San Diego Halloween Events for Kids in 2024 | LaJolla.com

San Diego Halloween Events For Kids 2024

Note: This list was updated Oct. 2023, with the most current information we’ve been able to find — including dates and times. Unfortunately, COVID keeps taking its toll on kids halloween events in San Diego. To avoid any disappointment for the kiddos, it’s a good idea to check the venue before planning to get your spook on with your little punkies!

Image courtesy of SeaWorld San Diego. Click for tickets.

Kids Halloween Events

Halloween is in the air, the Halloween pop-up stores are in full bloom, and the holiday can be full of fright for little ones. But we’ve rounded-up plenty of scare-free fun so kids of all ages can dress up in their favorite costume and go enjoy the lighter side of the holiday. From the San Diego Zoo’s Halloween events ever to the Aquarium’s ghoulish, glowy venue – read on to learn where you can have a monstrously great time with your little ghouls and goblins.

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular

SeaWorld San Diego (500 Sea World Drive)
Weekends Sept. 19th – Oct 29th

Watch silly and spooky live shows and presentations, enjoy fun Halloween activities, and trick or treat for candy and goodies throughout the colorfully decorated park! Halloween Spooktacular is one of San Diego’s biggest fall festivals, with weekends brimming with family fun. Get in the spooky spirit and catch popular live shows like Clyde & Seamore’s Big Halloween Bash and the all-new Sesame Street Halloween Parade, join delightful Halloween dance parties and let the little ones trick or treat throughout the park in a safe, family-friendly environment. Oh, and be on the lookout for singing pumpkins in SeaWorld.

LEGOLAND Brick-or-Treat Party Nights

LEGOLAND California (1 Legoland Drive)
September: 16, 23, 30
October: 7 – 8, 14 – 15, 20 – 22, 28 – 29

Halloween festivities await at LEGOLAND California! Each Saturday evening throughout the month of October, families and little ones will enjoy live entertainment and new shows, character meet-and-greets, costume contests, treat stations (featuring more than 1 million pieces of candy), an AstroBash Dance Party, craft time, and more! Plus, don’t miss special treats and decorations in SEA LIFE Aquarium and take a spook-kooky ride on our updated Ghost Cruise adventure. The home of Halloween fun awaits for your next family adventure!

HalGLOWeen at the Zoo

San Diego Zoo (2920 Zoo Drive)
September 16, 23, 30, and October 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-29

Join the world-famous San Diego Zoo for a colorfully creepy celebration. Guests will get the chance to enjoy myriad ghoulishly fun activities and entertainment, including the interactive “Boolahoops,” the hip-hop dancing Funky Monkeys, amazing acrobats, pumpkin and cookie decorating, cupcake walks, and the DJ Dance Party – a rousing bash where guests are invited to dance to spectacular Halloween tunes among bursts of bubbles, with a fun finale featuring black-light bubbles!

The Zoo’s zany maestro of fun, Dr. Zoolittle, will astound the crowd with a special “Creepy Crawly” show that just might change your mind about snakes and spiders. Magician Glowinda the Great and jugglers Humerus and Femur will mingle among guests, astonishing everyone with amazing feats and mind-blowing acts, while the Zoo characters will get into the spirit of the season and don their best Halloween costumes.

Haunted Birch Aquarium: Halloween Aglow

Birch Aquarium at Scripps (2300 Expedition Way)
Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28 | 6 – 8:30 PM

Enjoy close encounters with Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientists and search the galleries for unusual underwater creatures rarely seen at Birch Aquarium during its spooktacular Sea Monster Mash! This spooky San Diego spot allows you to explore a sea of glowing beasts (big and small), make your own seaweed slime, get up-close-and personal with Frankensquid and other spooky species, and enjoy ghost stories, all while boogieing down to live music courtesy of Billy Lee and the Swamp Critters, and having a monstrously good time.

Other Halloween activities typically include:

  • Scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography showcasing exciting, and sometimes spooky, research.
  • Glow Critters: Witness creatures that create their own light and glow in the deep, dark ocean.
  • Story Time: Little ones can gather around and listen to a spooky (but not too spooky) tales
  • Witch-Crafts: Enjoy creepy crafts that are fun for all ages, including making your own trick or treat bag

Pumpkin Station

Multiple Locations
Check their website for locations, dates, and times

We have scoured the internet to see if there’s any news about pumpkin patches and pumpkin stations in San Diego being open, and it looks promising! Pumpkin Station is actually a brand name, and they have locations in Del Mar, Rancho Bernardo, Mission Valley, National City, and Bonita. So far their website (pumpkinstation.com) says, “Face masks are encouraged. Please adhere to state social distancing requirements.”

Pumpkin Stations usually include such attractions as slides, rides, play centers, carousels, and pumpkin patches.

There are also various pumpkin patches around town, which we’ll cover below.

Mr. Jack O’Lanterns Pumpkins

6710 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla CA 92037
Mon – Fri 12pm – 8pm, Sat & Sun 11am – 8pm.

La Jolla has its very own pumpkin patch. Mr. Jack O’Lanterns Pumpkins is open for the season. You can check their website for other locations, dates, and times for some good, old-fashioned Halloween time fun.

Belmont and Fall Fest

Belmont Park (3146 Mission Blvd.)
Runs through Oct. 31st

Fall Fest transforms Belmont Park with fall thrills and chills throughout the beachfront amusement park! Halloween and fall-themed festivities will be happening on Fridays and Sundays in October through November. Attractions include The BOOmont Manor (a family-friendly haunted house), a pumpkin patch where you can participate in pumpkin painting, the Spooky Coaster ( the 1925-era Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster), the Superhero Zip Line & Rock Wall, and Zombie Laser Tag, where creatures will join you in a three-floor maze.

Dog-o-Ween at the La Jolla Rec Center

La Jolla Rec Center (615 Prospect St.)
Oct. 28th, 9am – 1pm.

Welcome to Decker’s Dog-O-Ween – a Dog Costume Contest, Dog Trick-or-Treating, and a Dance Party! Get ready for a pawsome event where our furry friends take center stage. Decker’s Dog-O-Ween is a tail-wagging extravaganza that celebrates the spookiest time of the year with our four-legged companions.

Pillage the Village

Downtown La Jolla
Oct. 29th, 3pm – 6pm 

Every year, trick-or-treaters in La Jolla walk around the Seaport Village in costume and treat the locals to a little Halloween spooky fun. Participating merchants and businesses will have orange and black balloons visible, so you know where you’ll be able to get some goodies. A good starting point is Girard and Prospect. Work your way around downtown La Jolla until you’ve trick-or-treated everywhere!

Halloween Celebration at Liberty Station

Liberty Station (2848 Dewey Rd.)
Oct. 29th, 12pm – 4pm.

Liberty Station is inviting the community to join in on a free family-friendly Halloween celebration this October! Fun daytime festivities will include a costume contest, trick-or-treating throughout Liberty Station, a play area presented by Kid Ventures, live music and entertainment, a Hollywood car show, and tons more! Families can also snap some pictures with 501st Stormtroopers and participate in festive games, as well as find their way through an inflatable obstacle course and the Liberty Public Market pumpkin patch.

Halloween Events at the Hotel Del Coronado

Hotel Del Coronado (1500 Orange Avenue)
Various activities throughout the month of October. Check their website for events, dates, and times.

Kids of all ages can attend various Halloween parties and do spooky activities at the Hotel Del Coronado. Little ones will delight at all of the spooky decorations and costumes as they enjoy trick-or-treating, games, a themed dinner, and more. This year’s theme is Hotel Transylvania, so bring your favorite vampire, mummy, or spooky monster costume and enjoy all the spooktastic fun. This San Diego Halloween event is a bit of a splurge, but it will make for a memorable evening that can only take place on Coronado Island. Plus, the Hotel is rumored to be haunted — what could make a Halloween evening more fun?

Media credits: Except where otherwise noted, images copyright LaJolla.com.