Fall is one of the best times of the year to visit a theme park with its cooler weather, great decorations and fantastic food. This year’s Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures is a perfect way to spend a fall day and it has something for everyone. Whether you like thrilling rides, great shows, animals, spectacular food or just amazing fall ambiance, Wild Adventures has it for you. We had a chance to visit Wild Adventures on Saturday, September 26th for the debut of the 2026 Great Pumpkin LumiNights event and our review couldn’t be more positive. Great weather was coupled with great flavors and good times for an excellent fall day with family.
There are so many things to see and do during this year’s Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures. There are towering pumpkin sculptures, foods from the nation’s largest Pumpkin Spice Festival, great shows as well over one million twinkling lights when night falls. This is all in addition to the park’s standard 30+ rides and over 400 animals from around the globe (some of whom also participate in the pumpkin fun). This year Wild Adventures also welcomes a special guest, Spookley, everyone’s favorite square pumpkin! Guests will get to walk Spookley’s Trick or Treat Trail and collect tasty candies and treats. The trail takes place on the park’s newly expanded Alapaha Trail which is a beautiful nature walk to take on a fall day. After the trail, with a bag full of candy in hand, guests can enjoy story time with Spookley and grab a photo with him.
A highlight of fall is all the great seasonal food options and Wild Adventures doesn’t disappoint with their Pumpkin Spice Festival. This is the nation’s largest pumpkin spice festival and there is pumpkin spice everything! Everyone’s favorite flavor of fall is added into all sorts of foods like Pumpkin Spice BBQ Ribs, Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, Pumpkin Chipolte BBQ Wings and Pumpkin Spice Soft Pretzels! Every food stand has a handful of options ranging from the savory with the Fall Hot Honey Chicken Pizza to the sweet with Pumpkin and Oreo Dippin’ Dots. The flavors of these dishes at Wild Adventures are the perfect compliment to a fall day and they both look and taste amazing.
There are also great shows and entertainment to be had throughout the day. The Gators Live show, a staple of Wild Adventures, moves to the open air theater at Water’s Edge (which is a great during the cooler fall weather) while Spookley’s Storytime and Meet & Greet takes over its normal theater. New this year is Pink Tie Magic where Dave and Veronica treat you to a great magic show at the Legends Theater. Their comedy magic show was full of laughs and audience participation. Returning by popular demand this year is Just Larry, with his one-of-a-kind combination of juggling, sleight of hand and comedy. He’s been featured on America’s Got Talent and provides impromptu performances along the walkways of the park. Finally, wandering around the park you’ll find some wild pumpkin characters to take pictures with.
There is a ton for small children to do as well. There’s a small hay maze for the near the train station and the train itself undergoes a bit of a transformation for Great Pumpkin LumiNights, changing from the Safari Train to the Pumpkinville Railway. Along the tracks riders will see scenes and hear stories of pumpkin people in addition to seeing the normal animal inhabitants. Wild Adventures also has its own pumpkin patch where for $5 you can select a pumpkin and paint it. The lighting and fog effects in the patch are beautiful and there are racks where you can leave your pumpkin to dry and pick up at the end of the day.
Wild Adventures is also full of dazzling displays of pumpkins and lights. Pumpkins make up some of your favorite animals that look great during the day and come alive with light once darkness falls. There are giant inflatable pumpkins and beautiful haze everywhere that even smells like cinnamon and pumpkin spice! These sculptures are works of art that will have you stopping constantly to take pictures and please do stay until night when they look their absolute best! A new display this year is The Pickin’ Pumpkins Band which is located near Water’s Edge that brings some great southern charm to the area. You’ll also find spectacular glowing light displays like the 100-foot Twilight Tunnel and the Foggy Forest to explore.
The LumiNight Legends Pumpkin Gallery was the highlight of Great Pumpkin LumiNights for us. Here you’ll see your favorite singers, actors, sports stars, places in Georgia/Florida and Wild Adventures attractions all carved into glowing pumpkins. This display is indoors so you’ll have great viewing day or night. Highlights of the display include the Zombieland series of pumpkins (part of the film was shot at Wild Adventures), a huge collection of animals, Dolly Parton (RIP) and several of the parks signature rides. In one corner there’s a TV playing a video explaining the carving process that’s also online. The sheer number of pumpkins and their intricate detail will have you stopping here for a while. We walked through a couple times and found new pumpkins catching our attention each time.
Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures is a perfect fall festival with everything you could ever want from great food to great atmosphere to great entertainment. The value is tremendous too in that with the $99 Gold Pass Promotion you get the rest of this year (including 2026 Great Pumpkin LumiNights) and all of next year (including 2027 Great Pumpkin LumiNights). The Gold pass also includes free parking, discounts on food, guest passes and a bunch of other great perks! My 10 year old son was asking me on Saturday if we could come back next weekend and the answer is that with a season pass you easily can!
Great Pumpkin LumiNights runs weekends (Friday night through Sunday) through November 1st. After Halloween the park will take a few weeks off and then it will be time for Christmas Wild & Bright! If you’re anywhere near Valdosta, Georgia, be sure to check out this great fall festival. No matter your brand of fun, you’ll find that “No One Funs” like Wild Adventures.
