Laurie -
You know, I was thinking a bit about your situation and how the Christmas trip is not going to work out this year.
Even though I truly think you will fall in love with DLR at Christmas when you finally get to experience it (you've already seen tons of photos, so you can already see what it's like - and it's even better in person), I actually now think it's good that you are doing Halloween first.
Here is my reasoning - since you have not yet experienced either holiday at DLR, because Halloween is not as all-encompassing and all-over-the Resort like Christmas is, if you were to start off with a Christmas trip first and have that magical experience, and then did a Halloween trip later...the differences would seem more obvious, I think, when comparing one trip with the other. You would notice the lack of Halloween touches more if you went for the Christmas season first and Halloween next, if that makes any sense. It would sort of be like scaling down.
I think that it's good that Halloween will be first for you because you can enjoy the season for what it is - with no mental comparision at all of a Christmas trip. So you won't notice the areas that
don't have Halloween decorations (like they would have at Christmas). You will just notice the areas that DO have them. You won't remember that there used to be Candy Corn Acres in DCA and now it's totally gone. You will just appreciate what is actually in Disneyland in terms of Halloween decor. The Halloween party is fun - a great spot for lots of characters and lots of candy. You will love that.
And then eventually, when you are able to go to DLR and enjoy your favorite holiday at your favorite place, you will be awestruck and overloaded with all of the Christmas-y things to see all over the place. In that case, it will be like scaling up!
I do love the Halloween season very much - in fact I was so sad to have to miss it last year. I didn't feel right about it at all, since I had gone a few years in a row and it was a ritual. I thoroughly enjoy the Halloween Superthread and collecting info for it. My only hope is that DLR starts treating HalloweenTime as an even bigger deal since it is so popular now and because the Resort is growing and developing. (A reservations CM on the phone last year even said to me that "Christmas time at Disneyland is a big deal. It's very special. Halloween is not as much on that level, in the same way.")
DLR needs to do
more with the season. They need to add in more decorations, more Halloween-themed music to blast from the speakers (there used to be music like that in DCA), more Halloween touches in the restaurants and hotels and DTD. I want to totally immersed in the Halloween season at DLR, everywhere I go!
One thing that HalloweenTime definitely has an advantage in over the Christmas season is the area above the turnstiles.
For Halloween, there are cute character pumpkins greeting you as you hand your ticket or AP over to the CM. At Christmas time, there are these boring (kind of cheap-looking) snowflakes.
They are not that festive, not that bright, not colorful, there are no characters hidden in the snowflakes, and they don't seem to tie in or connect with any other decor in the parks. It is very peculiar how that area seems so...bland. Jessica and I have discussed this and we both agreed that, instead of the stupid boring snowflakes above the turnstiles, DLR could follow its own lead from Halloween and put character snowmen/snow people in that spot, or character gingerbread cookies or something. If they can make giant character pumpkins, they can make character snow people/gingerbread cookies and put them there in place of the bland snowflake motif.
Well it's official......our Christmas time trip is off. 
I'm so disappointed, I was looking forward to all the Christmas goodness & was planning how to take in as much as possible. 
I hope you get the official word that Oct is a go. At least you have a great "season" to look forward to - and the kids will love the ToT parties!
