Disneyland at Halloween time is my favorite, I like it better than when it's dressed up for Christmas. Walking up to the gates and seeing these adorable pumpkin sculptures got us giddy!
We started our trip off with a bang and had reservations for Minnie's breakfast at the adorable Plaza Inn. We thought it would be such a fun introduction to meeting the characters for Monty, plus he absolutely adores Minnie, she was his favorite character for a long time. We had also taken V to Minnie's breakfast her first time to Disneyland, so it's a special little tradition.
Waiting in line to see the hostess, we got a couple of glimpses of her through the trees and Monty was mesmerized.
Pictures with Minnie were included in our reservation, I think they turned out so cute! Monty was excited, throughout this entire trip, we learned when Monty is introduced to something new that he loves and thinks is exciting and special, he takes it all in very solemnly and seriously. Then he would talk about it forever afterwards and ask to go again, so we knew he liked it. He was a little upset that he couldn't hug Minnie, the one kid in our family who isn't scared to hug the characters can't because of Covid (#pandemiclife) hopefully he will get the chance to hug Minnie in the future.
While we were there, Minni's breakfast was modified for safety reasons, instead of having the characters wander the restaurant and spend time at each table, they would have little parades throughout the meal. The characters loved interacting (from a distance) with Monty, he was doing the cutest belly laughs the whole time. He kept asking if he could pet Chip and Dale, hopefully one day little buddy!
The inside of the Plaza Inn is a magical, Victorian dream.
V took these photos of us, she is a talented photographer.
My favorite thing to get at Minnie's breakfast are the Mickey waffles with the bananas foster on top.
Monty was ready for a nap after meeting so many characters, but we hadn't even introduced him to the rides yet!
We decided Small World would be a great first ride for Monty, it is nice and relaxing, it's in a boat (one of his favorite things) it doesn't have anything scary in it, and it is full of eye candy. On our short walk from the Plaza Inn to Small World, we saw so many characters! I must say, this new way of meeting characters is pretty nice, you get to see way more of them, they are everywhere!
The cheshire cat was so cute and round, I don't think I have ever seen him in the park before.
Next we ran into Tinkerbell, waving from Pixie Hallow.
Wendy and Hook! These are two characters you don't see too often in the park, especially together, they are kind of a random pairing, but we loved it! Wendy kept calling Monty Smee, because he was wearing a stripped shirt.
And the Genie, again, another character I don't recall seeing out and about in the parks, he is sometimes in the parades, but doesn't do meet and greets very often.
We also crossed paths with the Pearly Band, on their way to do a show.
It took Monty a while to learn how to wait in a long line, he didn't understand why we couldn't just keep walking up to the front of the ride. By the end of the trip, he had caught on to how lines work and was a champ. For the first few rides, we found it easier to put him on our shoulders to keep him in one place.
Monty was amazed by the magical world of Small World, he couldn't look away. He would even get excited and point and shout about things, like the elephants or the alligators. It was so much fun watching him experience it all for the first time.
Right after we stepped off Small World and were headed to get our strollers, a parade came by! The amount of Disney magic we experienced our first day in the parks was amazing.
Another reason I love the parks at Halloween is all the characters are dressed up in adorable halloween costumes, and the villains are out and about. I always think it's fun to see the villains, they stay in character and are hilarious.
Next up was Beth's all time favorite ride, the Haunted Mansion! This ride is fun no matter when you ride it, but it is especially festive with it's holiday overlay. We thought Monty might like this ride because he loves the movie Nightmare Before Christmas.
Monty's "scared" face
We got to see Jack and Sally!
"Memento Merry
20 years of ghoulish delights"
The holiday decor in the queue is so fun.
a typical view of us in line, the kiddos climbing all over the bars and Beth and I "supervising"
This line was looooooooooong. All our feet needed a break every once in a while, glad I could help Monty relax.
I haven't ever noticed this little bird house before. I thought it was so adorable that it got decorated for the holidays as well! I took a peek inside, it's actually a hidden control panel.
This year's gingerbread creation was amazing! They went over the top for the 20 year celebration.
Monty ended up thinking this was a pretty scary ride, V also thought it was a little spooky.
Then it was time for churros!
I also thought this was a great opportunity to document my cute and subtle halloween nails. They are press on nails from Static Nails and they stayed on so well during our entire trip. I loved them.
Then it was time to take Monty on the Disneyland Train! Trains are a big obsession for this little boy, so this was extremely exciting. We also told him there were dinos on this ride, so the entire time he asked where the dinos were, they were right before our last stop haha.
I always love riding the Disneyland Train, it is so relaxing and I love to feel the breeze on my face. It was such a beautiful day, we had wonderful blue sky views our entire ride.
We rode the train to the front of the park since it was time for the kiddos to head back for a nap. I helped beth get off with the kids, and then I headed back into the park for a solo afternoon.
Monty was one exhausted little boy after his first morning in the parks!
