Signs of Halloween in Orlando

And so it begins. The kids just started school again, the lull in tourism creeps in for the next month, and that means one thing. It is time to get ready for Halloween in Orlando. As is customary in Orlando, Halloween and Christmas start early. Maximize that revenue baby! Every year I look forward to billboards…. yes, billboards. There are four types of theme park billboards I get excited about: Halloween, Christmas, Universal’s Mardi Gras, and new attractions. Halloween Horror Nights billboards are known for being gruesome and shocking, much like the event itself.

halloween horror night billboard 2012 — One of the many designs for 2012 Halloween Horror Nights billboards (Photo credit: Behindthethrills.com)

Yesterday and today marked the start of the 2012 Halloween billboards for the local theme parks. Yesterday, while husband and I pulled into Universal Orlando we spotted our first Halloween billboard… but it wasn’t for Halloween Horror Nights, it was for Busch Garden’s Howl-o-scream. It is quite amusing, nearly every year Busch Gardens snags a billboard for their Halloween event right in front of their biggest competitor. However, I have to wonder just how effective doing this can be. Halloween Horror Nights at Universal is without a doubt the top dog for Halloween events in Orlando. Is placing a small billboard across the street from Universal Orlando property really that effective? I suppose if Busch Gardens is willing to spend precious marketing dollars on it year after year then it is possible.

For vehicular safety reasons I was not able to snap any pictures of this year’s billboards, but thankfully the awesome people at Behind the Thrills did. Check out their post. All that is left is for Disney to put up billboards for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party and the trifecta will be complete. Now that the signs of Halloween are popping up throughout Orlando it is going to be harder and harder for me to resist the urge to decorate my own domain.