Hey there, hi there, ho there! It’s Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort. The festivities officially kicked off today and we were on-hand to see the debut of this year’s Haunted Mansion Holiday, tons of new themed food and lots of other spooky fun. So join us as we head around both parks to get into the spirit of the season.

The first thing we noticed was that the contactless security scanners which were installed earlier in the week have now been removed and traditional metal detectors have been returned.

New banners are up along what was once the tram route, now the pedestrian walkway to the park.

And the spooky fun starts in the Esplanade with new Halloween-themed banners on the light poles, featuring some of the scarier attractions and adding bats to those less scary.

Disneyland

The decorations have all been hung, the pumpkins have all been lit, and it’s time for Halloweentime at Disneyland to really begin.

Mickey and his friends are looking their most spirited in these fancy Halloween costumes as they march along with the Disneyland Band.

The Dapper Dans have returned to the park for the first time since the COVID shutdown. You can see their full show on our YouTube channel, right here:

The Main Street Photo Supply Co has closed for a refurbishment. PhotoPass services are currently relocated.

Alice and the Cheshire Cat were out greeting guests today as they braved the long lines for popcorn buckets and festive foods.

A new dining area is under construction along the Rivers of America. Pelican’s Landing will be a two-story dining complex to give diners at Harbour Galley a nice riverfront place to enjoy their meal.

We spotted this Halloween balloon in the park which matches the light-up Mickey balloon ear headband that we found in the park a few weeks ago.

What we were really excited to dive into was the food. There’s so much fantastic food out for the Halloween season and we just had to try it all.

Of course we started with popcorn, and it came in these cute popcorn buckets that are perfect for the season.

We tried it all. The Maleficent Churro.

The pumpkin cheesecake, Cruella brownie, and all the delicious treats at Jolly Holiday.

In Fantasyland, we got a churro with pumpkin sauce.

We tried the Candy Apple Cold Brew and the Grave Stuff (it was delicious) at Red Rose Taverne.

To keep our colds cold and our hots hot, we got a couple of new Halloween to-go cups in Fantasyland as well.

In Tomorrowland, Alien Pizza Planet serves a “deconstructed” lasagna and a pesto pizza that aren’t out-of-this-world.

Over in Critter Country, we tried all the festive offerings at the Hungry Bear Restaurant, like these loaded onion rings.

In Frontierland, Rancho del Zocalo is serving up some Horchata and a Milk Mamey.

The Stage Door Cafe has a surprisingly good spicy corn dog and a very rich chocolate hazelnut funnel cake.

River Belle Terrace offers a massive spicy chicken and brisket grilled cheese sandwich.

Down in New Orleans Square, the chocolate strawberry beignets from the Mint Julep Bar are a fantastic addition.

Cafe Orleans has a very indulgent Dr Facilier mousse cake that is so good it might just send you to meet those friends on the other side.

The white chocolate churro in New Orleans Square leaves something to be desired, but it’s in close proximity to something we really want to see.

Haunted Mansion Holiday returned today with long lines of excited riders hoping to see how Jack Skellington has wrecked the halls this year.

Jack and Sally were even here on the second story balcony greeting guests and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

These new dark lanterns are foreboding and a nice compliment to all the Jack-o-lanterns strewn about.

This year’s gingerbread house is a stunner. Haunted Mansion Holiday is celebrating 20 years of making Christmas this year, and this is honored in the gingerbread house with a XX inside the wreath’s mouth.

You can ride along with us in our full on-ride video, right here:

We just couldn’t get enough of that gingerbread house, so we came over to the Magic Key Lounge at Starcade in Tomorrowland to check out the photo op featuring concept art and photos from each of the 20 gingerbread houses that have graced the mansion ballroom over the last two decades.

The Magic Key Lounge features several other photo ops as well, including Magic Key specific ones and even a Muppets Haunted Mansion one.

You can take a full video tour of the Magic Key Lounge right here:

Back in Adventureland, we noticed that Tarzan’s Treehouse has been covered in scaffolding and scrim for a refurbishment.

But other scaffolding has come down recently. The second story refurbishments of the New Orleans Square balconies have been finished, leaving space for Jack and Sally to come say hello to guests passing by.

Disney California Adventure

As we head across the way to try all the festive foods at the other park, we saw the same spooky treatment given to the DCA banners.

After a few weeks behind construction walls, the centerpiece of the Esplanade was revealed once again.

Starting even at the entrance to the park, new bat decorations line the posts and walls of Buena Vista Street to celebrate the season.

We stopped into Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream to grab some festive cool treats.

In Grizzly Peak Airfield, we helped ourselves to a Chocolate Matcha churro and a light-up bottle topper.

Across the street at Smokejumpers Grill, we tried the new Bacon Jalapeno Burger and the Green Apple Lemonade.

And further down the trail near Grizzly Peak, we found some caramel apple churros in an idyllic setting.

Boudin Bakery is cooking up some Vampire Mickey sourdough loaves.

And the factory tour is open once again, with the welcome video playing.

At the Lamplight Lounge, we tried possibly the best find of the day — ghost pepper nachos, and a spicy specialty cocktail.

And what a beautiful place to enjoy such a delicious snack.

Jack-Jack’s Cookie Num-Nums are pretty sweet with this shortbread cookie for the season.

The Halloween Candy Funnel Cake Fries from Award Wieners are a lot to handle.

Nearby at the Hollywood Churro Cart, these mummified chocolate-marshmallow churros are fantastic.

The Eel-ectric Lounge sponsored by Fanta has taken over much of Hollywood Pictures Backlot and they have tons to offer.

A smattering of drinks featuring Fanta are hit-or-miss.

The food, however, is almost universally fantastic. The Hawaiian BBQ Chicken with Fanta Pineapple fried rice really shocked us at how good it was.

While in the area, we stopped by Schmoozies for their new Halloween shakes as well.

Plaza de la Familia featuring Coco has taken over Paradise Gardens with tons of entertainment, meet-and-greets and traditional foods for Dia de los Muertos.

At the Corn Dog Castle, we had a surprisingly good deep fried cheese block.

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel

We ran over to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel to check in on their offerings and we found this cool Oogie Boogie display.

The Holiday Cart in the lobby of the hotel offers a large assortment of festive goodies, including a cookie shot glass with cotton candy flavored milk.

And we stopped in to the GCH Craftsman Grill for some of their Halloween Treats as well.

Disney California Adventure (Again)

As the sun started to set, we drove down Route 66 to see what Radiator Springs was doing for Haul-o-Ween.

The Cozy Cones have some fun holiday treats, including this Cozy Cone Macaron with peanut butter cream and pretzels.

Flo’s V8 Cafe is offering a delicious mango-habanero spicy chicken that got our motor running.

At night, the whole town lights up for Haul-o-Ween and it’s just beautiful.

Avengers Campus is celebrating its first Halloween with the park and Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark is especially fun to see lit up for the occassion.

Carthay Circle Restaurant becomes a giant projectable surface after dark as Oogie Boogie gets ready to take over the park for his Oogie Boogie Bash.

And the Headless Horseman is back again for the Halloween season, making for a really cool photo op.

The front of the park glistens and lights up at night with projections and decorations.

Disneyland (Again, Last Stop We Promise)

The pumpkins above the turnstiles have been there all day, but they look so much cooler at night.

We had to come back for the fireworks. Halloween Screams is back once again with projections all down Main Street, U.S.A. and on Sleeping Beauty Castle. You can watch the full show with us right here:

And the gang was all here to say goodnight after our fun-filled day in the parks, seeing everything Halloweentime has brought. Thanks for riding along with us. We’ll see ya real soon!