Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
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Sadly, many of the guests head for the monorail before ten, removing some of the ambience and comraderie that was apparent when the costumed families were revelling in the night. However, this is a blessing for riders, keen to optimise their time by riding the attractions. Virtually every attraction is open for business during the parties. We opted for a showing of Carousel of Progress, an odd sight on this evening, open for business, as if it did so every day. Sadly, this delight only opens during peak attendance these days, although that should include most of this season's holidays with Skippy, S.I.R. and the staff of XS Tech having vacated the Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center for the last time. An ironic nod to the future could be seen, high upon the roof of the Center in the form of a giant Stitch inflatable, grinning from ear-to-ear, as he prepares to take up residence in those ominous glass tubes...
Our evening concluded with the obligatory complimentary photo, taken directly in front of Timekeeper in the CircleVision theater of the same name. The rigidity of the audio-animatronic host, staring directly at us as we posed, was eerie. Smiling as the flashbulb popped, a cast member grudgingly approached, spieling that the photo will arrive in the post, as her colleague noted that I was wearing a Jack Skellington sweatshirt. She asked where I got it from, and I polite replied "from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday in 2001". The cast members cooed "Cool" in unison as we left the building.
A (Not so) subtle hint
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This encounter provoked us into a discussion about the merits of the Halloween parties at Disney resorts. Although only the October 31 event sells out each season, every presentation is a profitable proposition for the park. Closing the park early and then charging guests to enter for a special event sounds more like a Disneyland concept, but these days, it is only Walt Disney World that is driving the format. Disneyland Special Events team are short on ideas and lacking in cohesion and execution. It takes Walt Disney Event Services, a team ran exclusively from the shacks north of Downtown Disney Orlando to organise parties and balls for their west coast counterparts. If Disneyland plan on hijacking Halloween from their Buena Park neighbours and creating a seamless holiday offering from early October through New Year, they need to steal back the impetus, and bring back the Halloween ticketed events that would pack the park with locals and dust off Steve Davison's Boo-lieve! concept for a 2004 audience. Hopefully, the replacement of Cynthia Harriss with an executive with a track record of creating anticipation and excitement about an event will ensure that in future years, Disneyland is the Not-so-Scariest Place on Earth!
In the next update, we will consider the flipside of this odd dichotomy, the spooky and sinister Halloween at Disneyland Resort Paris. The two concepts are poles apart.
Discuss It!
-- Posted November 12, 2003
-- Story by Lee MacDonald
-- Photos by Lindsay Cave
The opinions expressed by Lee MacDonald, and
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