The Jack O’Lantern Extravaganza Brings 3,000+ Pumpkins to the Zoo

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What You Can See at the Jack O'Lantern Extravaganza

The Jack O'Lantern Extravaganza at the Pittsburgh Zoo runs on select nights until November 2nd, and brings over 3,000 carved pumpkins for visitors to enjoy.

From our visit, we felt like there were three distinct zones that guests can experience.

The first, and the largest, was a walk-through of the front portions of the zoo with hundreds of classically carved pumpkins (think emoji-style faces). Throughout the carvings, which we thought were admittedly few and far between, the zoo had other decorations like movie scenes depicted with skeletons where you could guess the movie, as well as large pumpkins with guess the weight style cards- giving some interactive fun for guests of all ages (we particularly like the Lord of the Rings skeletons).

As you get towards the back of the zoo, the real fun begins.

The second section is perhaps the star of the show- a long path full of many, many more intricately carved pumpkins set to various themes depending on where you are. In the witches and wizards section, you may see Maleficent and Jareth amongst many others, in the Sports Section you can find Troy Polamalu and other classic sports scenes. We were dazzled by the really ornate carvings in themes like Pittsburgh, zoo animals, dinosaurs, 90's TV, movies, and much, much more as well.

Throw on hundreds upon hundreds of classically carved pumpkins behind those, and we honestly wished the entire experience was like this, not just a small (but admittedly decently sized for what it was) portion.

The final section consisted of “Living Wall” of hundreds of classically carved pumpkins with choreographed LED lights set to, by our count at least, two very famous songs- one enjoyed at Halloween and one, well, let's just say feels very Pittsburgh. If you've ever been to a drive-through Christmas display where lights twinkle to the music, this is no different, but uses pumpkins for Halloween instead.

It was glorious.

So while we were still a bit bummed that a good percentage of the visit was the classic pumpkins in the first section, the latter two areas really did shine all the same.

How to Get the Most Out of the Event

As with most special experiences at the Pittsburgh Zoo, we have some tips on how to get the most out of your visit.

First, as with all nighttime shows, don't expect to see any animals unless you arrive very early. 6 pm is the first entry most days through November 2nd, and you may get to enjoy a bit of light if you arrive early. That said, because this one is designed for lit-up pumpkins, we personally would just arrive later when it is fully dark and just plan on not seeing any animals at all (you can always walk through twice, if you were so inclined, of course).

Second, this ticketed event has timed entry and variable pricing. Prices vary, which seems to vary by day of the week more than anything- weeknights have a slight discount over Friday, Saturday, and Sundays. Flex tickets are also available that don't lock you into a single night (great if you are planning in advance without looking at the weather), but were $28. Given that this one is quite expensive, going on a weeknight may present an opportunity to save a couple of dollars.

Third, stay for all of the songs at the wall of pumpkins. We saw many folks walk through before the first song was over, and probably missed the second one altogether. We're not sure if they played anymore, but we stayed until the first one began again and assumed it was on a loop of two.

Finally, one of the reasons we probably didn't get as much from this experience is primarily because we did not go with kids. It is worth noting that there are many additional experiences that are quite family-friendly here, like a spooky scavenger hunt, live pumpkin carving demos, a night train, the seasonal carousel, pumpkin painting, and pumpkin smash, to name a few. Many of these come with a nominal additional fee, but can help provide a more robust night out.

Overall, while we found this one a bit expensive for what it was, the intricately carved pumpkins and the choreographed pumpkin wall were quite fun and made for a festive night out at the zoo!

The Jack O'Lantern Extravaganza runs until November 2nd at the Pittsburgh Zoo.