A hint for folks doing Halloween celebrations at Theme Parks (TOURS)

Hi all. Here in FL, we have our share of theme parks, and most all have some kind of special Halloween celebration event. (heck even our zoos do!)

The two biggest ones (other than Disney, but that's kind of more geared for kids) are Halloscream (Busch Gardens) and Halloween Horror Nights (Universal Studios).

Usually, the wife and I hit both (Halloscream has better haunted houses, but HHN has the Bill and Ted show, which is always pretty fun). This year though, with the economy the way it is, we settled on just one (Halloscream) as it's the best value of the two (and close, so no hotel stay).

However, there is something about going to these kind of events, that a lot of people don't know about....TOURS.

At first glance or thought, these may seem way too pricey, or something just people with money do. It isn't really, when you stop and think about it. Here's a breakdown. (our Halloscream)

For Halloscream, tickets are generally about 30-40 bucks each, then you've got parking, which is another 12 bucks, so for almost $100 for a couple, you're in the gate. Sure, but now you've got an average wait for a haunted house of about an hour or more. If you're lucky, you'll get through maybe 3 of them, and spend the majority of your time in line.

If you get express passes (that get you in a shorter line, say about 15 min to a half hour wait), it will be another $35 each, so now you are $170 for a couple, and you're doing better, but still a lot of waiting (for 4 houses, you're still in line for up to 2 hours!). There are usually about 6-8 houses. (and you can likely forget about watching any more than one show).

Now, for $98 each, so total of about $200, you can get a nice tour. It includes the admission, parking, and even drinks along the way at drink stations. You get walked right to the front of any houses, rides (such as coasters), and reserved seating at shows. So, in 5 hrs, you can see ALL of the houses, ride each ride (usually even a favorite one twice), see the shows (and have good seats), for not too much more than what you would have spent even with the express passes!

Just wanted to share this, for those who enjoy this kind of thing. Myself, I hate lines, and at least here, the tour is a real value. HHN has tours too, but you do pay for the benefit (average about $60 more per person for the same tour, and no drinks). Still, much better than waiting an hour or so, just to go in a haunted house or ride.

reply to post by Gazrok


The Howl-O-Scream at the Busch Gardens in Virginia is better. All the haunted houses are better themed to the park's theme (Europe) and the lines are shorter. I usually go every year.

reply to post by Nosred


Well, no plans to go to VA if I can't even make it to Orlando, hehe...but interesting to know. The theme for us (a rocker gal who offs her boyfriends?) is kind of lame this year, but the houses are usually good, the shows are decent, and I like to watch my wife get all jumpy....

reply to post by Gazrok


The mascot for the VA one is the same every year, Jack-of-the-lantern. The houses are all European themed and some aren't even houses. One is out in the woods and goes through different scary parts of European history, another one is underneath a Pompeii themed water ride and takes place during another eruption of the volcanoe with ghosts jumping out at you and walls closing in on you, and in the wildlife reserve they have werewolves that hide and jump out at you (and since it's just a path and not a house there isn't a line for that). If you ever go to VA during October it's definitely worth a visit.

We had a lot of fun. They changed up the houses enough to be pretty interesting, and my wife got scared lots of times. The show was pretty good too, and they made an obvious effort to include more pop culture references....like the Bill and Ted show. They just need to step it up in terms of props and a bigger stage area (and they have places that would work).

The Fiends show is always decent, but really in need of a rewrite after all the years. They did add some male nurses for the ladies though... The T&A eye candy was a lot more this year...so that's cool. Definitely had a more adult feel than some of the previous years...

The tour was good, and definitely worth not being in the line. (the one for Shiekra was easily an hour and a half long).