BY ALEX DEARDORFF
Everyone has their own special holiday which they look forward to throughout the year. Some people prefer the cold winter nights (if you don’t live in Florida) leading up to Christmas; others enjoy the hot summer afternoons leading up to the Fourth of July. Then, there is a special group of people who eagerly await the one night a year they get to dress up and get the living daylights scared out of them for the fun of it. With the onset of autumn upon us, Halloween fanatics are gearing up to be terrified by ghosts, ghouls, and all things that go bump in the night. In Florida, there are two main places people can go to be scared: Halloween Horror Nights, hosted by Universal Orlando Studios, and The Dark Side of the Gardens: Howl-O-Scream, hosted by Busch Gardens Tampa.
Although many people obsess over the event held by Universal, many do not realize Busch Gardens does something very similar, with some slight differences. For example, the haunted houses serve as one of the main differences between the two events. Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) boasts a larger fan base, so they have the resources and support system to focus on better graphics and more intricate makeup on the live actors. Despite the fact that HHN has better graphics, The Dark Side of the Gardens: Howl-O-Scream (HOS) does include some graphics in its houses. They are equally as terrifying, especially considering that both are held in the dark, and you rarely have time to look at or enjoy the graphics while running in the opposite direction. Along with the better graphics, the theme of HHN has changed almost every year, depending on what horror flick is popular during the time period. HOS has the same eight houses every year (with the addition of one or two), but the inside of them are set up in a different way in order to keep things interesting for guests who attend consecutive years.
Another major difference that exists between the two different parks is the scare zones. The scare zones are a vital part of the horror events because they are in areas of the park where people will get the most unexpected scare experience. At HHN, much like the theme, the scare zones change each year, so guests are constantly left to look behind their shoulders for the impeding scare. As before, HOS always has the same live actors, but they are in a different area of the park each year to keep the element of surprise alive.
Although thus far it seems like the better option would be HHN, reconsider purchasing those pricey tickets. For a one-night-only experience at HHN, you are looking at around $120 for one single ticket. This only includes the few hours in the park and the night event. However, for a mere $80 at HOS, you can purchase a special events ticket, which includes 3 days and 4 nights entry into the park.
Not only do you get more time for your money, but for those seeking more of a thrill, the tickets also include all access passes onto all of the roller coasters. While HHN still has one roller coaster running during the night activities, HOS has practically all 10 of its coasters functioning in the dark. If that alone is not enough to convince you that one park is clearly better than the other, then crowds are a big factor to take into consideration.
When paying upwards of $100 on an event, I would want to see everything that event has to offer. With lines reaching wait times close to 3 hours for one single house, seeing 8 houses in one night is an impossible feat. In fact, one would be lucky to see three houses and ride one roller coaster. Because not many people know about HOS, lines rarely reach an hour in length. If you are worried about this wait time, fast passes at HOS are another $80, which totals to $140 ($20 more than one night at HHN), and you are guaranteed to see every house and skip the lines on most of the roller coasters.
Although the decision is clear to me, many people value different aspects of a park. If I only cared about the graphics, obviously I would choose to attend HHN over HOS. However, if you need a cost effective, fun, crowd free environment, then HOS is definitely the better event for you.
