HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread- 9/14-10/31; Mickey's Halloween Party starts 9/28!

[DisneyAZ]

This is our first time going to Disneyland for MHP. I was just about to purchase tickets and noticed that there is no wording on age (unlike the parkhoppers we bought). I assume under 3 do not need a ticket. Is this correct? Our kids ages are 5, 2.5, and 1, so we would only need 3 tickets (for two adults and 1 child). I know there are no "child" tickets, they are all the same. Just want to confirm the age question.

 

[figment_jii]

My family and I went to Disneyland during Halloween time for the first time in a while. We had a lot of fun! I thought I'd share some of the photos I took during our visist.

We attended the first Mickey's Halloween Party. As we walked to the ticket gates, among the first things we saw was a sign saying the party was sold out!

I have to say, we were expected huge crowds at the party because it was sold out. We even talked with some cast members (the next day) and they were saying the party ended up being over sold. As it turned out, the crowds seemed pretty manageable (to us). Anyway, more on the party later. There were many Halloween themed decorations along Main Street.

Lamp post: these decorations were on all of the posts along Main Street

Giant Mickey head pumpkin in town square. There were photopass photographers taking pictures, so I had to wait until they were transitioning from one group to the next to get a pictures without anyone in front!

There were also a lot of special Halloween themed foods. We didn't try to many of them, but really wanted the Mickey and Donald pumpkin cups and the Nightmare Before Christmas popcorn/muffaletta container. We had lunch at French Market to get the muffaletta. The sandwhich was really good (we had a second one the next day). We got the Mickey demitasse at Carnations and the Donald demitasse at the Plaza Inn. The pumpkin mousse wasn't as strongly pumpkin as I had expected, but I liked the tiramisu and apple spice muffin parts of the dessert better. The French Market also had a special Nightmare dessert. It looked good, but we didn't have one.

Back at Big Thunder Ranch, they were carving pumpkins. There were several cute ones. My favorites were the Linguini and Remy pumpkins (we saw them in the process of carving Remy on Sunday and then the finished one on Monday) and the Toy Story Alien. Overall the pumpkins were pretty impressive.

(Need to break this up into three posts because of the picture limits! Next time: Mickey's Halloween Party!)

 

[tksbaskets]

figment_jii what a treat to open the link to one of my favorite threads and see your report from the Halloween Party! I just love your pics and report.

Did you already have the adorable Figment Halloween figure? Very nice for a scale

 

[Daisylover]

Hi Again,
I just posted a question about time of entry for Mickey's Scarey, but I meant Mickey's Halloween Party @ Disneyland. I keep making that mistake, mybad.
Thanks Again!

 

[perlster]

 

[figment_jii]

figment_jii what a treat to open the link to one of my favorite threads and see your report from the Halloween Party! I just love your pics and report.

Did you already have the adorable Figment Halloween figure? Very nice for a scale

I brought Figment with me. The pumpkin costume is from Build-a-Bear and I made the pumpkin Mickey hat using one of the keychains. . He was very popular at the park. Lots of folks (mostly CM) really liked him.

 

[Belle Ella]

I just got home from my trip so it will be some time before I'm able to actually get some photos up! But I definitely have some to share from MHP and more.

 

[Sherry E]

I posted these photos right after returning from opening day of Halloween Time a few weeks ago, but since the question has come up about the bags people are using for their MHP candy, I will post again!

Basically, there are 2 main tote bags floating around DLR in the shops, and people are using these as trick or treat bags, since the free bags you get with your MHP admission are tiny and don't hold much.

This orange bag is everywhere, in almost every shop around Disneyland (and maybe DCA too?) - it has a cute design on the front, but in person it looks a little cheap. I think it's a bit more durable and sturdy than it appears, but I just don't really care for the kind of shiny material, which doesn't come across as well in photos. In any case, if you need a bigger bag to haul your candy around, it gets the job done!

And this is the bag I got (I prefer this bag because I like the colors better and it lights up and twinkles at night), which Jessica/Belle Ella also has. IF you see this bag in a shop and you like it, grab it right on the spot! Don't wait! This bag is more popular than the orange bag, I think, and it gets snapped up rather quickly. When I first looked around on 10/3, I didn't see this bag in any store but the orange bag was all over the place. All of a sudden, before the MHP began, the black & green bag reappeared in a couple of shops! There must have been a stash of the bags in the back somewhere.

Here it is in its twinkly form, at night:

People are also using Mickey pumpkin trick or treat buckets (not as much as the bags, though).

And here are other random photos taken 2 days ago, just for the heck of it (because I'm already in Photobucket!):

​

Little cutie (I love animals!)!:

​

One side of a pumpkin:

The other side of the same exact pumpkin:

 

[Belle Ella]

This orange bag is everywhere, in almost every shop around Disneyland (and maybe DCA too?) - it has a cute design on the front, but in person it looks a little cheap. I think it's a bit more durable and sturdy than it appears, but I just don't really care for the kind of shiny material, which doesn't come across as well in photos. In any case, if you need a bigger bag to haul your candy around, it gets the job done!

It probably is. At least I'm pretty sure it's more durable than the green which is a fabric bag. Mine didn't make it through the night (MHP) unscathed. The stitching along one side started to unravel so it's got a hefty tear in it now. I almost didn't think I could get it to the hotel without it completely falling apart. I don't think it's meant for 25-30 pounds of candy But hopefully nobody else has had issues with it ripping and I'm just special.

 

[nunzia]

Love the food pictures! Do you get to keep the little cups that the goodies are served in?

 

[AZBeth]

Do you recall the cost of the bags, orange and green?

 

[figment_jii]

Love the food pictures! Do you get to keep the little cups that the goodies are served in?

The Mickey and Donald demitasse cups are yours to keep!

Do you recall the cost of the bags, orange and green?

I think the light up green bag was $9.95.

 

[JaxsonsMom]

Do you recall the cost of the bags, orange and green?

Orange was $4.95

 

[tksbaskets]

I brought Figment with me. The pumpkin costume is from Build-a-Bear and I made the pumpkin Mickey hat using one of the keychains. . He was very popular at the park. Lots of folks (mostly CM) really liked him.

Doubly adorable now that I know he was HANDCRAFTED!

 

[figment_jii]

And now on to the party itself! We got to Disneyland about 2:30 pm (on Friday, 9/30), so we had time to see Haunted Mansion Holiday and get a late lunch before the party started. I asked a CM at the front gate if we needed to come back to the front to get our party wristbands or if there was a place inside the park. He said we had to come back to the front. We ended up having to exit the park and then come back in using our party tickets. Several of the turnstiles had been designated party only. It close to 5:30 pm or so when we did this, so the line wasn't to bad. By Monday, I saw a sign saying there was a ticket activation location inside the park.

By this point, several of the decorations were already up or being set up. There were pumpkin Mickey heads set up around the hub and several of the White ghost Mickeys throughout the park.

In tomorrowland, there was a Ghost Mickey with bats being projected behind it. This was one of my favorites!

The lines for the treat stations were pretty long at the start of the party, so we decided to forego them until later. The Rivers of America had a lot of "fog" (dry ice) on it, making the Columbia look really spooky.

On Main Street, there were projects on many of the buildings.

Hefalump on the Emporium

Spider web on City Hall

At 7 pm, the CM began to herd the non-party guests from the park. Along most of the major walkways, there were several CM holding signs for the party preventing guests from heading deeper into the park. The signs were cute. They closed most of the doors to the stores or left them open, but with a CM there checking for wristbands. You needed to show the band to get into the stores or beyond the check points. I saw them checking for wristbands up until around 8:15 pm.

Sign held by CMs preventing non-party guests from going deeper into the park

We decided to watch the Cavalcade from Small World Mall. It was a really cute show. It has lots of dancers and familiar characters. I really liked the little Mickey pumpkin heads! Between each of the heads were sets of dancers: Princesses (Snow White, Aurora, and Tiana), Western (Woody and Jessie), Monsters (Sully), Pirates (Hook, Peter Pan). There was also Halloween Car when guests from the party. The final float had the main characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Chip & Dale, Stitch). And on the back fo the float was Miss Piggy (I wonder where Kermit was?).

Vampire Mickey starts the Cavalcade

The Costume Shop

After the Cavalcade was the fireworks! My favorite part was when Zero flew. We were wandering around the park and it was getting close to 9:10 pm or so and we decided we'd better get to Main Street to find a good viewing locations. We usually like to watch the fireworks from Main Street, between Refreshment Corner and Carnations. Usually the area is pretty crowded within the last 30 minutes, but when we got there there were only a handful of folks waiting! We were so surprised because we had heard this was a "sold out" party. Anyway, we grabbed a table at Refreshment Corner and waited until 9:25 or so to head out to Main Street.

Zero flying during the fireworks show

After the Cavalcade and fireworks we began Trick-or-Treating. I've gone to several MNSSHP at WDW and most places have a single treat station at each location. Almost all of the locations at DLR had several stations (essentially, every one was a treat trail!). We ended up collecting a lot of candy (lots of yummy chocolate).

Treat station sign

Trick-or-treat candy collected - about 12 pounds!

Overall, we really liked Mickey's Halloween Party. The Cavalcade was cute and the fireworks were really good. I'd happily go back next year!

Coming tomorrow (or later today if I get it finished), the pictures from Haunted Mansion Holiday.

 

[Sherry E]

It probably is. At least I'm pretty sure it's more durable than the green which is a fabric bag. Mine didn't make it through the night (MHP) unscathed. The stitching along one side started to unravel so it's got a hefty tear in it now. I almost didn't think I could get it to the hotel without it completely falling apart. I don't think it's meant for 25-30 pounds of candy But hopefully nobody else has had issues with it ripping and I'm just special.

Jessica -

Well, of course you're special but as for the bag, I don't know!

My bag was intact and in perfect working order by the time we left but, then again, I did not have 25 pounds of candy in my bag. My bag was no more than half full, possibly even slightly below the halfway line. We got all our candy before the cavalcade and fireworks though, so perhaps the CM's were handing out a lot more candy after the fireworks ended? We encountered many CM's who just tossed a couple of pieces in and that was it. We hit all the treat trails in each land and every stop along each trail except for the one at, I think, French Market (wasn't there one back there?).

All I know is, 25 pounds is about equal to a very young, tiny child - and I was definitely not carrying around a small child in my bag (that I am aware of)!! I'm sure that kind of weight most definitely would have worn out the bag, so if you got more candy than I got then I can see how your bag would suffer! I am thinking I had about half that weight in candy in my bag, most likely (just a really rough guess). There was enough weight to the bag to let me know that they were handing out obscene quantities of candy - more candy than any human should be allowed to have - but not enough to annoy me while carrying it.

Even if it had been 3 pounds or 5 pounds or 10 pounds - still, they give out tons and tons of candy! No one will go home empty-handed or feeling deprived of candy if they stop at all the treat stations! There is more candy than anyone could bear to eat, I think.

Do you recall the cost of the bags, orange and green?

AZBeth -

I don't recall the price of the orange bag (as I said last night, I didn't like that bag as much! Too shiny for me!), but I recall that it was definitely cheaper than the green/black bag, because it didn't light up. I think that the $4.95 that JaxsonsMom quoted is accurate. The good thing about this bag is that you will see it everywhere. I don't think DL could run out of this orange bag if they tried. It is at practically every souvenir stand and in almost every big, non-specialty shop, in every land (meaning you won't find it at the Heraldry Shoppe in Fantasyland, but you will most likely find it at the Gag Factory in Toontown). I think World of Disney carries it as well, and the hotel gift shops probably also have it.

The green/black light-up bag - which is the one that was not as readily available as the orange bag, and was harder to find - was, indeed, $9.95. BUT, after my Premium AP discount of 20%, and then with tax applied, it came to exactly $8.58. Not a huge savings, but better than no savings at all!

 

[Sherry E]

I wanted to add some additional thoughts about the MHP that I didn't state 2 days ago.

1. If you're someone who has not yet been to the party in Disneyland but had been to one of the previous parties in California Adventure, and you are planning to hit all the treat trails and treat stations, be prepared for much more walking. The trails and stations are really spread out all around DL, in every land, and often in multiple places in each land. If you are not willing or able to walk that much for whatever reason, you may just want to hit a few easily accessible key trails/stations multiple times.

You could be all the way back at Princess Fantasy Faire, or over near Splash Mountain, or in the POTC queue, or at Innoventions, or inside the Golden Horseshoe, etc., etc. ...and there's candy. Just as it was in DCA, the giant inflatable ghost Mickeys indicate that there is a treat trail nearby, and the smaller "earless Mickey heads," as I called them, indicate an actual treat station.







2. Even though Liza/funatdisney and I hit the candy before the cavalcade and fireworks (whereas most other people seem to mention getting their candy after the fireworks), we both agreed that if we had wanted to fit in all the character photos stops as well...it just would not have been possible for us. We left about one hour before the party ended (only because I needed to make a stop on the way home). If we had stayed that extra hour, we could have done some of the character photo spots, but definitely not all of them.

OR, if we had done all the photo spots first - pre-cavalcade and pre-fireworks - and then tried to hit the treat trails after the fireworks, we would not have been able to hit all of the treat stations by 11 p.m. For us, there simply was not enough time to do it all. We agreed that we could have done some treat trails and some character photo spots, then stop to see the cavalcade and fireworks, but that there wouldn't have been enough time for us to do every single treat trail, station and photo spot.

BUT...everyone goes at a different pace. I have read many accounts in the past from folks who say they have, indeed, hit every character photo spot and every treat trail and station. Maybe they move faster. Maybe they hit shorter lines and lower crowds. Maybe they are younger. I'm not sure. All I know is, we both established that it would not have been possible for us to "do it all" in one single party night, even if we had stayed that extra hour.







3. If you are on the fence about whether or not to buy a ticket for the MHP and don't know if it's worth it, I still say the same thing I said when the party was in DCA. Yes, in my opinion, it is worth it to do at least once.

If you have kids and a family, I think the party is definitely worth it! The kids will love being able to dress up, and the adults will enjoy seeing the other fun costumes (we enjoyed seeing the people dressed as giant Crayola crayons, and the person in the big chicken costume).

If you don't have kids, the party is worth doing at least once if you just want to collect insane quantities of candy and enjoy the overall atmosphere. Plus, the fog effects in Frontierland and on the Rivers of America are cool. The Castle is lit up in purple and green at night, and there are fun projections of spider webs and skeletons and those kinds of things on the ground in various spots.

However, to be honest, even though the extra little effects for the party are cool, most of the Halloween decorations are up all season long, every day and night. In other words, if you go to DL and just want to enjoy Halloween Time, you will get a good enough taste of it without actually buying a separate party ticket. The majority of the Halloween Time decor is up during non-party hours. The crowds are not necessarily lighter during the party either (sometimes they might be; other times they might not be).







4. The Cavalcade and the Halloween Screams fireworks are definitely worth at least one viewing. The Cavalcade - while officially being labeled as a mini-parade - does seem to be exactly long enough to qualify for full-blown parade status, but there is no Headless Horseman or anything like that from WDW's Boo to You parade. And Halloween Screams is one of the more fun DL fireworks shows (I can't decide if I like it better than the Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks, though) - it has great music and is very Villain-oriented, which is always a good thing!







5. Disneyland definitely upped the ante with their Villains this year - they brought out some villains that have not typically been seen at previous Halloween parties. I think that's a good thing to do if you are going to charge so much for the party tickets - trot out the more obscure villains for the party only!






6. This is not party specific, but it is relevant to Halloween Time (and the holiday season).

The famous gingerbread cookies - you know the ones. The ones with chocolate-dipped mouse ears and white chocolate buttons. I am not talking about the 'faux' gingerbread cookies (which are actually shortbread cookies but they are made from the same gingerbread mold/shape and they have different colored ears and buttons). I am talking about the actual cookies made of gingerbread.

After reading a few reports in the DIS about people supposedly spotting the gingerbread cookies at DLR during Spring and/or Summer (I thought they were Fall and Winter exclusives), I began to think that maybe people were confusing the gingerbread cookies with their shortbread doppelgangers w/ pastel ears, because they are exactly the same size and shape.

So I put an end to this mystery and inquired at the Candy Palace. The very friendly CM who fielded my cookie questions said that as of next year, DLR is going to "try" to carry the real gingerbread men with mouse ears year-round. They are planning to try to do that.

BUT, for the time being, and as of this past year, the gingerbread men with ears have not been sold at the Candy Palace or other places around DLR until the end of the summer season, which is the beginning of the Fall season (so it could be late August or early September).

The CM at the Candy Palace said that she thought there might be a couple of places between the 2 parks that had been selling the gingerbread men in other months of the year (so maybe that explains why people say they have seen them in May, for example), but for the most part, the BULK of the gingerbread cookies with ears - the majority of them - are not sold until Summer ends and Fall begins, and that's when they will appear in more shops around DLR.

That is...until next year, when we can expect to start seeing gingerbread in Spring and Summer, and in many more shops around DLR.

 

[jaydoe]

Was there not a party this past Tuesday (Oct 4th)???

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice input on MHP this Monday Sherry. MHP is a fun exclusive event to attend to at least once so you can enjoy the full effects of the Halloween season at DL.

Was there not a party this past Tuesday (Oct 4th)???

MHP ran on Monday Oct 3rd instead of Tuesday.

 

[Sherry E]

Was there not a party this past Tuesday (Oct 4th)???

No. Not this past Tuesday - there was a private event at DL that caused the MHP to move to Monday, 10/3. But the Tuesday party schedule will resume in 5 days, and then there will be another Monday party on 10/31!