Halloween Festival 2022 at Disneyland Paris

This review is based on our visit from October 1, 2022 to October 1, 2022 (Last Updated: October 24, 2022)

It is Halloween time! Especially when we near the end of the year and Halloween/Fall comes to the parks, we can’t wait to visit. We already have plans to visit Disneyland Paris during the first of the two Halloween Parties. But to be honest, I couldn’t wait until the end of the month to see one of my favorite parades. So on the day, the Halloween festival started at Disneyland Paris, we planned a trip. While we normally tend to go two or three days, this time, the trip would be a one-day trip. This was also forced because we had already used reservation days for a different trip. Oh, the joys of the reservation system.

As I wanted to see the parade, we had to be at the parks just before noon. The 30th Anniversary cavalcade was already running in the morning, but we saw that we could still catch it later in the day as well. This all meant that we left the house at 6.30, and 4,5 hours later, we arrived at the resort.

Mickey’s Halloween Celebration

A quick coffee and a pastry helped us get down Main Street USA, while we looked at some of the Halloween decorations. During a season like Halloween, Town Square and Main Street USA really come to life. At this time, we also saw the 30th Anniversary Cavalcade come by. A fun little offering.

Don’t ask me why, but one of my favorite spots for the Halloween parade is a spot looking towards It’s a Small World. The fact that you can see the parade come towards you and still have a slight turn in front of you gives you a great view of all the floats, characters, and performers. It was a joy hearing the tunes of this parade again. It really helps me get in the right mood for the last few darker months of the year.

As we were quite early on the parade route, we opted to walk over to Town Square and wait for the parade near the end. The arcades really helped with this, and after a short brisk walk, we made it to the gates. Not too many people yet, so we could grab a good spot. As we only had limited time to see this parade, we split up and stood on opposite sides of the street to get a few more angles of photos.

Once the parade passed, we looked around Town Square to see some of the ghosts that had materialized, and from there, we walked toward the castle. For the second showing of the parade, we wanted to watch it from Central Plaza and see the newly added daytime fireworks. After a bit of a wait (luckily, the two times were close to one another), the parade made its way down Main Street USA, towards Central Plaza. Unfortunately, I didn’t consider the mirroring of the parade, and with that, the show stop, so we ended up standing at the stage with the three little pigs. Nonetheless, we truly enjoyed the show. With this parade, the characters don’t move from stage to stage. We did have a great view of daytime fireworks.

Lunchtime at Lucky Nugget

After watching the parade twice, it was time to have lunch. We were already up since 5.30, so we were hungry. We opted for Lucky Nugget, as it is somewhat quick-service and somewhat table service, and it has a new Halloween offering, the Spooky Halloween Special. Lucky Nugget allows you to eat in a more relaxed setting. You can read our full review of the Spooky Halloween Special here.

Halloween Magic Shot Photo Time

For Halloween, you have the opportunity to take a few magic shots. As we didn’t have that much time, and most of them we already did in the last few years, I did the one in front of Big Thunder Mountain, which features the three hitchhiking ghosts. I love how interactive the photographer was, and allowed me to have multiple shots with different poses. You can find the Magic Shots now in the official Disneyland Paris app. Make sure to download it!

While I was in line for the photos, Christina met up Sevi, one of our Disney friends, who invited us for drinks at Bleecker Street in Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel. As we had already planned to visit the hotels, this was the perfect moment to walk out together and catch up.

Btw, in case you have questions about my Spirit Jersey, I got you covered:

Bleecker Street Lounge

This visit to Bleecker Street Lounge was my first time. Christina had the opportunity a few weeks ago when I attended the Avengers Campus Opening. Sevi is a huge fan of this bar and recommended we try the Elixir Lemonade.

The Elixir Lemonade is a fun drink that you have to mix yourself. The taste is refreshing, although I was expecting a little more punch from the lemons that are in the drink. But in the summer, this for sure is refreshing!

Hotel Halloween Decorations

New this year was that all hotels would receive some Halloween decorations. We walked to all the other hotels from Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel. You can see all the decorations we saw in this post. As we visited it on day one, it could be that more decorations have been added since.

Disney Villains’ Den

As the sun was setting, when we were looking at the hotel decorations, we had to hurry back to the park as we still wanted to see some of the decorations in Frontierland and Disney Villains’ Den. To be honest, Villains’ Den was something I completely did not understand. Characters paraded on the stage, and after a bit, they came to where guests were lined up along the rope. It felt like a hastily added thing without too much thought that went into it. I loved it last year when it was still a distance meet-and-greet, but we could snap some great photos with all the characters. Now, I don’t think anybody really got what they wanted. We took the stairs to the little balcony overlooking the Castle Stage and quickly left to grab some more photos of Frontierland, which always receives quite some decorations for Halloween (how I wish this area would also receive some Christmas decorations!)

Halloween Decorations at Frontierland

Frontierland always receives some great Halloween decorations, and as the sun was setting, it was a perfect moment to see the lights come to life. While I am a fan of the subtle fall colors you can find around the entrance to Thunder Mesa, I also enjoy the Day of the Death, Coco-themed decorations. Near Frontierland Theater and Cowboy Cookout, we were treated to the scary sights of some of the (older) Halloween decorations. Some of them are zombie scarecrows. Each year I complain that they are old and should be replaced, but I look for them each year!

As it was getting later and later, we had to hurry slightly to capture some of the sights.

Time to go home

Unfortunately, as we still had a 4,5 hours drive back home, we had to skip Nightfall with Disney Villains. The addition to Disney Illuminations is shown just before D-Light. But as the park was open until 23.00, it was impossible.

On our way out, we walked into some of the stores to look at some of the Halloween merch and enjoyed the lights on Main Street USA. I just love lights. Unfortunately, we didn’t look at the Storybook store, where some of the upcycled park merchandise was. So while we really wanted some of the Castle Tarp merch, we missed it. Hopefully, there will still be something when we visit at the end of the month.

As we still had a long drive home, we grabbed a drink at Starbucks in Disney Village, looked at some of the stores, and laughed at the weird streetmosphere. (never change Disney Village, never. Well, the buildings and stores, just not the odd entertainment!)

It was great to experience Halloween at Disneyland Paris again. We can’t wait for our next trip when we will attend one of the Halloween parties! Can’t wait.

 

Related Pages