Halloween becoming full travel season - news clip...

Disney's known this for a while, but thought you'd be interested in this...

Scary trend: Halloween now its own travel season
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“Harvest of the Souls,” a parade of ghastly ghouls, is part of the Scare Zone at Universal Orlando Resort, in Orlando, Fla.
AP
By BETH J. HARPAZ
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 26, 2008
NEW YORK — Once upon a time, Halloween was a one-day event. Then the pumpkins and parties started moving back to the weeks between Columbus Day and Oct. 31.

Now the holiday is morphing into an entire season, at least in the tourism industry, with haunted walks, costume balls and pumpkin-carving events held throughout October. Some even start in early September, like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney World, which started Sept. 5 — just four days after Labor Day, In 2004, the same event at Disney World started Oct. 1.

Find the fright of your life
Salem Haunted Happenings: www.hauntedhappenings.org


Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio: www.halloweekends.com Universal Orlando: www.halloweenhorrornights.com/New England Inns and Resorts Association: www.NewEnglandInnsandResorts.com North Carolina's Outer Banks: www.crystalcoastnc.orgOhio State Reformatory, Mansfield: www.hauntedx.com/
The Illinois Bureau of Tourism has gone so far as to trademark the term "Fall-O-Ween" to describe what it calls the state's "distinctive fifth season." Events ranged from the Morton Pumpkin Festival, Sept. 10-13, to Six Flags Great America's "Fright Fest," which began Oct. 4, to the St. Charles Scarecrow Festival, held over Columbus Day weekend. A Web site highlighting three-day getaways in Illinois for the season launched Sept. 8.

"The fall season in Illinois is packed with events that attract a wide range of visitors, and those incorporating a spooky, Halloween element are always popular," said Jan Kostner, deputy director of the Illinois Bureau of Tourism. "Fall-O-Ween encompasses all of those great events and attractions that truly represent the essence of autumn."



Salem, Mass., which has the most authentic claim on witchy whoopla of just about any destination in the country, started a Halloween celebration 27 years ago as a one-day event for children. Now the city where witch trials were held in 1692 holds Salem Haunted Happenings from Oct. 2 to Nov. 2 and gets 30 percent of its annual tourist visitation in that one month.

"It is our busiest season," said Kate Fox, executive director of Destination Salem. Highlights included a costume parade of thousands of children on Oct. 2; an upcoming costume ball at the Hawthorne Hotel, Oct. 31; "Festival of the Dead" nighttime parties geared to adults; and Harry Potter-themed daytime events for kids. At the House of the Seven Gables mansion and historic site, there are tours and dramatic presentations about the families who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous novel.

In Sandusky, Ohio, the Cedar Point amusement park's "HalloWeekends" began Sept. 12 and runs through Nov. 2 with a parade, a new fun house for little ones and outdoor walk-through attractions.



At Universal Orlando, Halloween Horror Nights was moved back from the first weekend in October to the last weekend of September. The spectacle runs through Nov. 1. Universal Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights also runs through Nov. 1. In addition to rides, the Universal parks feature haunted houses and "scare zones" where actors in bloody garb may leap out at any moment. Parents are strongly cautioned that the event may be too scary for young children.

Hotels are embracing the Halloween theme too. The New England Inns and Resorts Association started offering "Ghoulish Getaways" in 2004.

"We have members that tie in to a lot of fall activities — apple-picking, hayrides, mazes," said Beth Steucek, NEIRA executive vice president. Some of them also showcase local ghost stories.

North Carolina's Southern Outer Banks is promoting "Ghosts on the Coast" this fall, highlighting local haunted houses, pirate tales and maritime heritage. In earlier times, the area was nicknamed the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because some 2,000 ships sank off its coast.



The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, a historic site in a grand gabled building that is no longer used as a jail, offers the "Haunted Prison Experience" with actors, animatronics and props through Nov. 1. No one under 13 is allowed in.

Even the Great Lakes Brewing Co., a brewery and restaurant at 2516 Market Ave., Cleveland, is getting into the spirit of the Halloween season. In September and October only, the brewery is offering a specialty beer called Nosferatu. The red ale is named for a 1922 German movie about a vampire.

 

Halloween is my fav next to Christmas, of course!

 

I LOVE Christmas, but Halloween is special - one of the few holidays you can wish a happy day to everyone, and you'll get a smile from folks (yeah, I know some religions don't celebrate it). Who doesn't love to see a grown up dressed in a silly wig and goofy makeup. ; It's an excuse for everyone - not just kiddies - to cut loose and laugh a little. ; There should be more Halloweens!