Pumpkins After Dark Review

This weekend, my sister and I took the kids to check out the new Pumpkins After Dark London, Ontario event inside Storybook Gardens. This was our first time attending a Pumpkins After Dark, so we weren’t really sure what it was all about. After attending this year’s event, I’m looking forward to going again next year and seeing how they change up the displays.

If you plan to attend with an autistic child, check out my Is Pumpkins After Dark Autism Friendly post on my sister site. And if you’re looking for more kid-friendly attractions while visiting London, don’t forget to read my review of the London Children’s Museum too.

Planning to stay the night?

Here are my top 3 recommendations for kid-friendly hotels in London, Ontario:

Delta Hotels London Armouries – A pet-friendly “castle” hotel with a heated indoor pool and two restaurants.
Hard Rock Hotel –A pet-friendly hotel with an indoor/outdoor pool and onsite restaurants, located near the Children’s Museum and The Factory.
Best Western Plus Lamplighter Inn – Our favorite, with a tropical pool area that includes a waterfall, hot tub, and waterslide.

What Is Pumpkins After Dark?

@mamasonvacation
We checked out Pumpkins After Dark London this weekend to see if it’s worth the time and money. Find out what’s there, what we liked, and where it could improve—full review at mamasonvacation.com pumpkinsafterdark halloween2025 londonontario ontarioforkids ontariofamilyfun
♬ This Is Halloween – CDM Crypt Kickers

Pumpkins After Dark is a large outdoor Halloween walk-through experience featuring more than 10,000 hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns, sculptures, and Halloween displays. It’s a self-paced, family-friendly event where you follow a pathway to view the lit-up pumpkins and themed displays with music, sounds, and other special effects.

In addition to the displays, there are a few photo ops, a snack booth, and a 3D Pumpkins After Dark Monster Maze available for an extra fee.

When Can You Visit Pumpkins After Dark London

The event runs until November 1, with timed entry slots every 15 minutes.

Until October 26: Time slots start at 6:45 p.m.
October 29 to November 1: Time slots start at 6:30 p.m.
The last time slot each night is 9:15 p.m.

While you can buy Pumpkins After Dark tickets at the door, entry is limited per time slot so it’s best to buy in advance online.

How Much Are Pumpkins After Dark Tickets?

Ticket prices vary by date:

General Admission: Starts at $19 for kids (3-13) and $24 for adults (14+)
General Admission + Maze: Starts at $26 for kids and $31 for adults
Anytime Tickets with the Maze: Starts at $33 for kids and $36 for adults

There are also themed nights throughout the week:

Wednesdays: Pumpkins After Dark dog friendly night
Tuesday, October 14: The Pumpkins After Dark 19+ event
Thursdays: Pumpkins After Dark Discount ticket night
Saturdays: Pumpkins After Dark Themed evenings

On site parking is free.

My Pumpkins After Dark Review

Before going, I read mixed reviews on Facebook. Some people loved it, while others said it wasn’t worth the price, complained the displays were plastic instead of real pumpkins, or were disappointed the event replaced the StoryBOO! Trick or Treating event.

My experience falls somewhere in the middle.

The entire experience took us about an hour and a half, which I think is worth the price of general admission tickets. There are plenty of displays with different themes to keep things interesting. They’ve clearly made an effort to appeal to a variety of audiences, with displays featuring monsters, aliens, skeletons, Star Wars, Disney princesses, the Nightmare Before Christmas, and more.

To tie into the Storybook Gardens setting, they even included classic fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.

Crowd and Parking Issues

My biggest complaint was the crowd. It felt like too many people were let in at once, making it difficult to fully enjoy the experience. The main cause seemed to be the parking situation.

Our tickets were for 7:15 p.m., and even though we arrived at 7:00, we didn’t get into the event until 7:30 because it took 20 minutes just to park. Staff were directing traffic in a way that slowed everyone down, causing the parking lot to back up all the way to the lights at Springbank Park.

Once parked, the line at the gates moved quickly, but the initial delay created a backlog. Guests from several time slots were entering at once, resulting in large crowds on the pathway. Some sections of the path have two-way traffic too, which added to the congestion.

For most of the walkthrough, there was a large crowd, making it hard to see all the displays and leaving us feeling rushed to move along so others could have a turn. It wasn’t until after we stopped for a snack that the crowd thinned, making the last part of the experience more enjoyable.

If you want to avoid a large crowd, I recommend booking the 8:00 p.m. time slot or later.

Pumpkins After Dark Maze Review

The Pumpkins After Dark Maze (called the 3D Monster Maze) was the one part of the event I didn’t think was worth the price.

Despite the name, it’s not a maze at all — just a straight path lined with 3D images of horror movie characters, creepy dolls, zombies, and more. It looked neat, but it was crowded when we went, which made it hard to see the images or take photos. There were a few small photo op spots inside, but again, it was too busy to get any good shots.

The maze took us five minutes to walk through. At $7 extra per ticket, I didn’t find it worth it.

Unique Displays and Storybook Gardens Tie-Ins

There are many unique displays throughout the walk, including a large word search pumpkin wall with letters carved into each pumpkin and a plaque listing words to find, an angry-looking jack-o’-lantern with fog pouring from its mouth and surrounded by smaller pumpkins, and two singing jack-o’-lantern spots—one featuring a group of three singing “Ghostbusters” and another with a solo pumpkin singing “Monster Mash.”

What we really loved though was how some displays incorporated existing Storybook Gardens attractions. In the back playground, the large climbing net was transformed into a giant glowing spider web, while the tower playground featured displays of Disney Princesses. The pirate ship playground, naturally, became a Pirates of the Caribbean scene, complete with characters on the ship. They even created a display telling the story of Humpty Dumpty in with the Storybook Gardens Humpty Dumpty statue.

Photo Opportunities

Near the food area, there are three Pumpkins After Dark photo spots with lighting set up for better shots: a large jack-o’-lantern that kids can sit inside, a portrait-style frame made of yellow pumpkins with jack-o’-lanterns beside it, and a landscape frame with pumpkins carved to spell “Pumpkins After Dark” and a large jack-o’-lantern below it. This area was popular, especially the giant jack-o’-lantern, but the line moved fairly quickly.

Food and Treats

While BeaverTails isn’t open during the event, the food booth by the splash pad is, offering hot chocolate, donuts, and other snacks. We stopped for a break because the kids wanted hot chocolate, and I picked up a half dozen powdered mini donuts for them to enjoy while the drinks cooled.

The event website FAQ mentions a trick-or-treat area, but it’s really just a single “magic cauldron” station near the end of the walkthrough, where a staff member invites children to reach inside and take a treat. My kids were happy with it, since they weren’t expecting candy, but parents familiar with the old StoryBOO! event may find it disappointing since they’re used to a full trick-or-treating experience.

Is Pumpkins After Dark Worth It?

Overall, I think the Pumpkins After Dark London experience is worth the price for the walkthrough alone. There’s a lot to see, and the displays are well done. The maze, however, is not worth the extra fee.

If the organizers adjust parking and entry flow, it would improve the experience significantly. Next year, we’ll likely go again but choose a later time slot to avoid the opening rush.

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