Fright Academy Opens October 9
The Children's Museum Guild opens the 62nd annual Haunted House on Friday, October 9, 2026. The house runs through Saturday, October 31. This year the theme is Fright Academy. The museum calls the house its largest annual fundraiser.
The house carries its own ticket. The event page marks it Additional Ticket Required.
The Published Ladder
General admission to the house costs 9 dollars per person. A museum member pays 8 dollars. An Access Pass cardholder pays 5 dollars.
Volume pricing sits on the same page. A purchase of 1 to 19 tickets costs 9 dollars each. A purchase of 20 to 99 tickets costs 7 dollars 50 cents each. A purchase of 100 tickets or more costs 7 dollars each.
The museum takes group purchases by telephone at 317-334-4000. Twenty tickets at the group step cost 150 dollars. The same twenty tickets at the single ticket step cost 180 dollars, so the ladder is worth 30 dollars at that step. One hundred tickets at the top step cost 700 dollars.
Access Pass enrollment is required before a visit. The box office asks for an Indiana state-issued photo identification card at each visit, and the eligibility paperwork renews yearly.
What The House Ticket Leaves Out
A note beside the ladder states that the price does not include museum admission. The house ticket covers the house alone.
Museum admission carries its own discounts. Indiana residents receive 3 dollars off and may be asked for proof of residency at entry. A group of 20 or more receives 20 percent off general admission when the tickets are bought in advance in a single transaction. Access Pass cardholders pay 5 dollars for general admission, which includes the sports experience. On the first Thursday of every month the museum opens from 4 to 8 p.m. for 6 dollars per person. A senior discount sits at the box office for visitors aged 60 and up, and children under 2 enter free.
The museum publishes a second-day ticket at a discounted rate at the box office. The page does not print the second-day figure. Ask at the counter when the first day is bought.
Museum Admission Moves With The Date
Museum tickets are date specific. The museum states that admission prices vary by season and by day of the week, and it publishes no price table on the ticket page.
Museum tickets carry no refund. The museum applies the value of an unused ticket to a new date when the exchange happens by 5 p.m. on the original ticket date.
Wednesday Is The Long Day
Fright Academy sells two blocks of hours. Friendly Hours run Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Frightening Hours run Thursday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m.
Wednesday holds a second Friendly block. The house opens from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in addition to the morning block. The museum gives away a free bike helmet every Wednesday inside Friendly Hours.
Two dates carry no Frightening Hours. Friday, October 9 is opening day. Halloween, Saturday, October 31, is the second.
Two Trips For One Ticket
October 15 and October 22 carry the Twice the Fright promotion. One Frightening Hours purchase covers two trips through the house. Both dates are Thursdays.
Theme days run through the month. October 13 is Art Day with a crayon giveaway. October 20 is Library Day with bookmarks and a kids meal giveaway. October 27 is Math Day with a prize wheel. Bike Safety Day returns October 14, October 21 and October 28, each with a helmet giveaway.
The Group Ticket Is A Room Count
The volume ladder starts at 20 tickets. Twenty tickets is also a headcount. A school group, a scout troop or a hockey team that buys 20 house tickets needs beds for the same people on the same night.
A hotel prices a room block on the same volume step the museum prints. Most hotels offer group rates for 10 or more rooms per night, and some discount from 5 rooms depending on season and availability. hotelhaggle sends one request to 50 or more hotels, and each property accepts, counters or declines the price on its own.
The Evening Block Changes The Hotel Night
A Wednesday visit that uses the 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. block ends after dark. A family that drives in for that block adds a hotel night to the trip.
The platform's help centre states that mid-week and shoulder-season dates raise the chance a hotel accepts a named price, and that a successful offer often lands 20 to 40 percent below the rates published elsewhere.
Ask For The Concessions
The request carries the terms as well as the price. The platform asks for the room type, the event type and any special request, and its help centre names parking, pet-friendly rooms, early check-in and late checkout as the terms to write down.
hotelhaggle's team negotiates with a hotel that counters an offer, and the guest books directly with the hotel at the end.
The museum adds one more term worth pricing into the trip. Parking in the museum garage off Illinois Street just north of 30th Street is free, and the garage connects to the museum by Skywalk.
What The Sources Do Not Give You
No source on this assignment publishes a hotel rate, a mandatory fee or a cancellation term for any Indianapolis property. The hotel side of this piece rests on the terms hotelhaggle publishes and on the prices the museum prints.
The offer flow covers 46 states. Florida, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington sit outside the service, where hotelhaggle cannot process a booking request from a resident of those states or for travel to them. Indiana is inside the service area.
Two Calls To Make
Call 317-334-4000 for a group purchase of 20 house tickets or more. Then send the room request to hotelhaggle with the same dates and the same headcount.
