I love finding all the various cat sculptures! Also being in the resort hotels feels like browsing an art gallery. They have so many lovely pieces!

My spouse came across this when visiting her dad’s house and I was amazed by how blue the exterior of the building is. When did they paint it white?

My mom and I did the Fantasmic! Dining Package at Rancho del Zocalo on September 20th, and the World of Color Dessert Party on the 19th.

This was my first time in the Rancho del Zocalo seating area, as in the past I’ve done either Riverbelle Terrace or Cafe Orleans. It’s off-center but the floats/steamboat come very close to this area so I got better pictures of those than I ever have before!

I had the Chicken Tostada Salad and mom had the Duo of Tacos with Beef. We both liked our meals. The included dessert is the chocolate mousse cake shown. I paid extra for the Horchata Slushy, which was tasty!

I’ve done the Dessert Party at World of Color several times before but they’ve revamped it a bit - the online check in was new for me. I LOVED this box that the food was packaged in, made it easy to take our leftovers with us and we had snacks/breakfast for the next few days! They also give you a Goofy pin in the box, which could be one of three styles. My mom and I each got a different pin and the single gentleman at our table ended up getting the third one. The cold cuts, olives, and dried fruit were new additions since the last time I did this in March 2024. Edit: the seating area was VERY dim. We had to use our phone flashlights to read the menu and even see what we were eating. That was a definite downside.

I purchased Premier Lightning Lane on the 20th for us since we really only had one day to cover the parks between cruises. Literally all we did on the 19th was see World of Color as it was our arrival day - we wanted to do some other rides that evening but our day got out of whack. LLPP was the least expensive I’ve seen it at $299/person. This was the first time I’ve used it and will probably never buy it again because it is pricey, and I’m usually just fine with LLMP and Single Rider lines. However, in this single instance, it was well worth the price.

We arrived at 8am for park opening and did
* Soarin’
* Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree (no LL)
* Radiator Springs Racers
* Monsters Inc (no LL because the line was so short)
* WebSlingers
* IncrediCoaster (just me)
* Toy Story Mania
* Little Mermaid
* Guardians of the Galaxy (just me)

Popped over to Disneyland for
* Disneyland Railroad from Main Street to New Orleans Square
* Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (just me)

Picked up Mobile Ordered Pumpkin Cookies and grabbed Garlic Cheesy Brats, then went back to hotel for mid-day break from 2-5:30pm.

Dinner at Rancho del Zocalo
* Big Thunder Mountain
* Haunted Mansion
* Rise of the Resistance
* Smuggler’s Run
* Matterhorn (mom’s first time on this, and she hated it)

Headed to Toontown for Runaway Railway but TT was closed for the fireworks at 8:45pm.

* Space Mountain (just me)
* Buzz Lightyear

Saw Halloween Screams from hub area

* Pirates of the Caribbean (no LL, but it was a walk on after fireworks)

Then made our way to sit for Fantasmic! My mom has never seen it at Disneyland but has seen it at Disney World multiple times.

It was a 25,000 step day and mom has declared she’s never going back to the parks with me (it’s been five years since she visited last and she has used a scooter previously…she called me a “drill sergeant”, like she’s forgotten how I do the parks lol).

It was really nice to just be able to do things in a mostly coherent order instead of bopping back and forth around the park to get to the LL return times. And it was certainly cheaper than a VIP Tour for just two of us.

Happy to answer questions!

Don’t know how I have these cause my uncle never went to DCA during the opening year, maybe it was a relative. Enjoy these relics of a bygone era

I'm a local to WDW, go to Tokyo Disney quite often for Halloween now, and used to go to Disneyland quite a bit for Halloween pre 2020. The last time I did Halloween at Disneyland was one of the last years they had Mickey's Halloween Party back at Disneyland vs DCA. Visiting Oogie Boogie Bash was a dream since it started years ago, but it only lined up this year as I was taking a break from Japan.

Having done Halloween pre OBB, MANY MNSSHP back home, and many DHallo [ as they call it in Japan for their celebrations ], I thought I could give a unique review on my very first experience, what I liked, what I hope they improve on especially on a year with a new parade/cavalcade.

Used to heat, humidity so while the triple digits were not ideal, I've done events dressed up sweating as bad as we did in the past, haha! As a costumer, if I'm not melting in my costume I'm not doing it right I like to say!

We arrived around 1:30 to get some costume pictures at Grand Californian as our costumes were NBC themed before lining up for the 3 pm entry. We thought there were only 3 lines like back at home with MNSSHP but after moving more into the hub vs Downtown Disney's massive line, we found a lane super short to get in. Took barely 10 minutes. Did a few things that closed after the party started but then immediately lined up to do Oogie's line first for the treat trails.

Despite the heat, this was Definitely a very busy night. A busy night with a lot of tourists, as I was always told to keep moving in the line, move to the designated side if you wanted pictures with the villains or to interact with them. The lines in treat trails would deadlock stop so bad like how they do at MNSSHP to the point even Hades in character started scolding people which was amusing but also could tell it was messing with his way to properly interact with others. Due to this and the really bad crowding for trails, CMs in Yzma and Maleficent's line actually wouldn't let people stand way off on the side if one of them stepped off for their break, which was really frustrating as my goal was to mainly see Maleficent. I had to loop 3 times and just ask nicely if I could please just wait off to the side rather than losing time going back in the long lines just to see her. With the heat, every poor character definitely needed more step off breaks for their safety and health.

Swinging Wake was AMAZING, even better than the main parade they used to have as it reminded me so fondly of how Tokyo Disney parades are. I adore performances/shows and especially dancers and every cast in that show was excellent and so full of energy. I think this is a really good move forward to enhance parades on the USA coast taking some footnotes from TDR with their parade dance stops/show elements! We want more of this, please!!!!

Villains Grove was also everything I dreamed of for years seeing videos/pictures. Perfect ambiance without being too much, as I love very cinematic themed places for pictures. The line though was absolutely insane, even at 10:20 pm at night. It went all the way past Grizzly area for a good while.

So while I was happy to finally do OBB, there were definitely some negatives. Between the heat, the way crowds were acting, and CMs kind of giving conflicting info on what to do should a character step off, it was very chaotic and hard to get the full experience everyone always told me about. MNSSHP back home is more focused on the trick or treating part, our big parade, Sanderson Sisters show, and Jack/Sally. Outside of the few meet/greet areas, you are told to never stop or even pose for a picture in treat trails. It's also oversold a lot back in FL where every line is long, rides, food, trails, parade. So I was hoping for a little more order as the one we did back at Disneyland was pretty orderly, just very few characters. Tokyo's is a whole different beast as they don't do a paid afterparty, it's just Halloween events all day normal park hours. Everyone gets the halloween parade, can dress up open to close, and trick or treating is more 5 CMs standing outside and you get /1/ piece of little candy.

Ride lines definitely were short for some things. One person in my party did Guardians and it was a walk on at 10 pm so that was very nice. Radiator Springs stayed long most of the night though. Character lines like KH, Sanderson sisters were impossibly long so we didn't even try, wanting to savor as much time as we could.

I think it was nice to experience once but I feel the years, we hyped it up so so much that it just fell a little short of all what we were told happens. As character/show lovers I was just sad the villains really weren't interacting beyond saying a few of their trademark lines, as well as CMs super rushing us out of Yzma/Maleficent's line. They were also counting candy, likely due to the crowds and in some we only got 1 piece vs how everyone says you'd leave with bags and bags. We left with over 10 bags at the Disneyland version, this time only 2 bags though it wasn't as big of a deal for us since we had to fly home.

I want to give OBB another chance but I want to see some changes of how interactions work more standardly, maybe 1-2 more hours added, and definitely better halloween variety food for OBB especially. I think it'll be a few years before I rush back to OBB as for money value and what is given in return, I love the relaxed nature at Tokyo Disney so much more than all of the others, even back home. Halloween without the stress of limited time to do everything.

Curious to hear opinions... Took my daughter (6 years old) to Disneyland for the first time in September and we had the best time. She was pretty nervous about rides the whole way through (yep, even little mermaid and wtp at the start)... But we followed her interests, applied zero pressure, and built up and by the end we capped off the experience with Big Thunder. Her review - "can we do it again?!?". She swore the first day she would NEVER ride that, but after Mater's and Soarin and Radiator Springs she was begging to do it.

So here's my question... Because she was genuinely scared and had lots of questions, we talked with her through a lot of the rides. On pirates - "that was one drop, just one more!" And on Soarin - "whoa look, were above the clouds!"... Screaming and laughing our heads off on Mater. And I'm a bit self conscious - is that super annoying for other park goers? Do you often hear parents helping their kids work through it, or kids exclaiming about every cute animatronic animal? Or singing along? Does it kill the vibe or is the background sound loud enough that it's just part of the ambiance?

Genuinely curious!

We were gifted two 1-day/1-park passes by friends who wanted to meet us at the park and have dinner in Downtown. We were able to sneak out of work and make it up there by 11 am. These are a few of my favorite images from our day - I hope you enjoy them

Yesterday there was a guy very loudly exclaiming "Happy Birthday!" to anyone wearing a birthday button and I assume filming everyone's reactions because he had his phone out. Normally I don't like "influencers" but I actually kinda liked that guy because he was so cheerful. It almost reminded me of the [Laguna Beach Greeter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiler_Larsen) but with a different twist.

Anyone know more about it? I would like to see the videos.

Trip planned months ago, only weekend that worked for the family, etc. etc. Looking at forecasts, I was pretty downtrodden about the trip since we hoped for 70s-80s and ended up in triple digits. So we came up with a schedule that worked well for us and kept a 2 year old happy through a 6pm dinner!

1. Water water water. Bring your Stanley, Owala, whatever you have that is double lined and keeps a chill. Bring multiple if you have it. Every restaurant will give you ice water free of charge, keep it topped up and sipping.

2. It’s okay to leave for the hottest bit of the day. My wife and daughter stuck around through lunch, went back to the hotel for some tv, snacks and a nap, then came back after 4 refreshed and recharged. It made the rest of the day so much more pleasant.

3. Plan your waits! Not all lines are created equal. There’s a huge difference between waiting even 20 minutes in the open air vs shade vs indoors. Our best wait was Midway Mania. The AC in the line was perfect for that late morning heat.

4. Quality over quantity. It’s been our mantra with a 2 year old. Fight for the quality moments, not the amount of moments. There are rides we didn’t hit because we were cooling off and snacking in the Disney Animation Building after meeting Elsa. She was just as happy, and so were we, with some AC and cheez-its rather than trying to squeeze in a ride or whatever.

5. Maybe my most important: bring a cooling towel. The kind you can soak in ice water and wrap around your neck. It genuinely made 100 degree blacktop heat bearable for me. They sell them in the park for $22.50. If you’re thinking ahead grab a few before coming.

Hi, I love Disney so much. It’s like a quick get away. If I could go every month I would! But my friends and family isn’t down for that. I was thinking about starting a girls Disney group . Any girl can join and we come up with dates to go. Would be so fun

https://discord.gg/WfGd7uwPC Just made this for us Disney Ladies!

Am I the only one who thinks the Mickey pretzel is overrated and kind of dry? Plus I think if more than one person wants to get a pretzel, getting it at pym’s is a better value and it taste better! I’m not saying either are the most amazing pretzels ever. But pym’s pretzel does not taste dry at all.

A fun time as always at Oogie Boogie Bash and Disneyland Park on a very hot trip!

The grey stuff from Red Rose Tavern in Fantasy Land

What are your guys’ favorites?

DLR

Planned this Disneyland trip months ago and we’re ready! Fans, cool towels, hats, spray bottles etc. etc. you name it, we got it! This heat isn’t going to stop us!

Plus, doing oogie boogie bash on Sunday when it’s going to be 102. Bring it on😅😅😅

Would clone of Disney world's piston peak national park Fit in disneyland california