Halloween has officially arrived at Disneyland and we’re feeling hot, hot, hot! There’s all sorts of news, photos, and a whole lot of video for you today from both parks… Tomorrowland needs a future, new characters for Oogie Boogie Bash, everything old is new again, and more. But we can’t get started without mentioning the major challenge this week… the oppressive heat. Yesterday, Anaheim reached a new record high. And at temps like this, it’s very hard to get into the Halloween spirit.
We have a little video to put you in the right move for reading this update. Take a moment to hit play on this charming compilation that perfectly describes the week:
Summer Ends
Contrary to what the thermometer says, summer at Disneyland ended on September 1st. And though there was a heat advisory that people should avoid exposure to the weather, we had to make multiple visits to the park last week to cover the end of the Main Street Electrical Parade and Disneyland Forever fireworks, the start of Halloween Time, and to shoot the construction photos for this update.
Disneyland has made good on its promise that both the Main Street Electrical Parade and Disneyland Forever fireworks would glow away after September 1st.
While we suspect that the Electrical Parade will return again next summer (or whenever attendance needs a boost), it’s very likely that this was the final run for Disneyland Forever fireworks. There are other shows which are more likely to have limited runs in the future, such as Magical, Mickey’s Mix Magic, or even Together Forever (the Pixar fireworks show). And with Disneyland’s 70th anniversary coming up in 2025, there will hopefully be a major new show on the horizon.
We were in attendance for the final performances of both Main Street Electrical Parade and also Disneyland Forever— with a FANTASTIC view for both shows. Take a look at the videos below for a reminder of what made summer at Disneyland so popular this year.
Main Street Electrical Parade:
Disneyland Forever Fireworks:
If you’re already missing MSEP, you can likely still find some themed merchandise in the shops.
One thing that we did notice was that the Halloween balloons haven’t made it to the resort just yet. All around Disneyland, we saw the Main Street Electrical Parade balloons in big bunches without a single Halloween-themed balloon to be found.
And while the Main Street Electrical Parade and Disneyland Forever have come to their end, there’s still quite a bit of entertainment to enjoy still that’s not Halloween-related. For instance, you will still find twice-nightly showings of Fantasmic along the Rivers of America.
Plus, you can watch World of Color at DCA.
And while there is a Halloween version of the show that was exclusive to Oogie Boogie Bash’s debut in 2019, it has not been seen since. We really think that World of Color Villainous! should make a return as either part of Oogie Boogie Bash or even be included as regular nightly entertainment during Halloween Time.
Also, a surprising bit of news. The short projection show on “it’s a small world” featuring the hit song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” will be continuing for the foreseeable future. It had originally been planned to end on September 1st. Here’s a video of that show:
Additionally, The Tale of the Lion King at the Fantasyland Theater will continue its run. We had previously thought that this would be a summertime offering due to future performances being removed from the Disneyland app for a while, but we’re thrilled to see that the show will be staying for a bit longer.
Halloween Begins
And now that summer is over, Halloween Time officially kicked off at the Disneyland Resort on September 2. And while this season is largely a repeat of previous years, there’s still a LOT to see. Let’s take a look at Halloween highlights around the parks.
Welcome to the gates of Halloween! Mickey and his friends have put together a welcoming party of jack-o-lanterns to welcome you to the Halloween season. The pumpkins are looking particularly good this year with a fresh coat of paint.
Over on the other side, Oogie Boogie welcomes you into a slightly spookier version of Halloween. But don’t worry, there is plenty for the kids as well.
While planting the new Halloween-inspired Mickey floral garden, the horticulture crew took advantage of the opportunity and installed a new putting green… I mean water-friendly faux grass. We will be showing you other areas of the resort with the same artificial treatment later in the update.
While the grass looks a little too perfect and vibrant in person, it does make for great photos. And Mickey is the star of the show here, not the lawn surrounding him.
The Main Street Pumpkin Festival has taken over, filling the sightlines with all manner of jack-o-lanterns. Plus, there is plenty of fall-colored bunting on the buildings and lamp posts.
Something that is new this year are the costumes for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy.
The costumes also match some of the new Halloween merchandise. You’ll see these costumes featured on lots of different things.
Plus, there’s a cavalcade that showcases an array of Disney characters (heroes and villains) about to go trick-or-treating.
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Most of the Halloween decorations are mainly limited to just Main Street (and a tiny bit in Frontierland) at Disneyland, but DCA has both Buena Vista Street and Radiator Screams. And with the Oogie Boogie Halloween party at Disney California Adventure as well, it really does offer a lot for the season.
This week was a bit of an oddity in terms of crowd levels. Because it was so outrageously hot, the parks were largely uncrowded. However, when temperatures started to cool off (ever so slightly) in the evenings, there would be an influx of visitors. The attractions with Halloween overlays were by far the busiest rides in the resort.
Haunted Mansion Holiday was definitely the most popular option across both parks. Waits over the weekend were regularly 100+ minutes!
There was slow loading on opening day.
This year’s gingerbread house in the mansion features Lock, Shock, and Barrel using a guillotine to cut a cake. Spooky!
Take a look at the gingerbread house in motion below:
The other attraction that gains a boost in popularity for Halloween is Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, which becomes Monsters After Dark (the attraction converts at 4pm daily) and features a scarier storyline and frightening monsters. Riders beware!
Want to see more Halloween décor? Dusty’s got you covered! In this week’s live video (which takes place on our Facebook page around 5pm every Friday!), he explored both Disneyland and DCA’s Halloween offerings. Watch the two-part video tour below!
What really drew people to the resort was the premiere of Halloween Screams fireworks. New to the show this year are the projections along Main Street that effectively mirror what’s on the castle. With summer now over, fireworks will once again only be offered on the weekends… However, the Halloween projections-only will be offered during the week.
If Jack looks a little different in his inflatable fishbowl, that’s because he has been completely re-rendered as a 3D character instead of just simple 2D features as he was before.
Dusty was able to get a GREAT spot for watching the premiere of Halloween Screams. Take a look below… don’t blame us if you get scared!
We did notice an interesting view in regard to traffic patterns. All throughout the day, the park was virtually empty (aside from the earlier mentioned attractions), but when it came time for fireworks, people FLOODED into the park. One of our staff members was stuck in traffic trying to park at the Mickey & Friends structure for 40 minutes, with an equally long wait to get through security and into the park!
After the show ended, many guests made an immediate 180º turn and rushed for the exit. Or, they shuffled their way towards Rivers of America to watch the later showing of Fantasmic. And to top it off, there were still people entering the park!
We suspect that the majority of the firework watchers were Magic Keyholders based on the time of day guests entered the park and then abruptly left after the show ended. We were surprised to see that there were day-of reservations still available for all Magic Key levels that day, but they certainly showed up en masse.
Oogie Boogie Bash
There was a cast member preview of Oogie Boogie Bash last night. It is much the same this year but feels a bit lacking with World of Color: Villainous cut from the entertainment. The new characters and treat trails are clever and fun; Ernesto De La Cruz is the most impressive addition. The trail is essentially a walk through one of his concerts in the land of the dead— Ernesto sings songs like “Remember Me” as cast members hand you candy.
Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle – As the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus
One of the hits of the party was undoubtedly Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle dressed as the Sanderson sisters (check out the sequel later this month on Disney+!). They even were gathered around a cauldron (if it looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same one from Fantasmic), to cast some spells. It’s a really fun addition that we’re glad to see.
Madame Mim
One of the neat things about Oogie Boogie Bash is that the characters mix is not the same as what you see on an average visit. This year’s list are either extremely rare or brought out specifically for the party. This is the case for Madam Mim from The Sword in the Stone. She’s delightful in all the worst ways!
Mother Gothel
Another new character was Mother Gothel from Tangled. She’s right at home among the most dastardly villainesses from Disney, so she’s a natural at Oogie Boogie Bash.
Bruno
With how wildly popular the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” was from Encanto, it’s no surprise that Bruno showed up to the party (but he’s not really a villain… is he?).
Ernesto De La Cruz
Finally, the last new character at the party is the plot twist villain from Coco, Ernesto de la Cruz. He was our favorite new character this year with how interactive his treat trail felt.
We will be at the first official night of Oogie Boogie Bash tomorrow with even more content from the party. So be sure to keep an eye on our social channels (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for more information about one of our favorite Halloween activities!
All of this is just a teaser of Halloween. We have a full, comprehensive guide to Halloween at Disneyland this year. It’s filled with info about Halloween Time and gorgeous photos of the parks. You definitely won’t want to miss this!
The Return to Normal
For summer, many Magic Keys were blocked, and the resort was largely visited by tourists and day ticket holders. But that dynamic has once again flipped and more Magic Keys are now visiting the resort again. The approximate 15% Magic Key mix this summer (particularly on weekends) is now much closer to 50%.
With fireworks only on weekends this fall, we could experience some lower crowd days during the week… especially if this heat continues!
The Grass is Always Greener When It’s Fake
Over the last few weeks, we have been mentioning that Disneyland has been replacing some areas of grass with faux lawns. This week, we spent some time searching out which grassy spots have been replaced. There have been quite a few places that have made the switch already.
As we mentioned earlier, the grass around the floral Mickey at the entrance to Disneyland has been converted to AstroTurf. Although it does have a very bright green artificial look to it, it will remain green even throughout this extreme heat wave without needing a drop of water. It should be noted that the flowers are still real!
Just beyond the tunnels and into Town Square, there are a few patches of fake grass in front of the Opera House and City Hall. We think that the grass application works really well in small doses; we walked past these areas several times without noticing that the grass wasn’t real.
Much of the grass around Fantasyland has been transitioned over to the fake stuff. This includes areas like the gardens in front of King Arthur Carrousel, Snow White, and Pinocchio.
Just as an example, here’s a patch of real grass in front of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. In photos it doesn’t really look that much different than the faux grass above.
However, across the way at Storybook Land, the fake grass is quite a bit more noticeable.
The main issue with the larger swaths of the faux lawns is that you can sometimes see the seams, and because the grass is all the same height and color, lumps and bumps show up where you’d normally see a more even appearance with real grass.
The other place that has a noticeable fake lawn is in front of the Haunted Mansion. And since you walk right through an extended area of it, you can really see how “too-perfect” it appears… especially for this particular attraction.
We do expect to see more artificial lawns around the resort. For the most part, we actually like them. They’re water-friendly and look nice when used in moderation. That said, there are some advancements in fake grass that really look more like grass with different color variations and grass blade lengths. But that’s not the kind of grass that Disney has been using.
Construction & Refurbs
- Treehouse (The first two images are from last week). The Bottom shot shows what looks like a large crack in the fake bark.
This shot from last week is obviously intentionally cut. You can see that they had marked where to cut on the bark.
But the long crack below is irregular in shape and looks like it could possibly be the result of the branch flexing. It is also just underneath a work platform
Refurbishment Calendar
Currently Under Refurbishment:
- Mickey’s Toontown (March 9th, 2022-2023)
- Matterhorn Bobsleds: (August 8th-October 13th)- The Bobsleds have a return date at last. We’ll be riding again mid-October. But don’t expect this to be any less of a painful experience.
Upcoming Refurbishments:
There are a few very quick refurbishments coming up.
- Sailing Ship Columbia: (September 12th-15th & 26th-29th)
- Mark Twain Riverboat: (September 12th-16th & 19th-22nd)
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant: (September 15th)
- Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island: (September 19th-22nd)
D23 Expo 2022!
At long last, the D23 Expo returns later this week. MiceChat will be there with a full team of contributors who will be writing up all the good stuff for you. We’ll also have a booth at the show. We invite you to stop by for a chance to win a 2-night stay at the HoJo House of the Future Suite, 2-Day Parkhopper tickets to Disneyland, gift cards to Fleming’s Steakhouse, Puesto, tickets to all the local theme parks, and much more from our partners at Get Away Today Travel. At the booth you’ll be able to chat with animatronics legend Garner Holt, movie critic extraordinaire Leonard Maltin, and Mouse Tales author David Koenig. We’ll also have a Gumball Rally announcement and VERY special opportunity for teams who sign up at the booth!
This & That
We’re nearly through, just a few smaller stories left to get to. Won’t take long at all!
New DCA Guest Relations Wait Board
Last week, we noticed that the sign board with wait times around California Adventure was behind a construction wall. This week, the replacement has been unveiled. It’s a digital board that is similar to the version across the way at Disneyland.
Hearthstone Lounge Menu Overhaul
The Grand Californian Hotel & Spa has a nice array of food and beverage options between the Craftsman Bar and Grill, Hearthstone Lounge, Storytellers, and Napa Rose. However, the Hearthstone Lounge has always been on the weaker side of things when it comes to food. This week, the menu has been completely revamped. There is a bevy of new food and drinks, and now the lounge sounds like a place that we’d like to try in the near future. Take a look at the new menu below courtesy our friend David Yeh:
Disney Villains Dance Party in Tomorrowland
If your little ones still have a bunch of energy to burn off at the end of the night, you should head over to Tomorrowland Terrace for the Disney Villains Dance Party. From 7-11pm, you can join a DJ, a handful of dancers, and a whole bunch of villains to dance the night away. It’s virtually identical to the previous Stitch’s Interplanetary Beach Disco from over the summer, just with a Halloween flair. As for the villains, we saw Captain Hook and Smee, Anastasia and Drizzela with Lady Tremaine, the Queen of Hearts and Cheshire Cat, and Maleficent and the Evil Queen. There is a 45-minute break from 9:15-10pm during fireworks.
And we hear that the show may evolve a bit over the next few weeks with perhaps a few other characters joining the show, including Cruella, the Tweedles, Gaston, and others.
Tomorrowland Lounge
Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is taking over the top floor of the old Carousel of Progress building (currently the shuttered Star Wars Launch Bay). The location will offer a spot for DVC members to sit and charge their phones. The look is mid-century modern meets Space Mountain.
The upstairs patio is currently used for a fireworks dining opportunity.
The new “Star View Station” lounge has retro-future vibes.
But is also just a big dark space to sit with no other major purpose other than for you to talk to DVC staff and charge your phone.
The building of a DVC lounge doesn’t bother us so much as it is a sign that Tomorrowland’s future may not be as ambitious as Imagineers had originally planned – with the demolition of the ancient Carousel building (which is no longer capable of rotating) to build a major E-Ticket attraction to revitalize the land.
Read more about the new DVC Lounge here:
Disneyland News: Fancy New DVC Lounge Headed to Tomorrowland Next Year
But, that doesn’t mean that changes aren’t coming to Tomorrowland. We know they are. And for that, you’ll want to follow our D23 coverage later this week.
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Finishing Touches
And to round off today’s Disneyland Update, we’ve got some pretty photos to share from Mike Kindrich and Dusty Sage. You might even see them in a few of these pictures!
Let’s Hear From You
Well, folks… it’s Halloween Time and 108°. At what temp do you call it quits and stay home? Are you hopeful for a great big beautiful new Tomorrowland or discouraged that the biggest redevelopment spot in the land is being reserved to build a DVC lounge? Do you like what you see so far for Halloween at the Disneyland Resort? Be sure to chime in below. And don’t forget to swing by and say hello at the MiceChat D23 Expo booth this weekend!
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