Halloween Time at Disneyland

Last weekend I took a trip down to Southern California to one of my favorite places. Disneyland! I love seeing the Halloween decorations and I didn't get a chance to see them last year with all that was going on in my life so I decided that this year a trip was in order.

I planned this trip a few months ago and put the word out that I was going and anyone who felt like it was welcome to join me. One of my coworkers decided to go and my sister in law was able to come meet me for one day too. I was on a crack of dawn flight by myself which was all well and good when I booked it but put a few wrinkles in my plans in the end because of this whole broken foot thing.

I arrived at the park a few hours (which turned into 4 or 5 due to a delayed flight) before anyone else so due to the ever fun broken foot I decided to rent one of those motorized wheelchair/cart things. I have ridden in a wheelchair many times (thanks curve in my back) but have never used a motorized one before. Steering though a crowded park was an adventure but no one died.

My friend finally got there and we met up at Carthay Circle Lounge for a late lunch.  It was so hot out that day that I decided a Pimm's Punch was called for.  Such a nice refreshing drink on a hot day.

After a few hours in the hotel to beat the crowds and the heat we headed back to the park.  We got there just in time to see the Halloween fireworks from the tram waiting area.  Fireworks are always a favorite of mine.

Saturday we were there bright and early.  Thankfully I had a friend there this day so I didn't have to brave driving a motorized chair again. Yay for friends who will push you in a wheelchair!

I always love looking at the castle but after seeing it all done up and sparkly for the 60th anniversary celebration for a year it just looks like it is missing a bit of pizzazz right now.

One benefit of having to ride in a wheelchair is that many of the Fantasyland rides are not handicap accessible so you have to go in the exit. This makes for short or no lines at many of the rides. It doesn't work this way for all rides and most of the ones it does work for are in Fantasyland so I always try to ride everything when I have the opportunity.

My friend is a big Star Wars fan so we waited in line to see Darth Vader.  While I know this is just a person in a costume it was still kind of scary to have this very tall character talking to me and accusing me of things. Very realistic!

Funny story. So apparently if you know someone who is playing a character at the Frozen meet and greet there is a special code word you use to make sure you are put into the correct room with the person you know. We said this code word just as the characters were switching rooms so we ended up in the wrong room.  We took pictures with Anna and Elsa since we were there.

Once we were done with Anna and Elsa the cast member moved us to the other room where Elsa was being played by someone my friend knew. Apparently this is the way to get to take pictures with the characters twice! I wasn't complaining!

One night we went to dinner at Carthay Circle and as always it was fantastic.  I didn't take pictures of my food (fail) but I did manage to take a picture of my Poison Appletini complete with glowing poison apple. I am now the proud owner of a glowing poison apple.  Not sure what I am going to so with it but I will find someway to incorporate it into my decor next Halloween.

Instead of having desert at Carthay Circle we opted to stop for ice cream. A sink full of ice cream hit the spot!!

Sunday my sister in law was able to join me for most of the day at the park. Yay! The weatherman lies and it started raining part way through the day. Boo! Rain isn't bad if you are prepared for it but the weather report said no chance of rain so we were not prepared. Despite the rain I was super happy to see my sister in law and had a fabulous time riding rides with her.

Since it was still pretty rainy by dinnertime we needed something indoors.  We tried to have dinner at the Alfresco Tasting Terrace but apparently it is closed when it rains due to the floors getting slippery.  We ended up at the Carthay Circle Lounge again which was fine by me.  Again no pictures of the food but our pretty cocktails were a Pisco Sour and a Tequila Daisy.

Such fun seeing Disneyland all dressed up for Halloween.  Since I managed to get to Disneyland last year during the Christmas season I won't be disappointed if I don't make it this year but I am glad I got to see the Halloween decorations at least.