Here’s what to expect at THE GLOW, a Halloween trail featuring 5,000 hand carved jack o’ lanterns

The event is hosted in four cities, including Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Here in Charlotte it’s set up at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Rock City Campground.

Here’s what to know if you plan to catch the display in its final weekend.

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

They’re sold by entrance time in 30-minute intervals to ensure the trail doesn’t get to too crowded. Tickets are $22.99 for adults and $16.99 for kids ages 3-12. Entry times run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. You can print your ticket or have it scanned from your phone.

Parking is free and they’ve also got a designated Lyft pickup and drop off area near the entrance.

Plan to arrive early or hang around afterwards for funnel cake, doughnuts, hot apple cider and other refreshments.

Funnel cakes are $6-$7 and available in flavors like butter pecan, red velvet and s’mores. But the longest line was for the fresh mini doughnuts served by the bag ($7) or bucket ($15). You can have them topped with cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar or chocolate.

For something savory, grab hot dogs, pizza, cheese fries and more at The Mad Greek.

Wear comfortable shoes for walking the 1/3-mile trail.

This is not like Speedway Christmas where you drive the tracks to see the lights. It’s an easy walking trail in the adjacent campground.

You’ll enter at a specific time on your ticket but after that the trail is self guided and you can set your own pace. It usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

The trail features various themed jack o’lantern displays, including dinosaur, underwater, circus and music scenes.

It’s not scary and is intended for all ages. In fact, it’s geared more towards kids than adults.

Here’s the biggest catch: Not all of the pumpkins are real. Because the display is up for almost a month (October 4-28), they avoid having to re-carve all the rotting pumpkins by making many displays out of fake pumpkins.

The fake pumpkins, however, are still carved by hand. I found this pretty disappointing regardless.

Overall, the bulk of the trail display leans more heavily on the sheer quantity of pumpkins in the field viewed from a distance (hundreds of simple smiling jack o’lanterns, for example) than on the up close quality of intricately carved designs. But it’s still cool to see.

The bottom line: Adults looking for a thrill in this final weekend before Halloween would be better served heading to a haunted house, haunted trail or raucous costume party. But if you’re looking for family-friendly entertainment for your kids, THE GLOW is a great option.