Halloween Time returns to Disneyland
Halloween Time has started at the Disneyland Resort, kicking off what is typically the busiest time of the year at Disney's California theme parks.
The holiday plussing will be familiar to longtime Disneyland fans, as it pretty much continues the line-up from past years. Haunted Mansion Holiday returns to Disneyland, while the Cars Land overlays and Guardians of the Galaxy Monsters After Dark return to Disney California Adventure. Across the park, Plaza de la Familia takes over Paradise Gardens, with storytellers celebrating the music of Coco. At Disneyland, the big pumpkin Mickey greets visitors to Town Square, while Mickey and Friends sport new Halloween fits, which you can see during the park's daily Mickey and Friends Halloween Cavalcade.
Pumpkin Mickey at Disneyland
Minnie Mouse's Halloween fit
So why is the fall such a popular time at the Disneyland Resort? It’s not just the vibes, which are wonderful. The start of the school year means the end of summer blackouts for many Magic Key annual passholders. And, eventually, the weather will cool, making for an all-around cozier Disney experience.
That is not the case at the moment, unfortunately. Florida-like mugginess welcomed the start of Halloween Time today, with forecast temperatures in the mid-90s for Anaheim next week. So much more the reason to seek refuge in Disneyland’s air conditioned spaces.
Such as Haunted Mansion Holiday and its new-for-2026 gingerbread house. This year’s gingerbread house is Jack Skellington’s monstrous music box.
A monstrous music box gingerbread house
Disneyland is offering plenty of Halloween-themed merchandise and food, of course, from a light-up vampire Mickey popcorn bucket to ghostly cake pops. But I'm over the sugary Instagram fodder at this point in my life and theme park reporting career. Fortunately, it is possible to find some lovely seasonal meals at the Disneyland Resort, including this entree-sized Fall Salad with Shrimp [$25] at DCA’s Wine Country Trattoria.
Fall Salad with Shrimp
A mix of (mostly) arugula and kale sits atop a smear of citrus mascarpone, dotted with marinated red beets, roasted golden beets, and pomegranate seeds, topped with grilled marinated shrimp. It’s a lovely mix and a refreshing lunch on a hot California afternoon.
For dinner, our Niles family Disneyland tradition is the fried chicken meal [$21.99] at Disneyland’s Plaza Inn.
Plaza Inn chicken dinner
Of course, even though we are eating veggies at each Disney meal, we are not completely immune to Disney’s Halloween-themed treats. So for dessert tonight, we partook in a battle of the Plaza Inn’s holiday themed cakes [$8.49 each].
Plaza Inn holiday cakes
The Pumpkin Cake delivers a spice cake with a light texture and airy buttercream, while the Villainous Red Velvet Cake tastes of cocoa with rich chocolate frosting and pronounced raspberry flavor. So which wins? This battle is all personal taste. I preferred the lighter flavor of the Pumpkin Cake, but I definitely could see the appeal of the rich chocolate and raspberry punch of the Red Velvet.
Beyond the Halloween decor and treats, the many attractions of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure await. As is now typical, the Magic Key crowd starts rolling in late in the afternoon, allowing early visitors relatively short wait times across the parks. Haunted Mansion Holiday draws the longest wait times, joined my Monsters After Dark in the evenings. The upside? That left Disneyland heavyweights such as Star Wars Rise of the Resistance available with just a 10 minute wait in the late afternoon. Tiana's Bayou Adventure took us 35 minutes in standby just before that, as many Disneyland visitors sought heat relief from its drenching falls.
And, after night arrives, Disney celebrates the season with the Halloween Screams fireworks, which I did not wait for this evening after walking 10 miles around the parks checking out all the other Halloween and classic Disney attractions today.
Gotta save something for a future trip, after all.
For our visitors guides to the Disneyland Resort theme parks, please see our What to do at Disneyland and What to do at Disney California Adventure pages, which include links to the latest discount ticket deals.
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