To celebrate the Halloween season this year, I decided to take one of my best girlfriends to Disneyland to not only celebrate her birthday but also to check out Mickey’s Halloween Party. I had never been to Disneyland before for this Halloween event but I had always wanted to go so it was the perfect opportunity.

Though the tickets were kind of pricey, especially because I bought them last minute online because the tickets were sold out at the park, I definitely feel like it was worth the the hour and a half drive from San Diego to Anaheim. What I loved about the whole experience was that the whole park was decked out in Halloween decor and everyone was able to dress up. My friend and I threw on some last minute self-made costumes and she was a black cat and I was Minnie Mouse. I also enjoyed the fact that adults and children alike were able to partake in the Halloween festivities and go trick-or-treating. When trick-or-treating, I highly suggest bringing your own bag because the small bag that Disneyland provides you with will get filled quite quickly. For this trip, I actually ended up purchasing a cute Minnie Mouse tote bag at one of the stores and it was practically filled by the end of the night with tons of yummy goodies.I definitely had enough candy to not only bring to my students at work the next day on Halloween but also to pass out to trick-or-treaters later on that night.

Most of the candy given out were of the chocolate variety such as Twix, Reeses, Snickers, and M&Ms as you can see below. However, they did offer healthier options such as apples, carrots, Cliff bars as well as more savory snacks such as pretzels and Pirate’s Booty.

Besides the trick-or-treating and the Halloween decor that make coming to the park for the event a perk, another thing that I enjoyed was the fact that there were literally no lines for any of the rides. My friend and I were able to hop on rides such as Indiana Jones, Rodger Rabbit, and Pirates of the Caribbean in less than five minutes.

Other highlights of the experience included the Jack Skellington’s Nightmare Before Christmas take over of the Haunted Mansion, meet-and-greets with tons of Disney characters, the Halloween themed parade and fireworks show, and mainly just the Halloween themed goodies you can get on Main Street.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my all-time favorite movies so I always love it when I go to the park during the holidays because I love the the Jack Skellington take over of the Haunted Mansion.

The Halloween-themed fireworks show was spectacular and you could basically see them light up the sky from anywhere in the park. My friend and I were closer to New Orleans Square during the fireworks show and we  were still able to catch most of the show. However, I highly recommend watching them from Main Street. as the music and visual effects that are synced with the show can be heard and seen better from that side of the park.

One of my favorite things to get whenever I get the chance to go to Disneyland are caramel apples. I never leave the park without one and this time I was able to get a Dia de Los Muertos Mickey apple.

If I could do this trip again, I would highly suggest purchasing tickets in advance. Tickets for this event usually range from 70-90 dollars but I ended paying almost for 150 dollars for each ticket because I purchased them last minute. In addition, even though the tickets say that then event starts at 6 pm or 7 pm, Disneyland usually lets individuals who purchased tickets for this event to enter the park around 3 pm or 4 pm so try to arrive around two to three hours earlier than what your tickets state.

I look forward to attending this event again hopefully next year and I highly recommend this event to anyone who loves Disneyland and would like to avoid the long lines that are usually associated with a typical Disneyland trip. Until next year!

For more information about Mickey’s Halloween Party check out: Mickey’s Halloween Party