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

[Hawaiian Style]

Looks like the park is open until 12:00 on Thursday the 6th of October because of the party on Friday. Anyone know if they would usually have the regular fireworks on that Thursday ? I did not see that on the website, but it's a must see for our family, and we won't be there on Saturday.

 

[Sherry E]

Time for the weekly Monday countdown....

ONLY 32 DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN TIME AT
DISNEYLAND RESORT BEGINS!!!! ​

Soon we will be admiring the clever character pumpkins at the Halloween Round-Up, buying spooky souvenirs, eating pumpkin muffins and pie, posing with Goofy in his his skeleton costume, taking a ride through a distant Ghost Galaxy and enjoying all things that go bump in the night, Disney style.

What will be this year's gingerbread centerpiece in Haunted Mansion Holiday's ballroom scene?



I posted the link to Disneyland News' recent Halloween press release from July 1, 2011, quite a few pages ago, but in case anyone missed it:

'Tis the Season to be Spooky​

Here is an excerpt:

For Halloween fun at Disneyland, guests will enjoy Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy in Tomorrowland. The experience begins as a typical Space Mountain adventure, but suddenly launches voyagers into a haunted section of the universe. Ghosts appear out of the starry darkness and swirling galaxies of Space Mountain, reaching out as if to grab guests as they speed through space. The exhilarating drops and curves of the journey are punctuated by piercing screams, creepy sound effects and haunting music.

Jack Skellington also returns to take over the Haunted Mansion and bring back Haunted Mansion Holiday to New Orleans Square in Disneyland. Transformed to a mix of Halloween spookiness and Christmas tradition, Haunted Mansion Holiday is inspired by the classic animated film “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.” Jack’s return to the Haunted Mansion includes the traditional Halloween/Christmas gingerbread house in the Mansion Ballroom, with some special spooky surprises in this year’s design.

You can read the full press release at the link above!

 

[oumagic]

Can someone tell me how fastpasses work on Halloween party days? I am wondering if I would get a Space Mountain fastpass at 4pm to use it later at 9PM or if they are going to have the fastpasses cutoff at 6pm return time, the official closing on 10/3. I am mostly curious because of Star Tours. I was wondering if they will be out of fastpasses extra-early due to the 6PM closing? Will they open the FP machines at 6PM for party guests? We are going to the beach that day and assume that the FP for Star Tours would be out for the day when the gates open at 3PM for party guests. However, if the official park closing is at 6PM I was wondering if maybe there just would be no fastpasses given for after 6 or if maybe I could get a FP at 6PM for later in the evening. Maybe no one will know but I just thought I'd ask.

 

[Sherry E]

Can someone tell me how fastpasses work on Halloween party days? I am wondering if I would get a Space Mountain fastpass at 4pm to use it later at 9PM or if they are going to have the fastpasses cutoff at 6pm return time, the official closing on 10/3. I am mostly curious because of Star Tours. I was wondering if they will be out of fastpasses extra-early due to the 6PM closing? Will they open the FP machines at 6PM for party guests? We are going to the beach that day and assume that the FP for Star Tours would be out for the day when the gates open at 3PM for party guests. However, if the official park closing is at 6PM I was wondering if maybe there just would be no fastpasses given for after 6 or if maybe I could get a FP at 6PM for later in the evening. Maybe no one will know but I just thought I'd ask.

Great question, oumagic! I hope someone answers it for you. I'm sure someone here in this thread knows, because I'm sure there are lots of people who wondered the same thing on last year's party days. I didn't attend last year's party in DL, so I can't even guess. And when I went to the party in DCA, we ddn't get any FP's for anything. The lines for rides will be shorter anyway - shorter than a typical day at DLR - but I'm not sure what happens with the FP's.

Does anyone out there know? Bret? BELLEDOZER? Kristin? Vala? Liza?? Anyone?

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great question, oumagic! I hope someone answers it for you. I'm sure someone here in this thread knows, because I'm sure there are lots of people who wondered the same thing on last year's party days. I didn't attend last year's party in DL, so I can't even guess. And when I went to the party in DCA, we ddn't get any FP's for anything. The lines for rides will be shorter anyway - shorter than a typical day at DLR - but I'm not sure what happens with the FP's.

Does anyone out there know? Bret? BELLEDOZER? Kristin? Vala? Liza?? Anyone?

There are no FP available during MHP nights. Since this is a exclusive party and the park is not that crowded like during a regular day at DL, there was no need to use the FP machines. It did make sense and it didn't make sense. It did make sense since the park was not at full capacity and a lot of the rides are walk ons except for a few rides like SMGG for an example.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I personally found that once the party started and the crowds from the day cleared out, that the lines for the rides were never that long, as many of the guests were trick or treating, or taking in the various things to do, other than the rides. Many of the rides (and for that matter the candy stations) were practically deserted around the times of the parades and the fireworks. I could have done Buzz Lightyear over and over with no lineups during the parade. It can be a bit of a pain trying to navigate around these areas during these events, but is worth it, for the no lineups on the rides that you want to go on, if they are open during the party.

 

[oumagic]

I personally found that once the party started and the crowds from the day cleared out, that the lines for the rides were never that long, as many of the guests were trick or treating, or taking in the various things to do, other than the rides. Many of the rides (and for that matter the candy stations) were practically deserted around the times of the parades and the fireworks. I could have done Buzz Lightyear over and over with no lineups during the parade. It can be a bit of a pain trying to navigate around these areas during these events, but is worth it, for the no lineups on the rides that you want to go on, if they are open during the party.

I was just really hoping that Star Tours would be open and that the Halloween Party would be a good time to ride it without fastpasses. Maybe someone that goes to the first party can let us know before I am there for the 2nd party. I will let people know for certain when I get back.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I can't see that Star Tours wouldn't be open during the party, as Buzz Lightyear is right across from it. The only area of the park that closes during the MHP is Toontown, the rest of the park is open, as are the rides. Fantasyland closes down for the fireworks and the parade, but that's about it. I will be at the MHP on Sept 30th with the family for their first experience with it. I did it last year solo and had a blast. My best advice for you is to bring a backpack with another bag inside. The TOT bags are tiny, so when the bag get's full, dump it into the bag inside the backpack. It keeps the weight of the candy evenly distributed across you back, and believe me, if you do it this way your backpack will be heavy by the end of the night. I got this tip off the boards last year, and it was a lifesaver on my very bad back.

 

[candygirlIRE]

I am so excited about the Halloween Party!! It's a surprise for the kids, so I have to contain my excitement!!

Got the costumes:
DH - Where's Waldo
me - 50's drive in diner girl
DD1 - Pirate
DS - Indiana Jones
DD2 - Tink (or we did buy a Minnie too - couldn't help myself)





I was wondering about the candy situation... seemed like loads in pictures I'd seen What about the healthy snacks (yuck, who wants those LOL), are they packaged?? Will likely bring those back for the rest of the days at the hotel

Super excited!!!


I loved all the pics you posted BELLEDOZER

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I'm having problems posting, so if I type fast, maybe it will let me post. I'm very outspoken with a dry and weird sense of humor that get's me into trouble. My curiosity also get's me into trouble. This year trouble has been making regular visits, and Mayhem just won't leave me alone, and keeps bugging me. Chaos has also been visiting more often then I can count these days. And I've got a geriatric Greyhound that may cross over the rainbow bridge before we leave on our trip. If he does, won't adopt another hound till after the trip, as it's not fair to my doggy sitter having to deal with a greyhound fresh off the track (we adopt xracers from a adoption group we have a good relationship with). As for getting back on track, the MHP has carrots, craisins and apples all prepackaged as the healthy snacks. Be warned that over the 2 MHP parties I attended last year I ended with over 20+lbs of good old junk food with some healthy stuff mixed in, but it was in the minority. We are heading down to DL from Sept 29 to Oct2nd, since I was at a seminar for WDW and won accomodation at the Hilton Anaheim (see what I mean about Mayhem just not leaving me alone???). The kids don't know we are going, and they won't know till we arrive at the airport.

 

[isisisme]

I just wanted to say it is 4 weeks until the start of Halloween Time at Disneyland!!

I know I have longer, but I am excited to see everyone's posts who get to go before me.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Joining in for the fun.

 

[Sherry E]

I can't believe it's only 4 weeks from now!

Time to trot out the Creepy Dancing Guy to do a dance (he has been the Halloween Superthread mascot since last year):

​

 

[Sherry E]

Rescuing this from the depths of Page 3! Actually, this thread is doing really well in terms of views and posts and all that. But the DIS is busy in general, it seems, and so the threads zip quickly down the pages!



Tomorrow I will post my weekly Monday HalloweenTime countdown for this thread!!

 

[Breyean]

Just bought our Ultimate tickets for Oct 3. This will be our first Halloween party and tour!

 

[Sherry E]

Just bought our Ultimate tickets for Oct 3. This will be our first Halloween party and tour!

Breyean -

I think those Ultimate tickets sound awesome (they'd better be, for that amount of money!). I think a combo tour and party package is a great way to really celebrate the Halloween season....and it makes me wonder if the same sort of thing will be coming in the future for the holiday season (combo tour and party package). Thus far, there is no holiday party, but most of us suspect there will be in the near future, and the holiday tour is already very popular.

 

[PixiDustDears]

Can anyone tell me....how scary is SMGG? Dd says she wants to be really brave this year and try and ride everything she can (but not TT lol). Last year she didn't like the Materhorn (but says she might try it again this year) but she loved Splash Mountain. I know Ds wont be able to handle it because it has to much sensory imput for him. I think the Ghost part is what might scare her. So how scary is the halloween overlay?

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Can anyone tell me....how scary is SMGG? Dd says she wants to be really brave this year and try and ride everything she can (but not TT lol). Last year she didn't like the Materhorn (but says she might try it again this year) but she loved Splash Mountain. I know Ds wont be able to handle it because it has to much sensory imput for him. I think the Ghost part is what might scare her. So how scary is the halloween overlay?

My DD rode it when she was 8 and she hated it. She loved the regular version, but the ghost guy scared the you-know-what out of her (she was in tears). She is sensitive (obviously!) but I do think it's pretty intense -- at the beginning at least, when the ghost guy is at the top of the hill.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

HM did the same thing to my kids in Feb to the point where they refused to ride anymore remotely challenging rides for the remainder of the day. I'm hoping that I can convince my kids to give it a second chance next month with the Nightmare before Christmas overlay, as I loved the ride with the overlay.

 

[Sherry E]

And now it's time for our weekly Monday countdown...




Only 25 Days Until...
Halloween Time Begins at the Disneyland Resort!!!!​

Wow! Where did the time go? How can it be that there are only 25 days until the start of this wonderful Fall season at Disneyland?


I will pose the question that I also plan to ask in the Christmas thread weekly Monday countdown.....

What's on your Halloween Time to-do list this year? Is there anything that you meant to do last year (or any other year) and never got around to it? Any souvenirs you didn't get last year that you like to buy this time around? Any Halloween treats you're particularly fond of that you'd like to try again? Any Villains you haven't gotten photos with yet?


I have a photographic to-do list:

1. I have to get pictures at the Halloween Round-Up! I don't have any! Not a single one. I had to miss Halloween Time last year, and during the previous years I think I was with friends who were not that interested in going into the Round-Up and looking around. During my Christmas trip in December, I spent a crazy amount of time lingering at the Reindeer Round-Up (hours), just taking photos of all the details. So I have to give the Halloween Round-Up its due time as well!

2. Also, I have to get more photos of the Main Street pumpkins. It's tough, because many of them are hidden on window sills or on balconies, but I will try.

3. Also, I have no photos of the character pumpkins above the turnstiles. Must get those.

4. I plan to try to get some photos of the Halloween character display along the tram path - without taking the tram. I want to try to get to them while on foot, somehow, or at least get a good vantage point that is not from the tram.

5. Finally, I plan to try to look for any signs of Halloween Time - any signs at all other than Fall-colored flower beds - in California Adventure. That will be a challenge. DCA was stripped of 99% of its Halloween-ness last year and it's unlikely there will be anything to see this year with all the construction happening. But somewhere, anywhere, in DCA, there must be a random pumpkin or ghost or something.



What about you? What's on the Halloween Time to-do list this year?