Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy 2010 - Disney Flashback Friday

There's little use in denying the fact that Halloween Time at Disneyland is one of our favorite times of the year!  Disneyland really upped the ante a couple of years ago, however, with the annual transformation of our beloved Space Mountain into Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy.  Anyone familiar with Disneyland (or Walt Disney World for that matter) probably knows all about the premise of Space Mountain.  Shoot around the stars (virtually, at least) on a roller coaster in the dark.  Always been one of our favorites!  But add in a "Space Ghost" named "Bob" who chases you all over the place and pops up at the most inopportune of times, some creepy music and lighting, and you've got Ghost Galaxy!  We've heard of adults getting creeped out on the ride (shame on you!) and seen children come off with tears in their eyes.  But as for us, we say bring it!

Last week we braved the massive crowds to be able to say we rode it this year on opening day (as opposed to just opening weekend like we have the past two years), and it made us look back at last year's pictures for some good laughs.  We thought we'd share them with you today.  If you haven't already ridden Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy you need to.  And if you live out of state, fly here immediately and ride it.

Enjoy!

MJ gets ready for his VERY FIRST ride on Ghost Galaxy

First time riding last year... and we get stuck halfway up the first hill and have to disembark - Chad tweets and Mark panics!

(#1) MJ's ride picture on his very first trip around Ghost Galaxy - his hair KILLS us!
(#2) Touring the Galaxy with our friends from FindingMickey.com on the 'Happiest Haunts Tour'

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Many thanks as always to Sarah at "Magical Days with the Mouse" for hosting this wonderful, weekly event!

Days in the Park Week in Review (9/12 - 9/17)

We had a great week this week at Days in the Park.  We kept busy and had something new almost every day, which is always a good week for us!  And we double-posted a couple of times, so if you add them all up, we've already posted into next week!  Time for a recap!

On Monday, we challenged you with our weekly "Magical Mystery Mondays" to guess where in The Parks we were when we took a particular picture.  This week's came courtesy of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot in Disney California Adventure Park.  We have a lot of fun with these every week, so make sure you stop by each and every Monday to participate with us.  Guess correctly, and you'll find your name posted on our blog come Tuesday morning!

Tuesday,we announced the winner in our first ever "Thank You" giveaway on our blog, as our reader Jeremy (Twitter @3DisKids) took home a great Disney prize-pack full of some awesome goodies

In this week's "Almost" Wordless Wednesday, we shared some random pictures from one of our last trips of the summer into the Disneyland Resort, and Mark met one of the most feared men in the galaxy which we just had to share

It was a Disney Flashback on Friday, as Halloween Time 2011 at Disneyland began with a look back at Halloween Time at Disneyland from 2010

And finally on Saturday, we celebrated our first "blogoversary" here at Days in the Park with a special "Thank You" from all of our writers

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We didn't mention it up top, but we also finally managed to record and get out Episode 8 of our "Days in the Parkcast" podcast!  We've been on kind of a break with that while we looked at our show and tried to work on some new segments, and we're pleased with the direction and how it went!  We think it will better reflect our blog now, albeit it in audio format.  And we're super stoked to finally have Amy on board and recording with us as she's transplanted her "Amy's Favorite Things" segments from here to the podcast.  If you haven't already, but you enjoy reading our blog, give our show a listen!  You can listen to, or download, our show on our "Parkcast" website: http://www.daysintheparkcast.com, or you can subscribe to our show and listen to us in iTunes.  Give us a listen and let us know what you think!

And Halloween Time 2011 has officially begun at Disneyland!  We were in The Park last night to say that we officially rode both Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday, but that was really all we did.  We're looking forward to going back out many more times in the next month and a half, and will be sharing lots of information, and more importantly pictures, from our Halloween "days in the park" with you, our readers.  It should be a great season!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  It's going to be a great week, so come on back.  We love having you around!

Jack Skellington is Coming Back to the Haunted Mansion!

For today's Disney Flashback we decided to highlight something that is constantly "flashing back" to us, since it appears each and every year around this time!  Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort is quite possibly our favorite time of the year.  There's a new feeling in the air, a new atmosphere if you will; the villains are front and center, there are new attractions and shows to see that really put you in a festive, albeit naughty mood, and it's just plain fun to be around Disneyland when all of this is going on.

Hands down, though, one of our favorite attractions this time of year is when The Haunted Mansion is all transformed and "Tim Burton-ed" into the Haunted Mansion Holiday, featuring Jack Skellington and all of our friends from the Disney classic, "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

We know that a lot of people feel very strongly about this attraction one way or the other, and that the feelings on it run from "We hate it, bring back the classic!" to "We love it, never bring back the classic!", and we're definitely somewhere in the middle.  We would fight tooth and nail to see the classic return to us every winter, but we're also not too ashamed to say that we look forward to Jack roaming the halls again each and every Halloween.

And it's almost that time again!  Halloween has snuck up on us really quickly this year, and it's almost time for the transformation to be complete.  We didn't even realize it until we were at Disneyland earlier this week and noticed that The Haunted Mansion was down for refurbishments.  As soon as saw it, though, we could feel the excitement coursing through our veins!   When this article publishes on our blog, it will be 7 days (September 16) and counting until Halloween at Disneyland!  We can't wait to get out there and enjoy all that this time of year has to offer and share it with everyone on the blog.

We know this is last year's picture, but it is a Flashback after all

So, are you as excited for Halloween at Disneyland as we are?  We'll be writing about everything going on at Disneyland all month long and hope everyone will be along for the ride, because it's going to be a great one!  For more information on Halloween Time at Disneyland, be sure and check out the official site at http://www.disneyland.com/halloween. 

And look for more information, pictures and thoughts on Haunted Mansion Holiday throughout the season.  We can't wait!