The Stone Mountain Park Pumpkin Festival is one of the best park events of the year. As a season pass holder, one of the perks is free entry to special events and free parking. Tickets can be purchased online. Important to note even as a season pass holder, you need to make reservations for the event online or you will arrive and discover you can’t get in. They only allow LIMITED entry for season pass holders. Also important to note, you MUST bring your card with you at all times. There is no system to look up your member name if you forget your card.
Our attendance to the Stone Mountain Park Pumpkin Festival was full of bumps and roadblocks, but through sheer force of will and some good fortune, my son and I were able to check it out this year. I began with promising to take him in early October to get a break from covid life and virtual learning. I suggested we go on a week day to avoid crowds, and we excitedly made our plan. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not checking to see that the event ONLY runs on the weekends. Disappointed, I promised to take my son the next weekend.
The weekend of our planned adventure arrives and I plan to buy tickets on Friday morning for that night. When I go online to make a reservation, it was only to discover the event was sold out not just Friday night, but Saturday as well. I tried to get help on the phone because I thought as a season pass holder, I should be able to go, right…no, a season pass holder does not guarantee entry. When I make repeated calls, I end up not being able to get through, followed by a 45 minute hold to get the answer, of no. Then we had meltdown number two from my son (the affects of covid when you have no social life and very little excitement to look forward to).
Eventually I was able to make a reservation for the next weekend, the last weekend of the event. Hours before we are set to go, I receive an alert the whole park is closed due to a flipping power outage. I tried calling over and over to see if we could go the next night (sold out online), but after about 15 attempts, I still could not get through. I was not ready to give up and the next day, I gave it one last shot. With a stroke of luck, I was able to get help on the phone and reserve tickets for the final night of the event, Sunday, and I kept my promise to my son for the Stone Mountain Halloween festival!
Upon arrival, members and ticket holders are all in the same long line, but the line moves quickly. The Pumpkin Festival was filled with glowing pumpkin characters and lights. It featured it’s latest Dinosaur exhibit with dinosaurs covered with glowing paint. The moving and glowing dinosaurs were my son’s favorite part of the park and impossible not love! In the center lawn area, there was a giant pumpkin tree and a fun, open area for families to gather around. The mini golf and train rides were open, but even on a Sunday the lines were way too long for us to stand in, so we declined.
The event was definitely a fun break from covid, but I was hoping for more entertainment and temporary exhibits or activities. The haunted forest path with dangling lights was a pretty display, but was a bit lackluster and could have used much more in it such as fog, pumpkins and Halloween characters on display. There were no specialty foods that I saw, and was disappointed I was not able to see the pumpkin eating contest that they advertised. I thought maybe they would be selling pies, or have an arts and crafts area like pumpkin decorating, but it was more about the experience of seeing the lights and the regular exhibits in a new way.
My favorite part was seeing my son pretend to be a ninja in the lawn area as part of his ninja costume character. I soon joined in a for a mock ninja fight, and it was one of those special kid moments you know they will grow out of soon. I would definitely check out the Stone Mountain Park Pumpkin Festival as a local Georgian, or if you are looking for a family friendly activity during the Georgia fall season.
