Friday, October 22, 2010

Disneyland Halloween Trip Report



Halloween was in full swing this week at Disneyland...and so was the rain. Still, being a glass half-full kinda’ guy, I didn’t let it “dampen” my spirits (ba-dum-dum...ouch). Each year, the Halloween decor seems to get better—despite the fact that the Christmas crap is already edging its way in.



Recently, a number of new posters have graced the entrance tunnels; Mr. Toad is a particular favorite, as it does a good job of capturing the essence of the original silk-screened beauties.



Inside the Disney Gallery, feel free to slobber over Kevin Kidney’s latest collectible: a perfectly detailed replicas of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant & Walt’s Car:





Music greeted us as we strolled down Main Street:



Inside the Penny Arcade, I took a few photos of the Orchestron that I featured in a vintage shot the other day. Nice to see the descriptive signage.





We were on a mission though; we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was already close to 2pm...time for Plaza Inn Fried Chicken & Apple Pie! Thanks to the time and the rain, the place was practically deserted—I could pig out in peace!





To shake myself from a food coma, we waddled over to Buzz Lightyear:





As you can guess by the vacant look on my face, despite the fact that I was alone and two cars ahead of her, Stacy still skunked me. One of these days I’ll find the secret spot on Emperor Zurg.



The downpour began right about the time I went to check out the Rapunzel (oops, I mean Tangled) meet and greet area in Fantasyland. She managed to look stunning despite the rain; me...not so much.



I was feeling generous, so I actually appeased Stacy by going on small world; I am still attempting to remove its infernal theme song from my head.







It was even raining INSIDE the attraction!



Next up: A Grand Circle Tour! The train always provides a scenic respite from the elements.





Another great place to escape bad weather is The Tiki Room; I just can’t get enough of its timeless kitsch.



The Indiana Jones animatronic at the Gates of Doom sure looks a lot more like Harrison Ford than the other ones:



Circling around back to Halloween, the mist and lighting effects on the Rivers of America were magical:



Leota at The Mansion never looked lovelier:



Be sure not to miss these creepy little musicians in the portrait hallway:





New Orleans Square was alive with dance at Club Skellington (aka The French Market during). Insert cheesey DJ here:



These little things were all over the park and they truly freaked me out:



We caught the tail-end of the parade…



…and then found our viewing spot for the Halloween Fireworks Show which was worth the price of admission alone!









The castle sure looks purty at night:



I hope that was enough photos for all of you!

See more Disneyland Halloween photos at my main website.

11 comments:

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Awesome trip report - WOW!!! The weather just added to the spooky mood!

Great shots of Indy, Tiki Bird, IASM, everything Wow!

"it's a world of laughter, a world of tears"...

Thufer said...

Wonderful interiors at Plaza Inn, thank you.
Good report as always.....thanks.

Connie Moreno said...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR THESE SHOTS!!! Halloween is my favorite holiday and Halloween at Disneyland is the ultimate! Unfortunately, I can't afford the ticketed event so your pictures are as close as I'm gonna get to it this year. WONDERFUL!!! I love them!!!

JG said...

Beautiful interior of the Plaza Inn, a perennial favorite of mine, I feel 8 years old again when I see that (no mean feat). Of course the other pics are great too.

Thank you, Dave. I hope your camera can get those results without much flash, so I don't get my guilty pleasures at the expense of you blinding your neighboring guests in the dark rides. I do enjoy it so much, though.

I'm with Connie, I can't afford the travel and don't know when, if ever, I can go back, so I have to rely on you and the rest of my blog friends.

I really appreciate it.

JG

PS my wife beat me in Buzz Lightyear too.

Daveland said...

JG - You'll be pleased to know that I stopped using flash on dark rides years ago; however....I did have to break my rule on this post to get the Indiana Jones shot. Other than that one, view these without any guilt!

Major Pepperidge said...

When it was raining I was eating lunch and thinking "I'll bet Disneyland is empty!". And sure enough....!

Great photos as usual, you are the master of the dark-ride picture (no flash). Rupunzel sure is a cutie. Thanks for the photo of the shadow puppet in IASW, one of my favorite scenes.

The shot of the picture gallery in the Mansion is amazine... when I was there two weeks ago you could barely move it was so crowded.

Where can I get good fried chicken and apple pie around here?!?

Jaclynn_kyuss said...

Thanks for this post. I can't make it this year being that I am 9 1/2 months pregnant! I am envious :/

JG said...

Thank you Dave, I will enjoy without guilt in the future.

And you're getting all the calories from the chicken and pie too.

What a deal!

JG

Anonymous said...

Nice Orchestron signage pic, but I believe it should read "Freiburg" rather than "Frieburg".

Daveland said...

Anonymous - Sounds like a trip to City Hall is in order!

TeamBurton4Ever said...

I LOVE these... I have never been to Disney Land, but I HAVE been to Disney WORLD 4 times. Hoping to go again this year, but I'm considering Disney Land instead. Why? Because I want to go for Halloween and I LOVE Burton. And Disney World doesn't have enough Burton on Halloween. Disney Land has MORE Burton on Halloween. Disney Land bows down to the Pumpkin King. Disney World is too stuck up to kiss bone. If I go for Halloween this year though, I could get kicked out at either park. My Halloween costume is Tangled's Rapunzel, complete with LED lights in the hair because I'm a costume geek. Oh and GREAT photo of Zero! I so badly want to see that fireworks show in person and SCREAM LIKE I CAN WITH THE FURY OF MY RECITATIONS for Jack! <3