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10/27/23 - Disneyland Resort - Final Halloween 2023 visit
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10/27/23 - Disneyland Resort - Final Halloween 2023 visit

Hello Everyone!

I spent Friday at the Disneyland Resort enjoying a last look at Halloween 2023 and an early look at Christmas. The crowds felt about average with the afternoon lull seeming a bit less crowded than previous visits. The weather was a nice fall day topping out about 70 and cooling to the low 60s.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • My day started off with mixed results. I drew a spot in the back portion of the parking structure, but encountered no waits at the tollbooth, security or the tram.
  • The holiday season officially starts November 10th at the Disneyland Resort, but decorations are going around the parks and merchandise is finding its way into the stores. The annual snowfall has occurred on Sleeping Beauty Castle and the decorations that are up so far in Toontown, New Orleans Square and Grizzly Recreation Area are about the same as usual with nothing jumping out as drastically changed. In Toontown the new/changed buildings were not decorated, just the ones from previous years so far.
  • As Halloween 2023 comes to an end there were a few offerings that I had not seen on previous visits that were on my agenda today.
    • The Mickey and Friends Halloween Cavalcade makes two trips through the park. This started right after Magic Happens ended its season and runs through Tuesday. The cavalcades are a great way to see the characters in their Halloween costumes without the crowds. I would have liked to have seen this running the entire season not just as a parade replacement.
    • Pumpkin Carving was back this year. Joe Yakovetic was at the Disneyland Hotel from noon to 3:00pm and the Grand Californian Hotel from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. Joe is an accomplished artist and some of you may remember him, and his work, from the Big Thunder Ranch days. It was great to see him and his creations again. Also to talk a bit about the "old days". It was interesting a number of guests that stopped by while I was there all were talking about how they missed the ranch and the events out there.
  • Several projects continue around the parks and hotels and are moving toward completion.
    • In Mickey's Toontown CenTOONial park is behind walls for a few more days then they will shift for a project at Goofy's. The park turf was being worked on as was the fountain this week. In Goofy's yard noticed they repaired some holes in the ground. Donald's splash pad is still behind walls with no signs of its status. A tower of scaffolding has appeared behind the El Capitoon. I could not make out what it was for.
    • The Adventureland Treehouse is preparing to open. It officially opens on November 10th. There were a number of cast members walking around checking things and working on some plans. Cast Member previews should be starting soon. The water system was in action and I spotted an ostrich moving around too. Looking forward to walking through this attraction again soon.
    • Tiana's Bayou Adventure continues along.. no major visible changes, just steady progress on the facade work.
    • The Mark Twain Riverboat is being renovated. They were working on painting portions of it and restoring the attraction to a pristine look.
    • In Downtown Disney from the Monorail you could see crews were setting up new walls around the lawn area preparing for its opening. No date has been announced but it looks to be sooner rather than later. You could also see poles for lights/speakers going in around the lawn.
  • I paid a visit to the Pixar Place Hotel to check on its status. The hotel official reopens January 30th. There were still crews working on various elements of the lobby when I walked through but most of the walls/curtains are down and you can see much of the new artwork. I had great timing arriving during a fire alarm test.
  • I crossed paths with Ariel twice in the matter of a few minutes/few hundred feet. The live action Ariel was in the small world mall area and the animated inspired Ariel was roaming around Fantasyland near Dumbo. Wonder if this was a mistake or are both on stage at the same time usually?
  • Stopped by Downtown Disney to listen to the SCAREolers. For the 6:30pm set they had a treat in store for everyone and had 12 instead of the usual 6 performers. It was great to hear the larger group.
  • While walking through Avengers Campus this evening I spotted Loki out visiting with guests. I did not see any other characters from the TV show.
  • Closed out my evening with World of Color - ONE. The show will go on hiatus for the World of Color Season of Light show which starts on Nov. 10th. I thought I heard online that the fire effects had returned, they were not in use on Friday for the 9:00pm show. I am still not a fan of this version of the show. As I have said a number of times technically it is great how they use the platform but the show just does not engage/entertain me. I would like to see the original show with some new programming to take advantage of the new lighting, etc.. that is available now.
  • As I was leaving I thought about trying to make it into Disneyland for Halloween Screams. I took a look and the Disneyland entry line were stretching out to the Monorail so I decided not to try figuring I would just barely make it into the park and the odds of finding a spot with the crowd were not in my favor. So I watched the fireworks from the tram on the way back to the parking structure to conclude my visit.


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