Happy Frights Haunting Nights at Leu Gardens

About This Episode

Gather the entire family and enter into exciting immersive worlds throughout Orlando’s Leu Gardens. You’ve been asking for it. And now it is here. Creative City Project brings to life an artful, exciting Halloween experience in the forests of Leu Gardens. It’s a fun night out this fall! There are a few jump-scares. But don’t worry, you’ll be able to handle it.

• Welcomed by a 12’ tall jack-o-lantern.
• Make your way past the bridge troll and into the forest of eyes.
• Walk through a garden of sunflowers.
• Journey through a neon-light maze.
• Climb up a giant hay-pyramid.
• Meet La Catrina in our Dia de Muertos world.
• Live magic shows all night long
• all accompanied by fantastic fall food and drink!

Just how scary is Haunting Nights?

Happy Frights is an all-ages, family-friendly trick-or-treat adventure through 12 immersive worlds. Haunting Nights is an artful, elevated Halloween event with a few thrilling surprises. We think Haunting Nights has just the right amount of thrill for anyone 13 and up. Haunting Nights isn’t gory and bloody. Rather, you’ll encounter several moments throughout the journey that may cause your heart to race just a little bit. It’s not a continual onslaught of fear, but there is no doubt you will encounter some moments that might result in an elevated heart-rate. Both Happy Frights and Haunting Nights will be a fun night out. But if you’re coming with a group that doesn’t have kids under 13, we encourage you to join us during the second half of the night for Haunting Nights. You may let out a few squeals during your visit. But we think they’ll be followed by smiles and an appreciative laugh of relief. See you at Haunting Nights!

Transcript

Strange and mysterious sights and sounds are emanating this year at Leu Gardens. For the first time ever, The City of Orlando, Leu Gardens and the Creative City Project present Happy Frights and Haunting Nights presented by Massey Services. Early in the evenings on select nights in September and October, Leu Gardens becomes a family-friendly, trick-or-treating adventure through 12 immersive worlds. But at night the gardens transform into something far more sinister.  I’ll give you a sneak peek at the first ever Happy Frights and Haunting Nights at Leu Gardens, coming up next.

From Downtown Orlando, Harry P. Leu Gardens is just 10 minutes Northeast and nestled on the shore of Lake Rowena.

Your journey begins at the Fall Festival arena where both Happy Frights AND Haunting Nights provides a great backdrop for pictures before entering the gardens.

During Happy Frights, keep an eye out for a troll who rules the bridge into the garden. But really, to the kids, he’s just a friendly troll who likes to show you his good side! But beware! During Haunting Nights, there are other creatures lurking in the shadows. Creatures waiting and watching.

Haunting Nights at Leu Gardens is a place where the blooms of the day give way to the mysteries of the night, where every rustling leaf and flickering light holds secrets waiting to be uncovered.

You never know who or what might be watching you from the shadows.

Happy Frights and Haunting Nights at Leu Gardens is filled with Instagram-ready backdrops. Perhaps none more than Jack o Lantern Jaunt, a long tunnel that beckons you to see what’s on the other side.

Perhaps the most fun you’ll have at Happy Frights at Leu Gardens is making your way through Ned’s Neon Labyrinth. A dizzying maze of psychedelic color.

But during Haunting Nights beware of the frightening creatures you might find within.

Make it out alive and meet Ned him or itself to celebrate!

The staff at Leu Gardens created another picturesque spot by growing a real Sunflower Field perfect for taking a break to celebrate Autumn.

Happy Frights and Haunting Nights at Leu Gardens is a thrilling fusion of nature’s beauty and the supernatural, where you’ll encounter specters, spirits, and surprises at every turn.

Prepare to be bewitched, bedazzled, and just a little bit spooked at Magic and Mayhem with Terry Ward. Sit and enjoy a magic show running all throughout Happy Frights and Haunting Nights.

Flights of fancy aren’t just for the young. Enter the Dragon’s Nest and experience mystical lore and life-like creatures that inhabit a forgotten time.

Just a short walk away, you find yourself amidst an old pirate barracks, but something isn’t right. It’s not quite as abandoned as it looks. For Happy Frights a Pirate Witch greets you. But, watch out! For Haunting Nights, Captain Gruffbeard may want to take you to Davy Jones’s locker.

Having survived Dragons, Witches, Ghosts and Pirates the mood at Happy Frights and Haunting Nights turns decidedly festive as Sea Creatures play with your young ones in a Bubble Block Party.

Nearing the end of our journey through Happy Frights and Haunting Nights, Scarecrow Summit provides the perfect backdrop for some last-minute photos.

Finally, we reach El Dia de Muertos, where a festival and memorial for those who have passed on before us allows us to bid farewell to La Catrina the host of the evening’s festivities.

Thanks for coming along with me to experience Happy Frights and Haunting Nights at Leu Gardens. I hope you’ll take time to visit this wonderful inaugural event, the next time you visit Orlando.