacular.
And all kinds of fun things.
They had festival booths up, andyou could get a lanyard and get
discounted pricing to all thefood.
You could sample different foodsand different drinks, and they
(36:34):
had entertainment everywhere youturned around.
Plus, you could still walkthrough all the aquariums and
see it.
So it was a lot of fun.
We didn't do the trick-or-treattrails because my kids were a
and their costumes going throughthe trick-or-treat trails,
getting lots of candy.
And it was definitely decoratedfor the spooky season.
But it is similar to Mickey'sNot So Scary.
(36:56):
It is very kid-friendly.
It's decorated more fall thanhorror.
They save that for the HallowScream.
And they do hide the stuff thatwill scare children.
So the Spooktacular is a veryfamily-friendly game.
event that goes on, and that'sincluded.
All of that is included withyour daytime pass to SeaWorld
(37:17):
Orlando.
I was going to say that sinceyou went and you didn't realize
it, you must have purchased atypical day ticket, and it was
already included, so you didn'thave to do anything extra with
it.
Yep, that's correct.
The evening event is HelloScream.
So like we said, this is afterhours.
This is intense.
It's PG-13.
It actually started inWilliamsburg in 2000.
(37:38):
San Antonio joined and thechills in 2013, and then Orlando
in 2021.
In Orlando, an entire park withno respite from thrills and
haunts.
Orlando has five haunted houses,six scare zones, two roaming
hordes, five themed bars,electrifying live show, plus
never-before-seen surprises.
(37:58):
There's a lot going on.
I know.
Some of the houses.
The first one is the Rave Yard.
What looks like an abandonedcemetery is anything but quiet.
The undead have taken over,turning crumbling tombstones
into dance floors and mausoleumsinto neon-lit party zones.
As the bass drops and thegraveyard pulses with light, the
dead rise for one reason only,to party forever.
The music never stops, the deadnever sleep, and if you're not
(38:21):
careful, you'll be the next tojoin their eternal rave.
I might be able to handle that.
That's hilarious that it'scalled the rave yard.
That made me giggle.
That's funny.
The next house is thecollector's curse.
Ooh, creepy.
The next one is Farm 51.
(38:59):
That one seems pretty creepy.
Now, they did not give usdescriptions on all of them, so
I'm going to finish up withnumber four, Water's Edge
Wellness Center.
That kind of sets the tone.
Once a haven of serenity andrejuvenation nestled along the
(39:20):
mist-shrouded shores of CentralLake, the Water's Edge Wellness
Center now stands abandoned, itstranquil promise replaced by
unspeakable terror.
What was once a sanctuary hasbecome a place of unspeakable
terror where the boundarybetween the living and the dead
is disturbingly thinned.
Scare zone number one, CannibalHarbor.
Once a bustling port, it hastransformed into a realm of
(39:41):
primal fear with cannibalisticmariners proud for new victims.
Gross.
The next one is BloodlightDistrict.
Beware of those who walk thestreets of this borough.
They are out for blood and readyto paint town red.
They also have, as mentionedbefore, they have lots of
different themed barexperiences.
And then they have this showthat's called the Monster Stomp.
(40:03):
Yeah, that seems a little...
Jack the Ripper being the rockerand singing.
Yeah, that definitely seems alittle off-kilter there.
Yeah.
(40:25):
They don't keep all the ridesopen during this, but this is a
great way.
If you're not sure you want todo Halloween Horror Nights, it's
a much smaller version.
They have the five houses versusthe ten over at Halloween Horror
Nights, but also the price forthis is much lower.
It starts at just$34, and youcan really add multiples to that
and save a ton of money.
So, you know, doing that, justlike Halloween Horror Nights, no
(40:48):
costumes are allowed, but Ifyou're not sure, it's a great
way instead of spending a littlebit more money and getting there
and realizing you're only goingto do one house at Halloween
Horror Nights and call it a day.
Now, they are a sister park withBusch Gardens who does very
similar activities at their parkover in Tampa.
And you can actually bundletickets and get Busch Garden
tickets.
You can get daytime tickets thatinclude this and even resort
(41:12):
stay options.
They do bundle a lot of thisstuff so that you can check it
all out there at SeaWorld andeven at Busch Gardens.
I know they don't have anyhotels specifically that are
SeaWorld hotels, but do theyhave resorts or hotels in that
area that you've stayed in thatdo kind of where you can bundle
that a little bit?
They do.
They have partnerships withHilton.
(41:33):
I know Hilton has a vacation,grand vacation resort that is
usually part of the resorts thatthey couple it with, also the
double tree that is basically intheir parking lot.
And I believe the residence innis a Marriott property, and I
think they also have packages.
So you could even use yourloyalty points to stay really,
really close to the fund if youdidn't want to bundle it up as a
(41:54):
part of a package.
Yeah, I think we actually, lastyear, whenever...
We went to Universal.
We actually ended up going toUniversal, but we probably
should have just decided to doSeaWorld because my parents have
Hilton vacation points and westayed at the vacation club
that's there, the SeaWorld one.
We stayed in that property andit's really nice.
It's a really nice, really niceplace.
(42:16):
Margie also mentioned she kindof went into the Spooktacular.
So as she mentioned, that isincluded with park admissions.
I think that's a really nicebenefit.
But then the Hallow Scream, itis an after hours separated
ticket event.
There are several add-ons.
Hallow Scream Express Pass, youcan do behind the scene tours,
and then there are spectacularcandy trails and character meet
(42:38):
and greets as well.
Now, like I mentioned, they dohave a lot of food highlights.
They're going to have festivalbooths as well as bloody
cocktails, zombie themedsliders, spooky cupcakes, and
clove cocktails at the HallowScream.
But During the Spooktacular,again included with your
admission, you can get pumpkincookies and fall-themed snacks.
So again, not near as scary ofsnacks.
(43:00):
Do you guys have any finalthoughts?
Which is the one that would beyour preference?
I think we know what Crystal'sresponse is going to be.
I'm going to Mickey's everytime.
I, too, am a Mickey's girl.
I love Mickey's.
Not so scary.
Give me the Sanderson sisters.
Let them keep their scaryhouses.
I'm torn because I love,obviously, I love Disney World
(43:20):
and I love Magic Kingdom and Ilove Halloween.
Margie, if you didn't realize,I'm a Halloween baby, so I grew
up loving all things Halloweenand I love, it's definitely my
favorite holiday of the year.
I definitely want to tryHalloween Horror Nights, but I
feel like And once I experienceit, it's something that I
wouldn't want to do again.
But if I had to pick between thetwo, I'm probably going to lean
(43:42):
towards Not So Scary HalloweenParty.
It's because I can't helpmyself.
I'm such a Disney person.
And the funny thing is, is I'm aUniversal person all day long.
But give me Disney Halloweenover Universals all day long.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, if you don't liketo be scared, Halloween Horror
Nights is not, you definitelywant to stay away.
And again, SeaWorld, poor thing,it's a bad rap.
(44:04):
It's just out there, but it'sfun.
It's a great way to dip your toein if you're not sure you're
going to like Halloween HorrorNights.
And we always like to seem toalways add SeaWorld.
It's a fun place to go.
Awesome.
I just love that there's so manyoptions because there's no one
size fits all.
So you could do a combo of anyof these and make it work for
you if you're down there too.
(44:25):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday, Margie.
We can't wait to have you onmore episodes.
I enjoyed it.
Thanks for having me.
And we hope everyone enjoyed theepisode and the rundown of the
different Halloween options.
Hope you all have a fantasticweek.
Bye.
Bye.
(44:52):
Thanks for tuning in to anotherepisode of Wonderlust and
Wishes.
If you enjoyed today's episode,don't forget to subscribe and
leave us a review on yourfavorite podcast platform.
And remember, the world is fullof wonders waiting to be
explored.
Until next time, happy travels.
Bye for now.
Welcome to Wanderlust and Wishes, the
podcast where we explore theworld one destination at a time.
I'm Julie.
And I'm Crystal.
As travel agents withFantastical Vacations, we are
here to share our passion fortravel and help you turn your
wanderlust into reality.
From hidden gems to bucket listadventures, join us as we dive
into the sights, sounds, andstories of our favorite
(00:20):
destinations.
So grab your passport, pack yourbags, and let's embark on this
journey together.
Hi everybody, welcome to episode63 of Wanderlust and Wishes.
Today we're going to talk aboutall of the Halloween offerings
at three of the Orlando themeparks, SeaWorld, Disney World,
(00:45):
and Universal Orlando.
We also have our friend andfellow agent Margie Reynolds on
today to help us get throughthis episode with all the fun
things.
But first, we have a little bitof news.
You've heard us talk before thatDisney Cruise Line does not
offer any real discounts.
And when they do, they're halffake discounts.
(01:05):
They're not really discounts.
They're basically letting youpay fewer dollars up front.
Yeah.
So they kind of surprised us.
They are doing a limited timeoffer, 50% off your third and
fourth guests on selectsailings.
Some things of note.
This is available for the Magic,Wonder, Dream, Fantasy, and
(01:26):
Wish.
between October 3rd and March30th of 2026.
So no treasure, no destiny, noadventure.
Must be booked by October 12thof this year.
It excludes any discounted roomsalready.
It also does not includeconcierge staterooms or suites.
We can stack our onboard creditwith this.
(01:48):
So this is a great time tocruise.
It does not include every singlesailing on all these ships, but
most of them.
It's a fantastic offer.
It really is.
I'm out there scrolling,looking.
Yes.
Well, and basically, you'regetting that fourth guest free.
So, yes.
Find me on a cruise soon,hopefully.
Are you ready to get started?
(02:10):
Let's do it.
Just a quick little disclaimerbefore we dive in.
Most times mentioned, we'vetried to update as best we
could, but they might be fromlast year, so...
And they are subject to change.
So just double check your appsand maps and get the most
accurate up to date info the dayof your trip day before.
All right.
Let's start with UniversalOrlando Resort.
(02:31):
Their offering is HalloweenHorror Nights.
You might also see it as HHNjust because it's a mouthful.
Horror has always been at thevery core of Universal's DNA, so
Halloween Horror Nights bringsthat legacy to life, placing you
inside your favorite scarymovies, twisted original
stories, and nightmarish worlds.
(02:51):
These are specialty after-hourstickets are needed for Halloween
Horror Nights.
So if you purchase your daytimetickets like you typically would
to go to Universal Orlando andyou want to do this, you would
have to purchase separatetickets for this event.
The Nights are from August 29ththrough November 2nd.
It starts at 6.30 and goes to 2a.m.
(03:15):
The pricing ranges from$83 to$123 per person, with the most
expensive being the Saturdaybefore Halloween.
This is at Universal StudiosFlorida.
And this year they've gotseveral houses that they've
already told us about.
We've got Fallout and just abrief description of all these.
You've got Face Your Fears in apost-apocalyptic LA devastated
(03:38):
by nuclear war based on the hitshow Fallout.
You'll travel into the vaultsand be attacked by raiders
alongside Lucy.
You'll escape the wasteland ofPhilly and confront the
formidable bounty hunter, theGhoul.
You'll even encounter Maximuswith the Brotherhood of Steel
and see T-60 Power Armor.
I don't know any of that.
I don't know what any of thatis.
(03:58):
Right over my head.
We watched the first season, soI know kind of.
Yeah, if you watch the show,you'll know what that means.
Yep.
All right, the next one isJason's Universe, in where you
come face-to-face with theiconic horror villain, Jason
Voorhees, and you step into theterrifying world of this silent
killer, flee through the woodsand into his sinister shack,
(04:18):
enter the summer camp where hisgruesome legend began.
Jason is back, and nothing cansave you now.
Is this Universal's, like, oneof their characters?
that is only for HalloweenHorror Nights, or is this a
different Jason?
Isn't this Jason from Jason the13th, Friday the 13th?
Yeah, it's Jason.
Yes, it's Jason Voorhees.
He's the one that wears the skimask.
Ski mask.
Who was actually not theoriginal killer on the first
(04:40):
one.
Great.
I don't remember that.
But yeah, he has a ski mask andcarries around a machete.
Next, we have Terrifier.
Nothing can prepare you for thisgrisly haunted house based on
all three of Damien Leon'sTerrifier films.
Try your luck against sadisticArt the Clown, So I think
(05:02):
Halloween and clowns, like scaryHalloween clowns, they're
terrifying.
So this would probably likescare the crap out of me.
Yeah, I agree.
I do not like clowns in aHalloween setting.
Oh, Terry.
Oh, Artista, A Spanish Haunting.
(05:25):
In 19th century Spain, atortured artist moves to an
isolated country manor to seekinspiration.
Instead, as he wanders theghostly hallways and haunted
conservatory, malevolent spiritsbreak into our realm through his
paintings.
He tries to resist, but the artcomes to life and possesses him.
Now you're about to be part ofthe permanent.
That seems terrifying as well.
Well, I don't go to Halloween.
(05:48):
I would love it.
I mean, I would love it, butthat sounds terrifying that art
comes to life and basicallycomes to kill you.
Okay, the next is Hatchet andChains, Demon Bounty Hunters.
In this Old West town, all hellis breaking loose.
Masses of red-hot lava demonsare crawling out of hell's well
and trying to possess everyone,melting everything in their
path.
As you flee from the post officeto the bank, the prison to the
(06:10):
graveyard, your only hope isHatchet and Chains with their
arsenal of mystical weapons.
I might be able to handle thisone.
Yeah, that one doesn't sound asbad, although...
This one, uh-uh.
Yeah, the next one, Dolls, Let'sPlay Dead.
You're about to becomedoll-sized and witness the
unnatural creations of a twistedlittle girl.
You'll be hunted by fashiondolls.
She's melded and burned.
(06:31):
Then you'll go under her bed andbe stalked by toys she stitched
together.
You'll end in her creepyVictorian dollhouse where undead
whores await you.
That sounds so scary.
That sounds terrible also.
I'm going to die.
I'm literally going to die.
Aren't you so excited you get todo all of these, Crystal?
No, I've never been.
And I'm going.
We'll talk about that in aminute.
(06:53):
But I'm I'm like shaking overhere.
I don't know.
But the next one is the grave offlesh.
Welcome to your funeral wherethings are about to go from bad
to worse.
You'll enter your grave and thenpass through the gates of the
underworld where flesh eaterswho feed on the dead will be
waiting for you.
Get lost in their cavernousunderground world where an
(07:15):
endless gauntlet of flesh eatingcreatures will hunt you
mercilessly for all eternity.
Sounds a little bit like themummy there.
Yeah, it does.
Yeah.
The next one is Gaelkin,Monsters of the North.
In a remote northern village, awicked being rises from the
dead, bringing a horde ofmonsters and demons from the
fjords to wreak havoc on thetownspeople.
(07:37):
You'll fare icy, horned, winged,and wolfish fiends that
gradually merge into one gianthorror.
Then you'll try to escape thebelly of the beast.
None of these sound super fun.
That one sounds kind of cool.
That one sounds more interestingto me.
So the other thing thatHalloween Horror Nights has.
So it has the haunted houses,which are, of course, like a
(07:58):
huge thing.
And you walk through and you getthe life scared out of you.
But in a fun way, right?
But they also have what's calledscare zones.
So the streets of UniversalStudios turn into scare zones.
They turn them into scare zones.
They're open-air terror arenaswhere creatures roam freely,
waiting to scare the soul out ofyou.
(08:19):
Think demons, mutants, and thoselovely chainsaw-wielding
maniacs.
So this is where they mightchase you with a chainsaw.
And to me, that's scarier thanthe house, if somebody's running
after me with a chainsaw.
And everyone needs to keep inmind that these scare actors do
not touch you.
So please don't touch them back,but do not hit them.
They are just there to scareyou, and it's all in good fun.
(08:40):
So don't worry.
They're not going to grab you.
They're not going to touch you.
That's good to know.
The first one is The Origins ofHorror, entering a decaying
conservatory of twisted vineswhere artists carve tributes to
Halloween Horror Nights 34.
You'll encounter monstrouscrows, gargoyles, and more.
Another one is Masquerade Dancewith Death.
You're invited to a masqueradeball where bloodthirsty vampires
(09:01):
lurk behind ornate disguises.
When their masks fall, youbecome their prey.
A couple others.
You've got The Cat Lady ofCrooked Lane.
I can see all these cats.
It says you'll travel down aspooky winding path to a
mysterious home wheretrick-or-treaters are
transformed into feral felines.
Be careful or you'll be next.
(09:21):
That just sounds reallyinteresting.
Yeah.
And then you've got mutations.
Toxic 20s.
In a bustling 1920sneighborhood, a buzzcon truck
with radioactive cargo crashesinto a mobster getaway car,
sending the city into toxicpandemonium.
It mutates everyone in its path,including you.
(09:42):
Yikes.
In addition to the scare zonesand houses, they have live
entertainment throughout thenight.
So if you need a little bit of abreak from getting jump scares
and things like, you know,jumping out at you, they have
some live shows that deliverhigh energy performances with
fire stunts, dark humor, and jawdropping effects.
So a couple of those are theNightmare Fuel Circus of Decay.
(10:05):
This once vibrant circus hasfestered into an unending
nightmare.
It's a sinister spectacle ofpyro aerialist and illusions.
Secondly, they haveHauntophonic, A Ghoulish
Journey.
A ghost story is rising from itswatery grave to haunt the
Universal Studios Lagoon,featuring towering water screens
and eerie music.
(10:26):
That sounds really cool ifthey're doing it on the water.
That sounds really fun to me.
That sounds neat.
We saw The Nightmare Fuel lastyear.
That's the only reason I went tothe Halloween Horror Nights.
And it is just an absolutelyfantastic show.
Those performers are trulyamazing.
The skill set is just thisworld.
That's awesome.
They also have some streetexperiences.
(10:47):
So basically, that'll just bezombie car hops, undead DJs, and
more.
They don't have all the detailsout about these.
So those will be released soonas it's starting within, I
think, about the next month.
And it's not specificallyadvertised as part of Halloween
Horror Nights, but you dotypically see Death Eaters in
(11:07):
Diagon Alley during the HHNevents.
And that, to me, is...
terrifying as well, because I'ma huge Harry Potter fan.
And if you all know DeathEaters, they're so evil and
horrible, horrible people.
And so having them out withtheir mask on is terrifying to
me.
We didn't specify this, but ifyou can't tell, they recommend
13 and older for this event.
(11:30):
If you have brave younger kidsand know that they can handle
it, great, go for it.
There'll be younger kids there.
But And if you have kids over 13and you don't think they can
handle it, 13 is not a magicalnumber.
Don't take them if you don'tthink they're going to enjoy
this.
Yeah, true.
But they have a huge disclaimeron their site.
Pretty much every page that hasanything about Halloween Horror
Nights has that disclaimerbecause I'm sure that they've
(11:53):
had people bring their kidsbefore not realizing it.
Maybe they went to Mickey'sNot-So-Scary Halloween Party and
came over to Halloween HorrorNights thinking it was going to
be something similar and it'scompletely different.
It's You know, it's just a totaldifferent vibe.
All right, let's talk about someadd-ons that you can get.
There is one called the PremiumScream Night.
So one night only, Thursday,August 28th, 2025.
(12:17):
It's$415 per person.
Be one of the first to scream atHalloween Horror Nights at this
exclusive event.
So you enjoy access to hauntedhouses with shorter wait times
and entry to haunted housesstaggered by group.
You can treat yourself to allyou care to enjoy select food
and non-alcoholic beverages.
New for this year, takeadvantage of the only
opportunity to wear costumesduring HHN.
(12:37):
No mask allowed.
One souvenir credential andlanyard per guest and
complimentary self-parking mustshow valid Scream Night
admission for that.
They also offer an express passfor Halloween Horror Nights.
This starts at$159.99 perperson.
And this is over and above thecost of your ticket.
You still have to have a ticket,but you can start using it right
away or you can come back tohouses later if you want to
(12:58):
repeat houses.
The lines do go down betweenmidnight and 2 a.m.
So like if you wanted to use itearly when there are a lot of
lines and then come back and doit, but you can go to each house
one time.
Now they also offer a Behind theScreams Unmasking the Terror
Tour.
This is a daytime tour withoutthe scare actors.
And this starts at$99.99 aperson.
(13:18):
And I did this two years ago.
I'm a little chicken, and so wewanted to see all the houses.
And the kids, I think, werehoping that if they got me there
during the day, that I would bemore likely to go with them at
night because they do love goingto the Halloween Horror Nights.
And the Behind the Screams is adaytime guided tour that allows
guests to explore the hauntedhouses with the lights on.
(13:39):
This provides abehind-the-scenes look at the
intricate details, storylines,and scare tactics used in the
houses.
Now, these tours are offered inboth three-house or six-house
options.
And of course, the price isgoing to depend on the day and
the tour chosen.
And then the theme parkadmission is not required for
this tour.
They actually walk you inthrough the old Blue Man group
tour so that you can come inwithout a daytime ticket.
(14:01):
They will tell you when you cantake pictures during this tour.
You can take photographs duringselect haunted houses, but they
will also tell you when to putyour cameras away.
You're not allowed to takepictures.
You do get an exclusivecommemorative pin.
for each guest, and it includesa buffet lunch with the
six-house tour.
That's pretty cool that they'reincluding lunch now.
(14:22):
Yeah.
It's a long time.
I mean, they do a good job ofwalking you through and
explaining everything at thesehouses.
We did the three-house tour, andit was easily three hours.
Wow.
So you do six, you're going toget hungry in there.
Yeah, for sure.
They must go through a lot ofdetail.
They really do.
They're walking you through thesetup, the attention to detail
(14:42):
that they put in these houses.
And remember, most people aregoing through at night in the
dark, but the attention todetail that they put in these
houses is just over the topincredible.
This is just, that's one of thereasons it's been so successful
is because they don't spare asingle thing.
Even if you can't really see itall the time, that one person's
going to catch it and they'regoing to make sure that the
details are correct.
Yeah.
(15:02):
I mean, I think that one of thefirst things when Crystal was
describing the the event itselfis it puts you in that story.
It puts you in that like horrormovie, you know, I mean, it puts
you in the story itself and youhave to have all the details to
make that seem real.
Something else that they offeris the RIP tour.
So similar to a VIP tour, thisis actually what I'm going to
(15:23):
do.
And I'm, I'm freaking outalready.
I really wish that you couldhave a GoPro on like the entire
time, but I know you can't.
UNKNOWN (15:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (15:32):
You wouldn't be able to hear anything.
I'm not going to have a voiceleft.
I want the person in front ofher to have a GoPro turned
around so we can look atCrystal's face.
I'm going with enough agentsthat I'm sure they'll have a
huge recap of how just freakedout Crystal was the whole time.
I asked someone to bring me anadult diaper and make sure to
drop it off for me that date.
So we'll see if that happens.
(15:54):
This starts at$389.99 perperson.
There are a couple differentoptions, but you basically get
front of line access with guide.
You skip the regular and expresspass lines, gaining immediate
entry of haunted houses andselect attractions.
And then some of the benefitsare you, so you're saving time,
the guided tour, like I said, soyou have a dedicated guide that
(16:15):
leads your group, providinginsights, tips, and behind the
scenes info about the houses andscare zones.
You get reserved seating for thelive shows.
You get a specialty food anddrink.
Some include a pre-tourreception with the food and
drink, then this is where itkind of varies.
There's private or shared tours.
So private, you gather yourgroup and you guys get to choose
(16:38):
exactly what you do.
And a shared, you could have agroup of two or three or four
and meet up with another groupof four or however.
And then your tour guide kind ofdictates based on everybody's
wants and needs.
Valid parking, exclusive accessto...
You gain exclusive access toareas not available to regular
(16:59):
guests, like backstage tours,exclusive VIP areas.
And then it's just an enhancedexperience and you have a
flexibility.
So it can be a great way torevisit your favorite houses.
Great way to hit all the housesin a night.
I've heard that a lot of times,like if you go just like on a
typical night and you don't haveExpress Pass or you don't have
(17:19):
an RIP tour, it can be hard tovisit all the houses.
Like there's no way you're goingto visit all of them.
So you kind of have to decidewhich ones you want to go to.
So like Crystal was saying, thisis a good option where you
actually would get to go to allof the houses.
It's more expensive, but if youlook at it as you're going to
have to visit multiple timeswith a regular ticket to be able
(17:41):
to get to all the houses, thisactually probably doesn't end up
being that overly expensive.
You're able to hit all thehouses and you also get food and
drink.
that you don't get with theregular ticket.
So this is a really fantasticoption for anybody that wants to
go and make the most out of it.
With the VIP, if you love onehouse and want to go through it
five times, you can go throughit five times.
(18:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
And I think like Julie, like youwere saying, if you went twice
and got Express Pass bothnights, I think it would easily
pay for it.
Oh, absolutely.
Agree.
Another option that you canpurchase, another add-on, is the
Scream Early ticket.
park entry starts at 3 p.m.
This starts from$55 per personand it is an add-on to your
(18:24):
regular ticket.
So you'd have to purchase aregular HHN ticket and then you
would add this$55 ticket on topof it.
The Scream Early Ticket allowsearly entry So this is just,
yeah, this is just an easy wayto kind of get in early and make
(18:46):
the most of your time.
The nice part of this, we'vedone this because we have annual
passes.
So we don't have to pay for it.
If you actually have a ticketfor that day, you're already in.
This is for people that didn'twant to buy a full ticket, just
wanted to come in early.
It's great because you can getin that line and you can knock
(19:07):
out two, sometimes even threehouses before they open up the
front to let everybody else in.
Because you're at the very frontof the line of the first house
that you're going to do with thestay in stream.
So if you don't really want tospend the money for a full
express pass, this is kind of alittle bit cheaper way to get
those first couple of housesdone very inexpensively.
(19:28):
Yeah, this is kind of like apaid for like early drop.
Exactly, exactly.
So like Margie was saying, youget priority access into these
holding areas where they putguests that have this ticket to
wait on the haunted houses.
And it's just a good way to geta head start on the night.
(19:49):
So there's a couple of passesthat kind of like season passes
or like an annual pass typescenario for those that want to
go a lot to Halloween HorrorNights.
Right now, there are two passesthat are still available.
There are actually additionalpasses that are already sold
out.
So these passes are Knights Rushof Fear Pass.
(20:13):
It starts at$1.99 per person.
This allows you up to 18 visitsto Halloween Horror Nights.
Obviously, this depends on whenyou purchase it because there
are selected nights that you'reallowed to use it.
So if you purchase it later inthe season, you may not actually
get 18 visits.
The frequent fear pass, thisstarts at$249.99 per person.
(20:35):
And this allows you up to 30visits per season, so per HHN
season.
And again, this is going todepend on when you purchase the
ticket or when you purchase thepass, you may not get in 30
visits.
The other two that were offeredare There was a frequent fear
plus pass that was 40 nights andan ultimate frequent fear pass
(20:55):
that was 48 nights.
But they're both, as I wassaying, already sold out for the
season.
So that kind of gives you anidea of how popular this event
is, that if they've already soldout of those passes, that there
are a lot of people that lovethis event.
They have a lot of specialtyfood here, and you're going to
get themed booths like the pizzafries and the twisted taters and
the Blumhouse specialtycocktails and, you know,
(21:17):
Stranger Things and ChuckyIP-themed snacks.
You're also going to have thetribute store with merchandise
that's exclusive to HalloweenHorror Nights.
So you could do this, you know,with your Scream Early Pass.
Just a couple of pro tips forwhen you're going to the houses.
If you really would rather notget super scared, go with a
(21:38):
group.
Getting the daylight scared outof you is a lot more fun when
you're with your friends.
And like universal visits duringthe day, use a lanyard to hold
your ticket and keep just asmall bag like a crossbody or
fanny pack.
That makes it much easier goingthrough.
If you want the lower crowds andthe cheaper pricing, go early in
the season.
Late August, early September isusually your best bet.
(22:00):
eat before the event and thentake a snack break when the
times are really high.
A lot of people don't get theresuper early and they might not
stay super late.
So that's when it's the busiest.
So if you can get that earlyscreen pass, get there early
into a couple of houses, stop,take a break, get something to
eat or drink, and then go backafter about 11, 30, 12 o'clock.
Last year, my daughter was ableto walk into pretty much every
(22:22):
single house after 12, 30 andgot all 10 done without a pass.
So keep that in mind.
When did she go?
Was it in September?
It was in September.
Yep.
And something fun to do is ifyou know you're going, you know
the themes of the houses, watchthe movies that are featured in
these haunted houses so you kindof know the storylines before
you go in.
And if it rains, you're goingthrough haunted houses.
(22:42):
Just run to the next house.
You won't get too drenched.
They don't shut them down.
They don't shut them down forbad weather, do they?
They do not.
And actually, the lines go downsignificantly.
So it's a great time to getlower lines.
You might walk through thehouses a little wet, but it's a
nice way to get the lineslowered.
And then make a plan.
Don't just go...
(23:04):
house to house to house to houseand then miss the one that you
really, really wanted to see.
It's not that bad walking acrossthe park.
Maybe get a map ahead of time ofwhere the houses are and your
plan of attack.
The least busy restrooms are theones by Animal Actors and
Transformers because if you'reenjoying all those adult
beverages, you're going todefinitely need those restrooms.
And then they have a blinky cup.
(23:26):
What this is, is it does lightup.
It comes in two different sizes.
And if you get the cup, everytime you get a refill, you get a
a discount on it.
And then you have a souvenir totake home at the end of the
show.
But do not, like Crystal wassaying earlier, do not show up
in a costume.
You are not allowed to wear acostume.
Absolutely no masks.
There will be people with somemakeup a little bit, but again,
(23:48):
they have the right to denyentrance.
So if you're pushing the line,be aware.
You don't want it to ruin yournight.
The only exception is that veryfirst night, premium spring
night, they do allow costumes.
Again, no masks.
All right, this next section isall for me.
Tips for those nervous aboutHHN.
Start as early as possible.
Daylight makes everything seemless scary.
(24:10):
Start with less scary houses.
I don't think I get an option onthat.
Walk in the middle of yourparty, which will be me.
I'll be like clenched ontoeverybody around me.
Wear ear protection.
I've heard this helps.
Don't look at your phone inscare zones.
This makes you a target.
If you walk on the side of thescare zones versus the middle,
that's also a good way to kindof skirt the scary and then
(24:33):
consider doing behind thescreens like Margie.
So we talked about the detailsfor that earlier.
And then one other little thingis for CityWalk.
They turn the Red Coconut Clubinto the Dead Coconut Club.
And it's just fun themed for HHNwith cool photo ops inside.
So it's a fun little hangout inCityWalk if you are around and
(24:54):
you don't necessarily need aticket to go there.
So it's a really good tip towear ear protection because that
can really help with theoverstimulation you know all the
noise can definitely at leastyou know for I think for most
people it can overstimulate youand not having it be so loud can
(25:14):
maybe help a little bit my onlyworry with that is that would be
very that somebody would sneakup on me but yeah otherwise I
can see where that could behelpful oh boy I need all the
prayers that you're willing tosend me.
We are eager to hear all aboutyour, your RIP tour, Crystal.
I know I am.
I'm so, I'm so excited.
(25:34):
I'm so jealous and excited.
This is definitely something Iwant to do, but I'm, I'm kind
of, I'm waiting.
I really honestly, likeseriously thought about like,
you know, jumping in onCrystal's trip, but I think I'm,
I'm waiting on Ella to turn to,to get like one more year under
her belt.
Cause she'll be 13 next year.
And I know they don't, Theydon't necessarily restrict it,
(25:54):
but I think that it would be, Ithink, giving her one more year
and make sure that she's readybefore we go.
I think she would love it.
Okay, so we're going tocompletely switch gears now
because we're going to head overto Walt Disney World where
everything is, you know, magicaland fun and it's not so scary.
It's all about Halloween, butit's not a very scary Halloween.
(26:18):
So if you have kiddos or evennot kiddos, like Margie said, if
you have just people in generalthat don't enjoy getting the
life scared out of them, this isa way to enjoy Halloween and all
the fun things without it beingsuper scary.
So this event is called Mickey'sNot So Scary Halloween Party.
It is a specialty after hoursevent.
(26:39):
So similarly to HHN, if you goto the park during the day, if
you have a day ticket afterHalloween, seven o'clock.
I think it's around 630.
I think they start kickingpeople out of the parks if you
don't have a ticket to the NotSo Scary Halloween Party.
And then this is at MagicKingdom.
There are some things that youcan, we'll talk through some of
these things probably in moredetail, but there are some
(27:01):
things that you can add on.
You can add on PhotoPass MagicShot.
So if you have your MemoryMaker, there's tons of options
throughout the parks for thisparty that are specific to the
Halloween Party.
There's obviously going to beparty exclusive merch.
And there's also just ingeneral, there's all the
Halloween merch, which they arealready starting to release and
(27:22):
has me wanting to get in my carand drive eight hours down to
Orlando to buy the pumpkinshaped Squishmallow, the Mickey
pumpkin head shape.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When I was looking through doingnotes yesterday and I saw it and
I was like, I need that.
UNKNOWN (27:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:39):
And so, of course, this includes apparel, pens,
cups, just pretty much any kindof collectibles.
They always have popcornbuckets, the specialty popcorn
buckets.
This is not specific to theparty, but they'll have those as
well.
And then you can also add on thedessert party to your Halloween
party ticket as well.
(27:59):
And then they, of course, have afoodie guide because it wouldn't
be Walt Disney World without afoodie guide.
And they do highlight the food.
So they've got specialty treatslike Jack Skellington mousse and
Hades hot dog, pumpkincheesecake and funnel cake.
You can experience Prefix Partyexclusive menu at some locations
like Be Our Guest orCinderella's Royal Table.
(28:20):
Like Julie mentioned, afireworks dessert party.
This is a great way to get greatviewing and a little bit of
treats.
You can do before, after, orduring.
And they'll have some sweet anda few savory snacks.
But I always kind of recommendeat beforehand.
You're paying for this party.
There's great low wait times.
I hate to waste a good meal whenI paid for a specialty meal.
(28:41):
So we eat beforehand and thenjust go straight through and
enjoy the snacks.
And speaking of snacks, theyalso have Trick-or-treat trails.
Oh my goodness.
Bring your backpack.
Bring a pillowcase.
Bring a ice chuck because theywill give you so much candy, you
will go crazy.
We brought in a frozen waterbottle last Halloween party and
(29:04):
kept it in our backpack to keepthe candy cool because we got so
much.
And they have the good candy.
They have the M&Ms and thechocolate bars.
But they also have special treatbags that are allergy-friendly.
And you just get tokens and youcan redeem that for all these
wonderful allergy friendlytreats as well.
And those treat centers are onLiberty Square and on Main
(29:26):
Street.
It's not a Disney Halloweenparty without a fun parade.
So they have the Boo to YouParade featuring the Headless
Horseman, Making Friends inCostume, the Waltzing Ghosts,
Disney Princesses, and ofcourse, the villains.
It's also where you'll see theiconic gravediggers with the
shovels sparking on the road.
(29:46):
You can get into the spirit whenyou attend this frightfully fun
parade.
Mickey's Boo to You HalloweenParade begins in Frontierland at
8.15 and 11.15 and ends on MainStreet, USA.
So it just follows the regularparade route.
It will fill up.
Our favorite spots are usuallynear like the wall statue in
front of the castle or down MainStreet because there'll be
projections beforehand and stuffgoing on in front of the castle.
(30:09):
So if you want to do both andjust kind of camp and set up you
can do that max power line willappear before around town square
and main street so he's usuallya good chunk ahead of the actual
parade so if you want to seepower line make sure you're
paying attention and the secondparade is usually less crowded
especially for you'll have likeall the little kids do the first
(30:31):
one and then they're usuallydone and head out by 11 15
something else you're going tosee along main street the
cadaver dance do theirbarbershop quartet, that's
always neat to see.
You also have special charactermeet and greets.
In the past, they've had Poohand Friends and Special Costume.
For popular characters like Jackand Sally, they're at the front
(30:55):
of the park and they have a hugefollowing and a very long wait
time.
If this is something that youwant to see, you really need to
go there as soon as possible,like get there first as soon as
you can.
because once the party kicksoff, the line will get really,
really long.
I suspect it's going to be worsethis year because Jack is new
(31:15):
and improved.
Yes, he has a new face.
Yeah.
Something else that's new thisyear is that Minnie and Mickey
are meeting together and they'regoing to be in their Halloween
costumes at Town Square Theater.
Minnie used to be at the back ofthe park in the Oh, what's it
called?
I always get this.
I always say this wrong.
The circus, the storybook circusarea.
(31:35):
She's usually back there, butnow she's going to be up front
with Mickey.
So that also might turn into.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking that also mightturn into a complete craziness
if having them together in theirHalloween costumes.
That line might get a littleridiculous as well.
And then we have the Hocus PocusVillain Spectacular.
That is a live stage show infront of Cinderella's Castle
(31:58):
starring the, of course, theinfamous.
Sanderson sisters and otherDisney villains like Hades,
Cruella, Jafar, Dr.
Facilier, and the Evil Queen.
The performance schedule duringAugust and September is 9.05
p.m.
and 10.35 p.m.
and midnight.
October, they will add anadditional time for the show at
(32:20):
7.35.
It wouldn't be Magic Kingdomwithout fireworks.
So they do a Disney's Not SoSpooky Spectacular.
And this is fireworks and castleprojections hosted by Jack
Skellington himself.
And Mickey and friends are goingto explore a haunted house led
by Zero, the ghost dog, and beon the lookout for Ursula and
the Queen of Hearts and evenOogie Boogie.
(32:41):
Now, this is scheduled nightlyat 10 p.m.
But keep in mind, if you'regoing to Magic Kingdom during
the day, because they are doingthis Not So Spooky Spectacular,
you will not get to see afireworks show if it is a party
night and you do not have partytickets.
So I'm going to throw that inthere.
Some other things that they havegoing on around, they have a
(33:01):
Disney Junior Jam over at CosmicRays.
They're going to have a danceparty for some of the younger
guests, and this is going to gofrom 7 p.m.
to midnight.
So you get a lot of kids gettingtheir dance on and meeting some
of the Disney Junior people.
And then last year, they hadsome grim grinning ghosts
singing in Frontierland.
So maybe we'll see some of thoseas well as, like Julie
(33:21):
mentioned, Mickey and Minnietogether.
You've got Storybook Circus istransformed into a happy haunt
for younger children.
Again, very, very not so scary,as the title says.
And then you're going to haveanother fun dance party based on
the film Zombies 4, Dawn of theVampires.
So look for that dance party aswell.
I will say that the DisneyJunior Jam would probably be the
(33:44):
only time that I would ever gointo Cosmic Ray.
Poor Cosmic Ray, such a bad rap.
It'd probably be the only timeI'd willingly go in there.
And I've been unfortunatelyforced, sorry, sorry, Disney,
but I've been forced to watchZombies 4.
So if you have any preteens ortweens, they'll be very
(34:07):
interested in that.
I watched it with my grandsonwho loves the zombies.
So we've seen all the zombiemovies.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My preteen was very interestedin whoever the new character is.
I think she thinks he's verycute.
So I think that's the onlyreason she was watching it.
Just a couple of tips as weround out Disney World.
(34:28):
Choose your date strategically.
August and September offer lowerprices and lighter crowds, but
be extremely hot and you canwear a costume to this party.
So be strategic about yourcostume.
Late October is more expensiveand the busiest because you're
nearing the season.
Arrive, I would say before 4p.m.
(34:48):
So you're in the park by 4 tomaximize park time.
You pick up your eventwristband, your trick-or-treat
bag and your map.
And then just kind of make apriority list of what you want
to do.
Focus on your entertainmentfirst.
Flying keys for candy canconsume a lot of time.
So save trick-or-treating towardthe end if you need to maximize
shows and rides.
There are a couple of rides thatusually don't stay open too
(35:09):
late, but most of them will andthey'll be shorter wait times
because you cannot use LightningLane Multipass during the party.
I also wanted to make a notethat Margie said that they took
a frozen water bottle to keeptheir candy cool because if you
go, especially in August orSeptember, your candy's probably
(35:30):
going to melt because it's sohot even in the evening hours.
Well, Disney keeps it in thefreezer before they even bring
it out to serve.
That's how hot it is.
So when you get it, it isfrozen, but if it is August, it
will start to melt.
I don't care how it started out.
Yeah, exactly.
So that kind of wraps up theNot-So-Scary Halloween Party.
(35:52):
We're going to move over toSeaWorld.
They have something as well.
It's called Hallowscreen, whichis an evening event, and then
they have something calledSpooktacular that is during the
day.
Margie has been to theSpooktacular event, so I
definitely want to hear a littlebit about her experience with
that.
We love SeaWorld.
It's tough to compare whenyou've got two amazing parks,
(36:14):
Universal and Disney, but Ithink SeaWorld often gets
overlooked, but we went, Ibelieve it was three years ago,
and didn't even know we weregoing to the Spooktacular.
And all kinds of fun things.
They had festival booths up, andyou could get a lanyard and get
discounted pricing to all thefood.
You could sample different foodsand different drinks, and they
(36:34):
had entertainment everywhere youturned around.
Plus, you could still walkthrough all the aquariums and
see it.
So it was a lot of fun.
We didn't do the trick-or-treattrails because my kids were a
and their costumes going throughthe trick-or-treat trails,
getting lots of candy.
And it was definitely decoratedfor the spooky season.
But it is similar to Mickey'sNot So Scary.
(36:56):
It is very kid-friendly.
It's decorated more fall thanhorror.
They save that for the HallowScream.
And they do hide the stuff thatwill scare children.
So the Spooktacular is a veryfamily-friendly game.
event that goes on, and that'sincluded.
All of that is included withyour daytime pass to SeaWorld
(37:17):
Orlando.
I was going to say that sinceyou went and you didn't realize
it, you must have purchased atypical day ticket, and it was
already included, so you didn'thave to do anything extra with
it.
Yep, that's correct.
The evening event is HelloScream.
So like we said, this is afterhours.
This is intense.
It's PG-13.
It actually started inWilliamsburg in 2000.
(37:38):
San Antonio joined and thechills in 2013, and then Orlando
in 2021.
In Orlando, an entire park withno respite from thrills and
haunts.
Orlando has five haunted houses,six scare zones, two roaming
hordes, five themed bars,electrifying live show, plus
never-before-seen surprises.
(37:58):
There's a lot going on.
I know.
Some of the houses.
The first one is the Rave Yard.
What looks like an abandonedcemetery is anything but quiet.
The undead have taken over,turning crumbling tombstones
into dance floors and mausoleumsinto neon-lit party zones.
As the bass drops and thegraveyard pulses with light, the
dead rise for one reason only,to party forever.
The music never stops, the deadnever sleep, and if you're not
(38:21):
careful, you'll be the next tojoin their eternal rave.
I might be able to handle that.
That's hilarious that it'scalled the rave yard.
That made me giggle.
That's funny.
The next house is thecollector's curse.
Ooh, creepy.
The next one is Farm 51.
(38:59):
That one seems pretty creepy.
Now, they did not give usdescriptions on all of them, so
I'm going to finish up withnumber four, Water's Edge
Wellness Center.
That kind of sets the tone.
Once a haven of serenity andrejuvenation nestled along the
(39:20):
mist-shrouded shores of CentralLake, the Water's Edge Wellness
Center now stands abandoned, itstranquil promise replaced by
unspeakable terror.
What was once a sanctuary hasbecome a place of unspeakable
terror where the boundarybetween the living and the dead
is disturbingly thinned.
Scare zone number one, CannibalHarbor.
Once a bustling port, it hastransformed into a realm of
(39:41):
primal fear with cannibalisticmariners proud for new victims.
Gross.
The next one is BloodlightDistrict.
Beware of those who walk thestreets of this borough.
They are out for blood and readyto paint town red.
They also have, as mentionedbefore, they have lots of
different themed barexperiences.
And then they have this showthat's called the Monster Stomp.
(40:03):
Yeah, that seems a little...
Jack the Ripper being the rockerand singing.
Yeah, that definitely seems alittle off-kilter there.
Yeah.
(40:25):
They don't keep all the ridesopen during this, but this is a
great way.
If you're not sure you want todo Halloween Horror Nights, it's
a much smaller version.
They have the five houses versusthe ten over at Halloween Horror
Nights, but also the price forthis is much lower.
It starts at just$34, and youcan really add multiples to that
and save a ton of money.
So, you know, doing that, justlike Halloween Horror Nights, no
(40:48):
costumes are allowed, but Ifyou're not sure, it's a great
way instead of spending a littlebit more money and getting there
and realizing you're only goingto do one house at Halloween
Horror Nights and call it a day.
Now, they are a sister park withBusch Gardens who does very
similar activities at their parkover in Tampa.
And you can actually bundletickets and get Busch Garden
tickets.
You can get daytime tickets thatinclude this and even resort
(41:12):
stay options.
They do bundle a lot of thisstuff so that you can check it
all out there at SeaWorld andeven at Busch Gardens.
I know they don't have anyhotels specifically that are
SeaWorld hotels, but do theyhave resorts or hotels in that
area that you've stayed in thatdo kind of where you can bundle
that a little bit?
They do.
They have partnerships withHilton.
(41:33):
I know Hilton has a vacation,grand vacation resort that is
usually part of the resorts thatthey couple it with, also the
double tree that is basically intheir parking lot.
And I believe the residence innis a Marriott property, and I
think they also have packages.
So you could even use yourloyalty points to stay really,
really close to the fund if youdidn't want to bundle it up as a
(41:54):
part of a package.
Yeah, I think we actually, lastyear, whenever...
We went to Universal.
We actually ended up going toUniversal, but we probably
should have just decided to doSeaWorld because my parents have
Hilton vacation points and westayed at the vacation club
that's there, the SeaWorld one.
We stayed in that property andit's really nice.
It's a really nice, really niceplace.
(42:16):
Margie also mentioned she kindof went into the Spooktacular.
So as she mentioned, that isincluded with park admissions.
I think that's a really nicebenefit.
But then the Hallow Scream, itis an after hours separated
ticket event.
There are several add-ons.
Hallow Scream Express Pass, youcan do behind the scene tours,
and then there are spectacularcandy trails and character meet
(42:38):
and greets as well.
Now, like I mentioned, they dohave a lot of food highlights.
They're going to have festivalbooths as well as bloody
cocktails, zombie themedsliders, spooky cupcakes, and
clove cocktails at the HallowScream.
But During the Spooktacular,again included with your
admission, you can get pumpkincookies and fall-themed snacks.
So again, not near as scary ofsnacks.
(43:00):
Do you guys have any finalthoughts?
Which is the one that would beyour preference?
I think we know what Crystal'sresponse is going to be.
I'm going to Mickey's everytime.
I, too, am a Mickey's girl.
I love Mickey's.
Not so scary.
Give me the Sanderson sisters.
Let them keep their scaryhouses.
I'm torn because I love,obviously, I love Disney World
(43:20):
and I love Magic Kingdom and Ilove Halloween.
Margie, if you didn't realize,I'm a Halloween baby, so I grew
up loving all things Halloweenand I love, it's definitely my
favorite holiday of the year.
I definitely want to tryHalloween Horror Nights, but I
feel like And once I experienceit, it's something that I
wouldn't want to do again.
But if I had to pick between thetwo, I'm probably going to lean
(43:42):
towards Not So Scary HalloweenParty.
It's because I can't helpmyself.
I'm such a Disney person.
And the funny thing is, is I'm aUniversal person all day long.
But give me Disney Halloweenover Universals all day long.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, if you don't liketo be scared, Halloween Horror
Nights is not, you definitelywant to stay away.
And again, SeaWorld, poor thing,it's a bad rap.
(44:04):
It's just out there, but it'sfun.
It's a great way to dip your toein if you're not sure you're
going to like Halloween HorrorNights.
And we always like to seem toalways add SeaWorld.
It's a fun place to go.
Awesome.
I just love that there's so manyoptions because there's no one
size fits all.
So you could do a combo of anyof these and make it work for
you if you're down there too.
(44:25):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday, Margie.
We can't wait to have you onmore episodes.
I enjoyed it.
Thanks for having me.
And we hope everyone enjoyed theepisode and the rundown of the
different Halloween options.
Hope you all have a fantasticweek.
Bye.
Bye.
(44:52):
Thanks for tuning in to anotherepisode of Wonderlust and
Wishes.
If you enjoyed today's episode,don't forget to subscribe and
leave us a review on yourfavorite podcast platform.
And remember, the world is fullof wonders waiting to be
explored.
Until next time, happy travels.
Bye for now.
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