Texas
Howl-O-Scream SeaWorld San Antonio: what it costs and whether it is worth it
Howl-O-Scream is SeaWorld San Antonio's Halloween night, included with park admission on select dates: haunted houses, scare zones, shows and rides after dark. It begins at 7 p.m. and is intended for mature audiences.
Confirmed · Checked September 2026
Checked September 26, 2026 against https://seaworld.com/san-antonio/events/howl-o-scream/: select dates September 11–November 1, 7 p.m. start, included with regular park admission and annual passes, optional paid upgrades.
The pattern
- Typically starts
- mid-September
- Typically ends
- early November
- Nights of the week
- Fri, Sat, Sun
- Hours
- 19:00 to park close on select dates; check the park schedule
What you get, and what you do not
What you get
- Multiple produced haunted houses at a scale the day park never shows.
- Scare zones through the park's midways, with the marine-park setting doing unusual atmospheric work.
- The coaster lineup running after dark — a genuinely different experience of the big rides.
- Shows and bars programmed for the adult night-out crowd the event targets.
What you do not
- The animal exhibits in any meaningful sense — the event is not the park's day identity.
- A family product: Howl-O-Scream is uniformly intense and age-restricted in spirit and often in policy.
- A separate admission ticket for the haunt; the 2026 event is included with regular park admission on scheduled dates.
What it costs
- Howl-O-Scream is included with SeaWorld San Antonio park admission, single-day tickets and eligible annual passes on scheduled dates.
- Priority access to rides and haunts and other upgrades are sold separately; check the park's current terms.
- Park admission and parking prices vary; compare the official checkout total for your visit date.
How to actually do Howl-O-Scream
Coasters first, houses second
Check the app for which coasters are operating on your date and compare their queues with the five announced haunted houses. Ride availability and wait times can change during the evening.
The double-day arithmetic
A valid day ticket also covers Howl-O-Scream on a scheduled date. Check the official park calendar before choosing a date, then pace the daytime visit so your group has energy after the 7 p.m. haunt start.
Line-skip on peak nights
SeaWorld sells optional priority access for participating rides and haunts. Compare its current price against your group's must-do list and the time you have after the 7 p.m. start; availability and operating hours can change.
The verdict
Worth it as San Antonio's flagship haunt night, and as the coaster-plus-haunt combo only a SeaWorld event offers in Texas.
Worth it if
- You want a produced haunt with real coasters running after dark — a combination only the SeaWorld haunts offer on this site.
- You have valid admission for a scheduled event day and want to stay for the evening.
- You want a daytime park visit and a mature-audience Halloween night on one ticket.
Skip it if
- You only want coasters — the day park delivers them without the haunt crowds.
- Peak-Saturday queues without a priority-access upgrade sound unpleasant.
- Anyone in the party is under the event's recommendation — this is an adults-leaning night throughout.
Year by year
Past editions may lack an exact date list in our archive. For upcoming editions, check the operator calendar when dates are not yet recorded here.
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2026
AnnouncedSelect nights, September 11 – November 1, 2026
- The only SeaWorld haunt of the three that extends into November
- Included with regular park admission on scheduled dates; optional priority upgrades are extra
- The park lists five haunted houses, eight scare zones and three shows
Frequently asked questions
Is Howl-O-Scream included with SeaWorld admission?
Yes. SeaWorld San Antonio says the 2026 event is included with park admission, single-day tickets and annual passes on scheduled dates. Optional priority access costs extra.
How scary is Howl-O-Scream?
Genuinely intense — produced haunted houses and staffed scare zones aimed at an adult night-out crowd, closer to the Universal haunts' tone than to a decorated ride day. The parks themselves warn against young guests, and this site agrees.
When does Howl-O-Scream run?
Select Friday–Sunday dates from September 11 through November 1, 2026, beginning at 7 p.m. Check SeaWorld San Antonio's park schedule for your exact visit date.
Do the coasters really run during the event?
Yes — the big coasters running after dark are half the product and the event's differentiator against standalone haunts. Which specific rides run each night is on the event page.
When does Howl-O-Scream end in 2026?
The 2026 edition is scheduled through Sunday, November 1. Closing-week dates follow the event's select-night pattern, so not every remaining calendar day is an event day — recheck the park's date-specific calendar before buying final-night tickets.
The permanent version of all this
Height requirements, ride mechanics, accessibility detail, and permanent dining live on our evergreen guide, our year-round sister site. They do not change with the season, so we do not repeat them here.