Miscellany: Gator Hollow

Conventional haunted attractions like Universal's "Halloween Horror Nights" or Busch Gardens' "Howl-O-Scream" aren't really aimed at families. For one thing, admission is pretty expensive - even discount tickets will run around $30 each, with regular admission easily topping $50 per person. That's some serious money for the average nuclear family (plus you have to pay for parking). And even if you have the bones, you might not like your nine year old daughter getting freaked out by all the simulated bloodletting in the scare zones and haunted houses.

That's where "Gator Hollow," a haunted attraction staged every October by Orlando's Gatorland, comes in:



Okay, so "Fear You Can Afford!" may not be the world's most subtle tagline, but it's accurate - admission to "Gator Hollow" is only $10 per person. Because Gatorland is such a small place compared to the big theme parks, don't expect multiple haunted houses or scare zones. Instead, the entire experience plays out like one long show, with characters constantly shepherding groups of about two dozen people from one skit to another.

The park does a pretty good job with their incredibly limited budget. First, they use a fairly coherent theme and backstory - this year, for instance, radioactive meteors have fallen into the swamp, attracting the attention of aliens and awakening the dead. Second, they have a lot of decent character actors that really play their roles effectively (the guys who played cursed ghosts Jack and Pip deserve a big raise). Most importantly, though, the experience is scary enough to be pleasant but not graphic or intense enough to scar the kiddies for life.

It's not a long experience (maybe 45 minutes tops), but it's perfect for a family who wants to go through a good attraction but doesn't need the problems of fighting traffic, finding parking, and waiting in line at one of the big draws in Orlando. See a horror movie afterwards and you have a perfect one-two Halloween punch that won't break the bank.