Sir Henrys Haunted Trail Review (2024)

The cast at Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail truly elevated our experience across all four haunted attractions. In The Ripper, a young actress by the water wheel left a lasting impression, repeatedly crying for her mother in a heart-wrenching performance that showcased her emotional range and commitment to the role. She broke our hearts every time we went through the trail and will surely be a standout performance for the 2024 haunt season. We also appreciated the two young actors in the town square; one offered newspapers while the other slid on his hands and knees, both intensifying the tension as they later reappeared twitching at the end of an alley. The theatricality of the trail immersed us in a gripping cat-and-mouse game between the police and The Ripper. We loved the interactions between both sets of characters and that the story had a resolution in the final scene… although not everyone made it out alive.

Moving to Aqua De Muerte, we were intrigued by the cast, who communicated entirely in Spanish, enhancing the attraction’s immersive atmosphere. While we noted fewer scare actors during our visit, the unsettling performances of The Priest and The Deity stood out.

In Pyrum’s, queue actor Sin offered to buy our souls the first time in line and, when we came back through a second time, asked how we were still alive and promised we wouldn’t make it out this time. We loved the interaction; it set a perfect tone before entering the attraction.

We also adored Mim, a mute character who playfully startled us throughout the night. Whenever you find Mim, they pull a sign out from under their cloak that reads, “Hi, I’m Mim!” Mim was a highlight of our evening, and we hope to see more of Mim in future seasons.

Sir Henry’s has created several “icons” over the years, and this year, they’ve added a few more to their hallowed halls of horror. First, you have The Ripper, with his slashed-up, elongated pointy face, who silently stalks the streets of London looking for his next victim. He dons a black bowler hat and hemlock coat, quickly weaving in and out of locales, which gives him an air of elegance and danger. In Aqua de Muerte, we’re introduced to The Deity, an imposing skeletal creature with black eye sockets and an all-seeing third eye on his forehead. It was the standout costume on the trail, and we hope to see this character walking around the courtyard in future seasons.

In Pyrum’s Wrath, we loved the intricacies of the pumpkin characters, each with different faces and well-cut masks. The makeup for Sin, the roaming queue actor before heading into the attraction, was grotesque yet set the tone for the trail before we entered. The skin around his eyes was cut up in long slits, looking like he was a victim of Pyrum. As much as we loved the costuming in this trail, we wish the trail contained a little more lighting so we could take in the costume details a little more.

In Legends of Halloween Haunted Hayride, classic characters from Halloween folklore prowl the wagon trail. We were impressed with the vampire facial prosthetics and form-fitting masks which were well-blended and conveyed the type of vampires we were about to encounter. We loved the addition of the Headless Horseman in the hayride last year and were thrilled to see him return this year, even if we only saw him in passing.

Sir Henry’s is located right off Interstate 4 at Exit 25 or 22, an easy drive from Orlando, that will take anywhere from 50 – 90 minutes to get to, depending on I4 traffic. Parking is complimentary, and it’s a quick walk up to the front gates.

We never feel more welcomed at a haunt than at Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail. Every staff member we met was courteous and willing to engage in conversation. This is an outdoor experience through uneven terrain, and we recommend you wear closed-toe, comfortable shoes. There were one or two times we felt a large rock on the trail, so we pushed it aside just to be extra safe. We also noticed there were no descriptions of the haunted trails on the website this year. It’s a feature we miss, as we typically read the attraction details on the way to the haunt to help prepare and get pumped up.

Sir Henry’s is a fully immersive experience from the moment you enter the front gates. Over the past 11 years, Sir Henry’s has created original characters with full backstories, and they can be seen roaming the courtyard before you enter any of the attractions.

Out of all trails this year, The Ripper had the most immersive and easy-to-follow storyline. From the moment we entered the queue line, we were greeted by a police officer who explained the story of The Ripper and let us know he was on the loose. As the trail progressed, our sightings of The Ripper increased as he slashed his way through the streets of London and murdered innocent victims before our eyes. If the story of The Ripper continues in 2025 (which we’d love), we’d like to see the facade receive a little upgrade from a farmhouse and barn to something that more aligns with the trail’s theme.

The special effects in Pyrum’s Wrath were some of the most impressive and our favorite of the night. From the very start, the collapsing bookcase and unexpected air effects blew us away—literally, as they were powerful enough to knock our hats off! The trail was beautifully lined with glowing jack-o-lanterns, their carved faces casting faint, flickering light along the trail while the smell of pumpkin lingered in the air. Similar to the costumes, the static pumpkin figures were intricately designed, but we wished we had more opportunities to take in their details if the trail was lit a little bit more.

One of our favorite scenes involved rummaging through a closet filled with what felt like pumpkin guts, and we have to give a shout-out to the hidden animatronic in that room—it scared us both times we walked through! Our final encounter with Pyrum, one of the larger animatronics, sent us flying from the attraction. Between the detailed effects, cleverly placed scares, and immersive set design, Pyrum’s Wrath became the scariest trail of the night.

The trail that houses Aqua de Muerta has had a complete rebuild and the set design is truly something to behold. You can feel the love in every corner of this attraction, and it only gets stronger as the trail progresses. In our search for The Fountain of Death, we had to cross a collapsing bridge over a mote in front of a Spanish fortress and walk through a catacomb where skulls adorned the walls, and water flowed over their faces. We ultimately found The Fountain of Death, and between the set design, costuming, and scares at the end of the house, we were almost tempted to drink the water alongside the village residents.

In The Ripper, the smell of rotting death surrounded you as you passed through the streets and buildings of London. The smell was so strong that we were convinced we could still smell it in the car ride back to Orlando. If the story of The Ripper continues, we’d love to see Sir Henry’s add some slashing sound effects and/or voice work every time The Ripper pops out to murder a victim or scare one of the passersby. The addition of the sewer tunnel was great, but we couldn’t help but think there was a missing scare element in the room. The water effect in the sewer would work even better with a little bit of fog continuously pumped in, but, as we said, we attended on Media Night, so this could be a working effect by opening night.

In Legends of Halloween, the audio was perfectly synched up throughout our 25-minute ride, explaining the characters who prowled and stalked the sides of the haywagon. We found the audio slightly loud, which impacted hearing what the scare actors surrounding the wagon had to say. The entire experience is beautifully lit, surrounded by detailed, large sets, and we loved the animatronics sprinkled throughout (like the various pumpkins, body bags, and the poor victim who gets his face ripped off). And what’s not to love about the fangtastic finale with a flying vampire!?

We received multiple scares in all three haunted trails, specifically Pyrum’s Wrath and The Ripper. The close confines and claustrophobia in Pyrum’s made every turn uncertain and we were unsure whether an actor would be popping out of a boo-hole, a wall, dark corner, or a cabinet. And if it wasn’t the actors scaring us, it was the massive blast of air or moving set pieces that took us by surprise.

The Ripper’s trail length was unrelenting, and the scares never stopped. Due to the intricate nature of the trail, an actor who scared you at the beginning was often scaring you again towards the end as you found yourself on the other side of fences or walls.

We received the least amount of scares in Aqua de Muerte and some rooms felt like an actor could be missing. As of writing this review, there is still an additional week before Sir Henry’s opens to the public. In that time, there may be actors or effects added to any of the attractions so the scare factor could change in this attraction.

This year, say goodbye to hay on the haunted hayride! The haywagons have been outfitted with rows of seating and can set up to four guests per row. It was nice to not have itchy legs or struggle to get up and down in low haywagons, but we feel like it lessened the scares in the attraction. By sitting in a row of four, your view of the sets and actors stalking the wagon is impacted, especially if you’re stuck in the middle seats. It also creates a feeling of safety, which you don’t get if you’re all seated along the sides of a haywagon. With that being said, the hayride is still a knockout attraction, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a haunted hayride at other local haunted attractions in Florida.

Based on our scores, the following would be our ranking of the scariest attractions at Sir Henry’s this year. Remember, everyone is scared by different things so what might not have scared us might might scare you and vice versa!

1. Pyrum’s Wrath
2. The Ripper
3. Legends of Halloween Haunted Hayride
4. Agua de Muerte

Tickets for Sir Henry’s range from $27 – $57 depending on ticket type. We recommend opting for the All Access ticket so you can experience The Legends of Halloween Haunted Hayride. Season passes are also available for $135, which allows entry every night of the event, one front-of-the-line entry to each attraction, and 10% off in the gift shop!

1. General Admission – Allows one entry through each of the three haunted trails.
2. All Access – Allows one entry through each of the three haunted trails and one entry to the haunted hayride.
3. VIP – Allows one VIP entry through each of the three haunted trails and one entry to the haunted hayride. VIP guests may use the general admission line for the three haunted trails an unlimited amount of times after they have used their one VIP entry.

Tickets MUST be purchased online and in advance before attending the event. When purchasing a ticket, you will need to select an arrival time for the evening so we recommend purchasing as soon as you know what date you’d like to attend the event.

Based on how long it took to experience each of the four attractions and dividing that by a $42 all access ticket, the value per dollar at Sir Henry’s breaks down to 1 minute of scares per dollar spent, which is a great value! That number doesn’t factor in the time spent in the courtyard, where you can mingle with the monsters that call Sir Henry’s home. There is a unique charm to the event, and it’s one that really feels like Halloween in Central Florida has really begun. Our advice: Add Sir Henry’s to your haunt tour this fall or face the wrath of Pyrum should he decide to pay you a visit on Halloween night.