Leu Gardens has joined the Halloween Events club! This year they are offering two different experiences at Leu Gardens.
These two experiences are: Happy Frights and Haunting Nights. These events happen on select dates until October 31st. Happy Frights is more geared towards kids with no scares and occurs between 5pm-8pm. Whereas, Haunting Nights has a few scares and occurs in the dark starting at 8pm. Tickets for both events are $25 per person, with the option of adding on-site parking for $15 or valet parking for $30 per vehicle. There is also free off-site parking with a shuttle being run to Leu Gardens.
Happy Frights
Quick Overview:
- Family Friendly
- Enjoy Leu Gardens decorated for Halloween!
- Explore 12 lands and 8 trick-or-treat stops
- No jump scares
- 5pm-8pm on select nights
Haunting Nights
Quick Overview:
- Recommended for ages 13 and up
- Enjoy Leu Gardens decorated for Halloween at night!
- Explore 12 lands, no trick-or-treating stops
- A few jump scares (we only encountered about 3 “scares”)
- Starts at 8pm on select nights
Our Haunting Nights Experience
I loved this event! It is definitely not a scary experience, but I thought that made it even better. I was able to really enjoy all the work put into the 12 different themed lands. The lighting and design is wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed walking through each of the lands. There is also a couple of photo opportunities, most importantly with Ned who was the highlight of our night!
Arrival and Parking at Leu Gardens
We opted to purchase the on-site parking pass for $15 and we arrived around 7:40pm for our 8pm ticket slot. Parking was easy. They scanned our parking pass and then you find an open spot. There is free parking off-site with a free shuttle to get you to Leu Gardens.
Once you arrive, head into the main entrance and then you can walk out into the yard. There are food and drinks available before you scan your tickets and a photo opportunity! There were two different lines to be scanned in, one for on-site parking and one for off-site parking, so make sure you get in the right one.
Haunting Nights Time!
We were the first group in after the Happy Frights event. We ended up getting let in a little past 8pm and were free to explore the trail. It is self-paced and you can stop to take pictures or just enjoy the decorations!
The trail is well-marked and is really meant to be one-way traffic. Be sure to get all your pictures in and admire each of the lands while you are there as it is tough to go backwards.
Now it is time to enjoy the night and be prepared for a few scares. However, the scares are not bad at all and even if you hate anything scary, I think you will still really enjoy this event.
Entertainment at Haunting Nights
I was very surprised to walk-up to a magic show on the trail. And even luckier it was only about 5 minutes until the next show. It was an enjoyable show. It was definitely on the shorter time, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t stick around to see more! Drinks were available nearby and the magician was great!
The one negative to the show was that when it ended, everyone kept walking on the trail and it ended up crowded. My suggestion would be to hang back for a bit after the show and then continue on.
As well, there is a maze, climbable hay bales and a Dia de los Muertos tribute area to add some interactivity into the night!
Overall Haunting Nights Experience
Overall, we had a wonderful time! This is the first year for these events, so I am excited to see how they evolve in the future. It was beautiful and I was amazed at the different decorations they had put up. There did not seem to be many scare actors, and I don’t know if there is normally more or not. Throughout our time we saw 7 scare actors and 2 meet and greets.
It was not a scary event, but I thought that made it even more enjoyable! I highly recommend checking out the event.
Halloween in Orlando
If you are looking for some other Halloween events in Orlando, here are some others to check out! Happy Halloween!
- Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando
- SeaWorld Spooktacular and Howl-O-Scream
- Nightmare on Orange – The Courtesy Halloween Pop-Up Bar
- A Petrified Forest in Altamonte Springs
- Zoo Boo Bash at Central Florida Zoo
I hope you have a wonderful fall! As always, I would love to hear from you and happy travels! ~Colette