Here is my trip report from October 9-11. We have attended the Halloween party many times before but it has been two years since our last one so it was exciting to see the changes. My parents live in LA and come down for the party to be with us. We had three unexpected and amazing interactions with cast members that made the weekend even more amazing.
We arrived Thursday evening. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on Harbor Blvd and it worked out really well. There is a Mimi's cafe in their parking lot so we ate breakfast there Friday and Saturday morning and the walk was about 10 minutes but the bag check/security lines seemed a lot less on that side of the plaza. We got a great room with two queen beds and a set of bunk beds, there were double sinks in the bathroom and also two showers so there was plenty of room to spread out. They have a very small pool but also two water slides and a splash park which was wonderful with the heat. As others have said it was 100+ everyday we were there.
Friday- We hit
Disneyland at rope drop. We headed right to the HM but it was not open yet so we walked on SM, Winnie the Pooh, and Pirates and grabbed fast passes for IJ before heading back to the HM which was now open. We love the TNBC overlay and I had heard about the hat box ghost returning so we were on the look out for him.
Headed over to do Jungle cruise, used our fast passes for IJ and then waited about 10 minutes to do BTM. We then headed back to Big Thunder Ranch as we wanted to see all the carved pumpkins, but they were not there this year. I spoke with a cast member who told me that because BTR is going to be closed as of January for the construction of Star Wars Land, they did not do anything with it this year. That is why they moved the villains etc. And they would not be doing anything with it for Christmas either. We then headed into TT to ride RRS and gadget coaster which we basically walked on. We waited about 15 minutes for small world and then headed to Main Street for lunch. We ate at the Plaza Inn as I love their fresh tossed cobb salad. While we were sitting and eating a cast member walked over and gave both my boys (ages 9 and 12) two chocolate Mickey cupcakes and told us to enjoy. That made them smile!
We headed out of the park at that point for a few hours at the pool and then to get ready for the Party that night. We had dinner reservations at Tortilla Joe's for four pm and that worked out great as we were out of there by 5:30 and had no lines getting back into the park and getting our wristbands. We had decided early on we were not going to do any rides, we wanted to meet characters and my boys wanted candy. And our costumes while perfect for walking around and great for the heat were not the best for rides. We were S'mores and I cannot tell you how many people told us what awesome costumes we had. We headed straight for TT and while my mom and I waited in line to see Mickey DH and the boys did all the treat trails many times. As people have said Mickey and Minnie rotate with Chip and Dale and Pluto and Daisy. We got lucky and about five people ahead of us they switched back to Mickey and Minnie so we got our picture with them. We hit several more treat trails but by about 8:30 my parents had it so they found a bench on the outside of the hub right in front of Pixie Hallow. So they saved our places while we hit up many more treat trails.
We also went into the Little Green Men store to get pins. They had plenty of Party pins and other Halloween pins, but they are behind the cash register this year so you have to ask for them. The cast member told us our costume was so creative and asked how much longer we were at the park. We said until Monday. While she was ringing up our pins she picked up the phone and made a phone call. DH and I were worried about a problem with our credit card as she started asking DH for his full name, how many of us were there etc. Finally she hung up and told us that she had just called and arranged for us to watch the PTN night parade and fireworks on Sunday from the VIP section. We were blown away and thanked her profusely.
We headed back about 9:15 and by then there was not a spot to be had. We watched the PTN parade and it was amazing. I was never a fan of the Cavalcade so I was more than happy to see this one. We all loved the parade and right after it was over my DH and boys were able to get onto the street to see the Halloween Screams fireworks from right in front of the castle. I decided to stay with my parents on the bench that the cast members moved onto the street and while we could see the fireworks we could not see the castle or balloon.
We then hit more treat trails and caught the end of the Dapper Dans as we were going along the treat trail in NOS. By then we were all beat and decided to call it a night. So we headed out about 10:45. When we got to the front the line for the Villains was at least an hour long and had been closed by cast members so if this is a priority get there early and wait.
Saturday was an early magic hour at CA and we wanted to sleep some so we decided to do Disney again. It was definitely busy and so hot but we were able to get on most of the rides with getting fast passes to come back for SM and ST after dinner. Again we headed out of the park about 1 and hit the pool up again for a few hours. We had dinner reservations at Naples for 5:30 so we are there, then went back into DL to do SM and ST and get whips for dessert. Then we headed across to CA to see World of Color, where a friend of mine who works for Disney had arranged for us to watch it. It was an amazing show and I love the changes they have made to it incorporating all the movies and using the lights all over the rides.
Sunday morning was the CHOC walk so the parks were opening at 10 am which meant some sleep for us. We headed out of the hotel about 8 thinking we would do breakfast at Mimi's again. Well it was packed so we figured we would head over to DD and grab something. Wrong again. By the time we got through bag check we noticed the lines for CA already about 30 deep. So I sat down in line and told my DH to take the kids for something and bring me back something. Well that was not happening either as the lines from DD into the plaza were a sea of humanity. Luckily we had some snacks with us so we munched. Well due to the crowds they ended up opening up CA at 9:30 instead. We ran to get fast passes for RSR and then ran to the line and got on in about 20 minutes. Then we hit up breakfast at Flo's, which was actually very good. We then used our fast passes and then headed for the pier area. We did TSM, CS and Mickeys fun wheel. Unfortunately the swings, zephyrs and the rapids were down all day so that was disappointing. We went over and got fast passes for Soarin and then did lunch Smoke Jumpers Grill. Love all the toppings for the sandwich and the shakes really are delicious. At this point it was about 3 and our fast passes were for 4. We were done so we handed off our fast passes to someone who would use them and headed back to the hotel intending to use to pool but promptly fell fast asleep. Luckily we woke in time to grab a quick dinner and then we headed back into DL where we watched PTN again and then the fireworks from the south hub VIP section. Sitting on chairs and being able to see the castle for the fireworks made it amazing and really did cap off a magical weekend.
Hope this trip report helps. We really loved the combination of the 60th anniversary and Halloween and only wished it had been a little cooler. If you want pins make sure to ask at the counter as we found them at both the Little Green Men and Over in the Fronteirland pin store, but in both places they were behind the counter. Also if we had not had dinner reservations we would not have had anywhere to eat. It made it so much nicer despite having to leave the park and come back in. And costumes that are adaptable to the weather are really the best. We had planned to wear jeans and long sleeves but upon seeing the weather switched to shorts and tees and were fine. Bring big reusable grocery bags if you have them as we filled five bags almost half full each. But peanut chews are definitely the most given out candy this year. When we left at 10:45 they were still giving out Dove chocolates but they were running low. Any other questions I will try to answer them
Heather
This is kind of disappointing. I've had two butterfingers and a package of whoppers that were not right. They were chewy/sticky, not crispy like they should be. They aren't melted either. Anyone else have any issues with their candy??
