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

[Sherry E]

Love the pics, thanks for sharing! I'm going to DisneyLand for only the second time in my life, and bringing my daughter who has never been, Sat the 8th. Tuesday the 11th we're hitting the Halloween Party!

We went to Mickey's Not SO Scary Halloween Party at WDW for the first time last year and it was an amazing night! Boo to You and the awesome Fireworks, the trick or treating - and we found the character interaction the best! My daughter had a long 10 minute crazy conversation with Alice and the Mad Hatter, met the fairies for the first time, etc.

I was not able to get the Mickey Ghost popcorn bucket last year (all sold out everywhere ) so I hope I can get one this year. It looks there are a lot of really cute things to buy!

Does anyone know, how is DisneyLand on carrying larger sizes? It's only my last trip to WDW that I started seeing 2X and 3X merchandise. I like my tshirts large (big chest ) so I need a larger shirt! I like to get sweatshirts and t's. I got a couple of Halloween shirts last year but I'd love to up my collection!

Queenie122 - Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy them! You said this will be your second time at Disneyland - is this also going to be your first Halloween Time visit? I hope you have a great time at Mickey's Halloween Party. While there is no Headless Horseman or a parade on the scale of Boo to You, it's a fun little party. Halloween Screams is a great fireworks show!

You know, those Ghost Mickey things I posted the photo of look exactly like the popcorn buckets from last year and that's what I thought they were. But Liza/funatdisney had a closer look at them and talked to a CM to discover they are actually rigged to light up. You can use them for decoration, I suppose. Last year everyone was saying that the popcorn buckets could be used for decor or candle holders after the popcorn was emptied out, so maybe Disney just decided, "Let's make it a light!"

I've seen a few shirts that are in 2X and 3X size, here and there. I've also seen some really cute t-shirts in small sizes only. There seems to be a mixed bag of sizes. World of Disney in Downtown Disney often has 2X and 3X stuff, as well as the tiny t-shirts!

We can always count on Sherry!!! I'm so jealous about the dematisse dessert!! I got a Santa Mickey one last holiday season (yup, very small cups) and it was just a peppermint mouse with whipped cream on top, I was so looking forward to the "cake part". Oh well. Thanks for sharing. I've been watching the WDW's halloween threads and they're all stingy with the photos. I don't even know if they have the NBC popcorn buckets. A lot of the merchindise is the same, though, but from the looks of things DL has a lot more to choose from or whoever took inventory didn't count the NBC stuff.

Kirsten - Thank you! Although, you couldn't count on me last year because I didn't make it to DLR for Halloween Time at all! (I made up for the lack of Halloween photos by going overboard on Christmas photos, though!) This year I thought, "Okay, I have to get to DLR to take a bunch of Halloween photos. That's all there is to it. Let's get crackin'!"

About the demitasse - when Liza/funatdisney got that, the lady at Plaza Inn was telling her that this year they only have Donald mugs/cups. Now, I could be losing my mind - that wouldn't be shocking - but I could have sworn that I saw someone walking down Main Street holding a demitasse dessert in the standard Mickey pumpkin mug just hours earlier!

So I'm not sure if, perhaps, the Plaza Inn only sells the Donald demitasse, but maybe you can still get the Mickey demitasse elsewhere? Maybe you can still get the Mickey demitasse at Blue Ribbon Bakery? That is a mystery.

I'm shocked that the WDW side of the board is not abundant with Halloween photos from the parks! They need to step it up over there! We are definitely not stingy with the photos on this side of the board. I knew that being there on opening day meant that we had to hone in on things like merchandise, which people would want to see before making their own trips. So, for me, it isn't just a matter of "Let's see what kinds of cool photos I can get," so much as it is a mission of, "What do people want to see from the parks?"

You know, this year is the 10th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay, so I would expect there to be extra NBC souvenirs out this year than ever before. But also, I think that Nightmare Before Christmas has a stronger presence in Disneyland than in WDW anyway, I would imagine, because they don't have the HMH overlay at all. That's probably why we have much more NBC merchandise and lots of cool NBC figurines and ornaments and things that WDW does not have. That's my guess, anyway.

Great pictures Sherry!! Just a question about the popcorn buckets -- are the only ones available with popcorn in them the NBC ones?

Thank you, StyledSugar!

I'm not 100% sure about the popcorn bucket situation. I, personally, did not see any actual Ghost Mickey popcorn buckets - I thought I did, but they were only the lights/lanterns that looked like popcorn buckets. Liza/funatdisney was the one who spotted the NBC popcorn coffin bucket thingy in New Orleans Square.

I didn't notice people carrying popcorn buckets, like I did when I was there during the holidays and everyone had a bucket. So I'm not sure if whatever buckets are out this year just had not been discovered/bought by people yet, or perhaps Disney is late in releasing other new buckets (as they were last year).

I know that not everyone is a Nightmare Before Christmas fan - or some folks don't think it belongs in the Disney family. So it seems like it would be kind of risky on DLR's part to only sell an NBC bucket and no other kind of collectible bucket. There has got to be another one - or another one that just has not made it into the parks yet.

If you are talking about the Ghost Mickey, I believe that is actual some kind of lantern and not a popcorn bucket.
But I am curious if there are or will be other buckets around the park? I have only heard (only from 2 people) that the NMC one is in NOS.
I could be totally wrong though.

isisisme - Yep - the lantern/light thingy is an impostor! It looks like the bucket, so it tricks us! There have got to be some other buckets at some point other than just the NBC one - at least one other design. Maybe they are just late in getting them into the parks.

Thanks for posting the photos. I can't wait to see this all for myself. This will be my first Halloween at Disneyland.

I just checked the other day and I do not have a single photo from Disneyland even though I have been three times before. I am about to put this right.

Corinna

Corinna - You're welcome! Yes, you definitely have to start taking some photos at Disneyland! You will have plenty to take photos of in both the regular Halloween decorations (and I have not even posted 1/4 of my pictures!) and the extra stuff at the Halloween Party!!!

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Okay, I have to bop on over to the Christmas thread and let them know I haven't forgotten about them. I was able to snap a photo or two of some Christmas ornaments and such when I was at DLR 2 days ago. We do a new photo theme every week as we count down to the start of the holiday season. (This week's photo "theme" has been New Orleans Square and we will start a new theme for the week tomorrow!)

BUT...when I get done in the Christmas thread, I'm going to come back and post more photos here. Let's see...I did one post of overall, general Halloween highlights. I had another all-merchandise post. And then I did an all-Halloween Round-Up post. What next?

I'm thinking my next post here will be chock full of window displays and that kind of thing. I'll see. I am picking and choosing right now and randomly posting things. When I do my TR, I will be posting "extra" photos - the ones that didn't make the cut here in the Halloween thread....the lost footage!!

 

[StephNJer]

Oh, Sherry, thank you so much for posting so many wonderful pictures in this thread!! DH, DD and I just looked at the ones you just posted, and there were many squeals of excitement (and not just from DD!) hehe.
I found this very helpful too, because we LOVE Halloween so much, I'm afraid we would spend up our souvenir money at the first shop we came to! This way, we can look through pics and determine what we *really* want so we can try to look for those specific things and not go too crazy the first chance we get.

I'm determined this time that I'm going to take more pictures. Looking through all of yours, I'm realizing I NEED to get more pics of the decor so I can have them for memory's sake, at least. Last year we were there for the Christmas festivities, and I regret not just stopping for a moment to take pictures of all the beautiful decorations. I feel like when you have to stop for pictures, it allows you to just enjoy the moment a bit more. We're always so go, go, go at Dland sometimes, but it's good to really savor the season, if that makes sense.

 

[Sherry E]

Photo Post #4 -

We've seen general decorations, merchandise and the Halloween Round-Up...let's take a look at some spooky window displays and creative in-store displays!

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[TahoeMom]

TahoeMom -

The Mickey ghost looks exactly like the ghost Mickey popcorn bucket from last year - in fact, that's what I thought it was when I first saw it yesterday! Liza/funatdisney looked at it more closely and realized it is actually a light/lantern-type thing. I guess it is rigged to light up! I saw it in several shops - it was in a few places on Main Street. It was also at the stands/kiosks when we first passed through the tunnel and entered Town Square. It was all over.

Thanks Sherry! I will definitely be looking for this when I am there in TWO WEEKS!!!

 

[KCmike]

Great Shots Sherry. Man oh man do I miss that place. Thanks for taking all the pictures. It feels like I'm there. Alright I've got to keep telling myself I've only got 10+ months to go.

I do have to say though that I'm not a fan of Duffy. I'm not sure why they are pushing it so hard? What is the backstory there? Is he in movies over in Japan? Just don't get it. Seems like a shameless plug to sell teddy bears to me.

 

[TahoeMom]

Sherry, thank you again for posting all the pictures. It is hard to believe we will be there in less than two weeks and your posts are really building the excitement for me!

I definitely want to get the Ghost Mickey lantern and the Ghost Mickey antenna ball

I just hope I remember my camera battery charger this year - I forgot it last year and my camera died just as we were about to enter the park for the party. I ended up not getting many pictures of the decorations at all.

I keep hoping they will bring back the Halloween decorations at Tower of Terror. I wonder why they stopped doing that - I really liked the added touch there.

 

[Sherry E]

Oh, Sherry, thank you so much for posting so many wonderful pictures in this thread!! DH, DD and I just looked at the ones you just posted, and there were many squeals of excitement (and not just from DD!) hehe.
I found this very helpful too, because we LOVE Halloween so much, I'm afraid we would spend up our souvenir money at the first shop we came to! This way, we can look through pics and determine what we *really* want so we can try to look for those specific things and not go too crazy the first chance we get.

I'm determined this time that I'm going to take more pictures. Looking through all of yours, I'm realizing I NEED to get more pics of the decor so I can have them for memory's sake, at least. Last year we were there for the Christmas festivities, and I regret not just stopping for a moment to take pictures of all the beautiful decorations. I feel like when you have to stop for pictures, it allows you to just enjoy the moment a bit more. We're always so go, go, go at Dland sometimes, but it's good to really savor the season, if that makes sense.

StephNJer - You're very welcome...and thank you for the kind words!

I am definitely one of those sorts who kind of likes to see what is for sale before I get to the parks, so I know what you mean about narrowing down what you really want.

There are a couple of reasons I like to know what merchandise is available in advance. One of them is exactly what you said - somehow it helps to see what's available before you get to DLR, so it takes away some of that 'I gotta have it!' frenzy that we can all succumb to if we just happen to 'discover' the merchandise while we are there. This way, if we can see what's being sold before we get there, we have time to kind of think about it logically and plan out which things look really appealing to us, and which things can be skipped. I tend to get caught up in the moment and the 'I gotta have it' syndrome kicks in.

The other reason I like to see what's available, merchandise-wise, before I go to DLR is that it is very easy to overlook certain items! Sometimes, if the stores are too crowded, you can miss seeing certain things and never know they exist. I didn't even find all of the merchandise - I know there were other things I skipped - but I wanted to get photos of some of it. If there is some small treasure, waiting to be found in a shop in New Orleans Square, I want to know about it so I don't miss it!

I know what you mean about stopping to take more photos. In the past, I used to just focus on taking photos of friends on my DLR trips, and while I saw many of the famous Disney details around the park, I didn't get too many of them on camera. And, to be honest, I cannot get a lot of photos of all the wonderful details, souvenirs, decorations, window displays, details at the Halloween Round-Up, etc., when I am with people. Sure, I can snap a few photos here and there, but I cannot really get into a groove. I can't concentrate. Now, the majority of my picture-taking sprees are done when I am by myself. That's when I spot even more things - details and out of the way hidden gems. I just cannot do it when I am hanging out with people. So my ideal trips are multi-day trips in which I can have some 'friend time' for part of it...and then the rest of the time I can walk around with my camera, aimed at anything that crosses my path!

You really do start to notice so many more aspects of the parks when you stop to take photos. I think a lot of us have been guilty of the commando, "go go go" trips in the past. Those can be fun too, but stopping to notice all the small nooks and corners, all the colors and displays, of DLR has its own rewards!!

Great Shots Sherry. Man oh man do I miss that place. Thanks for taking all the pictures. It feels like I'm there. Alright I've got to keep telling myself I've only got 10+ months to go.

I do have to say though that I'm not a fan of Duffy. I'm not sure why they are pushing it so hard? What is the backstory there? Is he in movies over in Japan? Just don't get it. Seems like a shameless plug to sell teddy bears to me.

Thank you, Mike!! You've got your big summer extravaganza trip coming up next year, right? You're covering a lot of different locations on that trip!

You know, I'm not into the whole Duffy craze myself. Don't get me wrong - I like stuffed animals and I like character photos in general and all that. I think Duffy is cute, and I think the back story is cute. But that's about as far as it goes for me. It seemed like he was kind of forced on us, and some people took to Duffy while others didn't.

What I do like is the creative photo-taking that some of our DIS'ers engage in - they bring their stuffed Duffy to various locations around DLR and pose him. I've seen some really clever, funny pictures with Duffy around DLR. But I suppose I would like that concept even if the 'subject' in question were Mickey or Pooh or whomever.

Sherry, thank you again for posting all the pictures. It is hard to believe we will be there in less than two weeks and your posts are really building the excitement for me!

I definitely want to get the Ghost Mickey lantern and the Ghost Mickey antenna ball

I just hope I remember my camera battery charger this year - I forgot it last year and my camera died just as we were about to enter the park for the party. I ended up not getting many pictures of the decorations at all.

I keep hoping they will bring back the Halloween decorations at Tower of Terror. I wonder why they stopped doing that - I really liked the added touch there.

TahoeMom - You're very welcome! I'm happy to help build excitement for DIS'ers who are planning to experience Halloween Time over the next month and a half. I am skipping around, randomly posting photos in certain categories here, but I will have a more chronological approach in my TR, and I will include many more photos in that which I have not included here so far (more photos of flowers, Main Street, general decor, etc.).

You know, there may be decorations at ToT - we didn't go over that way. DCA was so delightfully uncrowded early Friday that we should have walked over there to see what was what.

You know what else we neglected to check out (to be sure it's there)? The Villains photo spot in Fantasyland!! There just wasn't enough time, really! It was sort of a 3/4 day trip and not a full day. I assume the Villains are back at their usual post in FL, by IASW - but we did not head back there at all. We did see Captain Hook in the Town Square area, though.

I think I will be useless at getting any good nighttime photos of the MHP (though I will still give it a try). I will have to rely on all of you wonderful folks to get some good party shots!! Take that charger with you!

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Quick question, do the Jack-o-latern/Scarcrow guys' heads light up at night?

I'll be sure to take some treat picks when I'm at WDW and share some of them here. I heard a rumor that they have the Ghost Mickey popcorn buckets. I also have to get a halloween vinyal. I'm also going to be on the lookout for the demitesse desserts. I would love to get the mickey trick or treat bucket, but I don't think I'll be able to get it to fit in our suit cases for the plane ride. Same goes with balloons. We may get a balloon on day one, so we have it all week then poke a hole in it to take it home (as long as it's a mylar balloon). I can tack the balloon to the wall when we get home.

Sherry, I think you may be right about NBC. I do know that "the other side" is very jealous that we have Jack and Sally roaming the parks during this time of year.

 

[Sherry E]

Quick question, do the Jack-o-latern/Scarcrow guys' heads light up at night?

I'll be sure to take some treat picks when I'm at WDW and share some of them here. I heard a rumor that they have the Ghost Mickey popcorn buckets. I also have to get a halloween vinyal. I'm also going to be on the lookout for the demitesse desserts. I would love to get the mickey trick or treat bucket, but I don't think I'll be able to get it to fit in our suit cases for the plane ride. Same goes with balloons. We may get a balloon on day one, so we have it all week then poke a hole in it to take it home (as long as it's a mylar balloon). I can tack the balloon to the wall when we get home.

Sherry, I think you may be right about NBC. I do know that "the other side" is very jealous that we have Jack and Sally roaming the parks during this time of year.

You mean the jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows at the Halloween Round-Up? We didn't head back there at night, but it seems like I have seen other photos of the Round-Up at night and the area is well-lit (but appropriately moody for Halloween Time/Fall). Maybe there are lights behind some of the figures? I'm not sure if the actual heads light up but there have got to be lights around them.

I'm glad we have a couple of exclusive things at DLR that WDW does not have. WDW has sooooo much more than DLR has anyway, just in terms of dining, overall space, number of parks, hotels, etc. They have so many more Christmas decorations because there are so many more things to decorate. So if we can have our little Haunted Mansion Holiday and Jack & Sally roaming the parks, and WDW doesn't have that stuff, then at least we have something that belongs to us. Same with IASW Holiday - they have the Osborne Lights, but we have IASW Holiday. At least we have something.

Does WDW have either the Halloween Round-Up or the Reindeer Round-Up? If not, score one for us!

I can't wait to see your WDW Halloween photos! I do wish we had the Boo to You parade instead of our little character cavalcade, but we do have Halloween Screams, and that's awesome, so I'll live without the parade!

 

[StyledSugar]

Thank you, StyledSugar!

I'm not 100% sure about the popcorn bucket situation. I, personally, did not see any actual Ghost Mickey popcorn buckets - I thought I did, but they were only the lights/lanterns that looked like popcorn buckets. Liza/funatdisney was the one who spotted the NBC popcorn coffin bucket thingy in New Orleans Square.

I didn't notice people carrying popcorn buckets, like I did when I was there during the holidays and everyone had a bucket. So I'm not sure if whatever buckets are out this year just had not been discovered/bought by people yet, or perhaps Disney is late in releasing other new buckets (as they were last year).

I know that not everyone is a Nightmare Before Christmas fan - or some folks don't think it belongs in the Disney family. So it seems like it would be kind of risky on DLR's part to only sell an NBC bucket and no other kind of collectible bucket. There has got to be another one - or another oen that just has not made it into the parks yet.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of NBC so I'd rather see a different type of bucket forsure. I'll keep watching the Halloween thread! Thanks!

 

[isisisme]

I have a tradition when we go to the park. I go to Le bat en Rouge and buy a NBC purse. I have several. I did not get one last year because I did not like it.

So, I wait until I have purchased that before I buy anything else. But this year, I see soooo many things I want!

I can't wait for the treat lists as well.

Does anyone remember when French Market used to have HMH menu items? We got jerk chicken and a pasta dish one year in zero dog bowls. we still have the bowls. I don't think they did that last year. Sadly.

 

[SueTGGR]

I'm back! So after last Halloween, we came to the conclusion that we could not afford another annual pass. We made our final trip to DLR this last June (and not planning on returning until maybe 2013 ) and I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be seeing Disney's Halloween for awhile.
Fast forward to Friday. DH texted me from work and asks if I have anything going on Oct 21st. I say no, why? How about we get tickets to the Halloween Party and borrow DVC points and do to DLR that night? Well, I am sure I gave him the same answer that any of you here would give...Heck Yea!
I was checking out the thread off and on but I really tried to stay away because I didn't want to be bummed. I pulled up the thread and looky, I am part of the TOC on the 2nd post. You guys made me so happy. Not only am I going but maybe I helped others on this board.
OK, so now I have to catch up. I am NOT going too far back as I just can imagine all that has been posted since my last time reading here. I have seen that a lot of you have stuck it out and are still around and have gained new posters that love the DL Halloween Season as the rest of us.
One question...I don't remember, is it really necessary to get Fast Passes for the rides? I am thinking they didn't even take them during the party. The one ride I want to go on is Space Mountain and I am so spoiled that I don't want to waste time waiting in line. DH and I have been debating it back and forth and would love to get feedback on that issue.
Thank you so much for reading my ramblings but I am soooooo happy to be back!
Later,
Sue

 

[krispin41]

Thank you sooooo much for all the pictures, They are making me so excited for my own trip on the 14th. I keep nudging my husband to look when he's trying to watch football...

I found the cutest shirt at Target today that has Mickey & Minnie trick-or-treating...of course I had to have it!

 

[Eeee-va]

One question...I don't remember, is it really necessary to get Fast Passes for the rides? I am thinking they didn't even take them during the party. The one ride I want to go on is Space Mountain and I am so spoiled that I don't want to waste time waiting in line. DH and I have been debating it back and forth and would love to get feedback on that issue.

Unless they change things this year, you can't use Fastpasses during the party itself (just from 4-7 or 3-6, depending on when the party starts--but SMGG will probably be out of FPs by the party time anyway). Before the party last year we did get a FP for Big Thunder Mountain and rode that before the party started.

When we rode Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy during last year's party, the line was probably more than 20 minutes--which, in fairness, sometimes with FP it can take 10 or 15 minutes to ride, but it wasn't what I expected. I think the line might go down later in the party but I'm not sure...overall, though, I don't THINK you'll be able to avoid waiting entirely. It's just too popular.

I was surprised by how big the crowds were at the party, as I'd envisioned all the rides would be walk-ons and crowds would be lower than low season. The crowds were much bigger (at times it felt like summer to me) and the major rides we tried were not at all walk-ons. Doesn't mean it's not fun but I wish I would have managed my expectations--if I'd been expecting high crowds I would have enjoyed the party much more.

 

[funatdisney]

I have finally uploaded enough pictures onto Photobucket to start posting my pics.

First, the NBC Coffin popcorn bucket. These were sold at the popcorn cart near the French market. I didn't see them sold anywhere else, but that doesn't mean that they are sold at other popcorn carts.

 

[Sherry E]

I'm back! So after last Halloween, we came to the conclusion that we could not afford another annual pass. We made our final trip to DLR this last June (and not planning on returning until maybe 2013 ) and I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be seeing Disney's Halloween for awhile.
Fast forward to Friday. DH texted me from work and asks if I have anything going on Oct 21st. I say no, why? How about we get tickets to the Halloween Party and borrow DVC points and do to DLR that night? Well, I am sure I gave him the same answer that any of you here would give...Heck Yea!
I was checking out the thread off and on but I really tried to stay away because I didn't want to be bummed. I pulled up the thread and looky, I am part of the TOC on the 2nd post. You guys made me so happy. Not only am I going but maybe I helped others on this board.
OK, so now I have to catch up. I am NOT going too far back as I just can imagine all that has been posted since my last time reading here. I have seen that a lot of you have stuck it out and are still around and have gained new posters that love the DL Halloween Season as the rest of us.
One question...I don't remember, is it really necessary to get Fast Passes for the rides? I am thinking they didn't even take them during the party. The one ride I want to go on is Space Mountain and I am so spoiled that I don't want to waste time waiting in line. DH and I have been debating it back and forth and would love to get feedback on that issue.
Thank you so much for reading my ramblings but I am soooooo happy to be back!
Later,
Sue

Welcome back, Sue! Glad to see you here again! Of course I would still be here - I'm lucky that some of our faithful followers have stuck around, and we have also gained some new ones, which is fantastic!!

Thank you sooooo much for all the pictures, They are making me so excited for my own trip on the 14th. I keep nudging my husband to look when he's trying to watch football...

I found the cutest shirt at Target today that has Mickey & Minnie trick-or-treating...of course I had to have it!

You're very welcome, krispin41!!! I know that some people want to wait to see the park for themselves and not look at any photos beforehand, which I totally understand. Others want to see the photos right as the season kicks off and gets going. So I am just posting in hopes that enough folks want to see the pictures!!

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I have started my Trip Report - called "The Return of the Masked Mouse & His Diabolical Twin" (starts page 145, post #2170), which will have a lot more photos in it as well. I am kind of bouncing back and forth between this thread, posting photos, the Christmas thread, posting more photos, and my TR, with even more photos. My head is spinning! So if you tune in here and suddenly see some photos of Christmas trees or something, you'll know I lost my mind and posted in the wrong thread!!!

 

[funatdisney]

At the Disneyland gates.

Here are some of my pics of Main Street. As Sherry E mentioned, the lights on the street signs were on and could be seen easily. I have never seen Main Street so lit up in the morning before.

I have more pics, but will post them later.

 

[SueTGGR]

Thank you sooooo much for all the pictures, They are making me so excited for my own trip on the 14th. I keep nudging my husband to look when he's trying to watch football...

I found the cutest shirt at Target today that has Mickey & Minnie trick-or-treating...of course I had to have it!

This is all your fault, Krispin41! My DH was recording the 49er game so we ran to pick up the dogs from their bath and shucks, there was a Target right there!

If anyone is interested, I followed the hint about the shirt @ Target and this is the design. Cost was only $10! I have a Halloween Costume, now. FYI, there weren't many left, either.
Later,
Sue

 

[PoohBearFriends]

Thanks for all the great pics! So exciting to see pics! Can't wait to see them in person!

 

[MattsPrincess]

Still don't know if this is going to happen for us or not. DH's higher ups told him they would give him an answer the day after he asked, then the next week, and they still haven't told him anything. In the meantime, hotels are booking up and the tour has already opened for booking. At this rate we aren't going to get to go even IF they tell him he can.