Trip Report: HalloweenTime 2017 at the Disneyland Resort

A couple of weekends ago we made our first trip to Disneyland since 2014. We were very excited (obviously) to visit our old stomping grounds (we were AP's from 1998-2012) and of course to try out the new attractions. 
​We also decided to use the all new MaxPass to get the most out of our day. Read on to see how it went. We have lots of pics and videos to share. 

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Written by Gregg Condon

First let's take a look at Star Wars Land ... 

Soon we'll only see the backs of buildings 

We first headed into Disneyland. We wanted to spend our morning in Fantasyland and it's always fun to do a whole bunch of rides in a row when the park is slow in the morning. 

We also set up our MaxPass and while we were walking to Fantasyland and got to get FastPasses for Space Mountain. 

Hey Walt, long time no see ... 

We skipped Peter Pan because, well, that line is just crazy and headed first to my favorite Fantasyland ride ... Mr Toad. 

Video of this classic!! 

Snow White's Scary Abrupt Ending Adventure's 

Snow White has her Adventure ... Pinnochio has a Journey 

Oooh, Matterhorn 

Some fun on Ghost Galaxy ... one of the cool things about MaxPass is the free photos 

While in line for Space Mtn we got some fastpasses for Star Tours, and then for Buzz ... Maxpass was working great so far. 

After getting FastPasses for Haunted Mansion Holiday, it was time for a happy cruise 

Headed to New Orleans Square, we had to check out the new stuff 

Star Wars Land ... we'll see it in 2029 or something. Honestly, even though we are Southern California Locals I'm placing bets that we visit Star Wars Land in FL before we visit it here. 

Love the changes to the RR 

While waiting for our HMH fastpasses, we took a Pooh 

And grabbed some Splash Mtn fastpasses ... we got soaked. 

While I personally think they should keep the regular Mansion open through Halloween (haven't done the normal mansion since 2011 because all our visits have come during Holidays) I can't deny how fun this is. 

LOVE the updates to the Railroad 

While on the Railroad the parks got crazy busy ... seriously, between 11 and 1145 fastpasses for Soarin' went from 1:00pm to 9:00pm, Guardians fastpasses sold out (due to Monsters after dark) and the parks just seemed a lot busier. 

Mermaids!!! 

The longest line of the day ... we didn't wait for it. 

This is the AP problem in a nutshell ... 

The Halloween decorations in CarsLand are AMAZING!! 

I have to admit, this ride is growing on me 

Love these posters ... wish they sold them

As close as we'd get to riding this ... sigh. 

So, unknown to us, they cut off FastPasses for Guardians because Monsters After Dark was set to begin at 5:00. They closed Guardians at 4. Yes, their brand new ride, closed for an hour. 

We tried to get Fastpasses for Monsters after dark at 3:00 when those were available ... which broke the MaxPass/FastPass system because so was everybody else. 

I'm not sure if they've fixed this since (apparently everything was fine last Saturday), but the system was down for hours, which kind of messed us up fore the rest of the day. 

What they SHOULD have done was made FastPasses available for both all day. And people could pick one or the other. For us, as infrequent visitors we would have picked Guardians in a second. While I have to believe most AP's would have picked Monsters After Dark. By trying to "reset" FastPasses at 3:00 for this one ride, it messed up EVERYBODY. Both MaxPass and FastPass users. 

We did totally love the decorations at DCA 

Hi Mickey!! 

Hi Heady!! (No, Headley) 

So we left DCA without being able to ride Guardians or Soarin' Over The World. We had planned on just doing Single Rider on Soarin', but they don't offer it anymore for some reason.

We'll catch them in 3 more years I guess. 

Because it was snack time we figured we'd enjoy a dole whip in the quiet courtyard of the Tiki Room ... boy, we missed the news of the huge queue in there now. No more quiet courtyard. :( 

Pure Disney Magic 

Luckily the FP system came up so we got to get some FP's for Indy and Big Thunder ... 

Side Note: We had totally forgotten they had made the updates to Indy ... loved them!! 

We always love the Halloween Tree 

LOVE they still do the swing dancing on Saturday Night!! 

Jungle Cruise at night is the best!! 

After Jungle Cruise and Pirates we exited just in time to catch the fireworks. We didn't know they did projections on the river now, they are awesome and we enjoyed it more than in front of the castle (less stress too). 

We enjoyed a perfect unexpected family moment thus there are no pictures. Sorry. =) 

So how did the MaxPass work for us? Watch the video below to find out. 

We had a truly memorable day at Disneyland. We all agreed that we miss visiting Disneyland more often ... we don't miss the oppressive crowds however. 

Because we are planning on making a few trips to FL over the next 18 months we may spring for the Premiere Pass next year to squeeze in a few DL visits, but we'll see. 

Hope you all enjoyed our trip report and all of the videos!! 

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Related Updates: 

• Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 2017 at Magic Kingdom
• Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend 2017 at Disneyland Resort
• Photo Tour of Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout at DCA 
• Sneak Peek of the World of Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom (Part Two) 
• Sneak Peek of the World of Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom

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