9 Must Do Reason to Visit Disneyland During the Fall

October 8, 2016InACents Leave a comment

What is your favorite time to visit Disneyland? As Disney theme park fans, we have done our share of visits to Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California. However, we love the little things about Disneyland that make it our favorite of the parks. Having seen Disneyland during the regular season and Christmas season, we recently visited the park to experience Halloween and the Mickey’s Not So Scary party for the first time, and boy were we glad we did, as we quickly learned 9 must do reason to visit Disneyland during the fall.

1) Decorations

Not only does the park have family friendly, non-gory decorations throughout the park, but they also have decorations that are put out just on nights of the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

2) Creative Treats

As foodies, our family really enjoys the food experience at Disney parks, and get excited to see special menu options available only during the fall season.

3) Exclusive Rides

Our favorite reason for visiting Disneyland in the fall/winter is because of the Haunted Mansion overlay with a Nightmare Before Christmas. The Haunted Mansion is already some of our favorite dark ride; however, the whole experience is reinvented during the holidays with the AMAZING Nightmare overlay. It is so well done, it is well worth a second, or third ride.

You also will not find this overlay experience at Disney World, making it a must do fall event at Disneyland.

4) Exclusive Merchandise

Disney does a lot of things right, and they also create amazing merchandising that makes you want to spend more money. We picked up this exclusive poison apple drink cup, which goes perfect at home on our scary fireplace mantel.

5) The Unexpected

Down the road at Knott’s Berry Farm, they are famous for their Haunt event featuring the fog. We were quite happy to see Disneyland creatively uses fog throughout Rivers of America to create an immersive environment.

6) Halloween Overlays

At first thought, the idea of projection mapping onto buildings sounds like a cheap way of decorating. However, like many things at Disney Parks, they did a good job overlaying the Sleeping Beauty Castle, It’s a Small World exterior, and even Main Street with Halloween scenes that were tied to music and helped bring an additional level of impressiveness to the event.

7) Halloween Parade

In the everyday world, we are not ones to always enjoy a parade. However, at Disney Parks, it is always a must do! The floats, the music, the cast members are always so well done. Plus, that moment a character takes a second out of their day to look your child in the eye, smile, and wave, it is a magical experience.

8) Special Characters

Speaking of Characters doing terrific things, the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is a great time to meet some of the rarer characters from the Disney playbook. We even ran into a great scarecrow that loved interacting with guests.

9) Candy

What is Halloween without some trick-or-treating? Disney does candy like your wildest imagination. Throughout the parks are TONS of snack stops. Everyone, including parents, can fill their bags to the limit with great candy, chips, and healthy snacks like baby carrots and sliced apples.

Summary of 9 Must Do Reason to Visit Disneyland During the Fall

We can not say enough how much we enjoy Disneyland during the fall. It was great seeing not only characters, but also guests dress up in their favorite costumes. It was great seeing all the decorations and getting to see some of our favorite rides. It was great trying some of the exciting Halloween treats and being in a fun, family friendly Halloween environment.

We would absolutely return again in the future.

141127 Disneyland Matterhorn What Do You Get

What Do You Get for the Money at Disney?

December 15, 2014InACents 1 Comment

It is no denying that a trip to Disney costs a lot of money. Expensive rooms, high priced food, transportation to get there and home, and tickets add to one heck of a bill. However, what do you really get for the money?

With tickets costing roughly $100 per person just to walk through the gates of the iconic Disneyland or Disney World, the price quickly adds up for a family, but that money goes a long way.

A trip to Disney is all about the experience, whether it be letting your inner kid shine, or seeing the parks magic through the eyes of your children. Sure there are rides, and attractions, and parades that all factor into your day, but it all would not be possible without the help from people.

Disney castmembers are what lead to making memorable moments. So lets dissect what that $100 per person gets you.

Just think of how many people it takes to make your Disney experience memorable. From the ticket people to the parade entertainers. Your money goes to pay a LOT of people.

On our visit on Thanksgiving to Disneyland, our oldest son LOVED the Star Wars/Star Tours ride. None of us had ever rode Star Tours prior, nor had our sons seen any of the movies. So it was quite mesmerizing to see how our oldest fell in love with the characters and theme.

In addition to wanting to keep riding the attraction, since it was a different experience each time, he wanted to bring home as a souvenir the Star Wars figures.

So towards the end of our day, we proceeded to purchase our figures, and the gentleman who waited on us, in his early 20s, started up a conversation with our son about Star Wars. The conversation eventually turned to if our son wanted a bag to place the figures in, and he asked if they had a Star Wars bag.

Without skipping a beat, the castmember went out of his way and said, I can make you a Star Wars bag. He then proceeded to take over 5 minutes of his time and draw several of the Star Wars vehicles onto the Disney bag. It was quite remarkable by not only his talents, he was an art major, but also that he took so much time out of his day, and the Thanksgiving holiday, to make the moment special for our son.

To the castmember who made this little boys dreams come true, thank you! He still carries all the figures around in the bag. When we returned home, we pitched several other Disney bags, and our son freaked out thinking we had thrown away his Star Wars bag.

So the next time you think about what do you get for your money at Disney, remember, that money goes to pay a lot of people who’s job it is to make sure you have the best day possible. For that, we are thankful!

Save Money, Travel More!

Source: InACents

141127 Disneyland Blue Bayou Thanksgiving (3)

Thanksgiving Day Delights at Disneyland’s Blue Bayou

December 8, 2014InACents Leave a comment

When eating at any Disney park, choosing where you want to eat can be a daunting task. At least at Disneyland there are far fewer options that her sister parks at Disney World.

So when our family decided we were going to be spending Thanksgiving at Disneyland, we began making plan on where we wanted to eat as soon as possible. At Disneyland, you can only reserve your dining reservations 60 days out, unlike Disney World, where you have to make a plan 180 days out.

On top of select dining locations, when it comes to restaurants that serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal, the options become slimmer. Some immediately get crossed off the list at their $75+ per person price point. Others just did not seem to appealing.

One place we have dined before, and ultimately elected to go with again was Blue Bayou. Located in the New Orleans Square district of the park, Blue Bayou is one of the most unique restaurants in Disneyland since it is located inside of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

As you enjoy your meal, guests looking to go on a pirate adventure slowly float by in their boats to look for Pirate Jack Sparrow. Dining at Blue Bayou is quite the experience in such a historic attraction, and that is before the meal is even served.

While the regular menu was available, we elected to order the Thanksgiving day special, which consisted of turkey roulade, truffle-infused chicken giblet stuffing, roasted garlic Boursin mashed potatoes and veggies. Meals were also served with a side salad.