At Disney World, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party spanned 36 nights from August through November 2019. Allan said the early kickoff is due in part to the party's popularity, but also to give European visitors the Disney Halloween experience before summer vacation ends.
There are themed treats and merchandise, stage shows and fireworks, ride overlays, and Magic Kingdom is decorated. One detail to look out for are the "Town Square-crows" on Main Street, U.S.A.
"The 'square-crows' in Town Square are all dressed like some kind of character in the Magic Kingdom," Allan said. There's a band leader from the Main Street Marching Band, a candy maker from the Main Street Confectionery, and Casey from Casey's Corner in his baseball uniform, to name a few.
Disneyland introduced its Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay to the Haunted Mansion in October 2001, but Big Thunder Ranch's Halloween Carnival Roundup was the hub of Halloween when it debuted in 2010. There were professional pumpkin carvers, Disney villain meet-and-greets, crafts, and carnival games. Some years, guests could even meet the presidentially pardoned turkeys who came to live their lives at Big Thunder Ranch after appearing in Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Today, Disneyland gets the same full Halloween overhaul as its counterpart in Florida, but there are a few touches you can only find at Disneyland.
Halloween at Disney's international parks has grown as well. In addition to jolly pumpkins, fall decor, and costumed characters, Disneyland Paris pays homage to the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos with lively skeletons and the Haunted Mansion at Tokyo Disneyland received a Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare overlay similar to the Disneyland parks in California and Shanghai.
Shanghai Disneyland joined the Halloween game in 2017 with a villain's cavalcade, ghostly pirates inspired by "Pirates of the Caribbean" and a DJ-led Guardians of the Galaxy dance party.