I know its not Disney news but with Knotts Berry Farm so close to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and the fact that they have one of the best Halloween haunts around, I thought I’d throw this up. Knotts Berry Farm, also known as “Knotts Scary Farm” around Halloween, will have three new haunted mazes during their 38th annual Halloween Haunt.

The goulish festivities will take place on Wednesday through Sunday nights from Sept. 24 through Oct. 31 (except for Sept. 29).

The king of Halloween events will feature 13 mazes scattered throughout the park, with construction currently underway in backstage areas. New for 2010 is as follows:

• Sleepy Hollow Mountain – featuring the headless horseman legend with ghosts, ghouls, witches and goblins (replaces the Pyromaniax theme on the Timber Mountain log ride)

• Virus Z – replicates a small town overrun by infected cannibals, zombies and blood-thirsty corpses (replacing the Quarantine maze in Fiesta Plaza)

• Fallout Shelter - the insane residents haven’t seen the sun since the Atomic Age (replaces the Alien Annihilation 3-D laser-tag maze near Reflection Lake)

Returning from last year are the following mazes:

• Black Widow’s Cavern
• Club Blood
• Cornstalkers
• Dia de los Muertos (in 3-D)
• Lockdown: The Asylum
• Slaughterhouse
• Terror of London
• The Doll Factory
• The Labyrinth
• Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre (in 3-D)

One of the best things about the Haunt is the haunted areas of the park where you never know what is going to pop out at you. Referred to as “scare zones, the haunted areas include The Necropolis, with Victorian Steampunk vampires haunting a city of the dead (replaces The Gauntlet scare zone in Camp Snoopy), Carnevil (in the Boardwalk area), and Ghost Town (in the Wild West area).

Also returning for 2010 is the ever popular “The Hanging” pop-culture comedy revue plus several other eerie and entertaining shows.

Seeing that I haven’t been to a “Haunt” for a few years and also the fact that there are two new coasters at Knotts I have yet to ride, I may very well make plans to attend this year. If you want to go to the best of the best in Halloween attractions, then make plans to attend the 38th Annual Halloween Haunt at Knotts Berry Farm.

Each year it seems as though the Disneyland Resort gets more into the Halloween holiday. This season is no different with an all-new Halloween overlay to be added to Space Mountain along with other additions and activities.

Disney has even put together a commercial done in classic animation inviting guest to visit the parks during the Halloween season.

Here is the commercial via YouTube.

And a list of additions, events and activities.

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy

Space Mountain joins the lineup of holiday ride overlays along with the Haunted Mansion Holiday that has ran for several years now. A new soundtrack and visual effects will be added to provide a creepy ride through outer space.

Halloween Screams Fireworks

Disneyland’s new pyrotechnic show will perform nightly throughout HalloweenTime.

Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party

This after-hours costume party at Disney’s California Adventure is popular with kids of all ages. The younger set will enjoy meet-and-greet opportunities with the Disney characters, craft and activity stations, live entertainment and dancing, and of course a park full of trick or treat stations. Older visitors will appreciate short lines for most of the major attractions.

Tickets are $32 to $42 per person, depending on which night you attend and when you purchase your tickets. The 2009 event dates are October 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 & 31.

Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders can purchased tickets now through the Passholder Web site. All other visitors can purchase tickets through the event Web site. Parking for one standard vehicle is included in the ticket price.

Disney’s Happiest Haunts Tour

The Halloween-themed tour is offered at the Disneyland Resort during the HalloweenTime promotion, with tour starting daily at 4:30 and 4:45. The tour includes stops at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Haunted Mansion Holiday. The tour concludes with reserved viewing area for the new Halloween Screams fireworks show, and includes a souvenir and a Halloween-theme treat.

Tickets are $64 per person ages 3 and older, and a 20% discount is offered to Deluxe and Premium Annual Passholders, AAA members and Disney Visa cardholders. Call 714-781-4400, or purchase tickets in person at City Hall or the Tour Gardens inside Disneyland, or at the Guest Relations Lobby in DCA.

Big Thunder Ranch Halloween Roundup

Woody and Jessie will return to the Big Thunder Ranch Halloween Roundup, where you can participate in crafts projects and watch live pumpkin carving demonstrations.

HalloweenTime at the Disneyland Resort runs September 25 to November 1, 2009.

Hong Kong Disneyland has planned a new attraction featuring a “alien invasion” theme for this year’s Haunted Halloween events which are expected to run from September 18 to October 31.

“The (Alien Intelligence) Agency reported that a gigantic spaceship has landed inside Hong Kong Disneyland with signs of alien life detected onboard,” the park said in a press release announcing the added attraction for the upcoming Halloween.

Some other attractions, such as the Main Street Haunted Hotel and the Demon Jungle, will also return to the theme park to be part of the Halloween events. Together with the Glow in the Park Halloween Parade and the Space Mountain — Ghost Galaxy, they are expected to bring scary and spooky sensation back to the park around Halloween.

Disney villains including pumpkin men, gatekeepers and pirates will also appear at the Scary Photo Fun locations and Mickey will also put on spooky Halloween costumes.

The Haunted Halloween offers will be starting one week earlier this year, with special evening tickets available at 228 HK dollars (29 U.S. dollars), said Frederick Chan, director of marketing for the park’s Hong Kong business.

From The L.A. Times, Disneyland will add Halloween theming elements to its Space Mountain attraction as well as its fireworks show during the end of September thru the first day of November. The “Halloween Time” event, which runs from Sept. 25 through Nov. 1, is included in the price of admission to the Anaheim theme park.

The “Ghost Galaxy” Space Mountain overlay, which originally premiered at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2007, features a new soundtrack and ghostly and ghoulish projections inside the darkened roller coaster building.

The Halloween-themed fireworks show, hosted by “Master of Scaremonies” Jack Skellington of “Nightmare Before Christmas” fame, will include nods to Disney villains.  Many of those villains including Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians), Captain Hook (Peter Pan) and Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) will also be wandering the theme park, signing autographs and passing out treats.

Across the way at Disney’s California Adventure, “Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party” will run on Oct. 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 and 28-31. The separate-admission event — which includes games, music and a Disney character parade — lets costumed children trick-or-treat throughout the park.

Knott’s Berry Farm, famous for the Halloween Haunts held every September/October where the park literally becomes haunted, will unveil four new mazes for their 2009 season. The granddaddy of Halloween events will feature 13 mazes in all scattered throughout the park, with construction currently underway in backstage areas.

New for 2009:

• Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre in 3-D replaces Killer Clown Kollege (under Xcelerator)

• Terror of London featuring Jack the Ripper and Dr. Jekyll replaces 13 Axe Murder Manor (in Mystery Lodge)

• Dia de los Muertos in 3-D featuring a Day of the Dead theme replaces Lost Vegas (at the bumper cars)

• The Asylum updates the existing maze as a high-security penitentiary for the insane (backstage near Ghostrider)

Returning mazes from 2008:

• Alien Annihilation 3-D laser tag
• The Labyrinth
• Slaughterhouse
• Club Blood
• Cornstalkers
• The Doll Factory
• Pyromaniax
• Black Widow’s Cavern
• Quarantine

If you are like me and love haunted houses, Knott’s “Scary” Farm’s Haunt is a must do. It is in fact one of the best “haunted” attraction on the planet. UltimateHaunt.com, a tribute site to the event describes it as such.

Not for the weak at heart, Knott’s Scary Farm is an extreme take on all of the senses. The lighting, fog and music throughout the entire park make it incredibly hard to focus on what lurks in the shadows. To find out what is lurking in the shadows is for only the brave at heart.

The mazes and attractions leave no room to run. You are set bait, put right into the action. Visiting the Haunt is like participating in a first-rate horror film, except you are not quite convinced that it is only a movie – that somehow the actors are the characters and that you are caught right in the middle of it. Knott’s Scary Farm is the most fun you will have being scared.

Although I could not find any information yet, keep a watch on the official Knott’s Berry Farm site for more information.

Each year it seems that Disneyland takes on more of a Halloween image starting in the latter part of September and running through the beginning of November. It really began in 2001 with the introduction of the Haunted Mansion Holiday where the mansion gets a Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” overlay complete with Jack Skellington and crew. Then in 2006 they went full out, decorating several areas of the park in Halloween decor and hosting events such as the Happiest Haunt Tour and Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party.

It is no different this year and Lorren Au, a staff photographer at the Orange County (CA) Register recently captured some of this Disney Halloween magic on film. I have inserted a few select photos below for your enjoyment.

Ghastly-green pumpkins located outside the Haunted Mansion.

Crews work around a giant Mickey pumpkin located on Main Street.

Haunted Mansion Holiday is inspired by "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Skeletons celebrate "Dia de los Muertos" (Spanish for Day of the Dead) at Disneyland.

60 unique Jack'o'lanterns were to be added to "The Halloween Tree" in Frontierland.

A display at Woody's Halloween Roundup at Disneyland's Big Thunder Ranch.

If you enjoyed these then you’ll enjoy plenty more photos as well as an article to coincide with them at Orange County (CA) Register. The best thing to do however is to visit the park during this time of the year. Halloween and Christmas are wonderful times to see the parks transformed into holiday splendor.

Related: Book your dream Disney vacation at Expedia.com!