Orlando, the Halloween Vacation Capital, invites visitors to celebrate the spooky season with a full lineup of frightful and family-friendly experiences throughout the destination. Visitors can enjoy nearly 90 days of hair-raising, spooktacular events, such as horror movie brunches, paranormal-themed escape rooms, haunted botanical gardens, kid-friendly trick-or-treat trails, and an adults-only vampire bar.

Getting to Orlando from Canada to experience these Halloween festivities has never been easier – or more affordable. Starting in October, new flight service will transform journeys between Canada’s main airports and the Theme Park Capital. This includes Canada Jetlines flying from Toronto four times weekly, Porter Airlines flying from Toronto and Ottawa seven times a week, and Lynx Air connecting Orlando and major hubs in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver several times a week. Check out the listings below then get your spooky self down to Orlando for Halloween!

SPOOKY THEME PARK EVENTS

  • Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World Resort (select nights, now through Nov. 1) makes a frightfully fun return at Magic Kingdom Park. The family-friendly, all-ages event features eerie entertainment that includes the “Hocus Pocus” Villain Spelltacular! at Cinderella Castle, Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular, Disney Junior Jam for young partygoers, Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, the Trick-or-Treat Trail, Disney Characters in costume, and more than 20 favorite attractions with a Halloween twist. Guests are also invited to wear costumes, with some restrictions.

  • Universal Orlando Resort’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida (Sept. 1 – Nov. 4) returns for a record-breaking 48 nights featuring 10 new, movie-quality haunted houses featuring “The Exorcist: Believer”, “Stranger Things 4” and “The Last of Us” along with five scare zones filled with creatures lunging from the shadows, and two live shows.

  • At SeaWorld Orlando, guests can experience two Halloween-themed events:

  • Howl-O-Scream (select nights, Sept. 8 – Oct. 31) returns to terrorize guests at SeaWorld Orlando. Offering 24 nights of fully immersive fear, the event will feature fright-inducing haunted houses and scare zones; thrilling nighttime coaster rides and experiences; an interactive bar; and an electrifying live show.

  • Little ones can dress up in their favorite costumes to trick-or-treat and meet colorful Halloween characters at the SeaWorld Spooktacular (weekends, Sept. 16 – Oct. 29), a family-friendly daytime event included with regular theme park admission.

  • Brick or Treat Presents Monster Party at LEGOLAND Florida Resort (weekends, Sept. 16 – Oct. 29), a signature Halloween event included with theme park admission, will feature a trick or treat trail with candy, live entertainment and shows, never-before-seen exclusive LEGO characters and an all-new cinematic experience to create the ultimate family Halloween celebration.

SCARES BEYOND THE THEME PARKS

Family-Friendly Frights

  • Screamin’ Green Hauntoween at Crayola Experience (Sept. 24 – Oct. 31) celebrates the Halloween season with a lineup of spooky happenings included with admission, such as a themed scavenger hunt, spook-tastic crafts, character photo ops, trick-or-treating on the weekends and more. Guests craving more can add-on activities like pumpkin decorating and slime making.

  • Gatorland‘s “Gators, Ghosts and Goblins” Halloween event (weekends, Oct. 14–29) returns for its fifth year of family fun and fright. The all-ages daytime event, included with regular admission, will feature an all-new haunt zone and exhibit, interactive characters, animal meet-and-greets, candy giveaways, a children’s Halloween costume parade and more.

  • Pirates Dinner Adventure will offer “Vampirates: When the Blood Moon Rises” (Sept. 19 – Oct. 31), a limited time Halloween-themed dinner show suitable for all ages. Guests will Embark on a spooktacular journey filled with aerial artistry, swordplay, death-defying stunts and dynamic duels.

  • Happy Frights at Harry P. Leu Gardens (Sept. 29 – Oct. 31) is an all-ages, family-friendly trick-or-treat adventure through 12 immersive worlds. The event will give guests an opportunity to meet a dancing bridge-troll, walk through a garden of sunflowers, explore a neon-light maze, climb up a giant hay-pyramid, celebrate Dia de Muertos and so much more – all while visiting eight trick-or-treat stations along the way.

  • The German American Society of Central Florida will host Halloween Oktoberfest (Oct. 28), a combination of the well-renowned German autumn festival and a Halloween celebration. The family-friendly event will feature authentic German food, a Biergarten, live musical entertainment, a kids play area, a traditional flag parade and more.

  • Lake Nona Town Center will host the family-friendly Lake Nona Graveyard Smash event (Oct. 28). Mortals will be able to party with ghosts and ghouls; participate in trick-or-treat stations; experience live music; and take a journey through inflatable courses. This event is free and open to the public with no ticket required.

  • Gaylord Palms Resort’s annual Goblins & Giggles weekends (Sept.9 – Oct. 29) features family-friendly events including a spooky scavenger hunt; live shows; dance and costume parties; a haunted escape room; character experiences; pumpkins; movies and more. The resort will feature a “Fall Into Family Fun” vacation package, which includes an overnight stay with premium views, $50 nightly resort credit, one scavenger hunt booklet and two Halloween-themed crafts in the Adventure Kids’ Clubhouse.

Thrilling Experiences and Adults-Only Entertainment

  • For Halloween fun all year long, The Bureau features Possession at Haddon Heights, a paranormal themed escape room that forces guests to confront an evil entity at an abandoned school.

  • Renaissance Theatre Company will present the return of “Nosferatu” (Sept. 15 – Nov. 5) at the Ren. The re-vamped, 90-minute adults-only horror experience offers an entirely new concept from last year’s event, where each patron has a unique experience as the cast of 32 vampires lead the audience into hidden corners of the building playing out engaging scenarios. Later in the evening, “VBar”, the elevated Vampire-nightclub, opens its doors to guests with separate admission.

  • Harry P. Leu Gardens will host Haunting Nights (Sept. 29 – Oct. 31), an artful, elevated Halloween event, brought to life by Creative City Project, featuring thrilling surprises for guests 13 and older. The immersive event will feature jump scares as guests encounter several characters throughout the journey that will provide a heightened level of thrill.

  • Teatro Martini, the Vegas-inspired adult dinner show, will host its annual Halloween Revue (Sept. 29 – Oct. 31) this fall. The show will feature lyrical pole dancers, comedians, magicians, jugglers and limited-edition themed cocktails throughout the season.

  • Scream n’ Stream Drive-Thru Halloween Experience, a haunted Halloween drive-thru event, will return for its third year featuring seven horrifying zones to drive through complete with monsters, music, lighting and special effects Friday through Sunday from Oct. 6-29.

  • Cocktails & Screams in Downtown Orlando is an only Halloween-themed bar, featuring live music and an extensive list of creative cocktails. On Sundays this fall, guests can experience the Cereal Killer Brunch from noon to 5 p.m., among other themed events throughout the season. And on Oct. 31, new cocktails and entertainment will debut during the HallowEMO Night event, featuring a complete lineup of local bands to celebrate Halloween.

  • Vampires, ghastly revenants, and banshees come to life in Phantasmagoria XIV: “Tales of the Undead” (Oct. 26-28). For three nights only at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, guests can experience the original tales of the critically acclaimed Victorian Horror Troupe “PHANTASMAGORIA” and the haunting stories of world-famous authors including Edgar Allen Poe, H.G. Wells, Penny Dreadfuls and more.

  • The Halloween Pub Crawl (Oct. 27) returns to downtown Orlando for another year of killer-drink specials and a chance for guests to show off their hauntingly best costumes. From 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., Halloween fans will have access to all participating venues, four complimentary drinks, drink specials and more.

Additional information on Orlando’s Halloween happenings can be found here.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.