HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #4

[Sherry E]

I am assuming that everyone saw the Disney Parks Blog today, with the rather underwhelming and slim "Halloween-specific" offerings -- and, again, the conspicuous absence of any mention of the Halloween Carnival. I've been saying for weeks that there would be no Halloween Carnival based on all of the info I had accumulated. Even when the Disney Visa newsletter mentioned the Carnival, I didn't believe that it was correct because of all of the 'behind the scenes info' that had leaked out (and, of course, now we know that the Carnival area is on the chopping block due to Star Wars plans). I was, however, hoping that maybe Disney was still trying to decide whether or not to do a last minute, half-hearted Carnival, or surprise us with something new and exciting.

They're not surprising us so far, but I am keeping hope alive!!! Anyway, here is the blog -- http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...bout-halloween-time-at-the-disneyland-resort/.

​

This press release -- http://disneylandnews.com/2015/08/1...ebration-adds-sparkle-to-halloween-time-2015/ -- gives us some extra details about Mickey's Halloween Party this year (such as the "new superhero-themed dance party at Tomorrowland Terrace" and "Villains Square").

But... guess what? It sounds like the Disney characters will ONLY be wearing their Halloween attire at the Halloween Party!!! Remember how they used to wear their Halloween attire in the daytime... at THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL? Well, the release says, "For Mickey’s Halloween Party only, Disney characters will be dressed in their Halloween costumes. During the day and on non-Halloween Party nights, Disney characters will wear their special Diamond Celebration attire."

So, basically, they are realllllly stripping away the daytime Halloween offerings this year, which were thin to begin with. That is very sad. No Halloween Carnival. No Pirates League. No pumpkin carvers (which is what I am most upset about). No Conjure a Villain tent in the daytime. No Disney characters in Halloween attire in the daytime or outside of the party.

And, at the Halloween Party, you get a parade that is also running on every non-party night all year long!

I certainly hope that they get back to normal once this 60th anniversary is over.

​

Okay, Summer, I am seriously done with you! You may go now! Purchased my nights of Halloween Party, so please proceed with all your sweat-inducing temperatures out the nearest exit. Thank you!

Also, I think we may move back to Maine next year... missing the fall foliage already

Did you take my advice and end up going with the late October dates? September can be brutally hot!

And I agree 100%! March on out the door, summer -- be gone! I am tired of being hot and uncomfortable, and the "worst" of the heat has not even happened yet.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Is the DAS system available during the Halloween Party?

 

[Sherry E]

Is the DAS system available during the Halloween Party?

It seems to be... I think.

Here is a post from DIS'er Vintage Mousketeer, from last year - http://www.disboards.com/threads/ha...ht-mhp-sold-out.3270919/page-99#post-52366032.

Hopefully that is still the case.

 

[Self-Rescuing Princess]

At least it sounds like you get your money's worth for the Halloween Party.

Anyone hear if the Passholder trail will be there this this year?

 

[lorijohnhill]

I'm disappointed that there won't be any characters in Halloween attire during the day. I liked that they had some during the day and then different ones during the party. Halloween Time is definitely scaled down this year. It ads more pressure to get more done during the party.

I hit the thrift store today and picked this shirt up to make the Daisy Duck costume top. It's not exactly like Daisy's, but I think it will work. Yes? I'll cut the sleeves short and add elastic so that they puff out a little.


And look what else I found!



It's an adult large Cheshire Cat costume, so it is quite large on my 8 year old daughter. Some tucks here and there and I think she'll be able to wear it though. And, hey, she'll be able to wear it for many years! They are pajama style, so should be comfy.

 

[Metalliman98]

This press release -- http://disneylandnews.com/2015/08/1...ebration-adds-sparkle-to-halloween-time-2015/ -- gives us some extra details about Mickey's Halloween Party this year (such as the "new superhero-themed dance party at Tomorrowland Terrace" and "Villains Square").

But... guess what? It sounds like the Disney characters will ONLY be wearing their Halloween attire at the Halloween Party!!! Remember how they used to wear their Halloween attire in the daytime... at THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL? Well, the release says, "For Mickey’s Halloween Party only, Disney characters will be dressed in their Halloween costumes. During the day and on non-Halloween Party nights, Disney characters will wear their special Diamond Celebration attire."

So, basically, they are realllllly stripping away the daytime Halloween offerings this year, which were thin to begin with. That is very sad. No Halloween Carnival. No Pirates League. No pumpkin carvers (which is what I am most upset about). No Conjure a Villain tent in the daytime. No Disney characters in Halloween attire in the daytime or outside of the party.

And, at the Halloween Party, you get a parade that is also running on every non-party night all year long!

I certainly hope that they get back to normal once this 60th anniversary is over.

​

How disappointing. This will be our first year going for Halloween time, we are going for a whole week but only planned to do one party, thinking there would be a lot of Halloween stuff to do during the nonparty days. I guess not.

I had been considering going down during Christmas time too, but maybe I need to reconsider, if they are going to scale back so much.

 

[stephanie22]

This press release -- http://disneylandnews.com/2015/08/1...ebration-adds-sparkle-to-halloween-time-2015/ -- gives us some extra details about Mickey's Halloween Party this year (such as the "new superhero-themed dance party at Tomorrowland Terrace" and "Villains Square").

But... guess what? It sounds like the Disney characters will ONLY be wearing their Halloween attire at the Halloween Party!!! Remember how they used to wear their Halloween attire in the daytime... at THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL? Well, the release says, "For Mickey’s Halloween Party only, Disney characters will be dressed in their Halloween costumes. During the day and on non-Halloween Party nights, Disney characters will wear their special Diamond Celebration attire."

So, basically, they are realllllly stripping away the daytime Halloween offerings this year, which were thin to begin with. That is very sad. No Halloween Carnival. No Pirates League. No pumpkin carvers (which is what I am most upset about). No Conjure a Villain tent in the daytime. No Disney characters in Halloween attire in the daytime or outside of the party.

And, at the Halloween Party, you get a parade that is also running on every non-party night all year long!

I certainly hope that they get back to normal once this 60th anniversary is over.

​

Does this mean that villains will only be out at the Halloween party?

 

[rwhistler92]

It doesn't sound like anything too new or exciting is going to be offered for Halloween this year.
Let's hope the food offerings are better.
Bring it on! I am ready for some tasty treats.

 

[Sherry E]

At least it sounds like you get your money's worth for the Halloween Party.

Anyone hear if the Passholder trail will be there this this year?

One could look at it as getting your money's worth at MHP... or one could look at it as Disney stripping away elements of the Halloween Time season to put it into the party, forcing more people to spend extra money on tickets to see things that they won't see during the daytime.

No one knows about the AP trail this year. It's too early to know. I'm posting here whenever I find out anything -- fact, rumor or otherwise -- but I don't know about that yet. We'll find out eventually, but I would have to imagine the AP treat station/trail will be there again this year.

I'm disappointed that there won't be any characters in Halloween attire during the day. I liked that they had some during the day and then different ones during the party. Halloween Time is definitely scaled down this year. It ads more pressure to get more done during the party.

You're absolutely right. It does add more pressure -- more characters to meet, more stops to make at the party, more reasons to be forced to buy tickets for 2 nights.

What's sad is that Halloween Time -- the more popular a season it becomes -- has really been getting scaled back for years. Since 2010 I have watched it become less and less and less, withering away a little at a time. How long before Disney decides that Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy should be MHP exclusives too?

Back when Halloween Time was really in its heyday, there were decorations in both parks. The giant Mickey pumpkin in DL, and the giant candy corn in DCA. Themed music played in DCA. Candy corn hung from the Golden Gate Bridge and from palm trees. Candy Corn was growing on plants. There was a whole Candy Corn Acres. The CALIFORNIA letters outside of DCA were colored to look like candy corn!

Then, over in Disneyland, there was a Halloween-themed floral Mickey at the entrance -- Mickey was wearing an eye mask, and that floral display (made up of many small pumpkins) has come and gone over the years. You'd head down Main Street and see a sea of orange -- pumpkins everywhere; Halloween-themed window displays, etc. Then you'd have all of the autumnal decorations at the Halloween Round-Up and the baby goats in their Halloween scarves. Eventually the Round-Up grew to be the Carnival. The pumpkin carvers were amazing, creating intricate masterpieces every day, all season long. Billy Hill and the Haunted Hillbillies played themed songs. Several characters in Halloween garb greeted guests.

Of course, there was also Ghost Galaxy, Haunted Mansion Holiday, the Dia de los Muertos display and the Ray Bradbury Halloween Tree.

But now? We are left with the 2 ride overlays in the daytime -- one of which is not exclusive to Halloween Time, and will be there through the end of the year and into January -- hopefully some pumpkins on Main Street, probably the Halloween Tree and the Dia de los Muertos display. Otherwise, everything that's left of Halloween Time is at MHP.

Really, at this point Disney shouldn't even be calling it Halloween Time. WDW doesn't have a name for their Halloween season. They just have MNSSHP, and some other Halloween-ish things going on in different parks or hotels. Since we don't really have anything Halloween-ish going on at our hotels or in DCA, why is it even a season?

How disappointing. This will be our first year going for Halloween time, we are going for a whole week but only planned to do one party, thinking there would be a lot of Halloween stuff to do during the nonparty days. I guess not.

I had been considering going down during Christmas time too, but maybe I need to reconsider, if they are going to scale back so much.

I know what you mean. I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned with how the holidays are going to be handled. On the one hand I think that Disney treats the holiday season as a very special time, and they wouldn't dare cut it back so significantly -- as they have been doing to Halloween Time for years. On the other hand, because the holiday season has always been much more developed and all-encompassing that Halloween Time has been, I wonder if Disney will strip away even more things from the holiday season because there is more to take away. Know what I mean? If they think it's okay to leave Halloween Time a shadow of its former self -- especially during the year of the 60th -- what on earth will they do to the holiday season, which has always been more thorough and immersive? Will they remove more elements simply because there is more to remove? Or will they still treat the holidays as a very special time?

Does this mean that villains will only be out at the Halloween party?

That's the sad feeling I am getting, but they certainly were not clear on it, were they? As you know, I was certain that, even in the absence of an actual Carnival or Conjure a Villain tent, there would be a designated Villains photo spot in the daytime. Even if there are only 2 or 3 Villains there every day, I was sure there would be something. Now I wonder if that will happen. Maybe Cruella will be out and about in Town Square somewhere, and maybe the Queen of Hearts, but will there actually be a Villains photo spot?

 

[Comicbookmommy]

Did you take my advice and end up going with the late October dates? September can be brutally hot!

And I agree 100%! March on out the door, summer -- be gone! I am tired of being hot and uncomfortable, and the "worst" of the heat has not even happened yet.

Yes, I did take your advice! Got tickets for Oct 27th and 29th! Thank you for the tips on the weather, it would have been miserable to be hot on a "fall" getaway. I know it could still be hot the last week of October, but the chances sound better it'll be at least tolerable

 

[Sherry E]

Yes, I did take your advice! Got tickets for Oct 27th and 29th! Thank you for the tips on the weather, it would have been miserable to be hot on a "fall" getaway. I know it could still be hot the last week of October, but the chances sound better it'll be at least tolerable

You're right -- it could still be hot at the end of October, but there is a greater chance of a horrible heat wave in September!

 

[Comicbookmommy]

Yeah, I just lit pumpkin spice candles and sprayed pumpkin air freshener around the house. Not ashamed one bit

 

[Sherry E]

Yeah, I just lit pumpkin spice candles and sprayed pumpkin air freshener around the house. Not ashamed one bit

You might as well! Glade's Fall products are out. Various pumpkin foods and Halloween candies are popping up in stores. Bath & Body Works is selling its Fall/Halloween items. Other stores are trotting out the Halloween displays. M&M's Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Spice Latte flavors are in Walmart and Target, respectively. Starbucks is getting ready to unleash its Pumpkin Spice Latte -- now with actual pumpkin puree in it -- later this month. Kids are back in school. Everything is slowly (or quickly?) transitioning into Fall and Halloween.

Which brand of pumpkin spice candle do you use? I hear that Yankee Candle's seasonal scents are really good. I've never tried them.

 

[Oswald23]

Sherry was the pre-party announced last year before the first party?

I hope this wil happen this year.

And I agree there is only a slim chance of villains during the day except for the usual ones.

 

[mom2rtk]

Bah Humbug.

Oops.... wrong holiday. But it sort of sums up my feelings.

I'm glad we already bought tickets for 2 parties. But just so irritated that they're cutting back on everything (both during the day and during the party) so substantially while still raising the prices so much.

 

[stephanie22]

I really hope they still have villains out during the day, they are one of my favorite parts of visiting during Halloween time. back before they had the Halloween party in Disneyland my husband and I went and I got to meet the old hag from Snow White, she pushed me out of the picture so it would just be her and my hubby lol.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We're a family of DL vets but we've only ever done the parks during summer and have talked about seeing them during Halloween and Christmas but it just never happens. We don't have the budget right now for a full on trip (we usually do 3-5 days every couple years and we were just in the parks for 5 days this summer). I'm thinking a nice way to experience some of the Halloween holiday might be through a trip down just for Mickeys Halloween Party and spend the night in a local hotel. (We drive about 4 hours to get to DL.) I guess I'm really just soliciting opinions on... Is the Halloween Party a good way to enjoy this season at DL without having to make a large time/money commitment?

 

[rwhistler92]

Last year we didn't have the time or money for a full blown Disneyland vacation.
So we went to just the Halloween party.
It was just enough Disney to hold us over until our next trip.
It was worth it for us and we had a 10-11 hour drive

We're a family of DL vets but we've only ever done the parks during summer and have talked about seeing them during Halloween and Christmas but it just never happens. We don't have the budget right now for a full on trip (we usually do 3-5 days every couple years and we were just in the parks for 5 days this summer). I'm thinking a nice way to experience some of the Halloween holiday might be through a trip down just for Mickeys Halloween Party and spend the night in a local hotel. (We drive about 4 hours to get to DL.) I guess I'm really just soliciting opinions on... Is the Halloween Party a good way to enjoy this season at DL without having to make a large time/money commitment?

 

[Comicbookmommy]

You might as well! Glade's Fall products are out. Various pumpkin foods and Halloween candies are popping up in stores. Bath & Body Works is selling its Fall/Halloween items. Other stores are trotting out the Halloween displays. M&M's Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Spice Latte flavors are in Walmart and Target, respectively. Starbucks is getting ready to unleash its Pumpkin Spice Latte -- now with actual pumpkin puree in it -- later this month. Kids are back in school. Everything is slowly (or quickly?) transitioning into Fall and Halloween.

Which brand of pumpkin spice candle do you use? I hear that Yankee Candle's seasonal scents are really good. I've never tried them.

Yep, hopped on that air freshener as soon as I saw it! I need to find those Yankee Candles! Mine are from Hobby Lobby, they have all kinds of giant, fall-scented candles on sale. I also get ridiculously excited when "Method" comes out with their line of seasonal hand soaps/ cleaning sprays, lol.

Also putting pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer in my morning cup-o-joe! That Starbucks sounds amazing, though I gotta say, being on the west coast, I'm missing Dunkin' Donuts and all their glorious fall related drinks!

 

[lorijohnhill]

Ahhhh, Dunkin' Donuts... how I miss those donuts...