HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #4

[Ember]

We had a FABULOUS time at our first the Halloween Party on Friday, Oct. 24!!

We got there at about 4:30 and were in the park in no time. We popped into the Toontown pre-party and did a few quick treat trails, which was fun. We didn't do many rides (my dress and wig weren't the best for rides) but we did do Pirates and HM with very little wait for either. We also saw the amazing fireworks and short costume parade, did a little bit of trick or treating, and generally had a wonderful time!

For not being sure if it was going to be worth the money, I wish I'd bought tickets to two parties, because I'd totally go a second time!!

 

[Kilala]

I can't believe this but, I made a Cats the musical type of wig in one day. I started around noonish and I just finished the around 3:30 pm. Now I have to style it. I will WILL be wearing my Butterscotch costume tomorrow night at MHP.

 

[Sherry E]

What is happening before 5pm, on a 7pm party night? We'll get into the park around 4pm, on Halloween. My parents and my kids have party tickets (DH and I have APs but will be leaving them)
My plan is to go to BTR shortly after we arrive, after 4pm. Then by 6pm guide them over to toon town. Any better advice? I'm kind of at a loss, can only guide them on their way, then rely upon DD9 to get everything else done.

KatieJoy --

I would have suggested to head to the Halloween Carnival at the Ranch, but you were already planning it! You could also check out the Dia de los Muertos display in Frontierland, as well as the Ray Bradbury Halloween Tree. You can try to find all 300+ pumpkins along Main Street (the "Main Street Pumpkin Festival"). You can even see the Christmas decorations which have just gone up (and are still going up) in New Orleans Square -- NOS is one of the first lands to get holiday decorations as Halloween Time transitions into the Holidays. You could pick up a Pumpkin Twist at Maurice's or a Halloween cupcake at the Candy Palace!

Sorry, I had replied earlier, but I guess it got lost...

We went to the party on 10/20. To be fair to Disney, I'm sure I would have enjoyed the party more if my scooter had been working properly and also if my mom hadn't been terrified of the crowds in the dark.

I think the highlight of the night was watching my daughter marching around the ranch pre-party area hugging Goofy around his back. I couldn't get a photo of it, they were moving too fast! It was so cute!

lorijohnhill --

It must have been adorable to watch your daughter playing with Goofy! I think that the Halloween Carnival -- the whole area -- is a lot of fun during the Halloween Time season.

I can't believe this but, I made a Cats the musical type of wig in one day. I started around noonish and I just finished the around 3:30 pm. Now I have to style it. I will WILL be wearing my Butterscotch costume tomorrow night at MHP.

Kilala --

You made the wig in one day?! You are awesome! I am not creative like that -- I am creative in other ways, but not as far as sewing and making outfits, etc. That takes a lot of talent! Only 3 more MHPs to go, and you will be there tomorrow night...as Butterscotch!

 

[Kilala]

Kilala --

You made the wig in one day?! You are awesome! I am not creative like that -- I am creative in other ways, but not as far as sewing and making outfits, etc. That takes a lot of talent! Only 3 more MHPs to go, and you will be there tomorrow night...as Butterscotch!

Thank you Sherry. I will post some pictures of the wig and the unitard tomorrow before work. I will be dressing as my kitten Binx on the 31st. I can't believe Halloween is almost here.

 

[PenguinoMF]

I know this is a long shot and hopefully allowed.

During my trip I was purchasing the Mickey and Friends Haunted Mansion posters from the 4 restaurants (INFO) and I purchased the first 3 then went to the Plaza Inn only to find out they were sold out of the Daisy poster.

Does anyone happen to have a poster they are willing to part with? It isn't the same with a missing poster. I will gladly pay a little extra for it.

 

[DallasToDis]

We went last night to the first MHP... Here's my report:

1)There was indeed a ToonTown pre-party. At 6pm they opened TT for party guests only. We did one treat trail and then hopped on Roger Rabbit and Goofy's Coaster with no wait at all. We left right at 7 to go get a spot for the parade and fireworks.

2)We had to wait a long time to secure a good spot for the parade and then as soon as the parade ended everyone moved up to a good fireworks view. It was a madhouse!

3)My kids fell asleep during the wait for the parade and fireworks so we headed out after the fireworks. So basically during the party we accomplished one treat trail during the TT pre party, two rides, the parade and the fireworks and that was it.

We're attending the party on Oct 31. We plan to go to Toontown at 6PM. We also want to see the fireworks and parade. We're getting in to CA from central time zone the day before so I think my kids will be dragging by the time FW are over (they are 8 and 11, but not night owls to begin with even before time change). Given all that, I can see our evening going as posted above, which is fine, but is there a better way?

We will have other park days so aren't too concerned about rides. Character meets are nice, but not their focus. They really want to do the treat trails (I know you can get candy anywhere, but trick or treating at DL sounds exciting to them!) and we just want to have some time to walk around and take it all in.

So my questions are:
-Is there a better way than post above to do things if we want to see FW and parade, but also make an early exit?
-What is the duration of the parade and fireworks show?
-Is it advised to stake out one spot where you can watch BOTH parade and FW or moving as the person above did? The relocating sounds stressful to me. One thought was to have DH stake out a spot and take the kids to some treat trails.
-Exactly where on Main St does the 10:30 parade start? Another idea was to skip the 8:30 parade and watch the 10:30 instead from Town Square and then make a quick exit to bed. I wasn't sure if that would be too far down though and how hard it would be to get down there after 9:30 FW.

Thanks for any advice and sorry if any of this has been discussed before. I've read a lot of these posts, but not all!

 

[Sherry E]

DallasToDis --

Welcome!

I think that Bret/mvf-m11c would be a good one to answer those questions -- hopefully he is still checking this thread!

 

[mvf-m11c]

So my questions are:
-Is there a better way than post above to do things if we want to see FW and parade, but also make an early exit?
-What is the duration of the parade and fireworks show?
-Is it advised to stake out one spot where you can watch BOTH parade and FW or moving as the person above did? The relocating sounds stressful to me. One thought was to have DH stake out a spot and take the kids to some treat trails.
-Exactly where on Main St does the 10:30 parade start? Another idea was to skip the 8:30 parade and watch the 10:30 instead from Town Square and then make a quick exit to bed. I wasn't sure if that would be too far down though and how hard it would be to get down there after 9:30 FW.

There are a lot of different ways to see the cavalcade and HS fireworks. The best one in my opinion is to stake out a spot for HS fireworks around the Hub/MS and watch the second cavalcade at 10:30pm since it has little wait time to see it.

HS fireworks is about 12 minutes and Mickey's Costume Party Cavalcade is about 10-15 minutes.

If you thinking of staking a spot for both the fireworks and cavalcade it will be around MS Hub. I would stake a spot for the 9:30pm HS fireworks around the Hub/MS to see the full effects of the fireworks and watch the second cavalcade at 10:30pm which has the least amount of wait time. He wait time for staking a spot for HS can be around an hour in front of SB Castle.

The second cavalcade at 10:30pm starts at MS Town Square to IASW Plaza.

 

[CassieF]

I was up at the Jaboree this weekend and wow, it was crazy crowded! Yesterday they closed off Conjure a Villain line at 440 because it was so long...with an end meeting time of 6pm. The line was almost back to the main gate!

 

[Jennafoo]

Yes, the Halloween Carnival was definitely crowded this weekend. I went on Wednesday afternoon (10/22) and was able to get in the tent in about 15 minutes. (Got Cruella.)

As for the party, I went on Friday, October 24th and I REALLY enjoyed the Toon Town pre-party. Was so glad I went to that. The treat lines went pretty fast, I got a lot of candy, and got to ride both rides there (Roger Rabbit and Gadget's Go Coaster) with basically no wait. I also got to see Mickey's and Minnie's Houses, which were super cute and something I probably would have skipped as a solo adult otherwise.

As for the rest of the party, I didn't enjoy it as much. It was super, super crowded and seemed to bring out the worst behavior in people. Everything was dark and spread out, and while I got a lot of candy, it was a lot of walking for a little payout. I ended up leaving early. I think Toontown worked better because it was contained and easier to maneuver.

Not sure I'd do the party again as a solo, but I did have fun and have a huge bowl full of candy.

 

[Sherry E]

Bret --

Thank you for stepping in to answer DallasToDis' questions!

​

Yes, the Halloween Carnival was definitely crowded this weekend. I went on Wednesday afternoon (10/22) and was able to get in the tent in about 15 minutes. (Got Cruella.)

As for the party, I went on Friday, October 24th and I REALLY enjoyed the Toon Town pre-party. Was so glad I went to that. The treat lines went pretty fast, I got a lot of candy, and got to ride both rides there (Roger Rabbit and Gadget's Go Coaster) with basically no wait. I also got to see Mickey's and Minnie's Houses, which were super cute and something I probably would have skipped as a solo adult otherwise.

As for the rest of the party, I didn't enjoy it as much. It was super, super crowded and seemed to bring out the worst behavior in people. Everything was dark and spread out, and while I got a lot of candy, it was a lot of walking for a little payout. I ended up leaving early. I think Toontown worked better because it was contained and easier to maneuver.

Not sure I'd do the party again as a solo, but I did have fun and have a huge bowl full of candy.

Jennafoo --

I saw your other thread about the disaster at Carthay Circle. As someone who also once found herself crying in DCA in the recent past (though not due to a CM/restaurant, but due to a supposed friend and a budding 2-month illness), I know that it's not a fun feeling. You just feel so defeated because you have spent time, money and energy on trying to plan out the best trip ever.

I'm very glad you did the Goofy's meal, though -- I've always loved Goofy's and have never had the extremely negative experiences there that others said they've had. Also, you have inspired me, as you did Goofy's solo. I love my solo trips and solo time -- I have actually kind of grown to prefer solo trips in a way -- but the one thing I am always uncomfortable with is solo dining. When I have eaten in a restaurant by myself, it was not a character meal. I have contemplated taking that next step into solo character dining -- and Goofy's is a place I am well-versed in, so it would be a good meal to start with -- but I haven't done it yet. You have given me hope that solo character dining can be fun and rewarding -- and not too scary!

I agree about the parties being crowded -- I don't think they should be as crowded as they are for a hard ticket event. I want them to feel more exclusive.

Now I must ask -- because I know this was on your list of things to do -- did you do the Pumpkin Food Crawl with your friends?

 

[Jennafoo]

Jennafoo --

Now I must ask -- because I know this was on your list of things to do -- did you do the Pumpkin Food Crawl with your friends?

No, we didn't. The heat affected me a LOT more than I expected it to, and I ended up actually not eating that much. I had a few treats here and there, but didn't try many of the HalloweenTime treats, sadly.

And I definitely recommend Goofy's solo. Everyone was SUPER nice and the buffet seems to be more comfortable since you're not sitting alone at your table waiting for food. The food is really good, too.

The only thing is that it's sometimes hard to get pictures WITH the characters, though the CMs said they would take pics if they were around. In two cases (Pluto and Dale) no one was there, but it was still fun.

 

[DallasToDis]

Bret --

Thank you so much for your reply! Your answers are quite helpful, especially show durations. Couldn't seem to find that info anywhere! This is my first time to Disneyland since 1987. It's changed a LOT!

 

[hilarys]

We're attending the party on Oct 31. We plan to go to Toontown at 6PM. We also want to see the fireworks and parade. We're getting in to CA from central time zone the day before so I think my kids will be dragging by the time FW are over (they are 8 and 11, but not night owls to begin with even before time change). Given all that, I can see our evening going as posted above, which is fine, but is there a better way?

We will have other park days so aren't too concerned about rides. Character meets are nice, but not their focus. They really want to do the treat trails (I know you can get candy anywhere, but trick or treating at DL sounds exciting to them!) and we just want to have some time to walk around and take it all in.

So my questions are:
-Is there a better way than post above to do things if we want to see FW and parade, but also make an early exit?
-What is the duration of the parade and fireworks show?
-Is it advised to stake out one spot where you can watch BOTH parade and FW or moving as the person above did? The relocating sounds stressful to me. One thought was to have DH stake out a spot and take the kids to some treat trails.
-Exactly where on Main St does the 10:30 parade start? Another idea was to skip the 8:30 parade and watch the 10:30 instead from Town Square and then make a quick exit to bed. I wasn't sure if that would be too far down though and how hard it would be to get down there after 9:30 FW.

Thanks for any advice and sorry if any of this has been discussed before. I've read a lot of these posts, but not all!

We will be there for the party on Friday night too! We are also flying in Thursday night (late for us). This is our second year heading to the Halloween party on Halloween night. It was so much fun last year, we decided to go again. My kids are 9 (one week shy of 10) and 11 and they think it is a great way to trick or treat. Last year we went to TT party right when it started and did the treat trails there. This was the only spot that we did treat trails the whole evening and still ended up with WAY more candy than we needed. I also liked the TT treat trails because last year they went through some of the houses. We missed the parade and fireworks works last year as we were having dinner at Cafe Orleans and then on a ride. We plan to make sure we see the fireworks this year. Don't miss the Haunted Dapper Dans floating on the Rivers of America with mist all around them. Also you must go on Haunted Mansion on Halloween night! One of the things I liked best about the party was that there were so many people in costume, adults and kids. It was really festive. My whole family will be in costume. Our friends did not go in costume and that is fine too, they did not feel out of place.

Have fun!

Hilary

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret --

Thank you so much for your reply! Your answers are quite helpful, especially show durations. Couldn't seem to find that info anywhere! This is my first time to Disneyland since 1987. It's changed a LOT!

Your welcome. Have a great time during MHP.

 

[Renae De Liz]

Just got back from our trip and our second MHP last night Had a better experience this time, mostly because we went to the Toon Town and Carnival pre-parties. We stood in line for Toon Town at 4:45, so went in with the first bunch of people, and we able to do all the treat trails and meet Horace and Clarabell with hardly any wait. It was nice seeing Toon Town so un-crowded, but as we were leaving around 5:30 the crowds were definitely picking up. We went to the Carnival pre-party and found it pretty un-crowded as well, and got to see the Dapper Dans up close on stage and met Woody with a tiny line. Vampire Pluto came out and walked around the carnival with his humorous handler and got into mischief here and there (vampire-biting people left and right), and invited kids to follow him around and dance with him. It was pretty awesome.

After those two places, we had MORE than enough candy for any sane family, so we didn't feel the need to do anymore treat trails, which freed the rest of the night on meeting characters my kids wanted to meet and riding the last rides of our trip (Pirates and Story Boats were walk-ons, but Peter Pan and Haunted Mansion had 30 min. waits still!). We chose not to watch fireworks or the parade because of the crowds. My kids got to meet Pirate Donald and Chip & Dale (at Zocalo Treat Trail) and Jack Sparrow (in front of the Columbia, who switched out about every hour with Peter, Wendy and Hook.

Jack Sparrow was definitely the highlight of the night and was HILARIOUS. The lady before me had a 3 month old baby, and when presented with meeting the infant, Jack circled him like it was a strange animal and he'd never seen such a thing. So funny! Hearing how rare Jack is on a usual basis, I would suggest anyone interested on meeting him ask the handler ahead of time on when the characters switch out, and plan to be in line at the right times. It saved us a lot of grief and time.

Finally, my 11 year old wanted to hunt down a Storm-Trooper. We had been circling Tomorrow-land off and on all night, with no luck. Finally, 10 minutes before party close, we saw THREE of them all at once in an a (by then) very cleared out tomorrow land! They were stomping around like bullies knocking people's candy bags around, and properly annoyed at being bothered by my son (they ARE villains after all) and refused to sign anything, but let my son take a picture with him (after my son used the "force" on one of them, as suggested by a handler. Apparently they usually deny even pictures!)


So after one un-fun Halloween night and one very fun one, I would suggest to definitely try to go to the pre-parties early on and get a few characters in and do the treat-trails to get the candy out of the way so the rest of the night you can focus on other things. All of the treat trails were ridiculously packed until around 9:30 or 10pm (on a 11pm close night). If I had known that the first night I would have waited to trick-or-treat till then. Even while crowded they moved along well, but I much preferred when the trails were loose and could easily keep walking than squished into a a slow line by a hundred people. Frontier-Land and New-Orleans were still the most packed areas, so we stayed out of there except to ride HMH and to go to the Stage-Door and Zocalo treat trails (which was really well decorated).

Anyway, sorry for the book! I think we'll maybe try to come back for one night next year, maybe. The ambiance itself is too cool to miss, but hoping next year they'll temper the crowds a bit more.

 

[CassieF]

Just an update...the crowds at the carnival from this weekend did not carry over into the week! We were able to get into back to back conjure shows at 11 and 1120 with small groups of people (it's all that was there!). I'm guessing it got crowded later but it was really nice in the morning with GREAT character interactions from The Evil Queen and Cruella!

 

[Sherry E]

The Disney Food Blog is clinging to the final days of Halloween Time -- and I can't say that I mind. I wouldn't mind it if the Fall/Halloween goodies just carried on through to the start of the holidays, at which point the new wave of seasonal/holiday snacks could take over.

"Dining in Disneyland: Caramel Apple Smoothie & Pumpkin Muffin from Schmoozies" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on October 29th, 2014 by Heather.



And the Disney Parks Blog is focusing on Dia de los Muertos!

"Dia de los Muertos at Disneyland Park" -- Disney Parks Blog; posted on October 29th, 2014 by Erin Glover, Social Media Director, Disneyland Resort

​

 

[ArchOwl]

I just wanted to pop in and say thank you to everyone who provided such great information on this thread and especially Sherry for compiling it. A good friend and I had a marvelous time at the 10/24 Halloween Party, in large part because of the good information I had here.

I guess I had prepared myself for the worst, for I found the parks to be less crowded than I had feared. The lines were also much shorter than I was expecting for Treat Trails and Meet and Greets. We had a great time at the Big Thunder Ranch Pre-Party and were one of the first guests to arrive. We saw the Cadaver Dans perform and did some trick or treating. We met with Pluto and Pumpkin Duffy as well as Woody and Jessie. For whatever reason, they were not doing Conjure a Villian, which was sort of a bummer.

We spent a lot of time in Frontierland, meeting all the Pirate Pals, Jack Sparrow, Captain Hook, Chip and Dale dressed as pirates, Pirate Donald, and Pirate Pluto. I was expecting to wait for hours, but for each round only waited 5-10 minutes.

The longest wait for M&Gs was for the Villians. We waited about 25 minutes and saw Jafar, Evil Queen, and Hades. They were all amazing and as we had PhotoPass+, the photographers did tons of photos. Hades was sooo tall! We did some more trick or treating and I did the AP one and got the bag and Rice Krispie treat.

We also did Tomorrowland treat trails and met with the Stormtroopers. The Innoventions trail was fun and Perry was doing M&Gs when we went through. Again, I was expecting huge lines, but nothing took longer than 15 minutes.

The fireworks were amazing! We made sure to get a clear view of the projections and were both blown away. We grabbed a bench for the second calvacade and took turns getting snacks. The calvacade was fun and cute, but I probably wouldn't wait for it if I went again.

After the second cavalcade, we checked out New Orleans Square and it was much more crowded in that area of the park. People here were shoulder to shoulder and the line to meet Jack and Sally was quite extensive. We skipped it as we already had pictures with both of them. We kept going to Critter Country and trick or treated along the way. We met with Rabbit and Pooh (in costume). We were slightly disturbed by one groups attempts to take dirty pictures with Rabbit, but the CMs put a stop to that right away. We saw this same group later on put Jack Sparrow in a choke hold, which Jack did not appreciate. Weird.

Anyway, we also tracked down the party exclusive pins, which was rather difficult. We got sent to two different stores, but scored them at last. My friend loves exclusive type pins, so he was happy.

The only thing we did not accomplish was getting Mickey and Minnie photos as they were not out during the Pre-Party and we kept missing them throughout the night. Oh well, something to look forward to next time!

Oh, and I dressed as Belle and my friend was DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba. He killed it with the younger set, who loved his costume. So cute!

All in all, an excellent night. Where else can two grown adults act like kids all night and have a great time? I felt silly at first trick or treating, but got over it quickly. We ended up with lots of candy and snacks. And most of all, lots of pictures and good memories. It was fun!

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this thread!

 

[iheartglaciers]

The only thing we did not accomplish was getting Mickey and Minnie photos as they were not out during the Pre-Party and we kept missing them throughout the night. Oh well, something to look forward to next time!

I was at that party too in an Up house costume! We really wanted a picture with Halloween themed Mickey and Minnie. We went to BTR first but didn't see them (we did get a picture with skeleton Goofy). We then went to Toontown. They weren't there at first but we asked a CM and he told us they'd be switching in in 15 mins, so we waited and hopped in line before it got long.

I'm sure this thread prepared me, but the crowds weren't as bad as I thought they would be. It was definitely manageable.