Cocktails & Screams — Restaurant in Orlando

It’s quite obvious this bar is failing as it’s NOT as it used to be. We have been here several times in the past & everytime was an amazing experience until this last time when we were extremely let down!

First let me say that we preordered the reservation package for 1-8 people that cost $366 & traveled from over an hour away as this was my personal favorite themed bar! This package (as advertised) covers the entrance fee, allows you to skip the line, guarantees you access to the speakeasy, includes a champagne package & reserves your couch seating area in view of the stage for you & your guests. This WOULD have been worth it if we were getting the same experience we were accustomed to from all of our previous visits….however,

We went on Saturday, Dec 14th. Our reservation time was for 7pm, we arrived shortly after 8pm. The VIP entrance to the side was pointless as there was NO line to get in. We were made to wait outside while they “prepared our table”, the table that should have already been prepared for our reservation time of 7pm. We entered a bar that was practically empty…maybe 8 people there at this time. After about an hour we had to request our champagne as it was never brought to us. More customers came & went throughout the night but it was never what I would call “busy”. In fact, compared to what we were used to here, it was DEAD! This meant there was no “reserved seating”, customers were able to sit at any of these couches in view of the stage that this place is charging people hundreds of dollars for!

The staff used to be dressed in theme….I have pictures with several horror characters there over the years from my visits. Even the bartenders were on theme with makeup & attire. Now, no characters….the bartenders dress of that of any other bar, short shorts & fishnet stockings. They were all very friendly & attentive to their jobs though. Tito, specifically was amazing! She went above & beyond for us as she knew we were disappointed in what the bar had become. At one point during the night one of the bartenders even told my boyfriend that we should go down to their other bar, the Alice in Wonderland one because it was “MUCH better than this one”!

The atmosphere itself is nothing spectacular anymore….of the 4 photos on the walls that used to change pictures on a loop, only 1 of them still work. The wall that used to have holographic ghosts routinely float up the wall, not anymore. The bathroom stalls in the woman’s bathroom that used to have awesome detailed paintings of characters on each one of them are now all painted solid black.

The speakeasy, that used to be a restricted area that required a specific reservation for & had an attendant working the door to allow access as the rules to enter were “by reservation only”, only 8 people max at a time, 20 minute time limit, no drinks allowed from the main bar & no photos or videos to be taken inside….had become a free for all! There was no attendant working the door, people came & went & hung out in there doing whatever they wanted so why was my $366 package reservation guaranteeing access when anyone & everyone could have access?!?! The experience in the speakeasy used to be intriguing too….the bartender would ask you some questions about your preferred liquor of choice, if you like sweet or spicy, etc. Then what you did was pick up a pile of mini bones & release them on the bar top. The bartender would “read” you your bones & make you a drink based off that. Not on this night! You ordered your drink the same way you order it at the main bar. Why even bother.

Overall, between the VIP package we purchased (which was clearly a waste of money) & what we spent throughout the night on drinks & shots we spent a good $600+ expecting the same fantastic experience we’ve had previously & were utterly let down! Shame on them for taking so much money for a VIP experience at a bar that they’ve let go so badly & cannot meet those expectations advertised. Needless to say, that will unfortunately be my last visit to what used to be my...

I had high expectations and was super disappointed. We road tripped all the way from Pa-Fl to celebrate my boyfriends birthday. We are spooky vacationers and always love trying places and have been dying to come to this place for over a year now. We paid the cover charge of $10 a person for the general bar area which is totally fine…however this is NOT the speakeasy (where you need a reservation) as far as our concerns. All four of us had at least two drinks by this point and were trying to call the bloodbag/shot girl over for 30mins for a birthday shot. When we finally got a hold of her she had to confirm that we had at least two cocktails and she just never came back and continued to soar passed us every single time while selling shots to tables and couches directly next to us. Is what it is, whatever. it started to get busy about an hour or so after we sat down so we let it go. We drank more at this point our bar tab between the four of us is at least $350 and with NO WARNING what so ever somebody starts cleaning up our table and tells us to get up. They said this table is now reserved for somebody that had just gotten to the bar. I wouldn’t even have complained if I somebody had just warned us the 3 hours we were there before that this was a reserved table at whatever time. Or even if we were being disrespectful or belligerent but we were not. We were trying to make this a very special spooky night for my boyfriend and it ended up feeling very disrespectful and unorganized. The fact that there IS a bar within this bar that you can make a reservation for and buy tables within the general area that everyone pays a cover fee to get into anyways, it was a special occasion for us and I would have paid to keep our table. But I’m glad I didn’t. Nobody informed us and it was empty when we got there. Not to mention although the bartenders and drinks were good I would not recommend any of our Orlando friends or Philadelphia friends to come back here. I make a lot of TikTok’s and Instagram posts about the spooky spots we travel to and this will not be one I recommend to people. The entertainment, although they were talented, did not fit the mood of the atmosphere and played a couple songs about three times within the 3 hours we were there. Also the DJ kept doing that thing where they stop the music so people would sing…when nobody was ready for it. I’m anticipating a nasty response from this review since I see the other reviews have unprofessional sounding responses to them. I will be spreading the word about the experience we have had here. I do hope it changes. The bar has potential and it seems as though I’m not the only one who feels this way.

EDIT: I knew I was going to get a rude response but wow. I think that response speaks for itself. I don’t think being ejected out of our table without warning and feeling ignore by a server is “Celestial standards” or however it was exaggerated. Anyways, we never got the shots mentioned in that response? So idk who told you that but we definitely did not receive. I would hope this isn’t a lie and somebody just served it to the...

I've been many times and I have always enjoyed the atmosphere. The drinks are overpriced, but I get that with a themed experience you're paying for the atmosphere. I like the place.

I'm disappointed after last night. My husband was DD for the night and was told there was nothing to offer him non-alcoholic besides a rootbeer or a water. My husband is non-confrontational and didn't even mention this to me until we left ANOTHER bar (owned by the same people I believe) where I had a not-so-great-experience. When he told me they told him they didn't have anything NA I was shocked, since only a year or 2 ago, they had no issue accommodating my pregnant friend with mocktails. I'm not sure if it was just lazy bartending to not offer a seltzer with splash of Cranberry or ANYTHING in between an expensive sugary alcohol, or rootbeer or water... or if this bar seriously needs to add some NA options for the sober, the DDs, the pregnant, etc. Had I known he was being blown off in the moment, I'd have approached the bar myself and found something they could have easily made him. Management wasn't notified here because I wasn't made aware until the end of our night. Leaving this review so they can perhaps see a gap that needs filled in the NA department. Mocktails are even listed below this review as a box to click for what I'd recommend.

I'd recomend the bartenders offer them when someone asks what you habe without alcohol in it.

2 themed bars in one night. Both not a good experience.

*Edit to respond to the Owner:

I LOVE Cocktails & Screams. As my review stated. For years. It was my first time having a bad experience which happened to be the same night as my first visit to High T and was a bad experience. I reviewed both because my entire night consisted of only two bars. Two owned by the same people, but the instances were separate locations and separate staff. And both were not great experiences. It was the overtly rude Manager that warranted the review.

I encourage everyone to go and make your own assessment. For sure. My review wasn't a bash. It was my experience. Many five star reviews exist, but you really gotta stop treating bad reviews like personal attacks. It shows you where you have room to improve so that your business can continue to get MORE 5 stars and...