Chapter 155
Party Time!

October 21, 2013

On Monday, we had tickets for our very first Mickey’s Halloween Party!! Tracy had to work until about 4:00, but then she hurried home and we started getting into our costumes. I dressed up as a Disneyland Cat.

And Tracy went as Belle.

Wait, here’s a better picture.

We drove to Disneyland and arrived at about 6:00. We certainly weren’t the most dressed-up people on the tram, but we felt like we fit in pretty well.

We got to go through the gate designated for Special Event Tickets.

I loved the cast member costumes at the turnstiles.

Once through, we got our wristbands for the party.

I decided to snap another picture of Tracy.

They were handing out trick-or-treat bags all over the park, but we grabbed some right away by the entrance.

As we entered Town Square, it was obvious that the event was getting all set up. These Mickey ghosts had begun to appear.

There were also giant Mickey pumpkins at the end of Main Street.

Now, the party wasn’t actually set to start for another few minutes, and Tracy and I needed to get some dinner, so we headed to the Refreshment Corner to get hot dogs.

Tracy opted for the Chili Cheese Dog while I went for the Mac and Cheese Dog (I’m telling you, mac and cheese on everything is just the way to go).

Our dinner was delicious, and while we ate, we heard the voice of Disneyland announce that the park was closed to regular guests and the party was starting. All of a sudden, the music changed from the normal Main Street loop to a new Halloween soundtrack filled with spooky songs like “Grim Grinning Ghosts” and “Boo to You.”

After we finished eating, we showed our wristbands to get past the ropes and into the party itself.

We knew that meeting Belle while Tracy was dressed as Belle was one of our most important tasks for the evening, so we figured now would be a good time when we saw her doing a meet and greet along with the other princesses in the Royal Theatre.

The line was VERY slow moving, so we spend the first half-hour or so of the party inching our way toward the front. Luckily, Figaro and his bird were there to amuse us.

Once we got into the theatre, our first princess was Tiana. We’d actually never met her before, so this was another character to check off of our list.

Snow White was next.

Finally, we got to Belle. I think Tracy’s dress is nicer, but I’m a little biased.

Belle was actually the first cast member of the night to inquire what on earth my costume was supposed to be. When I told her I was a Disneyland Cat, you could see something click inside her mind and she LOVED it. She called over to her character handler and shared the joke. We would have this exact same interaction with several more cast members throughout the evening.

Done with our meet and greet, Tracy and I went to pose in front of the castle now that it was being lit up with ghostly projections.

We walked back through Fantasyland next and toward Toontown, where we knew there were a few special meet and greets going on. I loved all the projections on the ground all over the park.

I hadn’t wanted to spoil the party beforehand at all, so I knew very little about what to expect. As a result, these awesome projections on “it’s a small world” were totally unexpected.