On a beautiful Sunday morning, T and I left the house, braved the crazy LA freeways and headed to Disneyland. The commute to Disneyland wasn't bad at all, taking only 40 minutes or so. But once we got close, it looked like everyone and their cousin had the same idea of going to DL today. The off-ramp from the freeway was completely backed up and no one was moving. It literally took us 25 minutes to get from the freeway into the Mickey and Friends parking structure. All the parking attendants were working the booths though so I don't know what Disney could have done different. There were just a lot of people getting to the park at the same time.
But it's our first visit to the parks in a while, so it would take a lot more than that to put a damper on our day.
To me, the Halloween decorations are second only to the Christmas decorations. I love all the giant pumpkins shaped like Disney characters.
Even the Dapper Dans are getting into the Halloween spirit, changing from their regular colors to all orange. I love hearing them sing Grim Grinning Ghosts, especially when the vocalist who sings bass hits those low low notes.
Today we're meeting Ruston and Jacob for lunch at the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. This is one of our favorite places to eat at the parks when we're hungry. It's got entertainment, which some might not like, but I always enjoy.
And how could you not like an endless bucket of meat?!? Along with the BBQ chicken and pork ribs, you get all you care to eat baked beans, corn bread, coleslaw and a drink for just $24 per person.
Theresa catching me enjoying my ribs. While lunch it tasty, is just doesn't compare to dinner. With dinner you get another delicious meat option of sausage which is probably my favorite of the three different kinds. You also get corn-cob wheels, which is also my favorite side dish. If you have a choice, do dinner!
It was a delicious meal and as always, there was good company.
Since we're back here, lets go see the carved pumpkins! Besides the Haunted Mansion Holiday, they're our second favorite part of Halloweentime at Disneyland.
Back at the Big Thunder Ranch Festival Arena, there are lots of special events,
I love how creative the pumpkin carvers are. King Candy from Wreck It Ralph in his race car.
I thought the Horned King from the Black Cauldron was really well done and very creative with the use of extra pumpkin stems for his horns.
The Mad Hatter and Genie.
I don't really know the series, but I'm thinking this is Sofia from the Disney Channel show Sofia the First.
And Jake from Jake and the Never Land Pirates
The Shadow Man, Doctor Facilier from The Princess and the Frog makes an appearance.
And Brer Fox, Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit are taking a trip down Splash Mountain.
The Headless Horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
And this Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland was so realistic it was a little creepy.
From the upcoming Disney computer animated movie Frozen...
Ursula with Flotsam and Jetsam.
I really really liked this carving of Sir Hiss from Robin Hood. It made great use of the shape of the pumpkin and it's a pose directly out of the movie.
Captain Hook from Peter Pan.
Nathan Fillion and his character Johnny Worthington III from Monster University.
Tinker Bell
Of course the Pumpkin King lends himself well to a good carving.
And a classic scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas
Not exactly carved, but a beautiful painting of Sally.
I like how a smaller pumpkin was used as Tinker Bell's bun. The Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland.
Another Jack and Sally going for a buggy ride.
Stitch from Lilo & Stitch.
Merida from Brave. I really wish they would have carved out her skin. In the movie, her skin is so pale and she has such a shock of red hair to contrast with it. With both the skin and hair the same, something seems like it's missing.
Either way though, there's been lots of awesome pumpkins! I wish we could come back closer to Halloween to see what else they create between now and then!
What else can we do? How about a little ring toss? There's no prizes, but at least you can have bragging rights with your friends.
Jacob asked "I can aim for any of them?" and then reached forward and dropped the ring around the witch hat that was 1 foot away.
Yours truly was 2 for 2 and only missed the really far third one because a little bit of sun got in my eyes.
Then we each got our fortunes from the Wheel of Fortunes.
After telling us repeatedly spin it lightly, Jacob incurred the wrath of the cast member by spinning it too fast. Once I distracted him though, she grabbed the wheel and stopped it.
The prize? A card with a witty saying on it.
There were a few more pumpkins hidden in nooks and crannies over here. Another Jack Skellington and our first Mickey Mouse pumpkin.
Jasmine was well done.
And I like how they placed the Evil Queen next to an apple.
Marie from the Aristocats.
And I totally would have missed it if Theresa hadn't pointed it out. Hiding behind the Wheel of Fortunes was Jessica Rabbit!
Who even had glitter in her red dress!
Our last treat was some cotton candy layered to look like candy corn, or as Jacob and Ruston called it, Cotton Candy Corn.
We'll continue our adventure at the Haunted Mansion Holiday with its Nightmare Before Christmas overlay! Stay tuned!
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