This was nearly impossible to photograph well, so I had to borrow a photo. (Photo Drew A. Kelley, OC Register)
Disneyland Halloween Additions in Disney California Adventure: Photo Tour and Review
In 2017, the Disneyland Resort launched Halloween in Disney California Adventure adding tons of new decorations to both Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. They also added a special Halloween overlay for the new Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: Breakout! attraction. These brand new additions to Disneyland Halloween expand the offerings of the Halloween season and give you even more of a reason to get out to the resort this year to see it all!
Disneyland Halloween runs from the beginning of Sepember-October 31. In addition to all of the incredible decorations that can be seen by purchasing a Disneyland ticket, there are special event nights throughout the Halloween season such as Oogie Boogie's Bash– the Halloween party over at California Adventure. That special party takes place inside California Adventure meaning that park closes to regular guests at 6 pm or 7 pm on party nights and Disneyland stays open.
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Buena Vista Street Halloween Decorations
All of Buena Vista Street has been decorated with purple bunting and bat cutouts.
The desserts during the Halloween season are fantastic as well. They have very fun Jack Skellington chocolate cake pops and lots of other great options that can be purchased in the Trolley Treats shop or over in Disneyland at the Candy Palace.
The Carthay Circle Theater has awesome lighting effects at night that make the bats coming out of the parapet look incredible. In fact, the entire Buena Vista Street area looks 10x better with all of the Halloween decorations. All of the trees have bright purple lights in them and the Headless Horseman statue is lit up eerily. The music in the area is spooky and the voice of Oogie Boogie echoes from all corners of the area.
The Headless Horseman looks good during the day and even better during the evening hours of Disneyland Halloween.
You can see a full nighttime walk through of the Buena Vista Street Disneyland Halloween decorations in my video below:
Pro Tip: The decorations in Disney California Adventure look good during the day, but truly come to life in an incredible way once the sunsets. The lighting effects make these decorations look incredible. If you are going to look closely at the decorations in Cars Land and Buena Vista Street once, make sure that it is at night time.
Disneyland Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Decorations
The other part of Disney California Adventure decorated for Halloween is Cars Land. They are calling this area Haul-O-Ween. This land themed to the Disney-Pixar film Cars looks incredible as practically every inch has been decked out with Halloween decorations. This is already the must see area of Disney California Adventure, and the decorations only make it better.
Both Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters and Mater's Junkyard Jamboree have been decorated for Halloween with new decorations and Halloween soundtracks.
The Junkyard Jamboree became Mater's Graveyard Jamboree which features my favorite new song, the “Monster Truck Smash” as sung by Mater.
They decorated the car outside the attraction with Mummy Gauze–another fantastic Haul-O-Ween photo spot.
Ramone's Body Art shop has been decorated on the outside in preparation for Dia de Los Muertos. Even the car hoods in the windows have been changed out and decorated for Halloween.
The Radiator Springs Curio shop is also decked out in cobwebs.
There's a spider car in the middle of Flo's V8 Cafe sitting area. This car appears to be an old Mr. Toad's Wild Ride attraction vehicle.
There are special Halloween themed snacks in the cones of the Cozy Cone Inn.
All of the cars characters in Cars Land received special Halloween costumes. Here are Lightning McQueen and Mater in their Disneyland Halloween costumes.
There were fun posters spoofing classic Halloween films with Cars Land Haul-o-Ween car versions. “Hocus Spokus” will be a classic for years to come.
Coco: Celebration of Family
There is also a nice addition in the Paradise Gardens area of the park featuring Dia de Los Muertos and the new Disney-Pixar film Coco. The area includes exhibits sharing details about the new film and a very fun live show with music by the Grammy Award winning Mariachi Divas.
You can see video of the show and a tour of the new area here.
Guardians of the Galaxy-Monsters After Dark
Finally, there is a special Halloween version of the Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: Breakout! attraction that is open daily from 6 pm until closing. This new attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy-Monsters After Dark, picks up where the story of the day time attraction leaves off. The Guardians have lost Groot and need our help to distract the monsters that have been released so they can find him. The experience also features the monster from the new Thor movie.
This attraction is a fun high speed thrilling drop attraction that is much more similar to the Tower of Terror in tone than to the daytime version of the Guardians of the Galaxy. I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of the randomized drops in the more intense environment. The entire ride experience is transformed with different lighting throughout the queue and special new intro. Even the Cast Members get new costumes during the nighttime Halloween experience.
There is a really fun intro to the attraction (with a Stan Lee cameo) that we shared.
The Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission: Breakout! attraction closes down daily at 5 pm to transform into the nighttime Monsters After Dark experience which begins nightly at 6 pm. You can get a FastPass for the new experience starting at 3 pm in person or by using the Disneyland MaxPass app. If you plan on getting a FastPass in person I suggest getting in line by 2:30 pm so that they don't run out. There was a huge line the first couple of days, but this may die down later into the Halloween season.
Plan Your Disneyland Halloween Vacation
Well, that's my look at the new Halloween decorations in Disney California Adventure. All these decorations are just a small addition to the already awesome Disneyland Halloween decorations! See our full guide to Disneyland Halloween for more information on all of the offerings and special discounts for your experience.
And checkout our other Disneyland planning guides…
- 7 Best Hotels Near Disneyland
- Best Disneyland Character Dining Reviews
- Top 13 Best Disneyland Halloween Experiences
- When to Visit Disneyland
- Best Disneyland Souvenirs
- Which Airport is Closest to Disneyland
See official Disneyland website for current hours and entertainment schedules here.
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