HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #4

[Sherry E]

Hi guys- I apologize, I know I should know this but just want to make sure. I'm only at Disney for 1 day on October 12th and was hoping to buy a 1 day pass AND a MHP party ticket. Am I able to go to California Adventure during the day then at 3pm when gates open for the party use my MHP party ticket to go in? OR do I need to buy a 1 day park hopper? I hope not.... but just making sure. thank you!

Hello! No need to apologize -- we're here to help. You won't need a Hopper! Your plan will be fine -- just buy the 1-day/1-park pass to use in DCA earlier in the day, and then buy an MHP ticket to use in DL from 3 p.m. on through 11 p.m.

hmmmmm. I just feel like with all the stuff being left out that it might not be worth going. But I feel bad because we promised my niece.

Well, I think the party is still worth doing (especially for your niece), even though Disney seems to be cutting back in some areas. The prices are too high -- that's for sure -- but it's a fun party.

 

[kappyfamily]

Hello! No need to apologize -- we're here to help. You won't need a Hopper! Your plan will be fine -- just buy the 1-day/1-park pass to use in DCA earlier in the day. and then buy an MHP ticket to use in DL from 3 p.m. on through 11 p.m.



Well, I think the party is still worth doing (especially for your niece), even though Disney seems to be cutting back in some areas. The prices are too high -- that's for sure -- but it's a fun party.

thank you I appreciate the quick response!

 

[AussieCaribou]

Wow, so much has changed from when I went two years ago. I can't believe that the carnival has been removed...and no pre-party?

I went to the website to check out the offerings and in the Halloween Time at Disneyland it says that we can drop in on Tower of Terror for a spooky surprise. Does anyone know if this means that they are doing some sort of Halloween overlay? Or is it just a 'spooky ride' so add it to the list?

thanks
AussieCaribou

 

[Sherry E]

thank you I appreciate the quick response!

You're very welcome -- I'm glad it will work out for you!

Wow, so much has changed from when I went two years ago. I can't believe that the carnival has been removed...and no pre-party?

I went to the website to check out the offerings and in the Halloween Time at Disneyland it says that we can drop in on Tower of Terror for a spooky surprise. Does anyone know if this means that they are doing some sort of Halloween overlay? Or is it just a 'spooky ride' so add it to the list?

thanks
AussieCaribou

I am very sad about the loss of the Carnival -- and especially about the loss of the pumpkin carvers (who were there even before there was a Carnival), and possibly the loss of the goats in Halloween scarves at the Ranch.

As for the pre-party... I wouldn't count that out just yet. I don't fully trust Disney, even though they claimed via email that there would be no pre-party. We may still see a pre-party pop up somewhere, even if not in Toontown or at the Ranch.

Here I go being Debbie Downer again -- -- but sadly, no... I don't think Tower of Terror will get a Halloween overlay. They always throw ToT into the mix when listing off things to do for Halloween Time -- simply because it is a scary ride. At one time there used to be some Halloween décor inside, before boarding, but I think that's been gone for a long time.

Are you by any chance looking at the Australian version of the DLR website? On the one I am looking at, it only says "Drop in for ghostly encounters and hair-raising thrills at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror." I know that sometimes the descriptions and wording can be slightly different on the Australian version of the site (and the calendar dates sometimes appear earlier too).

 

[DnA2010]

I wonder how Disneyland justifies increasing the price while decreasing the value. I mean, obviously we are all still paying. But for them to increase the price just because they "can" is sad. I'm still hoping they surprise us with SOMETHING new that justifies the cost a little more.

Me too...for those of us heading down for the first time, it's disappointing to read of the things being cut out...

 

[kandeebunny]

This is out first MHP, we do MNSSHP at WDW annually (like 3-4 times a season lol!) My kidlet has multiple allergies, at WDW if we stop at City Hall they have allergen free treats, is this the same at DLR?

 

[tzeitel]

Picked up the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas and Ray Bradbury's book The Halloween Tree in preparation for our trip in October!

I got The Halloween Tree a few days ago at the library!

 

[bwang123]

This is out first MHP, we do MNSSHP at WDW annually (like 3-4 times a season lol!) My kidlet has multiple allergies, at WDW if we stop at City Hall they have allergen free treats, is this the same at DLR?

interested in this as well. at our 1st MNSSHP, at City Hall they gave my son a $25 gift card to be used in the candy stores during the party. He has egg, nut, milk allergies and we loved that they did this for him.

 

[rwhistler92]

I have never heard of this at Disneyland. They do have healthy options at most Trick or Treat stand (carrots, craisians, apples....)

interested in this as well. at our 1st MNSSHP, at City Hall they gave my son a $25 gift card to be used in the candy stores during the party. He has egg, nut, milk allergies and we loved that they did this for him.

 

[Sherry E]

I have never heard of this at Disneyland. They do have healthy options at most Trick or Treat stand (carrots, craisians, apples....)

I was just going to say the exact same thing. Perhaps City Hall can shed more light on any allergen-free sweet treats to be had, but there are most definitely the healthy treats you mentioned at many (if not all) of the treat stations.

 

[keishashadow]

Yeah... we are getting the short end of the stick, as far as Halloween Time goes. I don't mean to be Debbie Downer, but I can't help but notice how many things have been removed from the Halloween Time offerings since I first started enjoying them back in 2007. It's just the reality of the situation -- a lot of things have vanished. This year is an especially weird year for Halloween Time (and probably the holidays too) because of not only the Diamond Anniversary celebration, but also the plans for Star Wars Land -- which automatically wipe out the Carnival. It seems like Halloween Time is really just being reduced to a hard ticket party. And with all of the coming construction happening in DL over the next few years, I tend to wonder if Halloween Time will return to DCA in some form or another.

Since it will be our first visit to DL during Halloween season I can't say that I will 'miss' anything (it's all new & exciting to me, especially the Halloween overlay of HM). However, I was looking forward to seeing many of the special parts of the party that appear to be disappearing.

One of the things that makes DL really special IMO is the historical aspect & traditions you can only find there. It would be a real shame if the parks become cookie-cutter versions of each other.

It has to be disheartening to see many cherished traditions go by the wayside...feel for you guys.

 

[Sandi E]

I need some advice! We are going to be at DL from Tuesday 10/6 at about noon (my birthday!) through the afternoon of Sunday 10/11. We have MHP tickets for Wednesday. We want to do BB Fantasmic, and Wine Country WOC. We are thinking Thursday night for Fantasmic, leaving Friday or Saturday for WOC. I believe there is a MHP on Friday.
So, would it make more sense to do WOC on Friday night, since we'll have to leave DL early anyway when MHP starts? Or Saturday night because DL will likely have nightmarish crowds that night and we'll be happy to get out of there anyway?

Thanks!!!!

 

[stephanie22]

Has anyone noticed that the park hours for non party nights through October 8th go much later than in previous years, do you think this is due just to the special 60th fireworks and parades, or do you think it's going to be that much busier this year?

 

[haileymarie92]

I need some advice! We are going to be at DL from Tuesday 10/6 at about noon (my birthday!) through the afternoon of Sunday 10/11. We have MHP tickets for Wednesday. We want to do BB Fantasmic, and Wine Country WOC. We are thinking Thursday night for Fantasmic, leaving Friday or Saturday for WOC. I believe there is a MHP on Friday.
So, would it make more sense to do WOC on Friday night, since we'll have to leave DL early anyway when MHP starts? Or Saturday night because DL will likely have nightmarish crowds that night and we'll be happy to get out of there anyway?

Thanks!!!!

I'm not sure if the schedule is out for this time frame yet, so take this with a grain of salt. But I don't believe Fantasmic will be playing on a Thursday. Typically in the off season (this is technically off season), Fantasmic is only presented Fri-Sun. I don't know if having a Friday party changes that, though.

I would suggest Wine WOC on the Friday that you aren't going to the party. And BB Fantasmic on the Saturday.

 

[mummabear]

It is a sneaky way of handling it -- assuming that this is all true, and that the reason why Toontown is showing as unavailable after 9/13 is because it is scheduled for a "makeover" (which is one way of putting it)! I have seen many comments online -- even before the suspicious absence of Toontown from the DLR site -- saying that the little ones will wonder why Mickey doesn't have a home if Toontown goes away. Jaded, hardened adults may scoff at that, but it shouldn't be discounted that kids may think that way. I guess -- if this all comes to fruition -- Disney probably feels that it will soften the blow just to keep Mickey and Minnie in Toontown, just to have an official meet area

I'm sure that they are looking that it went "well" at WDW when they removed toontown.
I don't think we ever set foot in the wdw version, even thought it was there our first trip.
I'm not a huge fan of the space, it is probably my least favourite area within DL park but I was looking forward to the pre-party.

I am starting to think it is worth an email to say "Hey, all this removal of party value while increasing the ticket price hasn't gone unnoticed"

 

[lorijohnhill]

In case anyone else was wondering, I was able to book and pay for the Discover the Magic tour with my Disney Vacation Account. I'll be calling on Sunday to do the same for the Happiest Haunts Tour!

 

[mom2rtk]

I am starting to think it is worth an email to say "Hey, all this removal of party value while increasing the ticket price hasn't gone unnoticed"

I was just starting to think that very thing.

 

[CassieF]

I'm not sure if the schedule is out for this time frame yet, so take this with a grain of salt. But I don't believe Fantasmic will be playing on a Thursday. Typically in the off season (this is technically off season), Fantasmic is only presented Fri-Sun. I don't know if having a Friday party changes that, though.

I would suggest Wine WOC on the Friday that you aren't going to the party. And BB Fantasmic on the Saturday.

Yes, from a performer fantasmic will not be running throughout the week until after Thanksgiving.

I've also hear from a reliable source that there will not be any replacement for the villain meet and greet, such as a small world set up. Just plan on the regular day time ones being around with possibly an extra non face character villain here and there

 

[iKristin]

Disneyland is only allotted so much spending money on events throughout the year. Seeing how much money they've spent on the 60th, it doesn't surprise me that they don't have the money to fund other things during the holidays. Kind of like what they did with Duffy. They took the funds it cost to have him as a walk around character in his own section with 2 cast members being paid to follow him and take photos, and put Oswald in his place. So they pretty much just moved funds from one character to another. I know Disney has a lot of money, but the company has a lot of money by setting limits like this. Yes, ticket prices increased. But not only are you getting Halloween experience (though, not the same experience as in the past) you are also getting the 60th experience, which is pretty special on its own...as long as you aren't a local and have already seen it a billion times lol.

Also, with the large expansions happening over the next few years, funds will definitely be moved around a lot. So don't be surprised if we start to see other things taken away because of this. It's bound to happen.

 

[mom2rtk]

Disneyland is only allotted so much spending money on events throughout the year. Seeing how much money they've spent on the 60th, it doesn't surprise me that they don't have the money to fund other things during the holidays. Kind of like what they did with Duffy. They took the funds it cost to have him as a walk around character in his own section with 2 cast members being paid to follow him and take photos, and put Oswald in his place. So they pretty much just moved funds from one character to another. I know Disney has a lot of money, but the company has a lot of money by setting limits like this. Yes, ticket prices increased. But not only are you getting Halloween experience (though, not the same experience as in the past) you are also getting the 60th experience, which is pretty special on its own...as long as you aren't a local and have already seen it a billion times lol.

Also, with the large expansions happening over the next few years, funds will definitely be moved around a lot. So don't be surprised if we start to see other things taken away because of this. It's bound to happen.

Except that all of that 60th anniversary stuff has probably paid for itself already in extra crowds through the gates.