Mickey jack-o-lantern
There’s something very special
about Disneyland at night: all the rides and places you know so well, during
the day, suddenly become dark and mysterious after the sun goes down. Needless to
say, I love the park at night, especially when it’s all dressed-up for the
holidays.
Teacups ride at night
Last night, Tim and I went
to Mickey’s Halloween party—an
extra-ticket, after-hours event held at Disneyland most evenings in October.
The party is also the only time adult park-goers are allowed to wear costumes,
so most nights sellout quickly. We saw many princesses and Jack Sparrows, of
course; but also an unexpectedly beautiful Ursula, Ariel’s nemesis from The Little Mermaid, as well as quite a few terrific Mad Hatters, a la Johnny Depp in the 2010 Alice in Wonderland reboot.
Though we don’t do costumes, I did wear one of my Maleficent t-shirts, plus
horns/ears—no surprise: Maleficent is
my favorite villainess—while Tim wore his Disney “warm, crispy, crunchy”
churros t-shirt. We fit right in.
Me, in my Maleficent ears/horns,
in front of Mickey ghost
When we entered the park, we each
were given a shiny wristband to distinguish us from the hundreds of day
visitors, who were being gently pushed toward the exit via several checkpoints
throughout the park. Our first stop was the town square, where various Disney
villains and villainesses were posing for pictures with their fans. The
Maleficent line was too long—damn, you, Angelina Jolie!—but
we did pose with Star Wars
Storm-troopers in Tomorrowland. We enjoyed the 8:30PM Halloween parade down
Main Street and practically ran from the Indiana Jones ride to the park’s hub,
in order to catch the special fireworks show at 9:30PM.
Tim sneaked a couple of snaps
of Maleficent
Close-up
Although we had to pay—not
even “cast members,” like Tim, get into the party for free—we decided it was a
good deal because admission was limited, resulting in a lot less crowded park.
The wait to pose with Maleficent may have been impossibly long, but the lines
to get onto our favorite rides were relatively short. We had a great time.
Main Street train station covered in cobwebs
"Small World" exterior
With storm-troopers
