Halloween at Leu Gardens: Happy Frights, Haunting Nights delight and scare

Tandem Halloween events return to Orlando’s Leu Gardens for a second year with more tricks and treats, plus a bigger footprint than last year’s offerings.

Happy Frights and Haunting Nights land in Orlando’s 50-acre botanical oasis this season with family-friendly trick-or-treating and more sinister spirits lurking after dark — both presented by Creative City Project and the Memoir Agency . With 27 dates through Halloween night, the events provide options for families looking for festive fun and adults in search of scares.

“We want to offer fun moments of play, cool stuff to see and more immersive things, whether it’s a jump scare or something interactive,” said Cole NeSmith , the founder and artistic director of Creative City Project. “This year, we’re making Haunting Nights a little bit more haunting. We market it as a fun Halloween night out that’s artful and elevated with a few jump scares.”

In the early evening, families with children can venture into not-so-spooky realms to explore a hedge maze and meet the Mad Hatter, experience large butterflies and visit trick-or-treating stations.

After the sun goes down, the scare factor is dialed up significantly, though not quite on par with something like Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. The fright factor is heightened with costume and soundtrack changes to facilitate more mayhem after dark in an experience recommended for visitors ages 13 and older.

“Halloween offers a big, open door to do crazy stuff,” said Ramón Bermudez Pinete, the event’s creative director. “If you’re scared of clowns, you will get scared even during Happy Frights. We’re not trying to scare people during that event, but we will have more friendly clowns instead of the scary ones people will see at Haunting Nights.”

Areas that will remain the same throughout both events include the Dia de Muertos zone, a hip-hop alien dance show, Monarchs and Marigolds, the Spiders’ Den, Electric Wings and Carnivorous Kingdom — which has installations based on real plants.

“The show is way bigger this year. It’s an amped-up experience. We’ve never taken time to design and install something like this,” NeSmith said. “The costumes are leveled up this year, along with the attention to detail. We took everything that we learned last year, and we’ve been able to scale that up a little bit.”

While some ideas are based on concepts from last year, NeSmith said that everything is “new and totally different” for the 2024 event. Throughout the gardens, visitors can enjoy 14 different zones that utilize many environments found within the urban outdoor space.

Other than the immersive experiences and photo ops offered with both events, guests can find food and beverages available for sale along with merchandise.

“We’re continuing to think about how we can create a ‘wow’ experience for guests who come to the show,” NeSmith said. “One of the things we’re constantly trying to do is provide a variety of experiences for people.”

Find me @PConnPie on Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com .

If you go

Happy Frights and Haunting Nights can be experienced on select dates through Oct. 31 at 1920 N. Forest Ave. in Orlando. General admission tickets start at $25 before taxes and fees. Group bundles and enhanced packages are available. Tickets can only be purchased online. On-site parking costs $15 or $30 for valet service, and off-site parking with a shuttle is available for free. For more information and tickets, visit halloweeninthegarden.com .