Universal Fan Fest Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood

Do you love Dungeons and Dragons? How about anime? The original Universal park is inviting geeks, freaks, and dorks to indulge their passion with like-minded fans of manga properties Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece as well as the role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons. With its new Universal Fan Fest Nights, it is also rolling out the red carpet for Nintendo gamers and folks who just can’t get enough of the television and film franchises Back to the Future, Star Trek, and Harry Potter. The multi-faceted event is slated for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings commencing April 25 and continuing through May 18, 2025 with tickets starting at $74 a pop.

Marty McFly wanna-bes may long for Universal’s Back to the Future: The Ride (which was supplanted by The Simpsons Ride in 2015), but they’ll be able to witness a facsimile of the lightning strike that catapulted the tricked-out DeLorean through time and space at the actual clock tower in the preserved Courthouse Square backlot set from the original movie. Star Trek nerds might want to brush up on their Klingon in anticipation of the walk-through experience that will take them aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and onto the ship’s bridge from the streaming series, “Star Trek: Picard.”

Guests will also have the chance to enter Waterdeep for a walkthrough Dungeons and Dragons experience, watch Yuji Itadori and the gang in “Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of the Cursed” on the big screen in the park’s DreamWorks Theatre, and meet Luffy and his Straw Hat Crew in the One Piece: Grand Pirate Gathering fun zone. There will be extra things to see and do in two of Universal’s existing lands, including a new castle projection show and meet and greets with characters such as a baby dragon in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and a scavenger hunt along with drone displays in Super Nintendo World. Guests are encouraged to come dressed for cosplay. The Hollywood park will also have themed food items and merchandise available for purchase (of course). By incorporating so many properties, Universal Fan Fest Nights sounds quite ambitious.

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Coasters After Dark: Seven Seas Edition at SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando has some great coasters, including Mako, Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, and Ice Breaker. It also offers the foodie event, Seven Seas Food Festival, which is taking place now through May 4, 2025. On select evenings from March 14 through April 11, the park will be combining the two for Coasters After Dark: Seven Seas Edition. Guests will be able to get multiple rides on the thrill machines with reduced wait times and check out dishes (five of which are included with admission), such as lobster rolls and beef gyros, at the food booths. There will also be complimentary popcorn (which, let’s face it, will surely drive beverage sales). SeaWorld has offered both Coasters After Dark and the food festival in the past, but this will mark the first time that it will be offering a hybrid of the two events. Tickets start at $69, which seems like a pretty decent deal.

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Volcano Bay Nights at Universal Orlando

Gorgeously lit with lava smoke billowing from its top, Krakatau mountain, which sits at the center of Volcano Bay, is a stunning sight at night. Guests will get to ogle it up close (and ride the wildly thrilling slides that wind through it, including Ko'okiri Body Plunge) at Volcano Bay Nights. Scheduled for April 12, 26 and May 3, 10, 17, 2025, the new event will offer limited attendance and reduced wait times on ten of the water park’s most popular attractions. It will also include complimentary bites of a couple of food items (as well as other dishes available for purchase) and a beach party with a DJ, games, and DreamWorks characters. Disney World has been offering a similar event, H2O Glow After Hours, at its Typhoon Lagoon water park. Volcano Bay Nights tickets costs $99.

Have you been to any nighttime events at theme parks? Might you check out any of these new ones?

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Thankfully, destination theme parks beckon in places that are considerably warmer than New England. I’ll gladly brave the wind chill factor aboard a coaster in California or Florida this time of year. To sweeten the deal, many parks are featuring special wintertime events.

Lunar New Year at Disney California Adventure Park

To help celebrate the Year of the Snake, Disney California Adventure is offering Lunar New Year through February 16, 2025. Mushu, the dragon from Mulan, leads a colorful procession multiple times daily through the park. He and his pals also appear each evening on giant water screens in a special pre-show before World of Color, the enchanting kiss-goodnight fountain and projection spectacular. Meilin Lee and her mother, Ming Lee, from the Pixar film, “Turning Red,” are on hand to greet guests. Musicians and dancers representing Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures perform daily. And of course, it wouldn’t be a festival without food. Limited-time Asian dishes are on the menu at booths as well as at some of the park’s restaurants. Check out Disney’s description of its Legend of the Ten Spices flatbread, which is available at Pym Test Kitchen, and tell me you’re not salivating: “Kung pao beef, sesame spread, toasted bok choy, and napa cabbage, served with onion-cilantro salad garnished with heirloom radish and chile threads.” Yum.

EPCOT International Festival of the Arts at Walt Disney World

It’s one of EPCOT’s lesser known events (which include the International Food & Wine Festival, the International Festival of the Holidays, and the granddaddy of them all, the International Flower & Garden Festival), but the International Festival of the Arts, which continues through February 24, 2025, is jam-packed with things to experience. Like the park’s other celebrations, there are food stalls, which in this case feature art-inspired dishes such as Escargot en Chocolat. Served at the L'Art de la Cuisine Française booth, the dessert features Chocolate Mousse Flourless Cake with teensy dark chocolate mouse ears. Also, artists ply their trade and display their work on the park’s promenades. Budding artists can try their hand at drawing characters at the Animation Academy, which is led by a Disney animator. Performers from shows such as “Aladdin” and “Frozen” appear daily at the American Gardens Theatre for the Disney on Broadway concert series. And new this year, Once Upon a Stage: 30 Years of Disney on Broadway is being presented at CommuniCore Hall. The exhibit features props, set pieces, costumes, and more from Disney’s theatrical productions.

Universal Mardi Gras: International Flavors of Carnaval at Universal Studios Florida

There’ll be lots of beads tossed and plenty of beignets eaten at Universal’s ode to New Orleans. The parks 30th annual Mardi Gras celebration kicks off February 1 and continues through March 30, 2025. When the sun goes down, colorful floats crafted by the same creative folks that design the parades in The Big Easy will make their way through the park. Guests can use Universal’s app to apply to be a bead thrower aboard one of the floats. On select evenings, performers such as Joe Jonas, TLC, and Kool & the Gang will take the stage for the Mardi Gras concert series, which is included in admission. Dishes such as gumbo and jambalaya will be served at the event’s food booths.

Mardi Gras at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida, and SeaWorld San Diego in California

Universal doesn’t have a monopoly on Mardi Gras events. Other parks have jumped on the jazz bandwagon and more or less offer the same Cajun combo of parades, beads, entertainment, and New Orleans-inspired dishes.

• Six Flags Fiesta Texas Mardi Gras Festival is being presented on select dates through March 16, 2025.

• Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Mardi Gras Event is being presented on select dates through March 2, 2025. The park is also offering the Real Music Series with tribute bands performing every day but Sunday through February 22.

• Mardi Gras at SeaWorld San Diego is being presented on select dates through March 2, 2025. The park will also offer a Lunar New Year event on February 1, 2, 8, and 9.

Seven Seas Food Festival at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida

Forget the beads and the dragon dances. SeaWorld’s Florida park goes all in on tantalizing dishes and beverages with its Seven Seas Food Festival, which kicks off January 31 and continues on select dates through May 4. Over two dozen booths (or “markets” in SeaWorld-speak) will offer a wide variety of cuisines, including German, Gulf Coast, and Caribbean. The Irish food station will be serving up something called a Reuben Egg Roll. The multi-culti concoction pairs corned beef and sauerkraut in a fried egg roll that’s served with Thousand Island dipping sauce. Acts playing at the Seven Seas Food Festival Concerts will include ZZ Top, Sara Evans, and Warrant.

Will you be heading to any parks this winter? Might you check out any of the events?

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Hey there ATP paid subscribers. Check out my audio narration of this article–ART Talks audio: Silver Dollar City goes with the glow. If you are not a paid subscriber, kindly consider becoming one to get bonus content like my monthly audio narrations. Remember, paid subscriptions are my only source of income here. And you want to support quality journalism–and me–right?

Typically, I share my park adventures with you about limited time events in advance of or shortly after their kickoffs. But I happened to recently be at Silver Dollar City in Missouri to report about its new resort and expansion plans and got to experience the park’s Harvest Festival, featuring Pumpkins in the City for the first time. I want to let you know about it–even though it wrapped up last Saturday. It is (or was, I guess) a fabulous event, so consider making the trek to Branson next fall.

Most parks go for the jugular this time of year with Halloween haunts, but Silver Dollar City foregoes the chainsaw-wielding ghouls, evil clowns, and heart-stopping jump scares in favor of G-rated, silly, family fun. The festival featured a proliferation of pumpkins, many of which were carved with intricate designs and beautifully lit at night. Some of the displays were wildly creative and stopped me in my tracks.

There were about 20,000 pumpkins filling many of the park’s nooks and crannies. A 30-foot tall giant pumpkin greeter towered over the proceedings. There were bats, spiders, cats, and a variety of other creatures fashioned out of the jack-o’-lanterns. Carvers demonstrated their considerable skills on a stage at the event. Speaking of giant pumpkins, there was an assemblage of gargantuan gourds that each tipped the scales at more than 1,000 pounds.

The park transformed one of its midways into Foggy Hollow, a path that was aglow with hundreds of LED light strands that changed colors. It was a trippy experience moving through the fog-filled walkway and seeing other guests silhouetted in the dimly, but stunningly lit space.

Renowned for its exceptional food, Silver Dollar City went all out with special dishes for the event. As you might expect, many of the items featured pumpkin flavors, including a pulled pork sandwich with pumpkin barbecue sauce, a pumpkin spice churro with Marshmallow Fluff, and my favorite, pumpkin bread pudding. That last treat was made from the park’s (rightfully) famous cinnamon bread and was infused with gooey pumpkin goodness. It was sinfully rich, but oh so scrumptious. A close second was an apple dumpling served with cinnamon ice cream.

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Known for its craftsmen, the park augmented the blacksmiths, millers, potters, and other folks that regularly ply their trades with artisans that designed copper art, weaved rugs, created wind chimes, and others that took up residence during the festival.

There are a series of festivals at Silver Dollar City, the highlight of which is An Old Time Christmas, which kicks off November 2. The park will be awash in a riot of more than 6.5 million twinkling lights which have to be seen to be believed. There will also be Broadway-quality shows, a nighttime parade featuring Rudolph, and, of course, holiday fare.

Have you been to Silver Dollar City’s Harvest Festival? How about any of its other festivals and events? Do you agree that that the food at the Missouri park is exceptional?

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Welcome to ART Talks, an audio narration of one of my articles that is exclusively for paid subscribers like you. Most parks go for the jugular this time of year with Halloween haunts, but Silver Dollar City features G-rated, silly, family fun. That’s the topic of this month’s ART Talks.

Here is the text version of this article: Silver Dollar City goes w…

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Jimmy Fallon’s Tonightmares, a haunted maze for the fall Halloween season, will be setting up shop at Rockefeller Center, home of the “Tonight Show” studio. The fun will begin September 20 and continue on select nights through October 31. According to NBCUniversal, the maze will include ten rooms, each of which will reflect things that terrify the comedian. The list includes killer scarecrows, zombies, and, for some reason, an abandoned gas station. (Might he be scared of who or what might be lurking there, or is he simply afraid of running out of gas in the middle of nowhere?) There will also be werewolves, mad scientists, and AI robots run amok. The company says the experience should take about ten minutes to complete.

The maze is being developed by the same Universal Creative team that crafts the haunted houses and scare zones for Halloween Horror Nights at the Universal parks. Fallon and his staff are collaborating on the project as well. It’s almost a lock that the New York maze will feature the same production values and immersive creepiness that have helped make the annual park events the best and most popular in the industry. I’m guessing that it will be loaded with scareactors, cleverly designed sets, copious theatrical fog, effects, an ominous soundscape, jump scares, and other elements designed to simultaneously entertain and keep guests off-kilter and primed to be freaked out.

I’d also imagine that the maze will include at least some of Fallon’s trademark humor. Universal often offers comedy-infused haunted houses and scare zones at its HHN events. A few years ago, it presented a wildly funny magic-themed house featuring Penn and Teller for example. It can be challenging to get the proper mix of comedy and horror so that neither suffers. It’s natural for folks snaking through a haunted house to let out a nervous laugh after an axe-wielding fiend lunges at them out of the darkness. Funny moments, therefore, can provide welcome comedic relief if done correctly.

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The “Tonight Show” host has a history with Universal parks. The motion simulator attraction, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, is in the New York section of Universal Studios Florida. The queue for the ride takes guests through a convincing mock-up of the 30 Rock building. Fallon has also taken his show on the road to Universal Orlando for week-long residencies.

Universal has been leveraging its Halloween Horror Nights brand. In addition to the two stateside events at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida, visitors at its parks in Singapore and Japan can also scream like ninnies at HHN each fall. The company is currently developing a year-round horror experience as part of the AREA15 entertainment district in Las Vegas as well.

Tickets for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonightmares go on sale August 22 and start at $36.90

Would you want to check out Jimmy Fallon’s Tonightmares? Do you think Universal should extend its HHN brand and develop more standalone haunts?

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Dubbed Total Eclipse of the Point, the event will be held Monday, April 8 from noon to 6 p.m. The park will open The Boardwalk and Kiddy Kingdom lands, which are located near the main entrance, and will make “select rides” in those areas available. Cedar Point didn’t indicate exactly which rides would be operating, but Gatekeeper as well as the new Wild Mouse coaster might be eliciting screams in the daytime darkness. Other attractions in the two lands include the Giant Wheel, the 301-foot-tall WindSeeker swinging chairs ride, a carousel, and spinning rides such as the Matterhorn and the Scrambler.

The new Grand Pavilion, which evokes the park’s 19th century building of the same name, will also be open for the event. Guests will be able to celebrate the eclipse while chowing down on fare from the Grand Pavilion Restaurant and Bar. A DJ will be spinning tunes, and there will be kids’ activities on the agenda as well.

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Perhaps the prime viewing spot for Total Eclipse of the Point will be Cedar Point Beach. The reflection on Lake Erie as the sun slowly fades from view could be stunning. The eclipse will start around 2 p.m. and should reach its height a bit after 3 p.m. Cedar Point will be distributing eclipse viewing glasses to all guests (for goodness sakes, don’t be a fool and stare directly into the sun) along with souvenir buttons.

According to park spokesperson Tony Clark, Cedar Point has never opened its gates as early as April 8 throughout its long history. Its official opening day is scheduled for May 4 this season. The plan is for Top Thrill 2, the highly anticipated remake of Top Thrill Dragster, to debut when the park opens. While some online naysayers are slamming the makeover, I believe it has the potential to, er, eclipse the original coaster.

A bizarre spin on merry-go-rounds

Speaking of carousels, PETA, the animal rights organization, issued a strange appeal to Chance Rides that they “end the production and sale of animal-themed carousels that normalize the use of animals as conveyances and amusements.” Say what now?

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In a letter the activist group sent to the ride manufacturer, it suggested that cars, tractors, rainbows, brooms, and other figures could replace carousel horses. Animal-themed attractions “unintentionally celebrate the exploitation of sentient beings,” according to PETA.

I’m all for the ethical treatment of animals, but come on. Carousels are a cherished, longstanding tradition at amusement parks. Even the youngest children understand that the steeds going up, down, and around a booming band organ are not alive. In fact, aren’t carousels consistent with PETA’s guiding principle? Instead of using live animals for human enjoyment, the rides feature manufactured facsimiles.

What’s next? Will PETA come after Disney because Mickey, Donald, and the gang exploit sentient mice, ducks, and other creatures? Maybe Rocky Mountain Construction should rethink its new line of Wild Moose coasters, because, you know, folks might mistake them for the lumbering creatures.

Hey PETA: Get a sense of humor and perspective. I’m sure you could focus on more urgent things happening in the world. Like the unconscionable act of putting square pants on a cartoon sponge.

Would you want to celebrate a total eclipse at an amusement park? Do you think the PETA folks have lost their minds?

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So, let’s rev up the chainsaws and tip our blood-splattered hats to Knott’s Scary Farm, the original theme park Halloween haunt, as it marks its golden anniversary.

Since Knott’s is known for its Ghost Town (although the name refers to a deserted Old West village, rather than a place overrun by apparitions), perhaps it should come as no surprise that the park is a haunt pioneer. Its very first ode to the scary season was a modest three-day event held the weekend prior to Halloween. It offered a single maze, a show with “monster movies,” some roving characters, and trick-or-treating. The cost? A mere $4. (Damn you, inflation.)

The, um, bones of the the event were there from the start, but the concept evolved and grew through the years–eventually adopting the clever name, Knott’s Scary Farm–to become the template for parks everywhere. This anniversary year it is running 29 select evenings through October 31 and includes ten mazes, five scare zones, and four shows.

The mazes do not feature any brand-name IPs like the Universal parks (which didn’t get into Halloween horroring until 1986), but they do boast great production value and inspired, original storylines. Also, unlike the bigger, better-funded Universal parks, Knott’s repeats many of its experiences year to year. Of the ten walk-through mazes, three of them are new for 2023.

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One of this year’s new offerings is The Chilling Chambers, which pays homage, in ten scenes, to themes and characters from many of Knott’s popular, bygone mazes, including its very first one. The retro Room 13 sends guests to an opulent 1920’s-era hotel where a cocktail in its bar seems to be causing mayhem. The drink’s unfortunate name, The Devil’s Elixir, may have something to do with its curse. In Cinema Slasher, audiences coming to see a retrospective of horror films get more than they bargained for.

Among the scare zones is The Gore-ing 20s, which takes some of the patrons and the havoc from the The Blind Tiger lounge depicted in the Room 13 maze out into the park’s streets. The shows include the rocking Music, Monsters & Mayhem, which celebrates 50 Scary Farm years with a series of songs.

The most intriguing show, however, is The Hanging: Uncanceled. For many years, Knott’s skewered pop culture, politics, and the events of the day with a grand-scale, highly anticipated production that was both funny and pointedly tasteless. It would often take special glee in poking fun at its cross-town rival, Disneyland. The Hanging inspired Universal to develop a similar show, Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure, which starred the clueless slacker dudes from the whacked-out film franchise. Both Universal and Knott’s retired the shows, but the latter resurrected The Hanging for its special haunt anniversary. It is reportedly as lewd and offensive as ever–and still takes delight in ragging on Disney.

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One of Knott’s classic attractions, the Timber Mountain Log Ride, gets an overlay in the fall and is known as Halloween Hootenanny. On select days, the park presents Knott’s Spooky Farm, a toned-down event for kids. Held before dusk’s witching hour, it features trick-or-treating stations, shows, cookie decorating and other family-friendly activities.

Have you been to Knott’s Scary Farm? Were you aware that Knott’s is the granddaddy of theme park Halloween events?

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I hope you are enjoying “About Theme Parks,” my ad-free, reader-supported publication. In the spirit of the season, consider giving yourself a gift of a paid subscription. For a limited time only, I’m offering 25% off an annual subscription. In addition to my public posts, you’ll get “Rode It! Loved It!” ride reviews, “ART Talks” audio versions of posts, and access to “What’s the Attraction” discussion threads. And you will be giving me a gift by supporting my work. Paid subscriptions are my only source of revenue for “About Theme Parks.” Take advantage of this special offer for the holidays now!

In somewhat shocking news, the Walt Disney Company announced late Sunday that it had fired embattled CEO Bob Chapek and reinstated his predecessor, Bob Iger, as chief executive. It is a move that has been met with hosannas from fans, stockholders, creative professionals, and virtually everybody else with an interest in the media powerhouse. What might this mean for the Disney parks? I’ll weigh in with my thoughts this Thursday.

Sure, tons of folks will be traveling over the (Kali) River and through the (Forbidden Forest) woods to celebrate the holidays at the Disney and Universal parks. Historically, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is the busiest time of the year, with some of the Disney parks reaching capacity and closing their gates. (Although, the Mouse’s park reservations system changes the traditional calculus of “reaching capacity.”)

But the destination theme park resorts, which are open year-round, aren’t the only places where you could ride coasters and sip hot chocolate. I’ve already written about the over-the-top Christmas events at Dollywood in Tennessee and Silver Dollar City in Missouri. And I recently marveled at the brave souls who layer up and endure the considerable wind chill factor on spinning rides during WinterFest at Canada’s Wonderland. Let’s explore some of the other parks that get into the spirit of the season.

Holiday Lights at Kennywood in Pennsylvania, scheduled on select nights from November 19 to January 1, will feature the tallest Christmas tree in the state, boast two million lights, and offer rides on beloved staples such as the 1920s-era Jack Rabbit roller coaster, the vintage walk-through Noah’s Ark, and the recently restored spinning flat ride, Kangaroo. There will also be celebrity readings of “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” holiday-themed entertainment, and a buffet dinner with Santa Claus (who will likely hoard the sugar cookies).

All of the SeaWorld parks are presenting Christmas Celebration. They feature the Sesame Street characters as well as stars of the stop-motion animation classic, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” along with shows, twinkling lights, and rides and attractions. SeaWorld San Antonio, which is offering its holiday event on certain days through January 2, will present a Sesame Street Christmas Parade and a new nativity-themed show, “O Wondrous Night,” complete with live animals. SeaWorld San Diego is celebrating Christmas daily through January 8 and is presenting the new “Donner and Blitzen’s Lazer Light Show” as well as live reindeer. The SeaWorld Orlando event is offered select dates through January 3. The Florida park features Sea of Trees, a synchronized light show in its lagoon, and a fireworks finale each evening of Christmas Celebration.

There are over 5 million lights on display at Hesheypark’s Christmas Candylane, which is being held on select dates through January 1. The Pennsylvania park also offers TREEville, a trail of bedecked Christmas trees, some of its rides, including the B&M hypercoaster, Candymonium, and, of course, hot chocolate straight from the source. Separately, the park presents the drive-through Hershey Sweet Lights, which includes 600 animated displays. Just outside Hersheypark’s gates is Hershey‘s Chocolate World, which offers a range of holiday happenings, including Breakfast with Santa, the Holly Jolly Trolly show, and Hershey’s Holiday Chocolate House, which is decorated with–you guessed it–Hershey’s chocolate and candy.

The Sesame Place parks are presenting A Very Furry Christmas in Pennsylvania (through January 1) and at the new location in California (through January 8). They feature shows and parades with Elmo and the gang, rides, dance parties, and tons of lights. There will also be a Christmas Tree maze and a scavenger hunt at the San Diego park.

Some of the Six Flags parks, including Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in California, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, offer Holiday in the Park on certain days through January 1. In addition to select coasters and rides, visitors can indulge in seasonal treats, be wowed by lights and displays, and enjoy holiday-themed shows. At some of the parks, the Looney Tunes characters, such as Bugs Bunny, will be dressed in their holiday finest for meet and greets.

On select days, the three Legoland parks, including Florida (November 25 through December 31), California (November 19 through January 8), and the newest location in New York (November 25 through January 1), will mark the season with tree lighting ceremonies featuring Lego Santa, carolers, and dance parties. In New York, the first-ever event is called Holiday Bricktacular; the other two parks use the more generic name, Holidays at Legoland. The Florida park celebrates Kids New Year’s Eve early each evening from December 26 to 31 with fireworks.

Both of the Busch Gardens in Virginia (certain days through January 8) and Florida (daily through January 9) present Christmas Town. Weather permitting, the Williamsburg park will operate five of its coasters, including the wonderful new Pantheon, and a variety of other spinning and kiddie rides. Its popular “Celtic Fyre” show is re-themed for the holidays. Both of the parks also offer shows featuring the Sesame Street characters. All of the coasters and rides will be available in Tampa. The Florida park will also present “Christmas on Ice” in its Moroccan Palace Theater and offer fireworks on select evenings of the event.

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Have you been to any of the holiday events at Six Flags, Busch Gardens, Kennywood, or any of the other parks mentioned in this article? If so, can you share any anecdotes? Are you planning to go this season?

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Many years ago I wrote an article questioning the then-conventional wisdom about operating seasons at amusement parks. I wanted to know why parks and their fans were beholden to such a narrow, warm-weather window. Given the opportunity, people racked with cabin fever might want to escape winter’s doldrums and seek communal fun and midway thrills at a park, I reasoned. Most “experts” I interviewed back then thought I was nuts for even suggesting the possibility. Then Halloween events caught on and extended the shoulder season well into the fall. More recently, a surprising number of parks have added holiday events that keep rides spinning straight through to the end of the year. (A few regional parks, including Kings Dominion in Virginia, have done away with operating seasons altogether and remain open year round.)

How far might parks take this open-it-and-they-will-come attitude? Would you believe all the way to Canada? Believe it.

Canada’s Wonderland, located outside of Toronto, is getting ready to launch its annual WinterFest later this month. Scheduled to run on select evenings from November 18 through December 31, the holiday event will include twinkling lights, seasonal food, Christmas-themed shows, and, yes, rides.

Global warming notwithstanding, it can get cold in Canada. They don’t call it the Great White North for nothing. I visited the park in May a few years back. Thank goodness I brought my heavy jacket, hat, and gloves. I thought my face was going to ice over while riding the 306-foot-tall, 92-mph Leviathan (which, by the way, is an incredible coaster). Talk about wind chill factor! I can’t imagine what it’s like in late December there. And yet, people come in droves to experience WinterFest.

“You have to consider how hearty our guests are up here,” says Grace Peacock, the park’s director of communications. “People love doing outdoor activities in the winter. We know what to expect and bundle up in our parkas and toques.”

It’s not like Canada’s Wonderland won’t try to help guests cope with the bone-chilling temperatures. There will be fire pits, warming centers with propane heaters, cozy indoor restaurants, and plenty of hot chocolate and mulled cider. For an additional fee, the park will even offer “igloos,” cozy, enclosed domes to which folks will be able to retreat between wind-whipped rides.

But most of the event will be outdoors, including ice skating on a makeshift lake in front of the park’s Wonder Mountain and open-air shows filled with holiday tunes. None of the major coasters will be running for WinterFest, but hearty ride warriors will be able to board Thunder Run, which snakes in and out of the park’s iconic Wonder Mountain. There will be 23 attractions available in all, including the freaky pendulum ride, Psyclone, and the 80-foot-tall thrilling spinner, Sledge Hammer.

Visitors will be able to refuel at the park’s new 500-seat indoor restaurant, Lazy Bear Lodge. Among the seasonal fare available during the event will be fried turkey and stuffing balls served on mashed potatoes, sausage and candied bacon on sticks, warm puddings, and deep-fried butter tarts served with strawberry sauce and ice cream. There will be festive cocktails available as well.

This will be the third holiday event at Canada’s Wonderland. As would be expected, Peacock says that there has been snow, freezing rain, and other inclement weather during past presentations. “We find ways to enjoy the outdoors, even in snow,” she says. “Really, WinterFest is a natural fit for us.”

Canada’s Wonderland is part of the Cedar Fair chain of parks. Some of the company’s other locations offer WinterFest as well, including Carowinds in North Carolina, Kings Dominion in Virginia, California’s Great America, and Kings Island in Ohio. Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California foregoes the WinterFest branding and instead transforms into Knott’s Merry Farm. Among its highlights is “Home for the Holidays,” a gala ice show and musical revue featuring Snoopy and the Peanuts gang.

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Do you live in a part of the world where it can get crazy cold in the winter? Would you want to visit a park, despite freezing temperatures? What do you think about the trend of parks remaining open for the holidays? Have you been to any holiday events at parks in colder locations?

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Sure, the Disney and Universal parks, which have beaucoup bucks and access to some of the world’s most recognizable intellectual properties, offer wonderful holiday events. But the more homegrown presentations at Silver Dollar City and Dollywood (which are both operated by the same company) are overflowing with charm and good cheer. The sheer wattage of their bazillions of Christmas lights alone are enough to warm the frostiest hearts and make spirits bright. It’s no wonder they are both regularly cited in polls and by noted publications and outlets as being among the best–if not the best–Christmas events in parkdom. Here’s what the two parks have in store for revelers this holiday season.

You would even say it glows

When I said bazillions of lights, I wasn’t exactly kidding. To be more precise, there will be over 6.5 million flickering lights–that’s 680 miles worth–covering nearly every square inch of Silver Dollar City during An Old Time Christmas. Set to begin November 5 and continue through December 30, the displays are especially impressive in the park’s Midtown area where 1.5 million lights alone bedazzle the buildings and trees as well as festive light tunnels. Speaking of trees, there will be an 80-foot-tall behemoth at the front of the park that will come to life every 15 minutes with music and synchronized, programmed lights.

Broadway-caliber musicals will be staged in the park’s two theaters. Continuing a 20-year tradition, “A Christmas Carol” will retell the Dickens classic. New this year, Silver Dollar City will also present “Coming Home for Christmas,” a nostalgic look at the holiday that will include classic carols and other seasonal songs performed by a cast of 14. As if there wouldn’t already be enough lights, the bulb-festooned Rudolph’s Holly Jolly Christmas Light Parade, featuring the stop-motion animation superstar, will step off each evening.

The park’s celebrated craftsmen, who demonstrate glassblowing, woodworking, and other trades as practiced in the 1880s (the era is the overarching theme of Silver Dollar City), also sell their wares. As such, you could pick up some one-of-a-kind, handmade presents to fill your loved ones’ stockings and give as holiday presents.

The food at Silver Dollar City is superb year-round (you gotta try the succotash prepared in a humongous skillet), but the park pulls out the stops for the holidays with a buffet featuring prime rib, turkey and dressing, and other hearty choices. There will also be caramel apples and other treats to savor as well as hot cider, wassail, and cocoa to keep you warm between rides.

Speaking of rides, many of the park’s wonderful attractions will be open. I once took a nighttime, lights-out ride on the incredible RMC coaster, Outlaw Run, during the holiday event. That alone was worth the price of admission.

“Christmas is believable here,” says Brad Thomas, Silver Dollar City’s longtime president, when asked why the park is often lauded for its seasonal event. “Our 1880s mining town lends itself to an escape from the hustle and bustle of Christmas today. We create an immersive experience.”

All of Branson goes bonkers for the holidays. There is a Trail of Lights and other displays throughout the tourist mecca, a festive parade, and, of course, holiday-themed shows at many of the city’s famed celebrity theaters and other venues.

Dollywood lights up the Smokies

Since they share a lot of the same DNA, there are many similarities between the holiday events at Dollywood and Silver Dollar City. (The Tennessee park was actually called Silver Dollar City before Ms. Parton lent her name and star power to it.) There are craftsmen hard at work here as well, for example. And while Dollywood’s 6 million lights at its Smoky Mountain Christmas event, which will kick off on November 5 and continue through January 1, will fall just shy of its sister park’s 6.5 million tally, it will make up for it with the “Merry & Bright!” fireworks show, which it will be presenting on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Probably because of the music legend’s influence, Dollywood has perhaps more live entertainment than any other U.S. theme park. During its holiday event, the park will present the long-running “Christmas in the Smokies” as well as “Christmas with the Kingdom Heirs,” “Heart of the Holidays,” “Holiday Wild Roots,” and a number of other shows, all featuring live musicians and talented performers.

The food is equally wonderful at Dolly’s park. Unique holiday offerings will include chicken pot pie in a bread cone, eggnog cupcakes, and gingerbread-infused funnel cake. Both parks lay claim to their famous cinnamon bread. While it is yummy any time of the year, the hot-out-of-the-oven treat is especially satisfying when there’s a chill in the air.

“I believe each season in the Smokies is a precious gift from above, but I also know there is no better time than Christmas to experience the magic of this special place,” says Dolly Parton in a release from the park. “It is my wish that our guests celebrate the light of the Christmas season while they are here with us at Dollywood.”

The on-property Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort, which is one of the finest hotels offered by a U.S. theme park, will be decking its halls as well. Expect tons of garland and other decor, special meals in its Song & Hearth restaurant, craft making, and other ways to celebrate the holidays. I suggest you raise a toast (or two or three) to the season with a moonshine flight at the DreamMore’s lounge. That will certainly warm you up on a winter’s day in the Smokies.

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Mickey will be very merry again

After riding out the pandemic (presumably socially distanced at home with Minnie) in 2020 and offering a modified holiday celebration in 2021, the ebullient Mr. Mouse will pull out all the stops for the returning Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party starting November 8 at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The separate-ticketed nighttime event includes a holiday-themed parade, fireworks extravaganza, stage show, and dance parties along with short wait times on most of the park’s popular attractions. With prices ranging as high as $199 per person, attendees may want to overindulge in the “complimentary” cookies and cocoa. During the day, visitors can check out holiday-hijacked attractions such as Jingle Cruise, Space Mountain – Holiday Run!, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Holiday Show, the Mad Tea Party Christmas Party, and Tomorrowland Speedway Race Through the Holidays.

Over at multi-culti Epcot, Holidays Around the World kicks off November 25. It will include the Candlelight Processional, a solemn retelling of the Christmas story by celebrity narrators along with a choir and orchestra, and performers sharing their culture’s holiday traditions at World Showcase pavilions. Of course, it wouldn’t be an Epcot festival without food booths, so expect holiday-themed noshes throughout the park.

The other Disney World parks also offer holiday fun, albeit on a smaller scale, with “festive flotillas” along Discovery River at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and a Santa Claus Motorcade up Hollywood Blvd. along with Sunset Seasons Greetings, a mini projection mapping presentation on the Hollywood Tower Hotel, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Alas, that park’s perky Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! nighttime projection show will not be presented this year.

Joy to the Whirl at Disneyland

On the Left Coast, Holidays at the Disneyland Resort commences on November 11. Disney Festival of Holidays returns to Disney California Adventure with odes to Navidad, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings’ Day as well as Christmas. The park will have its own Epcot-like food-a-thon with its Festive Foods Marketplace. Two of Cars Land’s attractions, Mater’s Jingle Jamboree and Luigi’s Joy to the Whirl, get overhauled for the season. The park’s nighttime spectacular will transform to World of Color - Season of Light.

At the original Disneyland Park, the longstanding A Christmas Fantasy Parade (cue the marching toy soldiers!) and Believe… in Holiday Magic fireworks display will return along with the attraction makeovers “it’s a small world” Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday (the Halloween-Christmas mashup inspired by “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”).

Wizards and Whovillians celebrate Christmas at the Universal parks

Mere days after it packs up its chainsaws and fake blood from Halloween Horror Nights, the Florida resort will present Holidays at Universal Orlando. Starting November 12, highlights will include Christmas in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There will be special shows at both parks such as Revel in The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle with projections on the distinctive edifice. (I prefer the evocative holiday version of the nighttime presentation to The Nighttime Lights show that’s offered the rest of the year.) I’m not a fan of hot Butterbeer, but if that’s your thing, ‘tis the season to score some.

Also at Universal Studios Florida, giant floats and even more humongous balloons will make their way through the park for Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s. Mannheim Steamroller, known for its new-agey takes on Christmas classics, will bring its synthesized stylings to the park on select days. Over at Islands of Adventure, the Mean One will preside over Grinchmas featuring the live show, “Who-liday Spectacular.”

Not to be outdone Holidays at Universal Studios Hollywood will also offer its own Grinchmas, although since the Whoville set on the park’s Studio Tour is gone, the snub-nosed gang will now gather on the Upper Lot. There will be a Seussian tree lighting ceremony, complete with snowfall (granted, it’ll be SoCal fake snow). The California park will present Christmas in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter as well, including the nighttime castle projection show.

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Most theme parks go for the jugular this time of year with walk-through haunted houses and scare zones designed to startle and creep out visitors. Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, for example, features a Blumhouse-themed maze in which a high school girl who has switched bodies with a serial killer is shown taking a chainsaw to the groin of an unfortunate victim. Consider me creeped out.

Many parks, such as Carowinds in North Carolina, temper their after-dark shenanigans by also offering daytime events geared to younger children. But a few keep all of their fall season programming G-rated. Some are parks that are geared to the under-12 crowd. Others appeal to a broader audience but nonetheless tone down the Halloween happenings. The most famous example is Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Disneyland Resort counters with Oogie Boogie Bash and other chainsaw-less seasonal fun.

Let’s explore what some other parks are doing this fall.

The Legoland parks in California and Florida have been presenting Brick-or-Treat events for a number of years. This year, however, they are rebranding it Brick-or-Treat Presents Monster Party and adding the New York Legoland to the fold. All the parks will screen the new “The Great Monster Chase 4D Movie,” host a Lord Vampyre dance party, re-theme their Dragon coasters as Disco Party coasters, and of course, give away massive amounts of candy. Legoland is estimating a total of 100,000 pounds of the sweet stuff will be distributed. The New York park will also launch the first Legoland haunted maze.

“We are not going to scare the bejesus out of you,” assures Jeremy Pancoast, entertainment director for Legoland Parks North America, in reference to the maze.

Costumes are strongly encouraged at the events.

“Especially after all of the pandemic disruptions, kids and adults want to dress up,” says Julie Estrada, public relations director for Merlin Entertainments North America. “Kids get to interact with their parents in a goofy way.”

The two Sesame Place parks in Pennsylvania and California are offering The Count’s Halloween Spooktacular. Activities include scavenger hunts, parades, and trick-or-treating. Costumes are also de rigueur for families heading to Big Bird’s block, and the parks will be staging costume contests.

It’s always Christmastime at Santa’s Village, the delightful park for families with pre-teens in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. But on select weekends in October, the park will also celebrate Halloween with its Merry Trick-or-Treating event. Likewise, Santa is the big honcho at Indiana’s Holiday World. But the park also features a Halloween land that includes two wild wooden coasters, Raven and The Legend. Starting this Saturday, it will offer Happy Halloween Weekends complete with mazes that dial down the scares. According to the park, the SCAREbnb (great name!) maze will invite visitors to tour “Marilyn’s Mansion” (another great name!), which I’m guessing will not feature snippets of a certain goth rocker’s songs. There will also be hayrides, corn mazes (this is rural Indiana after all), and shows.

Pennsylvania’s Dutch Wonderland targets families with youngsters and will be presenting Happy Hauntings starting October 1. It will include a nightly dance party and themed rides such as a spooky excursion aboard its miniature train. Oddly, the park says that its trick-or-treat trail will not be offered this year dues to “supply shortages.” Maybe if it asks nicely, the nearby Hershey factory would supply the park with some candy. Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Idlewild will kick off its family friendly Hallowboo this Saturday with costumed characters such as Daniel Tiger, shows, and a dance party. The park has apparently successfully accessed the supply chain as it will include a trick-or-treat trail through its Story Book Forest.

Located in Gilroy, California’s garlic capital, Gilroy Gardens is inviting families to its Halloween event, BOO Alley, starting October 1. The park will be decked out in seasonal lights and create a pyramid out of pumpkins. Vinnie the Vampire will lead passengers aboard the Boo Train through a haunted forest. There will also be shows, storytelling, and yes, trick-or-treating.

Thousands of illuminated, intricately carved pumpkins and towering pumpkin sculptures are the focal point for Pumpkins in the City, part of the Crafts and Harvest Festival at Silver Dollar City in Missouri. There are also giant pumpkins (as in north of 1,000 pounds) on display. If you go, consider taking, as I once did, a life-altering, lights-out, nighttime ride on the park’s wild woodie, Outlaw Run. Sister park Dollywood also offers a Harvest Festival, which begins tomorrow. It too features glowing pumpkin sculptures and carved squashes at its Great Pumpkin LumiNights. Known for its incredible shows, Dollywood will feature bluegrass, country, and gospel performers on its many stages during the festival.

Chuck E. Cheese locations across the country are getting in on the fall fun as well with Halloween Boo-tacular. Every hour, the namesake character busts a move and invites guests to join him on the digital dance floor at Chuck E.’s Haunted House Party. In the evenings, he helps distribute complimentary candy. Guests can also munch on themed delicacies such as Pumpkin Pepperoni Pizza (to be clear, that’s a pizza in the shape of a pumpkin, not one that’s–ew!–topped with pumpkin) and Slime Cookies.

“This is the most exciting time in our calendar,” says David McKillips, CEO of CEC Entertainment about the Halloween event, which is now in its third year. “It’s a magical time for kids to pretend and to wear their costumes. There aren’t a lot of places where kids can go that’s family friendly and have a Halloween experience.”

To that end, the places where gazillions of kids celebrate birthdays are also offering Halloween parties for groups of 10 or more that include pizza, game play in the arcade, and a costume contest. When I interviewed him, the playful McKillips was apparently trying to win his own contest by wearing a skeleton mask and a sport jacket that would make Beetlejuice proud.

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A few weeks back, I wrote about the wacky, wonderful, wildly funny, and incredibly niche “Theme Park Trivia Show.” Guess what? Creator, producer, and affable host Ryan Ritchey invited me on to be a contestant on the YouTube game show. I was up against E.B., cohost of CoasterRadio, the “original theme park podcast” (on which I have the pleasure of being an occasional guest). Who won? Well, you’ll just have to watch the show. But let’s just say I know a thing or two about the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair.

When Robert writes about West Coast Halloween events, he no doubt will cite Knott’s Berry Farm as the birthplace of theme park haunts. And he’d be right. He’ll probably also contend that 49 years after the pioneering event launched, Knott’s Scary Farm has yet to give up the ghost and is still great. While there is some truth to that, I’ve got three words for you: Halloween Horror Nights. And four more: na-na na-na boo boo.

Simply put, nothing can touch Universal Orlando’s seasonal event. It is not only the best theme park Halloween haunt, it is arguably the biggest, best, and most sophisticated Halloween event anywhere on the planet.

Check out what Robert Niles has to say in his Theme Park Insider post, “Why California Scares Florida's Theme Parks.”

Now celebrating its 31st year, HHN has perfected the park haunt formula. It typically features ten elaborate haunted houses, about half of which are based on popular film and television franchises. We’re talking about some of the biggest names in horror, such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and The Shining. The balance of the houses feature original content. With their wigged-out storylines and inspired vision, some of Universal’s homegrown mazes are often even better than the brand-name ones.

HHN also offers fog-filled scare zones with their own detailed backstories, a live show that doesn’t skimp on production value, and a wonderful, horror-themed nighttime spectacular on Universal Studios’ lagoon that incorporates colored fountains, lasers, and huge-scale digital projections on water screens and buildings.

Universal Orlando is able to present the world’s best Halloween event because of its considerable financial, creative, and other resources. With its well-earned reputation, HHN attracts gazillions of visitors (who, in turn, add to the park resort’s coffers). Try as they might–and, admittedly, they make a valiant effort–the Knott’s folks just can’t compete with the Universal juggernaut.

“But, but,” Robert and his Left Coast minions must be sputtering in response, “we have HHN too.” Yes, Universal Studios Hollywood offers its own version of the event. And it, too, is great, often featuring many of the same houses as its sister park in Orlando. But, it has fewer houses, fewer scare zones, no digital projection extravaganza, and is presented fewer nights. The California HHN didn’t even begin until 1997. And, probably because of the stiff competition from Knott’s, it did give up the ghost, going dark from 2001 to 2005.

Other Florida parks don’t skimp on their Halloween events. Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is especially noted for its long-running gorefest. After presenting its kid-friendly Spooktacular for many years, sister park SeaWorld Orlando got in on the PG-13 shenanigans last year by kicking off its own Howl-O-Scream.

Up and down the coast, there are tons of other great park Halloween events. For example, Busch Gardens Williamsburg also has ‘em howling and screaming. Phantom Fall Fest at Kennywood, Dark Nights at Hersheypark, and SCarowinds at (where else?) Carowinds are just a few of the many more. And all of the Six Flags parks, including Six Flags New England, Great Escape, Six Flags Darien Lake, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags America, and Six Flags Over Georgia present Fright Fest.

We’ve got plenty of seasonal fun without the blood, guts, and chainsaws, if that’s more your thing. The granddaddy of calmer, gentler park events, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, returned to Walt Disney World this year after taking a pandemic break. Legoland Florida as well as Pennsylvania’s Sesame Place and Idlewild are among other parks that appeal to families with young children during the spooky time of year.

You can run, Mr. Niles, but you can’t hide from the facts. We’ve got more park Halloween events, and they are bigger and better–including one that is the absolute best in class–than anything in La La Land. So there. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment with some undead fishermen in a New England fishing village who apparently intend to reel me in and drag me under Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake.

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Okay park fans, are you Team East Coast for Halloween haunts (which, of course, is the obvious choice), or are you Team West Coast? If it’s the latter, how can you possibly justify it?

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“This year, it’s HHN 31, and we’re celebrating Halloween.” As such, she said, there are lots of pumpkins, scarecrows, witches, candy, and other traditions among the things that go bump in the night. There is even a haunted house dedicated to the eponymous classic film franchise, Halloween.

It’s the original content houses, however, that steal the show. Even without the big guns, the wildly creative Universal Orlando team deftly demonstrates that it produces the industry’s most noteworthy and best Halloween event. Let’s review some of the highlights from this year’s HHN.

Spirits of the Coven 4.5 (out of 5)

As a native New Englander, two of Universal’s houses really hit home this year. Despite it being an obvious choice, I don’t believe that HHN has used Salem, Massachusetts as a setting for its mazes before (or if it was targeted, it was a long time ago). Spirits of the Coven is based in the city, but instead of revisiting Salem’s infamous, 17th-century witch hysteria, it’s set during the 1920s. Flapper femme fatales preside over a speakeasy and dance to Jazz-Age music as they seduce patrons.

Things begin to seem a tad amiss when the lovely gals start feasting on the flesh of their guests. Hey, they didn’t call it the Roaring 20s for nothing. It turns out that the proprietors are actually witches, and the speakeasy doubles as a meatpacking company. The ladies use distilling equipment to turn the blood of their victims into potions. The proceedings get progressively more disturbing as satanic symbols emerge, and the flappers reveal their true identities. The set design, which includes some understated Art Deco touches, is stunning, and the scares are intense.

Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake (4.25 out of 5)

Set in a New England fishing village (which may be Gloucester, Massachusetts judging by some subtle clues), undead fisherman are brought back to life by the melancholy violin melodies played by the captain’s widow. The reanimated captain and his crew wreak havoc and are hellbent on killing us and taking us with them to the ocean floor. Among the more discomfiting scenes, crazed divers whose anguished faces are illuminated in retro diving bell helmets beg to be saved.

Again, the sets are extraordinary, including a large-scale fishing boat and a distant lighthouse that shines a beacon on the ensuing mayhem. There are lots of high-speed fans simulating stormy seas. Instead of the cacophony that generally accompanies HHN houses, the sound design emphasizes the delicate and haunting cadences of the violinist. It adds to the elegiac quality of Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake.

Universal Monsters: Legends Collide (4.25 out of 5)

The studio’s classic monsters are back with a clever story to justify their joint appearance. Following the suggestion of his benefactor, the alter ego of the Wolf Man travels to Egypt in search of an amulet that can reverse his curse. The benefactor, it turns out, is Count Dracula. The vampire is also seeking the glowing red amulet that is encased in the chest of the Mummy so that he can offset his own pesky curse and become a day-walker. The three battle it out for supremacy.

It’s always great to reconnect with the Universal monsters–even if this house is in color rather than glorious black & white. (By the way, the classic monsters will reportedly be getting their own land in Universal’s Epic Universe, the new Orlando theme park that is now under construction.) The scares, led by a particularly aggressive Wolf Man, are potent. Featuring lots of ancient artifacts, Egyptian references, and beautiful rock work, some of which includes skeletal remains, Legends Collide has a great vibe.

Will the real Micheal Myers please stand down?

Among the other haunted houses rounding out HHN 31 is Halloween. This isn’t the event’s first go-around with John Carpenter’s slasher icon. As in past presentations, there are multiple confrontations with the hockey mask-wearing lunatic, including a finale where guests have to make their way through a gauntlet of many knife-wielding Micheal Myers. Based on the original 1978 film, the scenes faithfully reproduce its creepy atmosphere.

Near the beginning of The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare, there is a scene depicting the vowel-challenged singer with sensors jacked into his brain. The implication is that we are getting to experience what’s in his mind. If what follows, including some poor shlub getting graphically fried in an electric chair and a nightclub scene in which the popular performer tries to kill his audience members, is any indication, the dude has some serious anger management issues and bizarre thoughts. The house’s bright lights and upbeat soundtrack of The Weeknd tunes stand in contrast to its stream-of-consciousness ultra violence.

When asked what her favorite house was, Universal’s Sauls demurred, but let on that she loved the “ooey-gooeyness and kitschy hokeyness” of Bugs: Eaten Alive. The inspired theme concerns a 50s-era trade show in which a pest control company demonstrates its latest innovation: air-conditioning units that pump its pesticide to eliminate creepy, crawly creatures. Let’s just say it has the opposite effect, and the pests get decidedly out of control.

Descendants of Destruction takes visitors down into New York City’s subway tunnels where we witness the de-evolution of post-apocalyptic survivors from humans to cannibals to animals. I must admit that the cannibals were grilling up some mighty tasty cuts of meat. I’m not sure why monsters were locked away in a prison in the first place, but even I could have predicted they’d eventually break free, as they do in Hellblock Horror. The legendary chupacabras are some mighty freaky looking monsters, and they are out for our blood in Fiesta de Chupacabras. It’s a double feature in The Horrors of Blumhouse as guests make there way through two of the studio’s lesser-known movies, Freaky and The Black Phone. In what I believe is a first for HHN, a high school girl who has switched bodies with a serial killer is shown taking a chain saw to the crotch of a defenseless guy. Ouch!

Talk about sugar-addled kids. The scare zone, Sweet Revenge, in which a candy company gives out its treats at a 1950s-era Halloween parade, and causes the children to kill their parents, is a real hoot. Ghoulish! A Halloween Tale fills Universal Studios’ lagoon with its pulsing music, synchronized fountains, lasers, and media projected onto water screens and nearby buildings. Some of the animation is a little cheesy, but the grand-scale show is captivating.

Halloween Horror Nights will be presented on select nights through October 31.

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One of the most anticipated presentations, however, will be exclusively offered at the Hollywood event. This year’s Terror Tram will include a Jordan Peele double feature of Us and his latest hit, Nope. A word of warning if you plan to go: Be on the lookout for scissor-wielding doppelgangers and weird, hungry aliens.

An honest-to-goodness movie studio, the Studio Tour at Universal’s Hollywood park is one of its highlights. (There is no tour in Orlando.) It takes guests past actual sets of films and TV shows in production as well as onto attractions, such as King Kong 360 3-D, that are embedded in the 60-minute tour. For HHN, the tour vehicles are repurposed as Terror Tram.

Unlike the daytime tour, guests disembark the trams and wander on foot through some of the sets and themed areas for HHN. As in past events, they will saunter pass the Psycho House made famous by Alfred Hitchcock and into the War of the Worlds set. Along the way, “scare-actors” will terrorize the intrepid visitors. For the finale, they will wind their way over to the park’s new Jupiter’s Claim set from Peele’s Nope. There, Universal is promising guests will witness a “choreographed massacre.” (Sounds lovely, right?) If that isn’t grisly enough, The Tethered, of Us fame, will also descend on the set.

With his eerie, yet thoughtful and provocative films, Peele has reenergized the horror genre. It’s great that Universal is able to partner with the director.

Rounding out the Hollywood version of HHN will be four additional haunted houses: Universal Horror Hotel, Scarecrow: The Reaping, La Llorona: The Weeping Woman; and one based on the wacky film, Killer Klowns from Outer Space. The event will also feature the show, Jabbawockeez, and three scare zones, including the carnival-gone-bad-themed Sideshow Slaughterhouse.

HHN at Universal Studios Florida, meanwhile, will offer six additional haunted houses, all based on original content. Hellblock Horror will subject visitors to monsters who have escaped their cells in a penitentiary. Undead fishermen will torment guests in a New England fishing village for Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake. Bugs: Eaten Alive will charm arachnophobics with its 1950s vibe. Flapper witches will take over a 1920s speakeasy for Spirits of the Coven. The creature Chupacabras will come alive in a Latin American mountain village for Fiesta de Chupacabras. And it wouldn’t be HHN without at least one ode to our inevitable, post-apocalyptic future. This year, that honor goes to Descendants of Destruction, where mutated humans hang on for dear life in subway tunnels.

There will also be five scare zones in Orlando, including Scarecrow: Cursed Soil. The show, Halloween Nightmare Fuel Wildfire, will return with the performance group, The Fuel Girls. And Ghoulish! A Halloween Tale will be this year’s HHN-themed nighttime spectacular, complete with digital projections of media on the show buildings lining the lagoon.

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Yeesh. It’s not even Memorial Day Weekend, and many parks are already promoting their Halloween events.

I’ve been covering this beat for so long, I can remember when parks would pretty much call it a season on or soon after Labor Day. But, following the lead of Knott’s Berry Farm, which pioneered the concept of a theme park Halloween event in 1973, virtually every major U.S. park (as well as many smaller parks and parks around the world) now remains open in the fall “shoulder season” and capitalizes on the spooky holiday.

The formula more or less remains the same at the events: In the weeks leading up to Halloween, parks incorporate haunted houses and outdoor scare zones with copious jump scares along with holiday-centric shows and entertainment. It’s become such an integral part of their business, parks have been expanding the events and starting them earlier in the year. They also seem to be vying with one another to get the jump on announcing their Halloween events.

Case in point: Universal Orlando, which operates the largest and most spectacular park spook-a-thon, revealed that the 2022 version of its Halloween Horror Nights will kick off on September 2 and run a record 43 nights. It also recently announced that the theme of the first of its ten haunted houses will be “Universal Monsters: Legends Collide” and will feature The Mummy, The Wolf Man, and Dracula. The park resort says that the classic characters will be battling one another, although it’s likely that guests will get caught in the crossfire. Here’s hoping the houses will bring back a design aesthetic used in previous HHN mazes devoted to the Universal monsters and present them in glorious black and white.

Sister park Universal Studios Hollywood will get in on the mayhem as well with its own Halloween Horror Nights, which will start on September 8 and offer eight houses. It will also invite wary guests to encounter “Universal Monsters: Legends Collide,” and its version will include a special soundtrack composed by rock guitarist, Slash (a legend and character in his own right).

The parks often pay homage to the studio’s beloved monsters throughout the year. Epic Universe, Universal Orlando’s third theme park, will reportedly include an entire land devoted to The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the rest of the gory gang. After halting construction because of the pandemic, Universal resumed work on the highly anticipated park earlier this year.

Mickey mitigates the chills

Befitting their pirates and princesses vibe, the Disney parks take a decidedly different tack with their fall events. You won’t find any PG-13 depictions of bloody entrails at Disney World or Disneyland.

Instead, the Florida park resort will present the toned-down Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, which returns to the Magic Kingdom after taking a pandemic hiatus. The separate-ticket nighttime event (which can run as high as $199 per person; that seems kinda scary) will start August 12, beating all of the other parks to the punch. It will include Mickey's “Boo-to-You” Halloween Parade, the fireworks and projection presentation, “Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular,” the show, “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular” (do kids today even know the “Hocus Pocus” movie and characters?), select attractions with minimal wait times, and more.

Disneyland Resort announced that it will have its own separate-ticket nighttime event, Oogie Boogie Bash, at Disney California Adventure. Other Halloween features at Mickey’s original theme park home will include Haunted Mansion Holiday, the annual, limited-time makeover of the E-Ticket attraction that features characters from “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” and runs from the fall straight through to New Year’s Day; Guardians of the Galaxy - Monsters After Dark, a limited-time reboot of the drop tower ride; and the nighttime castle show, “Halloween Screams.”

Other 2022 Halloween events will include the granddaddy of all park haunts, Knott’s Scary Farm, starting September 22, and Howl-O-Scream, returning to SeaWorld Orlando beginning September 9.

Are you looking forward to Halloween events at theme parks? Which ones? What have been some of your favorite haunts?

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Maurer Rides, the innovative company that designed Bolt: Ultimate Sea Coaster, the roller coaster atop Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras ship, is developing other concepts for interactive coasters. Check out my Funworld column, “The Art of Attractions.”

My Arthur's About Theme Parks Substack promotion tour stops by the The Season Pass podcast (aka “the essential theme park podcast”). Hosts Doug, Brent, and Robert talk with me about the late, great Doug Trumbull, the new Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, VelociCoaster, and more. It’s so great to have new episodes of the show available. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts or listen online. Be sure to check out The Season Pass archives for incredible episodes featuring industry legends such as Tony Baxter and Nolan Bushnell.

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