weirdness · Oct 26, 2026 · DAILY TRANSMISSION
Orlando Put 118 Witches in the Sky, Because Apparently Gravity Needed Halloween
For one hour, the Orlando Eye became a 400-foot flying coven. The record is still awaiting final confirmation, but the visual is already unbeatable.
Pointy hats, please remain seated
Picture a glass capsule rising 400 feet above Orlando. Inside: capes, witch hats, families, and probably a lot of delighted squinting at the view. On Wednesday, October 21, the Orlando Eye briefly became a flying coven.
The attraction invited guests in qualifying witch costumes to ride free from 6 to 7 p.m. The goal was wonderfully specific: set a record for the most people dressed as witches riding an observation wheel at once. No haunted maze. No fake chainsaws. Just a huge wheel full of hats.
About 204 people took part during that hour, according to WESH. At one point, 118 witches were aboard simultaneously. Merlin Entertainments believed that cleared the required number, though the official count was still being calculated in post-event reporting.
A very tall joke with air conditioning
The Orlando Eye has 30 air-conditioned glass capsules. Each holds up to 10 guests, and a flight lasts about 20 minutes. It was built for orderly sightseeing, not for turning its passengers into a giant seasonal punch line.
Still, the numbers make the stunt even funnier. The wheel can theoretically hold 300 people, so 118 witches did not fill the whole thing. Somewhere, a person who loves both spreadsheets and spell books is now wondering about the 300-witch version.
The scale was the magic trick. A 400-foot landmark normally asks people to look out at the city. For one hour, the people inside became the thing worth looking at.
The witch costume is a cheat code
A witch is one of Halloween’s fastest visual shortcuts. Add a pointed hat, a cape, maybe a broom or cauldron, and strangers understand the assignment immediately. That makes the costume perfect for a crowd stunt.
The Halloween witch costume came to the United States with European immigrants in the 19th century, according to Smithsonian research. Her look has kept changing since then: scary old crone, glamorous figure, comic character, playful kid costume.
That flexibility helped Orlando’s event work. Nobody needed a detailed costume guide or a giant budget. They only had to look witchy enough to join the cast.
A public cast, not a private disguise
Halloween costumes often let people drift through the night as somebody else. This event did the opposite. It asked strangers to dress similarly enough that they could be counted together.
That is a small but charming switch. The pointed hat became less of a disguise and more of an entry pass into a shared visual gag. A costume usually says, “Look at me.” Here, it said, “Yes, I’m with the witches.”
Local attendee Jocelyn Aranda brought her family after seeing the event online. She told WESH she wanted her children “to be a part of history.” Organizer Noel Brooks said the goal was to bring Central Florida together and help Orlando stand out.
Hold the broom: the record isn’t final yet
It would be easy to declare this a finished world record and move on. Don’t do that just yet. The event happened, the 118 simultaneous riders were reported, and Merlin believed the attempt succeeded, but outside recognition had not been confirmed.
That uncertainty barely dents the good part. For one evening, an enormous sightseeing machine carried a bunch of people dressed like a children’s-book symbol. Parents, kids, and strangers agreed to look a little ridiculous together.
That’s the kind of civic ambition we can get behind: take the skyline, add capes, and let the city cackle.
SOURCES FROM THIS TRANSMISSION
Halloween Event in Orlando at ICON Park | Orlando Eye ↗100 witches gather to set a world record at The Orlando Eye - WESH ↗Plan Your Day | The Orlando Eye ↗The Witches of Halloween Past ↗