September questions

[BCRose]

We are booked for September 12-16 (Mon-Fri) and was wondering if the Fireworks show during the week? We were so looking forward to that along with World of Colour and have been reading that they may not have them during the week?

What else do they limit during off-peak days? Getting a bit worried now

Also...how are the crowds during this period? I booked at this time thinking they may be lower than usual with kids back in school and the annual pass holders unblocked for quite a while.

Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

 

[skiingfast]

Crowd wise a perfect time to go. But there is a trade off.

Hours will be short. Entertainment will be limited.

Alladin the broadway style show in DCA will probably be down two of those days.

Fireworks and Fantasmic will probably only play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So hopefully you will be there on Friday and that isn't your departure day.

World of Color was new last year and had been scheduled every night since. But it's possible it could change. We won't know until the official Calendar tells us so.

There will also be some major rides down and general rehabs. Probably a lot happenind around the DCA entrance.

But in trade you get less crowds and better hotel rates.

 

[BCRose]

Thanks for the info.
Any idea when the September schedule is released?

Cheers,

 

[skiingfast]

It goes about 60 days out. In a couple weeks you should be able to see the hours for your visit.

The entertainment will fill in a little later from major entertainment to the smaller entertainment.

The rehabs may take a little longer to be totally filled in.

 

[Sherry E]

September 16th will be more crowded because that's the opening day of HalloweenTime. You may even see an increase in crowds on September 15, if people make extended weekend trips.

Even if folks are back in school or a certain segment of AP holders are blocked, people still flock to the parks on the opening day of any holiday season. Lots of people do personal blogs or articles, or they perhaps work for certain websites and want to get there on the first day of Halloween season to be able to write about it immediately after, before the novelty of it wears off. People want to get to DLR on opening day to see if anything new has been added to HalloweenTime that was not there the previous year.

Also, September 16th is a Friday and Fridays are always more crowded. That doesn't mean it will be unbearably, ridiculously crowded or New Year's Eve-level crowded, but you will see a definite increase in crowds that day, especially from early afternoon on, I think. I am thinking Wednesday will be your least crowded day!

 

[vakamalua]

September 16th will be more crowded because that's the opening day of HalloweenTime.

We will at DLR on 9/24 & 25. I'm assuming that the Halloween decorations will be up but that the official MNSSHP will not have started.

--Will there decorations at both parks?
--Will there be anything other than the decorations that will be Halloween-y?
--Do you think the crowds will be less than the opening Halloween weekend and when the party starts?

Thanks

 

[Sherry E]

We will at DLR on 9/24 & 25. I'm assuming that the Halloween decorations will be up but that the official MNSSHP will not have started.

--Will there decorations at both parks?
--Will there be anything other than the decorations that will be Halloween-y?
--Do you think the crowds will be less than the opening Halloween weekend and when the party starts?

Thanks

vakamalua -

Yes, the whole Halloween Time season begins on September 16th, so you will be at DLR when it's in full swing!

Mickey's Halloween Party begins (this year) on September 30th, so you will miss that.

Have you taken a look at our Halloween at DLR Superthread? Don't be intimidated by the size of the thread - the key information to give you a good overview of HalloweenTime is on Page 1, in the very first post (the Welcome/Intro post) and the second post (which is the photo Table of Contents). The first post will link you to all sorts of other HalloweenTime-related threads, Trip Reports, blogs, subjects, etc. There are all kinds of photos in the thread of what you can expect to see.

Up until last year, DCA had what was called Candy Corn Acres (you will see a photo of it in the Superthread), which was a giant Candy Corn photo location and all kinds of candy corn 'plants' surrounding the area, as well as candy corn hanging from the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. DCA also used to play Halloween/monster-related music. And there used to be candy corn CALIFORNIA letters at the DCA entrance (until 2009, when they were discontinued).

Last year, when ElecTRONica began and the construction on DCA increased, Disney felt that HalloweenTime in DCA was not necessary, apparently, and virtually all traces of it were removed from DCA. No more music, no more Candy Corn Acres, no candy corn plants, etc. The only thing even remotely Halloween-esque in DCA was some sort of Fall-looking garland over in the Pacific Wharf area. Basically, all the HalloweenTime stuff was centered in Disneyland.

This year, we're not sure what DCA will have. ElecTRONica will still be there, and there is all kinds of construction continuing, so I don't envision that we will see any decorations on a large scale back in DCA. I think the focus will still be in Disneyland itself. There is a rumor of a possible Halloween version of World of Color and even a Halloween-ified Toy Story Midway Mania, but there's no telling if those will ever happen.

In Disneyland, the decorations are really not all over the park. You will see Main Street Halloween-ized, complete with a giant Mickey pumpkin, elaborate window displays and all kinds of pumpkins in windows. You will see pumpkins around the Partners statue. You will see a Ray Bradbury Halloween tree in Frontierland. You will see Haunted Mansion Holiday in New Orleans Square and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy in Tomorrowland. The Halloween Round-Up in Frontierland is a real gem (full of wonderfully carved, detailed fresh character pumpkins). And you will see character pumpkins above the entry turnstiles at Disneyland. Characters will be wearing Halloween costumes on Main Street (like Goofy as a skeleton, for example, and the adorable Donald Duck as a pumpkin), and there will be a Villains photo spot in Fantasyland. That's about it.

I think that the crowds during your dates will have subsided a little bit from what they will be on opening weekend, and then they will pick back up again when the actual party begins on 9/30.

 

[StarTink]

We will be there 09/10-09/16. Our flight out doesn't leave until 6:00pm. Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain are due to reopen with the Halloween overlays on that day.

My question is with the increased in crowds on Friday, should we be able to get to the park at opening and ride the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain before we have to leave for the airport? I am figuring on a Friday afternoon we probably need to catch the Disneyland express around 2:30 for a 6:00pm flight?

 

[Sherry E]

We will be there 09/10-09/16. Our flight out doesn't leave until 6:00pm. Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain are due to reopen with the Halloween overlays on that day.

My question is with the increased in crowds on Friday, should we be able to get to the park at opening and ride the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain before we have to leave for the airport? I am figuring on a Friday afternoon we probably need to catch the Disneyland express around 2:30 for a 6:00pm flight?

StarTink - I'm sure you will be able to do both of those rides before you leave. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if at least Haunted Mansion Holiday soft opens on 9/15. Maybe Ghost Galaxy will soft open too, but I think at least HMH will. You will most likely even be able to take a quick swing by the Halloween Round-Up in Frontierland on 9/16. I'm not sure how many of the intricately carved character pumpkins will be on display yet, but the Halloween Round-Up is a gem and it is worth seeing!

I think the crowds on 9/16 will probably start to increase by early afternoon. The morning will probably be pretty good, crowd-wise.

 

[StarTink]

Thanks Sherry!

 

[DreamtheImpossible]

Personally, I'm disappointed in September, at least this year. My fiancee's favorite ride (Screamin') will be closed the whole month (just about), and Pirates (where he proposed) is closed September-November.

Sadly, the dates are set for me. I know we'll enjoy Disney no matter what! But it's still a disappointment.

 

[BCRose]

Personally, I'm disappointed in September, at least this year. My fiancee's favorite ride (Screamin') will be closed the whole month (just about), and Pirates (where he proposed) is closed September-November.

Sadly, the dates are set for me. I know we'll enjoy Disney no matter what! But it's still a disappointment.

Where does one find this info?
I am seriously considering changing our dates if too many of the rides and attractions will not be available to us mid-week Sept. All this is really disappointing to find out.

 

[HydroGuy]

Where does one find this info?
I am seriously considering changing our dates if too many of the rides and attractions will not be available to us mid-week Sept. All this is really disappointing to find out.

Better to find out now than later.

See Al Lutz Mega-Update - DCA Magic Mornings?, Lots of Refurbs, PFF Moving, Tiered Prices

IMO September is not a good month to go to DLR unless you go fairly regularly.

See "What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889

 

[vakamalua]

vakamalua -

Yes, the whole Halloween Time season begins on September 16th, so you will be at DLR when it's in full swing!

Mickey's Halloween Party begins (this year) on September 30th, so you will miss that.

Have you taken a look at our Halloween at DLR Superthread? Don't be intimidated by the size of the thread - the key information to give you a good overview of HalloweenTime is on Page 1, in the very first post (the Welcome/Intro post) and the second post (which is the photo Table of Contents). The first post will link you to all sorts of other HalloweenTime-related threads, Trip Reports, blogs, subjects, etc. There are all kinds of photos in the thread of what you can expect to see.

Up until last year, DCA had what was called Candy Corn Acres (you will see a photo of it in the Superthread), which was a giant Candy Corn photo location and all kinds of candy corn 'plants' surrounding the area, as well as candy corn hanging from the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. DCA also used to play Halloween/monster-related music. And there used to be candy corn CALIFORNIA letters at the DCA entrance (until 2009, when they were discontinued).

Last year, when ElecTRONica began and the construction on DCA increased, Disney felt that HalloweenTime in DCA was not necessary, apparently, and virtually all traces of it were removed from DCA. No more music, no more Candy Corn Acres, no candy corn plants, etc. The only thing even remotely Halloween-esque in DCA was some sort of Fall-looking garland over in the Pacific Wharf area. Basically, all the HalloweenTime stuff was centered in Disneyland.

This year, we're not sure what DCA will have. ElecTRONica will still be there, and there is all kinds of construction continuing, so I don't envision that we will see any decorations on a large scale back in DCA. I think the focus will still be in Disneyland itself. There is a rumor of a possible Halloween version of World of Color and even a Halloween-ified Toy Story Midway Mania, but there's no telling if those will ever happen.

In Disneyland, the decorations are really not all over the park. You will see Main Street Halloween-ized, complete with a giant Mickey pumpkin, elaborate window displays and all kinds of pumpkins in windows. You will see pumpkins around the Partners statue. You will see a Ray Bradbury Halloween tree in Frontierland. You will see Haunted Mansion Holiday in New Orleans Square and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy in Tomorrowland. The Halloween Round-Up in Frontierland is a real gem (full of wonderfully carved, detailed fresh character pumpkins). And you will see character pumpkins above the entry turnstiles at Disneyland. Characters will be wearing Halloween costumes on Main Street (like Goofy as a skeleton, for example, and the adorable Donald Duck as a pumpkin), and there will be a Villains photo spot in Fantasyland. That's about it.

I think that the crowds during your dates will have subsided a little bit from what they will be on opening weekend, and then they will pick back up again when the actual party begins on 9/30.

Thanks for taking so much time to give me so much information. It was a nice surprise to hear the Halloween decorations will be on display by 9/24. We haven't been to DLR in ten years and only have two full days there so any reduction in the crowds is welcome.