A formidable fog has settled over SeaWorld Orlando for their third annual scare event, Howl-O-Scream.
Under the cloak of the night, the sinister sisters prevail, promising skull-shivering scares beyond your worst nightmares. Enter if you dare and escape if you can in the 3 new heart-stopping haunted houses plaguing this year’s event.
Our visit to Howl-O-Scream on September 22 was our first ever to this event.
Making it out of the houses is only the beginning, with 4 new scare zones expanding the siren’s eerie empire. From a petrifying pier to a toxic wasteland, experience the shadow-stalking fears that lie around every corner and reimagined frights all through the night.
For thrills alongside chills, guests can soar to death-defying heights on roller coasters such as Manta, Mako, Pipeline: The Surf Coaster and Ice Breaker. Guests can quench their thirst for fear at a fiendishly interactive bar or feel the monstrous electricity of a live show.
Howl-O-Scream 2023 features 5 haunted houses, 7 scare zones, more coasters and more unexpected frights than ever before — making it a can’t miss experience for haunt fans and thrill seekers alike.
Our experience of SeaWorld Orlando's Howl-O-Scream commenced with entry to the park through the dedicated event entrance which opened out into a well themed plaza complete with a shipping container styled central element with dancing monsters lining the top.
Loud rock styled music played to help build the mood whilst the park slowly made its transition from daytime to evening operations, but it wasn’t too long before the fences were removed, and we were permitted to enter the park to experience the event. The zone itself was a strong welcome to the park, however, we did feel it was a bit of a missed opportunity not to have some kind of acted or pyrotechnic signal that the event had begun.
This year’s Howl-O-Scream event includes 5 mazes and no fewer than 7 scare zones and is further complimented by shows, themed food and drink stalls and other spooky surprises to entertain and fright guests throughout the night. This is of course, in addition to the opportunity to ride their favourite attractions deep into the night, and we were particularly impressed with SeaWorld’s line up of roller coasters including their latest, Pipeline: The Surf Coaster.
The mazes themselves are large and have impressive sets, each with their own unique theme and feel. Scares within the mazes comprised primarily of ‘jump scares’ and we did note that many of the sound effects themselves were being played into the attractions through speakers as opposed to directly from the actors. Although each was themed differently, we did see a few special effects that were duplicated across mazes. It was clear that significant effort had been put into the decoration although at times the lighting made it noticeable that the sets finished not too far above guest’s heads with many of the internal building structures visible.
Whilst internally the spaces are impressive, we did find that their locations being outside the usual guest facing park areas did impact the immersion of several of the mazes. These locations ultimately resulting in the queues being in place across staff parking lots and away from the themed areas that park would usually want their guests to see. There were some unique elements to this year’s mazes but did feel that they could be further enhanced with additional scripting or storytelling to elevate the theatrical element of the experiences.
Away from the mazes, we were simply blown away by the park’s scare zones and felt that this was a strong area for this year’s event. With an abundance of actors and a frankly ridiculous amount of smoke, and light effects, these areas felt really immersive, with each section having a different theme which tied together nicely. Most of these areas filled the gaps neatly between attractions and helped make the park as a whole feel like it had experienced a full Halloween takeover - providing guests with a number of unique photo opportunities throughout their visit.
In addition to the zones, there was also a large area where a pop up dance show took place with rock style music and a finale with plenty of pyrotechnic effects which was very impressive. It is these features that we feel really help bring an event together, making the whole visit an experience as opposed to feeling like only a few sections of a park are involved.
Throughout the park there was a great selection of spooky themes food and drink and we particularly enjoyed sampling some of their cocktails. We went for the ‘Hex’ and ‘Darkness’ which were both delicious. In addition to these, there were a huge number of staff throughout the park selling ‘Blood-Bag’ cocktails which looked, and tasted great!
During the evening we were also able to take in the main event show ‘Monster Stomp – Slasher Alley’. This is a full-blown musical and dance stage show with a great sized cast singing through some of our favourite tunes set to a London gripped in fear of Jack the Ripper! The show itself lasted around 30 minutes and was a good opportunity to enjoy more Halloween themed fun away from rides and mazes.
With the night drawing to a close we opted to get a final ride on SeaWorld Orlando’s latest roller coaster, Pipeline. This new generation stand-up coaster was especially enjoyable during the night with its impressive lighting package and scare zone situated below.
The general atmosphere of the theme park during the event was really enjoyable, supported by guests and staff alike, making SeaWorld Orlando’s Howl-O-Scream a great Halloween event for all looking for an exciting, spooky themed fun filled night.
It should be noted that during our visit, we were able to enjoy all the scare zones, mazes and roller coasters with plenty of time to explore the rest of the park, without the need to purchase additional skip the line passes.
SeaWorld Orlando’s Howl-O-Scream runs select nights from September 8 to October 31.
For more information or to book tickets see here.
