Mickey's Halloween Party
Over the past couple weeks I've had a lot of folks ask about Halloween time at Disneyland and Mickey's Halloween Party, so here is a review to help you decide if it's worth it for you.
Disneyland goes all out for Halloween, Main Street is decorated with orange flags, pumpkins on the street lamps complete with fall flowers and foliage--not to mention a HUGE carved Mickey Mouse Pumpkin at the center of the Town Square. The shops are filled with holiday-inspired sweet treats, and the characters can often be found in their Halloween costumes as they walk around to take photos with your family. Even Space Mountain gets a revamp, where added ghosts and ghouls make your space trip even more grueling. This time of year also marks the official opening of the highly anticipated Nightmare Before Christmas overlay of The Haunted Mansion. These are things that anyone in the park mid-September through October can enjoy. It's lovely and fun and just a little spooky, so if you can, you should absolutely try to plan a trip around this time of year. Be careful, however, to check park closing times during September and October, because some days the park closes to the public as early as 5pm (yep, you read that right) and stays open longer only for those who hold a ticket for Mickey's Halloween Party.
Prices for Mickey's Halloween Party vary by date and you can get discounts if you purchase ahead of time or if you're an Annual Passport Holder--you can find more information here, but generally you're looking at about $63-$77 which gains you admission to Disneyland Park for up to 3 hours before the event's start time and complimentary parking. To be clear, this means that if you want to spend the entire day at the park AND attend the event, you will need to purchase both an regular admission ticket as well as an event ticket. This also means, however, that if you're willing to forego the morning and mid-day hours at Disneyland, you could pay the event ticket price only and still get in some solid Disneyland hours and potentially save yourself a little money. The park is still running as usual during Mickey's Halloween Party, so you can ride your favorite rides (while looking like your favorite ghoul), and enjoy Disneyland to the fullest.
One of the key features of Mickey's Halloween Party is that you get to dress up--it is a party, afterall! If you are like me (meaning you love Halloween almost as much as you love Disneyland), then you will revel in the opportunity to dress up in costume at Disneyland. The park is also noticeably less crowded during the Halloween party, since it is closed to the public and only open for those who have purchased tickets, however, the wait times for the two Halloween decorated rides really doesn't change that much.
During Mickey's Halloween Party, you'll hear lots of music--there are multiple stages set up throughout the park with live bands and DJs where people dance--Jason and I stayed clear of these areas, as dancing to pop music at Disneyland just didn't really appeal to us--but it looked like the few people who were in those areas were having a good time. We spent most of our time in the New Orleans Square and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Cadaver Dans (formerly Dapper Dans) sing spooky songs on the misty Rivers of America and from the second story balcony of The Haunted Mansion. We also went Trick-Or-Treating at the various stations set up to do so--you're given a bag and you stand in short lines to grab a few Halloween Treats. I was excited to trick-or-treat at Disneyland, thinking that the candy and sweets would be Disney Brand candy--unfortunately, it was just the regular stuff--Twizzlers, Kit-Kats, M&Ms, etc. It was cool that there was a good variety of candy--each station had different types so in the end you had a bag full of a large variety of sugary goods. Don't worry dentists! Disneyland also provided an option to Trick-Or-Treat for fresh fruits rather than candy... if one so desired...but really, who wants to take an apple from a villain?
Jason and I also watched the Halloween Fireworks show, which showcased Disney Villains and was made up of spooky looking orange, purple, and green fireworks. This was a very cool fireworks show, mostly because it had such a different vibe than the sweet shows Disney usually puts on.
We didn't watch the Halloween Parade in it's entirety, but we did see it pass by and it looked very much like any other parade you've seen at Disneyland, minus the bright and cheery colors. At the parade all the regular characters (Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Etc.) were dressed up in their costumes and all the Villains you can think of were on hand "scaring" the crowd with their evil nature.
So, is it worth it?
If you LOVE Disneyland and you LOVE Halloween, I'd say put together a really cool costume and try it once--if for no other reason, you'll get some great pictures! It was fun to see Disneyland's "Dark Side" for a night and it was especially fun to dress up in costume at my favorite place, but $63-$77 is a lot of money to spend to come away with a bag of candy you could have bought at Walmart for $10. Personally, I'm happy that we did it, but what I really love about Halloween at Disneyland is the stuff that I can experience without having to spend the extra cash. Disney being Disney, they seemed to spare no expense at transforming the park, and they hit that "cute-but-spooky" nail right on it's head. After all, the memories are what's important, right?
Have you experienced Mickey's Halloween party? If so, we'd love to hear what you thought!
