We visited on October 2, and luckily, it wasn’t too crowded and the weather was just right.  My son, dressed in his “most intimidating knight costume we were able to find on the internet” was of course, extremely excited to be there.

When we entered the park, we were handed some trick-or-treat bags and right away, Disney gets you into the ahem, spirit of things.  The giant sun wheel above the fountain had cool light projections on it, and it presided over a fun, DJ’d dance party.  Also entertaining were the whirling projections being cast on the ground, which all the kids were either sort of freaked out by, or jumping on.  There wasn’t really a whole lot of in-between. 

Treat stations were set up all over the park, and the lines for some were quite long, but the staff tried their best to keep the times down.  And to be sure, the candy and treats were first-rate.  Normally my son would sort of scoff at raisins as a Halloween treat, but they were packaged in some very cool Cars-themed boxes, so that made up for it.

It was great to see all the families dressed up in their costumes, many of them going as a theme.  There was a family of Incredibles, a father and son who were Woody and Buzz respectively, and even some caveparents with their kids as dinosaurs.  I really enjoyed seeing everyone being so happy and enthusiastic, seeing as how Halloween is pretty much my favorite holiday.

Even though the fireworks show is held in Disneyland, it’s still possible to see quite a bit of it from California Adventure if you’re in the right place.  Just as a heads up, some of the rides in the park are still being renovated.  But, the best one is of course operational, and that would be Toy Story Mania.

So, I recommend getting some advance tickets (save yourself some money!) and have a great time!

Now it’s time for Ed to say goodbye to all his family.
M-I-C See ya real soon!
K-E-Y Why? Because… uh… we like you.
M-O-U-S-E!

We knew the day would come eventually: Ed Grier has joined the ranks of Matt Ouimet, Cynthia Harris and Paul Pressler in the recent revolving-door Resort presidency. Happy retirement Ed!

I wonder who will replace him???

At least the formerly displaced Gallery will have a fancy permanent home again. And it’s opening just in time for Gay Days - think of all that expendable income!! Will you be stopping by the new version of the old gallery? Let us know what you think of it in the comments.

This is Disney at its best people. If you haven’t gotten out to the park to see it, then you’re really missing out!

Written by various employees and cast members, this is the new go-to place to find out what is going on at the Disney Parks.  And if that isn’t enough, they even have @DisneyParks Twitter account and the @DisneylandNews Twitter account to satisfy your Disney fix.

Hmmm, I’m guessing that Pittrollie will not become a subscriber…

Unless, of course, she decides to give Disneyland a shot and winds up actually liking it.

[Images courtesy of Wikipedia]

Our friends over at Mice Age recently reported on the EO woes and they seem certain that whether the Captain makes and appearance or not (and my bets are on not, kiddies), HITSA is on its way out! What will replace it? An import from Florida called Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (MILF – hahahahaha).

I’m not certain how many of you are aware of what MILF is all about but let me sum it up like this: an inexpensive overlay of a preexisting attraction that uses Turtle Talk technology to give a “live” animated performance of monster comedians trying to induce laughs to convert to monster-energy. OK, so it’s not the worst attraction concept in history but the execution is pretty awful. Having sampled the attraction in Florida I can tell you this much: replacing HISTA with MILF is redundant. The later wore out its welcome before it officially debuted. If tired, uninspired and sanitized jokes are your thing then maybe this is the attraction for you. But those who complain of HISTA’s dated material should expect more of the same from MILF. Its like replacing spring water with purified drinking water – essentially the substance – only cheaper.

Only time will tell the ultimate fate of HISTA. My opinion is this: Worry about HISTA later and focus on the People Mover for the next project. At least HISTA (no matter how old or dated) is in operation while the old People Mover track still sits there rotting in the California sun.

HalloweenTime starts on September 25th. See you there!

image courtesy sodahead.com

I’m sure many of you know my fellow Metblogger Jon has a bit of a thing for Disneyland … as I’m sure many of you do too. I’m now going to say two things that most of you need to be sitting down for – thank goodness that you’re on your computer, the odds are in my favor you’re not going to collapse from a standing position. However, you may want to hold onto your desk – One: I’ve NEVER been to Disneyland, Disney World or any other Disney owned theme park; Two: I don’t really like Mickey Mouse or any of his cohorts. I’m a Scooby Doo kinda girl.

To leave a comment or vote in the poll read on …

I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m telling you all what some might consider a deep, dark secret – I have a sneaky suspicion there a born and bred Southlanders out there who agree with me on both admissions. Let me explain why I’m opening myself up to the verbal flogging that is sure to come. It all began a couple of months ago when I met my fellow bloggers for the first time and they were having Disney discussions. I came clean because I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. They were all appalled and no one more so than Jon. We met-up again last week and Jon’s shock and persistence only intensified since our last meeting.

Jon has extraordinary enthusiasm for all things Disney and just wants to share that enthusiasm with a neophyte and naysayer, such as myself. His enthusiasm truly is extraordinary. Seriously, he actually bounced (BOUNCED!!!) at the thought of taking me to Disneyland.

If you’ve read my author bio or some of my other posts, you know I’m from Pittsburgh. “My” amusement park is Kennywood and of course I’ve been to other amusement parks, but I’ve just never had a desire to make the trek to Florida to go to Disney World* even when I’d hear my school friends talking about family trips they took, over Christmas break or Spring break (the K-12 kind, not the college kind) or summer vacation. I just always had the impression that Disney is trying to be the anti-amusement park, you know, all that goody-goody crap … no alcohol, no grit, perfectionism to the Nth degree, it’s “the happiest place on earth,” etc.

I’m not exactly sure why I have such an aversion to all things Disney. I think now, it’s more an attitude of “can I go my whole life without setting foot in a Disney theme park?” and just avoiding it ’cause everyone is telling me how great it is. It’s kind of like when someone says don’t look you automatically look or don’t read that it’s the first book you go out and read, you know heard mentality. So instead of going I steadfastly refuse to go. It might help that I don’t have kids, but that doesn’t stop many adults I know from going.

So, here’s my proposal to you, our readers, tell me why I should go to Disneyland and I’ll seriously consider allowing Jon to escort me around and we’ll blog about it of course. If you really want to convince me to go you have to prove your point, none of this generic crap like “it’s fun” or “everyone likes it” or “everyone has to go once” or anything even remotely pedestrian. Not only will I not go, I might even throw-up in my mouth a little bit. I should also warn you I’m pretty jaded and cynical, which I’m sure you’ve figured out by now. So please, if you want me to go convince me via the comments section.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

* When you live on the East Coast this is the Disney you go to. I guess because it’s you can drive to it. However, that fact is debatable. My family (sister, mom and dad) took one and only one trip to Florida via the car. Everyone was miserable. This is not a hard and fast rule either, of course I know people that would fly (or drive, god forbid) to California.

If you have never been to Gay Days, here’s a video that’s a pretty succinct representation of the event:

Alec Mapa will be at Wonderland (Friday, October 2, 2009, 9:30pm–1am, Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen at Downtown Disney) and Bruce Vilanch and Stacey Q will be performing at Kingdom (Saturday, October 3, 2009, 9pm–1:30am, House of Blues Anaheim at Downtown Disney).

Saturday is the main event (wear a red shirt)! There are several lunches happening at noon: a Family Lunch at River Belle, a Ladies Lunch at Rancho Del Zocalo, a Youth Lunch at the Festival Arena and my personal favorite, lunch with the Bears at Hungry Bear Restaurant. If you don’t know what a bear gathering at Disneyland looks like, then take a gander at this. I shit you not, it’s pretty much the whole event in a nutshell.

Will I see any of you there? Would Metblog readers like to unofficially gather on Saturday or Sunday (10/3 or 10/4) at the happiest place on earth? If you’re interested, leave some ideas in the comments and we’ll make it happen.