Halloweekends for small children

This is the first year that my family has had platinum passes. Before then, I have not been to Cedar Point for many years, and never during Halloweekends. I am interested in taking my 3- and 5-year-old girls to Cedar Point sometime when Halloweekends is running. I am not interested in any haunts or scaring the bejeepers out of my children, I only want us to have a few last fun rides on the regular rides in the park.

Is it possible to take my kids during the day and not have screamsters interact with them? Are there spots or regular rides that no matter the time of day, my kids will come across grown-up Halloween scares? Are there activities geared specifically for little kids, and is there a good time to pack up the kids and get out of the park before a screamster jumps out at them? Thanks!

If you go during the day you will be fine. The scare zones (midway areas) don't open until don't open until 8 and the haunted houses don't open until 6 on Saturdays, IIRC.

I cannot speak for this year, as I haven't heard the plans yet. But there are some kid friendly things to do during the day on Saturday and Sundays. My boys are now 4,7, and 9, but we've been going to Halloweekends almost every weekend for the last several years. The scare walks on Frontier Trail and Camp Snoopy (which I think this one is a stupid location but whatever) open around 8 or 9pm. So you would want to avoid those areas.

If you roll out of the park by around 7PM, you should be fine. Even after that, the scary attractions are pretty well marked - although it could be tough to get from the back of the park to the front without going through some sort of haunted/scary stuff after 8:00.

Thanks for all of the responses! I look forward to continuing our Cedar Point fun into the fall, and not scarring my children in regards to Halloween.

AndyG said:

..although it could be tough to get from the back of the park to the front without going through some sort of haunted/scary stuff after 8:00.

You can take the train or the Gemini Midway which does not turn into a scare zone (unless something changes this year).

I think that the Cedar Point has been doing better each year with kid friendly halloweekend stuff. We took my 3 and 4 year old up nearly every weekend. The Parade was a favorite of my boys. They had trick or treating, a cornstalk maze, a hay bale maze, pedal tractors, a couple of fall / halloween themed shows suitable for the youngsters, a scare free fun house, and a craft area where the kids could make a mask, decorate a pumpkin etc. All of this was free. If I remember right all of the costumed cast walking around the park during the day were called tricksters, and were out to amuse people not frighten.

Last year there was a costume contest with the winner and a few other participants got to ride in a float in the parade. We would spend a few evenings during the week creating costumes for the boys, go to the park in the morning (I think opening was 10) stay until the parade was over (4:30 - 5) then go home for dinner. Made for some great fall days, and I think it became my favorite time of year at the park. Who cares ifthe park gets super busy if you spend your day doing the kids stuff you barely notice (food and restroom lines can be bad though)