Kids Free in San Diego in October

The San Diego Zoo is widely regarded as one of the best zoos in the entire country, with hundreds of incredible animal species in beautiful exhibits. Many of the animals at this zoo are rare or endangered species that are hard to find elsewhere!

During the month of October, kids between the ages of 3 and 11 can enjoy free admission to the zoo which offers incredible kid-friendly activities including interactive encounters with animals, character meet-and-greets, and live shows.

Each adult ticket holder can bring up to six kids for free in 2025 which is pretty awesome for all of my son’s friends! The Guided Bus Tour and the Skyfari aerial tram are included but the 4-D Theater experience will have an additional cost.

I take my family to the zoo all the time, and it’s just as fun for older teens as it is for young kids - and for parents, too! There’s no age limit on being a wildlife lover, and this all-ages appeal makes it one of the best things to do with kids overall.

Be sure to grab Go City San Diego passes for the rest of the family to join. The San Diego Zoo is one of the featured attractions of the Go City San Diego pass and as such, they offer big discounts on admission for adults in your party.

A Parent’s Recommendation

The zoo is the best of the best in San Diego, and in my opinion, no vacation here is complete without visiting the zoo. You can easily spend a full day here, but if your time is limited, check the map before your visit and pick out your “must-see” animals to chart your route, as the zoo is very large!

As a bonus idea, visit during the HalGLOWeen at the San Diego Zoo event in October which includes neon lights, activities, shows, dancing, music and much more! The event takes place every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening starting at 5:00pm and is included free for kids!

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park located in Escondido is run by the San Diego Zoo. Though these two attractions share some wildlife, in my opinion, they’re both unique experiences offering different ways for kids to learn about their favorite animals.

At the safari park, you can see animals like giraffes, cheetahs, elephants, tigers, rhinos, and many more enjoying their natural habitat.

In October, kids between the ages of 3 and 11 will enjoy free admission all month long! In 2025, each parent can bring up to six kids and the Africa Tram is included. It’s the perfect time to take a safari and feel transported to another country.

The safari park offers plenty of enrichment activities just for kids, including animal encounters and special presentations. It’s also full of fun activities for kids and adults of all ages.

A Parent’s Recommendation

For animal enthusiasts who want to see it all, October makes visiting both the Safari Park and the Zoo a possibility, even on a budget.

But if you don’t have time in your schedule to visit both, we’ve also got a comparison guide - San Diego Zoo vs San Diego Zoo Safari Park - that can help you decide which attraction to prioritize.

Located in Carlsbad, LEGOLAND California is a very popular theme park that’s designed with younger kids in mind. You’ll find plenty of LEGO-themed rides and attractions, including kid-friendly roller coasters and water rides.

During the month of October, LEGOLAND California offers free admission bundles for families with kids aged 2 to 12. You can get a free child Hopper Ticket with a paid full-price adult Hopper Ticket. This includes your choice of the LEGOLAND + SEA LIFE Hopper Ticket or Resort Hopper Ticket which includes LEGOLAND, SEA LIFE Aquarium and the LEGOLAND Water Park!

The theme park also hosts their annual Halloween Brick-or-Treat Monster Party event every weekend in October, which includes trick-or-treating, spooky meet-and-greets, and much more.

In addition, visitors can enjoy the nearby sister park known as the SEA LIFE Aquarium at LEGOLAND® California Resort which features live shows, LEGO-themed shopping and more character meet-and-greets, perfect for your youngest visitors!

A Parent’s Recommendation

Staying on-site at the LEGOLAND California Hotel or the Castle Hotel is a great way to add to the fun and might fit in the budget if you plan to visit in October and save on kids’ tickets.

But if you’re looking for more affordable hotel options, there are a lot near LEGOLAND to choose from, many of which I’ve stayed at with my own family.

SeaWorld San Diego is another one of San Diego’s most family-friendly attractions offering deals this fall. In October, parents can enjoy free admission for their kids 12 and under with a full-priced adult ticket throughout the entire month!

At SeaWorld San Diego, kids can get up close with some of the world’s most exciting marine wildlife. The park offers live animal shows, interactive animal encounters, and more, all of which are popular with my family and sure to be a hit with the marine life lovers in yours.

The park features rides for visitors of all ages, including heart-pounding roller coasters, water rides, and carousels. Depending on which day you visit, you can also enjoy live music, circus performers, light shows, and more. With so many offerings, our team just added a trip to SeaWorld San Diego to our list of best things to do with kids no matter when you visit!

The park hosts its annual SeaWorld Spooktacular event in October as well which includes trick-or-treating, dance parties, character meet-and-greets, a pumpkin patch, lots of fall decorations, special limited time food and drink items and much more!

Though it’s aimed a little older than the 12 and under crowd, SeaWorld San Diego also runs its annual Howl-O-Scream event in October, which I’ll be attending with my teenagers this year.

A Parent’s Recommendation

If you’re headed to SeaWorld San Diego, one of my favorite hotels is right nearby. Paradise Point Resort & Spa has that family-friendly feel while also creating a resort atmosphere that makes it easy to relax after a long day in the theme park.

Plus, other attractions that kids will love are right next door, too, like Belmont Park on Mission Beach.

Speaking of Belmont Park, the 100-year-old historic theme park on Mission Beach is getting involved in 2025 as part of the Kid Free San Diego program.

Belmont Park is offering their Ride and Play Pass which includes all-day unlimited rides, attractions and two ziplines free to kids 12 and under with the purchase of an adult wristband which is currently $64.95 online.

One free kids wristband is available with each adult purchased wristband. You just have to use the promo code KIDSFREE online or in person. Arcade, Escapology and Midway Games NOT included.

The park is known for its festive carnival atmosphere, rides like my daughters favorite, the Giant Dipper, and fair like food and drink. They also hold numerous seasonal events throughout the year with the Beachside Fall Fest taking place the entire month of October!

A Parent’s Recommendation

The second annual Belmont Beerfest is being held on Sunday, October 26th, 2025. Complete with live music, gourd games, and 20 local breweries, you can get an unlimited drink ticket online for $35, and your kids can enjoy the park’s games and rides for free!

The Birch Aquarium at Scripps is part of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UCSD, and it’s home to more than 5,000 fish and marine animal species in stunning underwater exhibits.

This is one of the only places on the West Coast to see rare species like the world’s smallest penguins, the Little Blue Penguins, which are native to Australia and New Zealand. The touch tanks are also popular with kids - they’re like seeing the tide pools at Ocean Beach without having to wait for the perfect conditions, plus it’s totally safe for kids to get hands-on.

The aquarium is located directly on the coast in beautiful La Jolla and has stunning views of the ocean. In October 2025, each full-price paid adult ticket entitles you to one FREE general admission kid’s ticket. Kids must be 12 and under. Use the promo code KIDSFREE25 at online checkout.

Families can also get heavily discounted admission for adults with a Go City San Diego pass. Remember to use the discount code GVSD5OFF to save on passes for adults and kids older than 12.

A Parent’s Recommendation

The Birch Aquarium at Scripps isn’t a huge building, which can make it more manageable for younger kids compared to big parks like SeaWorld San Diego.

I like getting to see and do everything in one trip, but there are always lots of reasons to come back too with rotating special exhibits plus the museum’s major ‘Living Seas’ renovation.

Most of San Diego’s museums offer free admission for kids through the entire month of October through the San Diego Museum Council.

This October, the Fleet Science Center is offering free admission to one kid under the age of 12 throughout the entire month with the purchase of each adult ticket.

This science museum is located in beautiful Balboa Park and offers plenty of fun interactive activities designed just for kids. The center’s exhibitions are hands-on and give kids plenty of opportunities to burn off some steam and learn while doing it, which is a huge benefit if you’re looking for ways to make learning fun for your kids, even on vacation.

You can also enjoy immersive IMAX movies and other digital shows that take an inside look at some of the world’s most fascinating scientific concepts. These shows are really amazing, and even as an adult, I always learn something new.

A Parent’s Recommendation

Speaking of shows, The Sky Tonight planetarium show is a must-watch.

It usually runs in the evenings, but Fleet Science Center has a special family version that’s held in the afternoon on the second Sunday of each month.

San Diego has a rich history as a naval base, and the USS Midway Museum is a great place to learn all about it.

Located in Embarcadero neighborhood just next to the San Diego Bay, it’s situated on a historic real aircraft carrier that was retired in 1992. Not only can you walk through recreations of different areas of the ship like the living quarters and galley, but you can also see different aircrafts docked in the hangar. It’s really cool to see history come to life and sure to be just as interesting for kids as it is for history buffs.

The museum also offers guided tours, flight simulators, interactive displays, and much more.

Throughout October, kids under the age of 12 will enjoy free admission at the USS Midway Museum. Each full-price paid adult can bring two kids for free. Tickets can also be purchased online in advance using code KidsFree.

If you have more adults than kids in your party, don’t pay full price. Get a discounted adult ticket with a Go City San Diego pass using discount code GVSD5OFF instead.

A Parent’s Recommendation

During October, the USS Midway Museum also hosts its Haunted Hangar Halloween Bash, this year set for Friday, October 24th, 2025.

This is a separately ticketed event, so you’ll need to purchase admission for any kids and adults attending, but it’s also a unique chance to attend a Halloween party on the Hangar Deck of an aircraft carrier which sounds totally worth it.

The San Diego Air and Space Museum, located in Balboa Park, offers free admission to children under 12 during the month of October where up to two kids can enter with each paid adult ticket.

At the Air and Space Museum, kids can see an incredible collection of historic airplanes and spacecraft, as well as other historic artifacts, a film archive, and more. Special exhibits offer a unique look at air and space technology from a different perspective.

Some of the museum’s newest additions are big hits with kids. These include Above and Beyond, where you can feel what it’s like to sit in the pilot’s seat through interactive and immersive displays, and Moon Base San Diego, where they’ll experience a recreation of life on the moon for astronauts.

A Parent’s Recommendation

The Air and Space Museum has its own fall festivities with their annual Pumpkin Chunkin’ event, which invites kids to dress in costume, build mini catapults, and see physics at work when pumpkins are dropped from the museum roof.

It’s not as grand as some of the ways to celebrate the holidays in San Diego, but it’s still a really fun way to kick off the Halloween season.

During the month of October, City Experiences Cruises (formerly known as Hornblower Cruises) offers free tours for kids under the age of 12 with the purchase of one adult ticket. You need to enter the promo code 'KIDSCRUISEFREE2025'.

These tours take you around the entire San Diego Bay, giving you a look at all of San Diego’s beautiful landmarks from the ocean. City Experience also offers one or two-hour cruise options with various themes, including whale watching cruises and dinner cruises. Note though that for the Kids Free San Diego offers, if you want to go whale watching, you’ll have to book through San Diego Whale Watch or Wild Pacific Whale Watch.

The promotion is good for the Best of the Bay Harbor Tour which includes a narrated trip past Seaport Village, Coronado Island, Point Loma, Cabrillo National Monument and more. Kids can be on the lookout for marine life and sea birds and all for free during the month of October!

The bay is also one of my favorite places to see the sunset in San Diego, and getting to take my family along makes it even better.

A Parent’s Recommendation

Any opportunity I can find to get out on the water is one I want to take and the City Experience Best of the Bay Harbor Tour is the perfect introduction for families with younger kids.

The tour doesn’t venture far offshore so the waters are usually calmer and there is plenty to entertain kids of all ages.