Great Wolf Lodge Southern California is a great place to go year-round. As SoCal’s only resort with an indoor water park, you never have to worry about what the weather outside is like.
As Fall and Halloween near, guests staying at Great Wolf Lodge anywhere from October 1 through October 31st will be in for an extra special treat. One of Great Wolf’s seasonal offerings is its Howl-O-Ween Costumes and family water park fun come together in October at Great Wolf Lodge. When you take a Great Wolf Lodge Howl-O-Ween vacation with your family, you’ll be able to treat your kids to their most spooktacular Halloween ever during this month-long Howl-O-Ween festivities. Here’s a fun video featuring Hall-O-Ween:
Along with your bathing suit, pack up your plastic pumpkin pails and plenty of ghostly garments for costume parades, Trick-or-Treat Trails, scary-silly Story Times and Monster Bash Dance parties. And don’t forget the perfect 84-degree basking weather in their gargantuan water park.
Here’s what you can expect to find at Great Wolf’s Howl-O-Ween:
Trick-or-Treat Trail – Grab your treat bag and collect ghostly goodies along the spooky Trick-or-Treat Trail.
Spooktacular Story Time – Everyone loves the magical atmosphere they create for their Howl-O-Ween Story Time, because they strike the perfect balance between spooky and funny. This has to be one of the favorite family traditions of all time.
Monster Bash Dance Party – Our Monster Bash Dance Parties will be the highlight of your Howl-O-Ween vacation, because if there’s anything we love more than wearing our costumes, it’s dancing in our costumes!
Howl-O-Ween looks like an extra fun time to book a stay at Great Wolf Lodge, don’t you think?
Here are some additional things to know before you go:
- Water park passes are included in your suite price, with access from 1 p.m. on the date of arrival until close on the day of departure.
- Water park hours 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday – Thursday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays (subject to change based on occupancy and season)
- Check in at 4 p.m. and check out at 11 a.m. (late check out packages available)
- Also included with your stay: Kids Activities, Story Time and The Forest Friends Show
For more information about Great Wolf Lodge’s Howl-O-Ween and to book your stay,go here.
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Irvine Park Railroad is located inside of Irvine Regional Park, in the foothills of Orange, California. It’s one of our family’s favorite activities to do together each fall. 
The Pumpkin Patch is located in Locomotive Loop and Miner’s Meadow just behind the train station and has thousands of pumpkins, in all shapes and sizes. All visitors are sure to find the perfect pumpkin there! There are also several Pumpkin Patch activities to choose from. 
The Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch will be open daily from September 16th through October 31st and hours are as follows:
The parking fee for Irvine Regional Park is $3.00 per vehicle on weekdays and $5.00 per vehicle on weekends. Important parking information: As Halloween nears, we encourage visitors to plan to arrive early to help avoid crowds, particularly on the weekend. Visit this page on our web site for special event parking information.
This year, applicants will be able to apply for this amazing and unique opportunity beginning on September 6! The application window will only be open through September 13 and I don’t recommend waiting until the last minute to apply! This was the tweet that announced it on Twitter: 
Whether guests have a question about a theme park, restaurant, service, shop, hotel or activity, the Moms Panel is there to help with that planning.
It’s a Magical, Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity 
You Have NOTHING to Lose By Applying, Only Something to Gain! 
The photo above was me attempting to make my video submission for Round 2 of the selection process. To read more about my experience about “What It’s Like to Apply for the Disney Parks Moms Panel”, click 
We were invited to celebrate summer at Disneyland Resort, which happened to be the day Disneyland Railroad and the other Rivers of America attractions reopened, so it was a great day to be there!
Now that Disneyland Railroad, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Colombia, and Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes, and Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island reopened, all seems right in the world again! Just wait until you ride on Disneyland Railroad’s new route! It’s been beautifully updated but they also kept all of the important and historial elements of this attraction and I bet you’ll be in awe for the entire train ride! I know we were!
Adding to our excitement about being at Disneyland Resort was the opportunity to try out the new MaxPass. If you haven’t heard of it before, don’t worry, I’ll explain more. Just keep reading. By the way, MaxPass is awesome! 
Here’s something you may not know about me: I’m planner and usually have a schedule of some type for most occasions, even if it’s just in my head and my family doesn’t know about it. (Shh, don’t tell them!)
Planning your day out at Disney, even if it’s just a little bit, will help it go smoother. I’m not saying that you can’t enjoy being spontaneous at Disney, I just know that it can sometimes be overwhelming, especially on a busy day. As a mom, I always appreciate helpful tips I get from others. Today I want to share my own tips with you about how you can make your day in the parks much easier.
1) Download the Disneyland App
The Disneyland app allows you to view current wait times, make FASTPASS selections through MaxPass, view your PhotoPass photos, locate show and parade times, and find amenities such as dining locations and restrooms. I assure you that having this set up ahead of time will alleviate the stress of hurrying to do so when you arrive at the Resort.
Disney MaxPass is a feature you can add to your ticket and includes 2 great benefits to make the most of the magic! For $10 a day, per person, you’ll have access to PhotoPass services and be able to reserve digital FASTPASS selections for any of the 16 attractions that have this set up. (per availability)
This is all done through the Disneyland app on your mobile device. (Now you see why I recommended downloading it!) With MaxPass, you have the convenience of scheduling your digital FASTPASS selections through your mobile device. With a regular FASTPASS, you have to walk over to the attraction to obtain it on your ticket through. You can also reserve a digital FASTPASS from either park, as long as you’re in one of them. It saves you so much time not having to walk back and forth. Your feet will actually thank you! I know mine did! 
You’ll also appreciate the Disney PhotoPass benefit included with MaxPass. You’ll be able to download your photos taken at select locations throughout the parks, character photos, and also photos from popular attractions. Sometimes the poses caught on the attraction photos are beyond hilarious and priceless!
With PhotoPass benefits, you can almost instantly download your photos from the app and share them online. You’re also able to download them and print them out as keepsakes, once you’re home. For just $10 per person, per day, Disney MaxPass is totally worth it and makes your day so much easier.
If you think you might want an actual sit-down meal during your day, I recommend making that reservation before you even arrive at the parks. As soon as you download the Disneyland app, you can make a dining reservation. Some of the restaurants that offer dining reservations at Disneyland include Blue Bayou Restaurant, Cafe Orleans, Carnation Cafe, Plaza Inn (offers character dining for breakfast), and River Belle Terrace. At Disney California Adventure Park you can make a reservation for Ariel’s Grotto (character dining) and Carthay Circle Restaurant. 
Although it’s super simple to make a dining reservation through the app, you can also always call 714.781.DINE or 714.781.3463 to make one also. For more info about all of the dining options at Disneyland Resort, go 
There are also dining packages available for World of Color, Fantasmic! and Main Street Electrical Parade, which include preferred seating in the package. If you have an idea of what shows and/or parades you’re determined to watch, it will help drive the rest of your day. For a list of entertainment at Disneyland Resort, go here.
I also invest the money in a locker for items such as extra clothes and a change of shoes for nighttime and also to put my big camera if I happen to bring it and get tired of lugging it around. At the end of the day, it’s all worth it!
I hope my tips are helpful for you! A very special thank you to Disneyland Resort for inviting our family to spend a special day in the parks. We hope to see you again real soon! Happy Summer!
Hosted by Irvine City Officials and FivePoint, the development manager of Great Park Neighborhoods, the event will offer a first-hand look at the 53-acre first phase of the Sports Park, a world-class youth sports facility that complements the award-winning schools, vibrant economy and well-planned neighborhoods that help Irvine rank consistently as one of the best places to live. Built on the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, the Sports Park is ultimately planned to be nearly twice the size of Disneyland.
Attendees at the grand opening celebration will be treated to a day long festival of family-friendly games, including sneak peeks at the world-class amenities, demonstrations and sports clinics with well-known athletes, including Landon Donovan, Amy Rodriguez and Brad Friedel; and savory eating at 14 food and dessert trucks. The grand-opening celebration will culminate in a free concert featuring Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi of the Blues Brothers.
As I mentioned, the Holiday Inn brand has partnered up with Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, for this program. We were invited to attend a special character breakfast with the popular Scholastic book characters Clifford the Big Red Dog® and Geronimo Stilton. 
Young guests at the hotel were able to meet and take pictures with the characters. They also received a take-home frame to displaying their character photo and took part in fun craft activities during the breakfast. 
Attendees were also gifted a Scholastic book, which will also remain available for young guests at check-in, at participating locations, through the end of August.
Another great component of the program is the lending library. Select Holiday Inn hotels will offer a Scholastic lending library, through the end of August, where kids can borrow a book to read during their stay. Parents who are away from home on business can also borrow a book to read their kids a virtual bedtime story. Participating hotels will lend traveling parents a stand for their smartphone or tablet so they can read hands-free to their little ones at home. For a list of participating Holiday Inn hotels, please visit 
On August 21st, the Holiday Inn Nashville-Vanderbilt hotel and Scholastic will host a Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Party. Hotel guests will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the first total solar eclipse in America in nearly 100 years. The hotel is along the eclipse totality line, providing families with the optimal view of this rare celestial occurrence. Kids and parents alike will learn about space with the “Magic School Bus Presents: Our Solar System” book while cherishing this unforgettable moment together. Guests will also receive a special pair of eclipse-viewing glasses and have the opportunity to meet two Scholastic characters. The solar eclipse viewing party is complimentary for hotel guests. For bookings, please go 
As a mom, and an elementary teacher, I really appreciate the efforts of the Holiday Inn brand in encouraging reading, even when on vacation. It’s one of the most important things we need to instill in our children, beginning at a young age! 
Join in on the conversation by using and following along with the hashtag #SmilesAhead.
Mickey’s Halloween Party is a separate-ticket event, offered on 14 different nights in September and October. The event features special entertainment, Disney characters in their Halloween attire, and trick or treating at locations throughout Disneyland for candy and healthy snacks. Guests have the option of dressing up in costumes for the party. (Please review the costume guidelines before selecting your costumes.) 
In addition to seasonal Halloween attractions Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday from “A Nightmare Before Christmas” in Disneyland Park, guests will enjoy fun, exclusive events to the party. One extra-special treat is the “Halloween Screams” fireworks spectacular, a Mickey’s Halloween Party tradition presented exclusively for party guests and hosted by “Master of Scare-omonies” Jack Skellington.
Also exclusive to Mickey’s Halloween Party is the “Frightfully Fun Parade” led by The 
The creepy Dr. Facilier from Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” calls on mystical powers, summoning his Shadow Men from the bayou to loom large over his strange and twisted Voodoo parlor. The mischievous Disney villains appear out of the darkness, ready to stir up some trouble. The wicked gathering includes the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella.
Disney characters–villains as well as Mickey Mouse and friends–will appear at locations
Another popular feature of the party is the opportunity for guests to “mix in” with regular park guests for three hours prior to the party’s opening time. This year’s ticket to Mickey’s Halloween Party has even greater value as guests will be able to visit Disney California Adventure as well as Disneyland during those three hours prior to the beginning of the party in Disneyland.
Also, new for 2017….guests who have admission to Mickey’s Halloween Party will enjoy the added bonus of unlimited Disney PhotoPass. What a great way to capture those special memories without having to worry about taking your own photos so you can just be in the moment with your family. You can download your images to share online or even print out at home as souvenir keepsakes. It’s a great offering and so exciting that guests will now have this included in their party ticket. 
Tickets for Mickey’s Halloween Party, purchased in advance, are available at a discount on select nights. Prices start range from $85-$120 for Annual Passholders and $95-$120 for the general public. (The price depends on the selected party date)
There’s something to be said about getting to experience new magic with your family, during your visit, and creating new memories together. I know it’s a favorite in our family. 
It’s the only Disney attraction in the universe where guests step into a Guardians of the Galaxy story, as they help Rocket rescue this cosmic gang of misfits. With multiple ride profiles, guests never know which adventure they’ll encounter.
More exciting news for Disneyland Park as some of the classic attractions are scheduled to reopen n July. On Monday, July 17, which will also be the 62nd anniversary of the 1955 grand opening of Disneyland, a newly enhanced “Fantasmic!, will premiere. This popular nighttime spectacular. tells the story of Mickey Mouse and his vivid imagination. “Fantasmic!:will return to the Rivers of America in Frontierland with its classic theme song and engaging storyline, which guests have treasured for 25 years.
Its portrayal of Mickey’s exploration now features new scenes with characters from “Aladdin,” “Tangled,” “The Lion King” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
One dazzling sequence finds Aladdin and Jasmine discovering “A Whole New World” as they float on their flying carpet over a bed of fog on the Rivers of America. Those sensational “Fantasmic!” adventures come alive with new mist screens and innovative, state-of-the-art projection technology to create visuals that are brighter and more vibrant than ever before.
The Disneyland Railroad, one of the park’s original attractions, returns with its iconic steam-powered locomotives for new adventures. The Disneyland Railroad will now travel across the rocks on a trestle that extends out into the Rivers of America, and for the first time ever it will make a left-hand turn on its tour of the park.
Along the way, guests will enjoy a view of Walt Disney’s legendary Dioramas of the Grand Canyon and Primeval World, which have been carefully restored to their original splendor with a bit of new magic added to both. Guests on board the Disneyland Railroad also will discover a breathtaking new view along the north bank of Rivers of America.
A gorgeous new Columbia Gorge section highlighted by five new picturesque waterfalls can be seen from the trains as well as from the Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes. This new adventure complements the scenes guests have come to know and cherish through the years. Landscapes inspired by four of America’s majestic rivers–the Mississippi, the Columbia, the Missouri and the Rio Grande–are carefully recreated, complete with indigenous rock formations, natural forests and wildlife, and the waterfalls.
Other Classic Rivers of America attractions are also set to relaunch July 29, including the Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes. They’ll be bringing new adventures and breathtaking new views for guests to enjoy. Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island reopened June 16.
In addition to the returning classics in Frontierland and New Orleans Square, the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade continues nightly performances in Disneyland through Aug.20, featuring such favorite scenes as Cinderella’s ball, the appearance (and disappearance) of Elliot, the smoke-breathing, tail-wagging “Pete’s Dragon,” and the glittering “To Honor America” finale.
The July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza will light up Dana Point Harbor. Visitors can enjoy fantastic views from the harbor, Baby Beach, the Island, and the many waterfront eateries located within the harbor. The display begins at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4 and early arrival is recommended. Visitors are encouraged to bring a personal FM radio to tune into KSBR 88.5FM and listen to the patriotic music accompanying the fireworks display.
Spend the week of Independence Day enjoying Dana Point Harbor’s many waterfront restaurants and ocean activities, or take a cruise in the harbor on July 4th to view the fireworks display. The Ocean Institute, Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, and Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari are all offering 4th of July Fireworks cruises.
Visitors are encouraged to take advantage of the free shuttle services on July 4th to avoid traffic jams. The shuttles will make round trips from Dana Hills High School to Dana Point Harbor from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Shuttle service will suspend at 9 p.m. until after the fireworks and will resume until 11 p.m.
The Dana Point Trolley will drop off and pick up at stop #6 on July 4th in the Harbor from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and the inter Harbor shuttle will pick up and drop off at the restaurants and retail area, Baby Beach, the Island, and Ocean Institute from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Celebrate Independence Day at Dana Point Harbor and experience the spectacular July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza. For more information visit 
Please note: Streets within Dana Point Harbor will have restricted left hand turn lanes and cars will be detoured to go right only (Dana Point Harbor Drive, Puerto Place & Island Way). Cove Road will be closed during the fireworks and re-opened after the fireworks.