Today is the first day of Halloween season so I am bracing myself for the worst of the worst crowd. The crowd was definitely worse than when I came in June. Thank goodness I already took a picture with the 35th Anniversary decoration near the entrance as the whole entrance area was already crazy right from the start.
With it being Halloween season, my first destination was the Haunted Mansion. Honestly I am not a fan of rides but this is one that I have not experienced so I just wanted to try for the sake of trying. I don't think it is good or bad because how good or bad can a dark ride in an amusement park can be. Lol. To me they are exactly the same things with different decorations.
Along the way I took quick snaps of Halloween decoration before it was getting more crowded. I was right because after the Haunted Mansion, I could say goodbye to take pictures of the decorations without photobombers. Lol.
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| This is behind the Cinderella's castle. I did not have the chance to take picture from the side with Mickey and Minnie because right from the start of the day, people were already queueing to take photos here! |
After Haunted Mansion, I decided to quickly find a seat for the Spooky Boo! parade. I was still tired from yesterday and would like to slow down today. I did not mind skipping photos with Donald and Daisy. I only want Mickey which is a bit of luck-based too. I want his Steamboat Willie (never have one with this version yet) or Fantasia (because I think I looked ugly in June).
With the knowledge learn from June trip to sit on the left side of the parade (since staff are walking on the right side of the parade), I secured myself somewhere near the Westernland. Guess what: Spooky Boo parade starts at Toon Town and ends at Fantasyland. It is actually the reverse of the usual parade route. Unlike the usual parade in which the performers just move along, Spooky Boo parade has 2 stops and for the performers to perform. I was in a really bad place because not only I was on the right side of the parade, when the parade stopped for the performance, in front of me was in-between the parade. Bleah... If only I sat where the float with the characters it would be much cuter.
After the parade, I went for lunch at Hungry Bear restaurant and had curry rice. I made it a point to find the game shop (similar to the Abu's Bazaar at Disneysea) at Disneyland and I realised one area in the Disneyland that I had never explored before: the Adventureland and this is where the game shop located. There is another store selling crystal and glasses figurines similar to the one at Cinderella's castle too.
Though I said I did not mind skipping photos with character, I still could not help to check them out as this was the most interesting for me in Disneyland. The waiting time for Donald and Daisy was about 1 hour while for Mickey was close to 1.5 hours. Since I already made my way to Mickey's house, I might as well check Minnie's house which I had not visited before and I was out within 2 minutes. Lol. It was just a simple walkthrough and not interesting la.
I decided to just sit again to wait for the Dreaming Up parade. Haha.. This time I managed to secure a bench near Snow White's wishing well. I always thought viewing parade from the bench would be nice. That was not the case. Haha.. Nothing beats watching at the first row whether for photos or for hopes that the characters would wave at you.
It is always a mystery to me how those vlogs in youtube always show the face characters at Disneyland while I never saw one in all my previous trips. Looks like today I learnt a bit about it. Around 4-415pm, I saw quite a lot of characters coming out of the Cinderella castle and basically they were stationed around the castle. Rapunzel, Snow White & Prince, and Cinderella & Prince Charming were at the plaza in front of the castle. Peter Pan & Wendy, Aurora & Prince Philips, and Evil Queen from Snow White were behind the castle.
Sadly I got no photos from them because there were so many people plus with it being Halloween season and people were allowed to dress up, those people cosplaying attracted attention more than me. So I did not bother to try my luck with my English which according to some tips visitors can have higher chance getting the face characters by shouting in English as the characters will be able to interact with us better. I like Peter Pan simply because he wears green top and bottom but as a character, I think he is annoying. Lol. He is like too hyper but oh well I still want to have a photo with him if possible.
These characters are hugely popular. I saw the coming out and returning back and as they did so, a huge throng of people were actually following them. It was really like a horde of fans chasing their celebrities. And guess who was the most popular character? It was Cinderella & Prince Charming. I am not surprised because Cinderella is really the most beautiful princess with her hair and dress while Prince Charming is really charming and handsome. Sorry to sleeping beauty but Aurora & Prince Philip do not look like princess and prince compared to Cinderella & Prince Charming. The royal clothing really makes a huge difference.
From this morning experience, I went to catch Spooky Boo parade at Toon Town this time. Unfortunately it was a bad decision again T_T Seriously this is the first time I experienced this kind of parade. Apparently at the start of the parade, there are only the floats. Only after reaching the Main Plaza that the road performers join. That is when the parade makes the first stop for the performance. It then moves again before making the second stop for the performance which is what I experienced in the morning. Sian liao lo. This parade reminds me of the performances at Disneysea as there is no way I can experience the whole parade. You will see different characters depending on the seating location. I can understand when this is done at Disneysea because of the water/lake thingy but to do something similar at Disneyland is meh.
Even with the parade, the queue for photo with Mickey was still 1 hour. Sianz. I decided to return to hotel for dinner, shopping at the Disney shop at the hotel, and a quick shower. I previously said that I would not mind skipping Electrical Parade since I already watched that a few times since the first time in 2015. Sadly the queue for Mickey was still long in the evening. The park was really crowded today because even the sad Minnie's house even had 15 minutes queue. Crazy.
For Electrical Parade, I positioned myself near Toon Town. Previously I always want to be in the vicinity of the castle. Now I have learnt that near Toon Town is a perfect spot to take photos because we can only see from one side of the parade route (the other side is all the trees). This means that when the parade passes through this area, all the characters will definitely wave at the people since there is only one side. I did not want to sit and I wanted to be the first one at the standing audience so that I could take photos. I took a lot of pictures and I need new camera T_T The area is not as brightly lit and my camera performance was not up to my desire.
While I have been having fun in the past 2 days exploring alone, I had a reminder that travelling with fun friends would be great too. During the Electrical Parade, the group of students behind me was so high. They were not interested in taking photos and their goal was to shout the characters' names as loud as possible so that the characters waved at them. Aah if only I could enjoy Disneyland with a fun bunch of people like them.
Thank God for the pleasant weather and the fireworks were not cancelled. After the Electrical Parade, everyone was chiong-ing for the fireworks and the main plaza in front of Cinderella's castle was jam packed. I can only say that this is something worth squeezing for. Haha.. I really enjoyed the fire and the water elements. I was quite far behind but I still could feel the heat blast during the fire.
It is not winter yet but after the fireworks, I bought the hotdog and cocoa from the restaurant where I had the free flow cocoa with the vacation package in December and I watched the second fireworks show from there. After that I managed to squeeze in for Peter Pan's flight which is a bit more unique for a dark ride because instead of riding on the rail, the boats for Peter Pan's flight are suspended from the rail so it really feels like visiting Peter Pan's journey by flying. Having said that, it is not something that I will spend time queueing for hahaha...
It was 958pm by the time I finished that and I regretted not asking the staff if I still could squeeze in for Snow White's Adventure. Apparently the staff were still inviting the people behind me to come in so actually I still could go T_T. It was only at 1000pm on the dot when there was announcement of the park closure. Oh well.. As mentioned, I am not a fan of the rides and I am only curious to explore the ones I have not tried before.
So that is basically my worst experience at Disneyland so far. I positioned myself badly for the parade and I did not take photos with any characters T_T That is a first. Thank goodness that I feel better towards at the end of the day with the parade and fireworks and at the very least I got to experience the rides and explore the areas I did not have the chance to previously. The weather was great too. Most importantly, I shall remember that the Toon Town area will be a good place the next time I want to watch the parade and to standby around 4pm near the castle to hopefully catch some characters. Hehe.. However, the most important learning point today is DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE CROWD. It seriously can make or break the trip although with Disney Magic, you won't feel 100% shitty at the end of the a Disneyland trip. Haha..
With the knowledge learn from June trip to sit on the left side of the parade (since staff are walking on the right side of the parade), I secured myself somewhere near the Westernland. Guess what: Spooky Boo parade starts at Toon Town and ends at Fantasyland. It is actually the reverse of the usual parade route. Unlike the usual parade in which the performers just move along, Spooky Boo parade has 2 stops and for the performers to perform. I was in a really bad place because not only I was on the right side of the parade, when the parade stopped for the performance, in front of me was in-between the parade. Bleah... If only I sat where the float with the characters it would be much cuter.
After the parade, I went for lunch at Hungry Bear restaurant and had curry rice. I made it a point to find the game shop (similar to the Abu's Bazaar at Disneysea) at Disneyland and I realised one area in the Disneyland that I had never explored before: the Adventureland and this is where the game shop located. There is another store selling crystal and glasses figurines similar to the one at Cinderella's castle too.
Though I said I did not mind skipping photos with character, I still could not help to check them out as this was the most interesting for me in Disneyland. The waiting time for Donald and Daisy was about 1 hour while for Mickey was close to 1.5 hours. Since I already made my way to Mickey's house, I might as well check Minnie's house which I had not visited before and I was out within 2 minutes. Lol. It was just a simple walkthrough and not interesting la.
I decided to just sit again to wait for the Dreaming Up parade. Haha.. This time I managed to secure a bench near Snow White's wishing well. I always thought viewing parade from the bench would be nice. That was not the case. Haha.. Nothing beats watching at the first row whether for photos or for hopes that the characters would wave at you.
It is always a mystery to me how those vlogs in youtube always show the face characters at Disneyland while I never saw one in all my previous trips. Looks like today I learnt a bit about it. Around 4-415pm, I saw quite a lot of characters coming out of the Cinderella castle and basically they were stationed around the castle. Rapunzel, Snow White & Prince, and Cinderella & Prince Charming were at the plaza in front of the castle. Peter Pan & Wendy, Aurora & Prince Philips, and Evil Queen from Snow White were behind the castle.
Sadly I got no photos from them because there were so many people plus with it being Halloween season and people were allowed to dress up, those people cosplaying attracted attention more than me. So I did not bother to try my luck with my English which according to some tips visitors can have higher chance getting the face characters by shouting in English as the characters will be able to interact with us better. I like Peter Pan simply because he wears green top and bottom but as a character, I think he is annoying. Lol. He is like too hyper but oh well I still want to have a photo with him if possible.
These characters are hugely popular. I saw the coming out and returning back and as they did so, a huge throng of people were actually following them. It was really like a horde of fans chasing their celebrities. And guess who was the most popular character? It was Cinderella & Prince Charming. I am not surprised because Cinderella is really the most beautiful princess with her hair and dress while Prince Charming is really charming and handsome. Sorry to sleeping beauty but Aurora & Prince Philip do not look like princess and prince compared to Cinderella & Prince Charming. The royal clothing really makes a huge difference.
From this morning experience, I went to catch Spooky Boo parade at Toon Town this time. Unfortunately it was a bad decision again T_T Seriously this is the first time I experienced this kind of parade. Apparently at the start of the parade, there are only the floats. Only after reaching the Main Plaza that the road performers join. That is when the parade makes the first stop for the performance. It then moves again before making the second stop for the performance which is what I experienced in the morning. Sian liao lo. This parade reminds me of the performances at Disneysea as there is no way I can experience the whole parade. You will see different characters depending on the seating location. I can understand when this is done at Disneysea because of the water/lake thingy but to do something similar at Disneyland is meh.
Even with the parade, the queue for photo with Mickey was still 1 hour. Sianz. I decided to return to hotel for dinner, shopping at the Disney shop at the hotel, and a quick shower. I previously said that I would not mind skipping Electrical Parade since I already watched that a few times since the first time in 2015. Sadly the queue for Mickey was still long in the evening. The park was really crowded today because even the sad Minnie's house even had 15 minutes queue. Crazy.
For Electrical Parade, I positioned myself near Toon Town. Previously I always want to be in the vicinity of the castle. Now I have learnt that near Toon Town is a perfect spot to take photos because we can only see from one side of the parade route (the other side is all the trees). This means that when the parade passes through this area, all the characters will definitely wave at the people since there is only one side. I did not want to sit and I wanted to be the first one at the standing audience so that I could take photos. I took a lot of pictures and I need new camera T_T The area is not as brightly lit and my camera performance was not up to my desire.
While I have been having fun in the past 2 days exploring alone, I had a reminder that travelling with fun friends would be great too. During the Electrical Parade, the group of students behind me was so high. They were not interested in taking photos and their goal was to shout the characters' names as loud as possible so that the characters waved at them. Aah if only I could enjoy Disneyland with a fun bunch of people like them.
Thank God for the pleasant weather and the fireworks were not cancelled. After the Electrical Parade, everyone was chiong-ing for the fireworks and the main plaza in front of Cinderella's castle was jam packed. I can only say that this is something worth squeezing for. Haha.. I really enjoyed the fire and the water elements. I was quite far behind but I still could feel the heat blast during the fire.
It is not winter yet but after the fireworks, I bought the hotdog and cocoa from the restaurant where I had the free flow cocoa with the vacation package in December and I watched the second fireworks show from there. After that I managed to squeeze in for Peter Pan's flight which is a bit more unique for a dark ride because instead of riding on the rail, the boats for Peter Pan's flight are suspended from the rail so it really feels like visiting Peter Pan's journey by flying. Having said that, it is not something that I will spend time queueing for hahaha...
It was 958pm by the time I finished that and I regretted not asking the staff if I still could squeeze in for Snow White's Adventure. Apparently the staff were still inviting the people behind me to come in so actually I still could go T_T. It was only at 1000pm on the dot when there was announcement of the park closure. Oh well.. As mentioned, I am not a fan of the rides and I am only curious to explore the ones I have not tried before.
So that is basically my worst experience at Disneyland so far. I positioned myself badly for the parade and I did not take photos with any characters T_T That is a first. Thank goodness that I feel better towards at the end of the day with the parade and fireworks and at the very least I got to experience the rides and explore the areas I did not have the chance to previously. The weather was great too. Most importantly, I shall remember that the Toon Town area will be a good place the next time I want to watch the parade and to standby around 4pm near the castle to hopefully catch some characters. Hehe.. However, the most important learning point today is DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE CROWD. It seriously can make or break the trip although with Disney Magic, you won't feel 100% shitty at the end of the a Disneyland trip. Haha..
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