As I've mentioned in this thread before, I am not a fan of the gory-bloody-terrifying side of Halloween festivities. I like cleverly crafted jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkin patches. I appreciate friendly scarecrows and bales of hay, artfully arranged in harvest displays punctuated with stalks of Calico corn. I still watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I don't want to be chased by chainsaw-wielding maniacs through a maze, or encounter grotesque creatures with scythes popping out at me from behind bushes. I don't like the whole "evil clown" phenomenon either.
However, there is no denying the market for the scarier, darker side of Halloween. Knott's Scary Farm/Halloween Haunt and Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights are extremely popular attractions here in SoCal (the latter of which has gained some steam because of the inclusion of elements from The Walking Dead).
I know that there are many people out there who prefer their haunts to be a little more...horrific, shall we say. Chances are, some of the people who are headed to Disneyland for whimsical, happy Halloween Time fun will complement those visits with a trip to Knotts, or to USH, or to Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary -- or even to the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, which demands that its guests "Stand on the edge of madness and peer into the gaping maw of terror! The earth will quake as the RIFT cracks open, bearing witness to horrifying leviathan abominations that will emerge from the depths of the abyss."
Um...yeah... so I'll be skipping that little hayride 'round the hills. I have no need for leviathan abominations, or for gaping maws, or RIFTS cracking open.
I do have to marvel, however, at the work that some of these places put into their Halloween events. Knott's, in particular, really seems to embrace Halloween as well as the whole "haunt" aspect of the season. I was reading this recent article from MiceAge about the early preparations for Halloween Haunt -- HERE -- and was actually quite impressed.
Not to be outdone, Universal Studios Hollywood lured in a bunch of cool people when it debuted this year's Halloween Horror Nights, and it even updated its Walking Dead area to include a nod to Terminus (those of you who watch TWD will know Terminus). (Oddly, Terminus seems even less promising and safe at UHS than it does on the show!) See the review and unpleasant photos of HHN 2014 -- HERE.
Anyway, be sure to check out the "Other Haunted Happenings and Spooky Sights to See..." post from page 1 of this thread (which includes a link to Michael Bowling's DIS Unplugged blog about Knott's Scary Farm/Halloween Haunt in 2013) -- HERE -- in case you are looking for ideas of other scary and not-so-scary Halloween activities to enjoy while you are in SoCal and have a bit of time away from Disneyland. I've listed everything from a parade, to a pumpkin patch, to Rise of the Jack o'-Lanterns, to a regular ol' Fall Festival.
My son will be thrilled! Thanks Sherry!
scrapshappen --
You're welcome!
I know the first party isn't until 9/26...but I can't wait to start reading trip reports! This will be our first year going and I am getting so excited. We still have to wait until Oct 17, so I am hoping to start living vicariously through other people's trip reports.
Sherry E - you can sign up on amazon.com to be notified when Gingerbread Oreos are back in stock.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009V0KX1Q
cmpeter --
I'm anxious for the reports too!
Thank you for the link, although I hope I don't have to order them from
Amazon! Amazon usually does a terrible job with packing up items, and I think that the cookies would probably be crumbled to bits if I had to trust Amazon to ship them.
I may have to resort to that, though, out of desperation if the cookies don't appear in stores. I haven't figured out if the Gingerbread Oreos were a
Walmart exclusive of some kind in the past, or if they were available in all stores. There are no Walmarts anywhere near me, so if that's where the cookies end up I will have to order them in the mail. If they're at Target, then that's no problem.
We went to IHOP tonight on our way to the drive-in to see Planes: Fire Rescue (which wasn't actually showing.... Big disappointment. I was looking forward to seeing that!). Anyway, IHOP has Pumpkin Pancakes on the menu. I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin, so I didn't try them....
lorijohnhill --
That's right -- I completely forgot that IHOP has seasonal menus (I think they have different items for the holiday season too, if I recall correctly)!
I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin flavor either. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. I'd have to really be in a mood for it if I were going to eat it. Some pumpkin pies are better than others. Some food items probably work better with pumpkin flavoring than other items. The pancakes might not actually be bad -- I could picture that working well, to some degree. Things like pumpkin spice chewing gum and pretzels are a bit baffling.
If you end up liking these you all should try Newman's Ginger-Os. They are available in my market year round and are like Oreos made with ginger snaps and a cream filling that is lightly ginger spiced. So good I had to stop buying them because I are them too fast!
MermaidHair --
I bet they are good! I tried Newman's Own Organics chocolate/peppermint cups (they look like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups) not too long ago, and those were surprisingly good. I don't know what I expected, but they were delicious. So I can picture myself scarfing down the Ginger-Os.
I love gingerbread and ginger snaps but I feel that I can't eat that kind of thing outside of a certain time of the year. I don't need to wait until Nov-Dec, but I have to at least wait until September. And then I can't eat gingerbread beyond January. I need to keep it somewhat seasonal.
MadMim --
Awesome! It sounds like that mac & cheese pizza is going to please at least a few palates this year!
This is our third trip during Halloween time, but we are doing MHP for the first time this year and I'm very excited. All the final details of our trip fell into place this week (booked the second half of our stay on site, got our party tickets and our photopass+). One month from today we will be there!!
I love all things pumpkin spice, but I'm trying to lose 10 lbs before our cruise in January. So I'm going to have to restrain myself and maybe limit myself to one decadent treat while I'm there. Any suggestions for the one pumpkin treat not to be missed. (I don't like chocolate at all except white chocolate if that matters).
scrapshappen --
A lot of people love the Pumpkin Beignets.
The Pumpkin Muffin is very popular -- I don't know if this year's version has raisins or not, but a lot of people like it.
If the demitasse dessert comes back this year (served in a festive character pumpkin mug), you might want to try it as it, too, is very popular.
For my own personal tastes, if I were gong to eat something pumpkin-y this year, I would probably go for the Pumpkin Twist. It sounds like it could be tasty.
Nancy Johnson said on the recent DIS Unplugged podcast that the pumpkin pie she had at DLR last weekend was delicious -- I think she said she had it at either the French Market or Café Orleans, but it is probably served in a few places.
Maybe you all can help me sort something out...
We're making our first Halloween visit this year, on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of October. We bought Party tickets also. We have 3-day parkhoppers. What I'm wondering is, would it be worthwhile to skip the park on Wednesday, the day of the Party, and add another day on the front or rear of our trip? With the 3pm entry, we'll be in the park for 8 hours on Wednesday. Should we do the 8am to 11pm schedule on Wednesday, or wait and add Friday, which would put us in the park for another full 11 hours?
Anyone have suggestions on what to do before heading to Disneyland at 3pm?
JohnTodd --
I think that I agree with
Speechphi and
bearette -- skip going into the park on the day of the party -- use that day for non-park time and to get ready for the party -- and then add a day at the beginning of the trip.
We went to the first party last year I definitely did not see a map before we were at the party.
pudinhd --
Thank you for confirming that! I was pretty sure that those maps did not see the light of day until MHP time, but I couldn't recall if they were out a couple of hours early.
Thank you so much Sherry! I've been dying for a recent review, since I'll be taking the tour! In a few weeks!
Amilo --
You're welcome! I remembered that you and a couple of other folks were especially interested in the Happiest Haunts tour, and -- although I have seen some general, overall comments about this year's tour -- I hadn't seen a really detailed report of the tour with photos until I found that one on LaughingPlace. I've been waiting for someone to post a report here, in this thread.
)
