Sesame Place Halloween: 10 Things To Know About The Count’s Spooktacular

You will love Halloween at Sesame Place. There are a ton of new shows, trick-or-treating, and a Halloween Parade. Best of all, kids are free for Kids Go Free October.

Here were the most asked questions about The Count’s Spooktacular

1. Does Kids Go Free October work for this event?

2. Is The Count’s Spooktacular included for Sesame Place annual passholders?

3. What is the best age group to take? Is this better for toddlers or bigger kids?

4. What are the Halloween activities?

5. Are all the rides open? What about the water rides?

6. How crowded was it?

7. What is the best time to arrive?

8. Are all the kids dressed up? What about the adults?

9. Is trick-or-treating included and where are the trails? Do they give out a lot of candy?

10. Can you go to Sesame on a Spooktacular day and not do the Halloween stuff, just the rides?

Does Kids Go Free October work for this event?

It absolutely does! Here is the link for the Kids Go Free coupon. Please note that children under 3 are free and this coupon only works for children ages 3-9. One paying adult gets one kid in for free. One adult ticket is $89.99.

Is The Count’s Spooktacular included for Sesame Place annual passholders?

Yes it is included, no extra reservations or fees are required. You can also buy a 2024 season pass and get the Halloween and Christmas events included for 2023. The cheapest season pass is $126 for just Sesame Place. To get Sesame and Seaworld, it’s $199. There are discounts available for military and there is also a monthly payment option. It’s possible to upgrade to a season pass from a single day ticket. You can read more about the season passes here.

What is the best age group to take? Is this better for toddlers or bigger kids? What about teenagers?

The Sesame activities are geared for 1-6 year olds. I took a 4 year old and a 5 year old. I saw lots of smaller kids there and some older kids. The park is divided into two age groups. There’s the teenagers running around the waterpark and then the little kids loving Sesame Place. It looked like every single slide was walk on for the teens. They also have splash pad areas for little kids and smaller slides.

Sesame Place took over this location from Aquatica which was a real waterpark for teens to adults. They kept all the slides and put a Sesame overlay on them. So a lot of the slides are really for older kids, they just happen to be Elmo themed. The teenagers who have discovered they get a whole waterpark to themselves as long as they can get over it being Sesame themed are living their best lives.

What are the Halloween activities?

They have a Halloween parade, a small costume contest / parade, trick-or-treating, a few Halloween shows, a Halloween storytime with Big Bird, and Halloween decor all over the park. There is also an add-on experience for $19 where you get to make pudding cups with The Count and do a special meet and greet. We did it and it was super cute, but if you’re on a tight budget you are ok to skip this. There are plenty of other things to keep you busy.

Are all the rides open? What about the water rides?

Yes, all rides are open including the water rides. We didn’t wait more than a few minutes for each. There is also a line skipping pass, but in my opinion you won’t need it for October. We only did Halloween stuff this time and dry rides and there was enough to do for the whole day.

How crowded was it?

The parking lot was pretty full. But I was pleasantly surprised inside that there was enough to do that people were pretty spread out. It didn’t seem more crowded than other days I have been.

What is the best time to arrive?

There are events all day. Each show has a few showings. We got there around 11 and left around 4:30. They have a really handy app that will show you the whole schedule of shows and what is happening each hour.

Just note that they do not allow in outside food. They will sometimes allow kids snacks but if you’re there during a mealtime you will probably need to buy some food. The food offerings were expensive and I wasn’t super impressed with the quality. I saw some families returning to their car to picnic. Or you can just let your kids eat candy the whole day like I did.

Are all the kids dressed up? What about the adults?

It was a mix. Most kids are dressed up, very few adults. I saw a lot of kids in Halloween shirts so if you want to skip the kid costume for this one they won’t feel weird. It was kind of bizarre to see kids running around in Halloween costumes with teenagers in bathing suits also walking by.

Is trick-or-treating included and where are the trails? Do they give out a lot of candy?

Yes trick-or-treating is included. You can bring your own bag or buy one from one of the gift shops. I didn’t see how much the bags were but if you don’t want to buy one you can definitely trick-or-treat with your own bag. There are six treat stations throughout the park. They hand out sour straws and gummy candies. There was no chocolate for Mom, unfortunately. They give out one piece of candy per station, but you can loop back and do them as many times as you want. My kids ate the candy as fast as we got it, unlike LEGOLAND or Disney where I stored the giant bags of candy they gave out to repurpose and hand out at Halloween.

Can you go to Sesame on a Spooktacular day and not do the Halloween stuff, just the rides?

Yes you absolutely can. It’s not divided up like Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland. There were a lot of people there just for the waterpark or the rides. Currently Sesame Place is only open on Saturdays and Sundays when the Spooktacular is going on.

Allow me to introduce myself…

My name is Camille! I am a San Diego stay-at-home mom who is never ever at home. I share a lot of fun things to do around San Diego including parks, restaurants, LEGOLAND, the zoo etc.

My goal with my Instagram account and blog is to make any mom feel prepared for any outing with her kids so that she doesn’t have to stay home unless she wants to. Getting out with my kids was key for me in overcoming postpartum depression so I try to pay it forward by sharing what we do to help other moms in a similar situation. Read more about my story here.

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