Thank you to California’s Great America for hosting us to explore their Halloween offerings.
California’s Great America Tricks and Treats is a fun Halloween experience for the entire family with some spooky elements but no big scares. During select dates in September and October, the already-entertaining amusement park gets dressed up for Halloween with pumpkins, photo areas, and holiday lighting.
Thanks to our guest writer from Mommy Mementos. She was joined by her three-year-old son to explore the Halloween happenings at Great America in Santa Clara.
About Halloween at Great America
The four sections of the park are renamed to have two lands of tricks and two lands of treats: Spooky Spires, Ickyville, Sweet Tooth Acres, and Everfall. Each land contains its own selfie stations and goodies related to the theme.
In Sweet Tooth Acres, we liked the Trick-or-Treat Trail. This Halloween experience is for children 12 and under and is included with admission. Kids receive a small bag before entering the trail and then interact with a series of colorful doors to receive candy (tiny doors + slides).
In Everfall, anyone can stop by the Tricks and Treats craft station to decorate a pumpkin or mask with the materials provided. There is also a low hay maze that is lined with pumpkins and a few mummified rat sculptures which may scare some sensitive visitors. There are no people or items that jump out at you.
Find more Bay Area hay mazes and pumpkin patches >
Since my child is so young, we didn’t venture much into the two spooky parts of the park. Spooky Spires looked the most morbid and scary. Ickyville is all about slimy, goopy, and generally gross.
Parents of toddlers will find Planet Snoopy to be an ideal area of the park. This area caters to small children and has tons of rides from a miniature carousel to bumper cars, a roller coaster, swings, and a seasonal pumpkin patch ride. We got to meet several characters in this area of the park including Lucy, Snoopy, Linus, and Charlie Brown. Planet Snoopy also has a nice lawn with picnic tables.
Parents of older children will be happy to know that high-thrill rides like roller coasters, water rides, and spinning rides are operating during the Tricks and Treats event.
Find more Halloween events & outings for East Bay kids >
Each day there are live performances in several areas of the park. My child and I danced the night away to live music from the rock band in residence.
Parent Tips for Tricks and Treats
Be sure to stay past sunset when the park really comes to life through illumination and fog machines which were a hit with our toddler.
We arrived on a Friday afternoon at the opening and during the first 2 hours, all games were 50% off for Happy Hour. During these first two hours, the wait times for rides were minimal.
Plan Your Visit to Tricks and Treats at Great America
The Tricks and Treats Halloween Celebration is on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from September 22 through October 23, 2023. Leaning into treats, candy, and seasonal decor more than jump scares and gore, families of young ones should have a blast.
Fees: Tickets are about $35 to $40.
Location: 4701 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Thank you again to California’s Great America for hosting us to explore their Halloween offerings.
