A Halloween Disneyland visit with Pumpkin Mickey and Minnie Hats

Time for another Disneyland visit!
Every year we get a family picture in front of the giant Mickey pumpkin. It's nearing the end of October and we're starting to run out of time!
Today I've themed our hats to match the Mickey pumpkin. Both mine and Alli's purple Minnie pumpkin hat are from Tokyo Disneyland. Ian and Theresa chose the ball cap style pumpkin hats with Ian's being the 2018 Disneyland version, and Theresa's being the 2019 Disneyland version. I have so many fun Halloween Disney hats, but even we don't visit enough for me to cycle through all of them. I have a feeling that Christmas is going to be the same way.

The freeways were nice and clear this morning. There was a bit of a line for the parking garage at 8:30am. I wish there was a way to speed that up. I also wish there was a restroom on the Pixar side of the garage, and not just at the base of Mickey and Friends.
The pedestrian bridge is a very welcome addition.

A few weeks ago I commented about this section of the walkway becoming muddy and needing to either be blocked off or paved.


How about both? Today there's a fence around this spot and taking a peek over, it's been paved too.

The park has been open for a little over an hour and there's a good sized line to get a photo with the Giant Mickey Pumpkin. But since this is the one thing I wanted to accomplish, we hopped in line.

And... 45 minutes later, it's finally our turn. Whew! That was a long wait.
First the kids. They were set up like this.

And there's a little bit of Disney magic.

Very nice kids. Love that purple Minnie hat Alli.

I have a feeling this is going to make the cover photo for the October calendar.

This little boy thinks he's been growing. I measured him back on August 4th and he was still a finger's width away. Eleven weeks later and would you look at that. He's big enough!

Excited is an understatement. All day long he was talking about wanting to ride Indiana Jones. Not this trip, but we'll definitely fit it in on a future trip. I need to teach him a little more about the backstory of Indiana Jones and what an archeologist does. I think 5 years old is probably a little too early to watch the movies, but I think I'll grab a couple of key scenes to show him. Like the rolling boulder, the blow darts, and maybe the rats.

It's our friends! Let's spend the day at the park together.

Alli pointed out that there's already snow on the castle. Surprising it's not melted on this beautiful sunny 85 degree October day.

The carrousel was basically a walk-on and I saw someone special was about to board, so everyone quickly got in line.

That's because none other than Mary Poppins and Bert are riding with us today! I've had plenty of rides with the Pearly Street Band, but this is my very first time that I remember riding with Mary.

Looking beautiful Alli.

Ian and Brylie are ready to go.

After the ride, Alli went over to say hi.

Who is ready for a roller coaster?
Ian is ready!

Alli is ready!

Brylie is being brave and giving it a shot. It's a work in progress. Even Alli didn't like it on her first time. Now she'll ride anything!

Over at Mickey's house, the kids watched as a gopher stole Mickey's carrots. The line to actually see Mickey was moving a little too slow for us, so instead the kids opted to run around Goofy's house.

How many can you fit on a pumpkin?

The theming of the queue at Roger Rabbit's Toontown Spin is great. Actually all the theming back here in Toontown is pretty good. I hope Disney can give the same level of attention to the new Mickey's Runaway Train ride coming here in 2022.

With both kids riding with other people, I gave Theresa what she called "the best ride I've ever had on Roger Rabbit". I kept the cab moving straight with no spinning at all.

Back near the front of the park in Tomorrowland, the kids wanted to ride the Astro Orbiter. I'll trade that for Dumbo any day, with the much shorter wait and the better views of the castle.
What is it with kids liking to pick each other up? Ian and Alli both weigh the same, and they're both able to pick each other up.

Speaking of those good views. Come Christmastime I'll bet it's going to be even better.

There's a good view down into the area that's being reworked near the hub. Disney is removing what fans are calling the "French Fry Rocks". I did a double-take when I thought I saw FFR painted on this  structure. Now I'm wondering what EER stands for.

Lunchtime! I know Pizza Planet doesn't get much love, but we enjoy it. Ian loves the pizza and Alli is a fan of the noodles with white sauce.

Star Tours!

These three have been having a lot of fun together today. Disneyland is always better with friends.

I haven't been on Star Tours in a while, but I'm thankful it wasn't a visit to Jakku or Crait. The kids had a great time.

It's a shame Boba Fett doesn't fit in to the new Star Wars land. I'd prefer that to having The First Order back there. Nice to see Star Wars characters still wandering around Tomorrowland though.

Time to start wrapping up our day.

Winnie the Pooh is a favorite for many. And the kids like that they get to ride together.

This past season, we didn't get a refillable popcorn bucket, but our friends did. My kids love Disneyland popcorn and our friends were always there with a refill.

It's not quite our record of 5 refills, but 4 refills for this size bucket was pretty good.

Alli when Ian was reaching for popcorn - "Slow it down Ian!"
Somehow I don't think it's Ian that's eating all that Alli.

After a fun ride on the Haunted Mansion, it was time to walk out. We did something we rarely do and took the tram back to the parking structure.

Today was fun! I'm glad we got our picture in front of the pumpkin early and the crowds really weren't that bad today.