There are kids who want Halloween to be terrifying, and then there are kids who would very much like their Halloween candy without having to spend the next three nights sleeping six inches from your face.
Fortunately, Central PA has plenty of ways to do Halloween somewhere between pumpkin spice and chainsaw.
We rounded up Halloween and fall adventures on both sides of the Susquehanna, with an emphasis on places where kids can actually do something. A few places have relationships with Macaroni KID, and I have noted those relationships where they apply. They are here because I would have included them anyway.
Parent note: Seasonal hours, weather policies, ticket availability and activities can change. Check directly with the venue before loading everybody into the car.
10 Not-So-Scary Picks: Hershey & Harrisburg
1. Hershey's Chocolate World Halloween | Hershey
Chocolate World is the obvious place to begin because the entire premise is basically Halloween with chocolate as the infrastructure. Families can make a stop here part of a bigger Hershey day or let it be the whole outing. Seasonal fun includes trick-or-treating and a ticketed Trick-or-Treat Trolley designed to be festive rather than frightening.
2. Hersheypark Halloween | Hershey
Hosted Visit, 2026. Hersheypark Halloween is one of my favorite examples of why Halloween and haunted do not have to mean the same thing. During the day, there are rides, Hershey Characters in costume and Treatville. After dark, families can still deliberately choose their level of spooky, including the scare-free Avenue of The Afterlife.
We visited this season with the KIDcrew, including an older kid who wanted to test the scarier Dark Nights side, and discovered that you absolutely do not have to go from zero to haunted house. We added the spooky pieces incrementally instead.
Photo credit: Rachael Benion / Macaroni KID
Want a little more spooky? I wrote a separate guide to Hersheypark Dark Nights With Kids: How to Get Scared the Right Amount, including what worked for us and how we gradually turned up the scare.
3. ZooAmerica Creatures of the Night | Hershey
Hosted Visit, 2025. Handing kids flashlights and turning them loose in a zoo after dark sounds like the beginning of a questionable parenting decision. It is, in fact, extremely fun.
Creatures of the Night lets families explore ZooAmerica after dark and learn about nocturnal animals. Our firsthand experience is from last season, while the event information here has been updated for 2026. This year's event runs select Friday-through-Sunday evenings from Oct. 16 through Nov. 1, 6–9 p.m.
Photo credit: Rachael Benion / Macaroni KID
4. Pumpkin Palooza at Hershey Gardens | Hershey
Hershey Gardens describes Pumpkin Palooza as a non-scary Halloween event, which saves me quite a bit of explaining. The gardens fill with hundreds of painted pumpkins, and kids can follow the seasonal fun through the grounds with candy stops along the way. It runs Oct. 17, 18, 24 and 25.
Photos courtesy of Hershey Gardens
5. Risser-Marvel Farm Market | Annville Area
For families who want their October fun to look more like a farm than a fright attraction, Risser-Marvel is one to keep on the list. Think fall farm atmosphere and corn-maze energy rather than actors jumping out from behind things. Check the farm's current schedule before making the drive, since seasonal offerings can vary by day.
6. GEARS Fall Festival | Elizabethtown
GEARS Fall Festival gives the Etown side of our territory another full fall outing, with inflatables, arts and crafts, a haunted barn, barrel train, games, food and entertainment at the Elizabethtown Fairgrounds. The 2026 event is Oct. 17 from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
For our scare-sensitive families, I would treat the haunted barn as optional and build the day around everything else.
7. Elizabethtown Farmers Market Harvest Festival | Elizabethtown
Macaroni KID Partner. I have not personally visited the Elizabethtown Farmers Market yet, so I am not going to pretend this is a KIDcrew-tested pick. I am including its Harvest Festival because it gives Etown families a genuinely local, community-scale fall option without requiring a full-day expedition. The 2026 festival is scheduled for Oct. 21 from 4–6:30 p.m. at Christ Church UCC.
Photo provided by Elizabethtown Farmers Market
8. Night at the Nature Center | Wildwood Park, Harrisburg
This is my kind of spooky. On Oct. 24 from 5:30–8 p.m., families can explore the Olewine Nature Center after hours while the Exhibit Hall critters come to life, then stop for s'mores, apple cider, a craft and a not-so-scary Halloween story. It scratches the after-dark Halloween itch without turning the evening into a test of bravery.
Photo provided to Macaroni KID
9. Trick or Treat Trek | Fort Hunter Park, Harrisburg
Macaroni KID Partner. Trick or Treat Trek manages to pack in the costumes and candy without relying on scares. Kids 12 and younger follow clues through Fort Hunter Park and collect goodies along the way. The 2026 event is Oct. 25 from 2–5 p.m. and is rain or shine.
Photo credit: Rachael Benion / Macaroni KID
We have done this one with the KIDcrew, and I particularly like that it feels like an actual outing rather than a five-minute candy grab.
10. Trick or Treat at Fresh Market at Hershey Towne Square | Hershey
Fresh Market at Hershey Towne Square gives us a Halloween-day option that feels more neighborhood Hershey than destination Hershey. On Oct. 31 from 2–4:30 p.m., kids can trick-or-treat through participating market vendors.
It is simple, local and exactly the sort of outing that works when the costume is already on and nobody needs another enormous production.
9 Not-So-Scary Picks: Carlisle & the West Shore
1. Fields of Adventure | Aspers
Hosted Visit. Fields of Adventure earns its spot because this is not a walk-past-some-pumpkins-and-go-home farm. There are corn mazes, wagon rides, animals, a giant jump pad, pumpkin bowling, pedal karts, slides, a corn box and plenty more to keep kids moving.
Photo credit: Rachael Benion / Macaroni KID
We have visited with the KIDcrew. For families who want a nighttime corn-maze adventure without haunted-maze scares, the 2026 Flashlight Friday Nights are Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 from 6–10 p.m. Fields calls these nights non-scary and suitable for families.
2. Paulus Farm Market Fall Fun | Mechanicsburg
Macaroni KID Partner. Our family has complimentary access to Paulus through a previous promotional partnership. Fall Fun runs seven days a week through Nov. 1. The FarmPark includes friendly animals, the Dirt Diner, giant sand box, hay play, corn tent, mini corn maze, Milk Crate Kingdom, tractors, tunnels and other play spaces. Weekend admission also includes hayrides.
Photo credit: Rachael Benion / Macaroni KID
It is particularly good for younger kids because so much of the fun is open-ended play rather than waiting in lines.
3. Benchfield Farms Corn Maze | Newville
Benchfield gives families a useful little loophole in the haunted-maze universe: go early. The farm offers a non-haunted window before the scarier maze experience begins, so kids can get the after-dark corn-maze adventure without signing up for the full fright version. Check Benchfield's current schedule before you go, especially if your goal is specifically the non-scary time block.
Photo provided to Macaroni KID
4. Boo Bash at Jubilee Cake Studio | Mechanicsburg
Macaroni KID Partner. Jubilee Cake Studio already understands that small children and sugar are a complete entertainment system. Boo Bash adds Halloween to the equation. This is one to watch for families who would rather celebrate with costumes, treats and play than haunted attractions.
Photo provided to Macaroni KID
5. Streets of Treats | Downtown Mechanicsburg
Downtown trick-or-treating is one of my favorite low-commitment ways to do Halloween with younger kids. Streets of Treats turns downtown Mechanicsburg into a daytime Halloween stop with trick-or-treating plus children's activities, games and crafts.
No dark woods. No masked stranger with a chainsaw. Just candy and a town full of tiny superheroes.
6. Harvest Hop | Camp Hill
Harvest Hop is another daytime community option that works well for kids who like the celebration part of Halloween more than the scare part. Pair the downtown fall atmosphere with pumpkin decorating and nearby trunk-or-treat fun, then call it a successful October outing before anybody reaches their costume's emotional expiration point.
7. Spooky Saturday + Bosler Comic Con | Carlisle
Carlisle manages to stack two kid-friendly events into one very convenient October day. Spooky Saturday brings daytime trick-or-treating to downtown Carlisle, while Bosler Memorial Library's Comic Con adds cosplay, crafts and pop-culture fun.
We have done Spooky Saturday with the kids, and this is exactly the scale of Halloween outing I appreciate when nobody needs another giant production.
8. Pennsboro Pumpkin Fest | Enola
Pennsboro Pumpkin Fest at Adams-Ricci Park gives West Shore families a classic community-festival option with children's activities, entertainment and food. It is the kind of fall event that lets costumes and pumpkins provide the seasonal atmosphere without requiring anything haunted.
9. Newville Community Treat Night | Newville
Community treat nights are underrated. They give kids the costume-and-candy payoff without asking parents to commit to a giant attraction, and Newville's version adds games and family activities to the mix. Check the organizer's current details before heading out, particularly for time and location updates.
10. Shippensburg Pumpkin Festival | Shippensburg
Shippensburg finally gets its turn on this list with an entire weekend devoted to the decidedly non-terrifying side of pumpkins. The free Shippensburg Pumpkin Festival returns to the Shippensburg Fairgrounds Oct. 10–11 with live pumpkin carving, hayrides, inflatables, pumpkin painting, kids' activities, fall craft vendors and food trucks.
Admission and parking are both free, so this is an especially easy one to add to an October weekend without turning family fall fun into a minor financial event.
3 Fall Road Trips Worth Leaving Our Usual Territory For
1. Corn Cob Acres | Mountville
If I were choosing a road trip specifically for younger kids, Corn Cob Acres would be high on the list. It is built around hands-on farm play rather than scares, with a huge collection of activities that can turn a fall outing into most of a day.
2. Cherry Crest Adventure Farm | Ronks
Cherry Crest is the we-are-making-a-day-of-this option. Its fall season runs Sept. 19 through Nov. 7 with more than 70 farm activities. On Oct. 30, kids 12 and younger can trick-or-treat around the farm, with fireworks later that evening. Check tickets and hours before making the drive.
3. Dutch Wonderland Happy Hauntings | Lancaster
Happy Hauntings gives us something different from the two farm road trips: an amusement-park Halloween built for kids. It is a good choice when your family wants rides and costumes with Halloween atmosphere, but the goal is still fun rather than fear.
A Note for Our Scare-Sensitive Families
“Not scary” means wildly different things to different kids.
A dark corn maze can be thrilling to one child and an immediate absolutely-not to another. A costumed character can be the highlight of the day for one preschooler and cause another to attempt to merge physically with your torso.
Check attraction descriptions before you go, particularly for evening experiences, and don't be afraid to do Halloween your own way. Go before dark. Skip the haunted section. Bring the headphones. Wear the costume without the mask. Spend twenty minutes somewhere instead of two hours.
There is no prize for completing Halloween on hard mode.
The candy tastes exactly the same.
The Spoon Drawer
Halloween When Your Kid's Sensory System Has Other Plans
Halloween asks a lot of a sensory-sensitive kid. Costumes feel different. People look different. There are unexpected noises, flashing lights, crowds, decorations moving when they absolutely should not be moving, and strangers suddenly expecting children to interact with them in exchange for miniature candy bars.
So this is your reminder that your family's version of Halloween does not have to look like anybody else's.
Go early. Leave early. Skip the mask. Wear regular clothes under the costume. Bring the headphones even if your child has not needed them lately. Let them watch the parade from half a block away. Skip the haunted barn. Sit in the car for ten minutes. Trick-or-treat at three houses and declare victory.
There is no prize for using every spoon in the drawer.
A Few Places With Extra Sensory Support
ZooAmerica: Sensory bags are available at the Admissions Building and include noise-canceling headphones, fidgets, a verbal cue card, sensory glasses, sunglasses, a color-coded ZooAmerica map and a stuffed alligator plush.
Hershey Gardens: Sensory backpacks are available first-come, first-served and include headphones, sunglasses, a fidget, social story, magnifying glass, binoculars and other sensory tools. Hershey Gardens also offers a visual schedule and social story online, which can be useful when knowing what comes next is part of the plan.
Hersheypark: Hersheypark has designated quiet locations for relief from sensory stimulation, including a space inside the Family Health & Services Center in Pioneer Frontier and quiet locations on Kissing Tower Hill. Accessibility Services can also help families plan accommodations for their visit.
Put This One on the Calendar
Hershey's Chocolate World Sensory Friendly Night | Oct. 21
Chocolate World's upcoming Sensory Friendly Night may be the best Halloween-season option on this entire list for families who usually have to modify the experience themselves.
From 5:30–7:30 p.m. on Oct. 21, Chocolate World will modify several of its attractions specifically for sensory sensitivities. The free Chocolate Tour Ride will operate with reduced audio. Hershey's Unwrapped will have reduced audio and thematics, dim lighting, relaxed theater rules that allow guests to enter, leave and move around, and permission to use therapeutic electronic devices. Create Your Own Candy Bar will offer additional staff support and a caretaker companion pass with a special-needs guest.
There will also be visits with Susquehanna Service Dogs and Hershey's Characters in Halloween costumes.
Worth knowing: Hershey's Chocolate World is also a Certified Autism Center. If regular Halloween at Chocolate World sounds like too much for your child, this is the night I would circle.
Sensory resources and availability can change, and loaner supplies may be limited. Check with the venue before your visit if a particular accommodation is essential to your family's day.
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