Review: 1st Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland

On Friday night, my brother and I set out to enjoy the 1st Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland.  Here’s how our night went and some tips that might help you.

Wristband pick up.

You have two options in obtaining your wristbands.  If you are already in the park, you can get your band at the entrance to Frontierland.  We arrived a few minutes past 4 pm and waited about 20 minutes.  The line started next to Westward Ho and went to the hub and then back to the same area to pick up the wristband.  You are given a trick or treat bag and map as well.  EACH person MUST be present, they will not hand you a wristband to give to someone else.

For those outside the park at 4pm, you may pick up those items with your wristband at the Main Gates.

The pre-party in Toontown continues its annual tradition and the line wasn’t allowed to form until 5pm.  Toontown will open ONE hour before the official party start time and remain open for TWO hours.  There’s trick or treating, a couple of rides and Disney characters in Halloween Costumes.  Line up exactly 5pm if meeting characters is important to you.  I was surprised how many were lining up just to get candy.

Here’s the ginormous line at 5:30pm.  It stretches all the way back to it’s a small world and it’s doulbe line.

Many characters appeared in the same costumes as they did in 2015.  Mickey and Minnie were Zorro and Candy Cane, Donald was a Sorcerer, Goofy was a Candyman and Pluto had his vampire collar.  Mickey and Minnie took the City Hall meet first, then switched with Chip n Dale.  The line was about 30 to 45 minutes once it had formed.

We were first for Mickey and Minnie, then first to meet Goofy as well.

Goofy alternated with Pluto.

There was a short wait for Donald, so we quickly got in line for him as well.

We immediately got back in line to meet Chip n Dale.  They were dressed as sailors this year.  They were Cop and Robber last year.

Daisy had a different costume than she wore last year and she alternated with Donald, so we met her as well.

They had these scarecrow with pumpkin on their heads guys next to a sign and people waited 10 to 15 minutes to meet them.

There were 2 candy lines, but we chose to skip them as they were long and we could get candy later and not carry it around 5 more hours.  I do love how Disneyland continues to do them as TRAILS, so there is usually 3 to 5 candy stops on each little trail.  You can fill your bag much quicker here than WDW.

We made our way to Town Square to check on the Villains meets and Mickey and Minnie would do their regular meet in Town Square as well.

REALLY bad news for 2016.  Most villains meets have been eliminated.  Last year you could meet 8 or 10 villains in Town Square, this year the total is FOUR.  Cruella alternated on one side of the Railroad Station with Queen of Hearts (Left side when facing the station) and Maleficent and The Queen alternated on the Right side facing.   Maleficent is the only rare one, you can meet The Queen and Cruella most days in Disneyland and Queen of Hearts is out daytime during Halloweentime.  Villains and Mickey and Minnie didn’t begin until at least 7:45pm and took breaks for parades and fireworks.

Other villains you can meet during the day include Gaston, Jafar, Jack Skellington, Dr. Facilier, Capt. Hook and Kylo Ren.  I haven’t seen Frollo out, but it’s possible you might find him in Fantasyland too.

The scarecrow entertainers continue in Frontierland and Ranch del Zocalo.

Jessie was alternating with Woody at the Petrified Tree.  I didn’t see Bullseye, but may have just missed him.  I’ll check again Monday.  Woody is out here every day and both of them meet in DCA too.

We made our way to Rancho del Zocalo with the goal to meet Goofy.  We were told we could only enter the meet and greet by doing the trick or treat trail.  Okay, we’ll grab some sugar, popcorn and chips fo for energy.

The characters only had about a 10 minute line and they alternated about every 15 minutes.  We saw Chip n Dale, Donald, Pluto and Goofy in their pirate costumes.  

Goofy was a few minutes late from what the Cast Member was able to find, but it was worth waiting around for my favorite character growing up in full pirate garb!

The Cast Member loved my TOURIST costume.

From there we enjoyed the Cadaver Dans on the River.  We weren’t sure if they would continue to peform on the raft on the river with it closed for construction, but they did and it was great as always.

One of my other main goals was to get a photo of Winnie the Pooh in his Bumble Bee costume.  Hey, there’s another treat trail on the way.  We went through 2 of these on the way to the meet :0

There are allergy alternatives and healthy stuff like apples, carrots and health bar things.  We liked the new Yoo Hoo bars.

When we arrived it was Tigger and Pooh meeting, but they left and Eeyore came out.

Tigger was only a little behind after getting some hunny.  Isn’t he adorable.  I nicknamed my oldest child “Pooh Bear” when she was a baby.  I should get her this costume, with some pants!

We headed back to Town Square because I wanted a photo with Mickey and Minnie and the parade was passing down Main Street.  The best locations for the new Frightfully Fun parade were taken about an hour before the first parade and 30 minutes before the 2nd, but you could squeeze in somewhere shortly before, if it doesn’t matter if you are on the front row.  You might get the evil eye if you try to move to the front though!Mickey and Minnie were meeting on the Town Square side of the Giant Mickey pumpkin.  If you are in Town Square and you are looking at the Castle, the line formed to the LEFT.  The line wasn’t very long, but it took over 30 minutes and I caught them right before the first fireworks blast went off.

The headless horseman is new to Disneyland.  He walked very slowly up the street.  A NOTE for the parade.  The FIRST parade began at it’s a small world gate and the SECOND parade began in Town Square!  The HH came out of the gate about 5 minutes early.

The all new parade features new floats, dancers and Disney villains.  You won’t find Disney characters in costumes like you do in Walt Disney World’s Boo to You parade.  It’s much shorter too.

Bat inspired dancers follow the first sign float.

Then these odd looking vampire things follow along.

More dancers

The Mayor of Halloweentown then follows in his special car.

Jack Skellington and Sally follow behind on their float.

After the Halloweentown floats are the Ballroom dancers and the Haunted Mansion float.

He’s pointing to let you know where you can see him, but you can’t see him from mid-September through early January as Oogie Boogie kicked him out.

Following them are the graveyard gang.  There’s no bloodhound in this parade.

Grave diggers are more western inspired.  That would work really well in Paris, but Haunted Mansion is in New Orleans Square here?  Oh, well, at least they scrape the ground occasionally.

Dr. Facilier then brings out some friends from the other side.

Facilier has his own float with tarot cards and tiki type faces.

He’s really happy because he only has to do meet and greets during the daytime.

Queen of Hearts, Gov. Ratcliffe and Capt. Hook were the only characters that walk the parade route.

The villains float is very detailed and very impressive.  It has the Tremaine family, Hades, Frollo, Jafar, The Queen and Cruella on it intimidating party guests.

Lady T smiles for the camera.

I loved this photo.   I liked how the smoke rose in front of the Queen.

Stop brooding about smoke Pirate and finish this post!

Judge Claude Frollo rode the float.  You’ll see him on one side and…

Jafar on the other side.

Cruella was really happy to conclude the parade from the rear of the float.My thoughts:

The price went up.  This first party was sold out at $89 per ticket.  Every Friday and Halloween night sold out quickly as they always do.  They added a nice parade, that hopefully will improve with time.  It’s not Boo-to-You quality, but it’s far better than the old Cavalcade they once offered.  The candy is abundant and easy to get.  BUT they cut the best part of this party, only FOUR villains available for meets takes away from what guests really want.  I recommend meeting Maleficent after the 2nd parade and use your early time to focus on characters you want to see.

I’ll write up another post for you after visiting on Monday with additional details and photos.