Best Halloween Events for Families in Southern Callifornia

We are now entering in to my favorite time of year - Halloween and Christmas!  It's easy to get overwhelmed with the number of family fun Halloween events we have in Southern California, so here's a quick list of fun events to help you not miss out on some of the biggest ones. 

Brick-or-Treat at Legoland California

• Brick-or-Treat at Legoland California (in Carlsbad).  Runs weekends in October.  Admission is included in admission to the park (but the event runs from 5-9pm).  There are treat stations as well as fun Halloween themed events throughout the park. You can go here for more information.

Halloween Spooktacular at SeaWorld San Diego

• Halloween Spooktacular at SeaWorld San Diego.  We attended this one last year and love it (check out the post here).  Admission is included with entrance to the park.  There are trick or treat stations (with fun not just your normal candy handouts), activity stations, and several of the shows have Halloween spin to them. You can go here for more information on it.



Mickey's Trick or Treat at Disneyland

• Mickey's Trick or Treat at Disneyland.  There's little doubt that Disneyland knows how to go all out for holidays and Halloween is no exception.  With ride theme overlays on Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion and more, you're sure to have an amazing time trick or treating through the park. This is a special event and special tickets must be purchased (even passholders must purchase).  It runs most Tuesdays & Fridays throughout October. Read my post about it here or go here to buy tickets.

Knotts Halloween Haunt


• Halloween Haunt at Knott's "Scary" Farm (in Buena Park). Running on select nights starting at the end of September through the end of October, you can find everything from mazes and other spooks to get your Halloween thrills.  (Note this is not an event recommended for kids under 13). You need to purchase a separate event ticket for this and you can go here to learn more.




Snoopy's Costume Party


• Snoopy's Costume Party at Knott's Berry Farm. Running weekends in October and it's included with park admission.  There are special shows, trick or treating, dance parties and more.  You can go here for more information about it.



© Discovery Science Center

• Spooky Science - Bug Invasion at the Discovery Science Center (Santa Ana). Running through October, you can find giant bugs (animatronics), remote controlled bugs, learning stations and more.  This is included with the price of admission.  Go here for more information.

• Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood.  Running now through the end of October there is the Terror Tram, ScareZones, mazes and other spooks throughout the park.  This is not included with regular admission to the park but is also not recommended for kids under 13.  Go here for more information.



Spooky Sleepover at the San Diego Zoo

• Spooky Sleepovers at the San Diego Zoo. Running special Saturday Nights at the Zoo you can purchase tickets to sleep over at the zoo where you will have the chance to trick or treat, have a costume parade, sit around the campfire and take special adventures throughout the Zoo.  You'll even get a special goodbag on your way home the next day.  This is not included with admission to the park.  You can go here for more information.




San Diego Safari Park Pumpkin Parties


• Roar & Snoar Pumpkin Parties at the Safari Park (formerly known as the San Diego Wild Animal Park).  They have a number of family Halloween sleepovers scheduled throughout the month go here for more information about the evenings.  The Safari Park is also hosting a creepy crawly festival on select days throughout October. The sleepovers are not included in regular admission.  You can go here for more information.

 (If I've missed your favorite or you you know of one you want added to this list, send me an email OCMomActivities [at] gmail [dot] com).

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Sea World's Halloween Spooktacular

One of the biggest benefits to living in Southern California when raising kids is the constant seasonal activities and the Halloween season is no exception!


We headed down to the Sea World San Diego Halloween Spooktacular and I'm so glad we did! This was our first year going and I know we will go again next year because it was a great experience for the whole family.

In terms of scale, it's not as big of an event, but is still pretty cool. I would have liked to have seen more strategic planning of the traffic flow for the dozen or so trick or treat stations but the creativity and quality of the treats far surpassed my expectations! I absolutely LOVED the baby banana's followed by the individual peanut butter dipping cups!!! What a cool way to run with a theme! (P.S. - Sea World can I have a job in your marketing department? I can't think of anything more fun than organizing things like that! Just kidding.)

Another neat touch was the employees handing out Believe (Shamu) pencils just after exiting the park.

The boys donned their NASA astronaut and Clone Trooper costumes for the event and Sea World provided the trick or treat bags. The event runs weekends from 1-6pm until the end if this month and is included with your admission for the day.


Definitely make time to head down there if you haven't yet this season!

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Sea World - San Diego, CA

Sea World- San Diego is always a favorite destination for our family. But as we all know any trip to a theme park can be overwhelming. Taking a few minutes to learn some of the tips and tricks can not only set-up your day for fun but possibly even save you money! Below are some of the tips (including money saving ideas) that are Sea World – San Diego specific:

Before your trip…

-Grab a couple of the inexpensive ($1 each) rain ponchos at Target or Wal-Mart. (I keep one tightly folded up at the bottom of my purse when we go to Amusement Parks.) I knew we planned on watching the Believe (Shamu) show and that it would be a hot day – Perfect for sitting in the Soak Zone! As we were waiting for the show to being I wrapped up my purse inside one of the rain ponchos and it stayed perfectly dry even though we were sitting in Row 3! (Note to self: Next time sit in Row 1 closer to the center of the stadium!) Vendors were selling Sea World ponchos for $20 each!

-Plan to go on a Saturday if you are driving from Orange County or Los Angeles areas and leave early in the morning (around 8am if possible). One thing we have little patience for is weekend traffic and we’ve found that by leaving Orange County at 8am or before on weekends is essential to not get caught in the weekend southbound traffic in San Clemente/Oceanside. Getting caught in that traffic can add more than an hour to your drive time! Be prepared for traffic on the way back home if you leave the San Diego area anytime after 2pm, especially on Sundays… where there is bad traffic through Carlsbad/Camp Pendleton and San Clemente. Get to the park as it opens, you will be able to get more done and be able to leave the park as it is getting busy early afternoon.

-If you have and use a double jogger, this is one amusement park they work well in as there is always ample stroller parking. You will most likely not need to collapse your strollers/joggers during the day and the paths have ample space so you won’t feel like you’re driving a semi truck through back alleys! Sea World also has nice double joggers available for rent…something I haven’t seen at other parks!

-Bring a couple water bottles. This cuts down on the last minute “Mom! I’m thirsty!” moments and saves your beverage purchases for meals.

-Don’t expect to see all the shows at the park. Pick your top two shows and plan your day around those unless you plan on being at the park from the moment it opens until the minute it closes. Do plan on arriving at least 10 minutes before each show so you can get decent seating if you are going during peak seasons.

-Sea World has a great deal right now, adult admission for the price of children ($55) and you get to go back to the park a second time before the end of this year. This is great because it takes the pressure off to see everything, but isn’t like buying a season pass. We plan on going back during October to see the Halloween themes.

-There are a number of interactive experiences you can book ahead of time that add additional cost to your trip and all can be found on their website – Dine with Shamu, Dolphin Encounter, Wild Arctic Interaction and other guided tours.

-Bring sunscreen! Because many of the shows are water based, you are getting lots of sun ray reflection and can get sunburns very easily (sunny day or not).

-Bring plenty of hand sanitizer. There are hand washing stations at all exhibits, but I always prefer to follow up with some Purell!

During your day …

-Our kids love souvenirs, especially animal ones. Early on I figured out that by allowing them to purchase the smallest size Shamu and Turtle, that it would save money. We allowed the kids to get two small stuffed animals each (totaled about $20 or $5 each!) and the kids felt like they made out like bandits. In reality, we spent the same amount or less than we would have if we had allowed them to pick out the larger sizes. I told the kids at the beginning of the day that they would each be able to pick out one souvenir, but that I wanted them to take their time and check out all the choices before making their decision. Good life lesson also! Allowing them to get a bonus animal each at the end of the day was icing on the cake to them.

-We had a couple of attractions we wanted to see at the top of our list for the day, so we saw those first. My kids (as do many) have a habit of wanting to spend a long time at each attraction, not aware there might be one they like more later on in the day. Knowing we didn’t want to stay much past 1pm, I decided it would be fun to not take as much time at each attraction but allow each of the boys to pick one attraction they wanted to go back and take a second look at later in the day. This was AWESOME and I will be using this for all appropriate future family adventures! This took the pressure off and allowed us to at least get a peek at virtually all of the attractions at the park. The kids were happy because they knew that they had complete choice over which one they wanted to see again. Brett chose to pet the Manta Rays for a second time and Kyle chose the Shark experience (note the Shark Experience became VERY busy by the end of the day and was certainly not as neat as seeing earlier in the day).

-Since we arrived at the park so early in the day, we had a mid day heavy snack (two large plates of Nachos). This was a great mid day snack that was much less expensive than buying a heavy meal there and we skipped the long lunch lines at the restaurants. When we got home we had a large healthy dinner, which was a perfect way to end a long busy day.



Easily missed attractions that are worth finding…

-Seeing the Manta Rays at the Forbidden Reefs. This is a fun one where you get to touch them! They are very friendly and almost seem to love the attention!

-The Tide Pool is a great place to touch the Sea Stars. My kids love interactive exhibits and this is one where they can walk right up to them and touch them. How cool is that?

-Bring lots of quarters! Many of the attractions allow you to purchase food through a dispenser to feed the animals.

For more information click here

Family Travel Tips
San Diego

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SeaWorld San Diego Spooktacular is a Must See!

If you’re looking for Halloween Adventures, it’s not too early to start making your plans! Here’s another fun theme park that goes all out at Halloween, Sea World San Diego (http://www.seaworldspooktacular.com/swcspook.html). SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular runs on weekends October 3rd through November 1st this year. Kids are welcome to come in costume and entrance is included with Park Admission. Spooktacular runs from 1:00pm to 6:00pm.

I wonder if Shamu wears a costume? Now that would be a sight to see!

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