HalloweenTime at DLR Info and Photo Superthread #3

[ludari]

I was thinking about heading Disneyland today (10/31/13) for Halloween (not MNSSHP) but I noticed the park hours are listed from 8am to 6pm. They are usually open until midnight so does anyone know what is going on?

 

[figment_jii]

I was thinking about heading Disneyland today (10/31/13) for Halloween (not MNSSHP) but I noticed the park hours are listed from 8am to 6pm. They are usually open until midnight so does anyone know what is going on?

There is a MHP tonight, so the DL closes at 6:00 pm. The party runs from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm. DCA is open until 8:00 pm.

During October, DLR is usually only open until midnight on the weekends (Fri-Sun) and closes around 8 or 9 pm on the weekdays. So, even without a MHP tonight, they probably would only be open until 8:00 pm.

On the off chance you really meant MNSSHP, then the MK is open until 7:00 pm tonight. That party runs from 7:00 pm to midnight.

Happy Halloween!

Disneyland Resort had lots Halloween themed treats and snacks throughout the parks. There were spider and Jack Skellington cake pops, there were bat cookies, there was everything from cute to gruesome apples, and even seasonal cupcakes! Lots to eat and try...

The spider cake pop...

The Mickey pumpkin cake pop...

Lots of round cake pops, including Jack Skellington

A bat cookie...

Apples...Jack Skellington, Pumpkin Mickey, Ghost Mickey, Witch Minnie, and something from the Evil Queen that I wouldn't eat rotfl!

 

[PHXscuba]

Happy I'm-in-a-sugar-coma-already-and-it-isn't-even-dark Day!

Thanks for helping make it a fun Halloween season with this thread!! Who's up for hitting the clearance rack tomorrow for some more candy corn M&Ms??

PHXscuba

 

[Lucrezia]

Happy Halloween, everyone!

 

[kmedina]

We went to the party at Disneyland on 10/25 and the one at the Magic Kingdom tonight. The MK one was WAY better and WAY less crowded. Despite a slow meal ending at 7:35, we got more done at MK. The ONLY thing I liked better about Disneyland is the trick or treating. At each party, we made it to two trails. At MK, one had two treat stops and the other had one. We left with virtually no candy. At Disneyland, there were so many locations in Toontown we left with enough candy to last a month.

My DH makes us leave right after fireworks, so we never get much done. At Disneyland, we did get a picture with Mickey and Minnie, watched the cavalcade, watched the fireworks and visited two candy trails. At MK, we did the two magic shots by HM, the PP in front of PotC, rode PotC, visited two candy trails, watched the fireworks and watched the parade. I also spent over 15 minutes for my SotMK card before the party started. The CM gave me a card for 2012 and 2013, so I felt special (until I read that others got the same perk).

All four trails had long lines, but only the one through Mickey's House in Toontown moved slowly. It was worth it too, since it had more than double the candy stops as other locations. My son could not get over Trick or treating through Mickey's House either.

Until my husband is willing to stay a little later (hopefully when our boys are older- they're 2 and 6), I would not likely return to either party. We had a fantastic time, but it is a large investment for 2.75 hours (technically 3 at Disneyland, since we made 15 minutes of the Toontown pre-party. We were walking out the gates of both parties by 9:45pm. Thanks to a quick boat at MK and staying on property at Disneyland, we were back to our hotels by 10pm each night too. That was nice.

Everyone should experience the party once if they can. I heard a lady on the bus to the MK inform another lady that she should not have bought a ticket to the party. She was having a late dinner and getting out in time to watch the parade and fireworks. She proceeded to tell her they only check wristbands for rides bad trick or treating. No wonder the parades are so crowded!

The ride lines at the Disneyland party were insane all night on 10/25. I never saw the HM or PotC posted at less than 30 minutes. We did however get a decent spot (second row) in the hub to the 8:30 cavalcade around 8:15.

The ride lines at the MK party were much better. We basically walked onto PotC (less than a two minute wait). Haunted Mansion was posted as 25 minutes, which would have been possible had we not left dinner 35 minutes into the party. Our parade spot was not as great. Despite the much longer route, we were toward the beginning in a second row spot. We arrived at 7:50 for the 8:15. I wonder if arriving at 7:45 would have gotten us a better location or at least the front row.

Lesson. Do not eat dinner after 5pm for an MK party or 4:15pm for a Disneyland party. The Toontown pre party starts at 6pm, so it would have been nice to catch more of that.

 

[mom2rtk]

Everyone should experience the party once if they can. I heard a lady on the bus to the MK inform another lady that she should not have bought a ticket to the party. She was having a late dinner and getting out in time to watch the parade and fireworks. She proceeded to tell her they only check wristbands for rides bad trick or treating. No wonder the parades are so crowded!

That lady was misinformed. I have been to 11 hard ticket parties in the MK, including MNSSHP. I think they do a very good job of checking wristbands. They have ropes set up into every land and you cannot proceed without showing your band. They do ask to see bands for rides, but also for character meets. They walk the street asking to see bands from people sitting on the curb for the parade. Just last year at the Christmas party we went up into the train station to watch the parade and two separate CMs came upstairs and asked to see everyone's wristbands (many thanks to the 2 cheaters sitting in chairs in front of us who jumped off and ran off at that point, leaving us 2 chairs to watch the parade from!). I have heard stories from others on the DIS that they sometimes even check wristbands at restroom doors during the parties.

I do agree that at the MK ride lines stay short, even on a sold out party night. I have not been the MHP at DLR, but from the descriptions here it seems to me that rides and trick or treating seem to be the focus of the evening for many. At the MK, the focus is more on the parade, fireworks, shows and special character meets. I'm not sure if that's because trips to WDW are typically longer, and people get their rides in during regular park hours, or because the parade is longer and a bigger deal, but that's my impression.

What an great treat for you to have gotten to do parties on both coasts. I hope you get to go again when the kids are older and you can get full value for the ticket prices.

 

[ludari]

I went to both DLR and DCA last night (10/31/13) for Halloween and I had a great time. I arrived around 2PM didn't have a wrist band for MNSSHP and DLR closed at 6pm so I went over to DCA for a couple of more hours before that park closed at 8PM. I saw so many great costumes and I have to admit I had reservations about going on Halloween and I only waited about 10 minutes or less to get on all the rides I wanted including all the rides in Cars Land.

 

[figment_jii]

I heard a lady on the bus to the MK inform another lady that she should not have bought a ticket to the party. She was having a late dinner and getting out in time to watch the parade and fireworks. She proceeded to tell her they only check wristbands for rides bad trick or treating. No wonder the parades are so crowded!

I agree mom2rkt...while this lady got away with it, you aren't going to find that many folks at the party without the wristband. As much as it would be nice, short of completely emptying the park, there is really no way to ensure that every person who doesn't have a ticket leaves immediately after they finish their meal/last ride/etc. There have been threads over on the WDW board talking about how some folks do slip away from the CM escorting them to the front of the park after dinner and sadly that's just the way some people are. I've been there when the CMs were checking wristbands and sometimes you do see people that deliberately avoid the CM, or pretend to obey but in reality just move a little bit and then blend back into the crowd. It happens at both DL and MK.

The focus of the parties do seem different, but they're both a lot of fun in their own ways! MNSSHP has a much more impressive parade and the forecourt show, MHP has more trick-or-treating (almost everything is a treat trail), and the fireworks and character meet and greets seem about even at both venues (in terms of "quality" - not that they're the same).

I do think DLR's party feels more crowded, but that's also because DL is a smaller park to begin with.

 

[WestMom2two]

Were you in the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster line a little before 4pm on 10/21? I was dressed as Mike Wazowski and a woman dressed as Wonder Woman pointed to me and asked her little boy "who is that?" and the boy got a huge surprised look on his face and said "Mike!".

I don't think that was us. I don't think we did any rides when we entered the park for the party.

 

[rowan1813]

Sorry I haven't been on here since we got back from our Halloween trip - its been kinda crazy and this is the first time I have had a moment to DIS. I tried to look for everyone who was at the party but as you will read below, we were quite busy all night.

Here we are in front of the castle.




And in front of the Aurora and Phillip dancing bronze statue.



Our party on 10/23 was a complete success!!!! We had great spots for the fireworks, got some candy, and had a great time. We also got stopped for pictures 34 times by other guests!!!!!!! There were quite a few ladies who stopped us saying, "My name is Aurora, can I take a picture with you?" People were asking other CMs where we would stop to take pictures (as if we were characters). Even CMs were stopping us saying that if they weren't on duty, they would have taken pictures with us. We got stopped by a lady in the HMH line who (her and her husband) were dressed as the HM bride and groom (and they looked fantastic) who told us that as a "friend" to a former parade Aurora, we looked every bit the part and Disney should hire us.

Since I made all of our costumes (with exception of the wings and wands), I consider this the highest form of praise!!!!!

We also got stopped to take pictures with a lot of little kids and we kept getting hugged. At first we couldn't figure it out; many people kept assuming that we were from Cinderella. Then I figured it out; the little ones knew us from Sophia the First. Apparently the 3 Good Fairies are big characters in the show. I'm excited Disney is bringing characters from older films into popular shows for the next generation.

As far as the crowds went, I thought it wasn't very crowded at all. I know personal perception is everything but we to MHP last year during Gay Days weekend on Friday and thought it was incredibly crowded. This year, ROA wasn't the jam-packed mess it was last year. We waited approximately 20 min for HMH, maybe 30 min for Peter Pan (always crowded) and walked right on for SMGG and had a train all to ourselves!

We will definitely go to a middle of the week party next year and I know that I definitely won't be making new costumes!!! I was so exhausted after all of this- 45 days to make 3 custom dresses (plus 1 mock-up to make sure my ideas worked), 3 petticoats to fluff out the skirts, 3 capes, and 3 hats. We may have a Maleficent go with us next year so I think I better get started now!

 

[PHXscuba]

Sorry I haven't been on here since we got back from our Halloween trip - its been kinda crazy and this is the first time I have had a moment to DIS. I tried to look for everyone who was at the party but as you will read below, we were quite busy all night.

Here we are in front of the castle.




And in front of the Aurora and Phillip dancing bronze statue.



Our party on 10/23 was a complete success!!!! We had great spots for the fireworks, got some candy, and had a great time. We also got stopped for pictures 34 times by other guests!!!!!!! There were quite a few ladies who stopped us saying, "My name is Aurora, can I take a picture with you?" People were asking other CMs where we would stop to take pictures (as if we were characters). Even CMs were stopping us saying that if they weren't on duty, they would have taken pictures with us. We got stopped by a lady in the HMH line who (her and her husband) were dressed as the HM bride and groom (and they looked fantastic) who told us that as a "friend" to a former parade Aurora, we looked every bit the part and Disney should hire us.

Since I made all of our costumes (with exception of the wings and wands), I consider this the highest form of praise!!!!!

We also got stopped to take pictures with a lot of little kids and we kept getting hugged. At first we couldn't figure it out; many people kept assuming that we were from Cinderella. Then I figured it out; the little ones knew us from Sophia the First. Apparently the 3 Good Fairies are big characters in the show. I'm excited Disney is bringing characters from older films into popular shows for the next generation.

As far as the crowds went, I thought it wasn't very crowded at all. I know personal perception is everything but we to MHP last year during Gay Days weekend on Friday and thought it was incredibly crowded. This year, ROA wasn't the jam-packed mess it was last year. We waited approximately 20 min for HMH, maybe 30 min for Peter Pan (always crowded) and walked right on for SMGG and had a train all to ourselves!

We will definitely go to a middle of the week party next year and I know that I definitely won't be making new costumes!!! I was so exhausted after all of this- 45 days to make 3 custom dresses (plus 1 mock-up to make sure my ideas worked), 3 petticoats to fluff out the skirts, 3 capes, and 3 hats. We may have a Maleficent go with us next year so I think I better get started now!

Amazing costumes! What beautiful work! I'm so glad you had a such a positive reaction, especially from the kids.

PHXscuba

 

[mom2rtk]

Rowan1813, your costumes are awesome!

 

[tksbaskets]

Sorry I haven't been on here since we got back from our Halloween trip - its been kinda crazy and this is the first time I have had a moment to DIS. I tried to look for everyone who was at the party but as you will read below, we were quite busy all night.

Here we are in front of the castle.

Love your costumes! So great and well made. Did you make them? WOW

Thanks for sharing.

TK

 

[DLmama]

Sorry I haven't been on here since we got back from our Halloween trip - its been kinda crazy and this is the first time I have had a moment to DIS. I tried to look for everyone who was at the party but as you will read below, we were quite busy all night.

Here we are in front of the castle.

http://s1363.photobucket.com/user/r...Disneyland 2013/DSCN2236_zps74f514b5.jpg.html

And in front of the Aurora and Phillip dancing bronze statue.

http://s1363.photobucket.com/user/r...Disneyland 2013/DSCN2241_zps429bc6f3.jpg.html

Wow! Your costumes are INCREDIBLE! Great job!

 

[vladimir p]

Sorry I haven't been on here since we got back from our Halloween trip - its been kinda crazy and this is the first time I have had a moment to DIS. I tried to look for everyone who was at the party but as you will read below, we were quite busy all night.

AHH me and my friend saw you a couple of times, once on alice and later i think at the snow white ride?? you looked awesome.
i remember one of you keep trying to fix something on merriweather's dress on the alice line. didn't knew you were from the boards or would have said hi.

 

[Corpsebride]

What is the trick to uploading pictures? I just uploaded my Halloween pics to Flickr......

Here is a video we made on Halloween .... enjoy!

http://www.magisto.com/video/bkATJVkAEDozBx5pYw

 

[rowan1813]

Wow!!! Thanks for all of the compliments everyone!

Oh Vladimir P I wish I could have met you! I always hope to meet a fellow DISer whenever I am at DLR. Yeah, poor Merriweather's dress was just a tad bit too long and I was trying to pin it up real quick so she wouldn't keep stepping on it. Unfortunately the tulle petticoat wasn't stiff enough to hold it up they way I had anticipated so I'm probably going to make another layer to poof it out more and I might have to re-hem it on top of that.

Mom2rtk - I have to specially thank you so much for the compliment! I have a slight confession to make: you have been my inspiration on this project. I have been a lurker on your threads and have loved the dresses that you have made for Katie and just how accurate they are. I tried to make them to the quality of something that you would make for Katie or your Etsy site.

Corpsebride - Loved your video! You guys looked so cute together! I can't help you on the Flickr setup as I use Photobucket but I think if you searched on here, you might find a thread to help. I found one for Photobucket that was really easy so hopefully there is one for Flickr.

 

[perlster]

What is the trick to uploading pictures? I just uploaded my Halloween pics to Flickr......

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=49273605&highlight=post+photo+flickr#post49273605

 

[mom2rtk]

Mom2rtk - I have to specially thank you so much for the compliment! I have a slight confession to make: you have been my inspiration on this project. I have been a lurker on your threads and have loved the dresses that you have made for Katie and just how accurate they are. I tried to make them to the quality of something that you would make for Katie or your Etsy site.

Awww....... what a sweetie. Thank you so much! I think you did a an awesome job!

 

[Corpsebride]

[URL="[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/204kns.jpg[/IMG]"][/URL]

Here are our pics from Halloween night. We had so much fun!!
And thank you Perlster for your help with uploading the pics! @Rowan1813 glad you liked the video.
So, the pile of candy you see in the pic. it is deceptively small looking. It weighed in at 18 lbs. Haa Haaa!!