HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #4

[DenaRox]

I'm here happily following along. Everything looks amazing!!!!!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Kilala]

Here's a few picture from the first week of October 2013.

I love the photos!!

 

[mummabear]

This is from Halloween 2005 =)






Halloween Opening 2012

 

[trishakay84]

Hi, everyone! I'm excited to follow this thread, since (if plans work out) we'll be taking our first Halloween Time trip to Disneyland the last week of September! We are usually Christmas trip people, going the first week of December for the past 2 years, but we just found out that I'm pregnant with baby #3, and due in December! So now the hope is for a September trip as a way to get DS6 & DS4 back to Disneyland before baby comes, because I'm thinking we won't get back again until baby is past the toddler stage. DS4 has been not so patiently waiting for his chance to ride RSR, as he's been just a little too short on our past trips. RSR is my favorite ride too, but I will happily sit this one out to experience Disneyland again sooner than later, and to see his excitement when he measures tall enough!

I do have a question regarding Cars Land in late September - will they play the Sh-Boom song for the neon-lighting at dusk? On our December trips, DH has been on Route 66 with DS4 during the neon-lighting, and DS6 & I missed it both years, but I'd rather hear Sh-Boom like in the movie instead of Winter Wonderland that they play during the holiday season.

Also, I've seen reference to a different set of fireworks during the MHP - Screams? I don't think we're planning to buy tickets for MHP, so we'd miss the Screams fireworks other than what we could see from the esplanade, but would the Remember Dreams Come True fireworks show on Saturday & Sunday? Our flight lands at LAX around 9am Wednesday Sept 24 and we fly out in the evening on Wednesday Oct 1, and I've been playing around with the plan as to which days will be park days, trying to avoid the busy weekend, but maybe going on Sunday would be okay if we get up early enough for rope drop, break for nap in the afternoon, and then go back.

Thanks so much for this thread!

 

[figment_jii]

I'm going to have to temporarily disappear and hope that figment_jii, Cheshirecatty, Kilala, Kristin (if she makes it over here), Bret/mvf-m11c, Vintage Mousketeer, crystal1313 and any other Halloween Time visitors jump in and tackle questions here as they come in...or I might never get page 1 finished!

Going on a trip or working on page 1? Come back soon either way!

I figured out that one party date would be October 14, after seeing a calendar that showed the DL MK closing at 7pm that night. But I don't remember where I saw that calendar, I thought it was the Disney site, but now I can't find it.

Disneyland Resort (DLR, which includes both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure) doesn't release their park hours until about 45-days in advance (6-weeks). My guess is that you were looking at a calendar for MK (Magic Kingdom at WDW) rather than one for Disneyland (DL). 10/14 is a Tuesday, so there is a good chance that there will be a party that night, but historically the party starts at 6:00 pm when it's on a Tuesday (7:00 pm is for Friday night parties).

Also, I've seen reference to a different set of fireworks during the MHP - Screams? I don't think we're planning to buy tickets for MHP, so we'd miss the Screams fireworks other than what we could see from the esplanade, but would the Remember Dreams Come True fireworks show on Saturday & Sunday?

Yes, MHP has it's own fireworks show called Halloween Screams! It's a very good show with special elements (including Zero!). Last year, the normal fireworks show during Sept-Oct was "Remember Dreams Come True", so that's likely to be the one showing again this upcoming Sept/Oct on Sat/Sun nights.

 

[Sherry E]

Going on a trip or working on page 1? Come back soon either way!

Page 1! I must get that at least partially finished!

I only wish I were going on a trip!

At least it's only supposed to be in the 80-degree range today. (<<<Those are words you will ordinarily never hear from me, unless there has been a crazy heat wave in SoCal for the last few days! You know it's been hot when I am relieved to see an 80-something day!)

I've gotten a little bit done on the Dining/Treats post on page 1 (though I gave it a different name than that -- "Ghoulish Grub, Terrifying Treats and Perilous Potions"!) -- it is not finished yet by any means, but you can see my progress so far. And I am in the middle of adding some things to the Other Things to Do ("Other Haunted Happenings and Spooky Sights to See...") post right at this very moment. I'll be sneaking things into the posts on page 1 quietly, behind the scenes, when no one is paying attention!

Thank you for tackling the questions and doling out the responses! I appreciate it.

ETA: I was mistaken. It's "only" above 90 degrees today, Not in the 80's, as previously stated.



Welcome to I'm mikey, Dena, Trisha, mummabear, eileenkeeney and Alohagirl73 (I don't think I forgot anyone)!!! Thank you for joining us!

​

 

[mummabear]

Despite having gone twice during the Halloween season (although never for MHP sadly) I'm not sure if all the Halloween decorations are up for the first weekend of Halloween season in September or do they add more through the month?

 

[Mary484]

I think they're all up by the start date. There will be some before the official opening date, though. And be prepared that at the end of October, some Christmas decorations start to show up.

 

[Sherry E]

Despite having gone twice during the Halloween season (although never for MHP sadly) I'm not sure if all the Halloween decorations are up for the first weekend of Halloween season in September or do they add more through the month?

mummabear --

Yes -- everything will be in place by the first official day of Halloween Time (except MHP-specific things), and maybe earlier.

The official "Halloween Time" season, as it is now known, didn't actually begin with that name/title until 2006 (according to the historical dates I looked up online and posted towards the end of the previous Superthread that I found), so things were probably done a bit differently during the year of your first Halloween trip in 2005 -- meaning that the decorations were likely not out and on display by a hard start date in mid-September at that point. Haunted Mansion Holiday has been around since 2001, so those HMH-specific decorations would have been around on whichever date HMH opened in 2005.


As Mary484 said (by the way, welcome, Mary!), some of the holiday season decorations do, indeed, appear before October 31st -- which I referenced in Post #1/Page 1 of this thread and in the Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread this way: "There is even a rather fun 'colliding holidays'/crossover period of time in which pumpkins still dot the Disneyland landscape while wreaths and garland slowly move in."

This is a necessity, as the holiday season is a major, all-encompassing, resort-wide undertaking at DLR and the decorations process has to start early or it would never be done on time.

I was told by a CM last year that DLR tries to handle the holiday decorations transition in a way where that certain things make sense. In other words, they're most likely not going to place Christmas trees side by side with pumpkins, but the snow appearing on the Castle is something that can signal the changing of the seasons and weather in certain spots. In some places around the world, it will be snowing in October!

I think that, at one point, some of the New Orleans Square decorations were appearing before Halloween as well. I don't know if that still happens, but the masks seem fitting to me to be out and on display before Halloween.



That said, some of the Halloween things begin to appear in August! There have been reports of Halloween merchandise, in-store displays and window displays popping up in August. Some of the seasonal goodies begin to appear early too.

As for the more obvious Halloween decorations, the above-turnstile pumpkins appear earlier in the week before Halloween Time begins. So let's say Halloween Time begins on Friday, 9/12 this year -- and I don't know that it will, but let's use that as a date for the purposes of my example. If 9/12 were the start date, the turnstile character pumpkins would probably appear on 9/8, if not earlier than that!

The giant Mickey pumpkin that holds court in Town Square seems to appear within a day or two of the Halloween Time season start date.

The Halloween Carnival/Roundup begins to get its overlay a bit early, though the Villains probably wouldn't be there before the Halloween Time start date.

I'm not sure how early the pumpkins in the windows and on balconies along Main Street begin to go up.

In any event, all of the Halloween Time decor and events will be in effect on the start date of the season -- except for anything involved in the MHP!

 

[pixiepirate]

Hello and welcome, pixiepirate!

The Ray Bradbury Halloween Tree was introduced to Disneyland in 2007, if I recall. The tree itself may have technically been there (in Frontierland) before (I'm not sure) and was then dedicated in Ray Bradbury's name in 2007. It's a rather unassuming-looking tree in the daytime -- it is easy to walk past it and not even really notice. It doesn't particularly stand out, though the pumpkin ornaments on it all have interesting facial expressions. At night it's a whole different story, as it glows with bright orange-ish red lights.

SherryE, thanks for the info. What a nice tribute to Ray Bradbury. I will definitely check out the tree, both day and night. In the meantime I will try to scare up a copy of The Halloween Tree.

 

[trishakay84]

Thanks for the welcome, and thank you Figment for the fireworks info! Just going to quote my other question in case anyone knows the answer, don't want it to get lost in the shuffle Thanks again!

I do have a question regarding Cars Land in late September - will they play the Sh-Boom song for the neon-lighting at dusk? On our December trips, DH has been on Route 66 with DS4 during the neon-lighting, and DS6 & I missed it both years, but I'd rather hear Sh-Boom like in the movie instead of Winter Wonderland that they play during the holiday season.

 

[Sherry E]

Be sure to periodically check the posts on Page 1 of this thread, as I am going to continue adding to them over time until I am finished. Today I added info to at least 5 posts -- none of which are complete, but there is a lot of info there already (especially about goodies and about Haunted Mansion Holiday)!

Pay particular attention to the "Ghoulish Grub, Terrifying Treats and Perilous Potions" post (which is not complete). It's easy to assume that all of those blogs and articles that I linked contain the same photos and information -- not true!

In fact, every so often the Disney Parks Blog will release a detailed list of Autumn/Halloween menu items and snacks with some surprises, and the Disney Food Blog is forever coming up with lesser-known items to write about.

I've always suspected that there is probably a good handful of seasonal items that people are aware of -- maybe the things that can easily be seen on the shelves or in the display cases of the sweets/bake shops -- and a handful of seasonal items that people don't know about, such as items offered at the table service restaurants.

And if you are a big fan of Autumn/Halloween goodies, you don't want to miss anything!

SherryE, thanks for the info. What a nice tribute to Ray Bradbury. I will definitely check out the tree, both day and night. In the meantime I will try to scare up a copy of The Halloween Tree.

pixiepirate --

You're welcome!

Let me know if you come up with a copy of The Halloween Tree. I am so curious to know if those faces/masks on the plaque are characters in the story, or part of the story in any way!

Thanks for the welcome, and thank you Hydroguy for the fireworks info! Just going to quote my other question in case anyone knows the answer, don't want it to get lost in the shuffle Thanks again!

Trisha --

I think it was figment_jii who answered the Halloween Screams fireworks question here (maybe HydroGuy gave you fireworks info elsewhere)?

I wish I knew about the song! I have never been in Cars Land during Halloween Time, exactly when the lighting happens. I can tell you that, for the last two Halloween seasons, Cars Land has not been involved in the seasonal festivities at all -- unlike during the holiday season, when Cars Land is very much involved. So, assuming that Cars Land will not be celebrating Halloween Time again this year, I can't see why the song would change in September.

Things can always change -- maybe Cars Land will suddenly get in the Halloween spirit and themed songs will begin playing, but so far...nothing Halloween-ish in Cars Land, so I would guess that the non-seasonal songs still play. I don't think Winter Wonderland enters the picture until November!

 

[trishakay84]

Trisha --

I think it was figment_jii who answered the Halloween Screams fireworks question here (maybe HydroGuy gave you fireworks info elsewhere)?

I wish I knew about the song! I have never been in Cars Land during Halloween Time, exactly when the lighting happens. I can tell you that, for the last two Halloween seasons, Cars Land has not been involved in the seasonal festivities at all -- unlike during the holiday season, when Cars Land is very much involved. So, assuming that Cars Land will not be celebrating Halloween Time again this year, I can't see why the song would change in September.

Things can always change -- maybe Cars Land will suddenly get in the Halloween spirit and themed songs will begin playing, but so far...nothing Halloween-ish in Cars Land, so I would guess that the non-seasonal songs still play. I don't think Winter Wonderland enters the picture until November!

Ooops, I'm so sorry for the mistake. I had just read some of Hydroguy's rules and I think that is what mixed me up. So a big thank you to Figment for answering the question, and I edited my post above! *embarrassed blush*

And thank you also to Sherry for the Cars Land info as far as nothing Halloween-ish there, I will hope for Sh-Boom!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I'm a little late to the party but you know that I will be here as well. I can't believe we are now on the 4th HalloweenTime Superthread. Times goes by quickly and all of a sudden we are now on the 4th installment. As you know Sherry that I am more of the holiday season at the DLR but it is so amazing during the Halloween season.

Here are some of my contributions and many more on the Halloween Superthread

 

[Sherry E]

Ooops, I'm so sorry for the mistake. I had just read some of Hydroguy's rules and I think that is what mixed me up. So a big thank you to Figment for answering the question, and I edited my post above! *embarrassed blush*

And thank you also to Sherry for the Cars Land info as far as nothing Halloween-ish there, I will hope for Sh-Boom!

Trisha --

You're very welcome!

Oh, no worries! I goof all the time. I knew who you meant, but I wanted to make sure that figment_jii got the credit for giving you the answer...and not HydroGuy, who isn't even in this thread!

I'm a little late to the party but you know that I will be here as well. I can't believe we are now on the 4th HalloweenTime Superthread. Times goes by quickly and all of a sudden we are now on the 4th installment. As you know Sherry that I am more of the holiday season at the DLR but it is so amazing during the Halloween season.

Here are some of my contributions and many more on the Halloween Superthread

Bret --

Yay! You made it! Better late than never -- and, actually, this thread only started yesterday so you're not that late!

I figured you would get here sooner or later, but that you had been busy with DLR and with work. I've been linking some of your posts with photos in them, both in this thread and in the October Check-In thread, but I know that the followers want to actually see your stunning pictures (like the ones you just posted above!) on the pages of the Superthread and not just in links!

We couldn't have a Halloween Superthread or a Holiday/Christmas Superthread without you -- that's for sure! Everyone will benefit from seeing your wonderful photos, and gaining some insight on Halloween Screams. I get the feeling that there are a lot of newcomers to DLR heading to the MHP and Halloween Time this year, and Halloween Screams will be a big topic of discussion, I think.


By the way, I think I forgot to thank Kilala, mummabear and I'm mikey for posting their fantastic photos as well! We are off to a great start in this new thread, thanks to everyone here!

 

[tksbaskets]

I'm in! Thanks Sherryfor this cool thread!

 

[whoopsiedoodle]

Following!!! It's still a ways down the line, but we are planning a Halloween visit in 2016. We started our fund last week and the kids are so excited (But not nearly as much as this Halloween loving mama!!!!)

 

[Amilo]

FANTASMIC in October? (DLR): I was talking to the tours department yesterday, and she was noting that they only do Fantasmic fri, sat, Sun in October. I am not going to be there on any Saturdays or Sundays... the Friday will likely be a Halloween party... do they show fantasmic during the Halloween party? Or do they show it before so non MHP guests can see it?

 

[Kilala]

FANTASMIC in October? (DLR): I was talking to the tours department yesterday, and she was noting that they only do Fantasmic fri, sat, Sun in October. I am not going to be there on any Saturdays or Sundays... the Friday will likely be a Halloween party... do they show fantasmic during the Halloween party? Or do they show it before so non MHP guests can see it?

As far as I can remember they do not have Fantasmic during MHP.

 

[Amilo]

As far as I can remember they do not have Fantasmic during MHP.

I'm more inclined to believe you than the tour lady.... She really didn't seem sure about the answers she was giving.