In the Orlando area, Halloween is big business, with Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando fighting for control of the multi-billion dollar Halloween pie. Other theme parks in the region throw their own Halloween bashes, and both home-based and commercial haunts are plentiful, but the real competition for the holiday is, as is so often true throughout the year, an epic battle between the two dominant theme park enterprises.
How did this come to be? With everything else they have to offer year-round, why are Disney and Universal locked in a clash of the titans to control Halloween, and how did this competition build into a holiday season that lasts nearly two full months—a feat rivaled only by the much-heralded Christmas season? Here, we will dig into the dusty annals of theme park history to find the answers. Along the way, we will also share some surprises and little-known facts about both parks’ celebrations.
Halloween in the United States
Image: Disney
To truly understand Halloween in Orlando, we first need to take a look back—way back—to see how Halloween has been celebrated over the centuries. Before there was Halloween, of course, there was All Hallows Eve. Going back even further, there was the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Celebrating the end of the Celtic year and the arrival of the new year, Samhain was a three-day celebration that lasted from October 30 through November 1. It was believed that the veil between the living and the dead was thinner at this time of year, and that ghosts could walk among us. Ritual bonfires, costuming, and seasonal theatrical shows were all part of the experience.
In medieval times, Christianity was spreading rapidly through the once Celtic lands. Many of the Christian festivals blended with earlier Celtic rites, both to reduce confusion and to encourage participation. November 2 was set as All Souls Day, and November 1 as All Martyrs Day. Eventually the two merged into All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day, which was celebrated on November 1. October 31 became All Hallows Eve, a time to remember and honor the dead, while simultaneously donning a costume to avoid being recognized by their spirits. Of course, then even more so than now, specific traditions and celebratory rituals varied by region.
Early colonists brought their own All Hallows Eve traditions to what would become the United States. In New England, the holiday was largely ignored, as it was in conflict with the Puritanical belief system. This is a bit ironic if you think about it, since those same colonies—especially Massachusetts—retained a simultaneous fascination with, and fear of, witchcraft that ultimately brought us one of the most tragic yet most enduring symbols of Halloween, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693.
In the southern colonies, All Hallows Eve traditions flourished. The settlers merged not only their own traditions, but those of the Native Americans surrounding them, into often elaborate festivities. Telling ghost stories, mounting large theatrical productions, song and dance, and even harmless mischief-making were all part of the fun. The holiday was beginning to evolve.
Over the next centuries, wave after wave of new immigrants brought their own spin to the celebrations. Perhaps no single contribution was bigger than the Irish tradition of carving turnips into Jack O’ Lanterns. Based on an Irish folk tale about Stingy Jack, who was not allowed into heaven or hell, and so roamed the earth with a burning coal inside a hollowed-out turnip, the Jack O’ Lantern has become an icon of Halloween—now created from a pumpkin rather than a turnip.
By the mid-19th century, Halloween had lost most of its grotesque and frightening roots. Instead, it was a community-centered party for all ages. Dancing and feasting were a big part of the fun, as were games and activities. Yet the holiday continued to grow and change. Over time, it began to focus more on children than adults. By the 1950s, Halloween parties had moved to schools and homes, with trick or treating as the last vestige of a community celebration.
Image: Universal
Of course, society changed rapidly over the next two decades. With the tumultuous changes taking place across the country and around the globe, old traditions were cast off as quaint and boring. The horror movie industry proliferated, quickly moving from the monster films of the 1950s to the violent and gory slasher flicks of the 1960s and 1970s. Against this backdrop, audiences were ready to embrace the older and more gruesome elements of Halloween.
The 1960s and 1970s
Ride-through haunts had long been a staple at fairs and amusement parks. A natural evolution of the “Tunnel of Love” and similar dark rides, these haunts began scaring riders at the end of the 19th century. With their silly yet startling motifs, they provided an excellent distraction during two world wars, and survived as innocent fun during the conservative 1940s and 1950s.
Yet Walt Disney did not add one to Disneyland right away. This was not for lack of interest, as even the earliest plans for the smaller park he originally intended near his studio called for a haunted house. In fact, he had been planning a someday-haunted attraction for roughly 20 years! The problem was an ongoing deadlock within the company—should the haunted house be silly or scary?
Remember, Disneyland opened smack in the middle of the conservative 1950s. Halloween was a kiddie holiday. The fair-based dark rides were hugely popular, but they were inexorably tied to the carnivals and amusement parks of which they were a part—the exact image of which Disneyland was designed to be a polar opposite! If Disney was going to build a haunted attraction, it had to be done in true Disney style—fun for all ages, impeccably themed, and based on an airtight storyline.
The battle raged right through Disneyland’s opening day and into the turbulent 1960s. New Orleans Square, a promised expansion to the park, would be a natural home for such an attraction. Walt put his foot down on the exterior design, refusing to allow a dilapidated building to exist, and eventually plans settled on a beautiful antebellum home loosely based on the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.
In 1961, Disney began handing out flyers at the front gates of Disneyland, promising that the new Haunted Mansion would open in 1963. Sure enough, the exterior was finished on time—but the actual attraction was still caught in design gridlock. It wasn’t until 1969, three years after Walt passed away, that the Haunted Mansion finally opened. In grand Disney style, the finished product was the perfect blend of silly and scary—a true masterwork for a company that was still getting its footing. A similar attraction, even grander in scope and scale, opened with the Magic Kingdom in 1971.
Across the country, however, Halloween was growing bigger, scarier, and more intense. The Junior Chamber International began its Jaycees haunted house tradition in the early 1970s, and the rise of the home haunt began around the same time. At Knott’s Berry Farm, the 1973 debut of Knott’s Scary Farm marked the first theme park haunted event with a three-night party featuring numerous static props and designer Bud Hurlbut in a gorilla suit. The event has grown and evolved each year, and now vies with Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights for best theme park Halloween event in the country.
Rather than trying to compete in an industry that fell far outside its purview, Disney decided to stick with what it did best. The company experimented with Halloween parties over the years, including one for resort guests at the Contemporary in 1976 and even a hard-ticketed party at the Magic Kingdom in 1979. Despite some success, however, Disney had not yet found its magic formula.
Tragedy ends the party in the 1980s
Image: Six Flags
Home and small commercial haunts continued to evolve during the 1980s. Knott’s expanded its event each year, and some other parks began jumping on the bandwagon. Permanent haunted attractions at amusement parks also began to proliferate, evolving from the simplistic dark rides of bygone eras to incorporate the latest technologies and scare tactics from the burgeoning Halloween industry. But a tragic fire at Six Flags Great Adventure in 1984 highlighted the need for stronger regulations and oversight.
Great Adventures’ Haunted Castle opened in 1979 as a temporary Halloween attraction housed in a series of connected semi-trailers. As such, it was exempted from the normal permitting and inspection processes. After the Halloween season, the attraction’s popularity convinced Six Flags to keep it permanently. Yet it was still considered a “temporary attraction” for permitting purposes. The walls were built of plywood, and many of the props and wall coverings were made of plastic, foam, and other flammable materials.
According to testimony, on the evening of May 11, 1984, a teenage boy using a lighter to find his way through accidentally ignited a piece of foam rubber. With air conditioners fanning the flames, the attraction was quickly engulfed in fire. Of 29 people in the attraction at the time, eight people, all teenagers, lost their lives.
Although Six Flags was found not guilty in criminal court, later lawsuits against the company, as well as the manufacturer and the builder of the attraction, were settled out of court. Most importantly, the tragedy brought about much-needed safety regulations for the haunted attraction industry as a whole.
The entire industry was sobered by the event, and some haunts closed altogether, whether out of respect for the victims’ families or because their budgets precluded following all of the new codes. The late 1980s still offered plenty of Halloween fun, but the wild times were over.
Terror on Church Street changes everything
From Terror on Church Street’s original website:
A ghoulish monk peers from a cobwebbed doorway, ushering visitors into a nightmare journey of fear. Down dark, winding passageways, you enter a terrifying world where hi-tech special effects, live actors and multiple sound tracks accompany your passage through 23 individual theatrical sets and scenes, creating the ultimate experience in horror. Beyond panic, beyond the limits of fear, there is Terror on Church Street.
For the first time on American soil, this European terror attraction that has thrilled millions is striking fear in the heart of Orlando. Dare to experience the most horrifying adventure of your life, adding a chilling new dimension to your evening downtown…enter the ghostly labyrinth that is Terror on Church Street!
Opened a few days after Halloween, on November 8, 1991, Terror on Church Street took Orlando by storm. Based on a European touring attraction called Pasaje del Terror, the haunt was unlike anything the United States had ever seen. With a huge budget, Terror on Church Street spared no expense in creating a truly immersive experience. It was one of the first haunts to blend fog, temperature extremes, lighting, and sound. At two stories and 23 separate rooms, it was one of the biggest. And at a time when haunts almost exclusively used volunteers or teenagers making minimum wage, it was the first to assemble a professional theatrical team, many of whom went on to television and film work. From the way individual props were distressed and aged to the elaborate makeup and prosthetic creations, Terror wrote the rules that now define the modern haunted house.
Terror’s reputation grew quickly, and it soon became known as the preeminent haunted attraction in the United States. Located inside an 1800s building that reportedly housed real ghosts, on a major thoroughfare in then-enormously popular Downtown Orlando, at the foot of the Church Street Station nightclub complex, Terror was ideally situated to welcome the world. From horror celebrities such as Anthony Perkins to local teenagers undergoing a rite of passage, Terror showed everyone what was possible.
Terror’s reign ended in 1999 due to rising property values and developers’ eagerness to get their hands on the land. The attraction moved to the top floor of the Church Street Exchange building, but lacking company support, it struggled mightily. Church Street Station’s glory days were also ending thanks to competition from Disney’s Pleasure Island and Universal’s CityWalk. Terror 2 finally met its demise in 2001. Still, to this day, Terror on Church Street is one of the most-cited inspirations for modern haunters. Not a bad legacy to leave behind.
Fright Nights
Reeling from their disastrous June 7, 1990, opening day, which many predicted would close the park for good, Universal Studios Florida staff and management were working overtime. Two of the park’s signature attractions, Kongfrontation and Earthquake, were out of technical rehearsals and performing fairly reliably, but Jaws was still closed for a multi-year rebuild. The company needed something major to draw guests in, so it decided to roll the dice.
Drawing on a legacy of horror that stretched back to the early 1920s, Universal threw a three-night Halloween party in 1991, actually beating Terror on Church Street to the punch by a matter of less than two weeks. With one haunted house—the Dungeon of Terror— along with roving scare actors and several shows, Fright Nights was an immediate sensation.
The next year, Universal renamed the event Halloween Horror Nights and expanded its scope to two haunted houses and five event nights. Most of the park’s attractions were also “horrorfied,” adding scare actors and other ghoulish touches. This was the first year for the now-legendary Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure, which is still going strong today.
The 1993 event featured three brand-new haunted houses, beginning what is arguably Halloween Horror Nights’ strongest legacy—the fact that the event changes completely from one year to the next. While most theme park events change out a house every now and again, or tweak the scares a little, Universal builds a brand new storyline, complete with entirely new haunted houses, each and every year. That commitment has built a rabid fandom that spends the year speculating on what new thrills the next event will bring.
In the first few years, Halloween Horror Nights relied on roving scare actors to frighten guests on the streets. As the event grew larger and more popular, however, Universal soon realized the advantages of centralizing the frights. The first scare zone, Horrorwood, debuted in 1994.
The 1990s were a great time for horror fans, as each year’s Halloween Horror Nights brought another “first.” The much-loved Midway of the Bizarre scare zone first appeared in 1995, the same year that brought the first icon—the Crypt Keeper. The Festival of the Dead Parade made its first appearance in 1996, along with the first double-sided haunted house, Universal’s New House of Horrors. In 1997, the first related exhibit was seen in Soundstage 54’s House of Frankenstein display. Halloween Horror Nights 1998 brought a then unprecedented five haunted houses, including the separate first class and crew quarter mazes of the S.S. Frightanic. For 1999, Universal kicked off a new tradition with Universal’s Creature Features—the first 3-D haunted house in Florida. Every year, the event was open more and more nights, ending the 1990s with a stunning 19-night run.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
The 1990s were extremely important to Disney fans as well, as they marked then-CEO Michael Eisner’s famed Disney Decade. While it is true that Eisner’s team made some extraordinarily unpopular decisions, including shuttering such classic attractions as Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Journey Into Imagination, there is no denying that expansion was the name of the game.
In 1983, Disney began running a one night only special event known as Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Though it was popular, the company was hesitant to expand its reach, feeling that special holiday parties sort of conflicted with the basic concepts and tenets on which the Disney parks were based. But the Disney Decade was all about taking risks. In 1989, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party expanded to two nights. In 1990, it expanded again to three nights.
Under Eisner’s leadership, the company was beginning to see high profit margins in special events, which could convince guests to visit during traditionally slow times of year. Over the next few years, Disney added the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, Holidays Around the World, and the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. In 1995, the company also tested the waters for another hard ticket Magic Kingdom event—Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
With costumes encouraged, trick or treating around the park, and a special parade and fireworks show, Mickey’s Not So Scary was an instant success. It provided the perfect place for families with kids, as well as adults looking for a good time without the gore, to relax and have some fun. Ticket sales were capped, providing plenty of opportunities for guests to spread out and enjoy themselves, and to take in the rides as well as the holiday festivities.
Disney was much slower than Universal to expand the number of event nights. By the end of the 1990s, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was only running for three nights. This would, of course, change during the new millennium.
Halloween Horror Nights during the 2000s
Halloween Horror Nights was arguably one of the biggest contributors to turning around Universal Orlando’s fortunes. In 1999, just eight years after it nearly closed altogether, Universal opened a second theme park in Orlando, Islands of Adventure. Together with CityWalk, Universal’s answer to Disney’s Pleasure Island and Downtown Orlando’s Church Street Station, Islands of Adventure made Universal Orlando a complete resort destination.
The company continued to grow and expand its annual Halloween festivities. The 2000s were the decade of the original icons, beginning with killer clown Jack Schmidt in 2000. With the tagline, “Not afraid of the dark? You don’t know Jack!” and an elaborate back story, Jack became the face of Halloween Horror Nights in a way that even the Crypt Keeper could not match. Many fans regard that year as one of the best in HHN history.
For 2001, Universal was poised to introduce a new icon, Edgar Sawyer, or Eddie. Raised on a steady diet of slasher films in his trailer park home, Eddie eventually built a homegrown haunt to introduce the neighborhood to the movie characters he so admired. But when a band of local teens burned down his haunt, trapping him inside, he emerged terribly disfigured and hopelessly lost in his obsession. Wearing a metal mask and wielding a chainsaw, Eddie was to be a bit more human and more real than Jack had been. Carrying a severed clown head, his tagline would have been, “No more clowning around!” Universal also promised more gore than ever before for the year’s event.
Of course, no one could have predicted the terrorist attacks of September 11. The event was already designed and built, scheduled to open less than four weeks later. Marketing was already ramping up. And Universal couldn’t have had a worse icon character for the time. Massive changes took effect immediately, including bringing Jack back and demoting Eddie to his mostly harmless kid brother. Universal also called a moratorium on blood, replacing it with green ooze, and swapped out haunted house and scare zone names to remove direct references to gore and violence.
In 2002, Halloween Horror Nights moved to Islands of Adventure for the first time, opening up new possibilities for heavily themed scares. But for the second year in a row, Universal had to scrap a planned icon character at the last minute. Cindy Bearer, also known as SINdy, was the disturbed daughter of a couple who ran a funeral home, sold human remains, and held ghoulish dinner parties with skeletons. The home was burned to the ground by an angry mob. Caught in the blaze, Cindy became something twisted and no longer human. However, that year there was a rash of kidnappings in the Orlando area. Cindy became a minor character, the daughter of Caretaker Albert Caine, who replaced her as that year’s icon.
The rest of the 2000s passed relatively uneventfully for Halloween Horror Nights. The 2003 event brought the Director, specializing in snuff films. For 2004, the event was held partially in both parks and featured an unprecedented seven haunted houses. In 2005, HHN moved back to Islands of Adventure under the creepy auspices of the Storyteller, and also featured the Terra Queen, who ruled over the Storyteller’s imaginary world. Universal celebrated HHN’s Sweet Sixteen in a big way, moving the event back to Universal Studios Florida and re-imagining some of the previous years’ most beloved haunted houses.
Jack was back in 2007, ruling the event along with Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface—whose appearance marked the beginning of a heavy reliance on licensed properties. For 2008, Universal produced arguably the most extensive and interactive back story of all—slowly revealing the year’s content through the website of Dr. Mary Agana, a psychiatrist gone mad who became that year’s icon, Bloody Mary. The year was also notable as the beginning of Legendary Truth: The Collective, a game within the event that puts diehard fans into an alternate reality of in-park myths and mayhem. In 2009, a heavy emphasis on licensing was brought together by the appearance of Julian Browning, the Usher. In 2010, Twenty Years of Fear reunited all of the decade’s icons, including Eddie and Cindy, and revealed that the new icon, Fear, was responsible for all of the happenings of the previous 19 years.
Mickey’s Not So Scary during the 2000s
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party also continued to grow and evolve during the first decade of the new millennium. Yet Universal and Disney never competed head to head in terms of content or theme. It was like an unwritten, unspoken agreement between the two companies that each would focus on what it did best. For Universal, with a strong legacy of horror and a reputation for edginess, a legitimately frightening experience for teens and adults made perfect sense. But at Disney, family fun for all ages has always been the name of the game.
Disney surely took notice of the fact that Universal was regularly selling out its event. Universal’s ongoing success might have even been the tipping point for Disney to start expanding the number of nights for its party. But Disney made a commitment to providing a unique experience that was completely unlike Universal’s offering in any way.
One of Disney’s strongest selling points has always been its characters. Meet and greets have long been a potent draw, both at high dollar character meals and along the streets of each park. Yet the day to day meet and greets tend to focus on heroes, good guys, and princesses. So how could Disney be sure to draw more people in, selling tickets to their after-hours party? Easy. Unleash the villains! Along with rarer characters such as the Seven Dwarfs and Tarzan, the villains proved to be an irresistible draw.
The villains also gave Disney a great starting point for shaping their event. It is Halloween, and it is supposed to be spooky. But Disney’s vast film library provides plenty of spooky moments without the violence and gore that are ever present at Universal’s event. So Disney ramped up the atmospheric scares with a creepy parade that kicks off with the Headless Horseman, and a dynamic special fireworks presentation. Yet they knew exactly where to draw the line in creating an experience that is fun for adults without being too scary for kids.
The ability to dress up in costume also proved highly alluring. During normal operations, guests over the age of nine are forbidden to wear a costume to the parks. During Mickey’s Not So Scary, however, all bets are off. As long as the costume is family-friendly (not overly revealing or covered in gore), and those wearing Disney costumes do not sign autographs or pose with other guests (to avoid being mistaken for cast members), guests of all ages are encouraged to join in the fun. Coupled with trick or treating throughout the park, this gives adults the opportunity to relive their childhoods.
Disney’s potent blend worked extraordinarily well. The company continually added event nights through the first decade of the new millennium. From five nights in 2001, the event was up to 15 nights by 2005 and 23 nights by the end of the decade. It took a while, but Disney was finally rivaling Universal in the sheer number of available dates for its party.
Halloween in the 2010s
The Halloween industry has continued to grow, and is showing no signs of abating. From home haunts to small commercial haunted houses to massive complexes with numerous haunted mazes, it seems like everyone is competing to have the scariest, most intense, highest tech haunt of all. Disney and Universal have used technology to ramp up their experiences, keeping them fresh and modern. Yet both companies have found the formula that works for them, and both are endlessly successful. Neither tries to be something it’s not, and both happily coexist.
For 2015, Universal Orlando is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Halloween Horror Nights in a huge way. Now featuring nine haunted houses and five street scare zones, the year’s event pays tribute to the most beloved characters, houses, and experiences of HHN history, while bringing plenty of new surprises. The total number of event nights is 30, stretching from September 18 through November 1.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party turns 21 this year, but Disney has not announced plans for a birthday celebration. Instead, the company is focused on tweaking and perfecting its unique experience. This year’s event features the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus in an all new stage show, along with the famed Boo to You parade and Happy Hallowishes fireworks spectacular. New castle projections, dance numbers, and other surprises blend with such beloved traditions as trick or treating for an experience that feels fresh, yet familiar. Those looking for a little something extra might enjoy the Happy Hallowishes Dessert Premium Package, which also provides special viewing for the parade and fireworks. The total number of event nights this year is 25, running from September 15 through November 1—which is five more nights than the Christmas Party that inspired the event! Clearly, Halloween is a profitable holiday.
The verdict
Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando have always been in a peculiar competitive space. On one hand, they fight for tourist dollars and market share. On the other hand, the two resorts have carved out very different niches in terms of experiences. Yet the reality is that many, many people, both locals and tourists, actually visit both.
On a straight one-night comparison with no discounts, Disney’s event definitely has the edge. At Halloween Horror Nights, the price of a one-night undiscounted ticket is a shocking $101.99, while even on the most expensive nights, an undiscounted ticket to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is only $79. Of course, add-on tickets for those with daytime admission, annual pass holder tickets, Florida resident specials, and other discounts bring the price of both events down significantly.
However, Universal Orlando goes out of their way to build a community in a way that Disney does not. The Rush of Fear ticket, valid for all event nights during the first three weekends, is an excellent choice for those attending early in the run. The Halloween Horror Nights Frequent Fear pass includes all Sunday through Thursday event nights, while Frequent Fear Plus adds Fridays as well. Both the Rush of Fear and the Frequent Fear passes cost less than an undiscounted single night, while the Frequent Fear Plus costs just $9 more. And again, discounts bring those prices even lower.
Event pass holders tend to see each other over and over again, forming bonds and building a sort of family. The game within the event, Legendary Truth: The Collective, plays out over multiple nights throughout each year’s run, and the nature of the game forces pass holders to rely on each other to solve its mysteries. The fandom tends to come together online during the summer months, speculating and dreaming about what the year will hold, culminating in the slow release of official information from the company in the months preceding the event’s opening night.
Disney does not offer any sort of multi-night option for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Some people do, of course, choose to visit on more than one night, but the sense of community is decidedly lacking. You are unlikely to see other event-goers again, and Disney does nothing in particular to encourage repeat attendance or build bonds between participants. This is not necessarily a detraction from the event itself, but it is a marked difference between the two.
Both events are extremely well-done, easily rising to the top of their respective genres. Halloween Horror Nights is intense and purposefully scary. It pushes the limits of good taste, and has been known to offend people. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is pure Disney magic, with well-crafted, family-friendly experiences that are fun for all ages. If you have younger kids or are not into blood and gore, Disney is the obvious choice for you. If your family is filled with thrill seekers, adrenaline junkies, or horror film fans, Universal is the best choice. For everyone who falls somewhere in between, there is no reason not to take in both events. After all, you have nearly two months during which you can schedule your visits!
