Just back from my first Disney Halloween

[DLPdaft]

...... and I'm extremely tired, but we all had fun fun fun.

It might take me a while to sort out trip reports, photos etc, but if I can help with any current questions about the parks etc, fire away .

Minnies house near Woodys Roundup is no longer Minnies house - its full of pumpkins and cobwebs at the moment a la Halloween.

Upstairs at the Castle is still closed (or was up til yesterday anyway), and there are boards up near Alices Labyrinth, as they are starting to build Belles Christmas village.

The weather has been mild all this week since Monday, we had drizzle early one morning (before 8.30) and at 7pm Tuesday evening. But otherwise, warm enough for no coats.

The main parade no longer has the last Princess float, so the princesses and their princes (apart from Ariel and Jasmine) all walk the entire length of the parade, interacting with the crowds. Its lovely - a definite improvement IMHO.

We got some great character photos, including some we've never seen in the parks before .

Highlight of Halloween season for me is the Villains show - its fabulous, and Maleficent is magnificent

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Welcome back, how comes the Princess float is missing?

Wish it went missing when i went lol.

 

[manxtatt2]

welcome home

glad you had a great time

look forward to the trip reports

 

[claireybella]

oo welcome back how busy was it? what was the halloween shows like? x

 

[DLPdaft]

There are Halloween shows at the trick or treat stage near the Cowboy Cookout, and also the Villains show on the hub stage in front of the castle, several times a day.

The Villains show is by far and away the best of these. For the 11.15am show, we got to the benches in front of the hub at 11am, and had ringside spots.

The trick or treat stage has some benches in front for the audience, but not enough - we got there at 11.40 for the 12noon shows (3 in a row - Pinata, Goofy and the magic pot, and Minnie and the Bat Boys) and there were no seats left, standing room only. The trick or treat shows were only on Wednesday this week, until the weekend, so that may be why those shows were so busy.

We did watch them all, but for me, once was enough - Minnie and the Bat Boys was the more entertaining one of the 3.

I didn't think it was particularly busy, but it depends what you're used to. My sister thought it was really busy, but her only other DLRP experience was 2 years ago, in late September.

 

[karenmoloney]

Thanks for the updates. I am getting excited now with only 9 days to go until my first time seeing the Hallowe'en themeing. I want to make sure & see all the shows, glad to hear they are good.

 

[BRobson]

Wow that went by fast Elaine

Sounds like you have great fun - my turn next

 

[tennisfan]

Welcome back Elaine, glad you had a great time

 

[Tinkjon]

Glad you had a lovely time! What a shame the upstairs of the castle is closed - I love that part

 

[Bolanette87]

Welcome back!!!

Bob xoxoxox

 

[Jeccaboos]

Welcome back - can't wait to read the TR and see the photos

 

[jillrobinson]

Glad you had such a lovely trip. Halloween is still my favourite season

 

[mommy2ash]

welcome back. cant wait for the trip report. what were the waiting times for the rides like??

 

[hildasmuriel]

Glad to hear you had such a good time. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[DLPdaft]

I'm still pretty tired, early night for me tonight I think.

Jill, Maleficent truly is the Queen of Halloween !

Mommy2ash, the queues went from nothing at all (IASW, POTC, Indie, RnR in the Studios) to medium waits (Orbitron 15 minutes, Buzz up to 10 minutes - but 20 minutes Weds afternoon, Carousel, teacups, SM2 similar to Buzz, BTM usually around 20 minutes, ToT in the Studios) to silly queue times (Crush never below 35 minutes, and usually around 50-60 minutes all through the mornings, cars sometimes 5 mins, sometimes 25 mins, even Flying Carpets, usually a walk-on, was sometimes 5min, and sometimes 20 mins).

In the Studios, it also seemed that the busier Crush was, the busier Cars and Flying Carpets got too. The tram tour was around 10 minutes, Dumbo was probably around 20 minutes (we never do Dumbo after EMH, it just gets too busy). Peter Pan queue times didn't seem to be posted, but again, without fastpass, we don't do PP after EMH (because we do it at least twice in a row with no queues in EMH).

The counter service restaurants were all very busy at lunchtimes - even at 2.30 we queued for 15 minutes just to be served in Toad Hall, and that was a much shorter queue than we'd seen in the Bella Notte, Cowboy Cookout, or Caseys Corner.

 

[britchic4]

So Elaine did we not bump into each other - were you in Salon Mickey at all?
And did you see them start to put the lights up on the castle? We had a window table in Inventions once and California Grill twice and the last night they had a large crane type thing and started draping it in a blanket of light, ready for Halloween and Christmas. Looked beautiful.

 

[Cyrano]

Welcome home Elaine Your seat is still warm

Hoping to hear that you seen Jack and Sally when you have caught up

 

[DLPdaft]

Alas, I'm not a shareholder, so no Salon Mickey for us (although today at work, a couple of people did suggest I should buy shares ).
We left the parks around 5pm yesterday, so we didn't see any lights on the castle. They are beautiful lit up for Christmas though.

I can't believe how fast the last 4 days have gone!!

 

[DLPdaft]

Thanks Reid - yes, we saw Jack and Sally - they were fab, and we were in the right place at the right time to get photos and autographs.

 

[Tinkjon]

what was the castle like - does it still look like the castle normally does or is it very different for Halloween/15th? I want it to still look pink with pretty gold & blue turrets - anything other than how I remember it is going to be very disappointing