The Great Jack O’lantern Blaze

Absolutely must see!!! But your tickets as soon as they go on sale, they sell out within a couple days!

My favorite part about Halloween is getting the chance to go to Blaze. The originality and design of all the pumpkins always take my breath away. They sell out really quickly so it’s always best to get your tickets early!

So this was my first time at the Blaze. I’ve heard great things from a lot of different people so I was looking forward to it. I was warned about the crowds and traffic from the highway to the parking lot to the actual Blaze. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t a madhouse. They have people directing traffic/​crowds from the moment you exit the highway to the moment you eagerly await to enter. They definitely know what they’re doing as far as crowd control goes.
There were a lot of cool and interesting displays. My favorite was the alien display. Something about it was so bizarre but very cool and fun. The «alien» music they played perfectly complimented the display.
The production value is really great and they pay attention to the details. I enjoyed the little facts posted around the different displays. It helps you understand the scale of the whole Blaze.
They do a good job of corralling the crowds through the Blaze. Some parts get very narrow and you dont have a lot of room to just hang back and look at the displays but the bigger displays definitely had lots of room.
Some of the magic is taken away bc they’re not real pumpkins but I can still appreciate the artistry of carving the displays.
Probably won’t be returning anytime soon as I feel like I get the gist from just one visit but perhaps in a few years.

Pumpkins! I was here during halloween and it was packed with people. Loved seeing so many beautifully carved pumpkins all around. You’d want to get your tickets a month or 2 in advance because they usually sell out pretty quickly. It’ll take about an hour (more or less depending on how fast you’re walking and how many pictures you’re taking). I think it’s a good experience if you’ve never been.

Great time and awesome pumpkin carvings and installments. We caught it on the last day! parking was super easy and they had a tent that sold baked goods and hot drinks.

Super duper fun! I loved this event! So creative and loved the
«Spooky» vibe while maintaining a child friendly environment. I do agree with many reviewers, I think one year and you are good, I heard from a few it is repetitive year after year. I do feel everyone should try it at least once.

So I was super excited to see Blaze after missing it last year (even though I had tickets last year) and after hearing so many amazing things about it. To be honest… I was not impressed. The talented artists that carve the pumpkins are amaZing, because the details and the actual work was breathtaking!
3 stars because it was 1hr drive for me, tickets were much more than last year and I thought there would be more music to go with the walk. Because that is what is was, a walk, that is all. My 3 year old son did not appreciate it.
I guess it was good to see at least once, because you can see the talent and I can only imagine the time it took to carve everything! The actual work is truly amazing. I only believe they could make it more into a show for the fee they charge per person.
Will NOT be returning anytime soon! Perhaps 10 years from now if still around.

I went to the Blaze on a Friday night for an 8PM showing. I recommend printing out your tickets. We just brought our cell phone and they told us to go to the ticket office to have them print the tickets, since I guess its easier to scan. The display itself is very impressive. I did notice that some of the pumpkins were fake, but it seems like they carved it themselves and was not pre cut. There are so many pumpkins that it would be crazy if they were all real and lasted for 2 months. Some of the carvings were super detailed and intricate.
I loved the pumpkins towards the end including the working clock and the tunnel of pumpkins that were carved to look like the night sky. Its a pretty event, but dress warm and plan to spend $ 20 per ticket. Its a little steep and definitely something I wouldn’t do every year, but all in all it was a great experience. The have people along the pathway to make sure you are enjoying yourself and not having any issues. It would be awesome if next year they could include a sections of pumpkins that were more current (I saw an iron man that was pretty awesome) and with modern music. I think that would add to the experience especially for the younger crowds. They have a place you can buy donuts and warm cider. Fun experience!

Halloween sometimes feels like an experience that is mostly for kids or adults looking to get terribly drunk, so when my friends invited me to join them at the Great Jack O’lantern Blaze I jumped at the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary.
The Blaze is a walking path with displays made up of (literally) thousands of pumpkins carved with all types of designs. You have some typical individual Jack O’lanterns lining paths with smiling and screaming faces, but you also have ones with intricate and abstract designs carved into them. As you walk along the displays some of them reveal themselves to be amazingly elaborate including a «graveyard» of Jack O’lantern «skeletons» crawling out of the ground or dancing. Another display features an amazing assortment of Jack O’lantern dinosaurs including ones «hatching» from smaller pumpkins! There’s even the great Headless Horseman himself riding on a horse and «throwing» a flaming pumpkin (you have to see it to really get the effect).
I don’t want to give everything away because half the fun is seeing what imaginative displays pop up as you go along the trail. As a tip, I would recommend checking the weather and dressing warm. The path doesn’t move fast so you won’t be keeping warm with your walking speed. Also if you want to take pictures, choose an earlier time slot when the sun is just going down to allow for better lighting conditions with some darkness so you can see the lights.
I would absolutely do this again and I am very happy to have been able to enjoy this wonderful Halloween experience.

Very very cool… definitely worth seeing at least once. It’s amazing the amount of work and detail that is done with the thousands of pumpkins they use. The self-​guided walking tour gives you plenty ofttimes to take it all in. My only real negative to it is that they go out of their way to accommodate the younger crowd while inconveniencing the rest. The amount of carts and strollers allowed in to ‘cart’ around the little ones makes it difficult to walk through and creates big log jams that make it even tougher to see the pumpkins. Otherwise, everything else is fantastic.

I had no idea what I was into. The Blaze is really cool.
Preset trail with tons n tons n tons of amazingly carved pumpkins. All different styles and some cool arrangements. Pass by some historic houses and such. Those looked scary.
Little shop to buy knick knacks and souvenirs. The apple spice donuts are awesome. Should have picked up a dozen. The hot chocolate is a bonus on a chilly night.
Great place for kids. The last tour is usually not that picked apparently.
Highly recommend.
Have fun

A must see. Something you need to experience at least once in your life but I recommend going back each year. Whether or not you like Halloween this is something to experience. How often do you get to see 10,000 carved pumpkins? There is something for everyone, Spiders, Snakes, Cats, Trains, Tunnels, Clowns, graveyards, Zoo animals and more. Each year they change up the exhibit but keep some of the old favorites too. I like that they change the path and the layout, add new things but know you can always find Frankenstein and Dracula. MAKE SURE YOU BUY YOUR TIX EARLY, they sell out and sold out the last 2 years, even with extra dates in November added. I recommend that you try for an earlier time so you can get in and get out before the crowds. The event has food vendors and a gift shop, they take cash and credit cards! Adults and Kids alike will love the event.

We quite enjoyed walking through rows and rows of pumpkins with innovative carvings… had never witnessed anything quite like it. My favorite was the spider’s web and the cat maze!
However it’s something you see once and the novelty factor wears off. Ticket prices are quite high and don’t merit a return visit — over the weekend costs are $ 3 more at $ 25 (weekday $ 22).
Surprisingly parking was a breeze & very efficiently organised. It’s a timed entry and lines can be long… so be prepared for a bit of a wait.

I’m a little late on my review of this event, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an awesome experience! My family and I attended it on the 10^th of October and it was truly and incredible event! We got there just about dusk and it’s a very organized event, right down to the dozens of «parking police» that assist the visitors. The pictures you see speaks for themselves and the organizers and volunteers for this event make it an experience you won’t soon forget :-) You’re pretty much led through a maze of real and fake pumpkin displays and the creativity of some are really incredible. My favorite was the spider web and it’ll take approx. 40 – 50 minutes to circumvent the entire maze, but don’t rush! There’s so many cool displays to be seen. And they have a cool gift shop at the end, chock filled with yummy treats and gifts. Definitely worth adding to your bucket list.
One recommendation I have is to get tickets for the earliest show. It’s a madhouse getting in and out, and get there a bit early. You will be waiting to get in and out, but I think the early show isn’t as bad as the later shows — since you’re dealing with people leaving and arriving… Enjoy!

I can’t believe that I haven’t been here before. I really enjoyed this event. Everything was amazing. The displays are really well done and so cool looking
Apparently some of the pumpkins are artificial. Meh… I couldn’t really tell unless I happened upon one that was right in front of me and was super duper obviously fake. I get why they would have to mix in some fake ones with real ones. They rot and the squirrels have to eat don’t they?
There is no reason NOT to come to this. It’s a good time, don’t take it so seriously. Just enjoy it. I will so be back next year. Just remember to get your ticket as early as you can other wise you get the late Sunday night show.
I will totally come back next year.

For the last 2 years I’ve been told many to check this event out. Of course, I would wait too long to purchase tickets and find myself shut out from it. This year was different… I made sure I saved the date for the «pre sale,» jumped on and bought tickets for a Saturday night in October (and bought extras for friends).
We arrived just as directed (no earlier than 30 min before your scheduled time) — you can purchase tickets on half hour increments (8:00, 8:30, etc) and parking was relatively easy (despite the large volume of cars, they did a good job of directing). Once we were inside we began the self guided tour — just follow the trail and enjoy the sites. So many awesome designs from Zombies coming out of the ground to large scale dinosaur figures. Definitely an amazing job. I’m certain that some of the pumpkins are fake (as they would fade and rot rather quickly) but who cares, it looks cool as anything!
Take your time and walk at your leisure, however make sure you take the crowd into consideration. They let in a ton per group and some areas became quite crowded. Didnt really interfere too much with out night, but picture takers can certainly impede your progress.
You’re let out through a gift shop so stop and take a look as there are some cool items. Definitely worth a trip and very family friendly as well. A must event in the Hudson Valley in October

This was definitely a good time. The lines weren’t that long believe it or not. I believe I was in the line for a half hour before getting inside. It is true that some of the jack o lanterns are not real pumpkins, they are carved from wood or foam, but I don’t know what people were expecting from such a spectacular display. There is no way they could keep those pumpkins fresh and to recarve them would be expensive and time consuming. I posted pictures from this years festivities and can say I had a great time
Gift shop was very much pumpkin themed with pumpkin pancake mix, pumpkin pasta sauce, syrup, spreads, and even pumpkin shaped pasta.

This is one of my favorite fall activities (especially since I am a legitimate baby and cannot handle haunted houses).
The Jack O’lantern Blaze is a walk through, outdoor exhibit at Van Cortlandt Manor that depicts thousands of intricately carved pumpkins. Words can’t even do justice to the creativity of the carvers and how multiple pumpkins are carved and then placed together to create something Halloween themed. Such a fun activity for any age.
It was hard to pick a favorite pumpkin exhibit (leaning towards the dinosaurs, though I also loved the circus), because they are all SO creative and beautiful.
Tickets sell out QUICKLY, so be advised that if you can get on an email list to get presale tickets, this is the way to go. Tickets are rain or shine and are non-​refundable (ours were for the weekend that Joaquin was supposed to hit, which was a little bit of a nail biter), so check the weather to dress appropriately.
This is an extremely well run operation, from parking (you’re not allowed to park more than 30 minutes before the start time of your ticket), to tickets only being sold in certain quantities for a specific time frame, to the organization of line forming (seriously, it sounds silly, but this kind of event with bad management would be a shitshow and complete anxiety circus).
I already can’t wait to return and see what they do next! Also worth noting — if you pay $ 50 to join the Historic Hudson Valley society (or something along those lines that sounds less cult-​ish), you get 2 free Blaze tickets. Tickets are $ 30 per adult, so it can really make a lot of sense, and you can then bring a guest for free. You also get discounted prices on Kykuit and other Historic Hudson events.

This is a great well organized event. The crowd is large but for the most part well organized.
They are strict with parking times so do not serve too early.
All the staff is very friendly and help keep the crowd moving.
The pumpkins are a mix of real and fake pumpkins.
It will take you about 45 minutes to one hour to get through the exhibit. At the end in the tent they serve snacks and drinks.
It’s a great experience and worth it.

This is my first Halloween «Blaze» event. Would I recommend going, yes, would I recommend a return visit, no.
The tickets are not cheap, but it’s worth a look for the 1^st timer. Many Intricate designs are sculpted by a master pumpkin carver on site, but the majority of the designs and caricatures appear to be made out of plastic.
The walk takes about an hour as you admire the brightly lit creatures and ghoulish halloween creations. Surprisingly enough the walk ends at the gift store :) There is also a coffee and snack area, but the snacks and gift store are not cheap, so get ready to shell out some money for these goodies.
Purchase your tickets online early, because they sell out fast. Go early to avoid the rush of cars. The parking staff does a great job directing you where to park. I can scratch this one off the bucket list.