Over the weekend we went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg to check out The Count’s Spooktacular. It’s a fun fall festival for kids that takes place in the Sesame Street Forest of Fun on the weekends in October. The characters dress in costumes and there’s a lot of not-so-spooky fun.
Count’s Spooktacular Activities
There are a lot of fun activities during this kid’s Halloween event at Busch Gardens. Activities include a small hay maze and trick or treating. Also, there’s an activity table for coloring, plus some other games like corn hole and hopscotch! These events are set up in an area that’s usually closed off during the summer. I’m a huge nerd for seeing parts of theme parks that aren’t usually open. Just being in a new area of the park was super cool for me.
My kids loved trick or treating through the hay maze. The maze had a special theme for the weekend called Monsters and Fairies. There were pictures of monsters and fairies in the maze for the children to find and keep count of. In the end, they told a park employee the number of monsters and fairies for a small prize. They kept asking to go back and “count monsters and fairies and get more candy in the hay.”
Characters in Costume
The Sesame Street characters also get into the Halloween spirit by dressing in costume for meet and greets during The Count’s Spooktacular. There is a dance party or parade around the castle every hour or so. Be sure to grab a map when you get to the park for the day’s showtimes! The dance party was VERY crowded when we were there. We only saw one party, so I’m not sure if they rotate characters. Abby Cadabby and Murray were the ones dancing with the kids when we were there.
In addition to the dance party, there is a special Halloween show with The Count. He sings and dances with Zoe, Abby, Elmo, and Cookie Monster (who are all in costume). Mara loved discussing all of the costumes on the way home. Once again, I’m a nerd for special attractions and events. I was really excited about the addition of The Count to the characters for Halloween.
Dress Up the Kids for the Spooktacular
Speaking of costumes, all kids under the age of 9 are allowed to dress in costume for the Spooktacular. We let our oldest choose something from her dress-up clothes to keep it simple. She decided to be a doctor. This was the best idea! We simply took off her doctor’s coat after we left the Sesame Street Forest of Fun. She could have stayed dressed up if she wanted, but she was over it after a few hours. It was so cute seeing all of the kids running around the park in costumes.
Busch Gardens is currently running Howl-O-Scream, their scary Halloween event, in the evenings. After 5 pm all of the children’s attractions close. It is suggested that kids are out of the park by 5:45 (before the scary stuff starts). This means that from 10 am until the late afternoon the park is basically full of small children. The Sesame Street Forest of Fun was by far the most crowded area while we were there. The rest of the park was fairly empty.
Enjoy a Day Trip to Busch Gardens
Since the weather in Virginia has started to cool off, it was a beautiful day to walk around the park, eat some food and ride a few rides. If you’re like me and you don’t do scary, I’d say a day trip could still be fun! You get to see all of the spooky decorations and take in the joy of Busch Gardens without sweating a lot. Plus, The Count’s Spooktacular is loads of fun for kids and since it ends at 5pm, it’s the perfect excuse to leave early.
Busch Gardens is one of our favorite holiday traditions, so it’s so fun to get to go during Halloween now too!
