The Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train

• Author: WantsToTravelMore
• Accommodation: Vancouver Accommodations

The Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train is an annual favourite for locals and visitors to Vancouver. The setting for the miniature train is pretty eerie at night even without all the dramatic presentations.

Since we have one younger child, it’s best to head there at sunset because, by the time you have bought tickets (we just bought at the gate; it was 5 days before Halloween and there wasn’t a crowd), the woods are getting to be just that great creepy feel. Lingering sunlight from sunset is blocked out by the trees.

This year the theme was old monster movies. Since this is a family friendly event (kids are encouraged to dress up) the sets and stuff are not that scary. However, when Dracula came up to the train, my 7-year-old was a bit worried and had a short cry. My teenager panicked at one moment though and pinched my arm. I suspect the high school friends are thinking “lame.”

But I love the creativity. It must be a lot of fun decorating the forest for Halloween. Talk about a large canvas!

In addition to the train, which is $11 per adult and $8 per youth/child, there’s the Spooky barnyard, which may indeed have ghosts from the petting zoo barnyard they used to have in Stanley Park. We did not check that out this time.

Other tents are set up and you can learn about nocturnal wildlife in Stanley Park. People sell popcorn and snacks and there’s a slightly spooky maze for the kids.

For me, Stanley Park itself is spooky at night all on its own and when we went, there was a full moon peeking through clouds and trees. All we needed was a wolf howl.