Buena Park, CA — The 17th Door is open for its 12th season on select nights through November 1, continuing its prison story, Perpetuum Penitentiary. General admission is $38 to $47 depending on the night, and the Backstage Tour is back, a 30-minute walk through the cast area and control room after the maze.
The 2026 Season at Perpetuum Penitentiary
The 17th Door is a haunted maze of 17 doors that takes about 35 minutes from start to finish. Guests go through in groups of six to eight, and parties of fewer than four may be paired with another small group.
The 2026 show continues the story of Perpetuum Penitentiary, a prison “where inmates are subject to both terrifying punishment and twisted scientific experiments,” according to the haunt’s announcement. The haunt’s site names four stops inside: the Prison Barber’s chair, death row, the Butcher’s meat locker, and the Warden, who decides your fate. In the story, the prison runs on technology from Vixi Labs.
This season’s effects include “rotating rooms, earthquake effects, and hurricane-force winds,” the announcement says. The 17th Door’s site calls it “Orange County’s most intense, most terrifying and most fun haunted attraction,” and its FAQ says the haunt “will be scary and intense but is also designed to be fun.”
Video: The 17th Door, posted to its YouTube channel in October 2025.
The Backstage Tour
The Backstage Tour debuted in 2024, and it starts after you finish all 17 doors. A guide takes the group through the cast area, the costume room the haunt calls its Costume Castle, the scare routes the monsters run, and the technical systems, followed by an extended visit to the control room while the haunt is operating. The tour runs 30 minutes or more and ends with a gift from Robbie, an owner of the haunt.
Photos aren’t allowed on the tour, though the tour page says “written notes are allowed exclusively for idea stealing.”
The tour is sold with VIP entry as one ticket, VIP Maze Entry + Backstage Tour, at set start times, and it runs $78 to $88 depending on the night. When I checked on October 2, the tour times I saw on October 14 and Halloween night each showed eight or fewer spots left.
The 17th Door also has a reality series, Spook Show 17, with 14 episodes that follow the design, build, casting, and operation of the haunt.
17th Door Tickets and Prices
Tickets are sold for a date and a half-hour entry window, and The 17th Door’s ticket page says all fees are included. Prices change by night, and on some nights by entry window:
- General admission: $38 to $47, listed as Regular on the ticket pages. The haunt’s calendar shows one price per night, from $39 to $47, and some entry windows cost a few dollars less than the night’s calendar price. On Thursday, October 22, the entry windows ran from $38 to $40 when I checked on September 28.
- VIP Pass: A separate, faster line, at $49 to $59 depending on the night.
- VIP Maze Entry + Backstage Tour: $78 to $88 depending on the night.
- Halloween early entry: Saturday, October 31, has a 5:45 p.m. entry at $44 for general admission and $56 for the VIP Pass. That night’s other entries are $47 and $59.
On the haunt’s calendar, the seven lowest-priced nights from October 4 on, at $39, are October 4, 8, 14, 15, 21, 27, and 28, and the six highest, at $47, are October 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, and 31.
There are no refunds, though tickets can be exchanged for a later date as long as your date hasn’t passed. Tickets are also sold on site when a night isn’t sold out, and groups of 20 or more can contact the haunt about discounts.
The lowest price on this season’s calendar is $39, up from $36 on two nights of last season’s calendar, which was archived in November 2025. Both calendars have 25 nights and a top price of $47.
17th Door 2026 Dates and Hours
The season opened September 25 and has 25 nights. These are the 22 nights from October 3 on, with each night’s hours and general admission price from the haunt’s calendar.
| Date | Hours | General admission (calendar price) |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, October 3 | 7 p.m. to midnight | $41 |
| Sunday, October 4 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $39 |
| Thursday, October 8 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $39 |
| Friday, October 9 | 7 p.m. to midnight | $44 |
| Saturday, October 10 | 7 p.m. to midnight | $44 |
| Sunday, October 11 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $41 |
| Wednesday, October 14 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $39 |
| Thursday, October 15 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $39 |
| Friday, October 16 | 7 p.m. to midnight | $47 |
| Saturday, October 17 | 6 p.m. to midnight | $47 |
| Sunday, October 18 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $43 |
| Wednesday, October 21 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $39 |
| Thursday, October 22 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $40 |
| Friday, October 23 | 7 p.m. to midnight | $47 |
| Saturday, October 24 | 6 p.m. to midnight | $47 |
| Sunday, October 25 | 7 p.m. to midnight | $46 |
| Tuesday, October 27 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $39 |
| Wednesday, October 28 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $39 |
| Thursday, October 29 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $41 |
| Friday, October 30 | 7 p.m. to midnight | $47 |
| Saturday, October 31 | 6 p.m. to midnight | $47 |
| Sunday, November 1 | 7 to 11 p.m. | $40 |
Before You Go: Waiver, Safe Word, and Age Limit
Every guest signs a waiver before entering, and The 17th Door is recommended for ages 16 and up.
- Waiver: Anyone under 18 needs a parent or legal guardian to sign it, and if the parent won’t be present, a photocopy of the parent’s ID must be attached to the signed waiver.
- Age: The FAQ says the show is not suitable for young children, and toddlers and infants are not admitted.
- Safe word: The safe word is “Mercy.” The FAQ says, “You will not be forced to do anything you do not want to do.” Shouting it gets an actor to back off, lets you leave a room or skip a room and rejoin your group at the next one, or ends your visit. Three rooms can’t be left once you’re inside, and warning signs and actors tell you.
- Effects: The FAQ lists water, fog, strobe lighting, total darkness, moving floors, winds over 100 mph, and electrical shocks. Actors may grab you, and you may get very wet.
- The Barber’s chair: A haircut is optional. The FAQ says you can avoid it by saying “Mercy” in the Barber’s Room and by not sitting in the Barber’s chair.
- Health: The haunt does not recommend it for pregnant guests or for anyone with back problems, heart conditions, or seizures.
- Access: The maze is accessible, and staff help guests around a couple of obstacles inside.
- On site: Portable restrooms are near the entrance, and security officers are on site each night.
Where Is The 17th Door?
The 17th Door is at 8420 On the Mall in the Buena Park Downtown mall, near La Palma Avenue and Stanton Avenue, just south of the 91 and 5 freeways. The haunt’s directions say to park near 24 Hour Fitness and walk down the corridor on the right side of 24 Hour Fitness. The haunt is indoors and open in bad weather.
The 17th Door is in Buena Park, not Fullerton. In January 2019 its site carried “Fullerton California” in its page title.
Knott’s Scary Farm is also in Buena Park, and my Knott’s Scary Farm guide covers its tickets, hours, and every maze. For more haunts in the region, see my guides to haunted houses in Los Angeles and haunted houses in California.
The 17th Door runs on select nights through Sunday, November 1. Tickets are at the17thdoor.com/tickets.
