2021 is proving to be an interesting one for Halloween: Universal is moving its Halloween Horror Nights back to its (more-or-less) normal operations, Disney has replaced its traditional Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with the slightly-pandemic-modified Disney After Hours Boo Bash, and SeaWorld transplanted its pre-existing Howl-O-Scream event to SeaWorld San Diego.
And, now, the company is doing the same with its flagship Orlando park.
Howl-O-Scream first began 23 years ago at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and has slowly spread throughout the rest of SeaWorld’s nationwide portfolio of theme parks. Now, with its arrival at SeaWorld Orlando, the annual event is not only completing its national expansion (well, minus the various water parks and the kid-centric Sesame Place, of course), it’s also helping to provide the most robust seasonal landscape for Central Floridians in quite some time.
And this diversity certainly holds for youngsters as well as adults. Just like at the San Diego location, Orlando will continue to throw its children-friendly Spooktacular during the day, offering a trick-or-treat trail, character meet-‘n-greets, and shows. Then, come nighttime, the adult-oriented Howl-O-Scream will kick into gear, serving up haunted houses and scare zones with a PG-13 emphasis on violence, blood, and gore. Given this neat division between times of the day and audiences, the two experiences are almost perfectly complementary – in California, the park is even divided geographically between the two, with its eastern side given over to the former and the western half being devoted to the latter.
Given that the company has already said that its new West Cost Howl-O-Scream will be largely informed by the success of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s rendition (which dates back to 1999, almost to the event’s very beginnings), one can safely assume that this will also be the case in Orlando – especially given how SeaWorld described it:
Evade angry haunts as they rampage through scare zones. Seek shelter indoors, only to find you’ve entered a house of horrors. Deepen the thrill with a nighttime coaster ride. Quench your thirst for fear at a fiendishly interactive bar. Feel the monstrous electricity of a live show.
(Speaking of Tampa’s event, the one thing we know about it so far is that haunted houses will return – a big announcement, since last year’s outing saw them be completely cut.)
Howl-O-Scream at SeaWorld Orlando will run for 27 nights, from September 10 to October 31, 2021.
Are you excited for SeaWorld’s Halloween expansion? Discuss Howl-O-Rama – or Spooktacular! – with other die-hard vacation-planners in our newly formed SeaWorld Community on Facebook.
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