HalloWeekends adds new charges

Editor's note: Justin Dietz is a Register correspondent representing CPFoodBlog.com and @FUNFoodBlog on X. SANDUSKY — For guests who have been visiting Cedar Point's HalloWeekends since it debuted in 1997, the one-price-includes-everything option was a fantastic way to take in the fall season. Now Six Flags is asking guests to pay a premium if they want to visit the haunted houses. Halloween and the cooler fall season have long been known as a big money maker for Cedar Point, drawing in some of the largest crowds of the season. Following Cedar Point's merger with Six Flags, entry into the haunted houses is no longer included with admission. A ticket or season pass to Cedar Point will now include all the shows and entertainment, rides and everything outside of indoor mazes. For families, the not-so-scary family fun by day includes so many great options. But for those that are there to experience the fun of night, pretty much the only option is to pay up for premium experiences because there is not much to do with the exception of a few walk through outdoor scare zones and live music performances. The whole point of going to HalloWeekends is to enjoy everything scary, and with the haunted houses being removed from general access, time will tell if the crowds approve of this change. New charges Cedar Point will offer two premium experiences for 2025. First is all the standard indoor mazes like Fearground Freakshow or The Haunting of Eerie Estates. Entry now requires the separate purchase of a Haunted Attractions Pass. The standard Haunted Attraction Pass costs $10 to $30, depending on the day of the week a guest visits. This gets them access to the six haunted houses/mazes. For $29 to $69 per person, guests can upgrade to a Haunted Attractions Express Pass. This gets them front-of-the-line access plus a single entry to the new The Conjuring: Beyond Fear experience. In addition, Cedar Point is also offering a separate single admission to The Conjuring: Beyond Fear experience for $15 to $25. The Conjuring, which will take place in the former Town Hall Museum in Frontier Town, will take guests on a 20-minute interactive investigation into legendary entities such as The Nun, The Crooked Man and The Ferryman as you race to lock Annabelle back in her secure box. Cedar Point also is offering a $69 Haunted Express Pass for season passholders, which gets them front-of-the-line access to all the haunted houses and The Conjuring on each night of HalloWeekends. Keep in mind that this option is only valid at Cedar Point, and in order to visit haunted houses at any of the other Six Flags parks, which is the marketing selling point for this year, guests would need to purchase access separately to each park they visit. For the majority of people who like to visit several other parks in a season, this becomes a major deterrent during the fall season. With a new pay-to-play system for HalloWeekends, it will be interesting to see if this cuts the lines down significantly as many guests may not elect to want to pay for a premium experience of the houses. And those that do not pay, will have to determine if a ticket for HalloWeekends is even worth it anymore. Keep in mind the new upcharge comes on the heels of 2026 season passes going on sale, which they have elected to keep the cost low, starting at only $99.