HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #4

[2tinkerbell]

I think the Toontown Pre-party is Disney's best kept secret. Sort of like a certain upcoming trip

 

[ldymcbth]

If we conjure Maleficent during our DLR trip I will FALL OUT. That would be amazing!

 

[Sherry E]

Conjuring Maleficent (who DIS'er bearette saw on Saturday) would actually be much more interesting and worth standing in line for than Cruella or some of the other Villains who may or may not appear in the Conjure tent.

It sounds like there is a Sally Coffin Cake at the French Market in Disneyland -- according to the Disney Debit (Visa) email I got, which says "...Then, grab a bite to eat at the French Market with your Cardmember savings of 10% to pick up a Sally Coffin Cake..."

I am not sure if the Sally Coffin Cake was available last year? Maybe it was and I missed it. I know that in the past there has been a Jack Skellington Coffin Dessert/cake at the French Market, and even a different type of coffin dessert at Rancho del Zocalo. Maybe both the Jack and Sally versions are being sold this year, or perhaps just Sally? In any case, it's there.

The other "Fall news" tidbit I thought was interesting was the fact that pumpkin spice ice cream and pumpkin spice macaron ice cream sandwiches are being sold at L'Artisan des Glaces in Epcot/WDW. This sounds like a fairly new development.

As I mentioned to lorijohnhill the other day, Dreyer's/Edy's makes a Pumpkin Patch ice cream (which is available in stores right now), and Dreyer's is usually the primary brand of ice cream available at Disneyland Resort. It's not Pumpkin Spice, but it's still pumpkin-flavored.

However, to my knowledge, pumpkin ice cream has not been available at DLR in previous years. Peppermint ice cream for the holiday season, yes, but not pumpkin for Halloween Time. So I wonder if DLR will start ordering the pumpkin ice cream -- or if it is already there, lurking in some unexpected place right now -- for Halloween Time? Last year was such a fiasco as far as where, when and if the peppermint ice cream was available at DLR due to some "tub size" issues, that I wonder if Dreyer's would provide the right "tub size" for the pumpkin ice cream.

I think that if there is no pumpkin ice cream available at any of the actual ice cream shops at DLR, one place to look for it might be at the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ in DL, or maybe even the Blue Bayou (both of which had the peppermint ice cream last year).


ETA: I finally, finally saw my second Halloween commercial (I say that as if it is October 30th and I haven't see any Halloween ads, when really it is only September 15th!). The first one was the Frankenstein ad for Twizzlers, last week, and the one today was the trick-or-treat commercial for Kit Kat. I have not yet seen the Horseless Headsman ad -- which is one of my favorites -- nor have I seen any commercials for Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort!

​

 

[CassieF]

Maleficent was around on Saturday, splitting tent time with the Queen. Friday it was Cruella and the Queen, although I did see a picture of Hook as well on Instagram...?

Maleficent did get a nose/chin job this year, same as the pics that were showing up from WDW


She was quite the character!

 

[Sherry E]

Cassie -- Thank you so much for sharing those awesome pictures with us! Your little niece is so cute!

I love seeing Maleficent because she is not commonly seen at DLR. I think the fact that the movie came out really helped. Otherwise, I don't know if she would be Conjured this year. She was supposed to have been part of the Conjure tent last year, but I don't think anyone ever Conjured her!

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I forgot to mention earlier...

DIS'er Vintage Mouseketeer shared some photos of this year's Haunted Mansion Holiday (she visited DLR in the last few days) in my Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread -- HERE. (We had a New Orleans Square/Haunted Mansion Holiday theme week last week, so the new 2014 photos fit that theme!)


Also...

There is a fun hidden Mickey in HMH (there are probably several, but one that I know of for sure), but I don't think it is in the ride during Halloween Time. If the past is any indication, I don't think that the extra hidden Mickey on the ballroom/dining room floor appears until the holiday season officially commences -- or at least, not until later in the Halloween Time season.

Still, just in case... when you get to the scene with the gingerbread house on the table, look on the floor, towards the right side of the room. Somewhere in that general area -- although it moves around -- there is a Mickey shape that used to represent a snowdrift near a window/door, but then it appeared to be a smaller Mickey cut-out of cotton fluff under a Christmas tree. At times it has looked more like a white, puffy bathroom rug than a snowdrift. Again, I don't think it is there during Halloween Time -- or not this early, in any case -- but it can't hurt to look for it just in case!

You can see what the hidden Mickey looked like -- and where it was in Haunted Mansion Holiday -- in December 2013, in DIS'er Janet/mom2rtk's TR. The hidden Mickey is in one of the photos in THIS POST. Can you see it?

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[figment_jii]

Along with the seasonal Hidden Mickey, don't forget to look for the Monkey Bride(s) hidden in HMH! I wonder where it will be this year...

 

[Sherry E]

Along with the seasonal Hidden Mickey, don't forget to look for the Monkey Bride(s) hidden in HMH! I wonder where it will be this year...

Yes, indeed! We talked about her in the Halloween Time podcast for DIS Unplugged last year, and I recall that one of the Superthread followers didn't understand something that Mary Jo said while we were on the subject of HMH and the Bride, and thought it was something non-Disney friendly!
The Monkey Bride supposedly moves around, though I noticed that she was on the same side of the vehicle both times I saw her. That was probably a coincidence, though. She is much harder to spot than the seasonal Hidden Mickey.

 

[figment_jii]

Does she moves around during the season or from year-to-year? I think she was in the same spot during both my Halloween and Christmas trip last year, but I'm not 100% sure. There were two of them last year, right? In truth, I hadn't heard of her until last year, but it was kind of fun to look for her. She is kinda creepy, though...

 

[CassieF]

Cassie -- Thank you so much for sharing those awesome pictures with us! Your little niece is so cute!

I love seeing Maleficent because she is not commonly seen at DLR. I think the fact that the movie came out really helped. Otherwise, I don't know if she would be Conjured this year. She was supposed to have been part of the Conjure tent last year, but I don't think anyone ever Conjured her!

​

Thanks...I think she's super cute too!

It was so fun to see her...we only saw her once before, at the AP sleeping beauty party but it was a super quick snapped picture, and she was much younger. This time we got such great interaction, especially with 4 visits that day. The first was cute, she had her dragon and stuffed Maleficent, wearing black and green. The second we transformed her into Aurora with the help of her stuffed fairies. The faces Maleficent made were so perfect!

The second two visits were the last two sets of the night, tend the very last one was super fun, with a friend of a friend in line in front of us...great interactions! Maleficent should be around more this year than last, I think.

 

[ldymcbth]

FYI, our Walgreens have already put out Disney Halloween items, such as a spinning light-up Mickey head light for kids to carry while ToTing, and ToT plastic pails with cool light-up handles - ours had a Mickey and Friends version, a Spiderman version, and a Princesses version.

There were also quite a few Jack Skellington items, including a large plush pillow, notepads and pens, and socks.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I was in Kohl's yesterday and they had both their Halloween & Christmas stuff up! I love seeing the holiday stuff out, even if our temps here don't reflect it yet.

 

[Kilala]

I finally here the Halloweentime comercial on KLOS on my way home from work!! The only other Halloween Comercials I have seen on TV are Jolly Ranchers and Party City ones.

 

[rosanab1031]

I get to go on the 26th! WOOHOO! I got the day off! Didn't think it was going to happen but it did! Hopefully there is no crazy wind and I can see the fireworks this year

 

[Sherry E]

Bret/mvf-m11c -- who, I think, will eventually come back to this thread and post -- shared some Halloween Time photos in his trip report (I think he took them yesterday, 9/14) -- HERE. I love the "Hear Haunted Hillbillies" reference on the Carnival banner/sign (10th picture down, I think) -- when Billy Hill and the Haunted Hillbillies are gone!

Does she moves around during the season or from year-to-year? I think she was in the same spot during both my Halloween and Christmas trip last year, but I'm not 100% sure. There were two of them last year, right? In truth, I hadn't heard of her until last year, but it was kind of fun to look for her. She is kinda creepy, though...

figment_jii --

Good questions, and I don't know the answers! I had barely even paid attention to the Monkey Bride talk prior to a couple of years ago -- I always read references to "Monkey Bride this" and "Monkey Bride that," and prior to maybe 2012, I don't think I knew or cared what it meant! Finally, I actually decided to pay attention and look for the Bride, and then once I found her I decide to look again on another ride through the Mansion.

So I have no clue if she moves around based on seasons, or maybe all throughout the year, or once per year. I don't even know if she stays in the same general vicinity or moves to totally different spots. All I know is that she supposedly moves, and I guess -- now that I think of it -- she was in a different spot the last time I saw her.

By the way -- remember, a while back, you were saying that you wondered if Disney maybe claimed the Halloween Time Facebook page (which was useless) to take ownership of the name and page so that no one else (an unofficial Disney source) could claim it?

I think you might be on to something with that theory.

The Halloween Time Facebook page is no more, as it was merged into the main Disneyland Facebook page as of 9/13 (as was the Holidays page).

But... I noticed an unofficial page on Facebook a couple of weeks ago -- I think it was simply called "Disney Halloween" or something like that -- which featured any and all photos of anything Disney/Halloween, whether it was a photo of décor from one of the parks, or a still shot from an animated piece, or just artwork depicting Disney characters with pumpkins or other Halloween symbols. It appeared to be run by a fan who just wanted to create a place to round up any photos of Disney-Halloween things she found online.

And, suspiciously, as soon as I noticed that the official Halloween Time page was gone, I also noticed that the unofficial Disney Halloween fan page was gone! I don't know if it was temporarily suspended, or maybe Facebook is making the person change the name of the page, or maybe Disney made Facebook take that page down, but whatever the case, the "Disney Halloween" fan page did not exist the last time I looked for it (this morning), and the timing was suspicious.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Sherry,

Just resting in my room after the parks were open till 8pm tonight. Here is my experience at the DLR during the Halloween season.

Most of the decorations at MS are the same over time during the past season. But some of the buildings on MS are tarp up for refurbishment It is nice to see the pumpkins outside or inside the windows of MS.




The giant Mickey pumpkin at MS Town Square.


Dia de Los Muertos and Ray Bradbury tree are the same like every other year.




The Haunted Mansion Holiday was well decorated and the gingerbread house in the dining room was very interesting where the door opens and you see the gingerbread man.








Can't forget about the Halloween Carnival at Big Thunder Ranch. This years HC looks a lot better decorated during the halloween season from last year in my opinion with Pirates League added to the HC along with Conjure a Villain.




Can't forget about the pumpkin carvers station






One of the CM carvers was working on the Hatbox Ghost


Elvis Stitch


Groot


Scar


We got to go inside Conjure a Villain tent that morning.




Got to see the Evil Queen


The "Hear Haunted Hillbillies" was on the banner outside of Big Thunder Ranch but it wasn't on the schedule for Monday. What was playing that day was Halloween Magic and Mickey's Mask-Arade a new magic show that is on the main stage at the Festival Arena.

We didn't go on Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy but I will get the chance during the October trip.

Overall the park was nicely decorated during Halloween season even though with all the construction going on.

I wasn't able to get a picture of Halloween decorations at Mickey's Toontown entrance above Mickey's Toontown Depot which had a pumpkin along with some Halloween banners. I saw it when I was riding the DLRR around the park.


Non-Halloween info during our trip. For the Frozen M&G which was doing the new FP system we were able to get FP's for the M&G this morning at 10:40am (when the park opens at 10am) and our return time when we got the FP's that morning was to return at 4:10pm to 4:30pm. Talk about a long wait time until we are able to enter the Frozen M&G that morning.

 

[Sherry E]

On your way home from work, or as you're out running errands, don't forget to stop into a local store and pick up some Krispy Kreme "Pumpkin Spice Krispy Juniors" (whatever "Juniors" are...), as well as a carton of Almond Dream "Pumpkin Spice with Cinnamon Almond Drink." Or, perhaps a bag of Werther's Original "Limited Edition Spiced Caramel Apple Caramel Popcorn" will suit your tastes a bit more. (All of the aforementioned items can be seen -- HERE.)

Pumpkin Pandemonium, Candy Corn Confusion and Caramel Apple Chaos continue on!!!

In fact, the vast number of Pumpkin Spice products (which seems to be increasing by the day, even as early signs of peppermint and cranberry begin to sneak in for the Holidays) has apparently annoyed Bravo personality Andy Cohen, who hosts the late-night TV show, Watch What Happens Live. Imagine my surprise when Andy went on a pumpkin spice rant on WWHL last night! He is fed up with it, as apparently the streets and stores of New York are currently filled with all things pumpkin spice.

​

Hi Sherry,

Just resting in my room after the parks were open till 8pm tonight. Here is my experience at the DLR during the Halloween season.

Most of the decorations at MS are the same over time during the past season. But some of the buildings on MS are tarp up for refurbishment It is nice to see the pumpkins outside or inside the windows of MS.




The giant Mickey pumpkin at MS Town Square.


Dia de Los Muertos and Ray Bradbury tree are the same like every other year.




The Haunted Mansion Holiday was well decorated and the gingerbread house in the dining room was very interesting where the door opens and you see the gingerbread man.








Can't forget about the Halloween Carnival at Big Thunder Ranch. This years HC looks a lot better decorated during the halloween season from last year in my opinion with Pirates League added to the HC along with Conjure a Villain.




Can't forget about the pumpkin carvers station






One of the CM carvers was working on the Hatbox Ghost


Elvis Stitch


Groot


Scar


We got to go inside Conjure a Villain tent that morning.




Got to see the Evil Queen


The "Hear Haunted Hillbillies" was on the banner outside of Big Thunder Ranch but it wasn't on the schedule for Monday. What was playing that day was Halloween Magic and Mickey's Mask-Arade a new magic show that is on the main stage at the Festival Arena.

We didn't go on Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy but I will get the chance during the October trip.

Overall the park was nicely decorated during Halloween season even though with all the construction going on.

I wasn't able to get a picture of Halloween decorations at Mickey's Toontown entrance above Mickey's Toontown Depot which had a pumpkin along with some Halloween banners. I saw it when I was riding the DLRR around the park.


Non-Halloween info during our trip. For the Frozen M&G which was doing the new FP system we were able to get FP's for the M&G this morning at 10:40am (when the park opens at 10am) and our return time when we got the FP's that morning was to return at 4:10pm to 4:30pm. Talk about a long wait time until we are able to enter the Frozen M&G that morning.

Bret --

Thank you so much for taking the time (in the middle of your DLR trip) to come here and share your photos and a recap of what's new or exactly the same this year! I really appreciate it, as I'm sure many folks do!

I like this year's gingerbread house in HMH, but I think I prefer last year's house.

I think that the "Hear Haunted Hillbillies" was on that banner last year, and Disney didn't get a new banner made to reflect the fact that Billy Hill and the Haunted Hillbillies are no longer at DLR!

I love the carved pumpkins at the Carnival but, as one of the carvers told me last year, the heat is not a good thing for the pumpkins because they rot faster. If it's dry heat as opposed to humidity, it's even worse. This weather is not doing any favors for the carved pumpkins, I would guess!

Wow! That's a long time to wait to get into the Frozen M&G! Yikes! I wonder if that system is going to stay in place for the holidays too.

​

 

[2tinkerbell]

Another question for my Halloween experts.

I mentioned that my Supervisor is coming to DLR during Utah Escapes to Anaheim (October 16th - 19th). He has 2 children and has tickets for MHP on the 17th. He was wondering about getting his children costumes in DL and having them get dressed up there in DL. I don't believe that they will have regular tickets that day - maybe just the party tickets. So, is this even a possibility? Where would they opt to do that?

TIA! He wanted the 411 beforehand so not to disappoint his children (son in 1st grade and daughter is younger than that)

 

[MadMim]

Tickets, BOUGHT!

So last year I was dying to see this lighted dragon (between Fantasyland/Frontierland?), but never got a chance. Id really love to see it this year. Am I right on the location?

IM SO EXCITED!!!!!

 

[figment_jii]

Another question for my Halloween experts.

I mentioned that my Supervisor is coming to DLR during Utah Escapes to Anaheim (October 16th - 19th). He has 2 children and has tickets for MHP on the 17th. He was wondering about getting his children costumes in DL and having them get dressed up there in DL. I don't believe that they will have regular tickets that day - maybe just the party tickets. So, is this even a possibility? Where would they opt to do that?

TIA! He wanted the 411 beforehand so not to disappoint his children (son in 1st grade and daughter is younger than that)

I would expect that they'll still be selling some of the costumes (mainly Princesses) at that point. Most all of the big stores (WoD, Emporium, BBB, Elias & Co) will probably carry multiple styles. For the son, I don't know how much they'll have...there never seems to be as many costumes for boys as there are for girls in the parks. Children ages 9 and under are allowed to wear costumes in the park during normal operating hours. If he buys something at the parks, they can always change in the bathroom. Alternatively, you might recommend he look at the DisneyStore.com and buy the costumes from them so that he'll have the costumes in hand (right style, right size, etc.).

TSo last year I was dying to see this lighted dragon (between Fantasyland/Frontierland?), but never got a chance. Id really love to see it this year. Am I right on the location?

Lighted dragon? Do you have a photo or somewhere with a photo? I don't recall seeing a lighted dragon last year.

 

[briggscreek]

Well, hopefully we'll be leaving this weekend. Our son is still sick, but so far no symptoms for me or DD, although he did sneeze right in her face on Sunday!

We have 5-day parkhoppers and tickets to the MHP on Friday. I can't decide whether to go to the parks starting late Sunday afternoon and just use the party ticket on Friday, or go Mon - Fri. We won't be able to get in until 4:00 with the party ticket, right?