???? #Souvenirs 1 minute to check out the #Disneylandparis #Halloween Festival and Party. It’s possible with the Revo-Rama minute! @disneylandparis @EuroDisney #PhantomManor pic.twitter.com/YMaabD9lW1
— Le Revo-Rama (@LeRevoRama) 12 janvier 2019
The Disneyland Paris Halloween Festival. A Phantom Manor themed parade
Our family tradition since over 10 years, Halloween is even more important to us than the Christmas season, due to its specific atmosphere, so particular to the Disney parks. Celebrating Halloween in any other park just wouldn’t be the same. For sure, we know that the celebrations are even more intense in Tokyo Disney or Walt Disney World for example, and we hope that one day there will be enough going on to extend the season to two months, and several parties like with Not-So-Scary back in the days.
Last year we were a bit disappointed because the parade had mysteriously disappeared, while we think it’s the best bit of the celebrations. In its place there were new decorations in Frontierland based on Coco and the Dia de Los Muertos. This year, not only did we get these great new decorations which mean that Frontierland is highly decorated, but the parade is also back and with a new float. Really beautiful and fun, it brings Phantom Manor and its characters into the show, making it more of a Halloween show than simply the arrival of autumn. The bride (Melanie Ravenswood) has pride of place in the show, and there was a “Pirates and Princesses” type of stop-off in Central Plaza (the music wasn’t as catchy unfortunately). All that’s missing is some great merchandising linked to this attraction (like a bride doll for example!) and of course the re-opening of Phantom Manor which is currently being renovated.
The Disneyland Paris Halloween Party. The perfect atmosphere for this celebration
But the daytime festival is missing something of a real Halloween atmosphere, and you need to wait for the evening of October 31st for that. All the best tunes, coming especially from Tokyo Disney and the American parks, are used together with light projections on the castle. Even the Fantasyland merry-go-round got into the groove. To see it, you’ll need to get your hands on the CD sold by the Japanese park over the years… thumbs up for that great idea.
As well as the immersion into party mode, there are a few shows here and there to jazz up the evening (we’ve got to mention the amazing work that went into the beautiful printed programme which was unfortunately distributed very sparingly, even among a group of several people…). For example the parade was restyled by the Disney villains with the use of one of the old floats from the Once Upon a Dream parade from the 15th anniversary celebrations or the dragon from the 25th. Really nice, although we’d still love to see Fantillusion. The castle stage show saw Anastasia and Drizella strutting their stuff beside Facilier. Another new thing was the Spooky Encounters Ashore for the foolhardy (excellent idea), Disney Channel’s Descendent in Sing Along version and Big Hero 6 (we didn’t really see the connection but the show was interesting. They’ll be back on December 31st.).
We were glad to see these new Halloween features at Disneyland Paris. There’s been a lot of progress in just a few years, we hope that it will continue to improve this unique experience.
One thing’s for sure, the tradition will continue, and we’ll keep telling you about Halloween in the Disney parks, and others too.
Come and check out Halloween at Disneyland Paris in this video episode of the Revo-Rama!
