Halloween Time at the Happiest Place on Earth

Alison and I spent the weekend at Disneyland with Kristin, Dan, and Skylee. We love Halloween time at Disneyland. It is even more fun when you get to share the experience with family. I wanted to record a few of our favorite moments.

Alison and I arrived on Thursday night. We like to arrive the night before, if possible so that we can have a full day at the park. On Thursday night, we decided to walk over to Downtown Disney for dinner. The food was meh, but the dessert was incredible. We went to Salt and Straw, which is an ice cream shop that receives unbelievably good reviews. It turns out all of the hype is very much deserved. They have excellent service. Multiple employees encouraged us to try every flavor they offered(their ice cream flavors are unique) and take all the time we wanted. They had 5-8 stations so we did not feel rushed picking out our flavor. I chose Pots of Gold and Honey and Alison got Salted, Malted Cookie Dough ice cream. They were both superb. We got them both in waffle cones and actually thought the waffle cone detracted from the ice cream. If we got it again we would make sure to get it in a cup. It is well worth a trip to Downtown Disney.

On Friday Alison and I had a magical morning at California Adventure. We arrived early (mornings are always, always, always the best at Disney parks). They opened the gates half an hour early and let people line up to for Guardians or Radiator Springs Racers in the main square (extra-magic hour was going on so hotel guests could ride these rides for an hour before the park opened). They also had Soarin’ open and running. We passed on all of these rides and decided to head to the pier. We walked past Grizzly peak and found a roped-off area near the Little Mermaid ride. No one else was waiting in this area so the cast member decided to let us through, even though we were not hotel guests. It was totally awesome. We were able to ride the Incredicoaster and Midway Mania twice before the park even opened. We started over at the pier because this was our first visit to California Adventure since Pixar Pier opened. We enjoyed the Incredicoaster, but we miss California Screamin’. The new overlay is not quite as fun. We spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon riding every ride we could. We successfully utilized Maxpass so we did not really have to stand in any lines. We rode rides until around 12:30 when we had reservations at Lamplight Lounge. Lamplight Lounge is a new restaurant on Pixar Pier. It was fantastic. It has a great ambiance. We shared the lobster nachos and a carne asada sushi roll, along with a Mint to Be drink. This instantly became one of our favorite places to eat at California Adventure.

We went back to our hotel and changed into costumes before meeting up with Kristin, Dan, and Skylee. Skylee did not know we were also in California (Kristin and Dan did not even tell her they were going to Disneyland until they arrived at the airport on Friday morning). We were so excited to surprise her. We picked up a Mickey Mummy rice crispy treat on our way out of the park so that we could give it to her.

The Halloween Party was awesome. It was so much better than when we went two years ago. Part of that was having more adults. Having two sets of adults worked well because we could divide and conquer. While one set of adults waited in line to see characters, the others would be taking Skylee on a treat trail. We also could take turns waiting for the parade. We accomplished everything we wanted to. We started the party in Toon-Town for the pre-party. Kristin and Dan took Skylee on a treat trail, while Alison and I waited in line to meet Donald Duck. Mickey and Minnie weren't out yet, which was kind of a bummer. Once Kristin, Dan, and Skylee finished the treat trail we were near the front of the line, so they joined us and we got a picture with Donald Duck. Dan and Kristin then went and got in line to meet Minnie while Alison and I took Skylee on a treat trail. Skylee loved trick-or-treating all night long.

After the pre-party, Dan, Skylee, Alison, and I went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad while Kristin waited in line to meet Mickey and Minnie together. We were near the front of the line when they said that the characters needed a quick break and only Minnie would be coming back. We were so sad because we had just met Minnie and we wanted to meet Mickey and Minnie together! We actually got out of line and a cast member stopped us and told us they had a change of plans and both Mickey and Minnie were coming back. We were relieved to meet both of them.

After Mickey and Minnie, we headed to Main Street to get a spot for the parade. Alison and I sat down and enjoyed a much-needed break while Dan, Kristin, and Skylee found a few treat trails. Kristin and Dan then switched us and we took Skylee on a treat trail and to ride the carousel, one of Skylee's favorite rides. A few interesting things happened on the carousel. First, random people kept taking pictures of Alison and me in our costumes. It was slightly amusing and a little annoying as well. Skylee also spent the entire ride of the carousel doing a parade wave and blowing kisses to everyone around the carousel. It was adorable and so funny! After we finished riding the carousel we went back to Main Street since we only had about 15 minutes until the parade started. Skylee demonstrated her parade wave and kisses for Dan and Kristin. It was great.

The parade was fantastic, as usual. It's one of my favorite parades at Disneyland. It begins with the Headless Horseman and then is followed by Mickey, Minnie, Jack & Sally, Haunted Mansion dancers, and villains. The Haunted Mansion segment is my favorite! After the parade, we had an excellent spot for fireworks. It was a great show filled with pyro! After the fireworks, Alison, Dan, and I went to Indiana Jones since Dan was dressed as Indiana Jones for the party. It was a great time. Kristin and Skylee did a few more treat trails and then we met up with them, rode Winnie the Pooh, and did more treat trails. The party was nearing the end, so the cast members were literally giving out handfuls of candy. Our last treat trail filled ALL of our bags. It was crazy. We then rode Pirates of the Caribbean and then Skylee fell asleep. We then went back to Main Street to meet the villains since the lines were relatively short. We met Jafar, Maleficent, and Hades. Maleficent was our favorite. Dan told her we were glad she was invited to the party because we know how she freaks out when she doesn't get invited. She told us the reason they had the party was to make up for her for the last time. It was so funny. Many of the villains also did a mini dance party on the stairs on Main Street. It was fun to watch. Ultimately, the party could not have been better. We had a great time and left with 11.8 lbs. of candy. Crazy!!

Saturday was a fun day at California Adventure. We rode plenty of rides and ate some great treats. We were all excited to try Jack Jack’s cookie num nums, although, in all honesty, they were not quite as good as we hoped. The best treat of the day was the Candy Corn macaroon. It was so good that one was not enough and we had to buy two more. Another highlight of the day was the Halloween overlay for Guardians of the Galaxy. Normally, the premise of the ride is that the Guardians are trying to escape from the collector's fortress and you help them “escape” on a gantry lift to one of six fun songs. After 5pm during Halloween time the story changes. The Guardians have escaped, but baby Groot was left behind and all the monsters are loose in the collector's fortress. In this version, you are helping Rocket Racoon distract the monsters while he finds Groot. It was a fun twist on this ride.

We spend Sunday in Disneyland. We really wanted to be the family that opened up Disneyland (enters first and helps with the countdown). We arrived early enough, but we were not enthusiastic enough – next time we totally know what to do. We had an excellent rope drop on Peter Pan. This ride is super tricky to rope drop because it immediately gets a huge line. Unless you are really close to the front you will end up waiting the normal amount of time. We had planned and executed so we only had to wait a few minutes to get on Peter Pan. After we rode Peter Pan we were able to ride most of the Fantasy Land rides with little to no line. We rode all of the rides we wanted to and had a really satisfying day in the park.

Riding all of the rides with Skylee is so great. She loves to throw her arms up in the arm and she screams and giggles the whole time. We took her on Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy (another Halloween overlay) and she was just so excited. Her excitement is contagious. Seeing the joy on her face makes Disneyland that much more fun.

We ate some great treats. While we were waiting for the Pixar Play parade we got Mickey Mummy macaroons. They had a cookie and cream filling. They were so good and so rich. Later in the day, we got Churro Ice Cream Sundaes. They instantly became our favorite treat. They were so yummy, and when you consider that churros cost $5 at the park the price of $8 for a churro in an ice cream Sunday almost seems like a bargain. We ate our Churro Sundaes in the Tiki Room. It was hands down the best experience we have ever had in the Tiki room. The cast member who was in charge of starting up the show was incredibly talented. He did a standup comedy routine, complete with great impressions before the show got underway. His performance was very memorable.

Alison and I ended our day watching Fantasmic and the fireworks (Skylee fell asleep so Kristin and Dan headed back to the hotel). We have wanted to see Fantasmic during our last two or three trips to Disneyland, but something always thwarted our plans. This time we were going to make sure we did not miss it. The reimagined Fantastmic 2.0 stays true to the original while providing an all-around crisper show. They have also added a Pirates of the Caribbean scene that was quite impressive.

We loved this Disneyland trip. It was so much fun to spend the weekend with Kristin, Dan, and Skylee. We take a similar approach to Disneyland, which made sure our days were jam-packed with fun rides, entertainment, and yummy treats. We certainly “won” Disney this weekend.