Pumpkins at Kentucky Kingdom featuring Jack O'Lantern Spectacular

Pumpkins at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville is the home of the original Jack O'Lantern Spectacular. By day the park sets out more than 6,000 bright orange pumpkins, carnival games, street performances, trick-or-treat candy, and seasonal food, with rides still running. After sundown the grounds shift to larger-than-life sculptures: a quarter-mile walk lit by more than 5,000 hand-carved pumpkins, a 60-foot light tunnel, the bluegrass Pumpkinseeds, a 12-foot Derby horse, a giant spider, and a glowing cat. A tasting passport covers four autumn treats for guests who want the food stops built in.

Our take: Stay past sundown if the carved trail is the reason for the ticket, because the Jack O'Lantern Spectacular is the after-dark half of the visit.