Is Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party a Treat or a Trick?

Halloween was going to be special this year. We would be in Walt Disney World and my husband and I decided to take our six year-old to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party for the first time. It would be a special night for him. He would stay up late trick-or-treating in the Magic Kingdom with his mom and dad all to himself while Grandma had a date (aka babysitting) with his little brother.

A wonderful, special time was had by our little group of three but days later, I’m still wondering if “it was worth it.” The best answer I can come up with is one my friend, Nancy from The Affordable Mouse, likes to say, “It depends.”

Here’s a little background on my son and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party to put our experience into context.

My Son
My son just turned six and is in bed before eight on school nights. He does however stay up as late as 9:30 on weekends with very little effort if something special is going on.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

This Magic Kingdom party runs from 7 pm to midnight on select nights during the Halloween season. It requires a special ticket and ticket-holders can enter the Magic Kingdom at 4 pm but the festivities will not begin until 7. A separate Magic Kingdom admission is not required with this ticket.

Guests can expect the following events.

-Trick-or-Treating. Ten stations are set up throughout the Magic Kingdom and guests can expect a handful of candy from each.
- Mickey’s “Boo-to-You” Halloween Parade. The pounding (allow me a little creative license) hooves of the Headless Horseman signal the start of this spectacular parade. The parade runs twice nightly.
- Happy HalloWishes: Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize. Disney has outdone itself with this awe-inspiring fireworks show with a musical score that is quintessential Disney.
- Character Dance Parties. Join Disney characters in two different locations to show off your best moves.
- Villain’s Dance Mix and Mingle. This Cinderella Castle stage show features Disney villains who work the crowd after the show. There are four productions each night.
- Special Disney Character Appearances. This is a rare opportunity to meet characters who aren’t often seen in the parks, such as the Seven Dwarfs, and characters in unique costuming.
- Attractions. Many attractions are open throughout the Magic Kingdom.

Our Day
We toured Magic Kingdom in the morning, had a nice table-service lunch at 12:30 and then headed back to the room to rest. My son had strict instructions to take a nap since it would be a late night but “the bed kept bouncing and wouldn’t let [him] sleep.” Oh well, at least he rested quietly in a darkened room.

We headed back out around 4:30 and hit a couple of attractions before our 5:50 dinner reservation at The Plaza Restaurant.

Our Plan
Our plan was to trick-or-treat until the “Boo-to-You” Halloween Parade at 8:15, watch the Villain’s Dance Mix and Mingle show at 8:50, do some more trick-or-treating, and then watch HalloWishes at 9:30.We planned to end the night around 10:30.

What Really Happened

Fatigue. Apparently our six year-old doesn’t have boundless energy even for a special night out with mom and dad. By 8 pm, just an hour after the five hour party started, he lost his steam and began repeating how tired he was. We decided to scrap most of our plans and focus on the Boo-To-You Parade and HalloWishes before heading home.

Here’s how it played out.

7:00-7:20 pm. Ride two attractions.
7:20-7:45 pm. Trick-or-Treat at 3 or 4 locations.
7:45-8:00 pm. Look for a location between Liberty Square and Frontierland to watch the parade.
8:00-8:15 pm. We wait and our personal space is invaded by the parade pirates.
8:15-8:45 pm. Watch parade and take amazing pictures on our now lost camera! Unsuccessfuly tried to avoid the parade pirates.
8:45-9:15 pm. Trick-or-treat at two more locations, try to keep son awake, and slowly walk to park entrance to watch HalloWishes so we can exit quickly when it’s over
9:15-9:30 pm. Sit and wait.
9:30-9:45 pm. Stunned silence with goofy smiles as we watch HalloWishes
9:45 pm. Good night, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
10 pm. Lights out for my son on the bus back to our resort.

Was it Worth It?

This is a natural question considering we spent $56.95 for each adult ticket and $51.95 for our son’s (not including tax) and only stayed for half the party and experienced trick-or-treating, Mickey’s “Boo-toYou” parade, and HalloWishes; part of our time was waiting for the special events to begin. We didn’t attend any character dance parties, the Villain’s Dance Mix and Mingle show, or meet any Disney characters. Add in the fact that we are Annual Passholders and couldn’t save a day’s admission by using our party ticket to enter at 4:00 and ride the attractions.

Trick-or-Treating was the biggest disappointment. Yes, we received a great deal of candy but it was very impersonal and mundane with no appreciable theming at the candy stops. Basically, you walked up and a very nice Cast Member dumped a handful of candy in your bag. I didn’t feel right accepting it without at least saying “Trick or Treat” but it certainly wasn’t expected. I will say the trick-or-treating was well organized. Each station had a pretty long line which was managed well. I would have preferred a neighborhood feel where you visited many attractions, shops, and restaurants for your treat. The crowds would be dispersed so lines would be much shorter.

Mickey’s “Boo-to-You” Halloween Parade was mesmerizing with its not-so-spooky grave diggers, ghouls, villains, and favorite Disney characters. There is no contest – this was my favorite Disney parade.

HalloWishes was the other highlight of the night. I could watch this plussed-up fireworks show over and over again. The music was a little unearthly but so catchy I couldn’t stop tapping my foot.

To maximize your MNSSHP dollar, I think you would have to spend the entire five hours at the party to experience most of the offerings. However, given my son’s age, this wasn’t going to happen even if he had been able to make it a little longer which leaves me scratching my head and wondering if we got our money’s worth.

Thinking about it now, the answer for my family is “Yes.” Before he petered out, my son said, “This is the best night EVER!” He loved the extra one-on-one attention he received from us while his brother stayed with Grandma and thought the party was cool. Despite being exhausted, he watched the parade and fireworks with wide eyes and amazement. Since we didn’t do any other “extras” this trip, such as Pirates League or a pirate cruise, giving my son this special experience was a gift worth giving. He will remember it for a long, long time.

This post is part of the Disney Blog Carnival. Head over there to see more great Disney-related posts and articles.

Lisa M. Battista is the author of Beyond the Attractions: A Guide to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers and the co-creator of WDW Fan Zone. When she’s not chasing after her little ones, you can most likely find her at the beach or in the kitchen trying her hand at a new recipe. You can follow her on Twitter @DisneyExplorer or become a fan of Beyond the Attractions on Facebook.

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This entry was posted on November 12, 2011 at 8:00 am and is filed under Columns, Special Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.