celebrating halloween, disney-style

with some free time on sunday, the girls and i decided to head down to disneyland and check out the halloween activities at big thunder ranch.  but first, we stopped to watch the frozen pre-parade show since we'd managed to time our arrival just right.

that face just kills me.  i crack up every time i look at it.

so this "show" is really just a float that comes down the route before the parade actually starts.  it's got an animatronics version of olaf on the front of it, and then anna and elsa are perched atop, waving at the crowds below.

they play an instrumental version of "let it go" as the princesses glide down the street, so of course i had it stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  oy.

it was pretty crowded that day, being a sunday while a holiday overlay decorated the entire park.  we had just an hour and a half before the halloween carnival back in big thunder ranch was over, and we found a shitton of people when we got there.

there was a meet & greet area where you could take pictures with one of several different disney villains.

characters were roaming the area dressed in halloween costumes:

 and there were some really cool pumpkins on display.

the girls decided to head over and decorate some masks and finger puppets.

photobombed by minnie.

one more photo op on the way out:

in a little corner next to rancho del zocalo, the mexican restaurant in the park, there was a little display for dia de los muertos - the day of the dead.

and a rare disney freebie - face painting.

we caught the 4D preview of disney's next movie, "big hero 6."

and got to enjoy one ride of the bean's choice - buzz lightyear's astro blasters.  i always end up riding solo here because the cars only accommodate two at a time.  i don't look too unhappy about it, though, huh?

and then a couple of these wrapped up to go for dinner:

not bad for a 3-hour window of free time, huh?