Firework dilemma!

[Rosalie1906]

Hi everyone, my partner and I are travelling to Disneyland this October, staying at Paradise Pier for 3 nights as part of our honeymoon from the UK. We've been to Disneyworld many many times but never ventured West, and I'm struggling trying to plan our itinerary around fireworks. Am I right in thinking the fireworks at disneyland do not take place every evening?
We arrive in the afternoon on Sunday the 19th October and are planning to use that evening to explore the hotels, downtown disney and trader sams which we've heard a lot about!
We will then have 2 whole park days and nights (Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st), on these two nights we'd like to experience the nighttime shows that both parks have to offer. However, I've just seen that the Halloween Party is taking place on Monday the 20th. My dilemma therefore is: do we do Disneyland on Monday the 20th including the Halloween Party, and DCA on Tuesday the 21st to see world of colour? Or do we do DCA on the Monday, and Disneyland on the Tuesday when there is no Halloween party to experience the regular scheduled fireworks? Will 'magical' and 'fantasmic' even be showing on this evening?
Sorry for the long winded post, I'm a total newbie to disneyland and want to fit in as much as I can in the short time frame! Really wish we had longer to stay but we're trying to experience a whole lot of the west coast while we're out there!
Thanks all if you can help me at all!

 

[Nonsuch]

...We arrive in the afternoon on Sunday the 19th October and are planning to use that evening to explore the hotels, downtown disney and trader sams which we've heard a lot about!
We will then have 2 whole park days and nights (Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st), on these two nights we'd like to experience the nighttime shows that both parks have to offer. However, I've just seen that the Halloween Party is taking place on Monday the 20th.

You might consider buying 3 day hopper tickets, the extra expense is minimal considering how far you are traveling
This will allow you to dedicate part of Sunday evening to Fantasmic! and "regular" fireworks, this will likely be your only chance to see either of these shows. You could even buy the Fantasmic! desert package.
(I'm very good at helping people spend more money )

 

[figment_jii]

As Nonsuch said, unless there is major change in the schedule from years past, fireworks (Remember...Dreams Come True), Fantasmic!, and Mad T Party will only be showing on Saturday and Sundays in October. WoC, on the other hand, should be showing nightly. On the nights of MHP, they show Halloween Screams fireworks. There is no Fantasmic. So if you really want to see Remember...Dreams Come True and Fantasmic!, you have to go to DL on Sunday. Otherwise, if you will still be able to see fireworks at MHP on Monday.

Fantasmic runs pretty consistently in October, but fireworks can be a bit more iffy. If the weather is bad (i.e., winds at the higher elevations), they may cancel fireworks. It happens not infrequently, so it's something to keep in mind.

If it's in your budget, I would also consider getting three day park hopper tickets so you can "hop" between DL and DCA on all days. It gives you the most flexibility.

 

[Geemo]

Hi everyone, my partner and I are travelling to Disneyland this October, staying at Paradise Pier for 3 nights as part of our honeymoon from the UK. We've been to Disneyworld many many times but never ventured West, and I'm struggling trying to plan our itinerary around fireworks. Am I right in thinking the fireworks at disneyland do not take place every evening?
We arrive in the afternoon on Sunday the 19th October and are planning to use that evening to explore the hotels, downtown disney and trader sams which we've heard a lot about!
We will then have 2 whole park days and nights (Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st), on these two nights we'd like to experience the nighttime shows that both parks have to offer. However, I've just seen that the Halloween Party is taking place on Monday the 20th. My dilemma therefore is: do we do Disneyland on Monday the 20th including the Halloween Party, and DCA on Tuesday the 21st to see world of colour? Or do we do DCA on the Monday, and Disneyland on the Tuesday when there is no Halloween party to experience the regular scheduled fireworks? Will 'magical' and 'fantasmic' even be showing on this evening?
Sorry for the long winded post, I'm a total newbie to disneyland and want to fit in as much as I can in the short time frame! Really wish we had longer to stay but we're trying to experience a whole lot of the west coast while we're out there!
Thanks all if you can help me at all!

You might consider buying a Halloween Party ticket for Monday. The HP ticket will get you in DL 3 hours before the party begins. This could give you 4 days in the parks.

Sunday Afternoon - Check in to hotel and head to DL for the afternoon evening. As Nonsuch mentioned this most likely will be your only opportunity to see both the regular Fireworks and Fantasmic! During the time you are traveling those two shows are usually only on the weekends. The Halloween Party will have special fireworks , weather/winds permitting.

Monday before Halloween Party do as you'd planned for Sunday.

We arrive in the afternoon on Sunday the 19th October and are planning to use that evening to explore the hotels, downtown disney and trader sams which we've heard a lot about!

Three hours before the party you could head to DL, enter using only the Halloween Party Ticket.

You'll have Tuesday and Wednesday in the parks this way. Tuesday and Wednesdays in October can be easier to navigate and quite enjoying.

We try to go Sunday through Thursday for our trips for this exact reason. We can catch the show that are only on the weekends and enjoy the dwindling crowd volume each day. Thursday is the exception, the weekenders begin arriving.

Geemo

 

[Rosalie1906]

Thanks everyone for your extremely helpful replies! Planning a DisneyWORLD trip is like second nature to me but I'm finding disneyLAND is a whole new thing so your help is much appreciated!
Just to clarify, we were originally intending to buy a 3 day park hopper pass to use on Monday, Tuesday and up until Wednesday mid afternoon when we leave for our next destination. However, it seems that per all your suggestions we should buy a 4 day park hopper ticket so we can enter the parks on Sunday night too, to see the regular fireworks and fantasmic. And then we'll buy MHP tickets for the Monday night also to see the special fireworks? Does this sound like a good plan to everybody? Then hopefully we'll get to see everything!! We've been to Mickeys not so scary Halloween Party in Disneyworld and had a great time, is the Halloween Party in Disneyland a very similar event?
I've also looked at the option of the WoC dining package, so if we were to go ahead with this for the Tuesday night, which of the 3 restaurant options would you recommend?
Once again I'm really thankful for all your replies

 

[figment_jii]

We've been to Mickeys not so scary Halloween Party in Disneyworld and had a great time, is the Halloween Party in Disneyland a very similar event?

Similar in some respects, different in others. I wrote up this comparison a few years ago:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49493997&postcount=2159

 

[superlarz]

I would for sure get the 4 day passes if that is in your budget.

If you still want to get 3 day passes, I would go Sunday, watch the fireworks Sunday night then head over to watch the second showing of Fantasmic. Spend Monday shopping/relaxing at Downtown Disney and go to MHP Monday night, since it is a seperate ticket. I would then use day 2 of the ticket on Tuesday and Day 3 Wednesday. The addition of a 4th day to a 3 day hopper is minimal ($24) so I would really go the 4 day pass route. Whether getting a hopper or not is up to you, depending on how much walking you want to do.

 

[zanzibar138]

You could do either 3 or 4 day passes and do:

Sunday
As others have mentioned, this will be your only opportunity to see F! and the non-holiday fireworks. Head into DL to see these.

Monday
Spend the morning at DTD, as you'd planned to do on the Sunday. The tickets to MHP will get you into DL late afternoon. Check out the Halloween superthread to get an idea of what you can expect at the party and Halloween time in general.

Tuesday
Do your WOC package. Personally, for such a special occasion, I would choose Carthay. We did it at Ariel's last time, and it was ok, but not special.

Wednesday
Spend some more time at DCA before heading off for your next flight. If you wanted to get 4 day passes, you could also choose to go to DCA on the Monday morning before the MHP.

 

[Rosalie1906]

Thanks so much guys, this has been seriously helpful, we'll definitely be getting the 4 day park hoppers and attending the Halloween Party - it's a special trip so I feel like it's worth splashing out for the extras!
We'll be doing the WoC dining package on the Tuesday night, but do you think it's also worth doing the fantasmic dessert package too on the Sunday night? Can you do the dessert package for the later showing of fantasmic and is it something we need to pre-book when we make our other dining reservations?
I've been reading up as much as I can on the internet, but are there any other must know tips you can share or any absolute must do attractions or activities I might not find out about?!
We'd originally planned in Trader Sam's for the Sunday evening, but as we'll now be in Disneyland that night for the nighttime shows we're going to have to reschedule. Is it open till late so we can pay a visit after fantasmic, WoC or the halloween party? Or is there another time you'd recommend we go there? Have heard so many good things about it we'd really like to go in and sample a couple of cocktails at some point!
Thanks again! Not long to wait now, getting really excited

 

[figment_jii]

Can you do the dessert package for the later showing of fantasmic and is it something we need to pre-book when we make our other dining reservations?

Yes, you can reserve the Fantasmic Dessert Package. In fact, it's usually recommended that you make a reservation for this one once you're sure you want to go. It's on the more popular side, so don't wait until the day of the event. HydroGuy's Fantasmic SuperThread has some info about it:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2671983

Is it open till late so we can pay a visit after fantasmic, WoC or the halloween party? Or is there another time you'd recommend we go there?

At this point it's open until 1:30 am, but the schedule for October has not yet been released. I would guess that it should be open late, but I don't know how late it stays open during the non-summer period.