Mickeys Halloween Party Review

[Disney Hot Mama]

This will be a quick review as I am heading for a camping trip with my sons Boy Scout Troop in a few minutes.

The afternoon started out not so great. It took over 2 1/2 hours to drive what normally takes 60 minutes. Made it to the parking garage at 6:15 PM and then to line up at DCA by 6:30. Minimal crowds - we took our place my beautiful angle (DD7) and scary son (DS9) and my and DH. They opened the gates just before 7:30 and anticipation was among everyone. I told DH to grab the maps and start reading as we had no idea what was in store for us.

There are 13 trick o treating stations throughout the park. The kids (and adults too if they want) ger good candy at all of them. ***Quick tip ****
start in the back and move to the front. WE did this and there were no lines in the back. Front lines back up quickly. We hit all the stations and the few photo opps too (4 total) then walked around and viewed all the decorations and more. Many rides are opened too (Soaring, Tower, Screaming, the Sun, Mulhollan Maddness, the Jellyfish, Orange and a few others.) THe games in the back are FREE = you win candy not prizes. It was a great night. I have a ton of photos but I will have to post them tomorrow afternoon.

If you go tonight have a wonderful magical time. Nothing scary at all. Minimal crowds, great photo opps. Make sure you know how to change your camera setting to work in darker areas. Many of my photos didn't come out great as I didn't know how to do this.

Have fun.

 

[robinb]

If you go tonight have a wonderful magical time. Nothing scary at all. Minimal crowds, great photo opps. Make sure you know how to change your camera setting to work in darker areas. Many of my photos didn't come out great as I didn't know how to do this.

Have fun.

Thanks for the quick review and the tips! I hope next week will be as empty. I can't wait!

 

[tinkerbell13]

Thanks for the quick review. We will try to head to the back first tonight!

 

[Azul]

No disrespect intended to the OP but I talked to several people last night and they mentioned how very crowded it was and they also started at the back of the park. One group was very dissapointed and said it wasn't worth it. Others I talked to enjoyed it bur said it was crowded. So I guess it is all a matter of opinion.


And thank you Disney Hot Mama for your opinion. It is always so interesting to get people's take on things and how different they can be.

 

[robinb]

No disrespect intended to the OP but I talked to several people last night and they mentioned how very crowded it was and they also started at the back of the park. One group was very dissapointed and said it wasn't worth it. Others I talked to enjoyed it bur said it was crowded. So I guess it is all a matter of opinion.


And thank you Disney Hot Mama for your opinion. It is always so interesting to get people's take on things and how different they can be.

The OP spent an hour in line before the park opened up. Perhaps your friends arrived closer to 7:30.

It's to bad they didn't do it like the WDW party where the park never closes and you can enter with your party ticket in the late afternoon. I suspect there was a bit of a jam entering DCA.

 

[got2travel]

Thanks for the review. It's good to know that Screamin, Tower and Soarin will be open. And the games will be fun too. Usually we don't play because of the cost so that will be a nice bonus way to get more candy (not that we need it).

 

[nemofanatic]

sounds like a blast. We are going on the 30th. Hopefully it won't be that bad of a wait time since it is a school night. Does anyone know if the wheelchairs and strollers are available to rent at the the Halloween party?

 

[Ginarella]

Thanks for the quick tip- but what I want to know is, once the park closed at 6pm, how did they get all the regular attendees out of the park enjoying that day?

Did you have some sort of wrist band distinguishing the Halloween treaters from the regulars?

I'm going on the 30th as well.

 

[Azul]

The people I spoke with were strangers. They must have thought I was weird at first for asking but we are going on the 27th. One of the groups I talked with said they were also in line an hour before it began.

As for clearing out the park, I was there last night and they just announced to us that the park was closed and to start making our way to the exit. They did mention that the shops would be open for 30 min more though.

 

[hjssk8]

Thank you For the review Disney Hot Mama. I am going on the 27th with my DD4. It's good to know that some of the attractions will be open.

 

[gary403]

We had a great time, just disappointed they didn't have any event exclusive merchandise ( t-shirts,pins,etc.)

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We're going on the 29th. We were at DL tonight. We left CA about 5:30 and they were starting to set up some decorations. I don't know how crowded treat night was, but the rest of the park was packed!!!

BTW since all nights are sold out, and I would assume they sold the same number of tickets for each night, I would also assume that all nights are equally crowded/uncrowded.

Can't wait for those pics! Anyone else have any reviews?

 

[bunninose]

We had arranged to meet friends at the Poppy Fountain at 7, but there were so many people we missed them somehow. At one point (around 7:30-ish) the lines to get thru security were all the way back to the fountain/La Brea Bakery. Traffic was hideous as well. Since it's a special event with a specific start time, this is to be expected, so START OUT REALLY EARLY!!!

We didn't get into DCA until 8 (waiting for our friends) so we walked right in. The lines for the trick-or-treat things were far too long to make it worth it (it was only candy - not like the old days where they had outdated minor mdse - like grad night balloons and old post cards), so we just wandered around, rode some rides and saw the sights. The decorations were great - the music was lots of fun. The scarecrows at the entrance to Bug's Land were terrific. I just wish they had more themed foods (spice muffins, apple cider, pumpkin pie, etc - again like they did years ago at Disneyland's Halloween Treat events).

First impressions were that they oversold it, but most of the people there were in a trick-or-treat line, so that was a false impression. We walked on to the Sun Wheel, Carousel, all of Flik's Fun Fair rides, etc. (we have a 3.5 DS) Even California Screamin' was up and running with minimal wait.

All in all we had a great night - we're going again on the 29th and the only thing we're doing different is to get there as early as possible - like spend the afternoon in Disneyland and put the costumes in a locker.

 

[denyd]

We were at the Halloween Party last night and a big THANK YOU to DisneyHotMama as her advice was right on the money.

Here's the recap:

First off, the group is my DW (Mrs. Incredible), 3yo DS (Dash) and I (Mr. Incredible) with a stroller to serve as our sherpa.

We got in line about 6:15 for the event and were about 5-6 groups from the front. It was hard to tell how many people because some were always coming and going. A couple of groups seemed to have sent a runner into DTD to pick up dinner. After about an hour of waiting and chatting with the neighbors they opened the gates and began passing back maps (the old take one and pass it on). These maps are very important, as you'll need them at each of the candy stations to get your sticker that shows you've visited this station. We could see the decorations on the GG Bridge and the lighted projections on the scenery on both sides from the line.

At 7:30 the gates opened and in we went. A CM passed out goodie bags to all the visitors, adults and kids alike. As we entered under the GG Bridge we paused for a group photo (probably our only bad picture of the night), then it's off to trick or treat. On the advice of DisneyHotMama we skipped the first couple of stops where the line was 20-30 kids deep and headed back near Mulholland Madness before picking up our first sticker and handful of candy. Along the way we stopped to take a picture of the giant pumpkin Mickey being projected onto the Sun Wheel. Working counterclockwise around Paradise Pier we hit a couple more candy stops, all with only 3-4 small groups in front of us in line.

Our next stop was to try out the arcade games (which were free, but gave candy instead of stuffed animals) and after giving each of them a go (and even winning some candy at a couple) we continued on to the area next to Ariel's Grotto where we got our picture taken with Snow White and Cinderella. DS was frightened of them and both Princesses went over to try and coax him out but to no avail, so it was just DW & I with them. Then we headed towards the area we had skipped which was 3 candy stations and a chance for a picture with Zorro Mickey & Minnie. We ended up skipping this area again as we saw a line worthy of Splash Mountain on a hot summer Saturday and we headed over to the animation area. Either they hadn't started yet or we missed the scarecrows, but they were now in full voice and quite entertaining. We spent a couple of minutes enjoying the DJ who had set up by the large fountains and then stopped for a picture with Stanley outside of Playhouse Disney. After hitting the first candy stop, we got into our longest candy line of the night (about 10 minutes) as we worked our way past the Disney Villains Photo Stop, starring in this segment Cruella & Maleficiant. After hitting the candy stand by Tower of Terror we backtracked to get pictures with Mr. Incredible & Sully.

Our tummies were a little empty at the time so we hit the Taste Pilots Grill for a quick bite. All the CM’s were in full costume as pirates and flappers. Then to the two candy stops in the area and we decided to try for our last three stickers and returned to the area of the huge lines to find everyone had moved on to other areas and only the picture with Minnie & Mickey had any lines left. With our sticker card filled we headed back for one more round of games. When we got there we found where all the people had gone. The lines for those candy stations were 50+ people deep. The large mass of guests had just continued to move as one throughout the park. We decided to skip the games for a while and headed back to the fountain hub to watch the fireworks while the DW went to checkout the pictures. DS found a hidden reserve of energy and recruited a small group of toddlers to run circles chasing the pumpkin & bat silhouettes being projected. One last trek to the games and then a slow promenade clockwise around Paradise Pier was met with the announcement that the party was coming to a close. We had lost complete track of time and were surprise that 10:30 had arrived. We then joined the parade of princesses, pirates and other characters towards the exits.

All in all a great evening with lots of fun and laughter from the chatting with the Soccer Mom & her Cheshire Cat and the Scary Spider Duo in the lines to the background mood music that played throughout the evening to the smiling faces everywhere we turned.

 

[robinb]

denyd,

Thanks for the great review! I'm a little nervous about waiting for over an hour to get in, though . My DD (or DH for that matter) does not do well in line. Were the DTD dinner runners allowed back in line OK? That would make it *bearable* I guess if my DH and DD could go get us some food while I stood in line.

 

[DisnyMama]

Was there last evening with my son (14), my sister and her hubby and my nephews that are 7 and 5 years old. We had dinner ressies at RainForest Cafe at 4:30 but due to traffic got there at 5:30 but they were great and seated us within 10 minutes. The food was great as usual but we did not get out of there till 7:25. There was a short line to get through the bag check - maybe two or three minutes and a short line to get in DCA. We were in the park by 7:40. I thought that was pretty good. We took the advice of previous DISR's that went Friday night and headed for Paradise Pier as it was very congested at the front of the park. Everything looked so great and it was so much fun to see people in their costumes. When we first got to Paradise Pier our group when right on CA. Screamin with a 5 min. wait-Unreal! Then on to the Boardwalk games where the kids had a blast. Next to the Orange Stinger and two of the kids went right on while the littlest played the basketball game. Then to Mullholand Madness with a 10 minute wait. We were also hitting Trick or Treat stations as we saw them. Next was off to Soarin over California and that was about a 15 minute wait. Then more candy after. Then off to Tower of Terror and a five minute wait and again more candy. I heard it mentioned before about bringing an extra bag because the bags they give you are not that strong and I definately recommend it. Some of the Trick or Treat Stations were giving handfuls of candy-especially towards the latter part of the evening. The only comment that I would make for improvement would be that it would be nice to see a little more decoration in other areas of the park and for them to have vendors sell drinks and or snacks that are themed to the event. Even if they never made a single change, we would go back again. My sister and the kids kept telling us all evening how much fun this was and we agree. I wish I had bought two tickets just for myself and my DS to go by ourselves next weekend. If they do it again next year we are definatley all going again.

To all of you who are going to Mickey's Halloween Treat, you will have a Great Time!

 

[Missus Toad]

Thanks for all the reviews. We'll be there on Thursday. Are there any rides open for the littlest ones-- like in bugs' land?

 

[robinb]

There was a short line to get through the bag check - maybe two or three minutes and a short line to get in DCA. We were in the park by 7:40. I thought that was pretty good. We took the advice of previous DISR's that went Friday night and headed for Paradise Pier as it was very congested at the front of the park.

{snip}
To all of you who are going to Mickey's Halloween Treat, you will have a Great Time!

Now that's more like it! Maybe I'll get there at 7:40 instead of 6:15, then . Thanks for your review. I know I've said it before ... but I can't wait!

 

[tinkerbell13]

We went last night as well and had a great time, our first stop was the Mickey and Minnie Photo Op and then the Princess stop, I knew these lines would get big and move slowly so I was happy to have them done in the first 15 minutes. My bag broke after the first 2 stations .
We had fun riding all the rides with little to no wait and the midway games were fun!
Thanks again for the first night post, it was really helpful.

 

[nemofanatic]

did anyone notice if the stroller rentals were available for this event?