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Posted on Sunday, 09.20.09

FLORIDA

We're afraid it's that time of year again

While Universal and Busch Gardens might scare you silly with their Halloween events, Disney World and SeaWorld offer more kid-friendly events.

Halloween lodging deals

The Orlando Convention and Visitor Bureau has created a Free-for-Fall promotion providing more than 70 get-one-free offers good through Dec. 15, including hotels in various price categories. 888-675-4386, www.VisitOrlando.com/FallDeals.

Some of the theme parks are offering discount packages that combine lodging and admission; others have special hotel deals:

• Universal Orlando: The Miami Gory Getaway package offers four Halloween Horror Nights tickets for the price of three, one-night lodging at a partner hotel and admission to select CityWalk venues starting at $59 per person. Upgrade to an on-site hotel runs $101 per person. www.halloweenhorrornights.com/mia. Other packages available. 888-445-5411, www.halloweenhorrornights.com, click on Orlando. Florida residents can save up to $40 on regular day admissions; www.universalorlando.com.

• Busch Gardens (Tampa): Overnight Fright package starting at $238 per room includes Howl-O-Scream admission for two and accommodations at one of Busch Gardens' preferred partner hotels in Tampa Bay. Thrills and Chills Weekend package includes unlimited admission to Busch Gardens Thursday through Sunday by day and Howl-O-Scream Thursday, Friday and Saturday by night with two-night hotel stay. Price starts at $350.85 per room. 888-800-5447, www.HouseofVayne.com. Also see Sea World Orlando package below.

• SeaWorld Orlando: No Halloween specials, but you can buy three hotel nights at your choice of almost two dozen hotels, get two additional nights free plus unlimited admission to two of the three parks (Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens). Cost starts at $30 per person per day based on family of four, higher for fewer guests. Must be purchased by Dec. 31 for stays through Aug. 31, 2010. 888-800-5447. www.SeaWorldOrlando.com.

• Walt Disney World: No special Halloween packages at Disney hotels, but Florida-resident rates at Disney's All-Star and Pop Century Resorts run $69 per night for two adults for stays Oct. 4-Nov. 24. That's $36 off regular rates for that period. There's an additional charge for more than two people in the room. Doesn't include admission to theme parks or Halloween events. 407-939-7429, www.disneyworld.com/fldeals.

Among other Orlando hotels with special Halloween deals:

• Rosen Plaza, $99 Halloween rate for the first night, $69 for any additional nights, offered on select dates Sept. 25 through Oct. 31. 407-996-9700, www.rosenplaza.com.

• Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites at Universal, Halloween deals starting at $59 in September, $72 in October. 407-351-3333, www.hiuniversalorlando.com.

BY JAY CLARKE

Special to The Miami Herald

Toys go really bad when Chucky tinkers with them -- and with you. Jigsaw wants to ``save'' you -- with inhumane tests. Dracula commands you to serve him -- or suffer for all eternity.

Horror is going Hollywood this fall at Universal Orlando. For the first time, the theme park's annual Halloween Horror Nights will base its entire roster of ghoulish scare zones, haunted houses and live shows on horror films.

Universal is one of four Florida theme parks that stage special, long-running Halloween events every fall. Universal and Busch Gardens put guests through the fright wringer with all sorts of intense stuff -- haunted houses, chainsaw wielders, the walking undead, grisly scenes and the like. Disney World and SeaWorld offer more kid-friendly events, featuring costumes, trick-or-treating, parades and other non-frightening activities.

Advance reservations are suggested for weekend events, as they may sell out.

Here's a rundown on what lies ahead at the parks in their most fright-full time of year.

UNIVERSAL ORLANDO

Halloween Horror Nights, the biggest of the theme-park Halloween events, is keying all of its eight haunted houses, six scare zones and two live shows to the horror-film theme.

``Our guests . . . will come face to face with many of the most disturbing characters in film history,'' says Jim Timon, Universal's senior vice president of entertainment.

Guests will venture into the Wolfman's set and Jigsaw's lair, with unsettling consequences. Dr. Frankenstein's Creature is back and guests are caught in the mayhem. Chucky's toy world is Child's Play.

In the Silver Screams, a long-dead theater usher takes you into terrifying scenes based on such films as My Bloody Valentine 3D and Shaun of the Dead. And in the sewers of an Ohio town, guests encounter ``Sculders,'' two-foot-high creatures with bodies of snakes.

Both live shows are old Halloween favorites with new twists: Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure features celebrity guests, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show encourages guest involvement.

Horror Nights will run for 23 evenings: Sept. 25-26, Oct. 1-4, 8-11, 15-18, 21-25 and 28-31. Tickets are $69.99 and do not include daytime admission. Florida residents with valid IDs can save $10-$30 with a UPC code from certain Coca-Cola products.

Details: www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com.

BUSCH GARDENS

Howl-O-Scream, the Tampa theme park's annual Halloween event, marks its 10th year with some new fright sites and introduces a blood-sucking fashion designer named Ms. Vayne and her entourage of maniacal models.

A new haunted house hosts Pledge Week for a mysterious sorority, Delta Epsilon Delta (DED), a twisted sisterhood looking literally for new blood. Another is a toy factory that appears abandoned . . . until night falls and demented dolls and terrifying toys come to life.

No one is safe in the scare zones. In one, evil spirits rise from an ancient Egyptian tomb to prey on the living. Others have banshees wailing when a death (yours?) is imminent, a small-town celebration turning gruesome, and werewolves waiting to sink their teeth into innocent victims.

Along with the four new scare zones, seven haunted houses and two live shows await guests this fall. And for people who want post-fright drinks, Busch has created a nightclub just for Howl-O-Scream guests called Club enVy.

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