Halloween Parties Past - Part 2

2012 - A Visit to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

In 2012 My brother and sister in-law had planned to take their kids on a trip down to Disneyland, to enjoy the magic kingdom's Halloween festivities. When my brother in-law suddenly lost his job they made the tough decision to cancel their much anticipated trip and use the extra money to help sustain them through this rough time. As you might expect, their kids were very disappointed. They understood the reason, but still, very disappointed. My heart ached for their kids; they didn't whine or complain about it and perhaps that's why my heart hurt for them so badly.
I grew up in Southern California, and for that matter Disneyland. My father was employed there, and so for us it was normal to meet my father at work, then play at "the park" (Disneyland) for a couple hours after ward. One year our family was featured on the cover of the 30th Birthday issue of Disneyland magazine.

I'm the kids on the far left with the mushroom haircut and bad posture. I remember that day.....the park was closed to the public and we were the ONLY ones there. My baby sister, Melissa was too little to be in the picture so for part of the photo shoot Minnie Mouse sat with her in the shade and fanned her.

The 2012 Crockett Family Halloween party was the perfect opportunity to put my knowledge and love for the magic kingdom to good use. If my nieces and nephew couldn't go to Disneyland, maybe I could bring a part of Disneyland to them. In particular the Haunted Mansion. I immediately put my imaginary imagineer hat on and got to work - getting ready for Grimm Grinning Ghosts to come out and socialize is a serious task.

Without further adieu, "Welcome foolish mortals to the Haunted Mansion..." Kindly enter and proceed to the dead center of the room. "We have 999 happy haunts, but there's always room for one more. Any volunteers?"

The Grand Haunted Mansion Entrance.

The Lord and Lady of the Mansion, Master Robert and Lady Christy

 My biggest undertaking? Singing busts.....you know the famous singing heads from the ride? So I gathered oatmeal cans from my neighbors, several cans of spray insulation foam, poster board, paper mache supplies, and plaster. My brother tracked down a video of the exact Barber shop busts from the ride, to project via a projector....thank you ebay. And, here they are....

You can't have a proper haunted mansion without a stretching portrait. And, this portrait happens to be my favorite one from the ride. It was time to get out my paints and brushes.

If you look closely, on the table there is a framed needlepoint from the ride which reads "Tomb Sweet Tomb".

"is this room actually stretching or is it just your imagination?"

We had to have more than one creepy portrait.

Through out the ride at Disneyland there are hidden Mickey's. Can, you find one of ours in the portrait?

I transformed this painting (that normally hangs in the house) with an overlay of vellum, then sketched on the vellum with charcoal to make the three ladies less pretty and more creepy.

We had a Bayou themed Buffet: Monte Cristo Sandwich's (Disneylands very own recipe), Beignets, Shrimp with cocktail sauce, and Deviled eggs. Oh, and we can't forget the crickets....real ones, sour cream and onion flavor, courtesy of our corner gas station.

My brother and sister in-law are good sports. Since he had recently lost his job they came as homeless people.

This concludes our tour.

"Hurry back. Hurry back....be sure to bring your death certificate"

When each guest left the party, they left with their very own death certificate. Print one of your very own at doombuggies.com