After the Halloween wedding, Terry and I went home and got ready for Trick or Treaters. Terry got into her Zorro costume again. We had two large bags of candy to give away. If no children stopped by we would be stuck eating Gobstoppers, Taffy and boxes of Nerds for weeks. Halloween is our pet cockatoo’s favorite holiday. Terry brings him to the door where he greets the children with a warm, “Hello!” He often flaps his wings frantically causing the kids to shriek with delight. The cutest trick or treaters were two little girls, maybe five year old twins, dressed as Indian princesses. Terry let them pet Zorro and then she got two of his white feathers which she also gave to the girls for their head dress. Later, a little boy dressed in a diving suit also wanted to pet the bird. When Terry got down on one knee to get to his level, he also got on one knee.
When the horde slowed, and all the candy was gone, Terry and I drove out to Winter Garden to see an amazing haunted house. This is a private home which is only open to the public on Halloween. Cars were parked all along the side of the road. I found the first open spot and we walked towards the house. We used my book light as a flashlight. The center median and many lawn had yellow caution tape out to stop cars from parking. The City of Winter Garden had told the home owner that $350 dollar tickets would be issued this year if cars parked on the median. Guess the City of Winter Garden is looking for some profit from this free event.
There was a huge line of people lined up to go in the front door of the haunted house. The line was moving though so Terry and I lined up. A wolfman kept sneaking up on people in line. He tried to scare Terry, but she just put her arm around him and said, “So what are you doing later?” A faceless hooded ghoul stood silently and his eyed began to glow red. Children were screaming in terror and pleasure. The wolfman walked up to a mother with her toddler in her arms. The little girl held her hand to her face saying, “No, no NO!” Then burst into tears. A teenage boy walked up to Terry and said, “It looks like you dropped something.” He knelt down to pick the imaginary object up. “Oh look, it’s your self-esteem.” She countered with, “You keep that, you need it more than me.”
The inside of the home was lavishly decorated. Animatronics and live actors combined to frighten guests. A wedding couple on the porch reminded me of Nick and Brooke. Right at the front door a scream faced ghost stood motionless. As a family walked by it suddenly moved and shouted scaring a family half to death. Not knowing what was real was unnerving. At the entry there was a treasure chest full of full sized candy bars. A glow bracelet was offered to all who entered and when people left through the back door there were free beers for the adults and sodas for the children. I have never seen so much Halloween generosity before. We used to give baby pumpkins to children who were frightened visiting our Tenafly N.J. home on Halloween, but this Central Florida treasure takes the cake.
Where is this place specifically? Jazz and i thought about going, but weren't sure of its location or operation times.
I never did write down the address. If you drive through downtown Winter Garden on Plant Street, keep going west till just past Avalon Road. The street gains a center median and the house is on the left. He is probably dismantling now and getting his Christmas lights up. Just as spectacular I heard.