Anybody done the hard-ticketed Halloween party at DisneyLAND?

[5ofus]

I think we will HAVE to do it next year. Looks like tickets are about $70 and you end up with bucket loads of 'candy'. Not to mention special fireworks and a cavalcade. Would just like to hear thoughts?

 

[Caroline NZ]

We are thinking of doing it next year as well. A lot of extra money though, when we will already have tickets for the parks for the 14 days.

I have been reading threads on the main DL board. This October has been super crowded, especially Columbus Day weekend. And next year the only weekend that we will be at DL ( when Fireworks and Fantasmic are running) will be Columbus Day . Oh well, will just have to maximise the Tue-Thur time that we will be there for as well, when it will hopefully not be quite as crowded.

 

[meandmygirl]

We did the Halloween Party on 2 October before we flew home. We had annual passes and paid the extra $50 something for the party. We went to the party around 4pm and there was a parade happening when we arrived. We stood up near the train departure station and had a great view.

There are trick n treat stations everywhere. We never went to all of them but had way too much candy. They also gave out apples, carrots, craisins etc to the kids and to the adults if you asked.

When you enter the park they give you a bag and armband (which is checked throughout the night when lining up for the trick n treat stations).

We had a great night. Left around 8.30pm as DD is not fond of the parks in the dark.

Would I do it again? Probably not unless there was some mega special deal happening.

 

[Saskiwi]

We did it last year as the kids were keen to experience an American Halloween. We had a 14 day pass to DL so the night of the party we didn't worry so much about rides, just concentrated on meeting Jack Skellington, (a favourite of DS9) checking out everyone's costumes and getting lots of candy.

This last issue was NO problem! We took a small backpack with us and emptied our trick or treat bags that they give you into that periodically. We got a HUGE amount from candy - enough for the kids to take some for everyone in their classes when we returned - and we still had a huge amount left.

The costumes are great -we dressed up too, which was fun - and everyone is very hyped when you ride Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy rides which have a special Halloween overlay for the season.

The Halloween parade is cute -kind of small but worth seeing - and the fireworks show is great. It is not cheap (Hallo - it's Disney! surprise surprise..) but if you are keen to experience an American Halloween it is worth doing, especially if you have kids

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

We did it in 2009. I agree the costumes that people wore were amazing. So wonderful to see the effort people go to. I thought the parade was cute but short. The candy was cool, kids enjoyed it.

I think for the money it's not worth it, however it definitely was a fun unique experience. I would not bother to do it again but I guess I'm glad I did it once.

Knowing all of this though hasn't stopped me from buying tickets to the MVMCP , even though I know I will look back and probably think it wasn't worth the expense.

 

[JennyN]

We have done the Halloween party twice, in 2007 and again last year. It is a lot of fun and our DD who was almost 17 when we went last year, she loved it. Yes its not cheap but in our view its worth it. We would do it again if we were going to be in DL at the right time.

 

[5ofus]

Cool! Now I just have to hope our dates work and we can go. We all love Halloween and would love to do it US style

 

[ExcitedSam]

We went last Tuesday, the girls dressed up and DH and I wore matching M&M T shirts. I would have dressed up more but DH is not into it. I loved seeing all the other costumes too.

The Halloween Parade was good, but not a s good as the regular one they have, it was much shorter, but still fantastic! The fireworks were awesome though and went for ages! They had ghost flying over the cattle and Jack Skellington and other evil characters appear on a big ball beside the castle.

It was very crowded, we didn't do rides as we'd already had a week in the parks. We hit treat trails, which the girls loved and filled the little bags they gave us, each one ended up being nearly 2kg each!!

You really have to get into the spirit to have the best time. DH does not like crowds or dressing up, so we were fighting it the whole way, but had a great time and left about 10:30pm.

 

[5ofus]

You really have to get into the spirit to have the best time. DH does not like crowds or dressing up, so we were fighting it the whole way, but had a great time and left about 10:30pm.

Luckily, DH likes Halloween more than Christmas and will have no issue dressing up. Personally I'm looking forward to the 2kgs of candy

I really don't want to wish a whole year away, but this trip is going to be so much fun!!!

 

[BecBennett]

I'd do it at least once, so I could experience it.

 

[Aust]

We went on 2nd October as well. We got the tickets at the special AP price. We ended up leaving just before the parade as I was not feeling well and kids were tired (it was the last night of our 2 week trip so we were a bit over it). Was disappointed to miss the fireworks.


There were pro's and con's for me:

Pro's:
*Kids really enjoyed dressing up and doing the trick or treating (my husband loved dressing up too, and he made me dress up as well which I admit was fun).

*Lot of lollies - my 3 year old couldn't believe his eyes when people kept putting handfuls into his bag.

*Loved the atmosphere - e.g. mist on Rivers of America, ghostly singers on rafts, etc.

*Seeing villans/characters not usually out and Mickey etc in the Halloween costumes.

*Some of the other costumes were amazing. There was one family dressed as Victorian ghosts - mum, dad and 3 little girls - the mum and girls in identical dresses and wigs, with so much detail, lace, frills etc, in a silvery grey colour. I so wish I had a photo of them!

Con's:
*Was REALLY crowded - I couldn't believe how many people there were, considering it was early in the month and it was a ticketed event. So it didn't feel at all exclusive.

*Control of people without tickets wasn't very good, e.g. 45 minutes past the start of the party there were people without wristbands lining up for the meet and greets.

*Some meet and greet lines were massive, e.g. 1 hour to meet Jack Skellington and Sally (and Sally wasn't guaranteed as she doesn't stay the whole time) - so even though my eldest daughter was dressed as Sally we didn't wait.

*Heaps of people weren't in costume (even kids) which made it feel sometimes like a normal night in DL.

Don't know if I'd do it again - if we happened to be there at this time of year and the kids really wanted to we might, but I wouldn't go out of my way. I didn't enjoy it as much as the Halloween party 5 years ago (was held in DCA then, and was much less crowded).