Pumpkin Passion

Disneyland has gone pumpkin crazy! There are pumpkins nearly everywhere you look from the entrance gates, down Mainstreet, all the way to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. There are simply too many items to mention. Some highlight are the giant Mickey Mouse head at the beginning of Mainstreet (pictured above) and the pumpkins carved with Disney characters surrounding the Walt Disney statue at the center of the park.

They even had a pumpkin Mickey Mouse Hat. Of course, I had to get one with my name stitched on the back. I don’t think I’ve had one of those since I was about 6 years old.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted House is the #1 reason to go to Disneyland this season. It’s simply awesome.

While you’re feasting your eyes on all the pumpkin decorations you can also treat your tummy. There’s a pumpkin latte and a pumpkin cupcake at Blue Ribbon Bakery on Mainstreet. The latte was descent but cold and the cupcake was good but the frosting was similar to what you get with grocery store cupcakes. At California Adventure in the Wine Country Trattoria there was a tiramusu with a pumpkin mousse in a take-home ceramic Mickey Mouse mug. It was simply delicious but didn’t taste much like pumpkin. It tasted much more like banana. I wanted to eat 4 of them for a complete set of mugs to take back home. I probably could have eatten them all because the portion is teeny tiny–there’s a disposable plastic cup inside the ceramic cup. The whole thing is little more than the size of a shot glass but it was yummy and super cute.

Since I could never adequately describe all the many pumpkin items, here’s a little montage:

Yesterday was chilly here in Los Angeles. Walking from the train station to the office, the hair on my arms was standing straight up and I had goosebumps all over. It really felt like Fall. Typically, the weather will cool down for a short time in August to trick me into believing that Fall is here early and then September will be hotter than hell.

While the Fall temperature may not be here to stay, pumpkin products have already started showing up on the shelves of several retailers. The first pumpkin display I saw this year was at JoAnn’s Craft & Fabric store back in July. Even for a pumpkin fanatic like me, this seems way too early and lots more displays have crept up since.

Just this past weekend I saw Disneyland staff stocking shelves with pumpkin memorabilia and they even had a Fall window display. I think it was the sight of a Mickey Mouse hat decked out as a pumpkin that finally got me excited about the upcoming 2009 pumpkin season. I’m really looking forward to seeing Disneyland all pumpkin’d out and now that we just got out pass I’ll be able to take lots of pictures.

The 2009 Pumpkin Eatin’ Season is shaping up to be a good one. Only two more weeks until the official start! Woo Ho!!