In the fall, the Disneyland Resort is full of the Halloween spirit. You can enjoy special shows, eat delicious fall treats, and ride some of your favorite attractions with a Halloween twist. Below is what you can expect at the Disneyland Resort at Halloween along with my tips of how to get the most of the spooky season.
Family-friendly Halloween experiences, is what makes the Disneyland Resort's Halloween time different from most other theme parks. Disney's Halloween is more cute with a little bit of spooky. You don't have to be worried about getting scared during your visit. The decorations, shows, rides, and characters are the normal Disney with a cute and fun Halloween spin.
Attractions
During Halloween time, some of the attractions at Disneyland and California Adventure get a makeover. The Haunted Mansion gets taken over by Jack Skellington and The Nightmare Before Christmas crew. They put a Halloween and Christmas spin on this classic attraction. You won't want to miss the unique gingerbread house that is created each year by an amazing team of cast members. Be sure to take a deep breath in this room to enjoy the gingerbread smell. The line for this ride can get really long. I recommend trying to go to this ride first for the day or you can check the wait time throughout the day on the Disneyland app. Usually the line moves quickly but there are times the wait is a couple hours long. If you love the Nightmare Before Christmas, the long wait might be worth it for you. This version of the Haunted Mansion is my favorite and I have waited in line for a long time to ride it.
At California Adventure Mater's Junkyard Jamboree is transformed into Mater's Graveyard JamBOOree. Mater has Halloween inspired songs to sing while you are on the ride. Also in Cars Land, Luigi wanted to be in the Halloween spirit. He turned his ride from Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters to Luigi's Honkin' Haul-O-Ween. Both of these rides are a fun twist on the normal attraction and are fun for everyone. The final ride that gets a Halloween makeover is Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!. This ride remains the same during the day but changes in the evening to Guardians of the Galaxy - Monsters After Dark. You can ride this more intense version of the ride in the evening.
My Tips
If you are wanting to visit Disneyland during the fall here are my tips to make the most of your visit.
Fall Weather
If you don’t like the intense California heat then I recommend planning your trip for October instead of September. September can still be quite warm with some days still feeling like summer. October usually has cooler temperatures but can still have some hot days. When I was there last October it was a bit chilly so I wore a sweatshirt almost everyday at the park. However, the temperatures were still warm enough to play in the pool on our rest days.
Fireworks
The show, "Halloween Screams" Nighttime Spectacular is a fun projection show that takes place every night on Main Street and Sleeping Beauty's Castle. On select nights the show will be accompanied by fireworks. If you want to see the show with fireworks you can check the show schedule on the Disneyland website or app.
California Adventure Closes Early
On select nights in September and October, California Adventure closes early for the separate ticketed event Oogie Boogie Bash. On these days California Adventure closes at 6pm. Below I have included what nights Oogie Boogie Bash is happening. If this event is happening on a day that you are going to be in the parks, I have two suggestions for you to get the most out of your park days. My first suggestion is if you have a Park Hopper ticket, make your Theme Park Reservation to start at California Adventure. This way you will be able to visit both parks in the day and not run out of time at California Adventure. After the park closes, you will be able to head on over to Disneyland and spend the rest of the night there. My second suggestion is if you have a One Park Per Day ticket, to make the Theme Park Reservation for Disneyland. This way you don't have to worry about California Adventure closing early and feel like you missed out on time in this park. You will be able to have a full day at Disneyland this day and a full day at California Adventure on a day the event is not happening.
Meeting Characters
Many of the characters will be dressed in Halloween costumes. You will want to make sure to get some pictures with them at both Disneyland and California Adventure as their costumes are different. To know what times to meet the characters you can check the Disneyland app or ask a Cast Member. For more tips on meeting characters view my blog post here.
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