Halloween parade on Halloween night at Disneyland 2012

This is the Halloween Cavalcade at Disneyland. It's not a huge parade, and the music loop is very short, but I like it because it's pretty much about dressing up for Halloween, which is my favorite part of Halloween.

Are you ready?

Get ready!

Get ready for Halloween! (This is the Family of the Night who got picked to be in the parade.)

Everybody jump, jump, shout and scream.

Are you ready for Halloween?

I was a little sad I didn't get to meet Halloween Duffy, but at least I got to see him! And he was SO CUTE!

I think Stitch was a biker. He made me laugh anyway.

It was a little weird to see a parade about getting ready for Halloween at about 10:45 PM on Halloween night, but it was also fun to see the very last Halloween parade at Disneyland for 2012!

Fog in New Orleans Square on Halloween

Are you sorry Christmas is over? I am. But nothing chases away the blues like fog in New Orleans Square!

Spooky but pretty!

The post caps at the Jack Skellington meet-and-greet made me laugh.

(I'd already met him last year, which is good, because the line was long!)

Spooky Christmas

OK, actually it's Halloween at Disneyland.

Creepiness in Disneyland at Halloween

Where was this??? I don't know. You can see the Mickey globes that mark the Trick or Treat locations.

But we went trick or treating in the Village Haus, the Pinocchio-themed restaurant. Pinocchio is the scariest Disney movie I can think of...this was a VERY spooky place to go trick-or-treating.

Those marionettes were SPOOKY!

I think this is in the queue of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which did not have a long line at all.

This is still in Frontierland...pretty cool!

We weren't sure what to do--Miss D and I had seen Halloween fireworks from near the castle. I had been thinking of going to Fantasyland to see them from It's a Small World, but that would've been a bit of a walk. Instead, we decided to try to see them from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. There's a pretty cool story behind that; I'll share it later!

Full moon and Matterhorn at Disneyland

It was practically a full moon on Halloween 2012!

Duffy and I did not mind the new seats on the Matterhorn...there was plenty of room for both of us.

Tricky to get in, but I was wearing a skirt with a poofy petticoat, so I can't blame Disney for that one.

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy (again!)

After Ariel got her voice back, we decided to check out Tomorrowland.

Oh, yes, it was still Halloween. :)

Space Mountain! (They actually let us use the Fastpass we got before the party started.)

"I enjoy this ride," said Duffy.

Good ride for Halloween!

Waiting to meet Dr. Facilier

The villains were at the end of Main Street this year, and you could choose which one to meet. I chose Dr. Facilier since he's hard to find!

"The train station does look spooky," Duffy admitted.

Main Street on Halloween

Disneyland's Main Street is spooky on Halloween!

But familiar enough that it wasn't too bad. :)

"I'm not scared even a little!" said Duffy.

Of course, I was holding him nice and tight.

Looking back toward the castle!

Trick or Treating with Duffy

Then we went to the Golden Horseshoe for Trick or Treating, as we'd heard it was interesting in there. Mr. Key Daver was playing!

"I don't get it," said Duffy.

"He plays the piano? He's dead? He's a cadaver?"

"I still don't get it."

Sigh.

While we waited outside I believe we heard the Cadaver Dans sing on the Rivers of America too.

Pirates are scary, right?

Lots of people like to dress as pirates for Halloween (I have!)

The Cast Members are supposed to ensure that every guest is wearing a wristband. The woman up front was fun here, making it like a game. "Everyone put your hands up and show me your wristbands!" etc.

Duffy did not have one. I guess his long sleeves hid it. Or maybe it's that he actually doesn't really have wrists, now that I think about it!

Speaking of lights!

The Golden Zephyr is nothing without its lights.

If I hadn't been so pressed for time and cheap, I would've installed more, though I'm not sure where I could've found a nice set of warm lights (the white ones were "cool white" and it shows). The orange ones in my hair aren't quite right but they're really cool fiber optics with a battery in the barrette!

Pommes Frites at Cafe Orleans

4 people and 1 bear is kind of awkward...will one basket of pommes frites be enough? Or do we need two?

They are french fries with garlic and Parmesan. I think we need two baskets.

Duffy agrees!

I got French Onion soup (forgot to get a picture, but it tasted better than it looked anyway). And a mint julep! Which is basically lemonade and mint together.

I mean, it's a great idea to fill up on sugary beverages before trick-or-treating. Am I right?

Inside the Cafe Orleans

Well, contrary to the title, we were seated outside (and I believe we were seated next to Miss Charlotte La Bouff herself!!!!). Very nice peoplewatching on Halloween.

"What should we get?" asked Duffy.

"We? What do you mean we?" I tousled his fur. "I don't want anything TOO big since we will be full of candy soon. Hm..."

Meanwhile, Ariel made use of the conveniently-placed dinglehopper.

Duffy enjoys Billy Hill and the Haunted Hillbillies

It was Halloween, so what better show to see than Billy Hill and the Haunted Hillbillies!

Some people complain that they miss the intimate setting of the show at the Golden Horseshoe. I understand their concern, but I liked this much better because we could easily get a seat, see fine, and weren't crowded. I don't like crowds.

(Same reason I kind of prefer to see World of Color from the wrong side, actually.)

Anyway, this was a lot of fun...they got a volunteer from the audience who was wildly enthusiastic, and (whether rightly or wrongly) they acted like that was very unusual. The Billies had me laughing with the "call me" motion to her and everything.

Halloween Round-Up Disneyland 2012

Here are some photos from the last day of the Halloween Round-Up 2012!

My FAVORITE!

They also had little games to play. Duffy and I tried.

We did not do very well.

"It's all right," the Cast Member said. "He has Shellie May."

Duffy and I were both surprised he knew that! But he does.

Golden Zephyr Duffy and Golden Zephyr Me

I was dressed as the Golden Zephyr for Halloween! Kind of conceptual.

Here is the Golden Zephyr in a stock photo!

I love that ride!

Halloween in Disneyland!

We went back to the room and hurried up to get dressed for the Halloween party...the Halloween party on Halloween! Too fun!

It took quite a while to get our wristband, but finally we got into the park!

I went to the Photo Shop to claim our Photopass+, while we sent Miss D to try to get a Fastpass for Space Mountain if she could. (She DID, absolutely no problem!)

Standby time for Star Tours was something short, maybe 10 minutes tops, and it was high on Miss D's list of priorities, so...

 

Unfortunately, I was instructed to stow Duffy beneath the seat.

"Aw."