14 Top Theme Parks For Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner and that means it’s time for haunted houses, candy, and theme parks! If you’ve never been to a Halloween-themed amusement park, you’ve been missing out. They have haunted rides, haunted houses, and actors that roam the park and scare you silly.

There are theme parks all over the country that get into the Halloween spirit and I’ve compiled a list of all the best ones just for you!

Knott’s Berry Farm, California

Starting with my personal favorite, we have Knott’s Berry Farm, or as it’s called in October, Knott’s Scary Farm. I’m pretty sure that this is one of the scariest places on earth come Halloween time. As you wander the park, you’ll cross through what are called “Scare Zones” where actors run at you, scream at you, and just do anything to make you feel as uncomfortable as possible. You have to walk through the scare zones to get to the mazes.

There are 10 mazes (haunted houses) in the park, so you’ll have hours of fun walking through these haunted mazes while actors jump out at you from behind corners, act out gruesome scenes, and try their hardest to traumatize you for life. While there’s no age limit for the event, children under the age of 13 might be scarred for life if you take them here.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Florida

During the spooky season, Busch Gardens gets turned into Howl-O-Scream. Here, there are seven scare zones and five haunted houses that will leave you terrified yet wanting more. Some of the most famous attractions in the park are the D.H. Baggum’s Circus of Fear haunted house, Stranglewood Estate haunted house, and The Forgotten: Uprising.

If that’s not enough, there are also two shows here; Cirque X-Scream and The Reckoning. This way, when you’re tired of walking around the park getting scared, you can sit down and be scared!

Hersheypark, Pennsylvania

Be prepared to be scared at Hersheypark Dark Nights this Halloween. Starting at 6pm, Hersheypark tuns into one of the scariest amusement parks in the country. With five haunted houses and three scare zones, you won’t get to relax for even a second. Not to mention that this is literally an entire amusement park built around Hershey’s chocolate! Doesn’t get more Halloween than that!

During the day, children under the age of 12 get to trick-or-treat along the Boardwalk At Hersheypark at 13 different stops and get some of the best Halloween candy. This park is perfect to bring your kids to during the day and then at night come back for some spooky haunted fun!

Universal Orlando Resort, Florida

We all know about Universal Studios, but did you know that they have a spooky side? Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights has 10 haunted houses and five scare zones! Not to mention a “Nocturnal Circus” where you can see live entertainment along with Death Eaters Encounter at World of Harry Potter section of the park.

There’s so many things to do here you might have to spread it out over two nights. They also have some of their rides open, but the lines for the rides are going to be so long that you should just do those when you come during the day and save all your time for the haunted houses.

Kings Island, Ohio

Kings Island Halloween Haunt is up and running this year. It’s open from Friday to Sunday and starts at 6pm after the park closes. There are five haunted mazes, scare zones, and live shows throughout the park, so you’re guaranteed to never run out of things to do!

If you want to go have a good time without having the crap scared out of you, there’s a “No Boo” necklace that you can buy for $17 that lets the actors know not to scare you. But where’s the fun in that?! In my opinion, you got to go all in and know that you’re going to be scared anyway.

Walt Disney World Resort, Florida

If you have kids, this is the perfect option for you. The Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is fun for all ages and will not scar your children for life. It’s open from 7:00 PM to midnight on select nights. Some of the main attractions that you won’t want to miss are the Mickey’s Boo-To-You Halloween Parade, Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular, Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, and Moonlight Melodies.

Not to mention that you can trick-or-treat around the park as well! All of your favorite Disney characters will be handing out candy and having a great time with the kids.

Six Flags, USA

There are currently 42 Six Flags locations in the US and all of them have a Six Flags Fright Fest. They have five haunted houses, scare zones, and shows. These all happen after the park closes at 6PM. For the kids, there’re a Kids Boo Fest that occurs during the day and includes trick-or-treating, a BOO-Yeah! Parade, and a Not-So-Scary Storytime.

So whether you’re here to walk the haunted mazes or watch a cute little Halloween parade, there’s something for everyone. There are also lots of new attractions this year, so even if you’ve been to the Fright Fest a different year, you’ll get some new scares this year!

Knoebels Amusement Resort, Pennsylvania

This one is just for the kids. The Knoebels Amusement Resort Hallo-Fun is an amusement park that opens every Halloween for just a few weekends. Some of the rides they change to make them more Halloweeny are the Haunted Antique Cars, the Pioneer Train Halloween Express, and the Panther Cars.

All these rides are very family-friendly and will keep you and your kids entertained all day. Also, the trees change colors this time of year, which gives the park a perfect fall feel. Some of the other things that you can expect here are live music, dance theater, a light show, and even a puppet show.

Dollywood, Tennessee

How about a Dolly Parton themed amusement park with a Halloween twist? At Dollywood, you can get just that! Every year, Dollywood has a Harvest Festival for all ages that’s fun for the whole family. Some of the top attractions are the Great Pumpkin LumiNights where you can get a pumpkin light show unlike anything you’ve ever seen!

There’s also the Smoky Mountain Splendor where you can see beautiful pumpkin sculptures along with fall flowers. Then, of course, there are the rides that the park is famous for and even some new ones, like the Big Bear Mountain roller coaster. Lastly, there are tons of live musical performances all around the park that will keep you in that Dolly Parton mood as you make your way through the park.

LEGOLAND, California

LEGOLAND’s Brick-or-Treat Halloween Event is a family friendly event for all the Lego lovers out there. You can dress up and bring your kids for some Halloween fun. One event that the park is putting on is The Great Monster Chase 4D Movie, where you’ll have to escape a monster in a 4D theater experience.

Then there’s the Disco Dragon Coaster that changes to a Halloween-themed ride during October and plays spooky songs as you ride the ride. There’s lots more to do here, but you won’t want to miss the trick-or-treating where you can get buckets of candy along the Candy Cauldron Trail.

Kennywood, Pennsylvania

At the Kennywood Phantom Fall Fest, you’ll have a fun filled day with the kids while getting to experience the parks many attractions like Kiddieland, Thomas Town, and even a Kenny’s Trick-Or-Treat Scavenger Hunt.

Then at night, that all changes. There are six haunted houses and four scare zones that are not for the faint of heart. The actors here go all out with their costumes in an almost disturbing way. Lots of blood, lots of gore, and lots of jump scares.

Lagoon Amusement Park, Utah

Lagoon’s Frightmares is a place that you can bring the whole family to. Here, they have both the non-kids and kid events happening at the same time. This is perfect if you have older and younger kids and want to keep them both entertained.

For example, they have a Seance that they claim is “absolutely too scary for most kids” while also having a Treat Street that’s only for kids. They also have a Fun House of Fear where “parental guidance suggested”. No matter what age or level of scare you are looking for, they’ll have it at Lagoon.

Silver Dollar City, Missouri

Harvest Festival at Silver Dollar City is a family-friendly event that happens every year at this park that is known as “America’s number one theme park”. There’s nothing too big going on here but some of the things that the park does for Halloween are the Garden Of Giants where you can see giant pumpkins, Pumpkins In The City where can see pumpkin sculptures and intricately carved pumpkins, and even a Pumpkin Dance Party in the Pumpkin Plaza.

They also keep some of the rides open late at the Harvest Festival so you can ride the coasters at night. This is a great place to go for a fall experience, but not as much for Halloween.

Castle Park, California

Castle Dark at Castle Park happens on the weekends and has three haunted mazes, two scare zones, and three live shows. This isn’t the biggest amusement park on the list, but it was voted number five on the USA Today 10 Best Halloween Event list!

It’s also one of the cheapest amusement parks on this list to get into at only $30 per person! They won’t be open on Halloween, but they are open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until the 27th.

What do you think?

Have you been to any of these theme parks for Halloween? Which one do you want to visit most? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!