By now, many of you know that we are quite the Disney family and if you don’t already know, Halloween is my favorite holiday. Put those two together and Boo-Ya, you got Halloween at Disneyland!
Throughout fall I love to partake in everything from the super creepy to the happy and harvesty, which I’ve written about in my post Best Halloween Events for Families, HERE. Usually, families with small kids probably like to keep things on the lighter side of Halloween. We dabbles in it all and a visit to Disneyland has become a part of our family’s seasonal tradition. The park goes all out with their décor and has a plethora of activities and events, making it hard to resist getting the spirit of this ghoulishly fun holiday. It is definitely worth a visit and the perfect addition to your family’s holiday itinerary.
So what’s really going on that makes Halloween at Disney so exciting? Check it out!
Festive Character Meet-n-Greet
Characters roam around the Jamboree decked out in Halloween costumes, adding to the photo-op fun. You think Donald Duck is adorable? What until you see Donald in a pumpkin costume!
Haunted Mansion
Be sure to roam the park for more chances to meet the spookier halves to the cheerful Disney characters. Not only will you find various other villains lurking about, but many other haunting characters as well. Over near the Haunted Mansion, which gets remodeled for the season, you will be sure to spot Sally and Jack from Nightmare before Christmas. They are fascinated by joyful children and make for a comical meet and greet. Take a photo then catch a ride on the Haunted Mansion’s Nightmare before Christmas adventure.
Halloween Festivities Throughout the Park
Another ride that gets a touch-up during the season is Space Mountain, which transforms into a Ghostly Galaxy! Talk about a thrill.
Stop by Frontierland for chance to check out the Dia de los Muertos display. Kids can have their faces painted like skulls and even try some sugar skeletons.
For more thrills book the Happiest Haunts Tour, where a Ghost Guide takes you around the park for a special spooky tour while listening to chilling tales.
Finally, the biggest event during the season is the Halloween Party. This also requires a separate admission, but passport holders get a discounted rate. After the park closes to the general public, guests of the party come in costume ready to trick-or-treat, strut their stuff in a costume parade and dance the night away. Guests even have access to special photo opportunities, attractions and a special firework show.
*The next portion of this post, discusses events that were sadly removed this year and new attractive in now under construction. I’m not sure yet if they are planning to bring back the Jamboree or replace it with similar activities, but I’ll be sure to keep you updated!
Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree
Although the Halloween décor is throughout the park, I suggest hitting up the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree first for the Halloween Carnival. This is where you will find the largest concentration of Halloween festivities.
Spooky Carnival Games
First take a trip through the Scare-Dy-Crow Shack to see the vintage displays, before getting the fun started with themed carnival-style games and activities such as Witch Hat Ring Toss or spinning the fortune-telling wheel.
Conjure a Villain
Firecracker’s favorite activity is Conjure a Villain. Cuddle Bear? Not so much.
Enter inside a spooky carnival tent where a bubbling cauldron awaits. One child is chosen to perform the spell by waving the magic wand over the cauldron as the rest of the group says the magic words. Fortunately, Firecracker was the special one chosen one year, which made her feel very important. Unfortunately, she expects to get chosen every time which makes her kind of grumpy when others get picked, especially if the chosen one happens to be a dorky 30 year-old candy corn witch.
Suddenly the tent gets dark and a smoky cloud fills the chamber.
POOF!
A villain appears.
Every visit yields a different villain, which makes it fun to visit multiple times. Every child is given the opportunity to meet and pose for a photo with the villain they conjured. Firecracker really clicked with Cruella and she talked her ear off.
It is a really exciting experience and my kids love it. Heck, I love it.
Halloween Crafts
Tables are set up all over the Jamboree and kids are encouraged to get their inner-artists on with festive crafts. Dive into a bucket of crayons and have a blast decorating Halloween masks. I have the kids color a mask every year and use them to display for my Halloween décor at home.
Live Entertainment
Be sure to catch the show! On the stage at the Jamboree are various live performance such comical music acts or mystical magic shows.
That’s A Wrap!
Talk about putting the Happy in Happy Halloween, right? Well, Disney is the happiest place on earth, so it makes sense that their Halloween celebration is be a blast. I like to celebrate everything big and Disneyland is great way to bring some extra spooky magic to my favorite holiday. There is more to Halloween than just a night of trick-or-treating. Make the holiday spooktacular for the whole family and plan a trip. Disneyland’s not so creepy Halloween events start mid-September and runs through Halloween. So gather your ghosts and ghouls and have some Halloween fun!
Have you ever celebrated Halloween at Disneyland?
What is your favorite Disney Villain?
5 Comments
Wow! Halloween at Disney looks so much fun even for a grown up chiled like me 😀 Maybe I should try that next year 🙂
Oh yes! You should! No kids required 😉
This looks like so much fun. We are right down the road in San Diego so hopefully we will meet in real life sometime. Disneyland is so much fun. Were the lines reasonable at this time of year?
How funny, I’ll be in San Diego next weekend. This time of year, you can still beat the crowds on Mondays and I’ve been have luck on Thursdays for some reason.
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