It's here!

Besides a long wait time, the verdict is FUN for Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. Crowds rushed to the attraction following the rope drop this morning. Within an hour, the Fast Passes were gone and the standby line was reaching 90 minutes.

Expect long waits for Haunted Mansion Holiday over this weekend, especially. Folks will come out in droves to experience Halloween Screams Fireworks tonight too.

Halloween Time 2009

Each year it gets more and more impressive at Disneyland with Halloween Time. Here are just some more of the things you will find at Disneyland from September 25 to November 1st, 2009.

Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland is again transformed for the Pumpkin Festival, where more than 300 “non-identical” pumpkins will be on display in shop windows.

Visitors to Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland will sometimes find the ranch animals dressed in costume for a seasonal Halloween Roundup, with pumpkin carvers, Halloween décor and activities for youngsters, all presided over by Sheriff Woody. Next door at Big Thunder Barbecue, Miss Chris and the Roundup musicians will add Halloween songs to their repertoire.

Disney villains will gather in “it’s a small world” Mall in Disneyland, while other characters in seasonal costumes greet guests in Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland.

Halloween Screams - A Villainous Surprise in the Skies

Also new this year at Halloween Time at Disneyland is “Halloween Screams - A Villainous Surprise in the Skies.”

This new fireworks spectacular will blast through the nighttime sky throughout the Halloween season. To start the show, “Master of Scare-omonies” Jack Skellington appears in a flash of fire above Sleeping Beauty Castle. Haunting melodies fill the air and a Halloween pyrotechnics extravaganza explodes into the night.

Classic Disney villains like Maleficent, Ursula the Sea Witch and Oogie Boogie join in the celebration, and even Zero, Jack’s ghost dog, will also appear.

This is one more thing that will likely bring in the large annual pass crowds that fill the park during the Christmas season and summer when the blackout dates are lifted.

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy

For older kids and adults, Halloween Time at Disneyland offers a new attraction: Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy in Tomorrowland.

The scary new experience will begin as a typical Space Mountain adventure, but will suddenly launch voyagers into an uncharted and haunted section of the universe. Ghosts appear out of the starry darkness and swirling galaxies of Space Mountain, reaching out as if to grab guests as they speed through space.

Along the journey there will be piercing screams, creepy sound effects and haunting music. The Halloween transformation occurs outside the mountain as well, as the sights and sounds of Halloween illuminate the side of Space Mountain.

Halloween Time is almost here

This Friday, September 25th, kicks off Halloween Time at Disneyland. Expect to see the Haunted Mansion Holiday, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, Halloween Screams Fireworks, Main Street Pumpkin Festival and Big Thunder Ranch Halloween Roundup.

Tomorrow night, after the park has closed there will be a test-run of the Halloween Screams Fireworks. You will be able to see them from outside the park. When the show opens, expect to see a flying Zero-the ghost dog and an appearance from Jack Skellington on the Castle. Fun times indeed!

Off- Season at Disneyland

There are very few times of the year at Disneyland anymore that can truly be considered "off-season" at the park. With the new Halloween Time emphasis, even the Fall now has become a popular time for guests at the park, especially locals with annual passes. Christmastime will once again be a guaranteed madhouse with long lines and crowds.

Disneyland used to close for most of February each year for major maintenance. That ended in around 1984, shortly after Eisner came aboard.

Well these last two weeks of September will be the last "slow" period at Disneyland until January, just after the holiday season, so get over there and enjoy some breathing room!

Great Moment's With Mr. Lincoln

At D23, I was able to sit in on the panel with Tony Baxter regarding the return of Mr. Lincoln. The show will bring back the original voice of Lincoln provided by actor Royal Dano and narration from Paul Frees. Imagineering has remastered the original audio and created an entirely new show that incorporates more music, more emotion, and a new, state-of-the-art Mr. Lincoln but feels and looks much like the old show that we love.

The lobby will be divided in half, the first section will feature "The Disneyland Story," and will have an opening that connects it into the new Disney Gallery. The opening-day Disneyland model will return along with additional artifacts of Disneyland's history. The second half of the lobby will be dedicated to Mr. Lincoln. We were promised a return also of the U.S. Capitol Building scale model.

Baxter commented how he hated that the audiences used to be rushed out at the end of the show. In the new program, the audience will be able to sit for a couple of minutes to think about the presentation and watch a slide show of other important Americans. It sounds like it will be big on patriotism.