By Lindsay Brookshier
Originally posted on mickeyvisit.com.
This article contains affiliate links from Mickey Visit.
Halloween season in Anaheim provides multiple opportunities for activities including family-friendly Halloween entertainment at the Disneyland Resort, fun for teens and adults at Knott's Scary Farm plus local parades, dining experiences, and more.
The local Anaheim Halloween Parade has a long history and connects to Walt Disney while the Anaheim Packing District offers Halloween treats to support local businesses. Let's discuss all the Halloween Anaheim events to look forward to this October.
Disneyland Halloween Celebration
The Disneyland Halloween season goes all out for the Halloween season including Halloween decorations in both Downtown Disney and the Disney Resort Hotels. Disneyland Park celebrates Halloween with a large Mickey pumpkin and other decorations on Main Street, U.S.A., along with spectacular entertainment like Halloween Screams with fireworks available on weekends. And of course, the ever-popular Haunted Mansion Holiday returns as the Haunted Mansion is transformed into a Nightmare Before Christmas theme for the holiday season. This Haunted Mansion transformation remains throughout the Disneyland Christmas season. Over in Disney California Adventure, the Coco-themed Plaza de la Familia celebration takes place through November 2nd with special food, performances, and a show featuring Coco.
Guests looking to spend an evening in Downtown Disney for dinner can visit the Halloween displays and enjoy the local scavenger hunt. Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa includes a large Coco display in the lobby this year along with a treat cart to celebrate the Day of the Dead. Downtown Disney is decorated for the Halloween season and offers a Disney character-themed pumpkin scavenger hunt called Pluto's Pumpkin Pursuit.
Knott's Scary Farm
Knott's Berry Farm puts on a yearly event each year for Halloween, Knott's Scary Farm, which features over 19 haunted attractions including five scare zones, ten haunted mazes, and four entertainment shows. Knott's Scary Farm is the perfect event for teens and adults looking to celebrate Halloween with traditional haunted houses and horror. Knott's Scary Farm is not recommended for guests under 13 as this experience is meant to be scary, with over 1,000 scare actors lurking in the fog around the park to spook guests. Knott's Scary Farm also includes themed Halloween food and merchandise, along with spooky cocktail offerings adults will enjoy.
This year is the 50th anniversary of Knott's Scary Farm and some of the haunted mazes will focus on the history of "haunt" at Knott's Berry Farm. The top maze this year is 10 Chilling Chambers, the maze honoring Scary Farm's first maze in 1977, which includes a tribute to the past of Knott's Scary Farm as guests encounter classic maze themes and characters from past seasons.
Anaheim Halloween Parade & Fall Festival
The Anaheim Halloween Parade and Fall Festival take place on Saturday, October 28th in Anaheim. The Anaheim Fall Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Center Street Promenade in Downtown Anaheim. The Anaheim Halloween Parade takes place the same day at 7 p.m. at the end of the festival. The parade starts at City Hall and proceeds west via Center Street Promenade and Broadway.
The Anaheim Halloween Festival and Parade is a long-held tradition in Anaheim that Disney directly participates in! As one of the sponsors, the Disneyland Resort helps with the parade floats and has a long history with this local community event. Some even say this local community event is one reason that Anaheim caught Walt Disney's eye as he planned where to open the Disneyland resort. This is a not-miss celebration for guests looking to celebrate Halloween in Anaheim. You can read more about the Anaheim Halloween Parade & Fall Festival, along with a parade map, on the event website.
Halloween Monster Mash at the Anaheim GardenWalk
Anaheim Gardenwalk near Disneyland and the JW Marriott, Anaheim Resort offers a yearly Halloween event, Monster Mash, a pet and family-friendly Halloween celebration with over 30 vendors, live music, crafts, face painting, treats, and photo ops. This event takes place on weekends with Halloween weekend offering trick or treating for kids. Guests visiting Anaheim Gardenwalk during weekends in October can also enjoy the Nightmare Mansion haunted house, virtual reality zombie apocalypse at Fire Looper, and horror-themed dancing during the ticketed event Thriller Nights.
Guests will also have their chance to vote on their favorite store Halloween decorations and win a grand prize of a pair of Disneyland Park Hopper tickets. There will also be events for specific dates in October like a Halloween pet costume contest, a reptile show plus a Thriller flash mob show. You can read more about the Anaheim GardenWalk Halloween events on their website.
