Why Halloween is the best time to visit Disney Parks
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| Disneyland Anaheim ©Smith Family |
This week we have a Guest review from the Smith
Family. The Smith family are a family of 4 (Mum, Dad, girl ‘C.S’ 11 years old
and a boy ‘O.S’ 6 years old) from Australia who have been to Disneyland Paris,
Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea and Anaheim
Disneyland.
The Smith family travelled during October 2017 to
Disneyland Anaheim in the lead up to Halloween, they have also previously
travelled to Walt Disney World Florida in September 2012.
How do the Parks compare at Halloween time??
We have visited Walt Disney World (Florida) and
Disneyland (California) in the lead up to Halloween but in different years. The
parks are decorated with a lot of Halloween decorations including
jack-o-lanterns (some Mickey shaped of course!). Some of the rides were themed
for Halloween as well. October 2017 was when we last visited Disneyland and
there were more decorations centred around Dia De Mertos (Day of the Dead) this
time around. This is probably due to the release of the Disney movie ‘Coco’. I
thought it was great as there were a lot of colours and other decorations to
explore along that theme.
How were the rides decorated? Experiences?
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| Walt Disney World ©Smith Family |
Space Mountain – Was renamed Ghost Galaxy and had
ghostly holographic themes along the signage onto the ride. There were also
ghosts “flying” around inside the ride, replacing the usual galaxies and stars
that are found in Space Mountain. We all thought it was a great twist on a
favourite ride. After being a lot of times you come to know what to expect from
the rides and even though we love that about it it was nice to have something
different for a bit of novelty.
I didn’t think the
theming for Space Mountain was that scary (and my kids didn’t either) but
obviously if you have kids who do get a bit frightened it may be confronting.
Up to the individuals children I guess.
Haunted Mansion – The Haunted Mansion was another
ride that had a theme variant for Halloween. It was all themed on Tim
Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. Following the main character
Jack Skellington through the mansion you attend parties and spooky graveyard
scenes. Again we thought it was a great twist on an old favourite.
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| Space Mountain ©Smith Family |
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| Disneyland Anaheim ©Smith Family |
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| Haunted Mansion ©Smith Family |
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| Inside the Haunted Mansion - The Nightmare before Christmas ©Smith Family |
No other rides were as heavily adapted as the
Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain, although there were a lot of Halloween
decorations around the park that lead into the rides.
Did the Halloween theming add to the experience?
I think the Halloween theme was great. Growing up
in Australia where Halloween was not that big until recently, it is always nice
to go somewhere where it is celebrated for the novelty value. I think it adds a
new dimension to the Disney park experience.
Were there larger crowds because it was Halloween? Would you
recommend Halloween a good time of year to go?
I didn’t think the crowds were any larger than
usual. We always try to visit the parks off season and during the week to have
a better experience anyway. In both instances we were there a few weeks before
actual Halloween (October 31). I would
say if visiting in the week before Halloween, crowd numbers might increase then.
They often run the Halloween theme for a few months before Halloween so my
advice would be if you wanted to experience Halloween at Disney - go a month to
a few weeks before to enjoy.
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| If you visit the parks earlier in the day, there are less crowds ©Smith Family |
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| ©Smith Family |
Did you see any funny things in the park because it was
Halloween?
Nothing funny per se but the creativity with the
Halloween decorations and incorporating into the park and the characters was
fun. The Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse Jack-o-Lanterns were cute.
What was your strategy
around the parks? Did you have favourites that you did first? Which FastPasses
did you do?
With Disneyland
(Anaheim) in October the first hour or so in the park was great as it had just
opened for the day. We walked on to the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, the Finding
Nemo Submarine Voyage ride and the Autopia race cars with no line ups.
Then we alternated between collecting FastPasses and lining up in shorter lined
rides while waiting for the FastPass line. For example, we went and collected
the FastPass ticket for the Haunted Mansion then waited in line for Pirates of
the Caribbean and by the time that finished our FastPass time for the Haunted
Mansion was ready. We did the same on Indiana Jones, got the FastPass then went
on other rides while we waited.
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| Walt Disney World ©Smith Family |
Disney Ticketed Events
‘Mickey’s Not So Scary
Halloween Party’ at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and ‘Mickey’s Halloween
Party’ at Disneyland Anaheim are special events offered certain nights around
Halloween. Disney also relaxes rules on Adults over age 14 being able to dress
up (although please refer to the official Disney website for more details about
costumes).
If you do not intend to
buy a ticket for these Halloween Party Nights, please make sure you check the
official Disney websites on what nights these events are on as the park may
close early on these nights to general admission (no fireworks).
Thanks to the Smith
family for their review. Halloween adds something extra special to a trip to a Disney Park. I hope you enjoyed reading about why Halloween is the best time to visit Disney Parks. I hope you can follow us on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/themeparktravelguide
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Other reviews by the
Smith Family can be found here:
Until next week,
KJ
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/themeparktravelguide
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