It’s Halloween week. We’ve arrived! It’s a bittersweet holiday for all of us Disneyphiles… with no Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties this year (and no giant Mickey pumpkin on Main Street USA for all you Disneylanders), the Halloween Time magic is simply not the same.
Sure, there are cavalcades with our favorite dastardly villains and Winnie the Pooh dressed up in adorable costumes. And you can find a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks and a Not-So-Poison Apple Cupcake at Pinocchio Village Haus.
But the sad truth is, we miss our classic Halloween Time Disney.
When the holiday grieving hit a fever pitch this week in our house, I took some time to listen to the Boo to You parade music with my kids, replaying each float and character scene in my head as the tunes transitioned, one after another. I could see the sparks flying from the Haunted Mansion grave diggers, smell the candy from the Wreck-it-Ralph candy machine, and gosh if I didn’t want to wave to Mickey and Minnie as they told us how they loved our costumes.
It all made me ache for what we are missing right now.
Disney has a way of wooing us with the holidays that is unmatched by any other experience. It’s the extraordinary scale and depth by which we are delighted at every turn by the reminder that this is a special time of year, and it’s meant to be savored.
There is no finer example of this immersive and whimsical holiday spirit than Radiator Springs in Disney California Adventure. Here is just a taste of “Haul-O-Ween”, as it’s called on Route 66:
All this reminiscing of a place we can’t experience right now has made me stop and consider… In a “normal” year, why do SO MANY people insist on visiting Disney during the holidays even when they know it will be wall to wall people? Even seasoned Disnerds who know better often surrender to the mass chaos that is a Disney parks holiday, even knowing what they are getting themselves into. I myself fall into the category of “They’d have to pay me to go when it’s that crowded” (although I secretly wish my husband would agree to a post-Christmas Disney trip at some future point in time, as our Disney trip to Paris was one for the memory books).
Why, friends, do we so often choose the most crowded time of year to visit the parks?
Because the holiday filter through which Disney alters our park view is a different kind of magic. It’s more than your standard (amazing) Disney awe and wonder… it is revisiting a part of us that we left behind all those years ago. It’s traveling back in time to those carefree days of our youth when running house to house in costumes gathering candy was one of the best nights of the year. When we could dress up and become that fantastical version of ourselves we’ve always wished we could be. When what to carve your pumpkin into and counting much candy you collected by night’s end were all the thoughts you needed to think.
Walking down Main Street USA during Halloween Time is a virtual jump into the leaf pile of all that was good about our childhood autumns.
Walking down Main Street USA during Halloween Time is a virtual jump into the leaf pile of all that was good about our childhood autumns.
So this week, as we find alternative ways to do what we’ve always done for Halloween, may you find a few moments to bring that unique Disney holiday magic into your home. Maybe it looks like a Boo to You dance party in your living room. Or a Nightmare Before Christmas movie night, complete with cozy socks and popcorn . Possibly even some Disney-themed snacks to relive the flavors of the parks (these are fun ones for Halloween).
And most definitely include a Mickey-shaped anything to remind you that living the pandemic holiday life does not mean we have to give up our spirit of joy.
Last but not least… My Disney friends, let’s look around us and see if there is anyone who could use an extra dose of Disney holiday cheer. This season has been a rough one with politics and pandemics, and maybe all we really need is to sit down together and watch an epic fireworks show like we used to do. Remember when we would all spend the day touring the parks in our own unique ways before coming together to complete the day with shared awe and amazement?
Yeah, me too.
We could use that right now, even in small doses, to tide us over till we return to the magic.
Happy Halloween, Disney friends. May it be beyond magical as you relive your favorite Disney memories at home.
What part of Disney’s Halloween celebrations are your favorite? There is SO much to consider! Is it the special characters, trick-or-treating, costumes… tell me below in the comments what you miss the most!
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