Rainy day fun day at Disneyland

Rainy day at Downtown Disney as a Mickey wrapped Monorail passes by

We made our first family trip in over 2 years to the Happiest Place on Earth in January. While in Southern California we visited the Disneyland Resort and had quite a memorable visit. In a first for us we went to Disneyland in the rain. We have been rained on in Florida at Walt Disney World, but we could never recall a rainy day Disneyland visit. Actually it pretty much rained the whole time we were in California and it was only marginally warmer than the North Carolina weather we left behind. Still we made the best of it and ultimately had a nice time at the resort. During the rain just about every ride was walk on but as the rain cleared the park filled up in the afternoon and evening with the pass holders Disneyland is famous for.  Most of our family lives in Southern California so we were joined on this visit by nieces, nephews, "Nannie", and an auntie!

With our own "Sleeping Beauty" in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle

Sleeping Beauty Castle was closed to undergo renovations in time for the opening of Star Wars Land (Dad still can’t get used to calling it “Galaxy’s Edge”). The scuttlebutt is the roof has needed to be replaced since the 60th Celebration Decorations were removed. At the time of our visit there was a wall at ground level but the upper towers were still visible.

Walt Disney World has conditioned us to not expect to easily walk through the castle since the stage is so often in use that frankly we did not really mind that the lower levels of Sleeping Beauty Castle were obscured. We still managed some nice photos of the Castle(albeit wet ones!), especially from a distance. Toddler Son was especially looking forward to seeing the Castle and did not seem to mind that it was blocked off at ground level.

We had hoped to time our trip so as to see some of the “Holiday Overlays” and managed to ride “It’s A Small World Holiday”.

This was a real highlight of the trip, the attraction looked wonderful inside and out with all of the Christmas & Holiday Decorations.

The exterior of the Disneyland It’s a Small World is spectacular and after seeing so many YouTube videos Toddler Son was excited to see it in person.

He had been to Disneyland one other time for his first birthday but did not retain any memory of it. The Haunted Mansion was closed to remove the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. We spent some time at Mickey's Toontown, including walking right on to Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin! Had to play around with the photo ops and pose on the Jolly Trolley.

Teenage Son is unabashedly a Disneylander with almost no reservations, he loves Walt Disney World (EPCOT especially) but usually finds Disneyland to be the superior “Magic Kingdom”. Mom & Dad have a more complex view of  the Disneyland vs Magic Kingdom debate preferring to appreciate their differences rather than make a call of one over the other.

Disneyland is very dense with attractions seemingly on top of each other. Dad found himself with tunnel vision due to the closer quarters and lack of distant views he had gotten used to at Walt Disney World.  When we first started visiting Magic Kingdom in Florida there was a period of adjustment where we were disoriented and kept trying to find Disneyland in the Magic Kingdom, now after having made so many visits to the Florida park we may have been guilty of looking for Magic Kingdom in Disneyland subconsciously.  It really is striking how much more "cozy" Disneyland is, just about everything is at a smaller scale and yet it probably has twice as much detail and more attractions.

Pearlie Band walking through Fantasyland

Fantasyland in particular was a real treat, we pretty much walked form Dark Ride to Dark Ride with no wait (except for PeterPan...even in the rain that one had a wait). We enjoyed California unique rides like Snow White's Adventure, Pinocchio, Mr. Toad, & Alice In Wonderland.

Dumbo in the rain is not an entirely pleasurable experience as the rain drops seem to come at you in a horizontal direction, but we made the best of our situation and ultimately had a great visit to Fantasyland.

After Fanatsyland we took the Disneyland Railroad to the Frontierland/Adventureland side of the park while enjoying the Grand Canyon & Primeval World dioramas...two elements sorely missing from the Walt Disney World Railroad. Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean really shines with it's moody bayou, 2 waterfalls and caverns.

The Enchanted Tiki Room has a longer show, a water fountain, and enjoys more audience participation & enthusiasm than the Florida counterpart. While there we briefly visited the "Tropical Hideaway" snack area made from Aladdin's Oasis/Tahitian Terrace remnants.  We had never been to either of those venues so that was all new to us, the view of the Jungle Cruise dock and "Rosita" the "lost" Tiki Bird are nice touches.

Pin trading in action

magic carpet ride

"Star Wars Land" looms large in the distance but can also be surprisingly ignored if you so choose to. The transitional area between it and the rest of Disneyland is a remarkably detailed desert scene that blends in nicely with Frontierland, unfortunately we did not get a chance to ride the train or the Mark Twain around the newer river scenes.  The crowds of people heading there and perhaps lift hill views from Big Thunder will be the only signs that there is something beyond the berm.

Most of the evening was spent at California Adventure. 

While at Cal Adventure our party took in Monsters Inc, Guardians of the Galaxy, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, The Little Mermaid, & The Incredicoaster(Agent P went on the Incredicoaster and enjoyed it and followed it up with one of Jack Jack's cookies).

The original Twilight Zone theming on the Tower of Terror made much more sense with the overall park and the Guardians of the Galaxy exterior is very jarring. But the ride itself is well done and lots of fun.  The ride experience seems longer and the randomized drops are thrilling.

We returned to Disneyland to ride Alice in Wonderland and to see the park lit up at night.

All in all we had a great time, how can you not at the Happiest Place on Earth?

Downtown Disney World of Disney window display 

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 2018 at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

"HalloWishes" Fireworks at Magic Kingdom

We attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party this year for Labor Day Week. It was our second time attending a Walt Disney World Halloween Party, having first gone in 2017 and now this year.  September is pretty early to start celebrating Halloween but as it coincides with the trip we like to take to celebrate Toddler Son's birthday it has become a fun addition to our visits.

Poison Apple "Magic Shot" photograph

We arrived at Magic Kingdom the afternoon of the party in time for lots of rain, in 2017 the rain came solidly in the middle of the party eating up most of the event. It pretty much rains everyday in September. Luckily for us the afternoon storm this year (right around 3:30 PM) would be the only rain for us and for 2018 we enjoyed a full Halloween party! Our party tickets were part of a "Fall into Magic" package we were enjoying and Dad neglected to bring the hard tickets to the gate thinking the tickets would be pre-loaded on our magic bands through My Disney Experience. Unfortunately that was not the case and we were directed to will call and then guest services to rectify the situation. It looked for a second like we would have to go all the way back to our room to get the hard tickets but luckily a supervisor was able to help the window agent locate our tickets in the system and issue us new hard tickets. We were then finally through the gate and on our way. Teenage Son & Dad were dressed as Figment & Dreamfinder while Toddler Son was an "It's A Small World" doll from Mexico, accompanied by Mom in a retro Small World T-shirt and with her hair in a braid with a folkloric flower.

For the Halloween Parties you are allowed to enter the park as early as 4:00 PM and the party starts at 7:00 PM. Typically you are routed behind the east side of Main Street USA from entering Town Square where they issue you your treat bags,  give out treats and take pictures. At the end of this gauntlet you are dumped into Central Plaza("The Hub") between Main Street USA & Tomorrowland. 

"Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular"

"HalloWishes" Fireworks

"Boo Too You" Parade

The Halloween Party officially starts at 7PM but they start letting you meet the special characters at approximately 6:30 and distributing Candy shortly after that at several locations throughout the park. For other special event entertainment they have a musical show at the Castle Stage, fireworks, and a parade. For 2017 the rain was bad enough that it delayed/cancelled some entertainment and we only saw the fireworks and a few glimpses of the parade but for 2018 we were able to see all three.

There are several special characters that appear at the party and are not common throughout the rest of the year. For us the must see character was Stitch dressed as Elvis. Prior to this year you could only see him on Halloween Night at the Polynesian Resort so we were very excited at the chance to see him.  We were in line by 5:45 PM and they brought in Stitch at 6:30 PM and we saw him right away. We then went off to have dinner and start Trick Or Treating. The lines for the characters can get pretty long so we ultimately did not see any more up close.

We caught Lotso Hugging Bear heading to his photo op

Several attractions were modified slightly for the party and we experienced 2 of them. We all rode Pirates of the Caribbean with live performers in the fort and on the ride. Mom & Teenage Son got to ride Space Mountain in the dark while Dad & Toddler Son rode the Peoplemover (also in the dark through the Space Mountain portion). We did not get a chance to ride the Teacups with special Halloween Party lighting.

We stumbled onto a spot on the bridge to Tomorrowland to see the Fireworks show.  The fireworks show has basic projections on the Castle and does not yet incorporate the remarkable projection mapping of the regular show. But it more than makes up for that with a great soundtrack and the use of the perimeter fireworks bursts reserved for holidays that are really spectacular. The night becomes day as large fireworks bursts surround the entire Magic Kingdom.

As the crowd dispersed somewhat after the fireworks we moved to a spot at the base of the Partners statue in the center of The Hub to view the Castle stage show. The Castle stage show is the "Hocus Pocus Villian Spelltacular" a Disney Villain's greatest hits show linked together by the Sanderson Sisters from the film "Hocus Pocus". The show is high energy, has great music and the performers are terrific. Dad was not really a fan of the movie "Hocus Pocus" but this show made him a convert and we have been enjoying  all of the related "Hocus Pocus" programming on the Freeform Cable Channel.

For the "Boo To You Halloween Parade" we made our way to Town Square and found a spot on the rope line between the Square and the Emporium across the street from City Hall. The parade was delightful, especially the gravediggers and the ballroom dancers from The Haunted Mansion.

Ride of the Headless Horseman

Haunted Mansion Gravediggers

Haunted Mansion Gravediggers

Haunted Mansion Ballroom Dancers

2018 was a vast improvement for us over 2017 in terms of experiencing the special entertainment, and we managed to meet a character this year. In 2017 we did more trick or treating than this year, there is more things to do at these parties than can be done in one visit. To experience it all would probably take at least attending 2 parties a year, you could easily spend an entire night meeting the characters and trick or treating and not do anything else. The party felt crowded, the lines for the candy moved but they were very long and the waits for most characters looked very long.  Overall we had a great time and hope we can go again and perhaps concentrate on the special characters.