(Lakeland FL) For a very limited engagement this weekend, Sir Henry's is offering up its seasonal 'Ghost Town & BBQ' event Friday 4/11 and Saturday 4/12. Fortunately, Central Florida Review was able to get a glimpse into this last weekend during media review night.
Sir Henry's is run and operated by a very tight knit staff. Each time I've visited there, it's felt like a mini-reunion of sorts. In fact, I even recognized a few of the scare actors on media night from previous visits to this attraction.
This weekend's event features 2 trails / houses. What is missing this year is the adaptation of their beloved 'hayride' trail, which has seemingly been replaced by a mini-show toward the back of the property's town hall. The costuming and theming are great overall, however insufficient and poor audio quality, coupled with a lack of coherent and relevant storyline made this one fall flat for me. Also, during media night, there were 2 live horses which were super-cool to see up close... I do hope that these are around for this weekend's festivities.
Regarding the town hall itself, it's always a neat way to find the scare actors and take photos of (with) them. You can also check out a food truck here, or pick up some seasonal merch.
In the area of food, unfortunately there was no BBQ on hand to be sampled, so I can't speak to the food portion referenced in the namesake of this event.
I do have some very serious concerns about the actors though. The acting itself was fine. However, I think that there should be a direction to the actors that 'volume' doesn't equate to 'scary'. Several of the actors were screaming at the top of the lungs in an effort to create this more amplified intensity level of fear. However, having worked at Tower of Terror myself, I can assure you that there are ways to be creepy and scary just by remaining silent. There are many dark spots along the scare trails at Sir Henry's, so even just 'movement' from a dark shadow would be enough to scare park visitors. I also had friends who worked at the Haunted Mansion (Disney), which more closely resembled the 'ghost town' feel of what Sir Henry's was trying to create: none of those ghostly haunts at Haunted Mansion EVER raise their voices, and it's memorable... and it's safer for the actors. Just a thought.
With this in mind, I would still recommend for visitors to check out this limited engagement this weekend. It's a safe environment, with lots of actors who, despite their attempts to scare you, actually do want their visitors to return for future visits, and do a very excellent job of interacting with the guests (particularly within the town center area).
So check it out... and let us know how the BBQ was!
--Bailey Guinigundo
Sir Henry's is run and operated by a very tight knit staff. Each time I've visited there, it's felt like a mini-reunion of sorts. In fact, I even recognized a few of the scare actors on media night from previous visits to this attraction.
This weekend's event features 2 trails / houses. What is missing this year is the adaptation of their beloved 'hayride' trail, which has seemingly been replaced by a mini-show toward the back of the property's town hall. The costuming and theming are great overall, however insufficient and poor audio quality, coupled with a lack of coherent and relevant storyline made this one fall flat for me. Also, during media night, there were 2 live horses which were super-cool to see up close... I do hope that these are around for this weekend's festivities.
Regarding the town hall itself, it's always a neat way to find the scare actors and take photos of (with) them. You can also check out a food truck here, or pick up some seasonal merch.
In the area of food, unfortunately there was no BBQ on hand to be sampled, so I can't speak to the food portion referenced in the namesake of this event.
I do have some very serious concerns about the actors though. The acting itself was fine. However, I think that there should be a direction to the actors that 'volume' doesn't equate to 'scary'. Several of the actors were screaming at the top of the lungs in an effort to create this more amplified intensity level of fear. However, having worked at Tower of Terror myself, I can assure you that there are ways to be creepy and scary just by remaining silent. There are many dark spots along the scare trails at Sir Henry's, so even just 'movement' from a dark shadow would be enough to scare park visitors. I also had friends who worked at the Haunted Mansion (Disney), which more closely resembled the 'ghost town' feel of what Sir Henry's was trying to create: none of those ghostly haunts at Haunted Mansion EVER raise their voices, and it's memorable... and it's safer for the actors. Just a thought.
With this in mind, I would still recommend for visitors to check out this limited engagement this weekend. It's a safe environment, with lots of actors who, despite their attempts to scare you, actually do want their visitors to return for future visits, and do a very excellent job of interacting with the guests (particularly within the town center area).
So check it out... and let us know how the BBQ was!
--Bailey Guinigundo
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