Nights of the Jack: 2019 Review
King Gillette Ranch, Calabasas, CA
We're taking a quick break from the home haunts in this update to stop by a commercial Halloween attraction that's family-friendly and tailor-made for the Instagram generation. Nights of the Jack is a pumpkin display production akin to Pumpkin Nights, which we visited last year (but didn't get around to writing a review for till earlier this spring, since it was a personal visit and not a media visit). In fact, Nights of the Jack can be seen as a direct competitor of Pumpkin Nights--the two having stepped in to fill the void left behind by Rise of the Jack-O-Lanterns several years ago. Both offer a similar set-up by providing a general midway area with assorted attractions, photo ops, food, and drink. From there, access is linked to the main attraction: a multi-themed trail or walk that's lined with hundreds of ornamental pumpkins and jack-o-lantern sculptures, depicting various scenes or put together in a sculptural effect to compose creative and artistic environments.
Welcome to King Gillette Ranch and Nights of the Jack!
Located in King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas, Nights of the Jack is more catered toward those living in Ventura, the San Fernando Valley, and West L.A., as opposed to Pumpkin Nights' Pomona location, which works better for eastern Los Angeles County, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. Nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains, King Gillette Ranch offers a rustic and more cohesive setting for a Halloween attraction. As opposed to Pumpkin Nights' context, which is very clearly an artificial environment set up in the middle of a parking lot area, Nights of the Jack sprawls along a backdrop that is wilderness adjacent, with vegetation and existing pathways offering a more natural feel to things.
With the exception of a relative lack of signage directing people from the parking lot toward the direction of the entrance (we were among many groups wandering the wrong direction initially after parking, and none of the attendants seemed to notice or offer assistance), getting into Nights of the Jack is relatively hassle free. There are numerous queues set up to process a high volume of guests, and attendants are also on hand to quickly deal with issues, such as not being able to pull up an electronic ticket due to poor internet connectivity. This happened to us, but a quick cross-reference with a list of people who had purchased tickets online had us inside in a seamless and swift manner.
Plenty of cute photo ops here!
They’re lined up a fair amount!
Most of the jack-o-lanterns here are plastic or fiberglass, but they are doing real pumpkin carvings this season at a little both.
There are some talented artists out there!
The midway area is a linear affair, stretching from the entrance into the event all the way to the entrance of the Pumpkin Trail, where guests go to see the jack-o-lantern sculptures. There are numerous wood cut-out photo ops on one side, and a pair of "interactive" pop-up attractions on the left--one sponsored by Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark and the other an attempt to mimic a Yayoi Kusama style infinity room. Unfortunately, neither really offer much substance, and we wouldn't recommend experiencing them unless there was a short wait.
Inside the infinity room-style attraction. Unfortunately, it didn’t really work.
One of two Nickelodeon attractions here.
Honestly, this is not really worth seeing if there’s a long line. It’s an interactive scene that’s not really scary, other than for younger children.
Further on, there are a series of food trucks lined up to offer dining for those with an appetite, plus some drink stands to offer refreshments ranging from coffee and tea to cider and hot chocolate. An outdoor lounge area with bench seating rounds out the footprint before guest enter the feature presentation of the event. All in all, it feels much less carnival-like than Pumpkin Nights. Though the set-up most definitely looks temporary, it feels more cohesive and organized.
Plenty of seating areas and food trucks around!
And a nice bit of theming near the entrance to the Pumpkin Trail!
The Pumpkin Trail
Similar to Pumpkin Nights, the Pumpkin Trail at Nights of the Jack is an enveloping, multi-themed display of artificial jack-o-lanterns and sculptures and figures created by combining them. Unlike Pumpkin Nights, the themes aren't clearly defined and broadly separated zones. There's no signage announcing the name of this area or that area. Instead, the content speaks for itself.
Dinosaurs roam the beginning of Pumpkin Trail.
A beautiful Día de los Muertos scene jazzes up the ambiance with color.
A series of dinosaur pumpkin sculptures gives way to an undersea scene with sharks and fish and one impressive pumpkin octopus. A spooky cemetery channels a bit of Haunted Mansion fun with punny grave stones. A Día de los Muertos segment dazzles with beautifully detailed pumpkin carvings. Later on, scenes dedicated to Alice in Wonderland, Spongebob Squarepants, and even a winter pumpkin wonderland make for some very photogenic moments. There's also an absolutely charming pumpkin projection show featuring autumn carols that is a joy to just take in and watch.
This Alice in Wonderland display is one of our favorites.
The crooning pumpkins echo the same vibe as the Haunted Mansion’s singing busts.
Not all parts of the Pumpkin Trail are immersive. There are moments that feature pumpkin carvings simply as a series of individual objects. That might be impressive, if it wasn't for the fact that these are not real, fresh pumpkins. A Hollywood celebrity section offers a mixtures of contemporary stars and a few actors no longer quite as popular. Meanwhile, a famous couples montage has pumpkin sculptures ranging from John Legend & Chrissy Teigen to Kim & Kanye. A Disney princesses line is set in a castle set. And there's even a series of jack-o-lanterns representing the solar system, with each planet carved and illuminated--even Pluto, jokingly shown as the dog, not the former planet.
Overall, Nights of the Jack offers a mixed bag of visuals that, at times, are incredibly intricate and elaborate and immersive, and at other times seem to play up to popular culture more than try to provide something of substance. The result is an attraction that is a little thematically hit or miss.
The highlight of the Pumpkin Trail is the Spongebob Squarepants installation.
The natural question, then, is which is better? Pumpkin Nights or Nights of the Jack? For the sake of some semblance of journalistic integrity, I have to try to maintain an appearance of some neutrality, so I'll say that while there are aspects of Nights of the Jack that I liked better than its competitor--such as the spectacular Spongebob Squarepants representation of Bikini Bottom and adorable jack-o-lantern projections--I also feel that Pumpkin Nights maintains a higher consistent quality.
My fiancée, on the other hand, who has never had any involvement with this site other than that one time last year when she wrote about the Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch, clearly judged Pumpkin Nights to be the clear superior attraction. Something to also factor is that Nights of the Jack does have a higher ticket admission price by several dollars, though its parking rate of $10 per car is slightly cheaper than Pumpkin Nights' $12. Ultimately, the decision on which looks more appealing is yours to make after consulting both reviews. We weren't able to make it to Pumpkin Nights this year, so we can only report on our experiences last year.
Nights of the Jack runs nightly from now through Sunday, November 3rd, from 6:00 - 10:30. Tickets can be purchased online or in person, though advanced purchase is recommended. For more family-friendly Halloween fun partner a trip to Nights of the Jack with a stop by House at Haunted Hill if you're going October 31st, November 1st, or November 2nd. They make for a charming Halloween-themed combo!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
