home > Columns > Geekspeaks >
9/11/15 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort and the kick off to Halloween Time plus Patriot Day & the USC Band marks Disneyland60
 The Geek Speaks:

Welcome to the disneygeek.com Geek Speaks section. In this section I will post my comments on trips to the parks or other Disney related events.

9/11/15 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort and the kick off to Halloween Time plus Patriot Day & the USC Band marks Disneyland60

Hello everyone,

Friday marked the kickoff to the 2015 Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort as well as Patriot Day (9/11). The crowds were mild to light during the daylight hours due to it being mid September and the temps were in the mid 90s plus for us it was humid too. Come night fall the masses descended upon the parks as usual and the wait times and congestion around the parks went up.


Trip logs and mileage reports are in the Park Miles section.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • The original Diamond Days contest has ended and a new version has begun. I am unsure the changes but one is the text number has changed to Castle (227853) from Disney.

  • Halloween Time on Friday boiled down to:
    • Decorations along the tram route
    • Main Street USA decorations (banners, pumpkins on the buildings, floral Mickey)
    • During the afternoon characters in costume in Town Square (by nightfall they had switched to 60th Anniversary outfits)
    • Dapper Dans of Disneyland in orange and singing Halloween songs
    • Haunted Mansion Holiday & Ghost Galaxy
    • Big Thunder Ranch & BBQ decorations
    • Zocalo Park/Frontierland decorations
    • Merchandise and food - Here is a full list of the food offerings from the Disney Parks Blog

  • This year the Halloween Time festivities fell short in my opinion. I think the list of what was not going on was longer than what was. Maybe the thought is the Diamond Anniversary will carry the season? Or maybe not everything was rolled out for the opening on Friday?

  • This year the Jamboree Area was not in use, no pumpkin carving, no entertainment, and no characters in the ranch area. I thought maybe this would lead to an expansion elsewhere but on Friday there was nothing new going on. Over at DCA the Mad T Party which has had a Halloween addition or two the past couple years had nothing. As I walked around DCA the only indications of Halloween were merchandise and food items. No decorations or other nods to the season. The Buena Vista Bugle has not been updated for the season yet either, the Summer Edition was still on news stands. Should be interesting to see if more rolls out throughout the season or if Friday is all they are going to do this year.

  • It was nice to see Main Street switched to Orange for the season. The blue was wearing on me... I thought the integration of the Diamond decorations and Halloween worked for the most part. Will be interesting to see what happens for Christmas this year.

  • Haunted Mansion Holiday opened for the Season Friday and even with 95 degree weather and almost no shade the line was still posted at 30-40 minutes most of the afternoon and then growing as it cooled down. FastPass was in use on Friday. This year's gingerbread house looks great as always and is still my nemesis when it comes to getting a good picture.. I never seem to stop in the ballroom! The Hatbox Ghost received some holiday decorations too. If you are a fan of the Monkey bride, it is back but you will have to look back to see it. I will try for a picture next ride through. I missed it the first time then saw it when I took video the second on Friday. The graveyard on the hill was undergoing some work and the tombstones and pumpkins were MIA on Friday. Looks like a lot of new planting up there.

  • The Park maps received Halloween covers and a mention inside but no real details. The Times Guide for both parks have the Halloween color treatment but no events listed or highlighted. Not even a mention of the season.

  • Speaking of Times Guide be sure to check the park schedules on your visit. With the off season and Halloween Season hours are shifting around. Including Paint the Night and Disneyland Forever times.

  • Friday was the 14th Anniversary of September 11th and what is now called Patriot Day. The occasion was commemorated at the nightly Flag Retreat. Friday it featured a contingent of Disneyland first responders and security cast members that were honored and there was a moment of silence during the ceremony. There was a larger than usual amount of guests in the area and it seemed more than usual stopped too.

  • Before the event I happened to be in the right place at the right time to see the challenge coin for the day to be given out. It was a nice moment and the vet and their family looked to truly appreciate it. I think this is a great tradition that was started earlier this year and a perfect example of a Disneyland extra/plus.

  • Extra: On Saturday I was at the USC Football game cheering on my Trojans! FIGHTON! The halftime show was a salute to Disneyland's 60th Anniversary. It turned out to be more a salute to Disney with three of the featured songs being from the movies and not the park. But still fun to see. Here is a cell phone video I took:



  • Do you visit our pictorial updates using a mobile device? If so we would like your feedback. I have created a beta of a more mobile version of our Disneyland Picture sets at https://disneygeek.com/mobile Please give it a try and share your thoughts.

Interesting Web Finds/Notes:

Be sure to check out the picture update that goes with this Geekspeak column, it can be found in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
Back to previous page

 

Quick Note

Check out the geek speaks archive for past updates.

 

Interested in Helping out?

If you are a fellow disneygeek and interested in sharing your insights, pictures, thoughts drop us an email here we are always looking for contributors.