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From Orlando's theme parks to Key West fantasy, Florida marks fall with some spooky events.
By JAY CLARKE
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 13, 2002
Halloween can be scary anywhere, but imagine super-powered villains roaming the city, mutants stalking the unwary and demons lying in wait in darkened passages.
Those are typical of the surprises that visitors encounter at the Universal Orlando theme park during its annual Halloween Horror Nights. After 11 years at Universal Studios, Horror Nights, one of the largest attractions of its kind in the country, has shifted to the company's adjoining Islands of Adventure park.
This event has become the largest seasonal entertainment attraction at Central Florida's theme parks.
Universal's creative folks have tailored the surprises to each of the five themed areas in Islands of Adventure. In Marvel SuperHero Island, for instance, supervillains such as Doctor Doom and Carnage roam the streets. Mutants -- half dinosaur, half human -- lie in wait amid the foliage of Jurassic Park Island. Medieval warriors equipped with chain saws buzz around the Lost Continent.
To make things scarier, the park will run the Jurassic Park river ride in complete darkness.
Of course, guests won't mind, because this scary stuff is what lures them to Halloween Horror Nights. This year, the event will have five new haunted mazes and two new live shows, including a different version of the popular Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Show.
The event takes place Thursday through Oct. 13, Oct. 16 through 20, Oct. 23 through 27 and Oct. 29 through Nov. 2. Tickets for the park are $49.95.
For more information, call (407) 363-8000 or go to themeparks.universalstudios.com. A few miles closer to the Tampa Bay area, Walt Disney World Resort has created Halloween doings, but they are aimed at preteens and are significantly tamer. About the spookiest element of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is an appearance by the Headless Horseman.
Disney's Halloween includes a nighttime showing of "Cinderella's Surprise Celebration," trick or treating throughout the park and parades in which kids can show off their "Boo-to-You" costumes. Adult tickets cost $29.95, and children ages 3 to 9 are $24.95. Tickets are $2 less if purchased in advance.
This year, the Disney event takes place Oct. 17, 20, 25, 27, 31 and Nov. 1.
Disney's big fall event will be an expanded version of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. For the first time in its seven years, the festival will feature a concert series in addition to tastings from more than 100 wineries, food booths, cooking demonstrations and special dinners.
Three concerts will be held daily during the festival's Oct. 19-Nov. 17 run; among the entertainers will be Mary Wilson of the Supremes, the Fifth Dimension and Chubby Checker. For information, call (407) 939-3463. Also on Disney's fall slate is the annual ABC Super Soap Weekend at Disney-MGM Studios. Stars from the daytime dramas All My Children, One Life to Live, Port Charles and General Hospital will be on hand. For information, call (407) 397-6808. General information on the Disney complex is at (407) 824-4321 or www.disneyworld.com. Orlando's other major park, Sea World, doesn't stage a Halloween event but offers trick-or-treating, a children's costume parade and story tellers during the Oct. 26-27 weekend.
The big news at Sea World is the new restaurant in which visitors can dine with a floor-to-ceiling pane of glass separating them from about 50 sharks. The Sharks Underwater Grill, in the park's Shark Encounter attraction, offers a menu blending Caribbean and Florida fare.
It's not the only Sea World site where you can dine with marine life: A poolside buffet that overlooks the killer whale attraction opened in June. Dine With Shamu guests can mingle with the trainers and watch the whales eat their lunch. The meal is $28 for adults and $16 for children 3 to 9.
For more information: (407) 351-3600 or www.seaworld.com. Key West is gearing up for its annual Halloween blowout, Fantasy Fest. It's a wacky and sometimes raunchy celebration that fills the town in late October.
This year's festival, which runs from Oct. 18 to 26, includes such unusual events as the Pet Masquerade and Parade, for which pets are expected to dress as people and people as pets, on Oct. 23.
Check out the Oct. 24 costume competition, in which all sorts of weird outfits will be onstage. Some of the contestants will appear during a street fair Oct. 25, but the festival showstopper is the Fantasy Fest Parade the night of Oct. 26: More than 60,000 spectators view this outrageous procession of costumed -- and sometimes uncostumed -- paraders.
For more information: call toll-free 1-800-352-5397 or on the Web go to www.fantasyfest.net or www.fla-keys.com. Fort Lauderdale is gearing up for a busy fall. Its International Boat Show, the largest in the world, will showcase more than 1,600 vessels from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4. The International Film Festival, showing independent movies from around the world, runs from Oct. 18 to Nov. 24. And coming Oct. 22 is a milestone concert: the Rolling Stones on their latest world tour.
-- Jay Clarke is a retired travel editor of the Miami Herald.