Are you ready for Christmas?

What are your holiday plans?

I cannot remember the last time I was at Disneyland during Christmas.  But I think it may be the only time I go in the future.

It was amazing, magical and full of holiday cheer.  The entire Haunted Mansion is redone in Nightmare Before Christmas attire.  The parade and firework show is the best ever.

AND at the end of the fireworks show….IT SNOWS!  As soon as the lights come back it snows.  So fantastic.

Have you been?

My family and I were lucky enough to be invited guests to Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party being held on select nights this October at California Adventure.

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???

The all-new Disney Gallery is set to re-open Friday inside the old Bank of Main Street next to Great Moments WIth Mr. Lincoln. The Gallery used to be located above the Pirates of the Caribbean ride until it was closed for conversion to the Disneyland Dream Suite. Now it’s finally back!

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.

If you want some spooky spoilers, here’s a nice video of Disneyland’s Halloween Screams Fireworks!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlb_iPg1g7Q[/youtube]

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!

Then the new Disney Parks blog is for you.

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.

With the fate of Captain EO still uncertain, only one thing is for sure (and by “for sure” I mean probably), Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (HISTA) is getting ready for its final bow.

[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.

Have you seen the newest advertisement for HalloweenTime at the Disneyland Resort? We so often see the happier characters in these ads, this time the villains get to shine.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFSKqol2_g8[/youtube]

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 …

(more…)