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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Disneyland with Ruston and Jacob - Holiday Haunted Mansion and Halloween Pumpkins

It's a very special Sunday afternoon and Ruston, Jacob, Theresa and I are all getting together at Disneyland. We're going to check out some of the fantastic Halloween events going on here.

You might have noticed Ian wasn't with us. Don't worry, he's super happy hanging out with his grandparents.


Our first stop was the Haunted Mansion. I love it with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay.

The very first year of the transformation, the attic scene contained a whole bunch of cymbal clanging monkeys. They were off-the-shelf monkeys and weren't meant to run 16 hours a day for months. They broke down repeatedly and by the second year of the overlay they were removed. Inside the mansion, you can still see an Oogie-Boogie clanging cymbals as a tribute, and outside you'll find this monkey in the Pet Cemetery, but only during the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay.

Inside, the roof of the stretching room has been replaced with a projection screen. You can still see the hidden Mickey too.

Next, Jack Skellington and Zero poke their heads in and wish us a Happy Holidays.

Once we reach the lower level we come to a stop. Doesn't look like anyone told the loaders up top, because shortly after the 2nd elevator opened up and people tried to unload. Not long after that, our original elevator opened up again and the next group tried to unload. It was pretty backed up.

After a while though, we started moving again.

I really was hoping the ride would break down here, but no luck. It's nice the gingerbread smell is working again.

I'm always happy to see my name on the nice list, but I wonder what Jacob did to get a naughty mark next to his name.

As luck would have it, we did have a ride stoppage just as we left the attic. Usually so dark and we're moving to fast it's impossible to get a decent picture of the snow on the rooftops. Since we were stopped though I could get a decent shot of it. Unfortunately there's not a hidden Mickey in the snow here like there is in Japan.

Here's what it looks like in Japan.

Hi Jack and Zero!


Next we headed back to the Big Thunder Ranch Festival Arena to see the pumpkin carvers. We had just gone to Rise of the Jack O'Lanterns and I left feeling a little disappointed. I was hoping these would make up for it.

And boy did they! The very first pumpkin I saw was the Lord of the Dead himself. Hades Rules!

Hiro Hamada and Baymax from the new Disney film Big Hero 6.

Elsa and Anna

And Olaf

Yoda

The Pearly band from Mary Poppins

An Oswald appearance

And Tinker Bell

Mr. Smee has seen better days. He must have been carved a while ago.

Ursula

And the Queen of Hearts

Mr Toad

Dale

I love this Goofy. It reminds me of the Mickey pumpkins I normally see with one large pumpkin and two smaller ones for ears.

it's a small world

Wow! Hades and Darkwing Duck! That's awesome! Like someone was reading my mind. I've actually carved Hades and Darkwing Duck into a pumpkin before, but it didn't turn out this good.


I think the Groot pumpkin actually looks better aged.

Hatbox Ghost from the Haunted Mansion

I wonder what the Day 1000 stands for on this Jack Skellington and Sally pumpkin.

Mickey

Flik and Dot peeking out through this pumpkin

The Rebel Alliance logo from Star Wars.

These glittery painted pumpkins are really bright and stand out. Ariel.

Stitch and the Doorknob from Alice in Wonderland.

Jack Skellington shows up again

A bust of a pirate. With paint it looks pretty real.

Wallpaper from the Haunted Mansion

Now those were some awesome pumpkins. Must better than therise.org.

After looking at all the pumpkins, we wandered through the shops. The Disney Gallery has an assortment of Haunted Mansion merchandise to purchase. I wonder why they have these busts though. They're from the refurb of Florida's Haunted Mansion, showing up in the queue. It seems odd to see them here.

Ever wanted your own Haunted Mansion gargoyle? This one can be yours for a mere $2900.

After a fun day in the parks, we were famished. Next we'll be enjoying a very special dinner at the Napa Rose. We'll continue there in the next report.

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