Halloween at Disneyland Park
Halloween, the spookiest time of year. It’s surprising just how well it meshes with Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth. As someone who has been at Disneyland over many different times of the year and holiday seasons, I’d say that Halloween has been my absolute favourite. If you go in early September, like we did, you still get pleasant weather and the Halloween decor, and yet the crowds are still fairly low compared to other times of year.
Decorations
When I think of the holiday seasons at Disneyland, the first thing that comes to mind is the iconic decor, whether we’re talking about the winter charm of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle over the Christmas time or the Mickey Pumpkin centrepiece at Main Street USA during Halloween season. The minute you arrive at the park the fall vibes are everywhere, with practically the entirity of Main Street decked out in some sort of orange.
While most decorations are around the entrance and Main Street USA, the halloween spirit isn’t contained to only there. It’s haunting presence is everywhere, you just need to know where to look. Although, unfortunately they don’t decorate the Castle for the spooky season.
Onto the topic of decorations, while unrelated to Halloween, over the fall season El Zócalo Park is outfitted with celebrations for Día de los Muertos. Colourful flowers and painted calavera adorn the space with a bright atmosphere. This holiday is a time of tribute and rememberance for loved ones that have passed, a time to reflect and not to be downtrodden, but to rejoice in our memories of those that we love that have since left us.
Food
If you’ve ever been to a Disney Park, you know just how iconic (and delicious) the food is. Whether it be Dole Whips, Gray Stuff, a turkey leg or whatever else suits your tastes, there are a great many options of food to choose from, both sweet and savoury, and with each holiday comes new specialty options.
There are a great many options you can go with when it comes to holiday specialties no matter which holiday, and Halloween is no exception. Personally, macaron’s have always been one of my favourite sweets, and so I couldn’t get enough of this Vampire Alien Macaron. A gluten free** sweet filled with salted caramel buttercream, brownie pieces and a delicious chocolate ganache, my only complaint is that I only ended up having it once!
(**However, despite being gluten free, there is a risk of cross contamination so if you have an allergy/intolerance like I do, make sure to ask the cast members if it’s not something that you’re willing to risk)
If you want to hear more about Disneyland’s Halloween specialties, I’ll be writing a post about that soon so be sure to keep following this blog if you want to know more!
Nightmare Before Christmas
When somebody thinks of Disney and Halloween, I’d guess the first thing that would come to their mind would be either the Haunted Mansion, or the Nightmare Before Christmas. And so, it’s of no surprise that when the season does arrive, Disney combines the two in the lovely experience of the Haunted Mansion Holiday. The classic theme of Grim Grinning Ghosts is unfortunately temporarily replaced with spooky Christmas tunes, and the whole manor is decked from top to bottom in Christmas Decor. Madam Leota’s usual speech is replaced by a haunting parody of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and every year there’s a new gingerbread house in the dining hall.
As well as the Haunted Mansion, if you keep a keen eye open at New Orleans Square, you might be able to spy Jack and Sally!
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