A Petrified Forest is back for another haunting year of fear, and they are coming to you with a ton of new and immersive experiences to enjoy. As always, this independent haunt team builds their haunts from the ground up each and every year, bringing you all new terrifying stories to immerse yourself in.
This year we have three all new haunted trails that bring you right into the terrors within these woods. The dilapidated strip mall has been taken over by a new Landlord, one that is a bit darker than they imagined. There are also two completely brand new and immersive experiences that the team has been building all year long. One is an immersive theatre experience that brings you right along into a hunt for a wanted and missing entity named Amee. This one also has a touch pass necklace that can be purchased for an additional cost that will add another layer of terror to your experience (I highly recommend this one!). The other new experience is a brand new concept to our area currently, where you ride along in a motorized wagon and are driven through a completely immersive escape ride game, complete with different terrifying scenes to experience and scareactors looming about. Each ride is unique to the travelers, as it will be up to whoever is riding along to make decisions that the rest of the game will depend on.
The Midway area always has a DJ playing top dance music and there are always a ton of food and dessert options available. In the back of the park is also a laser tag option available, as well.
The three haunted trails this year have been taken over by the Landlord, here’s their lore:
Cousin’s Cafe- A group of cousins have been evicted from their place in New Orleans where they have found refuge in an old cafe in the dilapidated strip mall. This cafe is like it was taken straight out of the bayou itself, complete with its own Voodoo Priestess. You will find yourself trying to escape from the horrors of the cousin’s, as well as the evil the Landlord has passed down upon them. The cousins seem to make their meals with the souls of their customers. Will you make it out of this one without becoming their next meal?
Templar’s Toy King- This old toy store sits as the anchor store to the entrance inside the old strip mall, which has been taken over by the Landlord- where he feasts on souls of old employees. The employees of all the stores have all been taken over by this evil, and are now left to die inside. As urban explorers, you enter into this Hell, not knowing what lurks in each of the stores, as you go deeper into the mall, until it’s…too late to escape.
Rancid Rentals- An old video store sits lined with all sorts of horror, western, fantasy and Sci-Fi videotapes. No matter what movie you pick, you will end up being sucked right into that world to live the horrors right before your eyes. The clerk warns you that the movies come back, but the people never do. Now you are one of the trapped, lost in a neverending loop of movies that terrorize you, and there is no escape in sight. All the tapes have been cursed by the Landlord, and now he takes more souls with each one watched.
We braved the Landlord and made it out with our Souls, but will you? Only one way to find out!
The actors did a wonderful job in each of the haunted trails making sure the theme was visible to all who entered. There were a few of the actors in the Cousin’s Cafe that even nailed their New Orleans accents, so it really felt like we were walking through our own sort of horror in the Bayou! Each and every line we heard throughout the evening was creative, and some actors were interacting with the guests as we walked through, so it was always a new experience on what we would hear. Not one actor broke from their role, even with the interactions, so it added that extra bit of immersion we like to see!
There were a good amount of scareactors for each of the scenes, so each corner we turned seemed like there was a scare coming for us! The actors used numerous props, as well as noise effects to startle you as you walk by. And don’t worry, there are chainsaws for those that love them!
We genuinely appreciated the acting in the Rancid Rentals house, allowing us to step into so many different movies in such a short amount of time, and really feel like we were experiencing the real life horror being surrounded by all sorts of different characters. I will say those Aliens really made my skin shiver, especially those noises they made!
It was nice to see all the characters lurking about the Midway, causing screams all around us. We even got to meet the Landlord as he wandered through the grounds! I also wanted to shout out the characters in the immersive theatre experience, Amee’s Apparel- you all made that experience so fun and exciting for us. We didn’t know what to think going in, but the way you all played each of your roles, along with the storyline, while adding in your own interactions here and there, made it such a wonderful experience. Kudos to you all!
Each and every costume blended so well into the themes of the haunts. There weren’t many masks used, so it is a good amount of face makeup. Each and every actor blended into their scenes, giving that added immersive experience. Some of the costumes and makeup could be a little more detailed, layered, and realistic, bringing more to the immersion overall.
My favorite costumes were that of the Voodoo Priestess that greets us after our long travel through the Cousin’s Cafe, and also the Alien creatures that you encounter in one of your movie rentals from Rancid Rentals. I found the detail to each of those costumes to be so unique and creative!
Each and every person we had the pleasure of interacting with at A Petrified Forest was very accommodating and pleasant. There are backstage tours available for an additional cost, that will allow you to see the behind the scenes of some of the haunted trails and the new immersive experiences. I thought that was a wonderful experience that many may never get to see, and appreciate that it is being offered to the public.
Parking is available for free offsite at the Adjectives shopping center parking lot a few doors down from the scream park. Attendants are present, directing you where to park. There is a Trolley that is also free and will take you back and forth to the scream park, or the walk is only about 5-10 minutes along the sidewalk. Close-toed shoes are preferred, as you will be walking through the woods along trails for the haunts. Bug spray is also recommended.
The website will have all ticketing, parking, attraction info- so utilize these resources before going, so you can have a smooth entrance.
The waiting system is a unique, but efficient system. When you purchase your tickets (either online or at the gate), you will be assigned a color once you enter. There are color wheels on each of the haunted trails and you will wait until your color has been called for the evening (this is shown by the color wheel visibly moving to the specific color you have on your ticket). That is when you will enter the line for the first haunt that you choose. After exiting that haunt, you will be able to enter the next two haunts by using the fast pass lanes, so that you will not have to wait in the general admission line again. Even on extremely busy nights, this color system allows for generally shorter wait times usually.
This year, the Landlord looms over each of the storylines for the three trails. His story ties perfectly into each one, giving just that extra little bit of evil that is needed to become true horror tales. The team did a fantastic job this year building the trails, and making sure the scenes really immersed you into the stories that are being told. The water features were especially wonderful!
In Rancid Rentals, I genuinely appreciated being immersed into each and every movie we walked through. It felt like we were acting out a scene in real life, complete with our very own actors. The attention to detail in many of the scenes made it exceptionally enjoyable to the eyes, as well.
In Cousin’s Cafe, we got to feel like we were entering our own abandoned area of the Bayou, and maybe we didn’t want to really be in there. The immersion in Mama’s kitchen was next level, complete with her cooking utensils, appliances and face meat pies ready to serve! I would have to say that it was a toss between Cousin’s Cafe and Rancid Rentals for the most immersive trail- we enjoyed them both so much, and truly appreciated the effort that went into making the scenes for each unique and creative.
I would recommend having the storylines for each of the houses, perhaps at the entrance to the trails, so that everyone can appreciate the effort that goes into these haunts. Not many read the website before, and I think having that added bit of immersion, before entering into the houses, will add to everyone’s experiences even more.
The special effects for each of the trails add to the immersion and storyline for each one There are sounds used, lights, fog and even props that move on their own. The scenes are so immersive at times, it sometimes feels like you are actually in another world. There are not many animatronics, or old school haunt feels, as the scream park uses live actors for their scenes and interactive experiences so that it gives you a more realistic feeling overall. I do feel like there could be a few more special effects used within the houses, which would add to the immersion and extra sensory feeling, such as more sound and lighting effects used.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 8.43
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 8.33
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 8
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 8.17
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 8.08
A Petrified Forest does a fantastic job at making sure you are generally scared. They offer three unique trails, with three completely different horrors in each, but blend them together seamlessly with one overall theme. The scares come at you constantly as you are walking through the trails, and many catch you off guard so that they can really make you scream!
The scares in a Cousin’s Cafe were some of the most creative for the night, we enjoyed that house the best. It was like stepping out of Florida, right into New Orleans while experiencing some frightfully awful people while we were there! Rancid Rentals would probably come in at a close second. The story to that one was truly unique, and it was awesome to be able to walk through all these movies like we were a part of each one- even if they were downright terrifying! Templar’s Toy King would be our third choice, as we felt the scenes and story weren’t as strong as the other two were, and the actor at the end with the chainsaw just let us walk on by without really trying to scare us. Kinda bummed me out that we didn’t get that last scare like those in front of us got!
Tickets are available on the website or at the gate after you go through a security check. Ticket prices are $39.98 for the three haunted trails. You can also purchase tickets for the backstage tours, the immersive theater experience, the escape ride and also laser tag (there are bulk packages available).
There is a wonderful Midway area that has a DJ pumping out all the tunes to keep the vibe up through the evening. No alcohol allowed on property, but there are a ton of food and drink options available, as well as many seating areas. Restrooms are available onsite.
As soon as you step off the Trolley, you are greeted by scareactors and street sliders getting you into the haunting mood for the rest of the evening! Actors are known to also roam the Midway, making almost nowhere safe to hide. There are a few vendors where you can shop their wares, and as always there is a Merch booth complete with all The Petrified Forest swag you could want. You also can’t miss the roaming goat, a staple at the scream park!
The interactive experiences are an add-on to the ticket price and can be purchased onsite once you arrive. Amee’s Apparel immersive theatre experience was one of the most fun times we had. Not only was it frightening, but the interaction was a great addition to the whole event. The escape ride, Dark Road Riders, was down for the evening, due to rain earlier in the night flooding some of the areas used for the actors, but we did a backstage tour of the experience and it seems like it is a really entertaining event, especially being something as unique as a riding escape room, where your decision creates the outcome.
Overall, the Landlord was in full effect trying to steal our souls, as we ventured aimlessly through this derelict strip mall, exploring places we may never make it back out alive! Are you brave enough to explore on your own?
1360 East Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs, Florida 32701