Top 6 Reasons to Visit Count’s Spooktacular with Little Children at Busch Garden’s Howl-O-Scream!
Saturdays and Sundays
Sept 24 – Oct 30, 2022
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Bring the kiddos 9 years of age and under to The Count’s Spooktacular! Kids 9 years old and younger can dress up in their favorite Halloween costume, experience a newly-themed hay maze and see their favorite Sesame Street® characters decked out in their new Halloween-inspired costumes. But let us break it down for you …here are your top 6 reasons to take the little ones to The Count’s Spooktacular this year…
Top 6 reasons to visit the Count’s Spooktacular at Busch Gardens with your little ones:
1. Themed Weekends! Your family will get to participate in themed Halloween fun weekends with your favorite Sesame Street characters. That makes coming more than once during the fall ,even more of an adventure!
- Countdown to Halloween Weekend, Sept. 24 – 25: Join Count von Count as he kicks off the first weekend of The Count’s Spooktacular at Busch Gardens! Activities include trick-or-treating throughout the entire park, special Halloween arts and crafts, a costume dance party with some of your favorite Sesame Street® friends, and more.
- Funny Bones Weekend, Oct. 1 – 2: Elmo and Zoe are ready for the Halloween season dressed in their favorite skeleton costumes. Kids will enjoy Halloween crafts, dance parties with Elmo and Zoe, special photo opportunities, and searching high & low for hidden skeletons in the hay maze.
- Clowning Around Weekend, Oct. 8-9: Come clown around with Cookie Monster and Grover in your favorite Halloween costume. Shimmy and shake at the dance parties, enjoy arts and crafts, and search for hidden friendly monsters in the hay maze. Plus, catch the family ever-favorite Countdown to Halloween show!
- Pirate Party Weekend, Oct. 15-16: Ahoy, mateys! Arrrgh you ready for a pirate party with your Sesame Street friends? Join Bert and Ernie in your best costume as you dance, explore the hay maze, and enjoy arts and crafts. Be on the lookout for candy treasures at ten trick-or-treating stations throughout the park!
- Magical Halloween Weekend, Oct. 22-23: Join in the magic of Halloween with wizard Elmo and knight Cookie Monster for a weekend filled with costumed dance parties, arts and crafts, special photo opportunities, and fun in the hay maze. Don’t forget to participate in the park-wide trick-or-treating!
- Halloween Weekend, Oct. 29-30: Celebrate Halloween Weekend with your Sesame Street friends and have a not-too-spooky good time! Spend the last weekend of The Count’s Spooktacular trick-or-treating your way through the park. Get groovy at the dance party and showcase your costume at the parade. The fun continues with special photo opportunities, arts and crafts, and making your way through the hay maze.
2. Trick or Treating: Trick or Treating at Sesame Street Forest of Fun is on Saturdays and Sundays for kiddos aged 9 and under. There are TEN different stops set up for kids to say, “trick or treat!” Special premium candy treats will be handed out! No peanut snacks/candy are being passed out.
3. Shows: The kids will love the special Spooktacular Show where children are encouraged to dance and sing along to the Count’s Countdown to Halloween. This is an interactive show with singing and dancing. It is an outdoor show located in England. It is free with park admission.
4. Costume Dance Party: Since the kids are all dressed up – why not join the costume dance party! Children can join in the dance party with their favorite Sesame Street Characters or just watch from the sidelines…no pressure here! Saturdays & Sundays: times TBD
5. Hay Maze: Your kids can wander through stacks of hay trying to find their way out. This is just good outdoor fun. We hear that they will be even bigger and better this year!
6. Kid RIDES!!!: Kids can still ride Grover’s Alpine Adventure and all the other fun rides in the Seasame Street Forest plus Land of the Dragons is also open so make sure to walk over there too!
Best news? There are GROUPONS for tickets! For the latest Busch Gardens ticket discounts visit here.
So there you have it, kid-friendly rides, family activities and trick-or-treating will be offered for the littlest guests to celebrate the fall season.
Last but not least, if you have little ones or easily frightened older littles, the Halloween decorations will be set up during the day and can be a little frightening, but the scare squad, dim lighting and fog will not start until 5:45 p.m.
So keep this in mind when walking through the decorated England to get to Forest of Fun after entering the park, and then to get to the Land of the Dragons…go through Scotland by Loch Ness and take the stairs down to the bridge over the lake – back up the stairs and you are right at Land of the dragons…see map above.
Please also note that all kids attractions close at 5:00 pm in preparation for Howl-O-Scream.
So if that is not enough info for you, sometimes a video is the easiest way to tell the story….
Frequently Asked Questions:
What can I wear to Busch Gardens?
Appropriate attire consists of shirts, pants and shoes for all guests.
Can I wear a costume?
For the safety of our guests and performers, guests ages 10 and older are prohibited from wearing costumes in the park during Howl-O-Scream. Children 9 and younger are encouraged and allowed to wear costumes only during The Count’s Spooktacular event, Saturdays and Sundays in October. Masks are not allowed for anyone. If your child’s costume has a mask or prop, we ask for you to kindly leave those at home.
Can I wear a mask for Halloween?
For the safety of our guests and performers, masks are prohibited in the park, especially during events such as Howl-O-Scream.
Are there scares during the day?
There is Halloween decor throughout the park, but our scare actors do not come out until 5:45 pm.
When do the child play areas close?
During Howl-O-Scream, Land of the Dragons and Sesame Street Forest of Fun will close at 5 p.m. to allow families enough time to make their way toward the exit before the park transforms at 5:45 p.m.
Williamsburg Families is part of a blogger program with Busch Gardens. Tickets are given to review ride and season openings. There are affiliate links on this post and this site.
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