Halloween Time

Last Thursday night, Mr. Handsome and I partook in some early Halloween festivities. We went to Disneyland to see the decorations and stretch the legs a bit. Pumpkin & Jack-o-Lanterns abounded and so did the crowds. Surprising, really, since I don't really think of Halloween as a major holiday, but there were plenty of people out to enjoy the unusually warm evening. We began with a leisurely stroll down Main Street, festooned with yellow and orange bunting and flowers, windows and ledges filled to bursting with Jack-o-Lanterns of varied moods and facial features.

While Halloween is not a particularly favorite holiday of mine, I love fall and fall colors. The display was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the decorations.










Disneyland has changed quite a bit since I was a kid. It is more crowded now, you no longer have to wait in huge lines if you strategize properly, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House is now Tarzan's Tree House, and you do not simply stroll down the street and bump into hot, sweaty adolescents hiding behind the friendly mask of beloved animated characters. These days, if you want a picture with or an autograph from Mickey, Minnie or whomever, you really have to want it and seek it out. It is now customary to stand in line for the opportunity--quite an alien concept to me. When Toon Town first opened, Mickey & Minnie's Houses were just houses kids that could romp around in. These days, Mickey & Minnie's Houses are where you go to shake hands with the world-reknown murine couple. My general dislike of this new style of interaction was shaken up a bit, though, and for once I could almost get behind it. Off to the edge of Main Street, over near Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, there was a wonderful fall-decorated background where you could take pictures with a holiday-garbed Mickey and Pluto. It really was quite lovely, enough so, that I didn't even mind that kids were forced to wait in line for the interaction rather than happen upon it, as if by magic.

We attempted to wait in line for Space Mountain, before deciding we'd rather enjoy the decorations instead (or perhaps Mr. Handsome decided he was tired of quizzing me on microbiology flashcards, yes we are that weird couple that studies at Disneyland). And of course, no Halloween time at Disneyland would be complete without going on the Haunted Mansion.

Preventing med school from swallowing my life one small evening at a time,

~PTB