You and your boys are going to love Halloween!! So glad you are making the trip. (btw Camelot is one of our family favorite off-site hotels for its convenient location no only to Disneyland, but it’s adjacent to a McD’s on one side and a great pizza place, Pizza Press, on the other).
On to your questions!
Agreed. As fun as it sounds (and we’ve done it once so it is fun) it’s hard to justify the fun for the cost.
This is totally a guess, but it could be that when Touring Plans was projecting hours before DL released party dates they slated Thur 20th as a possible party night so in the hours they set an early close but haven’t yet updated since the party nights were released (probably because there isn’t an official close time from DL for that week). @GuySelgaJr or @len maybe you can confirm? Also looks like the following Thurs, the 27th are projected hours has DL close at 6pm and it’s also not a party night.
I don’t know or recall of anything except for the Halloween parties in October that would cause DL to close so early so I’m hoping that’s the case for you.
With all that said, your assesement that DL on a Friday is my opinion as well. The reason being,
Thursday the DL side has Extra Magic Hour/Magic Morning so you would be behind the early entry crowd which isn’t a huge deal if you are going to start on the West side of DL, but makes it very hard to see the best of Fantasyland if you’re behind that crowd (as nothing in Fantasyland has a FP and queues build and hold steady till late in the day). I would expect the evening to be crowded because it’s a weekend non-party night. Also would be prepared for the the Adventure side to be crowded on Thur night with all non-party goers. I still think that your plan to forgo the party is the right one, even if you will be among some crowds on both evenings.
Unfortunately Disneyland now confirmed the end of the night parade, Paint the Night, as Sept. 5th. It was debuted for the Diamond 60th Anniversay Celebration which was slated to end on Sept. 5th but there were many hopefuls (me included) that Paint the Night would run beyond the official celebration as nothing about it was specifically 60th anniversary themed. On your Adventure night you will probably be be able to see World of Color & on your non-party Disneyland night, a short fireworks show. Disney Parks blog announced here that these shows would be returning after the end of the 60th.
I peeked at the World of Color dining package reservations available (right now only until Sept 30th) but everyday except the 15th of September is an option so it looks like World of Color is running nightly. If they are running nightly in September it would be reasonably safe to say the same for October since there are even more Halloween parties in October.
You can probably expect fireworks to only be on weekends, BUT your only option to be in DL would be Friday night so you should be safe to have it scheduled there as well. Although in my opinion, Fantasy in the Sky the least impressive fireworks show that DL has ever done and one much better enjoyed from a ride that has some cool fireworks views (Big Thunder Railroad and Storybook Land Canal boats are the ones I hear the most). We’ve watched this show from our Autopia car on the track and that was kind of fun too. The only thing is you have to time it just right to be on any of the above attractions at the same time as FWs and I’ve never heard any specific tips other than it’s mostly luck.
Agree with above poster. Get the FP and see where you are at for the day. If you’re not taking a midday break at the hotel, this would give you and the boys a good time to have a seat in a cool building, although that might lead to unintentional naps as it did for my two kiddos when we went to see it.
No rush for anything immediate but it also depends on if there are 2 shows or not. If only one show is scheduled, I might try to head back sooner than noon. Also, when getting an RSR FP be on the lookout for CMs handing out WOC FPs. We have heard that CMs have been at RSR FPs distro machines and walking along Grizzly Peak area actively handing out FPs for WOC. We ran into one right as we were passing by Soarin the last time we were in DCA. He was broadcasting that he had WOC FPs ready to hand out so we stopped grabbed ours and were on our way. It was nice not to have to stop at the distro machine (even though it was already in planned path).
If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!!! Can’t wait to see/hear how the trip goes for ya!