Halloween Time 2011

[TP2000]

Mickey's Halloween Parties have now started, and the OC Register has a story about the first one this past Friday. It was a sell-out, and few tickets remain for the rest of the parties. The article has a really fun slideshow with pictures of some of the great costumes the party-goers wore on Friday night.

From the article...

Ron Wahlig and his wife, Michelle, of Pacific Palisades, dressed as Darth Vader and Princess Leia. “It’s totally fun for us and the kids,” said Michelle Wahlig. “We’re here to dress up and for the dancing. We’re over the candy.”

Pictures and more are here... http://ocresort.ocregister.com/2011/10/02/87693/87693/

 

[Maryssa*]

Was there last night, everything was great!

The only thing I have to say is that the bags they give you now for trick-or-treating are not NEARLY big enough for all of the candy stops they have around the park. I remember having a bigger sized bag a few years ago, but this year we reached a point where we couldn't even get in the candy lines anymore because there was no more room in our bags =(

 

[nemofinder22]

Fantastic video of this years gingerbread house.

[youtube]pgaRV3yJ4qs[/youtube]

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

run gingerbread men run lol

 

[nemofinder22]

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy-
Exterior projections-
[youtube]nA7AdfNbb8w[/youtube]

This is my favorite part, when the dome "collapses"
[youtube]iIkyMUgF7fg[/youtube]

POV its the best one I can find, its pretty hard to capture the ride anyways.
[youtube]4AQZiG3PtnE[/youtube]

 

[TP2000]

DL looks so cool for Halloween! Prob the best of all the parks

Yup, with the exception of Tokyo Disneyland, there really isn't another Disney park that does a better job celebrating Halloween.

One fun thing Disneyland does is set up a Dia De Los Muertas area in Frontierland. Spanish for "Day of the Dead", it's not really Halloween, and has a much different religious significance in the Mexican culture. But, it falls on November 1st, and uses a lot of skeletons, so it gets in on the Halloween act at Disneyland too. There's a sign explaining what exactly Dia De Los Muertas is in the area, as many non-Hispanics don't really know what it means exactly.

I had no idea what Dia De Los Muertas was myself until Disneyland started celebrating it a few years ago! :wave:

Dia De Los Muertas 2011 - El Zocalo Park, Frontierland

The sign with the explanation of Dia De Los Muertas

Part of the holiday is leaving out food and flowers for those who have passed on, and Disneyland's decorators do a fabulous job!

All images are from the fantastic photography of the latest update over at Westcoaster.net ! http://www.westcoaster.net/updates.php?updateCD=101011&page=12

 

[TP2000]

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of Frontierland, they also decorate the Big Thunder Ranch area to the hilt. The barbeque restaurant there puts on a Halloween-themed stage show with Woody and Jessie, and it's a very western-themed Halloween scene.

They bring out all of Disneyland's old wagons and livery carriages and decorate them with pumpkins and autumn decor. They are set up around the ranch's petting zoo area. (Some of these old wagons can be seen in pictures with Walt Disney at the reins, driving the wagons around Frontierland in the 1950's.

The nearby cabin, where Santa and Mrs. Claus set up their photo spot during Christmas, is decorated as a Pumpkin Cowboy outpost. These figures are set up in little vignettes for people to wander through the cabin and take pictures with them.

They even have their own version of a Singing Cowboy, pumpkin style!

Once again, the photos are from the cool kids at Westcoaster.net http://www.westcoaster.net/updates.php?updateCD=101011&page=18

 

[Greenkai3000]

.

Great pictures of the Día de los Muertos decorations! Can't wait to see them in person, in less than 2 weeks

 

[TP2000]

Just outside the cabin at the Big Thunder Ranch, they have a pumpkin carving demonstration area set up. Disneyland gets these master carvers to demonstrate how to do amazing things with a pumpkin! It's inspiring, and I try so hard to listen to their advice and learn their techniques, and yet somehow each year my pumpkins look exactly like they've looked since I was in 3rd Grade.

Disneyland's Master Pumpkin Carvers at work!

All of the pumpkins at the Big Thunder Ranch are Disney themed (or Disney-Pixar!)

With a Jack Skellington pumpkin carving in a carriage besides the cabin.

More Disneyland pumpkins at Westcoaster.net's October 10th update! http://www.westcoaster.net/updates.php?updateCD=101011&page=1

 

[KingdomofDreams]

Those Halloween decorations are great! Thanks for sharing

 

[TP2000]

Al Lutz has this up on Miceage about the Halloween parties today...

EDITOR'S NOTE 10/20-21: Disneyland hosts the 7th of this season's 10 Halloween parties tonight, and if they seem more crowded than ever that's because... they are! Sales has the TDA green light to let attendance go from 14,000 up to a 20,000 cap before the "Sold Out" signs go up, and they've been selling out the $59 tix at that higher number for each party. Remember '05 when only a couple thousand paid $15 for a simple trick-or-treat event on a few nights at DCA? - Al

Good point about the DCA version of these parties as recently as 2005! I had forgotten how humbly and cheaply these parties began, and it's amazing to see what they've become in just a few years time.