New Halloween Activities at California's Great America's Tricks and Treats Event

Halloween celebrations at California’s Great America are transforming in 2022 as we introduce Tricks and Treats, our all-new, over-the-top, larger-than-life Halloween event packed with fun and family-friendly eeriness. From little goblins to grown-up ghouls, everyone will find ghastly great things to do for Halloween. Plus, we’ve got skeleTONS of delicious seasonal treats, drinks and, of course, candy!

There’s so much to see and do at Tricks and Treats!

If that’s not fang-tastic enough, our most popular rides are open during Tricks and Treats to deliver the amazing thrills and chills found only at California’s Great America.

In each area of the park, you’ll find Halloween activities to delight every witch and warlock. Discover mysteries to untangle and challenge your mummy to crazy games. Meet a bizarre and kooky neighborhood of characters. Strut your stuff in a Halloween costume contest. Get creative with seasonal make-and-take crafts, including pumpkin decorating. Dance to our DJ’s sizzling sounds. Score specialty souvenirs to take home. Best of all, guests are encouraged to attend Tricks and Treats in full costume.

Around every corner at Tricks and Treats is spook-tacular live entertainment that families and friends can enjoy together. Bust a gut laughing at our hilarious game shows. Sit a spell and enjoy the music of talented performers. Grab a friend and listen to folklore of all kinds spun by master storytellers.

Also, at Tricks and Treats, we’re serving up boo-licious fall foods—many with mischievous twists for a gross-out (but always delicious) foodie experience. Whether you are looking for sweet treats like our Bride of Frank’s ice-cream or savory items like our Fritters from the Black Lagoon, seafood fritters with Remoulade Sauce, we have something to please every foodie’s palette. 

Older ghosts and ghouls can partake of our bewitching brews, potions, and magical elixirs.

And of course, you can also collect candies and goodies at various locations throughout the park.

The evening begins on the Main Stage as The Incantation​ signals that it’s time for a grand fete to commence. Join our characters and help bring Patch the Pumpkin Pail to life and ring in the arrival of Halloween 

Costume Council​

A hat tip to popular TV shows such as Pose and Drag Race, a haute couture cast of competitive “posers” round up costumed guests to join their respective ‘Hauses’ representing the broad categories of costumes.​

You may first choose to visit the Land of Tricks, promising playfully spooky, gross, and weird adventures?

The Land of Tricks offers two realms with everything slimy, sinister, and strange: Ickyville and Spooky Spires.

The Land of Tricks : IckyVille

Eww! Yuck! Gross! If your Halloween fix includes all things slimy, crawly, goopy, and stinky, then Ickyville is your home away from home. Giggle at the messy mayhem of the Clean Up Crew. Laugh out loud at our hilarious live game show, “The Gross Out Gauntlet.” Bug out to tunes from The Snots, our all-zombie cover band. Games anyone?  Everyone wins at our macabre carnival games.  Do you like to eat worms?  Not sure?  Add our Worms in Dirt cupcake to your treat list. 

The Gross Out Gauntlet​

Join the most fun game in town and see our Host’s zombified body gets bloodlessly torn a part with one wrong Hangman letter selection at a time! Then be a part of the show and guess what your partner would pick out in two disgusting scenarios in “Would You Rather” or take on the most raucous version of Musical Chairs you can only find in Ickyville!

The SNOTS​

The all-zombie band The Snots play putrid pop punk parodies of popular songs: Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ becomes ‘Plate of Goo,’ ‘Uptown Funk’ becomes ‘Uptown Gunk,’ ‘Blurred Lines’ is ‘Blurred Slimes’...a repertoire so long you could just puke.

Clean Up Crew​

With ranks half the size of the number of revolting monsters in Ickyville, the humble Clean Up Crew have their work cut out for them. With a seemingly endless supply of impractical contraptions for paranormal hygiene, they always manage to just miss the creatures they’re seeking or spend most of their time asking guests if they’ve seen the brutes – even when they’re dozing on a bench right in front of them.

Creature Features​

These wide-ranging monsters run amok in Ickyville sitting on benches, or in a ride que and try-despite their appearances-to act casual. So, keep an eye out! Just like teenagers, even when they try to be helpful, they’re really not!

Mask Makers​

If you’re building a costume that meets the Ickyville “heave of approval,” you better have the right mask for the job! Whether you came with a monstrous costume or not, this is the one-stop-shop to construct a mask that can bring your getup to a whole new level

BeanBoozled​

Contestants spin a Wheel of Beans with a friend, sibling, or parent to see who can withstand the worst of the worst flavors without spitting out the candy or leaving the scene completely!

SkeleTONS of Fun Midway Games​

There’s skele-TONS of fun lurking in a bevy of midway games where everybody wins 

Spooky Spires

Goth is glorious at Spooky Spires, a 1920s village with deadpan locals just dying to hang out with you. Feel the beat at our silent disco that’s not so silent. Got lungs? Showcase your best bloodcurdling screams with The Scream Bottler.  Watch out for The Blob, a Coconut Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel Pear & Pepitas.

Spectral Sisters​

The tastefully harmonized wails of this Andrews Sisters-esque act can be heard across Spooky Spires, setting the tone for this morbid locality. These talented ladies perform New Orleans jazz drenched arrangements of favorite “gallows humor” songs sure to make you move those mandibles to the beat.​

Disco Crypt Yard​

When we lay the music down to rest, it continues to play – but not in any manner the living can hear without some otherworldly assistance. Our Silent Disco encourages its participants to scream, wail, and perform noisy group dances that act in total contrast to the tenor of the Land.

SPOOKY SPIRE CHARACTERS

Pierre L’ Scare​

Being an artist is difficult. And if you’re Pierre L’Scare, your afterlife consists entirely of being unable to complete your masterwork. Whenever he attempts to do the family name proud, the paintbrush just falls right through his recently deceased hand. If you happen to see him around in Spooky Spires, don’t be afraid to give him a helping “hand”!​

Vlad Sanguine​

Everybody knows Vlad – and about 80% of the teenage citizenry have a deathly crush on him. He roams Spooky Spires freely (don’t you dare try to chain him in), doing all his signature antics with a sneer. Yeah, he’ll go out in the sun! Yeah, he’ll eat garlic without a care!​

Scream Bottler​

You’ll hear the Scream Bottler before you see him. If guests have what it takes, they can collaborate with the Bottler, adding new varietals to the collection ​

The Dowersons​

This goth family just parked their Airstream hearse and are eager to see the sights and hear the howls in Spooky Spires for their ultimate nightmare vacation. Unlike the locals, they are still alive – for now – but relish all things dead and decomposing 

Frame-Worthy Frights​

In this paint-by-numbers mural activity, character-meets-craft to collaborate on a frame-worthy fright 

You’ve experienced the “tricks”, now enjoy the “treats” in the Land of Treats with all the nostalgia of a cozy fall festival in two uniquely festive areas: Everfall and Sweet Tooth Acres.

Everfall

If your idea of fall includes softly glowing candles, pumpkin spice, and cozy flannel, Everfall is your classic autumn dream. Come on in for campfire stories, acoustic covers of popular seasonal songs, pumpkin decorating, rock painting and a leaf-peeping spot for photos. Enjoy delicious fall foods like our sweat Fall French Toast and our savory From The Land roasted chicken pot pie! Plus, special seasonal craft beers, hard ciders, and cocktails. 

Bonfire Tales​

A charismatic, scarved Storyteller brings not-so-spooky stories to life with the help and participation of younger guests.

The Great Craft Off​

Audience volunteers are invited to recreate a “perfectly executed” fall treat on display. Concoct your craft from our improvised “Great British Bake Off” style stations as celebrity judges from the audience weigh in and picks the winner!

Forrest Friends Marionettes​

As guests wander through Everfall, they come across a wandering marionette performer or two who bring a duo of fall-appropriate friends to life. A mischievous squirrel and a lovely autumn tree wordlessly act out charming and sometimes humorous vignettes as they share an acorn or two and prepare to celebrate autumn 

The Harvest Duet​

The music of Everfall consists of acoustic covers of songs that simply feel fall. Grab a hot drink and listen to our two musicians perform an array of acoustic songs, from earnest tributes to the Lands to romantic “sweater weather” tunes to music that intangibly fits the season 

Ginny Pumpkinseed​

Be on the lookout for this all-American adventurer roaming Everfall! She’ll love to pull you in and share her adoration of everything pumpkins! She finds them absolutely gourd-geous.​

Gorgeous Gourds

​Fall simply wouldn’t be fall without pumpkins, and there is no better place to enjoy pumpkin decorating than amid the haybales and tumbledown charm of Everfall. This dedicated pumpkin decorating station allows guests to get creative as they create a full gallery of gourd art masterpieces. 

Wagon-Along Story Stroll​

Young guests can hop aboard and stroll through our Tale Trail of a self-operated family wagon experience through pumpkins and haybales. The scene provides a backdrop to capture the perfect fall family portrait!

Kindness Rocks​

With the guiding hands of our Activators, guests of all ages can color a rock and write encouraging fall-themed messages on them that will be collected to create a growing spectacular display!​

Sweet Tooth Acres

Down on the farm where the candy corn and lollipop trees grow like crazy, we enjoy fall’s bounty by indulging in the sweetest treats imaginable. Discover the kooky magic of our candy switching witch. Tap your toes to the a cappella harmonies of The Fun Size Four while enjoying unique treats like Candied Bacon or our decadent Trick or Treat dessert.  Did we say trick or treat?  The Halloween fun isn’t complete without trick-or-treating, so don’t miss out on our incredibly sweet Trick or Treat Trail.

The Fun-Sized Four​

This quartet sings all sorts of pop hits, but always in their signature a-cappella style, and always in tiny, bite sized portions.

The Candy Horns​

This roaming brass band brings sweet sounds and wide grins to everyone in Sweet Tooth Acres. Folks of all ages can’t help but tap their toes when they come across this jolly jamboree.

Sweet Tooth Acres Characters

Fondantina, A Switch Witch​

Mischievous, kooky, and good natured, Fondantina is an artsy witch on a mission – to trade as many treats as she can for toys and trinkets. If you happen to encounter her, see if she’ll trade for a piece of your delicious, sweet candy!​

Rock Candy, A Jolly Rancher​

Known and loved by all the citizens of Sweet Tooth Acres, this kindly farmer is a pillar of the community and the unofficial mayor. He knows all about how candy is harvested, from sugar seed to taffy tree, and will always drop what he is doing to bend your ear with fun facts about the origins of your favorite treats.​

Lolly Popvitch​

Busy, dizzy, and altogether fizzy, Lolly Popovitch lives for a rumor or a juicy bit of gossip. Those are the true treats of Sweet Tooth Acres to her! Her favorite pastimes are speculating about what goes on behind the doors of her neighbors. If you happen to come across her, she might be smiling and affable…but she’s no sucker!​

The Sugar Scouts​

Candy doesn’t start out King-sized, and neither do the citizens of Sweet Tooth Acres. Three aspiring nougats of joy are determined to make this the BEST. HALLOWEEN. EVER. And with their adult Scoutmaster off somewhere in Licorice Wood, finally there’s nothing to stop them!

Pick-Your-Pop​

The rules are simple, but victory is sweet at this interactive “best of luck” (or lick?) lollipop stand.  Our resident pop propagator has brought a bushel from his orchard to share with our guests – they can pick any one they wish and enjoy it as a treat on its own, but some of the suckers have an extra delight in store!​

Trick-or-Treat Trail​

Here in Sweet Tooth Acres, we truly do get a buzz from enjoying life in its many delightful aspects. Just look for the 8 doors scattered across the Land, labeled with the name of the sweetness that lives there. From “Sweet Dreams” to “Sweet Victory,” there is plenty to choose from!

Good Nightmares​

At the close of the evening, we will draw all the inhabitants of our neighborhoods together for a simple, fun, high-energy grace note signifying that it is time for ghosts and goblins of all ages to have a little nap and get ready for Halloween to begin again the next day.​