Disneyland: Halloween and new attractions

 

Even with things that were hard about this trip, and us not being likely to go at Halloween again, I did still love the decorations.

There was lots to look at and fun options like doing a pumpkin scavenger hunt:

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/plutos-pumpkin-pursuit 

There were also some rides that were changed for the holiday. 

Two that I was able to try this year were Mater's Graveyard Jambooree and Luigi's Honkin Haul-o-ween, both in Cars Land.

In that case, in addition to the decorations, they change the music to something that is both Halloween and cars-themes, like a purple fender bender instead of a purple people-eater.

Decor may be best in Cars Land anyway.

As it is, I really wish that for Halloween the Haunted Mansion would stay the same, because it is perfect for that holiday and I am not a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

That being said, there were some changes that were amazing.

Well, consider it one ride overhaul and one completely new ride.

I only have pictures from the line, because in both rides they advised not having anything in your hands and I am a rule follower.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure is adorable, working in the changes between human and frog size and giving us lots and lots of Louis, as it should be.

I told my sisters that they better have Ray's grandmother with her walker, and they did.

Then Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway honored their history in the line, previewed where things were going with a cartoon feature that broke the fourth wall and allowed you to step through it, then kept being surprising and fresh.

When I was getting ready to go, I saw that there were going to be things related to The Emperor's New Groove and Big Hero 6, neither of which I had seen.

I watched them very close to when we left, so Big Hero 6 was pretty fresh in memory when we watched a feature about Walt Disney and saw interview footage with Bob Iger. I thought he looked a lot like Alistair Krei. Coincidence?

Regardless, while I have concerns about some of the things that happen corporate-wise and with the movies, and certainly pricing is going up, Disney parks are still really good at creating magical experiences.

COVID: This has all been said in the previous posts, but Halloween is pretty crowded. That is getting to be true for any time of year. 

For the specific rides, the Runaway Railway is indoors so I masked for that. Tiana's Bayou Adventure is partially in and outdoors. I just kept the mask on for that. The two Cars Land rides are both outdoors, but the lines can be pretty crowded and indoors for part of Luigi's line. 

Accessibility: Disney is pretty good about accommodating various needs on rides, but check the information on specific rides, link shown for Tiana's Bayou Adventure:

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/disneyland/tianas-bayou-adventure/ 

 

Don't go chasing Halloween foods

Yes, in my head that is playing to the tune of "Waterfalls" by TLC.

When we canceled the trip last year, part of the disappointment was that there had been Halloween foods that we were interested in trying. 

Both Knott's Berry Farm and Disney have special holiday foods that they publicize them with blogs and events that bloggers are invited to. (Not me, but that's okay.) 

Some of the items we were interested in were back. It wasn't the main point of the trip, but it was still exciting. This ended up being an area of great disappointment, for the most part.

Having looked over both menus and read feedback for two years now, some themes emerge.

Disney tends to alternate between adding fall flavors -- like pumpkin and apple -- or hot and spicy (like Loaded Buffalo Chicken Onion Rings).

They may also do some movie tie-ins. This year there were a lot of sippers and things related to The Emperor's New Groove.

At Knott's there seems to be more decor than flavoring, as well as a tendency to sometimes bring in unusual ingredients, like frog legs (which I have no picture of, because I was not going to order those).

Sometimes the disappointments were minor. For example, maybe a display photo of a fall salad looks great, but in the plastic takeout container it loses some of the luster and has too much kale.

Usually it was fine, but not something to make returning next Halloween essential.

The Disney food was generally better, but that has tended to be the case all along, including for their non-seasonal food.

The biggest disappointment was a float at Knott's that had Orange Fanta, Dole Whip, and candy corn.

It did not look like the photo, including not seeing any candy corn. Okay, fine. Those were more of a garnish and I still thought that the combination of Orange Fanta and Dole Whip would be good, only the Fanta tasted kind of off. It turns out that the candy corn were all in the bottom of the cup. I think them soaking in the Fanta is what caused the flavor to be off. 

The second biggest disappointment was dropping the Boo-nuelo in Downtown Disney.

The smaller, packaged-rather-than-fresh Spider Bunuelitos have greater structural integrity.

 Halloween can be lots of fun. 

Thematically appropriate food can be a part of that fun, but it is probably best not to focus on it or travel for it. That could leave you disappointed.

 

Just enjoy the ride.

COVID: The various parties and attractions do make it an extra busy time of year. Southern California weather means that a lot is still being done outside, but exercise caution.

Accessibility: The only way this really differs from the normal park information is that there may be different allergens, as well as that there will be more spicy foods around. There are enough different choices that it should not be a problem.

You can still see the Disney Halloween food blog, but the Knott's site has switched to Knott's Merry Farm.

https://disneyparksblog.com/dlr/disney-eats-disneyland-halloween-foodie-guide-2025/ 

Buena Park: Vampirates

Back in 2021 we visited both of the big dinner shows in Buena Park and found that we preferred the Pirates Dinner Adventure, with it being more fun (and not abusing animals).

Getting on their mailing list, we were excited to learn of the Vampirates show that they do in October. That would be sure to be fun, right?

It was another of those things that ended up being a little disappointing.

Granted, I was finding everything more disappointing, so it could have been me.

Mainly, though, I think it was that it turned darker.

That's completely logical: for victory over  vampirates, that would generally imply killing them. After all, vampires are evil, blood sucking creatures and pirates are criminals, so combining them should make them worse.

However, with the regular show, the pirates are fun, and at least toward the end are cooperating with the princess and the mermaid. So, there is room for some creative license.

Also, the rules for vampires were a little flexible. They did not need to be staked in the heart, burned, or beheaded; shooting and stabbing worked just fine. One character said he was born a vampirate, but one was turned and pirate was begging to be made a vampirate.

That seems like it would give some flexibility for a fun story, but things just went darker, with lots and lots of characters dying, though maybe some were coming back.

Pirate drama combined with rope work, games, and trampoline breaks can be cheesy, but there is still fun in it. This should have been more fun.

Instead, they seemed to be trying to be sexier, with pirates working the audience, especially the ladies.

It's still a family show and they still swear the children in as pirates... I felt like it didn't work.

The darkness extended to the house lighting, where it was much harder to see, as you may notice from the pictures.

Last time, despite enjoying the (regular) Pirates Dinner Adventure, I could see flaws, but also potential fixes for the flaws. This would be harder to fix.

COVID: Very close quarters and indoors. I did remove my mask to eat, but only for that. It was a risk.

Accessibility: About those close quarters, it felt like there was less space for maneuvering. I don't know if it is just that we were sitting in a different spot or they decided to expand the capacity. There should be more room in wheelchair specific seating, but if you are kind of stiff or awkward in regular seating, that could be an issue.

Also, it will be very dark. 

https://www.visitbuenapark.com/business/vampirates

https://piratesdinneradventure.com/