Going Beyond The Castle
Going Beyond The Castle is your ultimate travel podcast that takes you beyond the magical gates of Disney. Join hosts Fred and Lori as they explore a world of vacation possibilities, diving into the best experiences from Universal Studios, Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Virgin Cruise Line, Sandals Resorts, and so much more. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just dreaming of your next getaway, tune in for expert tips, in-depth reviews, and insider secrets to make your vacation truly unforgettable.
Going Beyond The Castle
Halfway to Halloween: Ghoulish Fun & Disney Magic
The smell of fall is in the air as Disney Parks gear up for their spectacular Halloween festivities. We're diving headfirst into the spooky season with our comprehensive guide to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom.
Having experienced this extraordinary event multiple times, we reveal why this ticketed party transforms an ordinary Disney day into an unforgettable Halloween adventure. From the moment you enter at 4pm (a full three hours before the party officially begins!), you'll discover a magical world where even adults can embrace the childlike joy of trick-or-treating.
Speaking of candy – prepare to be astonished by Disney's legendary generosity. We share how you can collect enough premium chocolate to last well beyond Halloween night (and maybe even use it for your own trick-or-treaters – we call this clever strategy "Disney math"). The entertainment is equally impressive, with the incredible Boo-to-You Parade featuring characters you rarely see elsewhere, including the famous gravediggers from Haunted Mansion scraping sparks with their shovels across the parade route.
Beyond the spectacle, we offer practical guidance on maximizing your party experience. Learn where to stand for optimal parade viewing, which attractions feature special Halloween overlays, and how to balance party-exclusive experiences with ride opportunities. For families with special dietary needs, we explain Disney's excellent allergy-friendly options that ensure everyone can participate fully.
Whether you're planning your first Disney Halloween celebration or looking to enhance your annual tradition, this episode provides the insider knowledge to make your experience truly magical. And if you're considering visiting Disneyland instead, we briefly touch on Oogie Boogie Bash as well.
Ready to experience the not-so-scary side of Halloween? Reach out to us at info@goingbeyondthecastle.com to secure your party tickets as soon as they become available. Don't wait – the most popular dates sell out quickly!
Stay up to date with all things Going Beyond the Castle at beacons.ai/GoingBeyondTheCastle
trick-or-treating. I'm telling you you're gonna be set on candy.
Speaker 2:You can you'll literally have enough candy to eat all the candy you want and then take it home and give that out as halloween as your halloween candy, right yeah, you won't even need to buy no see, girl math, just go to disney, go to the halloween party, get all the candy, and then you don't have to buy candy for your house for trick-or-treaters. I call it disney math, but yeah, there you go, disney math what is up, welcome to going beyond the castle.
Speaker 1:I your host, or, as you would hear, at the Haunted Mansion, I am your ghost host, fred Bradley, and with me, as always, is the podcast princess, miss Lori Talamo. That is me. Today we are talking halfway to Halloween, even though Disney does not feel that it is time to talk about it.
Speaker 1:we are fully ready to talk about halfway to halloween yes so we're super excited for tonight's episode, got a lot of stuff to talk about when it comes to mickey's not so scary halloween party, what it's like doing halloween at the parks, and if we have some time we'll even dig into a little bit of disneyland talk boogie boogie bash, and maybe we'll talk lori's favorite topic, which is Halloween Horror Nights. So yeah, lots of good stuff to talk about. We're super excited to dive into Halloween. Before we dive into Halloween, we have a pretty big announcement which hopefully at this point everybody's aware of, but I'll hand it over to Lori to talk our big announcement.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so last week Disney released all well, not all only through October 26 packages are now available for booking. So if you've been holding out for 2026 vacations, you can now book those. And the big one was free dining for kids ages three to nine free dining for kids ages three to nine.
Speaker 1:So and what's crazy like about this is like I hear I keep hearing other travel agents refer to it as a promotion, but it's not a promotion it is. It is a full fledged, not going away perk.
Speaker 2:Yep For all of 2026. Yeah, so far, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And and actually I've had I, yeah, definitely. And actually I've had a bunch of clients this week that I've had phone conversations with and I have mixed feelings on the whole dining plan. But those who have small kids, I'm like you know what? It's free for the kids. So I have this little metal stand that it sticks to and it's not sticking. I'm like, yeah, if it's free, then of course take advantage of it, because it doesn't matter if they waste the food because you didn't pay for it, you know, I mean anyway.
Speaker 1:I mean, we've had a whole episode on it. Like, if you're, if you're, if you have questions about the dining plan, definitely go back and check out our, our episode on the dining plan and whether it's worth it.
Speaker 1:like I think, in this case, like you might, if you have kids between the ages of three and nine, just do it like absolutely you're talking free food, like, and you could even hit up like if you do the disney dining plan, you can hit up all the character buffets you want, like and yes, half of your meal is free right, and that's what I tell folks most of the time too.
Speaker 2:If youets you want like and half of your meal is free, right, and that's what I tell folks most of the time too. If you know you want to do character dining, then the meal plan is definitely worth it. Yeah, you know, especially when it's free.
Speaker 1:I was talking to my buddy about it the other day because I got a co-worker that's looking to book a trip and he was like, what's the meal plan? And I was like I was like how much does your kid eat? He was like not that much. Like, how much does your wife eat? I don't know why my camera just did that. I was like how much does your wife eat? He was like, oh, not that much. It was like do you drink alcohol? No, don't, don't get the, don't do it.
Speaker 2:Don'm like, if you're looking at it as how you've- you've said it before like you want it to be an all-inclusive feel, where you just pay for everything up front when you go there you know everything's paid for, you don't have to worry about it, then absolutely get it. If you have picky eaters or, you know, if you're kind of being budget conscience, that conscious, then conscious, yeah, we have someone well, I guess I shouldn't say it somebody that we know a long time ago, like, was saying conscience, and they had to correct him. He was preaching, it was funny anyway, but yeah, so if you, you know, trying to save money, then maybe, um, don't get a dining plan, share meals, stuff like that, but it's free, free for kids. So, yeah, you're paying for half your meals.
Speaker 1:So definitely, um, take advantage of it and, as of right now, they're still doing a lot of the other perks for booking a package. You know the water park on your check-in day is sticking around for next year.
Speaker 2:Disney's bringing back a lot of stuff in 2020 select yeah the one thing, while yeah, I think the one thing with the free water park day that's going to be confusing for people is because next year it's only listed for the summer, and so I think that folks that may go before the summer might be in for a rude awakening. So hopefully they have good travel agents that are advising them that if they want that perk that they need to go over the summer, want that perk that they need to go over the summer.
Speaker 2:I'm wondering if a lot of that is to do with the fact that they had to open up both parks because it's been so crowded, people are really taking advantage of it and maybe they don't want to have both of them open all year round, which that starts tomorrow, may.
Speaker 1:I think so May 1st, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, lots of big things happening in 2026 for Disney.
Speaker 2:World so far.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then the other new announcement. I guess Universal was like here, hold my butterbeer, because now they have. So I was all excited, so I feel certain ways about it. Okay. So they released now Epic preview tickets are on sale to the general public. So I get to go on a travel agent review through my agency.
Speaker 2:Um, and we were, you know, there was a select few of us that were offered that opportunity. I know, um, you know, like the, the social media people, you know, things like that were offered to go, and so we kind of selected a date later on for our preview day. And now it's open to everyone. Now they are limiting the sales, so I don't think it's going to be at full capacity, but still. So I'm like well, so now I don't feel as special that I get to go on a preview day, but the good side of it is was that I was able to get my family tickets because they'll be in Orlando, because we're going for cheer, so now the whole family gets to go and do the preview day. So I'm going to do two days, one with them and then one with my friend from my agency.
Speaker 1:So I'm strongly debating buying a ticket for that Friday that Jamel flies out early in the morning and I have the whole day to myself oh, I would absolutely do it if I do I'm debating it. My only thing is the day after it opens. It's on the third so it's gonna be packed, so I don't know. I'm still debating it and I I gotta figure out what the military the best route to go is for military yeah because I think I have to have the freedom pass in order to get a discount on everything.
Speaker 1:But I gotta look into it yeah, and I'm also.
Speaker 2:I haven't told josh yet, so hopefully he's not listening. Um, hang on, but I'm I'm gonna price out the express passes for the family when we're there. The only the thing that's questionable, though, is because I asked josh. I'm like, are you gonna everything? And he's like no, but if I don't get him an Express Pass, then he won't be able to do the rides with us that he wants to do. So I have Express Pass for us when I go in June, and my friend Bethany and I had talked about getting it for the day that we're doing the preview. So I'm going to probably sit out and see, but, especially because the family's only going to be there this one day and who knows when they'll come back, I may spring for it and get it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know, I need to figure it out Now. All this being said, we have a lot of fun trips planned in May, so definitely, if you have not been keeping up with the podcast, make sure you check back in. In June, it sounds like we're going to have multiple Epic Universe tickets or trips, disneyland trips, disney World trips. The only thing I don't think we're going to have is Universal.
Speaker 2:Well, actually I am doing.
Speaker 1:Are you doing a day at Universal?
Speaker 2:Yeah, since I'm doing two days of Epic in May when we go in June, some of us have decided, instead of doing two days of Epic, we're going to do one day, because I want to be able to do Hagrid's and Velocicoaster.
Speaker 1:So we'll have that to throw in there we have all of the major Orlando parks covered and even the. California one covered in the month of May and June, so exciting things coming to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Definitely don't think we'll be sleeping on the podcast in the month of May and June. So exciting things coming, fun stuff. Definitely Don't think we'll be sleeping on the podcast because I have all intentions during the month of May, when we have time off, is really gearing up and getting our social media presence a little bit better and also trying to get some engagement. So go back during that time. Maybe we can pick some of our favorites to repost during May, just to keep the dialect going.
Speaker 1:I don't know if that's the word I was looking for but anyway, I don't think it was, but that's fine.
Speaker 2:No, it's late. I had a headache all day today, so we'll just go with it.
Speaker 1:All right, let's dive into Halloween.
Speaker 2:Yes, super fun. I know we talked about it before we started, but I'm still in shock that Disney has not said anything about halfway to Halloween. I didn't even realize that was a thing until just maybe last year, when I noticed how much they promote halfway to Halloween, googled and researched the date to put this episode on that week and this is typically the week that they do some halfway to Halloween stuff, so it'll probably come out tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Just because we did the podcast today, probably, which that'll be our luck, yeah, yeah, because they do make a big deal out of halfway to Halloween on the Disney Parks blog and you and you know at all the parks I mean disneyland has it going for them that this is their 70th anniversary, so all the oogie, boogie, bash stuff has already been released, been out, yeah, yeah. So at this point we're just waiting on disney world, and especially as we head into the 70th anniversary celebration, which is starting literally the week after I'm at Disneyland. But I'm not salty, there's just a lot happening in Disney news. I don't know, maybe we'll, maybe we'll see it soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hopefully.
Speaker 1:But the good news is we have years of data to look at that we can at least talk about, you know, things like Mickey's not so scary Halloween party and just kind of give you guys the rundown on it, what to expect and things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and this will actually be the first year. So the last three years I've gone to the Halloween party, so this will be the first year. However, I don't even think I've shared this with you because I know it's. I've talked about it a lot, but I'm pretty sure some of us are going to do the Christmas party this year. Since we'll be there in December, we have it tentatively on our schedule for one of the days. So I'm like, if I got to go by myself, I'm going to do it Until I went last year.
Speaker 1:the Halloween party was my favorite. Like hands down love the Halloween party. Now the Christmas nerd in me is a bigger fan of Mickey's Merry Christmas party.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the one thing I will not do is drink 100 cups of eggnog.
Speaker 1:Although I do love eggnog. It was 10, which is still too much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I'm excited, I can't wait. So, anyway, but yeah, but I love the Halloween party. Yeah, it's just a whole vibe. It is, even though you know, I'm not like a huge halloween. I used to be when I was younger, because my birthday is november 1st, so I used to bc, before christ, I guess, even though I was raised in church you're only like 21 calm down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I took a break and I used to party it up on halloween night because it was my birthday, so it it was like a big celebration, yeah, but I'm not into haunted houses and such anymore, but the Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party is right up my alley.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Fall time, you know, we usually see Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party. Start Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween. Yeah, I thought I confused Christmas and that oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Make sure we stay on the right topic. Usually we see them start decorating, you know, right as soon as August hits August, yeah, and then usually we'll see parties start, you know, second week of August, running all the way through Halloween night, yeah. And what's crazy is, magic Kingdom is really the only thing that Disney World that gets decorated. At Disney World you see a couple Halloween characters. In the other parks, like Hollywood and Vine, get Minnie, donald, goofy and, I think, mickey in Halloween costumes. Yeah, there's a couple things, but really, like the majority of Halloween at Disney World is solely Magic Kingdom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, this year the dates are wait no, we don't know we don't know it yet. Yeah, so all of the information I have is from 2024.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it stays pretty, it stays pretty pretty consistent. The only thing that'll really change is that, like the specific dates, like you can expect the pattern to remain the same as to what nights of the week you see things and then of course, the prices are yeah, tuesday, friday, sunday and then, as we get closer to halloween, if they're in some thursdays yeah, so there's I mean really there's lots of opportunities to hit mickey's not so scary halloween party.
Speaker 1:If you're doing even a short period at disney world, like it's usually every other day, you can expect to have a party.
Speaker 2:Yeah yes, and if you're interested in going to one of the events, send us an email at info at going beyond the castle dot com. Yes, I thought of info uh, does it podcast or just going beyond the castle? Info at going beyond the castlecom.
Speaker 1:That's why I shouldn't improvise, because I get confused also, and we can put you on our list side note I don't know who this is, but somebody just asked on youtube if we're excited for lilo and stitch live action. I'm not excited at all for Lilo and Stitch live action.
Speaker 1:Yeah, see, that's also we're going to backpedal. That's also like I was planning to go see the Lilo and Stitch movie at Disney Springs on that Friday. So now it's like do I go see Lilo and Stitch or do I go walk around a park and possibly not ride anything because it's going to be extremely packed? So I don't know, possibly not write anything because it's going to be extremely packed, so I don't know, but yes, super excited for the new Lilo and Stitch.
Speaker 1:I think they've done a great job based off of the previews that we've seen, so super excited for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was talking to Breeden and Addie and maybe Olivia. No, Olivia wasn't there when we went to the NOLA Go game Sunday and I was asking them if they were going to go. Addie said Aspen has already tried to get her. I was like, well, no, until you have to go with me or we just all go together. What's?
Speaker 1:also crazy is tomorrow's May 1st, which means we have 21 days until this movie releases and they still have not released tickets. I haven't checked. Yeah, that's wild. We're slacking on multiple things. Anyway, yes, but anyway yes.
Speaker 2:Back to Halloween. Where were we?
Speaker 1:Yes, Email us if you want tickets. Yes, email us.
Speaker 2:We can put you on our list and once tickets are available, we can hit you up. And really I know a lot of people unless you're wanting to go Halloween night or like opening night, it doesn't tend to sell out right away. However, if you know you want to go, don't waste. There's so many times I see in facebook groups after oh, I was waiting, I was waiting, and now it's sold out. So I'm like just just bite the bullet and do it. Don't, don't miss the dates that you want to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, facts like, and that's the way it is with almost all. I say all, there's really only two things, both parties, christmas and Halloween. That's how it is. We usually see Halloween tickets in May, we usually see Christmas tickets in July and usually you have until a solid two weeks or so before the event that it's going to sell out. But I always tell people like, why wait right, buy your ticket.
Speaker 2:Why risk it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially if you're going like closer to like it's those, those nights are going to sell out first. Halloween will always sell out first, and then kind of backing up a little bit, and then it'll go back to the beginning of august and it'll start selling out, yeah towards, as we get later in the year. So definitely just buy those tickets.
Speaker 2:Absolutely use olivia, and i's um method. You rather ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. So buy the tickets and then say sorry, I thought you wanted to go. I already bought the. They're non-refundable, so now we have to go.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, lots of dates to choose from. Yeah.
Speaker 2:The good thing about go ahead.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say I think, to stay on a good track, we just got to go down our Excel and not jump around.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That's what I was getting ready to do, except I keep losing my mouth.
Speaker 1:I will probably cover some tips and tricks, though, if you don't before, yeah, gotcha.
Speaker 2:So one of the good things about the parties and I guess it just depends too on what your main goal is, because there's going to have, they're going to have rides open, they'll have entertainment, there's the trick or treating, there's photos, so it really just kind of depends on the things that you want to do. One thing I've never done is any of the character meet and greets, because I don't want to get in line for that. But for the majority, I'm pretty sure most of the attractions are open during the Halloween party. And the good thing is and we didn't really talk about this, I don't even think I have it in the notes or maybe somewhere is when you buy a party ticket, you don't. You can go into the park starting at four, so you don't have to wait until the party starts at seven. You can go in at four, start knocking out some rides, um, until the party gets started yeah, like that's.
Speaker 1:I tried to tell this to one of my. They went to disney and then became my clients. Yeah, one time I let her in here, I told this to my. They went to dis and then became my clients. Gabby, get going. One time I let her in here, I told this to my. They went to Disney before they became clients and they went to the Christmas party and I was like listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth Get to the park at 3 pm and wait in line and they will let you in before 4 o'clock and you will then have three hours before the party even starts to do whatever you want to get started.
Speaker 1:Yep, like I can't stress enough, like get there early, wait in the line and just I mean, just sit on the ground that's what I did and just wait like it's gonna be where.
Speaker 2:It's gonna make it so much better yeah, and then if you happen to have park tickets for that day, I also just recommend going to magic kingdom. It's going to be less crowded on party days because people don't want to spend, especially for people who have base tickets, if they have a park hopper maybe. So with the base tickets you don't want to spend a ticket on that day because then you have to get out by six.
Speaker 1:So that's like I have people that'll say go to another park, and I'm like why that's? Where everybody's gonna be at why why would you? Why would you go to a park that you know is gonna close at six and you're gonna get kicked out like everybody's gonna go to the other part, so go to go to that one. Yep, it's gonna be way less crowded all day yeah, now they're.
Speaker 2:We actually did. I was just Now there are also.
Speaker 1:We actually did. I was just going to say there's also a lot of people who can't handle that, and that's totally fine.
Speaker 2:Right, because it's too long, if that's got to be your rest day.
Speaker 1:take it as a rest day, Right. But if you're going to do a park, go to Magic Kingdom. Go to Magic Kingdom.
Speaker 2:Yep, and then you. All you have to do is go and get your wristband. You know, when it gets to four o'clock or closer.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then you're there. But definitely recommend getting there at least, like you said, by three, so you can get in line, get in, knock out a few rides before trick-or-treating and the shows happen.
Speaker 1:I said it for I talked about it when we did the Christmas party episode. I talked about it when we did the Christmas party episode. But if you do it right and you go like, obviously if you wait till later in the year to go it's going to be busier, but if you go earlier in the year to the Halloween party you get in it. For we wrote Tron, we wrote haunted mansion, we wrote Tiana's by you, we wrote big thunder mountain. We wrote seven doors mind train. We wrote what you. We rode big thunder mountain. We rode seven dwarves mine train we rode. What else did we do? I think we did um haunted mansion we did. I think that's all we did. But we hit those seven rides with a about a 10 minute wait in each ride before the party even started that's awesome like you can easily knock out all the main rides that you want to do before the party even starts.
Speaker 2:Yep, definitely, and then you save the party time for the shows, the trick-or-treating stuff, like that Character meets, if that's what you want to do. So, yeah, pick your favorite attractions and go and do that. One of the things that I know we talked about before some of the attractions we don't get the overlays like they do at Disneyland. However, pirates of the Caribbean will have one year I went. There was live actors in there I don't know if they do it every year which was super cool. They were like outside of the attraction and there was actually one when you get into the section where it used to be. We went the redhead.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, the auction there was.
Speaker 2:He was standing up on the bridge, so that's, you know, super cool, it was just something different. What else? I don't think Haunted Mansion is different, but I think they have. They'll have cast members dressed up throughout the queue.
Speaker 1:You've got a monsters ink laugh floor. They do like a halloween, halloween version, yeah, and then space mountain yeah, I don't think I've done space mountain during the party, so we have it yeah, I try to avoid that at all costs.
Speaker 2:Space mountain same. I like my arms and my head right attached to my body yeah, I have a feeling when we go next week, if olivia wants to ride it, I'll be riding with her, because I think brayden and josh will be. I don't know, brayden might do it, but we'll see. Yep, so that's the attractions that are open, mostly all of them pretty much, just about.
Speaker 1:Just about everything is open, kind of see what? Yeah, you get into a little bit of stuff down there, yeah, and there's a lot of, there's a lot of character meet and greets. Like that is a priority for you, because there's all sorts of different people go to the halloween party and if you have kids and you, they are a priority for you is meeting the characters and their special halloween costumes. Like that's what you should do, like and just be prepared to wait, because it can get to like an hour, an hour and a half wait to meet some of those characters, and that's if you get in line when the part like at four right, that's the.
Speaker 2:I know the big one is jack and sally. That's right there at the. Is it like by tony's town square?
Speaker 1:whatever that theater is which I've heard. The best tip for that one is just book it straight to that, like that's the first thing you do. You get in the park is just go straight for that yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I mean that I like watching the parade and I wanted to send you some, some videos of the parades and I I failed. Um, I will post them, but um, you know, I mean that's one of the things. It is neat like seeing all of those characters in the parade and I just don't see me going to stand in line for an hour or two for a photo. But I also don't have small children, so yeah, but don't lay down.
Speaker 1:We got in line last time back in the circus area to see the Fab Five and we were standing in line for like 20 minutes and we just saw people kept leaving and we were like what's going on? And they were like it's a two hour wait and we were like nope, sorry, I'm trying to kick mine. He wants to be on the pop.
Speaker 2:I have to kick mine, out before I start, because he would be all over Except mine's. Only like this big, he's tiny.
Speaker 1:Mine's a massive pit bull.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so anyway.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Two hours. Oh yeah, no way it gets rough. So we were like nope and we went and did something else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So don't tell your kids who you're getting in line for, just in case you decide to leave, because then and that's a whole another story. So one of the things I did not believe it until I saw it from my own eyes was the amount of candy that you get from trick-or-treating like. I've seen all of these um, you know, like tiktoks or whatever videos of the massive amounts of like people like laying the candy out on their beds and i'm'm like do you still have candy? Oh, I thought you had candy on last year.
Speaker 1:I wish no, so I filled up seven of these. It's wild, that was in 30 minutes. Yeah, like you don't even have to try.
Speaker 2:No, I mean because when you go they're not giving you like each station is giving you like a huge scoop, yeah, of candy. So the first, very first year I went because we went early on in the trip, it was also an agency trip so I just got all the candy. So I was like that way we have josh is listening we have candy in our room to snack while we, while we're there. But the the next two times I'm like I really don't need that much candy and I don't want to waste it. So I didn't get as much. But you can dump your treat bag into your backpack, you can get extra bags. This got filled, yes, whatever, you can get as much candy as your heart desires when you go trick or treating.
Speaker 1:There's no limit For hours. They're right like stations everywhere out candy and just. We've seen you six times.
Speaker 2:Here's some more right like there's no judgment, like oh here he comes again.
Speaker 1:No, they just like it's the whole christmas party thing, like they knew that we were coming through for our 10th time in a row and they're like whatever it's free, like, have it, take it yeah, it's, and it's good candies too.
Speaker 2:It's the mars candy, so it's snickers and twix and m's and all that good stuff. One of the good things, too, is that if you have a child or anyone in your family, a party, that has allergies, you can get the. I think you get the little tokens and then you can turn those or they might have them at stations, but they have the.
Speaker 1:They have an allergy.
Speaker 2:Friendly bag.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that way, like when you go to the stations, they know like you have a different colored bag it's teal, blue. So that way they know to give you, like the allergy free stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So yeah, I don't know if it's as massive. I guess I should have asked one of my friends, because she that came with us because she had it. I would imagine that there's not a limit on it. There may just be limited amount of our like. There may not be a variety of allergy friendly stuff, but you can still get a candy. It says they have them at the. So I think that's what the tokens come in Like. If you get a token to go to one of the stations, which is at Liberty Square and Chamber of Commerce, I don't know Redeem these tokens at our allergy-friendly centers for special treats, is what it says. Can't talk tonight I need water, yep.
Speaker 2:So lots of candy, and I know we'll talk about the snacks later, in a whole another section, because there's so much of that too.
Speaker 1:Yes, there are.
Speaker 2:And then what else we have for entertainment the Mickey's Booty you Halloween Parade Fabulous.
Speaker 1:Critical of a video.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had so many videos I took. I've said it a hundred times on the podcast we're not. We don't watch the parades. We don't do the shows typically on a regular vacation. But the first time I watched it, for the Halloween party, we kind of caught the tail end of it because we were writing stuff. So last year or last time I went I don't even remember when it is we watched the whole parade. We had a great spot and it was just so awesome yes, I tell you what, like one, this song bumps who do you song yes, that song ever.
Speaker 1:like the characters that you're going to see, like in this too. Like the characters, like there's so many characters that you don't normally see.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's um, I don't know what they're called. You're probably going to laugh at seeing the little costumes.
Speaker 1:Like it's super cute yeah.
Speaker 2:Because there was, um, I mean pretty much all. I can't think of a character that I didn't see. No, like I can't think of a character, that I didn't see.
Speaker 1:No, you got Pirates of the Caribbean.
Speaker 2:I'm assuming it's the haunted. Oh there, it is right. There, yeah, the grave diggers.
Speaker 3:Yes, this is my favorite part. It's kind of creepy, but it's so cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm so glad I'm going next week because this is like giving me, even though it's not going to be Halloween.
Speaker 1:but the Hitchhiking Ghost is one of my favorites. There they are. I love the Hitchhiking Ghost. Like there's just so many great characters that, like you normally wouldn't see.
Speaker 3:Like during the day, during the Festival of.
Speaker 1:Fantasy Parade, Like there's just such great stuff yeah.
Speaker 2:So if anyone goes back and listens to an episode then you can go look on youtube into the video that we're sharing.
Speaker 1:I can pull up magic because I'm gonna show you.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna show you where we, where we, hide out during this we got to the last time we went and you know, so you know, when you're walking from tomorrowland and you like, if you make the right to go towards the castle, they have the little cart there that has the popcorn and pretzels. We actually were standing right there, um, and then there was a family that was standing in front of us that had kids. They all sat down so that way we could stand right behind them, and that was so, which was unreal that you know, because most sometimes people aren't always as generous but they were like we'll sit and you can watch, and so we were able to literally see the whole show without, or the whole parade without anyone standing up in front of us.
Speaker 1:But I'll tell you biggest advice I always give people trying to pull this map up. Biggest advice I always give people. There's typically all right. Now we're cooking with bacon grease. There's typically two or three parades that you're going to see. First of all, I always tell people so the parade comes from, over there, right between Frontierland and Adventureland. So I always tell people that if you're going to go, sit right here outside of Hall of Presidents like literally right in the front, get there 20 minutes before the parade starts and this place is empty.
Speaker 1:The parade's going to come right across this portion, right here, and it's going to come right in front of you and you can literally get there before they even put the rope up, and it's a fabulous spot to sit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because definitely don't recommend and actually we weren't really planning on watching the first parade. I mean, yeah, so what we ended up? We happened to be in that area and it was starting and we got a good spot, but anywhere near the castle is going to be super crowded, like this whole area just stays fully crowded, like this is the ideal spot right down Main Street, but it's always so crowded and so packed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because the parade comes and ends out here and goes back over into the back area over here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and actually the first year I went, same thing. We were right at the very end, so we just caught everything as it was going in into the back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but uh, I always recommend, if you have kids, like go to the first showing, just because it's just easiest, like it's it is going to be packed, but it's just the best show to go. If you don't have kids, wait till the very last show, like wait till the very last parade that they have, because at that point all the kids are gone, all the families are gone and it's much less crowded. To see, like, if you don't have kids, save everything for later in the evening.
Speaker 2:Like, go ride, ride. All of those folks go home, yeah go take pictures. Wait, do the last of every single thing and you're gonna have like way less crowds yeah, however, make sure you check the weather, because if there's any chance of rain, then you knock it out first, just in case if they cancel anything. So, um, so what? Yeah, so they have. So you got the butu parade, which is awesome, and then the um hocus pocus spectacular at the castle. That's super cool.
Speaker 1:No, I'm okay, it's okay, like, it's not like my favorite, um, yeah, but it I will say jack skeleton is super cool, like, and having the sanderson sisters come out super cool yeah but for me, like the villain, spectacular is like I could go without it, I'd be fine yeah yep, it's all a matter of preference, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I don't have to have it, but I I did think it was cool. I guess more too, because the last trip was when I really watched the whole thing. Yeah, so it was. It was fun, because I don't normally get to do those kind of things. And then what's the other? The spooky spectacular not so spooky spectacular, I guess is the fireworks yeah, that's the one I'm trying to pull up right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like this is one of my favorite shows, like for sure, like just the projections on the castle are always some of my favorite things to see it is so wild to me how they can do that.
Speaker 1:It's just awesome and they do like a really good job, like, oh, here you go. Yeah, this is where jack skeleton comes out. There it goes and I'm pretty sure like the whole show is like it's the story of mickey and minnie and goofy and donald to them all being stuck inside a haunted house, but it's a not so scary haunted house, like it's fun and things like that. So they do a really good job with telling like the story and the projections and the fireworks, like it really is. Just it's one of my favorite shows that disney does yeah, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2:Do they do something similar for christmas?
Speaker 1:they do, so they have it's minnie's craft. What's it called now?
Speaker 2:it's something minnie's yeah, I know we talked about it on our christmas episode, but I don't remember, see, and we didn't think that mickey's not so Scary would take up all the time, but here, we are.
Speaker 1:It's going to. That's okay, mickey's Most Merriest. No, that's not it, it's something Minnie's. It was good. It wasn't like it's not the same. Yeah, it's not the same, as it was watching Minnie's Wonderful, wonderful christmas firework show. It was cool seeing the castle like in christmas decorations and things like that. But I'm I'm a big halloween decoration guy. I love the halloween vibe.
Speaker 2:I really like that projection show over the christmas gotcha well, we'll see what I think and maybe I'll give some feedback on it. All the way in december, right, all right, so what else? So they have other stuff? Um, I know, over all the way in December, right, alright, so what else? So they have other stuff? I know, over in the back in Tomorrowland they usually have like a stage show back there.
Speaker 1:They do.
Speaker 2:I thought I had it in here but I don't. I have lost my mouth. No, I had the Moonlight Melodies. I guess that's what it is back there. But I know I've seen where they had Dance Party and now have different characters. I think that come out. Maybe Stitch come out in his Elvis costume.
Speaker 1:He does. That is one character meet and greet I have always wanted to do but never like. It's just the lines I'm telling you like, they make me just not want to do it like, like, and especially now that I have kids like, it makes me want to do it less. Like. Maybe one year Rachel and I could do a solo trip and I can pull it off. But yeah, it's just, it's too long, like would love to do. Elvis Stitch, but I just can't yeah, if you did. Vampire Stitch, sign me up up.
Speaker 2:Is that a, thing, yeah?
Speaker 1:yeah, got it. I missed that. They also have really cute popcorn buckets every year that you can purchase. They do I wonder who would buy those. This was 2019, and then both of these were last year. No, that was 2018.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was 2018. Boogie.
Speaker 1:Boogie was 2018. The other two were last year's they also had the the mini.
Speaker 2:Is it the mini sipper?
Speaker 1:yeah, they have sippers too, but I've never, never been a sipper person. Yeah, me either me either.
Speaker 2:Yep, so there's lots of entertainment, along with the trick-or-treating I know we talked about a little bit, so we're gonna have to dig in it too much on the character meet and greets, but they also have a lot of cool magic shots that you can get throughout the park.
Speaker 1:So if you're into, haunted Mansion is one of my favorite ones. Yeah, they do Haunted Mansion. They do a whole bunch over in front of the castle. They do them all over the place, but the Haunted Mansion one is usually the longest one.
Speaker 1:I'm a huge fan of the photopass, like I like getting all my photos, so I usually do it every time. Yeah, we will. But especially because I get such a big discount on photopass for military, yeah I will. It's like I already told you now. I was like we're buying it for our weekend. It in may yeah you have to one is your first trip.
Speaker 1:It's so cheap. It's not even super slow for being hardwired. I'm going to find this photo, but yeah, they do have a lot of really good magic shots. I want to say, for one day, like you can get all of your photos for like $70.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, for the one-day package, huh.
Speaker 1:For the one-day package.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I forgot about that because I usually waste money and get it for every day. It's really not bad.
Speaker 1:Was it the 2021?
Speaker 2:Except this time, since it's a cheer trip, we don't even have our room confirmation number, so I cannot make lightning lanes tomorrow, and so I can't get it at a discounted rate. I don't, because I think that has to be with a package, but I'll check it. Um, yeah, I'm a little salty on the whole.
Speaker 1:Can't make my lightning lanes tomorrow it's so weird going to disneyland next week because you you do it day of and it's just like well yeah, yep, so you're gonna move on while you're looking, or you want to. Yeah, I'm back in the 2018 photos. I'll find it here in a second.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. So some of the other things that's really cool about the parties is that there's specific snacks and treats that you can get. I was like super excited about last year about the candy corn ice cream. I finally got it. It was good. I don't know that this the I mean I guess it had like a, a cornish kind of flavor, I don't know. But they actually had peas, and corn is one of my favorite candies and so they had. Is that you? That is me? Okay, I was like you got a random sweet, so I see the hitchhiking ghost, or a ghost, or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's one of the magic shots they did. My face is my favorite in that photo. Rachel and I Disney found this, Lilo and Stitch yeah, so it's cool. They do a lot of cool photos.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So lots of different snacks that you can only get at the party, and the candy corn ice cream was a hit Me and my friend that I went with last year. She also likes candy corn, so that was like one of the priorities for us.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:A lot of stuff I found last year.
Speaker 1:Some of the stuff was kind of spicy, like the savory stuff, something last year that I was just like it's okay, but I don't remember what it was yeah, I had also had a.
Speaker 2:It was some kind of cupcake, I think it was like a cheesecake thing that I got. Mine was like a.
Speaker 1:I got it from alfred alfred ahana mansion and it was like a graveyard, like.
Speaker 2:Wait, so this is a milk sheet tart.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was like a tart. I don't know it was okay. I think I ate like half of it, dude, because I'm hot and sweaty.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm looking to see, so somebody that, because we went to eat at shoot. Is it the Palace, not Crystal Palace, the one that's over by the ice cream shop? Is it palace cafe? Palace cafe? Why is my mom I'm?
Speaker 1:drawing a blank part. Yeah, it's not crystal palace, the only thing I know there is um the pizza place that's up there, tony's, whatever it's called oh yeah, no, not that far up front, it's like where the ice cream parlor is kind of close.
Speaker 2:By Casey's Corner, the Plaza Plaza yes, we ate there, and somebody got the ghoulishly gourmet burger which has the black bun. I think she said it was pretty good. Yeah, so lots of different snacks, specific. So I would definitely-.
Speaker 1:The Plaza restaurant. Yeah, that ice cream place that's josh's place right there.
Speaker 2:That's his jam. When we go ride space mountain he goes and gets ice cream interesting yep, yeah, we just found that out, maybe a couple of trips ago. He's like, yeah, some of the ice cream. And olivia's like why we don't get to go get ice cream.
Speaker 1:He's like, y'all are going on a ride.
Speaker 2:That's my thing. I'm going to get ice cream, so, but I got ice cream last time we went I got in on his ice cream thing. Yeah, so lots of different snacks so you can always. They'll come out with lots of information on the different snacks that'll be offered throughout the parks and where you can find them so definitely check those out.
Speaker 1:That's one thing disney world is known for is that they're they're party special snacks and drinks like they're really good at coming out with that type of stuff yeah, hopefully soon.
Speaker 2:Hopefully soon. What else? Tips and tricks which I know we probably hit, some of that yeah, early entry, we hit, you know.
Speaker 1:Make sure you get there early. Watch the first parade, unless you don't have kids. If you have kids right, Don't miss the shows, special snacks, rare characters, trick-or-treating, that trick-or-treating, I'm telling you you're going to be set on candy. You'll literally have enough candy to eat all the candy you want and then take it home and give that out as Halloween candy.
Speaker 2:As your Halloween candy, right.
Speaker 1:You won't even need to buy.
Speaker 2:No see girl math. Just go to Disney, go to the Halloween party, get all the candy, and then you don't have to buy candy for your house, for trick-or-treaters. I call it Disney math, but same thing. There you go, disney math. So that's pretty much Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party in a nutshell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 1:Like I will always tell people like it's totally worth the money, like if you're going to be there when there's even if it's the Christmas party, either one of those two parties, like I will always tell you buy the tickets because crowd levels are going to be significantly lower on those days.
Speaker 1:So like it's hit or miss. So like it's hit or miss, like it's really up to you whether you go to a park that day, because if you, if you're going to a park that day, you're paying to go to magic kingdom twice, which is kind of unfortunate, yeah, but if you're willing to do it, like I absolutely recommend, hit magic kingdom that day. You know, if you need to go back mid-afternoon and take a nap, like cool, but definitely make sure you get there early, it's totally going to be worth it with the lower crowds. Like you know, tiana's tron, seven doors, mine train, like you're going to see significant, like it's just top notch. Like I will always tell people go for it and spend the money yep same, so much fun yeah, do we want to dive into oogie boogie or do we want to call it?
Speaker 2:I'm fine calling I think. I mean it's basically the same it is. So we can just give like a quick rundown and then maybe we save Halloween Horror Nights. We can do a whole episode on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:Since we have plenty of time. So Oogie Boogie Bash same thing, same concept. It's over at Disneyland. They have released that information. So the dates start on August 7th and it runs through the 3rd. The party is on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Looks like it goes from 6 pm to 11 pm. I don't know. They haven't released the ticket pricing yet, so there's more to come on that. They just released the dates, but basically the same thing. Attractions are open, there's the parades, the fireworks, there's meet and greets, specific snacks. So same concept. Just over on the other side of the map. Yeah, I will say like oh, and they get the overlays though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like Disneyland, being the original park, tends to do things bigger and better than Disney World, in my opinion.
Speaker 1:You get to see a lot more cooler characters tend to get a lot more collect, a lot better collectibles, like last year. This this popcorn bucket stitch vampire stitch came out like right off the bat and we didn't see it at disney world until end of october mid to end of october. So, like disneyland typically tends to do parties a little bit bigger and a little bit better, if you have the opportunity and you've been to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, definitely try to hit up Oogie Boogie Bash if you're out there, because it really does. Just some of the videos, the photos that I've seen really do just look really cool. I would love to hit it up one year.
Speaker 1:Yep for sure, All right. Well, I think that wraps it up, Yep.
Speaker 2:I think that wraps it up?
Speaker 1:Yep, I think so too. Yeah. So fun times Again. I'll reiterate Go to the Halloween party. If you're heading to Disney between August, september, october this year, hit us up, send us an email, message us on Facebook. We would love to hook you guys up on our list. That way, once we get ticket dates, we can get you guys tickets. That we get ticket dates, we can get you guys tickets. That's the fun part about you know what we do as travel agents is, on launch days and release days, we wake up stupid early and we get that stuff for you guys, so you guys don't have to do it. So definitely give us a shout. We'd love to help you guys out. I would love to see people going to the Halloween party.
Speaker 1:So that does wrap up this episode as we head into a nice long four-week break. Over the next couple weeks, laurie and I are going to be traveling a lot. Like we said, I'm heading out to disneyland sunday, she's heading up to disney world, uh, and epic universe that week as well. You're heading out the end of next week, right, yep, thursday, so, and then she comes back, and then I'm heading off to disney world and then I come back and she's heading back to epic universe. Epic, yeah, so got a lot of stuff planned, uh, in may to go and get some updated content and information for you guys.
Speaker 1:So definitely stay tuned in june, as we go and do, we dive into the strip reports. I'm super excited to head to disneyland, since it'll be a first time for both of us, and just kind of talk all the things that are 70th anniversary with Disneyland. Right now we're doing a VIP tour, which I've never done before, so I'm super excited to get that experience under my belt and be able to talk to you guys about VIP tours. So, yeah, we got lots of fun stuff planned for June. So definitely keep an eye on our social media pages over the next couple weeks and we will let you guys know when we're going back live, which theoretically should be the first sunday in june yep, I think that's june 1st, if I'm not mistaken it is yep yep, fun stuff
Speaker 2:anything to add no, and I look forward to you going live when you're on the uh I'm not going on the wheel of death.
Speaker 1:Eric thinks he's gonna get me on the wheel of death. I'm not doing it. I'm not, I might.
Speaker 2:That's funny oh, and I'm excited because I'm gonna I'm gonna try to get olivia into dark universe. That'll be good at night.
Speaker 1:So don't forget, if you get your face painted, you can't drink alcohol anymore. Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Don't forget that. That's a important thing to remember, got it all right, sounds fun.
Speaker 2:Can't wait to uh to get some new content and fun stuff and then come back and share all new things I will be going live from the park squad bit from our tiktok yeah same that is my plan.
Speaker 1:I don't know how much on monday, but for sure tuesday and wednesday I'll be going live from the parks quite a bit as I walk around and explore. Monday we'll be on our vip tour. So I don't I don't quite know what that vibe is going to be yet, but definitely keep an eye on our tiktoks. If you're not following us on tiktok, please head over and give us a follow. That way when I go live from disneyland on tuesday and wednesday, you guys can see what we're up to and ask questions. So super excited. My roommate that I'm rooming with is a Disneyland expert, so super excited to have him with me and he's going to take care of me.
Speaker 1:So, with that being said, thank you for joining us. Thank you for tuning in. We always appreciate getting to do this with you each week. We're going to miss you guys over the next couple weeks, but definitely stay in touch. We'll do our best to keep up with you guys on social media and continue to post, but we do have a lot planned. So definitely stay tuned and, as always, we appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1:You want to close this out? I just closed out all my notes. Fine, I'll do it. Alright. So if you're looking to get more information on going beyond the castle, if you're looking to check out our blog, if you're looking to get going beyond the castle merchandise, anything like that, anything and everything you can find on our website at wwwgoingbeyondthecastlecom. We also have a Beacons channel, which is really quick access to all of our social media channels, our audio version of the podcast and where you can watch us live each week. That is beaconsai forward slash, going beyond the castle. And, of course, as we said a couple of times in this episode, if you're looking to get tickets, if you're looking for a trip to be played for you or if you just want to talk something about the podcast, please reach out to us at our email, at info, at going beyond the castlecom. So, that being said, we love you guys and we will talk to you guys in June. Bye, goodbye.
Speaker 3:Thank you for joining us on this magical journey. We hope today's episode brought a little extra spark to your day and inspired your next adventure, whether it's a thrilling escape to Universal, a dream cruise getaway or unforgettable memories at Disney. Have questions, a topic you'd like us to cover, your own magical story to share, or looking for travel assistance? We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at info at goingbeyondthecastlecom. Be sure to check out all our social media links and podcast platforms at beaconsai forward slash going beyond the castle podcast and don't miss the fun in our facebook group going beyond the castle podcast lounge, where we share tips, updates and beyond the scenes moments. Until next time. See you real soon.
