Enjoy the Halloween Travel Boom Without Getting Scared by Prices (Video Episode)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways

Episode: Enjoy the Halloween Travel Boom Without Getting Scared by Prices
Hosts: Sally French & Meghan Coyle (NerdWallet Travel)
Release Date: October 8, 2025

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode explores the growing trend of Halloween as a travel season, highlighting how travelers can enjoy haunted destinations, special events, and theme park festivities without blowing their budgets. Hosts Sally French and Meghan Coyle dive into the costs, strategies, and best practices for optimizing travel dollars, whether you’re booking a haunted corn maze in Las Vegas, a family-friendly Disney Halloween party, or a weekend in Salem. The episode also provides timely advice on maximizing travel rewards, timing for bookings, and saving money during high-demand spooky season events.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Halloween: From Local to Major Travel Season

• Halloween is now a peak travel occasion, rivaling major holidays in demand for certain cities and attractions.
• Theme parks (Disney, Universal) and destinations like Salem, MA, see huge Halloween spikes—often with specialized, separately ticketed events.

Quote:

“Halloween is one of those holidays that people are traveling to experience.”
— Sally French (08:31)

• Many events now begin as early as August due to high demand, making “spooky season” longer than ever.
  (Pumpkin spice lattes and Disney parties start early: 10:13)

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2. Spotlight: Universal Horror Unleashed, Las Vegas

• Sally braves Universal’s new, permanent haunted maze in Vegas ($70 entry for 4 themed mazes).
• Her solo visit (and panic!) exemplifies the intensity of these attractions, even for non-horror fans.
• Vegas is unusually affordable this year (2025) due to an 11% drop in tourism, making it a value for Halloween seekers (17:42).

Memorable Moment:

“I ran out of that thing in three minutes. Screaming.”
— Sally French, on the Scarecrow maze (14:01)

Tip:

• Go with friends or make “maze buddies” in line; it makes these attractions less terrifying.

Comparison:

• Universal's Hollywood Horror Nights costs $77—slightly pricier but offers more mazes (8) and theme park rides for added value (18:07, 18:22).

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3. Theme Park Halloween Events: Experience & Cost Breakdown

• Disney’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party:
  • Early-season tickets: ~$150; Halloween night: ~$250 per person (09:02).
  • Includes rides, exclusive trick-or-treating even in iconic park locations.
  • Sells out every year despite high ticket cost: “These parties sell out, so for many people they are worth it.” (23:29)
  • Value: You can rack up ~8 lbs of candy—about $50 worth, but not really a cost-saving compared to the ticket!
• Disneyland’s Oogie Boogie Bash: Also highlighted as a less “scary” and kid-friendly event (22:01).

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4. Travel Rewards & Promo Advice

• Hilton Hotels:
  • 9,000th hotel just opened—now nearly matching Marriott in size (03:10–03:29).
  • More luxury/lifestyle properties to use points/free night rewards.
  • Hilton Amex cards offer generous sign-up bonuses, especially for the Surpass card (04:14–04:53).
  • New hotel bonus points promos—register before booking for extra points (05:09–05:32).
• Spirit Airlines:
  • Running rare bonus point promotions for off-peak bookings; can translate to up to three flights if redeemed well (05:33–06:33).
• Tip: Always register for promos before booking, and remember to factor in bag and other fees, especially with budget airlines.

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5. Top US Halloween Destinations & Their Price Surges

• Salem, Massachusetts:
  • “Haunted Happenings” festival attracts about 1 million visitors over the Halloween season (24:22).
  • Hotel prices skyrocket: Hampton Inn rates over $900/night for October weekends vs. under $300 in November (25:17–26:19).
  • Most fly into Boston and commute—can save on accommodation costs.
• Estes Park, Colorado (Stanley Hotel):
  • Known from The Shining. Hosts affordable macabre ball ($75) and year-round haunted tours (26:33).
• New Orleans, LA:
  • Legendary for costumes and parades (Krewe of Boo), aligning perfectly with the city’s festive spirit (27:07).
• San Jose, CA (Winchester Mystery House):
  • Hosts “Fright Nights” with haunted house tours and scare actors (27:42).

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6. Travel Tips for Halloween Season

a. Book Early

• High-demand events and hotels sell out far in advance—especially for Halloween weekends.
• Buy tickets as soon as possible for best rates and availability (28:18).

b. Seek Value with Timing

• Dynamic pricing = earlier dates (Sept/Aug) often cheaper for both tickets and hotels, even when events start before Halloween (28:34).
• “Cheapest flights are on September 29 and October 27 for domestic fares.” (29:53–30:06)

c. Don’t Overlook Free Fun

• Many cities have free parades, neighborhood events, and homemade haunted houses—no ticket necessary (29:11–29:20).
• Travel locally if possible to save on costs.

d. Embrace Shoulder Season

• Halloween falls in “shoulder season” for many destinations—exploiting this can save on air/hotel rates (29:30–29:53).

e. Plan Costumes Wisely

• Pack costumes that fit in carry-ons; consider bringing multiples if attending several events.
  (30:12–30:25)
• Book babysitters early if traveling without kids—Halloween is a high-demand night for childcare (30:35–31:00).

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7. Bonus: Hot Takeoff – Airports & Announcements

• Sally’s “hot take”: More airports should adopt “quiet airport” policies (SFO, Amsterdam, Dubai) and eliminate most loud boarding announcements, making the experience less stressful.
• “Cut the boarding announcements… If it works at SFO, I don't see why they can't do it at other airports.” (31:25–31:55)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Halloween is one of those holidays that people are traveling to experience.”
  — Sally French (08:31)
• “I ran out of that thing in three minutes. Screaming.”
  — Sally French, on her haunted maze ordeal (14:01)
• “That's the real horror.”
  — Sally French, on $900+ per night hotel rates in Salem (26:07)
• “You might be surprised once you start doing a bit of research that there’s Halloween festivities everywhere, and some of them are really unique.”
  — Co-host (29:20)

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Key Timestamps

• Universal Horror Unleashed Experience: 10:52–17:17
• Theme Park Halloween events: Disney, Universal: 22:01–23:55
• Salem's Haunted Happenings & Price Shock: 23:56–26:19
• Other Top Halloween Destinations: 26:33–28:09
• Money-Saving Halloween Travel Tips: 28:18–30:25
• Airport “Quiet” Hot Take: 31:07–31:55

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Tone and Language

The episode mixes data-driven travel advice with lighthearted banter, scary-funny personal anecdotes (Sally in haunted mazes), and a “travel nerd” love for practical tips. Both hosts keep the tone accessible and relatable, addressing both budget-focused solo travelers and families alike.

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Conclusion

Halloween is now prime travel season for thrill-seekers and families, but prices and competition for top events (like Universal's mazes, Disney parties, and iconic haunted destinations) are scary in their own way. Early planning, points optimization, dynamic pricing, leveraging shoulder season, and creative costume logistics make all the difference—ensuring your celebration is full of treats, not tricks, for your wallet.

Transcript

[Megan Coyle]

Today's episode is sponsored by Quince.

[Sally French]

Megan. We are now in pumpkin spice season, which means it is also the season for a wardrobe refresh.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Right.

[Megan Coyle]

I went from beach mode to layers mode. That's why I'm reaching for my quints.

[Sally French]

What I love about quints is their high quality staples that you really want to wear. $50 Mongolian cashmere, premium denim that doesn't feel like it's scratchy and something you got from the discount store. And outerwear that feels fall without feeling like it cost all of your paycheck.

[Megan Coyle]

They, their wool coats are definitely on my list. They look like they belong in a Paris Fashion Week photo. Not in my cart, but here we are.

[Sally French]

Ooh, Meghan, you're so fancy. Of course, the best part of Quint is that they partner with top tier ethical factories and cut out the middleman so you get real luxury, but not at luxury prices.

[Megan Coyle]

It's the kind of wardrobe upgrade that feels smart, stylish and effortless. I got a linen pant set from Quint this summer. It was perfect for those hot days, but now it's been great to wear in the evenings and on the airplane. For fall travel, find your fall staples at quint. Go to quints.com smarttravel for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too.

[Sally French]

That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com smart travel to get free shipping and 365 day returns.

[Megan Coyle]

Quince.com smarttravel Parts of today's podcast were.

[Sally French]

Recorded out in the field. And not just any field, but a cornfield.

[Megan Coyle]

And not just any cornfield, but a haunted cornfield.

[Sally French]

Megan, I did the scariest thing I've possibly ever done in my life, which was experimental experience a horror maze. Not just any horror maze, but a horror maze by myself.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

You are so brave and you live.

[Megan Coyle]

To tell the tale. We're talking Halloween travel today and some scary destinations you might not know about. Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle.

[Sally French]

And I'm Sally French. And yes, that is a haunted pig from Universal. Horrors unleashed. Uncomfortably close to my microphone, the haunted.

[Megan Coyle]

Pig is also a travel nerd ready to help you plan your next big trip. And today, we're taking a trip to the dark side. We're talking haunted houses, villains, ghost tours, and why Halloween is quickly becoming one of the hottest travel seasons of the year.

[Sally French]

I will even take you inside Universal's brand new Horror Unleashed attraction in Las Vegas where I braved the haunted houses. Well, most of them. And I'll tell you the story of the panicked text messages I sent to Megan here from the safety of a bathroom stall. Universal Horror Unleashed.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Oh, yes, we're going to get into that story, but first our disclaimer.

[Sally French]

Yes, we will talk about a few credit card companies that are nerdwall at partners in this episode, but that does not influence how we discuss them. The benefits, terms and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting, but things can change. Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening, so for the latest details, follow the links in the episode description.

[Megan Coyle]

And by the way, if you've been dying to watch Smart Travel versus Only listening to it, this episode is on video. Join us over on YouTube. Just search for nerdwallet. Okay, let's start with Hilton, which just hit a big milestone last week when it opened its 9,000th hotel in the world, the Signia by Hilton La Cantera Resort and Spa.

[Sally French]

What's wild about this is that makes for an average of nearly three openings per day of the year. Because it hit the 8,000 hotel milestone roughly a year ago.

[Megan Coyle]

That's crazy growth and also puts Hilton much closer to Marriott size. Marriott has over 9,600 properties according to its second quarter earnings report.

[Sally French]

Yes. So if you are optimizing your points for the hotel program with the most properties, Hilton and Marriott now are pretty much neck and neck.

[Megan Coyle]

And because I love a luxury hotel, I also wanted to call out that Hilton now has more than a thousand lifestyle or luxury properties. Lifestyle are kind of like luxury light hotels and 200 more are in the pipeline.

[Sally French]

Okay, love this because now if you have a Hilton MX Experience Expire card like I do, you have so many more options. Now that card comes with a $550 annual fee, but it also comes with a free night reward each year you renew and you can redeem this not just at some of the lower tier properties, but really almost any property in the Hilton portfolio. There are some exceptions like all inclusives, but this means you can use that certificate at its luxury properties.

[Megan Coyle]

Speaking of Hilton credit cards, the Hilton Amex cards have increased welcome offers across the board. Right now, besides the Aspire card, there is also a 100,000 Hilton honors bonus points offer with the Hilton Honors American Express card after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card within your first six months of card membership. That's the $0 annual fee card. So a decent offer there.

[Sally French]

Yeah. And then the welcome offer on the Hilton Honors amex Surpass card is even better. With that one, you can earn 155,000 points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership. Keep in mind that this card, even though it has a higher signup bonus, also has a higher annual fee, $150.

[Megan Coyle]

We'll link to those cards reviews in the episode description. Also, if you want to earn bonus points at Hilton's, there's a new hotel promo this quarter. It's earn 1500 bonus points on every stay from October 1st to December 31st, 2025. But you have to register online before you stay.

[Sally French]

Okay, Megan, I also hate to say this, but I saw this promotion and I was like, wait, how much is that worth? And I feel like we value 1500 points at like a few dollars. So this is, this is not life changing points. But I do still think this is a good idea to register, get points better than no points. And then also if you just want to keep your account balance active, you have to earn points anyway. So maybe stay at a hotel and then get those bonus points while you're at it.

[Megan Coyle]

You know what I saw recently that.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Was kind of random? Spirit Airlines is also doing a bonus point promotion.

[Sally French]

Oh, Spirit. Okay. You know, I will say at least to Yay. Spirit Airline bonus points promotions are kind of rare.

[Megan Coyle]

Yeah, they are. So this promo is book and travel round trip now through November 20, 2025 on any day of the week and earn 5,000 bonus points round trip flights on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. Those like least busy days at the airport earn an additional 2,500.

[Sally French]

Whoa. That's such a weird way to convince people to travel on those off peak days. But I don't hate it.

[Megan Coyle]

Yeah, and we should know that you have to register for this one first.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Before you do any of those flights to get the bonus points.

[Sally French]

You know, Megan, I'm not super familiar with Spirit points. How much is that actually worth?

[Megan Coyle]

I guess a one way flight on Spirit starts at around 2,500 points. So in theory you could possibly redeem these points for up to three flights. But you know, these prices are dynamic and they really vary.

[Sally French]

Okay. And then of course there's still like all the checked bag fees involved on top of that.

[Megan Coyle]

Yeah, in addition to the taxes and fees that everyone pays for award flights, Spirit also charges for carry on luggage and all sorts of other stuff. So there will be fees.

[Sally French]

Okay, brace yourself people. All right, now I want to give a shout out to my Peeps over in Missouri. And this is probably because British Airways announced it'll launch non stop service between St. Louis Lambert International Airport and London Heathrow Airport. Now, Megan, if you recall the episode where I talked about how my parents lost their luggage in Europe, so they flew from St. Louis to Heathrow, but they had a layover in Chicago. And I am pretty sure that layover is why that whole lost bag debacle even happened.

[Megan Coyle]

Oh yeah, we talked about how the layover is the part where the bags get lost. So this sounds like good news if you are trying to mitigate the risk of losing your bags. But also another good way for Midwesterners to get to London. Yes.

[Sally French]

And then maybe vice versa. This is a good way to bring more Europeans into St. Louis, which does have some exciting events coming up. There is the 100th anniversary of Route 66 in 2026. And then also St. Louis is a nice little gateway to the FIFA World cup games which are in Kansas City. That's assuming you want a road trip across the whole state, which I do recommend. I love a road trip across Missouri.

[Megan Coyle]

All right, let's road trip to this cornfield.

[Sally French]

Oh, let's do it. Let's get there. I just got back from Las Vegas where I was chased by a killer scarecrow.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Oh my gosh. What does that have to do with travel?

[Sally French]

Well, I traveled pretty far away from that scarecrow. But I will say the scarecrow was at Universal Horror Unleashed. This is at this all new haunted house put on by the same people who put on the Universal parks. They now have this experience in Las Vegas that people are traveling far and wide to experience. Today we are talking about all the ways that people travel for Halloween, how expensive it can be and the ways to actually pay for it.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I always think of Halloween as like a neighborhood thing. Like you know, the kids go trick or treating the parents, like maybe go to a Halloween party that their friends put on. But people are actually traveling outside of their neighborhood for Halloween events.

[Sally French]

Yes, so many people do treat Halloween as a stay at home holiday, but I am calling it increasingly more. Halloween is one of those holidays that people are traveling to experience.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Where do you think people are going the most?

[Sally French]

Well, it is a bunch of special attractions, a lot of theme parks. So Disney's got a all specific Halloween event. Universal Studios has a Halloween event. These are separately ticketed events from having a standard theme park ticket. And we're even seeing Halloween events at smaller theme parks like not Scary Farm.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

That's right. And these tickets for these separate Events are not cheap.

[Sally French]

Yes, that is right. So Mickey's not so Scary Halloween Party is the Disney Halloween event that I'm talking about. And I will say their prices vary. If you go earlier in the season, you can get a ticket for $150, which is, you know, roughly in line with the standard theme park ticket. But if you want to go on Halloween night, after taxes and fees, you are looking at a ticket that is about $250 per person.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yikes. I can't even imagine the real horror.

[Megan Coyle]

I can't eat that much candy.

[Sally French]

Well, now, as safe as Sally, I will say the benefit of traveling during Halloween is you aren't facing the crowds that many people who travel during Thanksgiving or Christmas face. You can still generally take advantage of things like lower airfares and lower hotels to actually go to these events.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Right? But it kind of depends where you go, because there are destinations in the US that are known for their Halloween celebrations. And it's not super cheap to get a hotel there, or it might not be super cheap to fly there.

[Sally French]

I will give you that. And we will talk about those destinations later. Now, what I will say is spooky season is also longer than ever. Spooky season is not just October 31st.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I mean, all the holidays are getting longer now. Like, Christmas starts right after Thanksgiving, maybe before Thanksgiving. And now Halloween starts. When.

[Sally French]

When did you get your first pumpkin spice latte of 2025?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Um, okay, I already had it, like, back in August.

[Sally French]

So. Fun fact. When I was researching this episode, I found Mickey's not so Scary Halloween party. That is this Halloween event at Walt Disney World. Their party starts closer in date to July 4th than to Halloween itself.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

That's crazy. I mean, there's just so much demand for, like, the spooky events and stuff like that that they can sell tickets for that many days.

[Sally French]

So let's start by talking about the first Halloween event I went to of 2025. And that was Universal Horror Unleashed that I got chased by. Killer scarecrow, Killer pig. And that is in Las Vegas. I think we should just go ahead and play the video.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, let's see it. And let's also put out a little trigger warning. The video is a little bit scary. So if you get scared easily, maybe close your eyes.

[Sally French]

I am here at Universal Horror Unleashed. This is Vegas's first ever Universal maze attraction. And it's Universal's first ever permanent maze attraction. We see these so popular during the Halloween season. But now you can do this year round here in Vegas and at Area 15 now, this thing has four mazes. It's about $70 to enter. And we are gonna go check it out.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Those are real screams, everyone.

[Sally French]

Megan, I gotta say, I don't like horror. I don't watch scary movies. I don't do haunted corn mazes. But I did brave one of these Universal Halloween Horror nights. So I got invited to this actually by the Courtyard Marriott in Las Vegas. They are one of the most conveniently located hotels to this attraction. And so they wanted to get people out to Vegas to actually experience what this is about.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, I love that you were so game to go. What were you expecting going in? Because you'd never been to any kind of event like this.

[Sally French]

Yeah. So, like, I know I don't like horror movies. And I knew going in, I was like, I, this is going to be so scary to me. And it just didn't register, like, how scary it was actually going to be. So when I walk in, I'm by myself, which is already, like, red flag. Do not go to one of these things by yourself. But you walk in. And I started by just like, going up to the ticket booth. They immediately told me, you cannot have your camera with you. You need to put that in a locker. So I had to put my fancy Sony camera away in a locker.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

It's like you lost your security blanket.

[Sally French]

Oh, my gosh.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Just walking in the door, you are already in bad mental state.

[Sally French]

Literally. I was like, I didn't even think. I just put everything I had in the locker. All I had with me was my phone. Because you need to scan your phone to show your tickets to get into each of mazes. So anyway, I just immediately go into the maze and. Or I go into this main room and it's this big, dark room. And like, immediately these people can tell I'm alone. And instead of being like, oh, that poor child, she's alone. They're like these scare actors and they come up and they're like, are you alone? And you're like, yes, I am alone. And so I was like, I need to get into this maze. So I go, there's four mazes there. I go into the first maze and I'm like, farm style. It's called Scarecrow the Reapie.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Okay, wait, hold on. We should just tell people what this maze. Like, what amazing is. Yes. Okay.

[Sally French]

Okay. So if you've ever been to Universal Horror Nights, these are the Halloween Horror nights. They have these in Orlando and in their Hollywood theme parks.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yep, I've been in the one in Hollywood. Very familiar. Yep. Yes, but we can get to that after.

[Sally French]

Oh, my gosh. Okay. So I've never been to one of those. And those are separately ticketed event and people will go and pay money basically just to be scared. And there are scare actors who pop out around corners. They have the makeup.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah. They make kind of like a walk through maze and people jump out. You. It's all themed around whatever the theme of that maze is. Yes, it's a very immersive experience. Like, it's kind of like a thrill ride, except there's no ride. It's just a thrill walking through this thing.

[Sally French]

Thrill understatement. So you walk in and I did the scarecrow, the reaping one first. And you start by, like seeing corn and there's like spooky sounds. And then all of a sudden, killer pig out, Killer scarecrow out. And like, they come up to you and they're like, we won't touch you and you can't touch them. And I'm like, good, I'm glad we've agreed on that. And it just gets scarier and scarier and like, more things pop out. And they were like, they're like, most people spend like 10 or 15 minutes in a maze. I was out of that thing in three minutes. Oh, my gosh. I love it.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

You ran out of there shamelessly. You're like, I can't handle this.

[Sally French]

Screaming. Screaming, yeah.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Okay. But did it get any better? Like, once you went through the first one, you're like, okay, I know what to expect. I know these people are gonna jump out at me. What happened on your second one? I guess yes.

[Sally French]

There are four mazes. I was like, I want to leave. I don't want to do anymore. But I came all this way. I'm gonna at least do another one. So I'm like, this lady's like, you should do the Exorcist maze. And I was like, isn't that the scariest one? And she's like, yes, that's why you should do it. So I was like, fine, I'll do the exercise maze. So this one had a line. So the scarecrow maze didn't have a line. The line was my saving grace. Like 15 minutes in line. Thank goodness. I meet these two guys behind me, Jason and Edward, God bless them. I was like, these are my reinforcements. I'm gonna go in with these people. And I was like, if you guys don't want to wait in line with me as much, you can go with me. And they're like, yeah, sure.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I was like, that's smart. That's smart. Travel right there. Get a travel buddy.

[Sally French]

Jason in the front, me, Edward in the front, the back. And we were going along. And I will say it was significantly less scary when you can kind of like, absorb because this killer girl with killer knife, she comes out behind you. But I was like, she's going for Edward because Edward's in the back, so I'm safe.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Okay, Killer knife girl.

[Sally French]

So anyway, we did the maze. That one was better. But then Jason and Edward were like, we gotta go. So I'm back by myself, and at this point I'm like, absolutely panicky, and I. This is where I started texting you. I'm in the bathroom because I'm like, this is the only place that is safe. They cannot come for me when I'm in the bathroom.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

They're not playing spooky music in the bathroom. It's just lighting.

[Megan Coyle]

Oh, okay.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

But you're like, I'm safe here.

[Sally French]

So I literally was like in the bathroom for like, 30 minutes. And like, among the things that happened, someone, like, tapped on the bathroom stall like normal people do to make sure someone's in there. And I was like, jump scare right there. And then I'm like, my stomach hurts. And then I'm like, googling like, can you get stomach cramps from being scared? And the answer is yes.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Oh, man, this was intense.

[Sally French]

Yeah. Oh, my God, it was so awful. So I was like, I need to. To do at least one more. So I did. They had a third maze that was the Universal Monsters, and that one was actually less scary. In my round, you shall have safe passage. There was like the Dracula and, you know, things like that. So actually, like, low key enjoyed that maze until at the end, like, this creepy girl comes out after the Dracula scene. And I was like, I'm out of here. The fourth maze was Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And I was like, nah, I'm out. So I'm gonna leave one to be desired. So I did not finish the Universal Horror Unleashed, but that was my experience there, and many people love it.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

All right, so would you go back? Would you pay money to go to one of these events?

[Sally French]

Yeah. Well, I'm glad you asked about the money. So this thing starts at 70. There's higher price points if you want to be able to go to the mazes multiple times. I didn't even go to all four, so I definitely didn't need to pay for the multi pass. But many people like that and also many people go to this thing. So in fact, Universal won't give official numbers, but there was this great Forbes piece that said that 1.25 million people go to the version in Orlando every year.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I mean, that's not surprising. They built a whole land that's kind of like this Horror Nights thing that's permanent in Orlando. So that makes sense.

[Sally French]

Yes. So the other thing that's really interesting is that Vegas is a cheap destination to do this, especially in 2025.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, they have a lot of land, they have a lot of space to make these amazing attractions like that.

[Sally French]

Well, and, Megan, Vegas is particularly compelling in 2025 because have you heard there are so many fewer tourists this year than usual?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, tourism is down by so many different metrics. There's fewer people arriving at the airport, and I think because international travelers are not coming to the US as much, generally, Vegas is really feeling that hit.

[Sally French]

Yeah. Well, I actually have some official stats for you from June 2025. Tourism is down 11% from the year prior. If you want to go to a horror maze and you know who you are.

[Megan Coyle]

Yeah.

[Sally French]

If you're listening to this and you want to go to Horror Maze, you know who you are. Vegas is a surprisingly affordable place to do this.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah. I do want to give a plug, though, for the original Horror Nights events at Universal Parks, because I've been to the one in California. It's 77. 77 for a ticket to go to Hollywood. Horror Nights at Universal. Hollywood.

[Sally French]

So that's slightly more expensive than the Vegas one.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

It's slightly more expensive, but I think you get way more value and you.

[Sally French]

Get to go on the rides.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Four mazes.

[Megan Coyle]

I think I counted.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

There's eight haunted mazes this year.

[Sally French]

Okay.

[Megan Coyle]

There's also Scare Zones. There's also rides, and I'm a big rides person.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

So when you need that break, instead of hiding in the bathroom with the scary music, I'm going on the Jurassic park ride.

[Sally French]

I'm going to Minions land.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

You know what I mean? I don't think Minions is open, actually during Halloween Horror Night.

[Sally French]

Okay. So, Megan, I gotta say, you asked me if I would go back, but you have been to one of these mazes before in Hollywood. I asked you if you wanted to go to Vegas with me, and you explicitly declined.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, you know, I've been to these before. I've also covered them for work. Like, I have been to scary things for work. And I'm like, you know what? I know what that experience is. Like. Like, I really love theme parks. I don't need to go for the Scare events.

[Sally French]

Okay, let's talk about a theme park that is much less scary that our scaredy cat levels can tolerate better. And we will do that after the break.

[Megan Coyle]

Today's episode is sponsored by Claude.

[Sally French]

So I just got married in Orange County, California.

[Megan Coyle]

I was there. Your wedding was wild.

[Sally French]

Okay, glad you think so. And we had a lot of people from out of town and so I started messing around with Claude, which is an AI tool. I asked it to plan a trip to Cota de Casa California, which is where my wedding venue was. It gave me some great history. Like did you know it was famously the original setting for the Real Housewives of Orange County?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

No way.

[Megan Coyle]

Really? I used to watch that show all the time.

[Sally French]

Megan a Bravo TV classic. So thank you Claude for that tidbit. But it also gave so much practical information, like great nearby attractions, even the best airports to fly into.

[Megan Coyle]

I'm impressed. I also used Claude to help me plan a weekend trip to Seattle this month and it helped me figure out how to get around without a car. So it made this optimized itinerary and it showed all the coffee shops and bookstores that I wanted to visit. It even created an interactive map that showed the route.

[Sally French]

Wow. I hope this means you are going to be getting a lot of steps in.

[Megan Coyle]

Oh yeah, I've got nine. Nine problems. But the itinerary isn't one.

[Sally French]

Claude is the AI for Mindset. Don't stop at Good Enough. It is the collaborator that actually understands your entire travel planning process and thinks with you, not for you. And of course it goes beyond travel planning.

[Megan Coyle]

Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today and get 50 off Cloud Pro when you use our link Claude AI SmartTravel that's Claude AI SmartTravel right now for 50 off your first three months of Claude Pro.

[Sally French]

The following is a paid sponsorship, not an endorsement by NerdWallet's editorial team. Today's episode is sponsored by Bilt.

[Megan Coyle]

By now you've probably heard of Bilt, where you can earn points on your monthly rent payment. But did you know they make it possible for you to get more outside of your home too?

[Sally French]

By paying rent through Bilt, you can earn points. Those points are flexible and members can redeem them towards hotels and airlines, credits for a future rent payment, your next Lyft ride, and more.

[Megan Coyle]

And it doesn't stop there. BILT is about making your entire neighborhood more rewarding. You can dine out at your favorite local restaurants and earn it additional points, get VIP treatment at certain fitness studios, and enjoy exclusive experiences just for built.

[Sally French]

Members Every month, BILT is turning a monthly expense into an opportunity to earn rewards and discover the best that your neighborhood has to offer. Your rent is finally working for you.

[Megan Coyle]

Earn points on rent and around your neighborhood, wherever you call home, by going to joinbill.com smarttravel that's J-O-I-N B I.

[Sally French]

L T.com smarttravel make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you. Okay.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

When you said we were going to talk about something not so scary, I didn't realize you meant like literally. Mickey's not so Scary Halloween Party. Okay. Thank God we're out of the Universal really, really scary event.

[Sally French]

Yes. So Universal's event is truly not for the week. But Mickey's not so Scary Halloween Party is their version of the ticketed Halloween party that happens every year and it's starting in August over in Orlando. There's also a version in Disneyland that's called the Oogie Boogie Bash that's also really not scary.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

And what happens at Miggi's not so Scary Halloween Party at Disney World?

[Sally French]

Yes. So this is their separately hard ticketed event. You can get in at 4pm and I have willingly gone to this. Much like the Universal version, much of the rides are open, but instead of spooky monsters popping out at you and scaring you, you trick or treat. And that's kind of the highlight is many of the rides are shut down and you can literally go inside the Tiki room and trick or treat. It's kind of this out of body experiences, especially for super Disney fans who have done it all. Have you trick or treated in the Tiki Room? Yeah.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Or have you seen the characters dressed.

[Megan Coyle]

Up in their Halloween outfits?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Also cute.

[Sally French]

And so with this you also get candy. And so I went with my now husband and we were, you know, walking around all the different spots and we said we are not going to try to get candy. We don't need candy. But if someone willingly gives us candy, we will sure take it.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Right.

[Sally French]

By the end of this thing, we got eight pounds of candy.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

That's too much. You need a check in bag for that.

[Sally French]

Yeah, yeah. Well, and so this is wild is we looked on Amazon like roughly how much it cost to buy eight pounds of candy and it's like $50. I was like, well, save with Sally. We got a deal here.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Okay. But you paid way more than that for the ticket.

[Sally French]

Is that worth it?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

When you can trick or treat anywhere? You can buy the candy from Amazon or Costco or anywhere else.

[Sally French]

Well, I will Tell you, these parties sell out, so for many people they are worth it. But I do want to give you some context. Tickets for the 1995 version of this After Hours party were about $17, which is about $34 in today's dollars. Might I remind you the most expensive ticket this year is nearly $250.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I mean, that's what I'm saying. There's a lot easier ways to get candy than paying for this ticket event.

[Sally French]

I don't know, supply and demand.

[Megan Coyle]

All right, well, let's move on from.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Theme parks and talk about some of the destinations in the US that are very popular for Halloween. Yeah, I think Salem, Massachusetts.

[Sally French]

Ooh, the witch city. Yeah.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

So Salem has Salem haunted happenings. It runs pretty much all month from the end of September to the end of October. And they've got all the kinds of Halloween festivities you might expect, like ghost.

[Megan Coyle]

Tours, a parade, costume balls, haunted houses.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

You know, everything you want to get in the spirit. They have.

[Sally French]

Yeah, so they have obviously long been the witch city, but their first official Halloween festival started in 1982. During that festival, they had about 50,000 people come in for it. Now that festival has extended to basically the whole month of October. And get this, they have about a million people who come each year for this thing.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

That's a lot of people for a really small town.

[Sally French]

Yes. And what's interesting is just, I mean, the capacity, all these people coming into the small town. Now you'll typically fly into Boston and many people will stay in Boston. It's just about an hour train or drive over to Salem, so. So you might want to stay in Boston just to save some money, have some more hotel options. But this is wild. Tourism is so huge for Salem. In fact, it was an $144 million industry last year, generating 1200 jobs. But the catch is most of that money actually comes during spooky season.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Whoa, that's so crazy.

[Megan Coyle]

Okay, also, I believe the thing about.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Staying in Boston because I looked up prices at the Hampton Inn in Salem during the luxury hotel.

[Sally French]

The Hampton Inn?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah. During the month of October in Salem. You know, high season. Sally, do you want to guess what the cost of a one night stay? It is over the weekend, Like a Saturday night.

[Sally French]

Oh, it's like Saturday right after holiday.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I'll let you know that when I look this up. The three weekends closest to Halloween were already sold out. So this is the first weekend in October.

[Sally French]

Well, so I will say I stayed in a Hampton Inn in Columbus, Ohio, which you would also not think of as, like, the top tourism, most expensive destination. But I did it during the Arnold Sports Festival, which is, like, their top event. And when I stayed in a Hampton Inn there, it was $600 per night. So I'm gonna go with 600. I mean, and you did tee me up for it to be expensive.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, it is. More than $900.

[Sally French]

More than 900.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Hampton Inn in Salem, Massachusetts.

[Matt from the Explorers Podcast]

Oh, my gosh.

[Sally French]

That's the real horror.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Wow. And waffles are included, though. There you go. Super good. Compare that to a Saturday night in November.

[Sally French]

Yeah. Like 200, $300.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, exactly. It's under $300.

[Sally French]

Yes.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

So, I mean, that goes to show you how powerful and exciting their Halloween is.

[Sally French]

I hope you at least get, like, a pumpkin spice waffle out of it.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Me too. All right, let's give a quick shout out to some other cool Halloween destinations that we've done some research on.

[Sally French]

Okay. I want to give a shout out to Estes Park. My cousin got married in Estes park, and I obviously wanted to go for his wedding, but I really wanted to go to check out the Stanley Hotel, which is a very famous hotel. You might know it from the Shining. Two creepy girls may or may not be there when you visit.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I will not be going there.

[Sally French]

Yeah. So every November, they do this spooky macabre ball, and their tickets are surprisingly affordable. $75 for this. And even if you don't go the weekend, the ball is only a one weekend only event. If you don't go, you can still do hotel tours any time of year. And I highly recommend doing the spooky tour.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Okay. All right, well, I'm going to shout out New Orleans because I feel like we can't talk about Halloween in the US and not talk about New Orleans. They have a lot of really cool events, including the crew of Boo Parade. Everyone dresses up for it. I feel like no one in New Orleans needs an excuse to dress up. They're already going all out.

[Sally French]

Shout out people of New Orleans who have amazing costumes. One of my best friends, Caroline Dobrez, shout out. She can rock a costume, and she's the one person I know who lives in New Orleans. They go together.

[Megan Coyle]

Exactly.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

That's my favorite part of Halloween is, like, drinking and people watching and looking at all the costumes. So I think New Orleans is the perfect Halloween destination for me.

[Sally French]

Okay, that's good. I'm also going to take us over to San Jose, California, for the Winchester Mystery House. You know this?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Oh, yeah. I. I think I've seen the outside of it, but I think it's the inside, so.

[Sally French]

So the legend goes that there was this woman who owned this house, and she kept building, and she builds these, like, doors to nowhere and staircases to nowhere. So obviously there's the perfect haunted house. And during the Halloween season, they do fright nights. So kind of like the universal bases we were talking about, they bring in scare actors and fun time.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Okay, well, no matter where you're going this year, let's give people a few tips so that they can travel and hopefully save a little bit of money during the holiday weekend as well.

[Sally French]

Yeah. Number one tip, you have to buy your tickets early, as you said, with this Hampton Inn in Salem, it sells out. And many of these Halloween nights, Even though it's $250 for Mickey's not so scary Halloween party, these tickets are selling out. So if you want to go especially closer to Halloween, you do have to book early.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

And smart travelers know there's so much dynamic pricing in travel. If you go when there's less demand, like September or August, if the events are going on, then you might be able to get a cheaper ticket when it's a little bit further from Halloween. So I recommend that's another reason to book early is just go early Halloween in August.

[Megan Coyle]

Let's do it.

[Sally French]

The other thing that I want to say is on the show, we did talk about a lot of really expensive things, these things that require a ticket. But I really do want to let people know that there are so many ways you can experience Halloween and traveling for Halloween, even without a ticket, There are many kind of free versions. So if you go to Salem for their event, you could stand on the street corner and watch a parade. And that's free.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Totally. Or you can find, like, the neighborhoods that do Halloween really big. I've seen, like, some really cool homemade haunted houses.

[Sally French]

Yes.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

So, I mean, a lot of those are free to enter. I also would say you don't have to fly somewhere. You don't have to go very far. You might be surprised once you start doing a bit of research that there's Halloween festivities everywhere, and some of them are really unique.

[Sally French]

And I also want to remind people to take advantage of shoulder season. This is a phrase that we talk about on the show often enough. But I just want to remind people there is a peak season, There is the off season, and then there is that Goldilocks window that is the shoulder season. Of course, shoulder season varies by destination, but in many destinations, shoulder season falls right on top of Halloween. This is where you can take advantage of cheaper airfares and cheaper hotel room rates.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I like it.

[Sally French]

In fact, we got data from our friends over at Expedia and they showed that the cheapest flights are on September 29 and October 27 for domestic fares. So that lines up pretty well with Halloween.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

That's perfect for Halloween travel. All right, and then last tip. If you are flying with your costume.

[Megan Coyle]

I would say act smart.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

You know, figure out what's going to fit in your carry on.

[Sally French]

Better fit.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Although I would advise if you are traveling for Halloween, going to multiple events, you might want to many different costumes for the different events.

[Sally French]

Wow.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I would pack multiples.

[Sally French]

Sally's not bringing any costume. Megan is bringing multiple costumes.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

I'm here for the party.

[Sally French]

Are you bringing your blow up dynamic dino costume?

[Megan Coyle]

I'll surprise you.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Oh, and one more tip from Cody. He's one of our producers for new parents out there. He says that finding a babysitter for Halloween is really, really difficult. It's the one night of the year that, like, everyone is out doing something, whether it's trick or treating or going to a party or whatever. Interesting. So if you are planning on traveling without kids, maybe lock in that babysitter right when you buy the tickets. So that way you have some childcare while you're out.

[Sally French]

Most expensive night of babysitting. Do you think it's Halloween?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Maybe.

[Sally French]

All right, should we go into hot takeoffs?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Yeah, I think you have one for this.

[Sally French]

Okay. I want to talk about something that is very scary and that is when you were in the airport and they are blaring at boarding announcements. Someone overhead is like, megan, your flight is boarding. Megan. Where is Megan?

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

Okay, I'd never want to be that person. That's the scariest thing, is the shame involved with being called out on the airport intercom.

[Sally French]

Well, I want to give a shout out to sfo. Shout out. SFO that they eliminated those. Now they only do localized boarding announcements. So at the gate that they have become a quiet airport. And it is so much more peaceful. It is so much more calm.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

This is why I love sfo.

[Sally French]

It is the best airport. And we have said this many times on the show, but my hot takeoff basically is that there should be more quiet airports. Cut the boarding announcements because I'm sorry, Megan is not here. She is not boarding her flight no matter how many times you call.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

If it works at sfo, I don't see why they can't do it at other airports.

[Sally French]

Yeah, well, you know, in fact, more airports are adopting this. Amsterdam, Dubai, they have also become quiet airports. And 10 out of 10, if your local airport is not yet a quiet airport lobby and make it a quiet airport, it will change your life.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

All right, make sure to follow Smart Travel on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio. That way you'll automatically download new episodes. And if you're listening on Spotify, give us a comment right in the app.

[Sally French]

Shout out to Cody Goff, who produces Episode. Thank you to Nick Karisimi for editing this episode. Thank you Hilary Georgie for fact checking, and thank you to Eden Visuals for this beautiful studio.

[Megan Coyle]

And here's our brief disclaimer.

[Co-host or Producer (possibly Cody or another team member)]

We are not financial or investment advisors. This info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.

[Sally French]

We hope you are inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even fuller. Thanks, everyone. See you next time.

[Matt from the Explorers Podcast]

Hello, this is Matt from the Explorers Podcast. I want to invite you to join me on the voyages and journeys of the most famous explorers in the history of the world. These are the thrilling and captivating stories of Magellan, Shackleton, Lewis and Clark and so many other famous and not so famous adventurers from throughout history. Go to explorespodcast.com or just look us up on your podcast app. That's the Explorers Podcast.