Did you know that Halloweentown (yes, that Halloweentown) is an actual place that you can visit whether or not you have magical abilities? We found out about it last fall and have already made two trips.
If you're new to the concept of Halloweentown, it's a 4-movie Disney Channel franchise. I saw the first movie when it came out 25 years ago and it's been required Halloween viewing in our house ever since.
The plot centers on a girl name Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) and her two siblings, who discover that they are the descendants of witches after following their grandmother, Aggie (Debbie Reynolds) home on Halloween night. Battles between good and evil, and pivotal choices, such as whether to stay in Halloweentown or whether to live in the mortal realm, ensue.
Visiting Halloweentown
Now that you have a primer, let's move on to the main event: visiting Halloweentown! Prior to last year, it honestly never occurred to me that Halloweentown was filmed in a town that you could actually visit. Even if that had crossed my mind, I definitely wouldn't have anticipated the amount of Halloweentown and general Halloween themed wonder such a place might hold.
As it turns out, the series was filmed in St. Helens, Oregon, about 45 minutes North of Portland. Starting in mid-September, the main plaza at St Helens pulls out all the stops for its Halloweentown celebration. On weekends, there are photo ops with Benny the skeleton cab driver (see above) the giant jack-o-lantern in front of City Hall, and lots of other spooky, Halloween-themed props; performances by the Cauldron sisters (a group of dancing witches), costume contests, a haunted house, unicorns, and even a Pirate-themed village.
There are also themed dates (think Hocus Pocus and Twilight) as well as celebrity visits from the actors from the Halloweentown movies and the Twilight franchise. Check the Spirit of Halloweentown website for dates and prices for photo ops and meet and greets. There are vendors selling food and drinks too--which even include cocktails in a can and gigantic stuffed-animal shaped cotton candy (see above)--as well as Haloween-y attire, kawaii creatures, and more. Last year we happend to catch a spectacular spooky car show, and this year we were lucky enough to see a saxophone creature you'd have to see to believe (check out our Instagram for the video).
This year, we also had our photo taken with Kimberly J. Brown aka Marnie, which was a definite highlight. Not only does she somehow look the same as she did in 1998 when the first movie came out, she's also incredibly genuine and kind. She even complimented us on our witch hats and pointed them out to an assistant as we were leaving (they light up, which seemed to make her happy, and that of course, made our day).
So, the moral of the story is, if you're a fan of Halloweentown (or even just Halloween), St. Helens is a must visit destination!
Happy journeying,
Wow. I wish they had that on the East Coast. I am sure my grandkids would love it (and so would I)!