10 Tips for Visiting Halloweentown
Halloweentown Oregon is not just a small town in Oregon. It’s the small town in Oregon where the Disney Halloweentown movies were filmed! Well, not all of the films but the first one was filmed here. Halloweentown is actually even not the only movie filmed here. Some scenes from Twilight were also filmed in St. Helens.
1. More of St. Helens: Ye Ol’ Grog Distillery On Another Day?
One of the top attractions in town in general is a local distillery that offers free tastings. Just keep in mind if you do want to stop at Ye Ol’ Grog Distillery you will need to time things right. It is only open 1-5 pm on Friday and Saturdays and 1-4 pm on Sundays. We didn’t check the hours before stopping by and so we weren’t able to visit due to arriving too early
2. Arrive Early for Photo Ops When Visiting Halloweentown
If you would like to avoid crowds and wander around more peacefully, get there early. You’ll also be able to take advantage of the photo opportunities without waiting in a line.
3. Adjust Expectations: There’s Only So Much To Do
Realize if you get there early and still want to do an evening event, there is only so much to occupy your time. That being said, we did go the first weekend in October and I don’t know if that weekend is more or less crowded than other weekends and I would guess that when the big stars make it, it gets more crowded.
4. Dress How You Want!
When visiting Halloweentown, if you want to wear a costume, do it! Plenty of people will be dressed up but it also won’t be weird if you don’t.
5. Remember that parades are always late
We went the day the Halloweentown parade was happening. If you don’t go on this day, this is less relevant but I thought I should mention it. We hadn’t been to a parade in a while so we forgot that parades are always late when waiting for the Halloweentown parade to start and wish we had factored that in at the time (particularly for timing with food).
6. Bring a Snack
On that note, if you come at a busy time, be prepared to wait for food. In the evening the restaurants will likely have a long wait and you likely will need to wait in line for the food stands as well. If you get there earlier there will probably be no wait but just know you will want to bring a snack or wait in line later
7. Partake in Personal Interests
Our choice was a wine tasting room called Tap into Wine. We like wine but we maybe go to a winery/wine-tasting room about once a year, this was the one we went to this year. We each got a sampler of local Oregon wine and it was good! Oregon is known for its Pinot Noir.
8. Go to ROOF for the views
We were thinking about going to ROOF to get a snack but the line was really long. It does give you a nice overview of the area through which can be nice to check out. And if you do eat there and are able to get seating, it’s food/drink with a view!
9. Wander St. Helens, Oregon (a little).
At one point while visiting Halloweentown we decided we were done until the parade and wanted to see a little more of St. Helens so we just wandered on out. Many of the houses are older and do have Halloween decorations which seemed fitting
10. Plan Nearby Activities
lan other things to do in the area if you’ll be there for more than a day. This area has a lot to offer and if you drove or flew all the way here you might as well check out more of the areas
