Halloween or Christams?

[DisneyMax74]

Ok all you Disneyland fanatics out there. Which, in your opinion is a better season to go to D-Land? My wife has always wanted to see Disneyland all done up for Halloween so im planning our next trip for the last week of sept next year. But Christmas time looks awesome too. Factor in the my wife is always cold. lol (unless its 90 shes cold) Also my daughters love to swim, Dec is a bit cold for that as most hotels have outdoor pools. I wish we could do both but we most likely can not.

So which season is more fun/prettier/all around good time? As she really wants to see Halloween Disneyland thats most likely when we will go unless Christmas is just much better for some reason. Im sure they are both great...I mean....we are talking about Disneyland.

 

[CrazyDuck]

I prefer Christmas. It's prettier and it snows (bubbles). Also... it's the most wonderful time of the year! Your wife will get cold in October too! After thanksgiving and before christmas week is supposed to be the slowest time of the year therefore cheaper! Plus lots of refurbs in Oct too!

 

[Disneylvrforever]

Definately Christmas! It just seems so much more cheerful & magical during the Christmas season. Plus, there's more things to do & see during the Christmas overlay.

 

[dogwatch]

I seem to recall that the only big make-over of any ride or attaction during the halloween season is the haunted mansion and those basically just stay up through the christmas season because the theme is nightmare before christmas.

 

[Sherry E]

Christmas Christmas Christmas! Hands down. (Have you viewed our "Disney at Christmas" thread with all the wonderful information and photos?) No question about it. Christmas at DLR is a totally immersive experience. It's not just the beauty of the decorations and things, but the attention to detail in ever corner of the resort in the music and theming, plus you get the benefit of seeing the gorgeous Winter Castle and IASW Holiday lit up at night.

Halloweentime is fun and I like that DLR is doing more with it now, but it does not give the all-encompassing, enveloping feeling all around as Christmastime does.

As for temperatures, I was expecting this past Saturday night to be cold as it usually is in December (cold for California, that is), but I never even put my coat on. I was in a t-shirt the entire time. In SoCal, it is unpredictable. It could literally be 80 degrees one day in December and 50 degrees the next day (that is more or less what happened last week!). There is no way to tell which way the weather will go in November/December, but often times November is still very warm.

Christmastime is much, much, much better than Halloweentime. No comparison, in my opinion. Even the folks who do not celebrate Christmas agree that DLR is just so beautiful at that time (especially at night) that it cannot be missed.

 

[DizneyDogs]

Another vote for Christmas!!

 

[NWT]

We have been for both, and really enjoyed both. It really depends whether you are a "halloween" or "christmas" person.

 

[pixiewings71]

Christmas, definitely, and Halloween is hands down my absolute favorite holiday.

Here's a crazy thought, not sure if you could afford it but why not get Deluxe APs and go for Christmas one year and Halloween the following year? APs are good for 1 year so you wouldn't have to worry about tickets the following year.

 

[DanT]

Been to DLR multiple times at Christmas over the years and just went to DLR this past October for Halloween time...

there is no comparison....yes there are now lots of decorations, beautiful flowers etc for Halloween, but it just does not compare to the attention to detail, the elaborate decorations, lights, overlays for Christmas.
I think that DLR at Christmas is the most magical it can be any time of the year.

How can it get better, Christmas in Disneyland

 

[Jigsaw]

When I went in October a few years ago (the beginning of the month) basically the only thing they had was the Haunted Mansion was all Nightmare Before Xmas and the store in New Orleans had Disney villains.

When I went in December years and years ago they had the Haunted Mansion was Nightmare Before Xmas, they had xmas stuff in It's a Small World and they made it 'snow' on main street at certain times.

Thats really all I can remember, but I'd have to say Xmas would be best.

 

[DisneyMax74]

Christmas, definitely, and Halloween is hands down my absolute favorite holiday.

Here's a crazy thought, not sure if you could afford it but why not get Deluxe APs and go for Christmas one year and Halloween the following year? APs are good for 1 year so you wouldn't have to worry about tickets the following year.

Thanx for all the replies.

Actually ive been seriously considering buying an anual passport. I think what i'll do though, since the wife wants to see Halloween. Maybe ill buy APs, go in the end of sept/beginning of oct for the big trip then come back out in Dec for a two day trip. My daughters birthday is in the beginning of Dec, would make a great B-day present.

That way we can come back next fall before passes expire and not have to buy tickets again.

We like to avoid the huge summer crowds anyway.

 

[Eeee-va]

Visiting to see both Halloween and Christmas is a great idea! I greatly preferred Christmas this last time, but there are a couple reasons I'd be interested in Halloweentime (though I've never been). The fireworks for Halloweentime looked (at least in some ways) more impressive than the Christmas ones--I suppose that's subjective, but Zero the dog flying seems cooler to me than slight castle effects. And if I went I would HAVE to go to the paid Halloween party at DCA, just because wearing a costume to a Disney park would be so much fun! And there's the Space Mountain "Ghost Galaxy" overlay (it was there last year and I THINK it will be coming back?) that you can only see at Halloweentime.

That said, I think a short trip for Halloweentime would allow you to see pretty much everything there, if just SEEING things is your goal. If your family LOVES the villains and wants pictures with them, then I suppose Halloweentime would NEED more time. (If you like to stop and look at things, though, you could probably spend a full week in the parks looking at the Christmas decorations!)

If you're buying APs for a big trip, you might consider buying park-hoppers so you can use a Magic Morning one day, and then upgrade to APs later on in your trip. That would also help you get around blockout dates during your first trip, but you shouldn't have too many of those if you are taking your first trip in late September or in October. (If you ARE buying the APs to go in October, I'd consider going a little later than late September, so that if your family loves Halloweentime, you can think about going again the next year. )

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

We have done both and we like both so I would say buy the AP go christmas and the next yr go halloween. Halloween fireworks were great this yr.

 

[indiesgirl4ever]

Christmas hands down!

 

[Albort]

i feel bad for Halloween...

Ima vote for Halloween!!!

Its a different atmosphere, really varies on what you like more. Halloween fireworks imo are better. the Candy event is unique in a way because everyone gets to dress up!!!

 

[pixiewings71]

If you go for Halloween definitely do the party at DCA, soooo much fun!!! And the rides are open so remember that when planning your costume. We went this year, DD0 was a pirate, DD13 was the bride from the HM (Constance), DBF and I were Hercules & Meg, everyone knew who he was but no one figured out my costume, I was a bit annoyed....LOL

I think a longer visit during Christmas is better then a longer visit at Halloween. Aside from the Halloween fireworks (which are the coolest!!!!!) the parks are just more decorated for Christmas, more layovers too. But however you do it have a great time!

 

[hawky7]

If you go for Halloween definitely do the party at DCA, soooo much fun!!! And the rides are open so remember that when planning your costume. We went this year, DD0 was a pirate, DD13 was the bride from the HM (Constance), DBF and I were Hercules & Meg, everyone knew who he was but no one figured out my costume, I was a bit annoyed....LOL

I think a longer visit during Christmas is better then a longer visit at Halloween. Aside from the Halloween fireworks (which are the coolest!!!!!) the parks are just more decorated for Christmas, more layovers too. But however you do it have a great time!

I feel your pain on the costume thing. We did Mickeys not so scary halloween party twice at Disneyworld this october and we went as Jack and Sally from Nightmare before Christmas... everyone knew he was and then they'd be like oh and his girlfriend, but the SECOND I'd go anywhere alone, people would look at me like i was crazy ( I did my makeup and stitches and the whole nine just like Sally) but it was still so fun

So here's my vote on the original.... DO THIS Go to WDW for Halloween and DL for Christmas Actually as stated above we went to WDW for Halloween and went to the mickeys party TWICE because it was sooooo much fun, so if you could ever do both, thats what you should do....


But...if we're just talking DL here, DEFINATELY Christmas, there is nothing more magical than the castle all lit up and it snowing.... Brings a tear everytime, I know, I know, I'm a goober.

 

[DisneyMax74]

I feel your pain on the costume thing. We did Mickeys not so scary halloween party twice at Disneyworld this october and we went as Jack and Sally from Nightmare before Christmas... everyone knew he was and then they'd be like oh and his girlfriend, but the SECOND I'd go anywhere alone, people would look at me like i was crazy ( I did my makeup and stitches and the whole nine just like Sally) but it was still so fun

So here's my vote on the original.... DO THIS Go to WDW for Halloween and DL for Christmas Actually as stated above we went to WDW for Halloween and went to the mickeys party TWICE because it was sooooo much fun, so if you could ever do both, thats what you should do....


But...if we're just talking DL here, DEFINATELY Christmas, there is nothing more magical than the castle all lit up and it snowing.... Brings a tear everytime, I know, I know, I'm a goober.

Ha ha ha Actually, being that I live in Salt Lake City the snow brings a tear to my eye too. But not for the same reasons. lol We have some of "The Greatest Snow On Earth". Thats one of our state slogans. Its on our lisence plates. lol.

Im comming to DLR to get away from the snow.

 

[Sherry E]

I don't know if this has been mentioned already by anyone else (if so, I may have skipped past it), but the Trick or Treat Party at DLR does not start in September (that is, unless they change the schedule for 2010). You said you were planning your trip for the last week in September. Usually, the TOTP begins on the first Friday in October, but the overall Halloweentime decorations will be up before that. For example, this year the Halloweentime stuff went up on Friday, September 25, but the TOTP did not begin until October 2nd. In 2008, the TOTP started on October 3rd, but the Halloweentime stuff went up on 9/26. In 2007, the Halloweentime stuff actually went up a week earlier (like on 9/21) and I am not sure when the TOTP began.

As Pixiewings71 mentioned earlier, as fun as Halloweentime at DLR is - and I know that your wife wants to see DLR during that time - it is really more of a 2 or 3-day trip, whereas Christmastime is much more all-encompassing and thorough throughout DLR, therefore lending itself to a longer trip. One of our other wonderful DIS-ers, Prettyprincessbelle, stated it perfectly when she said that during the holiday season at DLR, you can literally close your eyes and still "feel the Christmasy in the air." Halloweentime is not like that. There are more and more decorations for Halloween going up, which is very cool and I do love it, but it is kind of just that for me - decorations going up and a cute little TOTP. But you don't get that immersive 'Halloweeny feeling" in every corner of the resort as you do during Christmastime. The whole resort - hotels, DTD, both parks, all the shops and all the restaurants - really captures that holiday feeling in every inch during Christmastime, so no matter where you are in the Resort, you know what time of year it is. (As I was standing in the line for Pooh the other day, I was appreciating the attention to holiday detail in each land, as I listened to "Deck the Halls" or something done in a kind of Country-Western style, whereas you could hear the same song done Calypso-style in Adventureland or a jazz version in New Orleans Square.) With Halloween, not so much. It is not an all-over Resort transformation for Halloween.

So if I were in your shoes, first of all, I would go in October (or at least make sure your trip crosses into the first days of October) to catch the TOTP, and then just stay for a couple of days, then make Christmastime the bigger trip.

 

[Ivette1980]

Well I went to D-world for Halloween a couple years back and on the next day Nov.1st my nieces first b'day, the parks were all decorated Christmas style. There weren't any xmas festivities going on just yet, but it was really nice to some of the parks decorated atleast.

Halloween there was pretty fun, but its really just one day, atleast with Christmas there something new going on everyday - I assume. I'm planning on a trip for Dec 2010. Can't wait. Im so excited already even bought d-land books today!! Good luck.