News

Disney’s Halloween Boo Bash Details

23 dates, down from 36 in 2019. Ticket prices increased $45 to $50 per night

From WDWMagic:

Fantasy reigns at Magic Kingdom Park, especially as we get ready for Walt Disney World Resort’s 50th anniversary in October and “The World’s Most Magical Celebration.” Case in point, we recently announced the park will soon be your ghost host for “Disney After Hours Boo Bash” on 23 select nights later this year, starting Aug. 10 and continuing through Oct. 31 from 9 p.m. to midnight.* We are thrilled to share some more frightfully fun details on what you will experience during this limited-capacity separately ticketed event:

Special cavalcades will pop up throughout the night including “Mickey’s Happy Halloween Cavalcade,” with Mickey Mouse and friends dressed up for the occasion. In the “Disney Villains Halloween Cavalcade,” villains will take to the street and celebrate their favorite time of the year. “Jack’s Nightmare Cavalcade” will feature Jack Skellington, Sally and Oogie Boogie riding down the parade path to “This is Halloween,” and last, but definitely not least (we would never say that about her!), Maleficent will also make an appearance in the form of a fire-breathing dragon.

Some of your favorite friends will be lurking about – from the lovely Miss Carlotta at the Haunted Mansion to Goofy and Chip ‘n’ Dale in their Halloween best, with other surprise characters popping up across the park, too. You can even stop and listen to the Cadaver Dans during their special comeback (from the dead) performance.

Select complimentary snacks like ice cream novelties and popcorn, along with select beverages, are included in the cost of the event.

After the park closes to day guests, enjoy less time waiting in line for more than 20 attractions including Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Haunted Mansion attraction, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain and more.

A variety of specialty food and drinks will be available for purchase including an Apple Ginger Dale frozen drink (frozen apple cider mixed with ginger ale and topped with whipped cream) and a Foolish Mortal Funnel Cake.)**

Disney PhotoPass will also be available to take your magical and spooky shots throughout the night.

“Disney After Hours Boo Bash” tickets will grant admission to Magic Kingdom Park as early as 7 p.m., giving you time to enjoy even more of your favorite Magic Kingdom Park haunts before the event begins. These dated event tickets do not require an additional day theme park ticket or Disney Park Pass theme park reservation.

As we shared previously, all foolish mortals can dress in costume for the event and you can get your fill of Halloween candy while trick-or-treating

around the park. Costume masks are not permitted for adults; they can only be worn by children under 14. Before you arrive for the “Disney After Hours Boo Bash” event, please check our Know Before You Go page and Costume Policy for the most up-to-date information. Please note that health and safety measures, policies and operational guidelines are subject to change.

Tickets for this hauntingly fun-filled three-hour event will go on sale June 15 and can be purchased online or by calling 407-939-4240. Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels can book their tickets as early as June 8. Tickets start at $129 – $139, plus tax for August/September nights and $159 – $169, plus tax for October nights, and $199, plus tax for Halloween. Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members can take advantage of a $10 discount for event nights in August and September. A limited number of tickets are available, so get yours soon!

Here are the dates for “Disney After Hours Boo Bash”:

Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021

Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021

Friday, Aug. 20, 2021

Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021

Friday, Aug. 27, 2021

Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021

Friday, Sept. 3, 2021

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021

Friday, Sept. 10, 2

Tusker House reopens June 20, family-style instead of buffet, and with Donald & Friends

Jim, isn’t it about time that we start hearing about Disney’s “Magic Access” program, which is Genie, Early Theme Park Entry, and more?  Like, shouldn’t that be soon?

Surveys

Listener Questions

From Kim in Belgium:

I hope you can help me. We have booked a vacation to Walt Disney World in late August 2022. My question is : Will Cosmic Rewind and/or Tron be open? What do you guys think ? It seems construction on both attractions is moving on ?

Our friend Taylor writes in with:

On a recent show you had a listener ask about good “outdoor dining” restaurants.  We were at the parks recently and wanted to exclusively eat outside so I thought it might be helpful to share our experience (

First, as you described, we never had any issue being threatened with a “no show.”  If outdoor seating was unavailable, they would just cancel but we just waited for a table to be ready and the longest we had to wait was 20 minutes or so.  In addition to the places you and Jim suggested, our family also really enjoyed:

• Olivia’s (at Old Key West where the tables are under cover with fans)
• Trattoria Al Forno (though at dinner you’re in the sun so I would suggest breakfast)
• and at Epcot La Cantina de San Angel (the empanadas are the way to go)
• and Rose & Crown.

From Emily in New Jersey:

Longtime fan of the show and avid runDisney enthusiast. Your description of running down the hill with wet feet to the porta-potties before the race had me cracking up because it’s true.

I felt I needed to add my two cents from last weeks show. You mentioned runDisney was waiting to see what the other marathons did and that NYC was virtual. Boston is virtual this year but NYC is virtual and in-person. NYRR is expecting approximately 33,000 finishers. Maybe there’s a chance for us runDisney fanatics in 2022? If not, at least I’ve got my Peloton.

From James:

I take a screenshot of the app showing my food is ready with the code and send it to whoever is picking it up. Haven’t had a problem yet. Have a great day!

And From Erin:

Wondering what’s going on with park attraction/capacity? I was in Epcot on Friday fully expecting it to be a zoo, but it seemed emptier than when I visited in March. It was lovely to be sure, but what does this indicate that Disney is doing? World showcase was more navigable than ever and I loved every second of it.

Disney patents

Mission to Mars feature piece

Quick question: When Disneyland first opened back on July of 1955, what was the tallest structure in the Park?

It wasn’t Sleeping Beauty Castle, the 77-foot-tall central icon of this family fun park. But -- rather -- the TWA Moonliner over in Tomorrowland. Which -- as it stood on its three legs -- the very tip of this 72-foot-tall rocket was 80 feet in the air.

The TWA Moonliner marked the entrance of Disneyland’s “Rocket to the Moon” ride. Which wasn’t actually ready for the opening day of this theme park. This Tomorrowland attraction didn’t officially begin operations ‘til July 22, 1955. Some 5 days after that “Dateline: Disneyland” special aired on ABC.

10-minute-long round trip journey to the moon. Guests would board the Star of Polaris and -- after taking a seat in that rocket’s 103-seat passenger compartment -- would be able to keep track of the Star of Polaris’ progress by watching the large circular television screen on the ceiling (which showed where you were headed) or the lower television screen (which showed what the Guests had left behind).

Two separate theaters in this Tomorrowland ride complex -- Dinah & Luna. The way that the Imagineers simulated the rumbling of this rocket / the turbulence that the TWA Moonliner encountered as it pushed through the atmosphere and left the Earth’s orbit … Two key elements.

    • Lots of speakers stashed around each theater to simulate the loud roar of a rocket to the moon taking off.

    • As for what made the seats in each theater vibrate? Decidedly low key effect. A series of truck tires on motors were set up the stands. When the film footage on the upper & lower screens showed the Star of Polaris taking off, the motors that turned these truck tires would be briefly fired up. These tires were positioned in such a way that they’d then vibrate key supports under those stands. Which would then cause entire rows of seats in that Tomorrowland theater to shake.

When the film footage on the upper & lower screens showed that the Star of Polaris had left the Earth’s orbit … Well, those motors would then be turned off and the seats in that Tomorrowland theater would then stop vibrating.

“Flight to the Moon” was initially hugely popular at Disneyland Park. And given that 918 people could experience this Tomorrowland attraction every hour …

SIDE NOTE: Which rides at Disneyland -- back in the Summer of 1955 -- had the highest hourly capacity? I have the actual number here (C.V. Wood took this info with him when he was let go by Walt in December of that same year and then went off to form Marco Engineering, an outside theme park construction company that then went into direct competition with Walt Disney Productions).

Anyway … Here are the numbers from Disneyland’s first summer.

The Jungle Cruise … had an hourly ride capacity of 2112 Guests

The Mark Twain Steamboat … had an hourly ride capacity of 1500 Guests

The 20,000 Leagues Walk-Thru attraction … had an hourly capacity of 1440 Guests

The Steam Passenger Train … had an hourly ride capacity of 1270 Guests

Whereas the Freight Train … only had an hourly ride capacity of 1000 Guests

The Mad Tea Party … had an hourly ride capacity of 1074 Guests

The Mine Train Ride over in Frontierland … had an hourly ride capacity of 930 Guests

And then -- finally -- No. eight on this list comes the Rocket Trip … which has, as I mentioned earlier, a hourly ride capacity of 918 Guests.

Anywho … Because “Flight to the Moon” was so low tech and it was enclosed & indoors, it rarely broke down and could always operate no matter what the weather was like outside. Which is why “Flight to the Moon” played a huge role in the initial success of Walt’s family fun park.

It certainly didn’t hurt that -- with the launch of Sputnik in October of 1957 -- the United States officially entered the space race. And this Tomorrowland attraction then became kind of a coming attraction of what Americans could expect from the future.

But as Walt learned the hard way with Tomorrowland is that … Well, when you set a land at your theme park in the future, the future gets here a lot sooner than you might think.

The folks at TWA certainly understood that. Which is why -- after just six years of serving as the sponsor of this Tomorrowland attraction -- they opted out of covering the operational costs of “Rocket to the Moon” in 1961.

Mind you, Douglas Aircraft was happy to step in as the next sponsor of this Tomorrowland attraction. But that was largely on the heels of Walt telling executives at that aerospace company that he had big plans for this side of his family fun park. That -- by the Summer of 1967 -- Disneyland would have a brand-new version of Tomorrowland. And among its featured attractions would be a new & improved version of “Rocket to the Moon.”

And the retooled version of this Tomorrowland favorite would include:

    • A pre-show scene that featured Audio-Animatronic versions of the scientists at NASA who actually sent the astronauts out into space

    • And instead of truck tires that shook the stands in each theater, “Rocket to the Moon” -- soon to be renamed “Flight to the Moon” -- would now have seats that would individually raise & lower in perfect synchronization with what was going on on the upper & lower screen.

    • Speaking of seats … The Imagineers planned on enlarging both of the theaters in this Tomorrowland complex so that they could then add a fourth row of seats. So that even more Disneyland visitors could enjoy a “Flight to the Moon” when they visited the Happiest Place on Earth.

Douglas Aircraft (which would undergo a name change of its own in April of 1967. Which is when Douglas Aircraft merged with McDonnell Aircraft to form the aerospace behemoth, McDonnell Douglas) happily signed to be part of Disneyland’s New Tomorrowland project.

The original version of “Rocket to the Moon” closed on September 5, 1966. After nearly a year of work, “Flight to the Moon” took its first Guests from the Earth to the Moon on August 12, 1967.

But remember that whole the-future-has-a-tendency-to-become-the-present thing? Well, less than two years after “Flight to the Moon” first opened at Disneyland Park, Guests stood in Tomorrowland on July 20, 1969 and watched live television images projected on big screens as Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin wandered around the really-for-real moon.

Immediately after this one-giant-leap-for-mankind happened … A curious thing began to occur at Disneyland Park. Attendance levels for that theme park’s “Flight to the Moon” attraction began to drop off.

Just so you know: The public’s interest in actual trips to the Moon began falling through the floor around this same time. This is why -- beginning in January of 1970 -- NASA began to trim back the number of Apollo missions it had planned from 20 to 17 as it began to shift resources over to the launch of its Skylab space station program.

Now what was kind of interesting about Disneyland’s “Flight to the Moon” situation was … Well, to help keep the overall costs down on this redo of that theme park’s “Rocket to the Moon” attraction, the Imagineers actually built two complete sets of AA figures & props for “Flight to the Moon” ‘s mission control pre-show. With the idea that they’d then be able to spread the cost of this new introductory scene across the Disneyland version of this Tomorrowland show as well as across the version of “Flight to the Moon” which would eventually be installed in a few years time at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.

Just so you know: WED used to do this build-two-versions-of-the-same-attraction-to-save-on-cost thing a lot in the 1960s. Marc Davis once told me once about how things really got tight in the fabrication department in the late 1960s when the Imagineers were building two full sets of figures & props for both the Disneyland version of The Haunted Mansion (which opened on August 9, 1969) and the one that was being built for Disney World (That version of The Haunted Mansion wouldn’t open ‘til October 1, 1971).

Anyway … The Disney World version of “Flight to the Moon” wouldn’t open ‘til over 2 & a half months after the very first Guests initially arrived to explore the Magic Kingdom (To be specific, we’re talking  December 24, 1971. Just in time to help out with the Christmas crowds). And the reason that Disney World’s “Flight to the Moon” opened so late was largely because construction of WDW’s version of Tomorrowland had fallen so far behind schedule. And that land just wasn’t ready to receive Guests when the Vacation Kingdom originally opened in October of that same year.

And sadly, the WDW version of “Flight to the Moon” -- almost from the very moment that it opened -- began to experience the very same sort of underwhelming attendance that the Disneyland version of this Tomorrowland attraction began to experience right after Neil Armstrong took that one small step back in July of 1969.

But the Imagineers, they had a plan to turn this Tomorrowland attendance problem around. There was something just as exciting as the Apollo program on the horizon. And that was Viking.

For those of you who don’t remember: Starting in the mid-1960s, NASA had been using its Mariner program to send probes to Mars. And after they’d successfully put a number of these units in low orbit around the Red Planet … Well, NASA’s plan now  -- with its Viking program -- was to put an actual lander on the surface of Mars. If all went according to plan, Viking One would launch from Earth in August of 1975 and then -- 11 months later -- actually land on the Red Planet in July of 1976.

That date was not chosen randomly. Please remember that -- on July 4, 1976 -- the United States would be celebrating its Bicentennial. So -- by having Viking One land on Mars during the very same month that America was celebrating its 200th birthday … Well, the idea here was that NASA was showing that this nation’s pioneer spirit was still alive & well. That we were still reaching for the stars.

Something like that -- a revised show for Tomorrowland with strong ties to the American Bicentennial -- would surely excite Americans, right? Which is why the Imagineers pitched executives at McDonnell Douglas on the idea that all they really needed to do here was create a new ride film & soundtrack for “Flight to the Moon.” One that would then take Disney theme park visitors to the surface of Mars. Mind you, WED could keep the physical planet for “Flight to the Moon” in place. The only cost here would be the new ride film & soundtrack.

The execs at McDonnell Douglas signed off on this idea. And -- after a brief shutdown to install the new media (as well as change the building’s exterior signage) -- “Mission to Mars” open on March 21, 1975 on the West Coast at Disneyland Park and then, less than three months later, on the East Coast at WDW’s Magic Kingdom on June 7th of that same year.

Unfortunately, the Imagineers really over-estimated how excited theme park goers would be with the Viking program. Or the Bicentennial, for that matter.

Viking 1 launched on August 20, 1975 and then didn’t actually land on the Red Planet ‘til 11 months later on July 20, 1976. Viking 2 blasted off on September 9th of 1975 and then didn’t land on Mars ‘til September 3, 1976.

I mean, this was a huge, huge accomplishment on NASA’s part. If it wasn’t for the Viking program and the lessons learned there … Well, we wouldn’t have the Mars Perseverance Rover today. More importantly, Ingenuity, the first helicopter to fly on an entirely different planet.

But as far as Disney theme park fans are concerned, an attraction that offers a simulated journey to Mars just doesn’t stand a chance when it stands in the shadow of an indoor roller coaster. And that’s what happened with “Mission to Mars.” That scientifically based attraction (NASA scientists were consulted as the Imagineer were pulling together a new script for this “Flight to the Moon” redo) opened at WDW’s Magic Kingdom less than six months after that theme park’s version of Space Mountain opened back on January 15, 1975.

The crowds came out for that space travel-themed thrill ride. Whereas “Mission to Mars” -- which was really missing out when it came to thrills -- rarely had full houses.

And the exact same thing happened with Disneyland Park’s version of “Mission to Mars.” Which is why -- in an effort to get people to return to Tomorrowland -- the Imagineers fast-tracked a version of Space Mountain for that theme park. Work on the West Coast version of that thrill ride started in the Fall of 1975 (less than three months after that theme park’s version of “Mission to Mars” opened). With the Anaheim version of Space Mountain opening for business by May of 1977.

After that … Well, “Mission to Mars” limped along for another 17 years or so. This Tomorrowland attraction was never particularly popular. But because it was sturdy, reliable and extremely cheap to operate & maintain, Mouse House managers kept the Disneyland version of “Mission to Mars” up & running ‘til November 2, 1992.

The Disney World version of this Tomorrowland attraction hung on a little longer than that. The Magic Kingdom’s “Mission to Mars” remained operational ‘til October 4, 1993. After that … Well, this two theater complex then became home to “The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter.”

Out in Anaheim, the old “Mission to Mars” building stood empty for six years (Though -- in an interesting side note -- the Imagineers used to use the exterior of this Tomorrowland structure as a place where they’d try out paint treatments & propping that was supposed to be used as part of the “Tomorrowland 2055” project). It finally -- as part of the New New Tomorrowland project (which opened in May of 1998) -- became Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port.

And to show how -- no matter how things change, they remain the same -- what did the Imagineers put in front of the entrance to Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port to show Guests that creatures from all around the Universe come here for the fine food? A one third smaller recreation of the Star of Polaris, the TWA Moonliner was built over this restaurant’s entrance.

Mind you, because Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port was sponsored by Coca Cola, that soft drink’s logo was displayed next to the Moonliner, rather than TWA’s. And the marquee of this eatery promised that Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port would “ … Deliver Refreshment to a Thirsty Galaxy.”

One final story here … In a few weeks time, we’re going to see the movie version of “The Jungle Cruise” open in theaters on July 30th. Which has people once again talking about the various movies-based-on-theme-park-rides that Walt Disney Studios has produced over the past 20 years.

Now some will point to “The Country Bears” (which was released to theaters in July of 2002) as the film that started this trend at Disney. Truth be told, it was a TV movie -- the “Tower of Terror,” which starred Steve Guttenberg & Kristin Dunst -- which actually started this trend. When that 89 minute-long film aired on ABC on October 26, 1997 and got surprisingly high ratings … Well, that’s when executives on the theatrical release side of things at Disney Studios began to get serious about the idea of producing movies that were based on the Company’s theme park attraction.

And the first of these to-be-released-theatrically films to be put into active development (And this was back in 1997. Just weeks after that Disney’s “Tower of Terror” movie aired on ABC) was a “Mission to Mars” movie.

Mind you, the “Mission to Mars” attraction had been closed for years at this point (The Disneyland version closed back in November of 1992. The WDW version in October of 1993). But everyone agreed that “Mission to Mars” was a great title for a movie. So why let the fact that the reason that this Tomorrowland attraction had been closed for five years was because it was enormously unpopular with Guests stand in the way of a movie version of that same attraction now being made. Ah, you gotta love Hollywood.

Wait. This story gets better (And I want to credit Drew Taylor, my co-host on the “Fine Tooning” podcast. He’s the one who recently shared the following story with me). You wanna know who Disney originally hired to direct its “Mission to Mars” movie? Gore Verbinski.

That name is probably familiar to “Pirates of the Caribbean” fans. After all, Gore is the guy who directed the first three “Pirates” movies for Disney Studios:

    • “The Curse of the Black Pearl” (July 9, 2003)

    • “Dead Man’s Chest” (July 7, 2006)

    • and “At Worlds End” (May 25, 2007)

Anyway … Gore got hired by Disney to develop a “Mission to Mars” movie in late 1997. Verbinksi then spent 1998 developing this ambitious sci-fi thriller for Disney Studios. Only to then abruptly walk away from the project in January of 1999.  

According to the trades, Gore departed as the director of “Mission to Mars” because he and Disney were unable to agree …

… on the budget and this film’s creative direction.

That’s a quote from Variety’s story on Verbinski bailing on this project. Now where this gets scary is that -- at the point that Gore walked away from “Mission to Mars” -- this movie had already undergone two months of pre-production and was just four months out from a May start-of-production.

So -- to not lose all of the money that Disney had already invested in the movie version of “Mission to Mars” -- the Studio needed a new director STAT. And the one that they settled on was somewhat surprising: Brian DePalma, the talented guy behind 1976’s “Carrie,” 1983’s “Scarface” and 1987’s “The Untouchables.” With a filmography like that, DePalma obviously the perfect guy to direct a movie for Disney based on a theme park attraction.

If you want to hear more about Brian DePalma’s work on “Mission to Mars” and his battles with Disney just to get the money to complete that film’s FX sequences, head on over to “Light the Fuse,” the great Mission Impossible podcast that Drew does. Taylor recently got the chance to interview DePalma (who directed the very first “Mission Impossible” movie back in 1996). Brian shared all sorts of stories about the “Mission to Mars” movie as part of that interview with Drew.

Final thought: “Mission to Mars” & “Space Mountain” were really the attractions that led the Imagineers to “Star Tours.” Moving seats / thrills.