Disney Sunday- Mickey’s Trick or Treat Party at Disney’s California Adventure




I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. In this week’s Disney Sunday Post – I wanted to write about Mickey’s Trick or Treat Party at Disney’s California Adventure.

This October, Disney’s California Adventure will hold it’s fifth year of Mickey’s Trick or Treat party, a special ticketed event. The park adds additional decoration, special entertainment and trick or treat stations throughout DCA as it closes the park to the general public.

In the Sun Plaza, there is a giant candy corn and a DJ playing music that you can dance to and several other dance party stations. We have had the opportunity to attend almost every year and have had a blast. One of my favorite parts of Mickey’s Trick or Treat Party is that there are several character greet and meet photo locations throughout the park. Our daughter’s dream came true last year as she was able to meet Cinderella, who took her hand, posed with her and walked around a bit of the park with her. Needless to say it made her night and she was thrilled.

Be prepared for a couple of bagfuls of candy. You are given a bag at the entrance of the park and you will easy fill it up. My kids love trick or treating and this was definitely the highlight for them. Of course the fact that the park limits the amount of guests and it is closed down to the general public doesn’t hurt to the appeal. It’s my favorite part of the evening. Here is a tip -if you can, make sure to buy tickets for a weeknight. I’ve gone on both a weekend and a weeknight and we had a better experience on the weeknight. There are less crowds and the party has more of an exclusive feel to it.

This event invariably sells out every single year. Tickets go on sale in the beginning of summer and are usually sold out by the end of September. It is an amazing event for the kiddos. Kiddos and adults are encouraged to wear their Halloween costume to the park. I love it because it allows the kiddos to wear their costume on more than one night. It runs for four hours either from 6:30 to 10:30 or 7:30 to 11:30 PM depending on the night of the week.

If you have never had the opportunity to attend Mickey’s Trick or Treat Party, make this the year. Your kiddos are going to love it!

Ticket Prices and Event Dates*

Advance purchase by Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club Members and Disney Visa card holders for selected dates: $26.00

Annual Passholder/DVC/Disney Visa discount is available for the following dates: October 2, 8, 15, 21, 22, 28

Advanced Purchase Ticket Prices
$32 Regular Admission Price for These Dates — October 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29

Day-of-Event Ticket Prices
$39 If Purchased and Used on These Dates — October 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29
$42 If Purchased and Used on These Dates — October 30 and 31

Ages Two and Under: No Charge

For additional information head over here

Disney Sunday – Part 2- Parking at the Happiest Place on Earth

I spent the entire day at both parks yesterday(and a few evenings last week) and it inspired a couple of posts. I hope you don’t mind two Disney posts in one week.

I love going to Disneyland and DCA, as you have probably figured out. The one thing that I do not like is having to deal with parking. I usually don’t mind parking in the Mickey and Friends parking lot(the big structure) unless it is a busy day. On busy days parking and then riding the tram to the entrance of the resort can feel like a bad nightmare. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people almost scuffle over their place in the “stroller line”.

The stroller line is found on the very first car of the tram and the very last car. It allows you to ride without having to fold your stroller. It is very popular and the wait for a spot in the first or last car is usually long. In fact the wait on a busy days for a tram can take a long long time. It is definitely not what you want to be doing when you have tired and cranky kids and have to be around other cranky people. It’s just not a good combination.

Here are a couple of alternatives to parking in the Mickey and Friends parking lot and taking the tram.

My favorite option for parking on nights when I know that I will be spending less than 3 hours is to park in Downtown Disney. If I’m heading over for the evening- I will usually park in the Downtown Disney lot. Parking is free for the first 3 hours. When I park in the DD parking lot I either take the monorail to Disneyland or walk through the Grand Californian Hotel to the DCA hotel entrance. It’s easy, painless and only a short walk.

My second option would be to park in the Mickey and Friends parking structure. Take the tram in but on the way out, only have the driver in your party head on the tram(they will usually be able to squeeze right on to a tram). The rest of the party will head over to the 15 minute parking on Harbor blvd(just follow the walkway to Harbor Blvd- it’s the parking lot on the right hand side) and be picked up from there. This is what we usually do on a busy day.

The last option is to park in the Mickey and Friends parking structure. Take the tram on your way in and at the end of the night, walk the path back to the structure. It’s a nice walk and on a busy night you will get to your car faster walking, then waiting and loading for the tram.

Disney Sunday Part 1 – Disney’s Electrical Parade



Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic Sunday with plenty of fun and relaxation. For this week’s installment of Disney Sunday I wanted to write about my favorite parade – Disney’s Electrical Parade in Disney’s California Adventure.

The parade is back this summer big and better than ever. Among the new surprises is the new lead float featuring Tinkerbell. She sprinkles her pixie dust along the parade path and it can be seen sparkling along the sides of many of the floats.


Another fabulous feature is the return of the Pinocchio floats and the Seven Dwarf’s mine float. Both of these went MIA after the parade’s visit to Tokyo Disneyland. If you are a fan of the Parade you will also notice that the music has a new layer on the background and I think it’s better than ever.


We found some terrific seats just outside the Golden Vine Winery facing the Fisherman’s Wharf area, just 30 minutes before showtime. I’ve usually caught it at the entrance of California Adventure and it usually one of the busiest locations to catch a glimpse. If you head further down the parade route there are plenty of seats and in my opinion a better view.

We sat down and waited for a few minutes for the parade and as we waited you could feel the anticipation and excitement in the crowd. There is nothing quite like experiencing the parade up close with the kiddos. My family loved every single minute of it.

I want to hear from you. Do you love the parade? If you do what is your favorite part of it? Where do you usually sit? Would you love to see it return to Disneyland?

The parade is running nightly through August 23, 2009. It’s the perfect excuse to head over to California Adventure. It then will go on a hiatus for a time. Rumor has it that it could wind up back at Disneyland next year as part of the 55th park anniversary. We’ll have to wait and see.