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2023 Oogie Boogie Bash Review and Tips

September 21, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

After hearing so much about this highly sought after separately ticketed event at Disneyland, I was finally able to attend the 2023 Oogie Boogie Bash! I spent 11 hours in an online queue over the course of two days and we paid hundreds of dollars just for the tickets. So, was it worth it?

2023 Oogie Boogie Bash

I’ve attended Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World several times. However, a year or two ago I started hearing people go on and on about Disneyland’s version of a Halloween Party. I am happy I was finally able to attend this party and see what the hype is all about.

Treat Trails

Just like at MNSSHP, there’s trick-or-treating at this party! However, Disneyland kicks it up a notch by having Treat Trails. Basically, they added a popular villain for guests to see at the end of the line for candy! This is more of a drive by experience so the line is continuously moving. This isn’t a character meet and greet. I had ample time to take pictures though. I loved this addition to the candy trails as we didn’t really use the app and just wandered in to be surprised by the characters!

I also think it’s worth mentioning the types and quantity of treats you receive here. It’s not just candy. In fact, we even received some mini bags of a carrots at one stop! We also got a couple bags of Sun Chips, Mickey Goldfish crackers, and giant Cinnamon Goldfish! Then, Mars Wrigley supplied lots of candy! My mom was really impressed with how much we were given with very little effort here.

Parade

I was so excited to see the Frightfully Fun Parade that we even booked the dessert party for reserved seating! You can read my full review of the Oogie Boogie Dessert Party here. This parade is similar to the one at Mickey’s Not So Scary, but shorter. However, it also features The Mayor from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” driving his car! I think the parade is a must-see, regardless of if you book the dessert party.

Villains Grove

The Villains Grove is unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. They take the Redwood Creek section of the park (which is very much like the redwood forests of California) and make it spooky. Each area is themed to a particular villain, including specific scents (like roses) and other touches. It makes for a fun and unique experience. We hit this up towards the end of the night, during the end of the second parade without too much of a wait. I think it’s worth checking out this experience just because it’s so cool.

Characters

There were several special rare characters with meet and greets around the park. However, the lines to meet them were long! We managed to do the Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle as the Sanderson Sisters one during the second parade. The estimated wait was around 45 minutes, but it didn’t feel that long. I highly recommend this strategy if you want to see them since the line was much shorter and we didn’t have to wait in the hot sun.

Mickey’s Trick and Treat Show

My mom wanted to see Mickey’s Trick and Treat Show as it was the only exclusive show at the event. We managed to walk up after the first parade and join the line as they were entering the building. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was a cute show. I enjoyed seeing the different costumes on the characters. I wouldn’t wait long for this show personally. However, if you have little kids, they will love it. It’s also a nice place to sit in some air conditioning if it’s hot.

Tips

The party sold out in hours this year. So, if you want to attend next year, I recommend clearing your schedule and packing patience to secure tickets. I also highly suggest hitting up the more popular stuff (characters, Villains Grove) during a parade. Additionally, we ate dinner at Lamplight Lounge at 4:15 PM as I always make sure to eat prior to an after hours party so as not to waste precious party time.

Is it worth it?

Was the 2023 Oogie Boogie Bash worth the 11 hours in queue and the hundreds of dollars we spent? I think so. My mom even said during the party that it was the most fun she’s had with candy since she was a kid! I don’t think you can get a much more glowing review than that.

Oogie Boogie Dessert Party Review

September 19, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

I just got back from a trip to Disneyland to kick-off the Halloween season with my mom. I was lucky enough to secure tickets to their separately-ticketed seasonal event at Disney’s California Adventure (I intend to publish a review of the event later this week). We also decided to book the Oogie Boogie Dessert Party to give us a seated view of the Frightfully Fun Parade. Here’s my review to help others decide if it’s worth the additional cost.

Oogie Boogie Dessert Party

As I said above, this is an add-on to an already expensive separately ticketed event. However, I really enjoyed the World of Color – One Dessert Party that I attended in May and wanted to try another dessert party at Disneyland. Plus, my mom really liked the idea of having a chair to sit in for the parade. Due to the pricing, it took a little convincing, but my mom finally warmed up to the idea.

The Food

For this dessert party, we each received a plate of goodies and some beverages. The treats included: chocolate mousse cake, pumpkin bundt cake, cookies & cream tart, caramel cheesecake, orange dreamsicle crispy, salted caramel macaron, and some gummy worms. The best treat was the pumpkin bundt cake. It tasted like pumpkin, instead of just cinnamon like some treats do. The caramel cheesecake was our second favorite item. The caramel flavoring made it a less tart/sour cheesecake. The cookies & cream tart was a little hard to cut, but tasted good. The macaron was also good. The gummy worms were fun to look at, but not much to eat. The worst item had to be the orange dreamsicle crispy treat. It was really hard and left my fingers black from just picking it up. I don’t think anyone at our table finished this treat.

There is a specialty mixed drink as well as non-alcoholic beverage. The mixed drink was really strong. I took one sip and was done. The non-alcoholic drink was fruity and sweet. I enjoyed it. We were all served a small bottle of water too, which was nice given the high temperature.

The View

Sitting in chairs gave us an elevated point of view of the parade over sitting on the ground. I’m sure some will argue that you can get a similar view by standing, for free. However, after walking 8.9 miles the previous day and similar mileage this day, sitting in a real chair was a fabulous thing. My mom really appreciated sitting in a chair comfortably instead of on the hard ground. Plus, it was nice to sit and enjoy a few treats while we waited for the parade begin.

Is it worth it?

At $89/each, this is an expensive add-on. However, it was worth it for my mom and I. Standing for long periods of time hurts her back and feet. So, being able to sit down at the end of the night was a great thing. Plus, we enjoyed trying the treats. Overall, it was one of the highlights of the trip. Although, if you are on a budget, you will probably have to skip this experience. Plus, there are loads of places to watch the parade around the park without paying extra. So, I guess it depends on what you value: comfort or time/money.

Cape May Café Breakfast Character Meal Review

September 7, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

Fall may be beginning, but if you are looking for a character meal with summertime vibes at Disney World, then I’ve got the meal for you! The Cape May Café breakfast is a character buffet meal at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. I ate here last December with my mom and I am happy to finally share my review.

Cape May Café Breakfast

Dinner at this location is a character-free seafood buffet. However, the Cape May Café breakfast is a beach-themed character dining buffet experience. In fact, Disney calls it Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast! So, you know it’s going to be a good beachy time! Admittedly, that good time does come at a cost with it being $45/adult and $29/child, plus tax and gratuity.

Before I get into the review of this restaurant, I want to disclose that this character meal holds a special place in my heart. This was technically my first character meal! I booked it for my solo stay at Disney’s Beach Club Resort during the Disney Social Media Moms 2016 Celebration. It was during this meal that I learned what all of the hype was about for these character meals!

The Characters

I was happy to discover that the characters’ outfits had been updated since the last time I dined here. The last time I was here, the characters were wearing more general nautical themed or ocean setting outfits. You can see in the Instagram post above from 2016 that Donald was wearing a fun spin on his classic outfit back then. In the post below, also from 2016, Minnie is wearing a swimsuit and seahorses on her cover up.

Now, the characters are wearing the appropriate attire for a day at the beach! As you can see in the more recent photos below, Donald is sporting a striped undershirt and a beachy button up shirt over it. He also seems pretty happy with his hat! Daisy and Minnie are both wearing summery dresses. Goofy is wearing a shirt and swim trunks! Everyone looks perfect for a beach bash!

I have to commend all of the characters for being perfect each time I’ve eaten here. The interactions are fun and priceless! This was my first character meal ever as well as my first real character meal after the pandemic. There’s just something about the vibes here that make it special.

The Food

I have to admit, even the food is better here now! The meal started with some tasty salted caramel “beach buns” with a vanilla cream. My mom and I may have asked for seconds of these! I was tickled to discover that you can get pog juice here now too!

The buffet features a good variety of foods to choose from. It’s one of the few places you can get Mickey and Minnie waffles! My mom appreciated the omelet station, while I enjoyed an eggs benedict. I felt like this meal was a more elevated dining experience than some other basic breakfasts on property.

Is The Cape May Café Breakfast Worth It?

I always struggle to determine if something is worth the money or not. However, I will say that this was a good meal with characters. I will add one caveat to eating here: the location. The Skyliner has made it much easier to get here now, but it still might not be worth the hassle of coming/going for some folks. Due to the location, it seems to have availability when some other character meals may not. I think it’s worth it if you want a fun breakfast with characters. If you are on a tight budget, short on time, or not going to be staying or visiting the Skyliner/Epcot area, then it’s probably not worth it for you.

Disneyland Package: Should You Book Room and Tickets Together

August 24, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

In my Sheraton Park Hotel Review I mentioned that I booked the room as part of a Disneyland package. That means that I booked the hotel through Disney and added on park tickets to make it a combo deal. Today, I’m going to look at the pros and cons of doing it that way.

Disneyland Package

You can book a Disneyland package either by booking an official resort or a Good Neighbor Hotel through Disneyland’s website and adding park tickets. On my trip in May I stayed at a Good Neighbor Hotel, however I chose to book through Disneyland for the ease of simplicity, among other reasons. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of doing so.

Pros

Easy – Honestly, it’s easier to access my hotel information and tickets all on one website or app.
Ability to make payments – Typically, hotels require you to pay a deposit and then pay the remainder of the bill prior to departure. However, Disney requires the full amount to be paid a month in advance. The good news is that you can make payments towards your trip anytime you want! That makes it especially useful if you are planning a trip with another person and are splitting costs (like when I travel with my mom).
Cancellation/Modification Policy – After booking my May trip, I decided to change my hotel to a cheaper one and add a night on. With a few clicks, this was easy to do. I also like that Disneyland has a more generous cancellation policy than some hotels have when you book direct. Personally, I find the peace of mind to be priceless.
Free pin and lanyard – This certainly shouldn’t be a reason to book a package, but it’s a nice perk. I received the free pin and lanyard shown in the image above for booking a package! It’s a nice souvenir to remember my first solo trip to Disneyland and the Disney100 celebration at Disneyland.
Trustworthy – I’m sure individual hotel sites are trustworthy. However, I just feel more confident dealing with the Disney website. I also like the assurance they might be able to help me if something were to go wrong.
Extra Savings – I didn’t use it, but you receive a voucher to save 10% off at select dining and merchandise locations at Downtown Disney.

Cons

More Expensive – The package was a little more expensive than booking the hotel directly and purchasing park tickets separately.
Limited Availability – There seems to be a limited number of rooms available for the packages. For instance, I was seeing availability on hotel’s websites but not on Disney’s website. So, if you have a specific hotel in mind, you should book early.

Should you book a Disneyland package?

Honestly, I think it comes down to what is most important to you. If the budget is tight, it may be better to book direct and buy tickets separately. Although, I would encourage you to check for any deals before booking anything. However, if you value the ease and cancellation policy, than a package may be best. So, have you ever booked a package or do you prefer to book things separately?

Storytellers Cafe Brunch Disneyland Character Meal Review

July 13, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

During my trip to Disneyland Resort in May, I jumped at the chance to enjoy Storytellers Cafe brunch with characters! Here is my review of that experience to help you decide if it’s worth the money and time for your family.

Storytellers Cafe Brunch

There are four different character dining experiences at the Disneyland Resort. A few weeks ago, I reviewed Goofy’s Kitchen breakfast (which I also liked). For this meal, I opted to get brunch instead of breakfast as it’s only available on the weekends and who doesn’t love brunch? Plus, it was only $2 more expensive than breakfast ($51 vs $49). However, I will admit it was a little late for this Eastern Time girl to wait to eat. Brunch starts at 11:00 AM, Pacific Time. So, to me it was 2:00 PM. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable experience.

The Restaurant

Storytellers Cafe is located at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. This made it the perfect location for my DCA morning. With its direct park entrance, I was able to rope drop DCA and ride several rides there. Then, I wandered over to the resort and had brunch. So, I highly recommend this restaurant for a DCA day. Also, I really enjoyed the Craftsman-style theme of the restaurant. It fit perfectly with the resort’s theme and was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the park. In fact, I almost didn’t mind waiting for my table while enjoying the hotel’s lobby and scenery.

Brunch Food

The food here is really good. It has a nice assortment of foods to try on the buffet, plus they allow you to order select things from the kitchen. I tried some raspberry beignets, which were more like donuts. They were tasty though. I also got a cheeseburger slider and fries from the kitchen. It was ok.

I really liked the buffet food. There was a really good pasta dish that I got a second serving of. I also enjoyed the bread pudding and selection of pastries from the buffet. Everything was fresh and a step above the food you typically find on a buffet at Walt Disney World.

The Characters

I enjoyed seeing the characters in their adorable outfits! They were dressed for an adventure! I loved that Mickey actually sat down at my table at one point since I was by myself. All of them were happy to let me take photos of them as well as selfies with me. Additionally, they did a little dance around the restaurant at one point. I missed seeing Pluto, but I got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale during my meal!

Is Storytellers Cafe brunch worth it?

While $51 is an expensive meal, it was a fun and unique experience. I will admit that I had to wait a good while to be seated as well. However, the food was good and the character interactions were great. I think if I dine here again, I will probably try breakfast as the brunch was a little late for this East Coaster. Have you ever eaten here? What was your experience like?