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We've never been to DL before and I'm considering going in October instead of going all the way to FL. Can anyone shed some light on how the crowds are in October? It would be around the 3rd week. Do they do the Not-So-Scary party here like they do at the MK in FL? Any helpful advice is very much welcome!
That is a nice time to go. A little busy, but not unmanageable. Have to go to Haunted Mansion Holiday early and get fastpasses early for it. I love the holiday decorations. There was pumpkin carving at Big Thunder Ranch. They have CM's carving pumpkins to resemble Disney characters.
There is also Mickey's Trick or Treat Party on select nights. Last year it took place at Disneyland. Prior to that it was at DCA. Haven't been in a few years, but it was a lot of fun.
October is definitley a nice time to go, tee shirts during the day and hoodie at night. We went to Mickey's Trick or Treat party last 2 years and had a ball, especially last year when it switched to Disneyland side. They have upgraded to candy to name brand items. Its a hard ticket event, but you can enter the park as early as 3pm and includes free parking.
Here's a little hint;
arrive early and hit a few rides. As soon as the party starts, go candy hunting, the first hour is managable. After the first hour enjoy the park for a while, most rides are walk-on and on Splash, my son and I rode it 3 times without ever getting off the ride, cuz no one was waiting to get on. kool.
The last hour of the party is where you score. Whatever candy or healthy treats the CM's don't hand out has to be hauled back to the warehouse. Needless to say the CM's want to get off duty ASAP, so near the end of the party the are handing out candy with two fists, trying to get rid of it all, for the night. We had candy for 2 months after.
I think it is a great time to go. The paid Halloween event has kept the crowds to a somewhat normal level. The entertainment, especially the Halloween fireworks show is worth seeing, if you've never seen it before.You will only see the Halloween fireworks show on one of the party nights.
I think it's a great time to go. The weather is usually really nice (warm during the day, but nice and cool in the mornings and at night). Crowds tend to be large on weekends, but during the week, it's not bad at all. They do a great job decorating for Halloween and there are all kinds of fun things to see/do over at Big Thunder Ranch (petting zoo, carved pumpkins, arts and crafts, etc.)
The Halloween party seems like a lot of fun, although I've never personally attended. It starts late, and my kids are still little and go to bed early. I do know that you can ONLY see the special Halloween fireworks if you pay for the party. They used to show those fireworks as part of the normal in park entertainment, but last year, they made them ONLY on the nights of the party.
The only negative about that time of year, IMO, is the really early closing times of the parks. DCA is usually shut down by 6pm (8pm on World of Color nights), DL is usually only open until 8 or 9pm, and closes at 7pm on the nights of the party. But, if you get going early in the morning, it's still plenty of time to accomplish everything.
we went on a sunday and monday the week prior to halloween in 2009, and crowds were moderate. definitely less than a summer trip or peak winter trip, more than there would be in, say, february. less kids for sure. we had a great time, the weather was nice and sunny during the day, and not too cold at night. the closing times for us were not that early as mentioned above, DCA closed at 9, and MK was like 11. it was a nice couple relaxing days, and the Halloween decorations are GREAT! Candy Corn acres was great (but don't know how that will be affected with the construction in CA). And the Haunted mansion is haunted holiday, and SM is ghost galaxy, and TOT is done up a little more haunted too. THE FIREWORKS SHOW MADE THE WHOLE TRIP WORTH IT!!!!! it is by far the BEST FW show in DL. make sure you go on a night it is showing.
Weekend park hours are always later. I was referring to the hours you'd get during the week days (Mon-Thurs). Typically, DL's Saturday hours (year round) are 8am-12am.
We visited during the week for 3 nights in October two years ago. Parks were closed by 7pm every night, DCA was closed by 5pm! It was fine with us, as 7pm was our kid's bedtime at that point.