Kings Dominion has posted its family-facing Halloween calendar for 2026, and Richmond-area travelers need to separate that daytime product from the park’s after-dark scare nights.
The official Tricks and Treats page lists select dates from September 20 through November 2, 2026, for candy, costumes, seasonal food, and family rides under an all-fun, no-fear banner.
On a different calendar, Halloween Haunt presented by SNICKERS runs select nights from September 18 through November 3, with Planet Snoopy closing at 6pm and haunted mazes locked behind a Haunted Attractions Pass later this summer.
For guests driving from Richmond, Northern Virginia, or the Carolinas, the job is to pick a date band, decide whether kids leave before dusk, and leave budget room for a maze pass that is not priced yet.
- Park: Kings Dominion in Doswell, north of Richmond, Virginia.
- Day product: Tricks and Treats, select dates Sept. 20 to Nov. 2, 2026.
- Night product: Halloween Haunt, select nights Sept. 18 to Nov. 3, 2026.
- Kids area: Planet Snoopy closes at 6pm on Haunt nights.
- Maze line: Haunted Attractions Pass required later this summer.
That dual stack is the material planning change for fall 2026. Families can book a daytime Halloween visit without committing every guest to the after-dark scare layer.
Guests who measure the night by maze count still need a second ticket when the pass sale opens. Scare zones, live shows, and night rides are framed with the broader Haunt program under current park language.
Do not borrow Kings Island, Over Georgia, or Magic Mountain calendars for Doswell nights. Each park posts its own select-date window and pass timing.
What Tricks and Treats confirms for daytime guests
On the official Tricks and Treats page, Kings Dominion calls the daytime program a family-friendly Halloween event with mischievous tricks, tasty treats, and parkwide activities.
The page highlights costume fun, a costume contest, seasonal drinks and candy, and family rides for an all-fun, no-fear visit.
The outer window is select dates from September 20 through November 2, 2026. That is useful for hotel holds even before a full day-by-day grid posts inside the Six Flags app.
The daytime product is the right first choice for mixed-age groups who want candy, costumes, and rides without committing young children to the night scare layer.
Costume contest rules and exact start hours are not fully detailed on the short event page, so watch the Six Flags app and park day-of notices before building an elaborate outfit plan.
Local season coverage earlier this year already flagged daytime Halloween fun for the whole family at Tricks and Treats as part of the 2026 lineup, which matches the calendar now live on the park site.
What Halloween Haunt confirms after dusk
The Haunt page frames select nights from September 18 through November 3 with mazes, scare zones, live shows, seasonal treats, and night rides once darkness falls.
It warns that Halloween Haunt is too intense for young children, with parental discretion advised, and Planet Snoopy closes at 6pm nightly to prepare for Haunt.
Haunted mazes require a Haunted Attractions Pass available later this summer, with season options also planned for season passholders and members.
Independent portfolio tracking of Six Flags Halloween programs, including the Haunted Attraction Network 2026 Fright Fest guide, continues to show how parks split maze access from base admission. Use that only as brand-pattern context.
Exact house names, maze prices, and the full night-by-night operating grid for Doswell still come from the Kings Dominion pages and the Six Flags app when they publish.
| If you | What to do |
|---|---|
| Travel with kids under 13 | Plan Tricks and Treats by day, leave before dusk, or split the group when Planet Snoopy closes at 6pm. |
| Want mazes as the main event | Wait for the Haunted Attractions Pass sale later this summer, then buy for specific nights. |
| Only want night rides and scare zones | Budget park admission first; skip the maze pass until prices post and prove value. |
| Hold a 2026 season pass | Watch official pages for member season maze options before buying retail passes. |
| Need lodging near Doswell or Richmond | Hold flexible rooms for late September through early November, then lock nights after the app grid posts. |
- Calendar hold: Keep late September through early November flexible until full grids post.
- Two products: Daytime Tricks and Treats is not the same purchase as Haunt mazes.
- 6pm line: Planet Snoopy closes at 6pm on Haunt nights; plan kid exits early.
- Maze line item: Leave budget for a Haunted Attractions Pass with price TBD later this summer.
- Ride check: Confirm height rules for night coaster targets before the group arrives.
Deep Arrival’s Kings Dominion planning hub and park map remain the right evergreen tools for parking approaches and land layout while the seasonal app grid is still thin.
Height-sensitive night rides should be checked against the current Kings Dominion height requirements list so a coaster plan does not fail at the queue.
How Virginia guests should budget the visit
Think in layers, not one ticket.
Park admission is the base for a daytime Tricks and Treats visit under the current family-event framing. Night rides, scare zones, and shows sit inside the broader Haunt program language, while mazes sit on a separate pass.
The Haunted Attractions Pass is the second product. Guests who measure a Haunt night by maze count should wait for the later-summer sale instead of assuming mazes are free with a day ticket.
Food, candy, and merchandise remain separate spend. A family day can stay lighter if mazes are skipped and the group exits when Planet Snoopy closes at 6pm.
If maze access is optional, leave that budget flexible until prices post. If mazes are the point of the trip, treat the later-summer pass sale as a hard planning gate.
Why Doswell is its own stream
Deep Arrival already covers other Six Flags and Cedar Fair Halloween calendars, including Kings Island Haunt in Ohio and Six Flags Over Georgia Tricks and Treats near Atlanta. Those posts do not replace a Doswell-specific dual calendar for Virginia travelers.
The material delta here is the official Tricks and Treats window of September 20 through November 2, the Haunt outer window of September 18 through November 3, the Planet Snoopy 6pm close, the intensity warning for young children, and the Haunted Attractions Pass requirement for mazes.
That is a different geography, a different lodging market, and different drive-time math from Cincinnati-area or Atlanta-area parks.
Travelers flying into Richmond International or driving I-95 should wait for the full select-date list before buying non-changeable air or hotel packages around a single midweek date that may not operate.
What is confirmed versus still open
Confirmed on the park pages today: Tricks and Treats select dates September 20 through November 2, 2026, and Halloween Haunt select nights September 18 through November 3, 2026.
Also confirmed: Planet Snoopy closes at 6pm on Haunt nights, Haunt is too intense for young children with parental discretion advised, haunted mazes require a Haunted Attractions Pass later this summer, and season maze options are planned for passholders and members.
Still open: exact operating dates inside those ranges, maze pass prices, any express maze products, full house-by-house lineup, and detailed daytime costume-contest schedules.
For brand-pattern chronology only, Deep Arrival’s live Six Flags Over Georgia Tricks and Treats 2026 post shows how another park is packaging a daytime-plus-night stack. Treat it as context, not as Doswell pricing.
Do not invent maze prices, hard under-13 cutoffs beyond the posted intensity warning, or midweek nights the Kings Dominion pages have not published. If those details appear later, they belong on this same stream as a material refresh, not as a sibling URL.
Drive times, lodging, and night-ride reality
Kings Dominion sits in Doswell, north of Richmond along the I-95 corridor. Weekend Halloween nights often stack park traffic with regional hotel demand and interstate congestion.
If you need a hotel, book flexible cancellation for late September through early November first. Then swap nights once the park posts the full operating grid in the app.
Night rides are part of the value for many guests. Marquee coasters feel different after dark, but height rules and temporary closures still apply.
Check the height chart and the park app on the day of your visit. Do not assume every daytime ride is open for the full Haunt night.
Groups that want both products can run Tricks and Treats by day and decide at the 6pm Planet Snoopy close whether the night scare layer and maze pass still match the group.
That split is the practical traveler advantage of the dual calendar.
Season passholders should compare any member maze bundle against single-night retail passes once both prices appear. Until then, do not prepay a retail maze product you cannot refund.
When is Tricks and Treats at Kings Dominion in 2026?
The official page lists select dates from September 20 through November 2, 2026. The park has not yet published every operating day inside that range.
When is Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion in 2026?
Halloween Haunt runs select nights from September 18 through November 3, 2026, according to the official Haunt page.
Is Tricks and Treats the same as Halloween Haunt?
No. Tricks and Treats is the family-friendly daytime product, while Haunt is the after-dark scare program with mazes, scare zones, and a 6pm Planet Snoopy close.
Are haunted mazes included with park admission?
No. The Haunt page says haunted mazes require a Haunted Attractions Pass available later this summer.
Is Halloween Haunt recommended for young children?
The park says Haunt is too intense for young children and that parental discretion is advised. Daytime Tricks and Treats is the family-facing alternative.
