By Adam Estabrook
The Ghost Train event is already under way at Tweetsie Railroad, getting us in the mood for Halloween. Every weekend on Fridays and Saturdays until the end of October, the amusement park reopens 7:30 P.M. to 11:30 P.M., offering special Halloween-themed attractions. Only four weekends remain for the Ghost Train before it vanishes until next year.
Tickets are $44 for adults, and $38 for children ages 3-12. Children age 2 and under are admitted free. The remaining dates are October 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, and 25-26.
Keep in mind that tickets are for a specific date and time, as the Ghost Train runs every half hour from 7:30 to 10:00 P.M., with limited space per ride. Purchasing tickets in advance from their website is strongly advised – although, if space is available, tickets may be purchased at the gate. Nobody is admitted past 10:00 P.M.
From 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. nightly, Tweetsie Railroad will switch from its daytime, Wild West theme to a haunted park complete with Halloween thrills and chills for everyone. Daytime park visitors can still enjoy all of Tweetsie Railroad’s Wild West adventures, rides, shows and attractions. Yet, when darkness sets in, the ghouls will come out to play and unexpected surprises will wait around every corner. The highlight of each evening is a ride on Tweetsie Railroad’s star Halloween attraction: the spooky Ghost Train. It departs into the night every 30 minutes.
“Ghost Train is one of the most unique events at Tweetsie Railroad every year,” said Cathy Robbins, Director of Marketing for Tweetsie Railroad. “The team prepares six months in advance for the event. The staff works hard every night to transition the park from our traditional Wild West theme to Ghost Train in just 90 minutes. We hope all our regular guests, past visitors and new fans will visit the park for the 30th Annual Ghost Train experience.”
This year, passengers will experience “Terror in the Trenches.” Guests can expect amazing and frightening scenes as they travel the three-mile loop behind a narrow-gauge, steam locomotive.
To ensure guests can make the most out of their Ghost Train experience, tickets are sold in advance for a designated night with a scheduled train ride time. A limited number of guests will be admitted each evening, so visitors are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance to avoid missing out on all of the spooky fun.
Tweetsie Railroad’s Ghost Train is a beloved Halloween tradition for guests from near and far, offering safe, scary fun for visitors of all ages. The Southeast Tourism Society named Ghost Train one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast.
While at Tweetsie Railroad’s Ghost Train, you can ride behind the haunted steam locomotive on a chilling journey into the night with engineer Casey Bones, enter the spine-chilling Haunted House with its 13 spooky rooms, visit The Boneyard with the Freaky Forest, disorienting Black Hole and a mystifying Warp Tunnel or venture onto the Creepy Carnival rides for a ghostly thrill. You can also catch the spooktacular black light musical shows at the Tweetsie Palace. Kids will enjoy trick-or-treating, and guests of all ages can mingle with the park’s Halloween characters during the Main Street Halloween party.
Admission not only reserves your spot on the titular Ghost Train – which follows a Terror in the Trenches theme this year – it also comes with all of the nighttime attractions, including trick-or-treating, a haunted house, a black light puppet show at Tweetsie Palace Spooktacular, as well as spookily-lit rides and attractions in the Creepy Carnival and “The Boneyard.” Some attractions are not open during Ghost Train hours, including Miners Mountain and the Turnpike Cruisers in the Creepy Carnival.
Children under the age of 8 are not advised to ride on the Ghost Train, visit the Haunted House, or enter the Freaky Forest.
Tweetsie has also released a few Ghost Train: Terror in the Trenches trailers on their Youtube channel, so check them out for a taste of what the night has in store.
About Tweetsie Railroad
In 2019, Tweetsie Railroad’s daytime operations run Friday, April 5 through Sunday, October 27. Hours, and dates vary; check Tweetsie.com before planning your visit. Daytime admission is $50 for adults, $32 for children (ages 3 to 12) and free for children 2 and under. Admission prices for Ghost Train and Tweetsie Christmas are $44 for adults and $38 for children. Tweetsie Railroad is located on U.S. Highway 321 between Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. For more information about Tweetsie Railroad, visit Tweetsie.com or call 877.TWEETSIE (877.898.3874).
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