Figment's HalloweenTime Trip Reports, 2011 to 2018 - Now with 2018 Including MHP!

Exciting! I will be selfishly wanting the first party group to give us quick updates. I will be going on Sept 30th! Hope you have a great time :)
 


I got back late last night and really haven't had any time to process photos or write up a review, but here are a few preliminary thoughts about this year's MHP:
  • The cross-over period, when both MHP and day guests are in the parks, was pretty busy. I do think that the heat decreased the number of guests wearing really elaborate costumes, but there still a few.
  • The in-park wristband distribution was at the entrance to Frontierland, across from the Mercantile. They ran out of treat bags, so we had to get ours at the Toontown Pre-Party.
  • Pre-Party in Toontown started at 6:00 pm and ended at 8:00 pm. There were three treat trails (Minnie/Mickey's House, Donald's Boat, and one by Roger Rabbit). Characters in alternative Halloween attire were meeting near the gazebo in Toontown. They cut off the line for the characters around 7:15 pm, so get there early if you want to meet the characters.
  • Candy lines were really long at first and didn't seem to thin out until after fireworks. The Peeps Trail is by the Rivers of America. The Werthers trail is at the monorail. They give out the Dove candy at the exit. The Critter Country treat trail is actually a bunch of single stations along the walkway from HM to Splash. The monorail trail has one stop at the bottom of the ramp and then the other three stations are up on the platform (so it's a pretty good hike!). Almost all of the stations had the same types of candy.
  • The PtN parade was less crowded than the first showing on Thursday night. We wandered down Main Stret and there were still curb spots available about 30 minutes before the parade started. There were spots (non-curb) still available when the parade reached the middle of Main Street.
  • Fireworks were busy, but similar to Thursday's Disneyland Forever and how it's felt in the past.
  • There are no FPs during the party.
  • The Villians Good-Bye Show is pretty cute and starts about 5 minutes before the party ends at the MS Train Station. Ratcliffe was part of the show (don't know if he's one of the M&G villains), Facillier was not.
  • The Villians do not meet during the parade.
  • Jack and Sally were by the HMH FP distribution entrance. Saw Wendy at the Pirates site (Mark Twain dock). Saw Pirate Donald at Rancho del Zocalo. Pooh and friends in Halloween attire were in Critter Country.
  • AP Trail was at the Opera House. Well worth a visit!
  • Cadaver Dans performed on Rivers of America. They perform six songs (about 12-15 minute show). Very cool show!
 


HalloweenTime, 2015 - Mickey's Halloween Party
Figment Goes to Mickey's Halloween Party, 9/25/15

Figment and I (plus my family) went to the first MHP of the year (Friday, September 25, 2015)! Overall, we had a great time at the party and really enjoyed everything we did. Party crowds felt more crowded this year than last, but mostly only for the party-specific activities. Halloween Screams, the trick-or-treat lines, the special character meet and greets, and the Toontown Pre-Party were all pretty busy, but PtN was markedly less busy than what we're used to for the Halloween Cavalcade. The weather was hot and humid this year, which might have accounted for seeing fewer guests in elaborate costumes this year. As usual, I have lots of pictures to post!

We arrived at Disneyland in the morning and saw the first sign for MHP. This one had costume guidelines.
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Once inside the Esplanade, we saw the signs saying that Disneyland would be closing at 7:00 pm for MHP and that the party was sold out.
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There was more signage just inside the park letting guests know that Toontown would be closing at 5:00 pm. That was a good sign that there would be Toontown Pre-Party this year!
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In the early afternoon, the decor for the party began appearing. The large Mickey pumpkin balloons appeared around the Hub! There were four of them (same as last year). They're so cute!
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The inside the park wristband distribution location is at the entrance to Frontierland, across from the Mercantile. You can get your wristbands and party maps there if you don't want to head to the Main Entrance. When we got there, they had run out of trick-or-treat bags, so we had to get ours from one of the treat stations later on. After getting our wristbands and maps, we headed off to Toontown for the Pre-Party. We got there around 6:30 pm and the lines were already very long inside. We were asked to show our wristbands several times to get into Toontown. Toontown itself had a little bunting in the Central Gazebo area and over the entrance, plus the Mickey and Minnie pumpkin decorations.
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There were three treat trails inside Toontown (that I saw). One went through Minnie and Mickey's houses, one went through Donald's boat, and the other looped around the fountain near Roger Rabbit Car-toon Spin. There were also characters meeting in the center of town. The lines for the characters were long and they did cut the line off so that they could finish up by 8:00 pm. The pre-party starts one hour before the official party starts and ends one hour after the party starts (so from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on a Friday party). Mickey and friends met guests in their alternative Halloween costumes (e.g., Zorro Mickey, Cops and Robbers Chip and Dale, etc.).

After finishing up in Toontown, we headed out to explore the rest of the party. It's a Small World had really cute and colorful Halloween projections on its face.
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Throughout the park were various Halloween-themed decor. I've always really liked the Ghost Mickey balloons!
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Be sure to look at the ground!
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After all these years of going to MHP, I finaly found the Fantasyland Dragon! He's in the old Skyway entrance.
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The walkway from Fantasyland to Frontierland has lots of spooky elements. This is also where Mickey and Minnie meet (over near the entrance to Big Thunder Ranch). There is lightning and spooky lights from the abandoned train tunnels and tracks. They even added owls to one (the owls aren't there during non-MHP times - I looked!).
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Even the Jungle Cruise had a spooky red lighting over the entrance!
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They also projected images on the Castle!
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Figment Goes to Mickey's Halloween Party, 9/25/15 (Continued)
At this point, Figment and I headed over to Main Street for Paint the Night and Halloween Screams. They definately used the new projection equipment to project a lot more images on the Main Street buildings this year.
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We headed over to the Main Street Opera House to check out the Annual Passholder Treat Location. They added color lights and decor to make the inside of the Opera House look spooky.
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Even though it was a sold out MHP, the crowds for PtN were pretty light on Main Street. I saw curb spots still available with less than 30 minutes before the start of the parade. They did fill up, but there was still plenty of room on Main Street (third or so rows back) even as the parade passed by. The crowds for PtN felt much busier on Thursday and Saturday night. There was nothing different about PtN at MHP, so unless you want to see it with lower crowds, it's not really a "must see" during MHP. As soon as the parade ended, guests headed out to the street to get a spot for Halloween Screams. The crowds were pretty thick, but still not as bad as Saturday night's Disneyland Forever crowds. Figment still really likes Halloween Screams because Zero flies!
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(Aside: I think even Halloween Screams benefited from the upgraded equipment DLR installed for Disneyland Forever. The images on the castle (during fireworks and just for atmosphere throughout the evening) looked sharper and more detailed than in past years.)

After fireworks ended, Figment headed over to Frontierland to watch the 10:00 pm Cadaver Dan performance on the Rivers of America. Along the way, he saw the Scarecrows! There was one by Golden Horseshoe and one by the Stage Door Cafe. They're pretty funny to interact with.
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The Rivers of America looked very spooky with the dry ice!
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The Cadaver Dans perform 6 songs (about 12 minutes). They include This is Halloween, Grim Grinning Ghosts, I'm the Boogie Man, and Cruella DeVil. They are really amazing to listen to and well worth a visit.
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Figment did most of his trick-or-treating after fireworks (so the last two hours of the party). There are lots of treat trails scattered throughout the park and it's possible to collect a lot of candy. There are a few special trails, where "unique" treats are handed out. The Peeps trail is over by the Rivers of America (they gave out chocolate mini-Peeps). The Werther's trail is by the monorail (they gave out caramel apple flavored Werthers).
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Most of the treat trails consist of 3 or 4 stops, so it's possible to get a lot of candy! Additionally, the treat trail in the Golden Horseshoe and Rancho del Zocalo have special decorations. The Golden Horseshoe had creept portraits and skeletons, along with creepy music. Over at Rancho del Zocalo, they had Piratepalooza. There was a treat trail and you could also opt for the meet and greet. I saw Pirate Donald when I walked by.
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At this point, it was getting late and the party was coming to a close, so Figment headed to the Main Street Train Station to watch the Villains Good-Bye Show. The show starts with the undertakers leading the way for the carriages withe villains.
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At that point, the clock struck midnight and the party was over. It was time to head back to the hotel. On the way out, there were CMs handing out one last treat for guests...Dove minis (dark and milk chocolate). Overall, Figment and his family collected 11.6 pounds of candy, plus lots of bags of pretzels, Pirates Booty, Cheez-Its, and potato chips. There was a good assortment of candy this year...Snickers, Crunch Bars, Kit-Kats, Reese's Cups, M&M's, Whoppers, Milky Ways, etc.
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And then there was this year's AP Treat. It was a chocolate covered rice crispie pop (either dark or white chocolate) and a 60th Anniversary string bag!
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Mickey's Halloween Party, October 12, 2015
One of Figment's family members was lucky enough to go back to Disneyland for a second Halloween Trip over Columbus Day Weekend. Overall, the mid-October party was very similiar to the first party of the year.

Just as with the first party, there were signs up in the Esplanade reminding guests about some of the rules for MHP, letting guests know that DL was closing at 6:00 pm, and to warn guests that the party was sold out.
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Once inside the park, there were a few more signs.
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The Pumpkin Mickey Ballons were on their way!
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We got our wristbands at Frontierland. This time they had treat bags! Something to note...they were not providing wristbands or treat bags to children under 3. The CM said they do not need a wristband and that they did not have extra treat bags available there, but we could ask at the treat stations to see if they had any. So if you have a little one that will want to trick-or-treat, be sure to bring a bag for them.
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From there, we headed over to Toontown for the pre-party. Two and half of the pre-queues were already full (we got there around 4:45 pm). Once we got in, we headed over to Minnie and Mickey's houses for some early trick-or-treating. After that (and one ride on Gadget's Go Coaster), we headed over to the center of Toontown to meet the characters. There were three lines: Pluto/Goofy, Chip & Dale/Mickey & Minnie, and Daisy/Donald. We got to see Pluto, Mickey & Minnie, and Donald.
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We wandered over to Critter Country (visited the treat trail that winds along the walkway to Critter Country) and thought about meeting some characters, but the line was really long and slow. So we skipped it, but we did see Eeyore and Rabbit along with Tigger out at the meet and greet.
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We opted to watch Paint the Night this time. We found a spot about an hour before the parade started (Hub end of Main Street, sitting on the street) and settled in for the long wait. It wasn't as crowded as a non-MHP night, but the route still filled in pretty quickly. After the parade (which was the same), we moved to behind the reserved viewing area for Halloween Screams. I haven't watched the fireworks from that close in a while. While the view of the castle was pretty good, there was a tree that got in the way of the globe and some of the lower elements. Overall, I think either you have to be in front of hte Partners Statue or further back on Main Street to avoid having trees in the way. From there, we headed off to see the Cadaver Dans (same song list) and then we did some trick-or-treating.
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One thing I did notice was that the party felt a little different depending on when it starts. The general advice is that the lines are shorter at the end of the party (i.e., after fireworks). While both parties last five hours, the one starts at 7:00 pm has two hours after the fireworks for trick-or-treating, characters, entertainment, and attractions. The 6:00 pm parties only have one hour after fireworks (10:00 pm to 11:00 pm). So in that way, the parties that started earlier felt shorter even though the characters and trick-or-treating started at 6:00 pm. Part of is that the first activity (Monster U Dance Party) didn't start until 7:45 pm, so aside from characters and trick-or-treating there isn't a lot of MHP-specific stuff to do in the first two hours of the party that starts at 6:00 pm.

It's hard to explain, but it felt like those first two hours weren't as "efficient" as having two hours after fireworks to trick-or-treat, ride attractions, meet characters, etc. So, if possible, I would recommend going to a party that starts at 7:00 pm (unless you have little ones that won't last until midnight, then it's probably better to go the party that starts at 6:00 pm).

Don't get me wrong, overall, we had a lot of fun at MHP even though it was pretty warm (and humid)! I would happily go back to MHP (on any night).
 
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Grand California Hotel Spooky Tree
They had the Gingerbread House for Christmas and the Castle for the 60th and now they have a entirely edible Spooky Tree in the lobby of the Grand Californian Hotel.
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At first galance it might just look like a tree with a Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin on top, but there was a lot of details and neat elements on and around the tree. There was a poison apple...
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And a spider...
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And an owl...
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And a crow/raven...
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And they even had Dr. Facilier's token!
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Update...I was lucky enough to return to DLR last weekend and I went back and checked out the GCH's Spooky Tree to hunt for Hidden Mickeys and see if the signboard was up.
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They had also added a fair amount of accent elements to the tree. There were now rats around the base of the tree. Spiders and bats were on the tree itself.
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These pumpkins were there last time, but I didn't notice the details like the fish for eyes on this one.
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I also went hunting for Hidden Mickeys. I didn't find them all, but the ones I found were mostly on three trunk, in the rocks, and on the leaves.
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Big Thunder Ranch
This will be the last year for the Ranch...already the Jamboree area was closed off and there were no pumpkin carvers or Halloween Carnival. Still, the areas accessible to guests were decked out for Hallowen!
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Even though it's not open to the public, there were still a few Halloween decorations in the Jamboree area.
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General Decor Throughout the Park
While not as extensive as the Holidays, Disneyland Resort still puts out some Halloween decor.

Esplanade - The ticket booths have HalloweenTime posters. Each character has something diamond-y to tie into the Diamond Anniversary Celebration. The Evil Queen has diamonds in her crown, the Cheshire Cat has diamond eyes,
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Ticket Gates - On top of the ticket gates are the giant Mickey and friends pumpkins! They light up at night.
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Main Street - The blue and white bunting from the 60th has been replaced with the Halloween bunting! Some of the light posts have the pumpkin Mickey sign, while others still have the 60th sign.
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Uptown Jewelery (part of the Emporium Complex) has hundreds of crows!
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The Candy Palace has a neat ferris wheel.
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Winifred Sanderson's Book is in one of the Main Street windows.
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New Orleans Square - The interior of the French Market is themed to tie into Haunted Mansion Holiday, as is the Port Royale store.
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Dapper Dans - The Dapper Dans perform periodically throughout the day doing Halloween-Themed songs.
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Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy - Same attraction as last year, but always feels more intense than the regular version of Space (it's probably the music!).
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Ray Bradbury Tree - It's back this year.
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I am sure, I am really looking forward to it. DH and I have gone to a few of the Halloween Parties. This year we are taking my sister, BIL and there 2 kids. Super excited.
 
I don't remember...I'll have to look this weekend when I'm back (for a short trip with a different group). My guess is that they still have their scarves because the rest of the public area of the Ranch is decorated like normal.
 

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