Halloween Time Returns Sept. 17 as Disney Villains Transform Disneyland Resort for the Season

Halloween Time Returns Sept. 17 as Disney Villains Transform Disneyland Resort for the Season

Disney villains will invade Disneyland park along with Mickey Mouse and his friends in Halloween costumes when Halloween Time returns to Disneyland Resort Sept. 17 through Oct. 31.  Highlights of the Disneyland Halloween season include the return of Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy – the thrillingly “haunted” version of the popular Tomorrowland attraction – and the longtime favorite Haunted Mansion Holiday, in which Halloween and Christmas collide for an attraction inspired by “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.” Guests will also enjoy the new, nighttime water spectacular “World of Color,” performing nightly at Disney California Adventure park.

Halloween Time offers families a chance to enjoy seasonal attractions and decor, as well as interact with beloved Disney characters decked out in whimsical Halloween costumes.  Guests will also experience spooky fun with Disney’s more sinister characters, the Disney Villains. In addition, the private-party celebration that has been so popular with guests will return for 10 special nights in October as Mickey’s Halloween Party.

Moving to Disneyland this year with a new name, Mickey’s Halloween Party is the separate-ticket event that invites adults and children to dress up in costume and trick-or-treat at the resort. This nighttime celebration is scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays in October (1, 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26 and 29) plus Halloween night itself, Sunday, Oct. 31.  Highlights include:

  • Trick or Treating in the ultimate Disney neighborhood, with even more treats along “Mickey’s Hide-and-Go-Treat Trails”
  • New dance parties – at Tomorrowland Terrace and the French Market
  • The “Halloween Screams” fireworks spectacular, hosted by “Master of Scare-omonies” Jack Skellington (presented exclusively for guests of Mickey’s Halloween Party)
  • New surprises in “Mickey’s Costume Party” cavalcade, performed twice nightly
  • Character photo locations featuring Mickey and his pals, princesses and other favorites
  • The opportunity to arrive three hours before the party starts to play in Disneyland
  • Nearly all the favorite Disneyland rides and attractions

Tickets purchased in advance for Mickey’s Halloween Party are $49 most days, while tickets purchased on the event days are $54.  For Oct. 31, all tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party are $59.

Favorite Disney characters, including Mickey himself, will dress up in their favorite costumes.  It’s the ideal environment to have fun, eat special holiday treats, play interactive games, listen to “spirited” music and watch a nightly character cavalcade that celebrates the season.

For Halloween fun at Disneyland, guests will enjoy Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy in Tomorrowland.  The experience begins as a typical Space Mountain adventure, but suddenly launches voyagers into a haunted section of the universe.  Ghosts appear out of the starry darkness and swirling galaxies of Space Mountain, reaching out as if to grab guests as they speed through space.  The exhilarating drops and curves of the journey are punctuated by piercing screams, creepy sound effects and haunting music.

Jack Skellington also returns to take over the Haunted Mansion and bring back Haunted Mansion Holiday to New Orleans Square in Disneyland.  Transformed to a mix of Halloween spookiness and Christmas tradition, Haunted Mansion Holiday is inspired by the classic animated film “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.”  Jack and his friends provide plenty of havoc and surprises as they celebrate the holidays in their unusual style.  Jack’s return to the Haunted Mansion includes the traditional Halloween/Christmas gingerbread house in the Mansion Ballroom, with some special spooky surprises in this year’s design.

Halloween Time offers frightfully delightful fun for children and adults.

  • For spine-tingling fun, drop in at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney California Adventure park, where a “supernatural” event happened on Halloween evening, 1939, forever haunting the building.
  • Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland is transformed for the Pumpkin Festival. More than 300 pumpkins will be on display in shop windows and none of them are the same!
  • Visitors to Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland will find ranch animals, pumpkin carvers, Halloween decor and activities for youngsters, all presided over by Sheriff Woody.
  • Meeting Disney characters will be easier than ever as Disney villains gather to plot Halloween mischief at “it’s a small world” Mall in Disneyland, while other characters in spooky attire greet guests in Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A.
  • Rancho del Zocalo in Frontierland will honor Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead with traditional skeleton figures on display Sept. 19 through Nov. 2.
  • Special Halloween treats will be available in Disneyland, including menu items such as Zero’s Ghostly Ghoulash, served in a dog dish in honor of Zero.
  • Halloween Time gifts are offered in Disneyland Resort shops.  Gifts include jack-o-lantern mouse ears and collectable pins depicting Mickey Mouse and his friends in Halloween costumes.

For more information about Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort, see www.disneyland.com/halloween.  This site will be updated with frightfully fun details.


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The Best Things I Love About Disney Is… The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The Best Things I Love About Disney Is… The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

There are three things that are important to me on a Disney attraction, 1-Theme, 2-Back Story, and 3-the WOW! factor of the Ride itself. Most of the ride attractions at Walt Disney World have at least one or two of these and many have all three but one embodies all of them better than any of the others – The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

From the time you enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios the sheer size and scope of the attraction grab you and draw you in. As you walk down Sunset Boulevard it just becomes more and more imposing. It just gets better as you enter the grounds of the attraction with the landscaping, nooks, little statues and the weathered look of everything there. The lobby is spectacular in its shabbiness and dustiness, and the little details (many from old Twilight Zone episodes) are extraordinary. You get a little uneasy as you enter the basement area, particularly when you see the rickety old generator shooting sparks and realize that’s what powers your elevator (not really). Then there’s Rod Serling’s briefing (where you learn the back story) and your “friendly” elevator operator. Fun fact – if your operator has Gold Epaulets on his/her, costume he/she is an original cast member there since the attraction’s opening day.

The ride itself is a real WOW! and I won’t ruin here for you. I’ll just say it’s fun, surprising, and just a little bit intense. Have a great ride.

Ken


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The Screams of Summer is coming at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The Screams of Summer is coming at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

THE SCREAMS OF SUMMER: From June 6 to August 14 the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios will bring more thrills to those who dare to enter.

From June 6 to August 14 the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios will bring more thrills to those who dare to enter. A chilling new drop sequence was created especially for Summer Nightastic! at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The after dark, three-park program includes with a megawatt parade, a fireworks extravaganza, a rockin’ dance party, concerts and more.


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Jury rules for Disney in Tower of Terror stroke case

Jury rules for Disney in Tower of Terror stroke case

An Orange County jury decided Monday that there was nothing unsafe about Walt Disney World‘s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride, ending a lawsuit brought by a Philadelphia man who said it caused his stroke in 1998.

Concluding a three-week trial in Orange County Circuit Court, the three-woman, three-man jury deliberated about three hours Monday before agreeing with the Walt Disney World Co. that the ride is not dangerous and that Disney was not negligent in providing it as an attraction.

The verdict ends a rare legal challenge. The case is the first in more than six years in which a jury got to hear complaints alleging safety problems on a Central Florida theme-park ride. Many other ride-related suits were filed during that period, but so far all those that have been resolved were either settled or dismissed before reaching trial.

Marvin Cohen, now 80, filed his suit in 2002, saying he had no idea that the Tower of Terror was a high-speed thrill ride when he boarded it in 1998 with members of his family, including a granddaughter. He said one of the sudden drops might have caused his head and neck to move in such a way that he suffered a tear in an artery leading to his brain, and that led to a debilitating stroke a few weeks later.

Click here to keep reading.

Photo Credit RICARDO RAMIREZ BUXEDA/ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE


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