One of the biggest highlights of our recent vacation to Disneyland, was attending Mickey's Halloween Party. I have been wanting to attend this event since I first read about it nearly 4 years ago. So we planned our family vacation around Halloween Time at Disneyland.
The event is heavily advertised in Southern California. We saw multiple boards that announced the Halloween Party. We found this one in Hunnington Beach, California.
Mickey's Halloween Party is a "special event ticket", meaning that it requires an additional ticket to attend the party and not included with regular admission. The party is offered on 14 selected nights during September and October. The closer the dates are to Halloween the more expensive the tickets are with Halloween night being the most expensive party ticket. Our date in September was one of the least expensive nights. Our tickets also came with free parking (which is a $17 value). Also, if you happen to be an annual passholder you qualify for additional discounts on the Mickey's Halloween Party tickets (sadly we are not annual passholders). Even with the tickets being expensive we purchased ours the first day they went on sale. All of the Mickey's Halloween Parties for the 2014 season sold out.
When entering Disneyland on Mickey's Halloween Party night, you enter through a separate entrance labeled "Special Event Tickets". Uncle D and Aunt Katie met us there as they had purchased their tickets to join us. I knew it was going to be a special night and experience! The cast members at the gate took our printed computer tickets and transferred them to a "hard" ticket so we would be able to use the Fastpass system if we chose too. For anyone wondering the cost of Mickey's Halloween Party, it was $62 per person. No discount given to for children's tickets, but this did include a small advanced purchase discount.
We were allowed to enter the park 3 hours prior to the beginning of Mickey's Halloween Party. Since the party was scheduled to begin at 7pm, we were able to enter at 4pm. After we had our tickets scanned, each of us was given a special event bracelet with the date of the party on it. I assume each additional night of the parties would be a different color with a different date printed on them. Even Bella got her bracelet put on. The Cast Members were dressed in festive outfits for the party!
After the bracelets were securely in place, we all picked out a trick-or-treat bag for collecting all our candy. Our party night bag focused on Maleficent. A special park map was issued for the party night outlining all the trick or treat paths and the nights events.
This is what our bracelets looked like on Friday, September 26th. The were sparkly green and had the party and date listed on them. This was also the first Halloween Party of the 2014 season at Disneyland.
Since we had time before the party officially began we decided to head over to the
French Market for dinner. We enjoyed chicken, mashed potatoes, salad and even a special Halloween dessert. We were so happy to be with Aunt Katie and Uncle D. The kiddos were talking a mile a minute and it was so, so, so good to be in their company!
After dinner we headed over to the attraction Haunted Mansion Holiday. It is amazing how they transform the ride into a spectacular Nightmare before Christmas extravaganza. It is a delicate perfect balance of what it would truly look like if Halloween and Christmas collided into one holiday.
The kids were decked out in their costumes and we also saw some amazing costumes too as this is the one time adults are allowed to wear costumes into the park. Rest assured that there are guidelines that must be followed regarding scary costumes and masks. We saw a pretty amazing Mary Poppins and Bert. Several wicked stepsisters and the mother, an Incredible's family and not as many Anna's as Elsa's. As you can see, we had two Elsa's representing from the Dahl Family.
The inside is amazing and while this picture doesn't do it justice, you can see how different the loading area is during the holiday season.
More fun decorations...you can spy the jack-o-lantern wearing a Santa Claus hat. :)
My kiddos were in heaven with Uncle D and Aunt Katie in tow. There was much discussion about who was going to get to ride with whom? We took advantage of some ride time before the party began.
The closer it became to 7pm, the Cast Members began setting up wristband check points. If you had a wristband you were good, if not they pointed you in the direction of Main Street and the exit. The crowds began to thin down at this point. There were 10 trick-or-treating paths all throughout Disneyland park. You were greeted by a ghost Mickey at the entrance to each trick-or-treat path. You would walk through specially designed "paths" and along the way the Cast members were set up with candy stations. There were 5-7 candy stations on each path.
Disney handed out great candy. M+M's, Reeces, Kit-Kats. Skittles,etc. I also thought it was awesome that they had non-candy and non sugar items at each path (potato chips, craisins, dried fruit).
Our bags were filled full after just a couple of paths. In fact we did about 4 paths, and decided to enjoy some rides (with NO lines), the small parade and some shopping.
There were many great photo opportunities. There were also MANY characters out and about and some that were in designated areas (outlined on the park map).
This little one was VERY happy with her chocolate!
The attention to detail at Disneyland is amazing. Nothing is too small. The pumpkin carving is amazing and the painting was beautiful.
This was an amazing pumpkin carving!
The one request of my 4 year old was to ride
Dumbo with Auntie Katie. She got her wish!
Luke as Captain Jack Sparrow!
Gracie as Queen Elsa!
We had fun watching the cute cavalcade. A cavalcade is a mini parade. There were only three floats and most of the characters walked.
Cute cowboy Mickey.
Uncle D trying out a Yoda backpack in the
Star Trader where we "hid" from the fireworks. Bella rode everything and loved it, but the fireworks caused her to freak out!
Overall, Mickey's Halloween Party was amazing! I would highly recommend it. We enjoyed all the events, received tons of candy, and celebrated in style. The kids are still talking about it. If you ever find yourself going to Disneyland in the fall be sure to check out Mickey's Halloween Party.
Great fun was had by all...including us big kids!
Happy Halloween!!!
XOXO
The Dahl Kids
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