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/