HalloweenTime at DLR Info and Photo Superthread #3

[PixiDustDears]

I've heard that there are dance parties (I think in Frontierland and Tomorrowland) during the Halloween parties. What are these parties like? Would they be fun for a 6 year old, or are they for older kids/adults? Are there characters at the dance parties?

Same question for the Mad T Party (which is not limited to Halloween time).

We went to the Halloween party 2 years ago but we didn't do any of the dance parties at that time. We have done the Mad T Party though. My dd is 7 now and she loves it. She was dancing off to the side and some of the cast members( that were in the crowd getting people to dance) noticed her. They started following her lead and all of a sudden she was in a circle of people leading them in HER dance. Someone on stage (either the mad hatter or the white rabbit) told her what a great job she did. Since then we have always had to go back for at least one dance each time we are in the parks.

 

[siburdue]

I'm buying a 3 day park hoppet ticket and doing the party one night. I plan on doing 3 full days in the park and a separate day for the Halloween party. I would like to see fantasmic again also. I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth dealing with the crowds on a Sunday or not. I have no idea what the weekend crowds are like in the fall. We are also, going to Universal on either the Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday before we go to Disneyland.

FYI - you may not need two days at Universal. We were quite surprised at how much we could get done in one day!

 

[700]

We've done the Halloween Party the last 2 years and they were fantastic. First year we walked by one of the dance party's and thought it was a great place for teenagers and kept on walking. My DD was only 7 at the time so we kept collecting candy. It wasn't until later in the night we walked by again and we decided to poke our head in - OMG my daughter loved, loved, loved it!!! The smile on her face when she was dancing with the characters was priceless. It was one of the best parts of the evening. The following year we made a point to stop by. Everyone is different as to whether they will like it but I think you should definitely check it out. Just my 2 cents. Have a great time.

 

[dnamertz]

We've done the Halloween Party the last 2 years and they were fantastic. First year we walked by one of the dance party's and thought it was a great place for teenagers and kept on walking. My DD was only 7 at the time so we kept collecting candy. It wasn't until later in the night we walked by again and we decided to poke our head in - OMG my daughter loved, loved, loved it!!! The smile on her face when she was dancing with the characters was priceless. It was one of the best parts of the evening. The following year we made a point to stop by. Everyone is different as to whether they will like it but I think you should definitely check it out. Just my 2 cents. Have a great time.

Which characters do you remember seeing at the dance parties?

 

[awdsmama]

If you dress up in costume, or if your kids do, what have you gone as in the past?


My son, who will be 9 at the time, wants to be a "Creeper" from Minecraft (he is obsessed with that game lol)...I can't convince him to go as anything Disney or Pixar for the life of me!

 

[Sherry E]

Mickey's Halloween Party is the actual party, but there are character photo locations, dance areas (or stations, with dance floors), treat trails, etc., set up around/at the party. See SueTGGR's map post from last year -- http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46321904&postcount=838.

I notice that the dance areas are being referred to as "parties," which I think started in the Disney Parks Blog somewhere last year. That may be misunderstood or misinterpreted by someone who thinks that the dance parties are totally separate entities from the MHP. There are no actual separate parties, per se...which is what it sort of sounds like (to me) when it's referred to as that. (And Disney may be using that term in certain places, but I don't recall seeing the words "dance party" used for the dance stations at the MHP or in the map? I may have overlooked it on my map.). There is a Halloween party in which dancing takes place in a couple of areas. They'd be better off just saying "dance stations," to be honest!


I think that the fact that the Villains/13th Hour thing that is happening on 9/13 is tied in with something that is called a "dance party" is confusing the issue even further this year (or it will) -- but the event that is happening on 9/13 is not the same as Mickey's Halloween Party (it's a totally separate thing) so, for all intents and purposes, the event on 9/13 is an actual dance party in and of itself.

​

dnamertz --

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I saw characters dancing with guests, with each other and with CMs. It was really cute. I saw the whole Incredibles crew at one of the dance areas. I would imagine you'd see them at the Tomorrowland dance spot.

Pirate Goofy was one of the characters at the Piratepalooza spot last year. I think I recall someone saying that Donald was there at some point too, but I could be wrong on that. I think the characters probably depend on whichever theme they go with in the area.

The more interesting characters (or, at least, a bigger variety of them) are probably scattered about at the actual photo spots than at the dance areas, I think.

 

[Pinup Mommy]

If you dress up in costume, or if your kids do, what have you gone as in the past?

My son, who will be 9 at the time, wants to be a "Creeper" from Minecraft (he is obsessed with that game lol)...I can't convince him to go as anything Disney or Pixar for the life of me!

My whole family dresses for the party.

In 2011: DD went as Princess Jasmine, my mother as Medusa and I as Cleopatra
2012: DD was Alice, my mother the Queen as Heats and I as he Queens Solders (painting the roses red)
2012: we were on DCL for Halloween, which also hosts a party, DD was Cinderella, I was an Egyptian Queen and DH a Pharos

For 2013 I am planning on dressing DD as Tinkerbell, I will be Captain Hook and my mother an Indian.... DH is undecided.

I really do love that this is the one time that grown ups get to dress as their favorite characters and join the party.

Have you planned costumes for yourself

 

[awdsmama]

Have you planned costumes for yourself

Not yet. We are flying this time so trying to limit luggage and figure out a costume that doesn't take up much space.

 

[CasandraC]

FYI - you may not need two days at Universal. We were quite surprised at how much we could get done in one day!

I've heard that before. That's why I'm not worried about going on the weekend. We got really good deals on 2 day tickets thru Costco, so I figured we should take advantage of them.

Are daytimes of the Halloween parties busy? I'm debating on whether going during the day or not. Since I'll have a 3 day pass, I don't know if it will be better going all day M,W,Th or if I should go ahead and going during the day Tuesday of the party (that is assuming they have a party that day and I get a ticket). But, I am still considering going on Sunday too for the longer day and Fantasmic. I just don't know if the crowds are worth is or not. Probably not.

 

[Sherry E]

...Are daytimes of the Halloween parties busy? I'm debating on whether going during the day or not. Since I'll have a 3 day pass, I don't know if it will be better going all day M,W,Th or if I should go ahead and going during the day Tuesday of the party (that is assuming they have a party that day and I get a ticket). But, I am still considering going on Sunday too for the longer day and Fantasmic. I just don't know if the crowds are worth is or not. Probably not.

CasandraC --

I'll be interested to hear others' experiences/observations as well, but what I observed was that it was pretty busy, but not hideously crowded, on a Monday party day (that was one of those occasions in which a Monday party was substituted for a Tuesday party). However, as soon as 3 p.m. hit -- the time when the party ticket guests could enter the park -- and there was that 3 hours of overlap time (the party started at 6 p.m.), it was very, very crowded because there were both party guests and non-party guests in the park.

I expected to see a substantial drop-off in crowds once the party officially began and the non-guests left, but the party was not as un-crowded as I had hoped! It wasn't as crowded as it had been during the preceding 3 hours, but it was more crowded than I expected. (I think that Disney over-sells tickets.)

In general, though, it's not that bad during the daytime -- no worse than any other busy day, and not as crazy as like post-Christmas/New Year's Eve crowds or anything.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

Not yet. We are flying this time so trying to limit luggage and figure out a costume that doesn't take up much space.

You could always send your costumes to your hotel. Thats what we did last year, we found a site that had free shipping and when we checked into the hotel our package had arrived. It was awesome and saved space in our suitcases

 

[dnamertz]

Are daytimes of the Halloween parties busy? I'm debating on whether going during the day or not. Since I'll have a 3 day pass, I don't know if it will be better going all day M,W,Th or if I should go ahead and going during the day Tuesday of the party (that is assuming they have a party that day and I get a ticket). But, I am still considering going on Sunday too for the longer day and Fantasmic. I just don't know if the crowds are worth is or not. Probably not.

I'm having the same debate. I have 5 day hoppers and was orignally planning Monday through Friday the 3rd full week in October and also doing one of the MHP's one of those nights. Now I'm thinking we should not use one of the days of our park hopper on the day we do the party. Instead, maybe we would only do the party that night, and go to the park all day on the Sunday at the beginning of the week or the Saturday at the end of the week to get more park hours and see Fantasmic. I just can't decide whether to do Sat or Sun, and whether to do the party on a weekday or a Friday.

 

[dnamertz]

Has anyone ever done a opposite Halloween party trip. Do Disneyland from opening to party time. Then go to dca during the party. I did it last year and.it was the best. I did more that day than any other day ever. Everything was a walk on including the Peter Pan ride. It was Halloween day last year. I'm trying that this year too but on the 29. Just wondering everyone's experience with it.

I'm also looking for an answer to this question. Can anyone tell me how crowded the other park is (DCA) while any of the MHP's are going on at DL (including the 3 hour overlap when regular guests and MHP ticket holders are allowed in DL at the same time)?

 

[Mommavilla]

Hi Everyone

We will be attending our first Halloween party this year! yay! We will be there on Monday, first day the parties start. We're hoping it won't be too crowded. We are all gonna dress up, including DH! So I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions for easy costumes. I really don't want to have to worry about keeping track of accessories, masks, wands, etc., or put on a lot of face makeup. Just something simple for DH, myself, DS14, DD10, and DD20mos. Warning... All great ideas will be used ! Thanks!

 

[wdwmoose]

I'm not sure if anyone really answered, but I'll share my experience.

Littlest mooselet is obsessed with trains. He dressed up as a train engineer for MHP last year. He was drenched with sweat at the end of the night because he refused to take any portion of his costume off. Any hoodies, I know for a fact the tran was operating at the party, as we rode it many many times hat night.

Also, no Ghiridhelli chocolates were handed out on the trick or treat trails.

FPs were also not distributed during the party.

We were at the Monday party in mid October (the 15th or 16th, IIRC)

Oh, and the piratepalooza dance party was chock full of so many characters. It was insane. They had goofy, Pluto, the chipmunks, Donald, Mickey and I'm pretty sure Minnie, too.

Hope that helps somebody!

 

[dnamertz]

I'm not sure if anyone really answered, but I'll share my experience.

Littlest mooselet is obsessed with trains. He dressed up as a train engineer for MHP last year. He was drenched with sweat at the end of the night because he refused to take any portion of his costume off. Any hoodies, I know for a fact the tran was operating at the party, as we rode it many many times hat night.

Also, no Ghiridhelli chocolates were handed out on the trick or treat trails.

FPs were also not distributed during the party.

We were at the Monday party in mid October (the 15th or 16th, IIRC)

Oh, and the piratepalooza dance party was chock full of so many characters. It was insane. They had goofy, Pluto, the chipmunks, Donald, Mickey and I'm pretty sure Minnie, too.

Hope that helps somebody!

Great info, thanks.

Were there any specail Halloween effects/lighting on the train route during the party (or during the Halloween season in general)?

So, FPs are not distributed form the party, but are they still accepting FPs from earlier in the day? I'm wondering if its possible to get a FP earlier in the day during the 3 hour period prior to the party (if any FPs are still available that late in the day) and use it during the party?

Just watched some vidoe on youtube from last year's piratepalooza and it looks so cool....will definitely have to check that out.

 

[wdwmoose]

Nothing extra special about the train route/area. Just the same special that it is all year long.

I wasn't in a position ion to notice FP use, so no idea if grabbing them before the party would help. Sorry!

 

[Sherry E]

dnamertz --

Did you look up the Mad T Party on YouTube as well? If not, I'm sure you could find something on MTP there.

​

I have to admit -- the things I liked most about the MHP were the projections of various images (webs, spiders, pumpkins, skulls, etc.) on the ground, on various facades or on the Castle. I also really liked the fog and creepy lights in that path back by the Round-Up/Ranch/BBQ, and the fog blanketing the Rivers of America. The costumes are a lot of fun to see as well, and I like the extra decorations inside the Golden Horseshoe.

Also, the Ray Bradbury tree looks really cool when it is lit up at night, whereas in the daytime it is rather ordinary.

 

[rowan1813]

If you dress up in costume, or if your kids do, what have you gone as in the past?


My son, who will be 9 at the time, wants to be a "Creeper" from Minecraft (he is obsessed with that game lol)...I can't convince him to go as anything Disney or Pixar for the life of me!

BFF and I dressed up as Belle and Red from Once Upon a Time for MPH last year; not technically Disney but since ABC is owned by Disney, close enough. When I am on my laptop tomorrow, I'll post pics of our costumes and those I took of other people's. There were some really great ones last year when we went.

This year, BFF's sister is going with us so we have decided that we will be the 3 good fairies from Sleeping Beauty. Hopefully everything will go swimmingly with the costumes as I am frankenpatterning the pattern something awful.

 

[CluelessDisFan]

I read about what to expect for Halloween time, and now I'm concerned/confused. So if Halloween time officially starts Sep 13th, then will the rides that have Halloween overlays be completed by then? Because I do not want to have to tell my Mom that her favorite ride, that she hasn't rode in over 30 years will be closed. She was greatly disappointed by HM at WDW. Telling me during our trip that I was missing out on "the greatness of Disneyland".