Halloween at any Disney theme park is an exciting time, and fun for the entire family. But if you’re willing and able to travel to Japan, you’re in for a very special treat! Halloween has only been celebrated here for the past twenty years or so, but the people have really embraced the holiday in a big way. I visited there during September, and had an amazing time! I wanted to share with you:
5 Fantastic Things about Halloween at Tokyo Disneyland Resort
- The Decorations.
The whole park is pristine and clean, which makes their decorations really pop! From the flowers and pumpkins to the Disney character decorations, you’ll really find some neat things set up here. Be sure to take time for all the photo ops!
- Seasonal food items.
No matter what time of year you visit, you MUST try the steamed buns; but at Halloween time, they come in festive shapes and colors. Some are used like sandwich buns, and others have fillings like pork, shrimp, or chicken. They are all savory and delicious!
If you love sweets, you won’t be left out. This was my favorite sweet treat, a pumpkin cinnamon roll. It had just the right amount of pumpkin frosting on top!
- Seasonal merchandise.
There are always cool and different merchandise choices at Tokyo Disneyland, but Halloween takes things up a notch. There are themed towels, parade sheets, key chains, snack foods, light-up toys, bandanas, and lots more.
- Special entertainment
Unlike some of the other Disney parks, there’s no extra party admission required to enjoy the special Halloween parade. And what a parade it was! Called Halloween Pop’n Live, it’s a relatively short parade but I thought it was fantastic! People staked out spots along the parade route 30-60 minutes before parade time, and laid down nice clean parade sheets on the ground to keep their clothes clean while sitting. A Disney cast member came by and taught us special hand motions we could use for “dancing” along with the parade, and then it began.
There were costumed people waving flags, dancing, singing, and rollerblading, then the floats arrived. There were characters singing and dancing, and everyone was excited and doing the “dance moves” we learned earlier.
Then one of the floats began releasing bubbles! They were the strangest-looking bubbles I’d ever seen. But it only took a minute to see why: When you pop a bubble, it releases a little puff of smoke! Smoke-filled bubbles. I was amazed. This parade is definitely a “must do”!
- Park guests in costume
For two weeks during the Halloween season, Tokyo Disneyland hosts “Costume Days”. If you have a chance to visit during this time, you’re in for a real treat!
In Japan, they don’t really do Trick-or-Treating like we do in the States, but they go all out for the costumes! These aren’t the sort of costumes you can buy at your local discount supercenter. These are full-on Cosplay costumes, so elaborate and wonderful! The park guests dress up as favorite Disney characters and go to the park and just hang out with groups of friends and pose for photos all day, and have a ball! I felt so honored to get to see this special time, and all these guests were gracious to allow me to take their picture. I wanted to share a few of my favorites:
If you’d like to visit Tokyo Disneyland Resort, or either of Disney’s U.S. parks, please contact me to help you plan your trip. My name is Brenda Arnold-Richard, and I’m a travel planner with Travel With The Magic. My services are free for guests who book a vacation through me. Email me at Brenda@TravelWithTheMagic.com and let’s get started soon!
Happy Travels!
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