2011 California Theme Park Halloween Events

Virtually every major (and many of the minor) theme parks and amusement parks now offer Halloween-themed events. But the concept began in California when Knott's Berry Farm morphed into Knott's Scary Farm in 1972. Find out where and when monsters will be lurking along the midways and inside the haunted mazes of California parks for the 2011 Halloween season.

Knott's Scary Farm Halloween Haunt and Camp Spooky

• Knott's Berry Farm
• 2011 dates: September 23-25 and 29-30. October 1-2, 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, and 26-31.
• More info: Knott's Scary Farm 2011 Overview

Halloween Horror Nights 2011

• Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, CA
• 2011 dates: Select nights September 23 to October 31.

Among the haunted mazes planned for this year's event will be La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas, based on the Latin American legend of the Weeping Woman. Other mazes will include The Thing: Assimilation (based on the upcoming remake of the classic film), Hostel: Hunting Season, Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, and Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses: In 3D ZombieVision. Classic shock-rocker Alice Copper will get the HHN treatment with a maze inspired by his twisted tunes such as "Sick Things" and "I Love the Dead." Director Eli Roth will help design the maze based on his Hostel film series. The famous backlot studio tour will transform into Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life during Halloween Horror Nights. Using Wes Craven's Scream films as inspiration, guests aboard the trams will encounter Ghostface Killer and experience other elements from the iconic movies.

It's highly likely that Bill and Ted will be back for another excellent adventure. For the uninitiated, the slacker time travelers star in a bizarre Broadway-esque song and dance romp each year in which they skewer current events and people in the news.

Many of the park's regular rides, such as the particularly timely Revenge of the Mummy, will be open for the event as well as the (relatively) new King Kong 360 3-D.

Disney's Halloween Time and Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party

Disneyland Resort

• Halloween Time
• September 16 to October 31
• Cost: Included in admission to both parks.
• Disneyland's Halloween Time official page.

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure add some jack-o-lanterns and cobwebs to the parks and offer their own Halloween events--albeit considerably tamer ones than the gross-out freak-fests at Knott's, Universal Studios, and other parks. Disneyland park will once again transform its classic Haunted Mansion attraction with a Halloween-meets-Christmas theme into Haunted Mansion Holiday. By overlaying the characters from "Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas," the attraction is able to maintain its haunted aura while introducing some off-kilter Yuletide cheer. It's a unique way to celebrate two holiday seasons. Disneyland will also reprise Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, a re-themed ride on the classic coaster.

Throughout the two California parks, Mickey and the gang will be decked out in their Halloween finest. Also, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which terrorizes guests year-round at Disney's California Adventure, is accessorized for Halloween and all the spookier.

Mickey's Halloween Party

• Disneyland Park, Anaheim, CA
• 2011 dates: September 30, October 3, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28, and 31.
• Cost: $59 ($64 on Oct. 28 and 31). Requires a separate ticket and is not included with daily admission to Disneyland. Discounted advance tickets are available online for certain dates.
• Mickey's Halloween Party official page.

In addition to the seasonal fun Disney will be conjuring during the day, it will stage an extra-charge nighttime Halloween event, Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland, that will include live music, trick-or-treat stations, craft-making, activities, and other mildly spooky fun for tykes, as well as selected rides and attractions, and a Halloween Screams fireworks show featuring Jack Skellington from "Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas."

Fright Fest

• Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia (near Los Angeles), CA
• 2011 dates: Oct. 7-10, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30.
• 2011 tickets: Included in Six Flags admission
• Buy Discounted Fright Fest Tickets Online, Direct from Six Flags
  Save money and time by getting Six Flags Fright Fest tickets in advance of your visit at Six Flags online store.
• More info: Six Flags Fright Fests

Fright Fest

• Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo (near San Francisco), CA
• 2011 dates: Oct. 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 28-30.
• 2011 tickets: Included in Six Flags admission. (Additional fee required for haunted mazes.)
• Buy Discounted Fright Fest Tickets Online, Direct from Six Flags
  Save money and time by getting Six Flags Fright Fest tickets in advance of your visit at Six Flags online store.
• More info: Six Flags Fright Fests

Brick-or-Treat Trail and Brick-or-Treat Party Nights

• Legoland California, Carlsbad (near San Diego), CA
• 2011 dates for Brick-or-Treat Trail: Oct. 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, and 30.
  2011 dates for Brick-or-Treat Party Nights: Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
• 2011 tickets: Daytime Brick-or-Treat Trail events and Brick-or-Treat Party Nights are included in Legoland admission. The price for the Brick-or-Treat nighttime event alone is $25 and includes admission to the Sea Life aquarium. Advance discount tickets and packages are available online from Legoland.
• Legoland official page.

Legoland will be adding some Halloween fun to its regular attractions and shows. Features will include in-park trick-or-treating including a goodie giveaway station at the Sea Life aquarium. There will also be live music, costume contests for kids (on Saturday nights), and the interactive musical, "Mail Order Monster." The Party Nights event will add an animated Spirits of Halloween light show, fireworks, a pumpkin patch building station, and other activities and events.

Halloween Haunt and Snoopy's Costume Party

• California's Great America, Santa Clara, CA
• 2011 Halloween Haunt dates: Sept. 30, Oct. 1, 2, 7-9, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30
  2011 Snoopy's Costume Party dates: Oct. 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, and 30.
• Snoopy's Costume Party cost: Included in admission to California's Great America
  2011 Halloween Haunt tickets: Halloween Haunt is a separate admission, nighttime event. $41.99 on the day of the event. Advance discount tickets available online from California's Great America.
• Halloween Haunt official page.

California's Great America brings on the gore with its separate nighttime Halloween Haunt. Haunted mazes will include Werewolf Canyon (awooo!) and Club Blood, while scare zones such as Dead Man's Cove and Underworld Alley will keep guests screaming outside the mazes. Special Halloween shows will include the Shocking Sideshow of Freaks and Haunted Hypnotics. The Logger's Run log flume gets retrofitted with spooky stuff and will be renamed Black Widow's Cavern.

During the day, Planet Snoopy becomes Planet Spooky during the Halloween season and features family-friendly fun. Kids 12 and under can trick-or-treat in costume for goodies along with the Peanuts gang.

Halloween Spooktacular

• SeaWorld San Diego, San Diego, CA
• 2011 dates: Oct. 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, and 30.
• Cost: Included in SeaWorld admission
• Halloween Spooktacular official page.

SeaWorld will present special shows, treats, and family fun at its G-rated event. Kids can come in costume (or not). Among the highlights, Sesame Street's Count von Count will count down to Halloween, and there will be a Halloween-themed sea lion show.