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Do you have plans to visit Disneyland for Halloween? We got word of some great savings from Get Away Today that are valid for trips planned for travel during Halloween Time (September & October 2018). Get Adults at Kids’ Prices on 3-Day and longer Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Tickets. You can save up to $19 per ticket. This deal is good on individual tickets or package deals that include a hotel. If you book a package deal you can save an additional $10 off by using the discount code THRIVING10 at checkout. Here are the dates the adults at kids’ prices are valid:
- August – September 2018
- November 1 – 20, 2018
- November 28 – December 22, 2018
- January – May 2019
Check out our post below for our fall trip to Disneyland last year. Visiting in the fall is one of our favorite times to go!
We recently got back from a trip to Disneyland. This wasn’t a normal planned vacation for us, it kind of came about when we looked into hiring someone to weed our entire yard in order to prep it for summer. We live on an acre so the quote that came back was big…like more than the cost of a Disneyland trip big. So, it got us thinking…we presented to the family that if everyone chipped in and did 2 extra hours of weeding each week (above and beyond their normal chores) we could take the money we would have spent on yard work and put it towards a trip to Disneyland instead. This would mean we would’t have as much free time during the summer (which is the main reason we looked into hiring someone to do the weeding in the first place). Our family chose do the extra work all summer long to earn the trip to Disneyland. It was a lot of work, but it paid off, because we took our Disneyland trip in September and we had a blast.
Even though we have taken more than 10 trips to Disneyland as a family, we experienced at ton of “firsts” on this trip. I am sharing some of the new experiences we enjoyed (and some we didn’t). As always I will share some money saving and Disneyland tips with you too.
Costco Travel – When booking our vacation I always try to find the best deal by first looking at packages through Get Away Today and Costco Travel and then I see what the cost would be booking everything individually. I find that Get Away Today usually has the lowest out of pocket cost most of the time, but the added extras from Costco was the best deal for this trip. Here is a peek at the costs I found for this trip with our hotel choice being the Fairfield Inn.
Get Away Today cost $1685, included:
- Hotel
- Disneyland Tickets (5 – 2 day one park per day tickets)
- Hotel Parking (Bonus)
- 5 Lanyards (Bonus)
Costco Travel cost $1745, included:
- Hotel
- Disneyland Tickets (5 – 2 day one park per day tickets)
- Hotel Parking (Bonus)
- Disney PhotoPass Collection (Bonus)
- Disneyland Resort Photo 5×7 Print by Disney’s Photopass (Bonus)
- $50 Disney Gift Card (Bonus)
- 5 Lanyards and pins (Bonus)
- 5 Luggage Tags (Bonus)
Booking Hotel & Tickets individually cost $1859, included:
- Hotel = $788.04
- Disneyland Tickets (5 – 2 day one park per day tickets) = $995.00
- Hotel Parking ($19 per night) = $76
I chose Costco over Get Away today for a couple reasons. One, when you factor in the $50 Disney gift card that made the cost more like $1695. Since I am an Executive Member that means I will earn 2% back on the cost, which is $34.90. This made the cost cheaper than Get Away Today and the fact that there were a few extras made the Costco deal the best choice for this vacation. Checking these sites takes no time at all, but it can save you hundreds of dollars.
Disneyland PhotoPass – We used the Disneyland PhotoPass service for the very first time, because it came as a bonus with our Costco package. I know many people love this service, but I think I’ve decided it just isn’t for us. We had 3 days in the parks and we ended up with a total of 29 photos (that included our ride photos). We are PhotoPass drop outs! I guess we just aren’t posers…photo posers that is. I like taking photos of my family on our Disneyland trips, but most of them aren’t posed, they are just photos of the fun. I will get some use out of this if it comes with a package or Max Pass, but I have no desire to purchase the PhotoPass on it’s own.
Mickey’s Halloween Party – We have been to Disneyland in the fall probably more than anytime of the year, and we have never attended the Mickey’s Halloween Party. I always thought it was an unnecessary added expense. During our previous trips when the party was happening I made sure that we planned to be at California Adventure the day the Halloween Party. Last year, my husband and I attended Mickey’s Christmas Party in Disney World and it was one of the best times we have ever had, so we figured the Halloween Party might be similar experience. We decided to give it a try this year and… we loved it!!! I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. Here are some things you should know about the Halloween Party:
Every year you can get into the park 3 hours before the party actually starts, but this year you were are able to get into EITHER park 3 hours before the Halloween Party started (normally it’s just the park that is hosting the party). So, at 4:00 we headed to California Adventure to experience some fun before we headed to Disneyland for the party.
There is Trick-or-Treating throughout the park. They pass out good stuff too. Lots of great candy bars, Apple Crisps, Goldfish crackers and more. They will give you a trick or treat bag as you enter and with all the stuff they hand out, they are a little on the small side. You may want to bring along an extra bag or two.
The party includes the Frightfully Fun Parade and Halloween Screams, a supernatural fireworks celebration. You will also find lots Disney Villains and popular Disney Pals decked out in Halloween costumes that make for great photo opportunities.
FastPass is not available during the Halloween Party and quite honestly, it’s not needed! Disney limits the amount of tickets they sell to the party which results in shorter lines, even for many of the more popular rides. This is another reason why we love the holiday parties. The holiday parties are magical my friends, you must try one!
The Halloween parties sold out before the first party even took place. If you plan to go to a Halloween party in the future make sure you buy your ticket well in advance of the party date.
Magical 3 Wishes – One of the coolest things we experienced on our trip is when a cast member came up to my son (who was dressed as Aladdin for the Halloween Party) and asked him what his 3 wishes were. My son said, a handshake, a joke and a new tie. The cast member shook his hand, told him a joke and told him to pick out any tie that he wanted in the store. He gave my son the tie for free! It was completely unexpected. My son kind of wished he asked for something different like an annual pass. : )
Birthday at Disneyland – For the first time, one of our kids got to spend their actual birthday at the Disneyland park. He was able to pick up his free birthday button. Since it was the night of the Halloween party many of the cast members were extra generous with his Halloween candy. If you are celebrating anything while at Disneyland, you can pick up a special button. They have buttons for birthdays, anniversaries, first visits, etc. These buttons can be found inside at City Hall on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland Park or at Guest Services in Disney California Adventure Park.
Halloween at California Adventure – California Adventure was all decked out to celebrate Halloween! Cars Land was especially fun to visit because there was new Halloween decor around every corner. So much fun! I’m not even that big of a fan of Halloween and I loved it all.
Disneyland MaxPass – Disneyland has released a new version of their FastPass service called MaxPass. The cost is $10 per person/ticket per day. The purchase of MaxPass also includes Disney PhotoPass Downloads (Yay, my fave! – that was sarcastic, in case you couldn’t tell). We decided to give the MaxPass service a try on our day at California Adventure. We paid $50 for our family of 5. You can’t activate the service until you are actually inside the park. Once you are in you can schedule your first FastPass. With this service you are essentially saving yourself the time and hassle of physically getting your FastPass tickets, you just do it all via your phone. We usually just have one our teenagers run and get our FastPass tickets so it didn’t save me any running around time. : ) You still have to wait the regular hour and 1/2 before you can schedule your next FastPass. I don’t believe we will use this service on all of our visits, but it was fun to try for a day. It was very handy to get FastPass for Radiator Springs Racers without having to wait in a long line.
Halloween Treats – One of my favorite things about holidays at Disneyland is that you will find new treats to celebrate each and every holiday. Halloween is no exception! A favorite family treat (for half our family) are churros. For Halloween they had pumpkin churros and churros with purple ghost sprinkles. If you are heading to Disneyland during a holiday season, I highly recommend doing a little research to find out what new treats they will have. It’s no fun when to get home and realize there was an amazing treat that you missed. I hate when that happens!
Passing Time in Line – Do you have a favorite thing to do while you are passing time in line. We like to play the “Disneyland Guessing Game” where a family member thinks of something related to the Disneyland Parks and then the rest of us have to guess what it is. This time around we enjoyed playing some rounds of “Heads Up” with our phones. If you have the Heads Up app on your phone you can gain access to the Disney Parks deck for free if you are visiting Disneyland, Disney World or Aulani. The Heads Up app only costs $.99 and it’s a great way to pass the time while waiting in line. If you have any fun and clever things you do while waiting in line, I would love to hear about them.
Souvenirs – We happen to hit the parks on the one day they got in new stock of the coveted Rose Gold Minnie ears, so I had to get myself a pair! They are the first pair of Mickey Ears I have ever purchased (they of course were immediately “borrowed” by my daughter). I also picked up a new Disney keychain. They keychains are some of my favorite souvenirs because it reminds me of our fun Disney vacations every time is use my keys. I know many people are turned off by the high prices of the Disney souvenirs, but this is one of the things that we budget for. I have the Disney Visa which saves us 10% on all purchases of $50 or more at the shops throughout the Disney Parks. If you happen to be visiting Disney World, I highly recommend checking out their Disney Outlets to save on official Disney Souvenirs.
We visited the 3rd week in September because our daughter is in running start and she hadn’t started school yet. For quick trips like these we usually leave on a Wednesday night and fly home on Sunday. This means our youngest only had to miss two days of school. This gave us Thursday at Disneyland, Friday morning at Downtown Disney, Friday evening at the Halloween party and Saturday at California Adventure. We usually try to avoid weekends, but I was pleasantly surprised by how light the crowds were at California Adventure on Saturday. September is a great time to visit! We also recommend the last week in August if your kids aren’t in school yet. It’s a great time to go, but it can get hot.
If you have a Disney trip planned, I have a ton of posts to help you make the most of your trip. Check them out below:
- Check out our Ultimate Guide to Disneyland Snacks
- Check out the highlights from our trip to Disneyland Paris
- 10 of the BEST places to eat breakfast at Disneyland
- 10 of the BEST places to each lunch at Disneyland
- Several ways you can save on Disneyland Park Tickets.
- Great tips that will help you to do Disneyland (and California Adventure) in a day.
- Craving a Dole Whip? Check out our recipe for Homemade Dole Whip
- Check out the time my husband and I has six meals & one snack at Disneyland and paid less than $30 (thanks to a lot of planning)
Halloween is one of my favorite times to visit Disneyland!! Jealous you got to see the all the new decorations!! My husband and I tried out the Max Pass on our last trip and Loved it. We felt that we were able to ride so many more rides and the FP times were sooner than the paper tickets. we will definitely use again.
Happy to see for 2018 Costco packages that they are bringing back the dining vouchers.
My son was in charge of all the Halloween decor. Looks good! Great job Ryan!
Ah this is so fun!!! I love it! ❤️
I actually like the photopass, but I do wish there were more photo opportunities. Did you try any magic shots? There was one of Oogie boogie and other Halloween themed ones. Plus, you get the ride photos. At WDW, they do a little video of the ride and insert photos of you into it! I paid for the WDW one and it was pricey considering the number of photos we got, but I used Rewards to pay so it didn’t sting too bad. Plus you can share the expense with others in your party. My DL AP comes with photopass, so I am always downloading my friends’ pictures, lol!