25 Fall Date Ideas
Fall is one of my absolute favorite times of the year! There’s so many fun, inexpensive things to do with either your group of gal pals or your boyfriend/ significant other that you can’t do the rest of the year! You can see my list of 25 date ideas and I’ll explain each one in a little more detail so you can try to talk your friends or significant other into having a fun date night!
Some of these may be specific to the DFW area, but there should definitely be some type of variation in your area.
DISCLAIMER: I am not being compensated from any of the companies, products, or locations for this post.
So let’s get started,
Texas State Fair (or any state fair)
So the Texas State Fair is in Dallas, Texas until October 21 this year. One ticket is $16.50 and parking is typically $18 per car. For what you get this pricing isn’t bad at all. You can totally stay a whole day, just go for a night event, or just go for a few hours during the day! It will be a little more expensive adding in ride/game/food ticket prices, but it’s a very fun date night or girls/boys night out! I definitely make a trip every year whether it’s with my family, friends, or boyfriend and it’s a different experience every time.
Here’s some of my favorite pictures from the past two years at the fair:
Major points that you MUST hit if you go to the fair:
Petting Zoo
Ferris Wheel
Big Tex
Must get Cotton Candy + 1 exotic food (ie. fried mashed potatoes, fried Oreos, etc)
Midway- even if you don’t play any games/ ride any rides it’s a perfect photo opp
Also check out their concert series! At the fair they usually have 1 concert a day that is free with park admission– with some big named artists and bands! For more info you can check out- Texas State Fair
2. Pumpkin Patch
You don’t even have to buy any pumpkins for this to be a fun date! Some pumpkin patches even have activities like pumpkin launching, photo oops, etc. This is especially somewhere cute for a photo shoot or a perfect time to buy cute, inexpensive pumpkins to paint or carve for Halloween decorations!
These were from a shoot I did with Major Images at a local pumpkin patch! Such a cute fall shoot idea for a fall theme with a professional or just with some of your friends/significant other with an iPhone.
Also a cute thing to go to– especially for younger kids is Boo at the Zoo at the FTW Zoo! I used to love going to the Halloween Themed Zoo every October with my family! I believe this event goes on for the entirety of October and it’s $14 a ticket but you can get more information here: Boo at the Zoo
3. Smore’s By The Fire (or in the microwave)
Okay, this is a classic, so obviously this one is pretty self-explanatory, go get some graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate, and marshmallows. You can roast the marshmallows by a fire for the full effect, or if you don’t have access to a safe fire or hate how fires make you smell, like myself, you can simply just “roast” your smore’s in the microwave for about 30 seconds and enjoy a fall movie while eating a tasty treat with some friends or it can be a perfect addition to a date night!
4. Scary Movie (In theaters)
Okay so, of course, spooky season means spooky movies!! There are some pretty good horror movies coming out in theaters soon, and of course that is a PERFECT fall date idea. (If your friends, boyfriend or girlfriend actually like scary movies unlike my boyfriend who refuses to see anything scary with me ) But here are some scary movies coming out this year that I am really excited to review!
Top 4 for sure:
Halloween
Suspiria
Killer Kate!
Goosebumps 2
And you can for sure check out any drive-in movie theaters or local movies theaters for some classic Halloween movie showings! The drive in would be perfect for the October weather as well!
5. Outdoor Concerts
I mean indoor concerts would categorize with this as well, but fall is the perfect time for music festivals, outdoor concerts because of how beautiful and moderate the weather is!
Whether it’s a free outdoor concert like the Levitt Pavilion in Arlington or a concert at the State Fair, those are both fun, free GNO or date night!
Some concerts/ music festivals coming up that are feasible to the DFW area:
Noah Cyrus, October 10th @ Granada Theater in Dallas
Lauren Daigle, October 11th @ Verizon Theater in Grand Prarie
Josh Abbott Band, October 11th @ Abilene Convention Center
Tyga, October 13th @ Trees in Dallas
Mercy Me, October 13th @ Oil Palace in Tyler
Bruno Mars, October 14th & 15th @ American Airlines Center in Dallas
Josh Groban, October 24th @ American Airlines Center in Dallas
Ed Sheeran, Lauv, & Snow Patrol, October 27th @ AT&T Stadium in Arlington
Lil Pump, October 27th @ Southside Music Hall in Dallas
Post Malone & Travis Scott (Posty Fest), October 28th @ Dos Equis Pavillion in Dallas
Ro James & Jessie J, October 29th @ House of Blues in Dallas
Lil Xan, November 1 @ House of Blues in Dallas
Jingle Ball- Bebe Rexha, Shawn Mendes, Calvin Harris, Alessia Cara & More, November 27th @ American Airlines in Dallas
These are just some of the more well known names for concerts around DFW, but you can check out all of the concerts around your area here: Find Nearby Concerts
These are some of my most recent/favorite concerts that I’ve been to. I’ve been to such a large amount of concerts and been so close to so many singers that I am obsessed with, and that’s something I really enjoy! No I’m not an incredibly rich girl who can just sit front row at any concert she wants because I have enough money to spare. My mom and I love going to concerts together and making memories like that. Also the trick is to never buy resale tickets, always try to buy the tickets the second they go on sale, it’s an incredible difference!
But my favs to see in concert recently have been: R5, Selena Gomez w/ DNCE, Charlie Puth, Lukas Graham, Backstreet Boys, Adele, and Taylor Swift
The only incredibly bad singer I’ve heard live is Daya, so don’t go see a Daya concert, not worth it.
6. Costume Shopping
Okay OBVI this is fun to do with your boo, besties, yourself, it’s just fun! My absolute favorite part about dressing up for halloween is doing something clever and cute and original, rather than the basic Lola and Bugs from Space Jam or Forrest Gump and Jenny. Here’s some costumes either for a spirit day or Halloween that I have had over the years:
Alright Alright Alright, so of course we’ve got the Alvin and the Chipmunks get up for twin day, Abbey & Katie wouldn’t do the cute buns, but it’s fine, I’m fine! It was cute and we got those sweatshirts at Walmart for $7 a piece then made the letters with yellow tape. Easy and super cute even though everyone thought we were encouraging them to take the SAT.
Now to the right we’ve got a classic that most people use, we’ve got Damian from Mean Girls when he makes the famous line, “She doesn’t even go here”
This is pretty clever considering how EASY it is!! I already had that UCLA hoodie and just got my most typical shades I had. And just like magic, you’ve got a free costume that people will still laugh at!– in a good way, I love attention like that.
Next we got my classic “Vine Day” outfit, I think any costume that is Vine related is super clever and original, because a lot of people don’t think about a Vine character for a costume, and about 70% of the population can recite Vines religiously!
So this outfit is the classic “AHHH A RAT” vine, and I was dress as the “Is That Real?” character. Now a lot of people didn’t understand who I was until I brought out the rat. So if you want to recreate this fit, make sure you bring the rat. But I personally love it when people ask me who I’m supposed to be, then I show them the vine and I look exactly like her.
This “costume” which is actually a really cute outfit was SO easy and I din’t spend any money! I just wore my Tory Burch flip flops with black skinny jeans, and I think I turned this tank top inside out for it to look solid.
Super easy, super cute, vine costumes are always a go.
This couple’s costume was mine and Nate’s cute fits for after-prom my senior year. Of course I had to make Nate dress up as my all-time favorite TV character, Archie Andrews from Riverdale! Although I much more would have preferred to be Cheryl Blossom, I of course, had to go as Archie’s girlfriend, Veronica Lodge.
I honestly could not tell you how I got my outfit together, because my sweet momma actually did that for me. But for the Archie jersey, we bought a plain blue jersey and went to a T-shirt shop for them to add the design on there, it’s a lot cheaper than trying to buy one already pre-made.
This was so cute, because almost everyone knew who we were and it was such a clever idea that no one else thought of! This was the outfits we were going for:
Last, but not least, we have Agnus from Despicable Me. Now I wore this costume for Halloween my sophomore year of high school, and surprisingly, I was one of 3 girls that day that did at my school. SO this costume is fairly common, but it’s so easy to look so cute in it!
I already had the overalls and that was my brother’s shirt, I believe. But I just put in a red scrunchie and put red buttons on the overalls. I got yellow socks and wore them with my Keds. I think I got the unicorn off of Amazon, but I am not quite sure.
Super cute, super fun and this video is definitely what I went around doing all day:
7. Haunted House
I personally love getting scared out of my pants in haunted houses, but ya know, that’s not everyone’s thing. But if it’s not, make them go anyways. No one’s died from going to a haunted house, or at least not yet;) Sorry that was creepy, but it’s spook season, I had to. But all of you know what a haunted house is, so I’m just going to rank the 4 haunted houses in DFW that I have knowledge of based on scariness. 1= least scary 4=pee your pants
Six Flags Haunted houses- I don’t remember all of the names of them, but if your friend or significant other is not a fan, take them to a Six Flags Haunted House during Fright Fest, the whole park is basically a spread out haunted house at this time. They are definitely not as scary as these other haunted houses and they are SO much shorter, so it’ll be easier to the scare-sensitive ones. Find out more about Fright Fest here: Fright Fest
Cutting Edge- I love cutting edge, but its scare factor decreases every time I go. It’s the same haunted house every year, but everyone seems to enjoy the foam room at the end of the haunted house. This is probably the most popular haunted house in DFW so it’s price is $34.99 just for general admission + parking is $10-$20. Check out more at: Cutting Edge
Boneyard- I love Boneyard, this is my favorite haunted house, now I haven’t been since 8th grade, but I can remember the whole haunted house very vividly. It was about a hour long and it was the perfect amount of scariness and fun. It wasn’t quite the “I’m gonna die” scary, but it was still very scary. This is my best choice if you’re looking for a haunted house, less crowded, less expensive, more fun. General admission is $32, but you don’t have to pay for parking to my knowledge. In my opinion it’s definitely the biggest bang for your buck. Check out more here: Boneyard Haunted House
Reindeer Manor- Okay well honestly, I have never been to this haunted house, but from what I’ve heard, it’s definitely the scariest one there is. There’s 4 different attractions -different haunted houses, one is completely in the dark- and it’s actually for an incredibly good price. All FOUR haunted houses are included for only $35! I can’t imagine that these haunted houses would be as long as Boneyard or Cutting Edge, but my guess would be that all 4 combined together would be around a hour and a half. But keep in mind, 4 haunted houses means 4 times you have to wait in line. You can check out more here: Reindeer Manor
8. Corn Maze
Now I won’t have a lot to say about this one, because I have never been to a corn maze ever. I have been to a pineapple maze in Hawaii, but that’s not spooky at all. So basically if you go at night, that’s the spookiest time obviously, but you simply walk through a corn maze and try to find your way out.
The closest ones to DFW are, apparently, Yesterland Farm in Canton, Texas along with Hall’s Pumpkin Farm in Grapevine, Texas.
Yesterland Farm: It has a corn maze, farm attractions, amusement park rides, and a pumpkin patch. You can do everything there-including unlimited amusement park rides for only $18.95 if you buy your tickets online here: Yesterland Farm Tickets
Hall’s Pumpkin Farm: Also has a corn maze, obviously, along with hayrides and a pumpkin patch. Their prices are pretty good with the corn maze being $5 and every hay ride at night is only $3. You can check out more here: Hall’s Pumpkin Farm
9. Painting/Carving Pumpkins
I am, personally, not a fan of carving pumpkins at all. The guts, the hard work you have to do to actually cut into it, for just a mediocre face, and possibly set your self on fire trying to light it (as you can see my silly friend, Danielle, set her pumpkin on fire). Well I think I found the best pumpkin carving kit to help prevent some of that for $8.99 on Amazon: Pumpkin Carving Kit
It has a battery operated candle, which Danielle desperately needed that night. Along with stencils to help you create a not-so-jacked-up pumpkin face
I haven’t ever painted a pumpkin, but with some acrylic paint and a brush, I would much rather paint a pumpkin than carve one.
10. Hayrides
I have also never been a fan of hayrides, but so many people love them. I always thought of them as itchy and scratchy on my butt to ride around nowhere for no reason, but other people obviously have other opinions or hayrides wouldn’t still exist! So I’ll just list off places I know that have hayrides:
Hall’s Pumpkin Farm $5 during the day $3 at night
Boo at the Zoo Free with admission, I believe
Blase Family Farm In Rockwall, $8 for a petting zoo, hayride, and a hotdog or a mini pumpkin
Those are the 3 main ones I know of, but a lot of local carnivals will also have hayrides for cheap prices or free, so if you are dying to go on a hay ride, then I would suggest looking into close, local carnivals rather than driving so far away.
11. Halloween Movie Marathon
Don’t want to go out and pay for a movie? Want to stay home but want to watch a lot of spooky movies? Netflix has GOT YOU COVERED!!
I’ll make a list of all the Halloween movies that I know are on Netflix:
Italicized=most popular
The Shining
Scream 4
Seven
Terrifier
1992
The Badadook
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Children of the Corn
Scooby-Doo
Van Helsing
The Reaping
Coraline
Sixth Sense
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
The Village
Interview With the Vampire
Nancy Drew
6 Souls
Don’t Kill It
The Conjuring
The Boy
Curse of Chucky
Cult of Chucky
The Vault
Boys in the Trees
Ghost Busters
Tales of Halloween
Mickey’s House of Villains
Little Monsters
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Adam’s Family
Carrie
Hotel Transylvania
The Night of the Living Dead
The Evil Dead
There is no reason you can’t have a movie night full of Halloween Scares!! Side note: My all-time favorite Halloween series is The Purge Movies: The Purge, Purge: Anarchy, Purge: Election Year, and The First Purge– I have those all on DVD and if you haven’t seen them, I highly suggest you buy the DVD or be more of a millennial and try to buy/stream them from Amazon or iTunes.
12.Bake Halloween Treats
From the classic pumpkin cookies to maybe an exotic treat, attempting to bake is fun on it’s own.
Here are some of my favorite Halloween treats that seem pretty easy to make and look extremely cool. I found most of these on Pinterest.
And finally, the classic Halloween Sugar Cookies are here at Walmart
13. Fall Photo Shoot
I basically already mentioned fall photoshoots if you go back to #2 Pumpkin Patches!
But I can give you some perfect photographers, around the DFW area, that would love to help give you a perfect fall shoot! (if you would rather not go to a pumpkin patch with your friends and an iPhone, which is perfect and fun too.
Major Images: Bobbie Jo Majors specializes in Senior Shoots, but also does some other types of shoots! I’ll repost these photos from the fall shoot I did with her! These were so fun and so cute! Check out her on Instagram @bobbiejo
Thierry Lyn Photography: Her website JUST got hacked this week and she’s trying to rebuild her client base! I linked her Instagram and you can look at her work. She’s available in the DFW area for shoots on Thanksgiving or Christmas break!
A Clay Photography: She is in the Norman, OK area during the school year and DFW area for holiday breaks. Check out her portfolio on Instagram and message her for a shoot.
Carson Bold: He’s the goofball in the wheelbarrow from the Major Images shoot. He’s always in the DFW area and would love to have a photoshoot with you! Check out his Instagram and look at some of his previous shoots!
14. Popcorn on the Cob
I saw this on Pinterest and never knew that you could pop corn while it’s STILL ON THE COB?!
This sounds so fun to try with friends, even if it fails miserably.
Everyone loves Apple Cider, especially during the holidays in the fall! This is such a cute and easy idea that you share for the whole holiday party crew!
16. Pile of Leaves
This one seems fairly self-explanatory, considering it’s one of America’s favorite fall pastimes. The classic pile of leaves, raking all the fall leaves together in a pile in your yard then jumping in them with your family and friends. Then you would rake them up again, just to repeat the fun all over again! I don’t know what else I can say about this, but it’s always a fun time!
17. Themed Restaurants
When’s a better time to go to themed restaurants rather than Halloween, when it’s normal to have a costume on??
I’ll give y’all my top 3 themed restaurants:
Rainforest Cafe: North Richland Hills, Texas I am so upset I wasn’t able to experience how fun this restaurant was until I was 17!! The food is pretty good, in my opinion, and you’re paying for the atmosphere, and I LOVE IT!! Check out the link for more details on prices and if there’s one near you! Here are some of my favorite pics I took when I went this past year:
Magic Time Machine: Addison, Texas I love this place, I think I have been here a total of 5 times, and I can’t get enough! The waiters are dressed and act as a character from a movie, book, or something in that realm. I’ve had Captain Jack Sparrow, Willy Wonka, Harry Potter, and I can’t remember who else! But check out their link for a fun night, free salad bar! Make sure to ask your waiter where the bathroom is, you’ll thank me later.
Medieval Times: Dallas, Texas And this one is an absolute classic that is nation-wide and you probably all have heard of. You’ve got dinner and a show, no silverware, no problem. Getting to watch a live joust and act like a Medieval Princess for a day is definitely worth the price!
18. Indoor Waterparks
Swimming’s not an option in fall? Says who? There are two awesome indoor waterparks in DFW that will make for a fun day for the whole family.
How can you go wrong with Great Wolf Lodge? Tons of slides, games, pools, etc for the whole family AND you can stay the night?! This is definitely an all time favorite place to go. Check out their website and book your stay today!
The brand new Epic Waters is finally open for business in Grand Prairie, Texas! Spend a day at the waterpark no mater what the weather is like! It’s local to me now and I couldn’t be more excited to finally get to go here soon!
19. Wax Museum
Too scared to go to a haunted house, but still want to get a little scared? The Wax Museum should be your go-to!! It has 5 different attractions: 7D Moving Theatre, Mirror Maze, Laser Race, Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditorium, and the classic Louis Tussaud’s Palace of Wax- that features a little optional haunted wax house.
You can typically always get a good discount on Groupon or just simply by looking up a discount online for a 5-attraction-combo-pass. And check out more here: Palace of Wax, Grand Prairie
If you want a little more of the full effect, go checkout this YouTube video I made of my last trip at one of my favorite places with Nate
20. Candy Night
Halloween is all about candy, right? So why not have a night full of candy?! My ideal big candy party would include
Bunches of candy, buy all the candy you can find
Make some candy treats that you look up on Pinterest
Play Candy Land, DUH
Then end the night with watching candy-filled movies
Wreck it Ralph
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory/ Willy Wonka
I just thought of this idea and thought it would be a fun girls night for all ages!
21. Spooky Exploring
In a 10 mile radius of you is probably at least 5 abandoned buildings for you to go check out and explore FOR FREE.
Now I am not liable for any trespassing laws, but for Arlington, at least, there are 2 main abandoned places that a lot of people have explored:
Screaming Bridge: Boneyard Haunted House wrote a whole story about the background of screaming bridge that was supposedly burned, and of course people died on it, so of course, it’s haunted. Read more here: The Story of Screaming Bridge
I’ve been exploring there a few time, and it is slightly scary, but I haven’t been haunted yet, but watch out for any any animals trying to get in the way of your exploration!
The Basement: It’s on Arkansas Ln in Arlington and is LITERALLY an abandoned basement that kids go spray paint graffiti everywhere, it’s pretty spooky at night but you don’t even notice passing by it on the street.
22. Trunk or Treat
Instead of Trick or Treating, go to a trunk or treat! Most churches have one for the public and you can probably find one to put your car in. In a parking lot, a lot of parked cars hand out candy to kids with a themed trunk! It’s so cute, kids get a lot more candy this way, and it’s lots of fun!
Look up “Trunk or Treating Near Me” and look for churches or places having a trunk or treat that you could join or have your family trunk or treat at!
23. Halloween Party
Basically combine all of the things I have talked about and have a party with all of your friends and family, definitely a costume party. Have all of the fun Halloween treats, and tricks, and play some fun Halloween party games like Mafia, Murderer in the Dark, Killer, all of those!
Look up some Pinterest Halloween Decor and Party ideas!!
This one is my personal favorite:
24. Trick or Treating… DUH
Whether you’re passing out candy to kids or Trick or Treating with your family, you’re never too old or too young to do either one.
So go get a couple of bags of candy and give kids more candy than any other house! It’s so rewarding to see all of their smiling faces in the costumes that they worked so hard on to pick out!
Or
You can pull up your big boy britches and dress up and demand candy from houses with your friends! If the candy giver say “aren’t you too old to be trick or treating” simply respond with “aren’t you a little young to NOT be trick or treating?”
There’s no age limit on either handing out candy or trick or treating, so do what you want and either get free candy or give some free candy to some cute little kiddos. Either way, join in on this classic tradition!!
25. Nov 1st Candy Shopping
And if you have not ever experienced the joy of going to Walmart, Target, or another place that sells candy the day after Halloween, you have not truly lived. Candy is up to 90% off and everything is typically, at least, 50% off.
So if you’re just buying candy for yourself, and you can wait until Nov. 1st, do it. You can thank me on November 2nd.
I hope you enjoyed these ideas, and I’d love to hear if you have any other ideas! Or if you tried any of these yourself, I would love to hear about your experiences! Feel free to email me or leave it in the comments! Don’t forget to sparkle!