My Guide to Halloweentime at Disneyland
Halloweentime is my favorite time of year. The only thing that can top regular ol Halloween time is Halloween Time at DISNEYLAND! My family has a long history with the Mouse’s house for (mostly) better or worse. I recently visited Disneyland to check out this year’s Halloweentime festivities and here is my handy guide to everything you need to know and can’t miss!
Tricks and Treats
One of the best things about Halloween at Disney is the treats. There are tons and tons of new themed treats to explore no matter where you go. If you can tempt yourself away from Mickey soft pretzels (I can’t), there are plenty of things to taste along the way. This year all of the treats are available whenever you want them. Yes, that means you can even get a mac and cheese chili cone for BREAKFAST (I did. No shame). This means you don’t have to miss out on any of the Instagrammable food opportunities if you plan right. It’s hard to get to them all, but I made sure to try the ones I absolutely could not resist.
Treats We Tried:
Pumpkin Layered Cheesecake at Jolly Holiday Bakery Café - Delicious little morsel we chose over the more popular Mummy Macaron
Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich at Carnation Cafe - A sriracha glazed chicken breast on brioche bun with spicy sandwich spread, pepper jack cheese, and a mustard coleslaw on top. A tempting treat to burn your taste buds off with!
Pumpkin Spice Beignets + Blackberry Midnight Juleps at Mint Julep Bar - Delightfully delicious and with the long wait at Haunted Mansion Holiday you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy these treats.
Slow Burnin’ Mac n’ Cheese at the Cozy Cone Motel - Mac n cheese in a bread cone with spicy cheese sauce and topped with Flaming Hot Cheeto dust. Enough said.
Pumpkin Spice Beignets
Slow Burnin’ Mac n’ Cheese Cone
Blackberry Midnight Juleps
Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake
Transformations
Every year the decor gets a little creepy at the Happiest Place on Earth. Obviously the Haunted Mansion becomes overrun by Jack Skellington and his friends through the holiday season. I love the cartoony upgrades they make with bright colors and festive touches. I really loved the exterior to the mansion too something you get to notice quite a bit of while waiting in line 65+ minutes. One notable thing everyone, myself included, really enjoyed was the “math” on the Christmas list draped over the exterior corner. Frontierland celebrates Dia De Los Muertos with a great display and you can even find some Dia De Los Muertos celebrations over at California Adventure through November 2nd.
This year California Adventure is where a large majority of Halloweentime exists. This is because Oogie Boogie has taken over California Adventure and put a spooky hex on everything there to set the stage for his Halloween Bash. There is a headless horseman, characters in Halloween costumes, and, of course, you can’t miss Cars Land. One place that gets a major overhaul for Halloween is Cars Land. I love Cars Land every day of the year, but Halloween time is so much more fun. You can’t skip Haul-o-Ween at Cars Land! Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters becomes Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween complete with spooky Italian songs and tire pumpkins. TIRE. PUMPKINS! My favorite was all of the decorations made from car parts are fun and creative. I’m surprised my family never thought of that. The Cars come out to play in their best Halloween costumes including a clown, a vampire, and a superhero! You may find them stationed in front of the Cozy Cone Motel or heading out for some trunk or treating. If you’re lucky you’ll get to take part in Radiator Springs which becomes Radiator Screams and Mater will take you for a ride on his Graveyard JamBOOree!
Halloween Screams
Everyone knows there are many nighttime activities to take part in at Disneyland. Whether you like Fantasmic or just the fireworks show, this year you have quite a few choices. The Main Street Electrical Parade is back and the fireworks show has a spooky twist. Jack Skellington leads Halloween Screams nightly for everyone with a regular park ticket (something new for 2019), and on selected nights there are fireworks included with the show. There are projections and special music that accompany Halloween Screams so it’s best to get a front row seat if you’re into watching that. The show WITHOUT fireworks runs Monday through Thursday in October. I missed the projections because I chose to watch the fireworks from my treasured spot in Galaxy’s Edge which, used to be the best kept secret! So if you’re only into the fireworks and don’t care about the whole experience, head to Galaxy’s Edge, grab some Blue Milk and enjoy the show!
Me recording fireworks from Galaxy’s Edge