Disneyland and California Adventure is notorious for its year round celebrations of the holidays. During the holiday season, the parks are redesigned with seasonal decorations that welcome the coming seasons. With the start of fall, the parks have been decked out with fun halloween decorations, setting the scene for multiple events based on welcoming the Halloween season.
This fall, Disneyland added several new fall decorations to the existing ones, including the new pumpkin Mickey design in the front of Disneyland. Disneyland is covered with a focus on fall colors, such as orange, yellow and red, including orange lights and orange banners on light posts. When entering the park itself, you are welcomed with the characters dressed in pumpkin costumes on the gate entry way.
On the other hand, the California Adventure park is focused on designing the park with a Halloween theme. The park has Halloween characters, like Oogie Boogie and decorate the buildings as well. The different lands within California Adventure, such as Cars Land, are decorated with spooky Halloween lights, and the Cars characters are outfitted in Halloween costumes.
“California adventure was much more halloween themed, cars land was probably the coolest because the entire area was different.” Said senior Lucy Livingston, who visited the park over fall break.
The park also hosts the Oogie Boogie Bash, a Halloween centered event where villain characters like Maleficent, Cruela, Evil Queen and others, have their time to shine. This is a very popular event at the park, which shows the excitement of the new season being shown in California Adventure, often selling out of tickets.
“They have trick or treat trails you walk through and they have the villain characters you can meet along the trails.” Said NDB business office worker, Jessica Lee, who also recently visited Disney and attended the Oogie Boogie Bash.
New foods and special drinks are also offered during the different seasons in both parks. Majority of the sweets are pumpkin flavored, however, they also have spooky themed treats, cookies and drinks. My favorite treat at the Disneyland park is a Pumpkin Cheesecake Cold Brew which is only offered during the fall season.
Along with the Halloween theme in the California Adventure park, they also celebrate the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, with the Plaza de la Familia. A separate area which is decorated with Dia de Los Muertos traditions fill the area with color and beauty. The area is decorated based on the movie Coco with Coco characters around the area as well as themed activities.
My favorite aspect of the Halloween season in Disneyland is the redesign of the popular ride Haunted Mansion. The ride is based off of the classic Disney movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas, making the ride more busy during the fall season. Outside of the mansion is decked in Halloween decor, as well as Christmas lights with characters from the movie and decorations, which make you feel as if you are stepping right into the movie. The inside of the mansion was completely redone with The Nightmare Before Christmas theme, this ride is extra special to experience during the Halloween season.
Going to Disneyland during Halloween is definitely worth the visit, you are able to experience the excitement of the holiday season with exciting decorations, fun rides and delicious treats to try. The joy the “happiest place on earth” brings is only heightened with the seasonal decorations!
