"Official" 2018 Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party - A Spooktacular Celebration!

[AngiTN]

This is a good idea but keep in mind some pass through serve also as emergency exits for the performers in case of a problem during the parade. I know the one right by sleepy hollow has been such in the past and have personally witnessed Cast members insisting on people remaining clear of that pass through. On one occasion when people speaking Spanish didn’t understand (or pretended not to) they went and got a supervisor to come over to tell them in Spanish they had to move or they would be removed. I’d suggest if anyone plans to do this to double check with the cast members working the ropes where you are at to ensure they will be closing the pass through off and you can move over for a good spot.

Possible. I have never used that one. I always stay in Frontier Land

 

[K&T]

Just to report back, same as I did last year, i got the allergy bag, went to exposition hall and asked if I could get the candy without the tokens, they said of course, asked what i wanted and filled my bag to the top.

Hmmmm...not sure I approve of this. Seems like a cheat of the system, and what fun is it? If the regular candy people have to stand in line to get their candy, then I think us allergy candy people should also have to stand in line to get our tokens. As much as I love a good time-saving tip for Disney, I personally wouldn't do this. I was more than satisfied with the amount of allergy candy we were given for our 14 tokens each, and I feel like we earned it just like everyone else did...by going through the trick-or-treat lines.

 

[pearlieq]

If the regular candy people have to stand in line to get their candy, then I think us allergy candy people should also have to stand in line to get our tokens.

The "regular candy" people don't have to make an extra stop to exchange tokens for candy. They can just go through the line and go on their merry way instead of having to go through another step to get candy. Plus, those getting allergy-friendly treats have a much more limited selection than the regular candy, so that's another way it's not quite equal between the two groups For those reasons, it doesn't strike me as terribly unfair if the allergy candy people get filled up all at once.

 

[yulilin3]

Hmmmm...not sure I approve of this. Seems like a cheat of the system, and what fun is it? If the regular candy people have to stand in line to get their candy, then I think us allergy candy people should also have to stand in line to get our tokens. As much as I love a good time-saving tip for Disney, I personally wouldn't do this. I was more than satisfied with the amount of allergy candy we were given for our 14 tokens each, and I feel like we earned it just like everyone else did...by going through the trick-or-treat lines.

I've done this 2 years in a row. I ask for the candy at exposition hall. They fill up my bag, i put it in the lockers an s don't have to haul it around. I don't see the "fun" in trick or treating, especially with how hot and crowded the lines were tonight. But I do know some people enjoy the process, just not for me.

 

[Haley R]

Just FYI, there were CMs at the entrance with a huge stack of RFID cards asking if anyone waiting to come in had paper tickets. It looked like they were exchanging the paper tickets for the plastic card.

When we went to dah in July they gave us an RFID card after scanning the ticket on my phone.

 

[Bran Fox]

We did the party last night. I’m a huge fan of Disney and have been going to parks my whole life. We were residents of Orlando for many years and often annual passholders. We’ve also done both the MNSSHP AND MVMCP since they started years ago, but have not been in the last 10 years to either. Probably has been 5-6 years since we’ve been in a park.
Last night was extremely warm, incredibly crowded, and for us, not worth the money. We are two adults and three teens. Only interested in rides. Not any meet and greets or parades.
We walked through the gate at 7pm. Went through the bypass (crowded) got our candy and treat bags, and made a beeline for Pirates. We saw huge crowds, lines for TOT were insane. 30 minute wait for POC and the overlay was just dumb. Directly to Splash. Wait was only 15 minutes. Directly to BTMRR, wait was 10 minutes. Trick or treated for apple sauce at Tom Sawyer. Then Haunted Mansion, 35 minute wait. Directly to Small World, walk on.
Then we headed over to Tomorrowland Terrace for our terrace view dessert party. By now it was 9:30pm. So, about 1.5 hours of waiting equaled about 2.5 hours of navigating crowds. That’s how insane it was.
The dessert party was not worth the money. It was nice to have a place to sit for the fireworks, but the desserts themselves were just Ok. Our view was about 25% obstructed by a giant rocket ship. The cheeseburger spring rolls were good. They did bring us a nice surprise present. We sat there through the fireworks, had a few bites of dessert (biggest thumbs down to doom buggy cream puff, Skellington cupcake was decent) and went on our merry way. We headed to Space Ranger Spin, about a 10 minute wait. Then to Space Mountain, about a 15/20 minute wait. We did really like the dark ride. Did treat line at Cosmic Rays. Went over to Little Mermaid, basically a walk on. Then got in line at 11:45 for 7DMT (I do not get the hype). We only sat for the Hallowishes dessert party, and not for long. We did not wait in any lines for parade or meet and greets. We bought nothing the whole night. But with the crowds, all this is the entirety of what we got to do.
For us, the party is not worth the time or money anymore. We do not have young kids. We did love seeing everyone in costume. People really knocked it out of the park and it was very enjoyable in that way. The trick or treating is actually super fun to me. We did get about a pound of candy each and munched on it most of the night. But the crowds and the heat really killed this for us. It’s amazing to me that Disney has found a way to basically get two days park admission out of 24 hours. It used to be one of my favorite events of the year, but I would actually not ever do it again. For us, DAH sounds more our interest.

 

[sjs314]

[QUOTE="Bran Fox


Thanks for the review

 

[AngiTN]

We did the party last night. I’m a huge fan of Disney and have been going to parks my whole life. We were residents of Orlando for many years and often annual passholders. We’ve also done both the MNSSHP AND MVMCP since they started years ago, but have not been in the last 10 years to either. Probably has been 5-6 years since we’ve been in a park.
Last night was extremely warm, incredibly crowded, and for us, not worth the money. We are two adults and three teens. Only interested in rides. Not any meet and greets or parades.
We walked through the gate at 7pm. Went through the bypass (crowded) got our candy and treat bags, and made a beeline for Pirates. We saw huge crowds, lines for TOT were insane. 30 minute wait for POC and the overlay was just dumb. Directly to Splash. Wait was only 15 minutes. Directly to BTMRR, wait was 10 minutes. Trick or treated for apple sauce at Tom Sawyer. Then Haunted Mansion, 35 minute wait. Directly to Small World, walk on.
Then we headed over to Tomorrowland Terrace for our terrace view dessert party. By now it was 9:30pm. So, about 1.5 hours of waiting equaled about 2.5 hours of navigating crowds. That’s how insane it was.
The dessert party was not worth the money. It was nice to have a place to sit for the fireworks, but the desserts themselves were just Ok. Our view was about 25% obstructed by a giant rocket ship. The cheeseburger spring rolls were good. They did bring us a nice surprise present. We sat there through the fireworks, had a few bites of dessert (biggest thumbs down to doom buggy cream puff, Skellington cupcake was decent) and went on our merry way. We headed to Space Ranger Spin, about a 10 minute wait. Then to Space Mountain, about a 15/20 minute wait. We did really like the dark ride. Did treat line at Cosmic Rays. Went over to Little Mermaid, basically a walk on. Then got in line at 11:45 for 7DMT (I do not get the hype). We only sat for the Hallowishes dessert party, and not for long. We did not wait in any lines for parade or meet and greets. We bought nothing the whole night. But with the crowds, all this is the entirety of what we got to do.
For us, the party is not worth the time or money anymore. We do not have young kids. We did love seeing everyone in costume. People really knocked it out of the park and it was very enjoyable in that way. The trick or treating is actually super fun to me. We did get about a pound of candy each and munched on it most of the night. But the crowds and the heat really killed this for us. It’s amazing to me that Disney has found a way to basically get two days park admission out of 24 hours. It used to be one of my favorite events of the year, but I would actually not ever do it again. For us, DAH sounds more our interest.

Not surprised actually. I have formed the conclusion that the parties are not for those there just for the rides. Pretty much everyone who goes just for them comes back disappointed. I'm sure that relates to the large number of tickets they sell. But if I'm asked for advice and someone says they just want to do rides I do suggest they avoid the parties. DAH is all about rides. So you have to know your focus to know which extra fits your group, that's for sure.

The parade is just about the best thing at the Halloween party. And you also found out why I think the seated dessert is awful. I'm still amazed they sell seating for a bad view

 

[Dean1953]

We did the party last night. I’m a huge fan of Disney and have been going to parks my whole life. We were residents of Orlando for many years and often annual passholders. We’ve also done both the MNSSHP AND MVMCP since they started years ago, but have not been in the last 10 years to either. Probably has been 5-6 years since we’ve been in a park.
Last night was extremely warm, incredibly crowded, and for us, not worth the money. We are two adults and three teens. Only interested in rides. Not any meet and greets or parades.
We walked through the gate at 7pm. Went through the bypass (crowded) got our candy and treat bags, and made a beeline for Pirates. We saw huge crowds, lines for TOT were insane. 30 minute wait for POC and the overlay was just dumb. Directly to Splash. Wait was only 15 minutes. Directly to BTMRR, wait was 10 minutes. Trick or treated for apple sauce at Tom Sawyer. Then Haunted Mansion, 35 minute wait. Directly to Small World, walk on.
Then we headed over to Tomorrowland Terrace for our terrace view dessert party. By now it was 9:30pm. So, about 1.5 hours of waiting equaled about 2.5 hours of navigating crowds. That’s how insane it was.
The dessert party was not worth the money. It was nice to have a place to sit for the fireworks, but the desserts themselves were just Ok. Our view was about 25% obstructed by a giant rocket ship. The cheeseburger spring rolls were good. They did bring us a nice surprise present. We sat there through the fireworks, had a few bites of dessert (biggest thumbs down to doom buggy cream puff, Skellington cupcake was decent) and went on our merry way. We headed to Space Ranger Spin, about a 10 minute wait. Then to Space Mountain, about a 15/20 minute wait. We did really like the dark ride. Did treat line at Cosmic Rays. Went over to Little Mermaid, basically a walk on. Then got in line at 11:45 for 7DMT (I do not get the hype). We only sat for the Hallowishes dessert party, and not for long. We did not wait in any lines for parade or meet and greets. We bought nothing the whole night. But with the crowds, all this is the entirety of what we got to do.
For us, the party is not worth the time or money anymore. We do not have young kids. We did love seeing everyone in costume. People really knocked it out of the park and it was very enjoyable in that way. The trick or treating is actually super fun to me. We did get about a pound of candy each and munched on it most of the night. But the crowds and the heat really killed this for us. It’s amazing to me that Disney has found a way to basically get two days park admission out of 24 hours. It used to be one of my favorite events of the year, but I would actually not ever do it again. For us, DAH sounds more our interest.

If you just wanted to go on rides, why didn’t you enter the Park at 4, FP 3 rides and spread out your other rides over an 8 hour period instead of a 5 your window?

 

[Bran Fox]

If you just wanted to go on rides, why didn’t you enter the Park at 4, FP 3 rides and spread out your other rides over an 8 hour period instead of a 5 your window?

We live in Miami. Left as early as we could manage, hit crazy traffic on the way up, and then it took a ridiculous amount of time to park, ride trolley, monorail, and ticketing. The intent was to get in at 4 and we had FP for JC set up. But, best laid plans and all. We actually probably would have done attractions that would be closed for the night during that time. JC, HOP, Philharmagic.

 

[Rich M]

The crowds continue to be crazy it seems. It seems like if you are looking for lower crowds for rides you should just go at rope drop and you can ride a whole lot more on a party morning when regular guess without park hoppers seem to avoid the park. I know people said that last night was a discounted day for tickets and it was a Friday so interesting to see how it keeps going forward.

 

[KCMA]

We are heading to the party on the 25th.. we are hoping it being a Tuesday/work/school night will keep some of locals away.. we are also DVC members and will be there at 2pm to get some extra rides in.. either way it will be our first Halloween party and will have a great time regardless

 

[SgtTibbs]

Just over one week until my MNSSHP. I'll be coming from Universal, My plan is to Lyft over to the Contemporary and walk to MK from there. Seems faster/easier than going the TTC route. Any thoughts?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just over one week until my MNSSHP. I'll be coming from Universal, My plan is to Lyft over to the Contemporary and walk to MK from there. Seems faster/easier than going the TTC route. Any thoughts?

That is my recommendation if taking ride share, unless you just ‘really’ want to ride the MK Ferry or Monorail from the TTC.

 

[Southernswthrt]

So excited that I finally booked a long weekend trip to check out MNSSHP, but after reading a lot of these comments - I'm actually thinking about cancelling The only night we can go is Sunday Oct 14, and it's projected to be one of the busiest. We are not a fan of wall-to-wall crowds and after reading and researching, I'm just wondering if this is even a good idea. We have never been to the party, but were looking forward to checking out the parade & fireworks and some of the unique things at the party. We wouldn't be so interested in M&G's, but a lot of the comments from the last couple years have me rethinking! I'm seeing a lot more negative comments/reviews than positive. Where are the least crowded spots to watch the parade and fireworks?

 

[Best Aunt]

So excited that I finally booked a long weekend trip to check out MNSSHP, but after reading a lot of these comments - I'm actually thinking about cancelling The only night we can go is Sunday Oct 14, and it's projected to be one of the busiest. We are not a fan of wall-to-wall crowds and after reading and researching, I'm just wondering if this is even a good idea. We have never been to the party, but were looking forward to checking out the parade & fireworks and some of the unique things at the party. We wouldn't be so interested in M&G's, but a lot of the comments from the last couple years have me rethinking! I'm seeing a lot more negative comments/reviews than positive. Where are the least crowded spots to watch the parade and fireworks?

It seems like the people who are disappointed the most are those who hoped do a lot of rides during the party. I went during the first party, which was sold out, and it didn't feel like wall-to-wall crowds to me. If you want to do things which are unique to the party, the M&Gs are the things with the longest lines and you aren't really interested in those anyway.

If you want to do party food, Starbucks has 3 party desserts - but remember that Starbucks tends to be slow because people order fancy coffee drinks, it has no place to sit, and it has no takeout containers. I'm not saying to stay away, I'm just saying that it's nice to know this before you go in so you aren't surprised and frustrated.

I loved watching the fireworks by standing near the rail above the water, across from the Frontierland Shootin Gallery. I wandered over as the fireworks started. There was nobody in front of me, nobody next to me. A lot of people don't like this spot because they like to look at the castle during the fireworks. I found that except for the finale, the fireworks were going off over the water so this spot worked great for me.

I did several magic shots with no line, and I got a photo with the gravediggers with no line. I met Cinderella and Elena with no line.

I think you need to look at Page 1, decide what your priorities would be if you attended, and get input about those specific things. Make the decision based on your particular group's personalities. I don't believe in making a decision (any kind of decision, actually) based on "people say..."

 

[wendy1974]

For those that have gone for the 4pm party entry recently-what were the lines like? Amount of time to get in? Were Annual Pass lines still flowing quickly?

 

[eeyoreandtink]

So we are Lee’s than six weeks out from our party, and I have managed to tear my MCL. It shouldn’t require surgery, but I am worried that I will not be up to the amount of walking necessary. Can I rent an ECV just for the party? Will they still be renting them out after the party starts if we happen to arrive late?

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

So excited that I finally booked a long weekend trip to check out MNSSHP, but after reading a lot of these comments - I'm actually thinking about cancelling The only night we can go is Sunday Oct 14, and it's projected to be one of the busiest. We are not a fan of wall-to-wall crowds and after reading and researching, I'm just wondering if this is even a good idea. We have never been to the party, but were looking forward to checking out the parade & fireworks and some of the unique things at the party. We wouldn't be so interested in M&G's, but a lot of the comments from the last couple years have me rethinking! I'm seeing a lot more negative comments/reviews than positive. Where are the least crowded spots to watch the parade and fireworks?

Honestly, I have been wondering whether we should cancel too, given the crowds and negative reviews. However, I’m aware that many people have been multiple times, whereas I don’t have any “good old days” memories to compare it to. So I’m setting my expectations low, and going just to enjoy the atmosphere. If we get anything else done, that’s wonderful. But if all we do is see the fireworks and soak up the unique atmosphere, that can be enough. If I have a long itinerary of things I want to do, that just means it’s a list of possible things that can go wrong or ways I can be disappointed.

I realise that it sounds quite bleak and I don’t mean it to. I just think that, by going with no expectations, I won’t be taking on the baggage of other people’s experiences, positive or negative. It’s better than sitting in our hotel room, and if it’s not, then we will go back to our hotel instead, or take a break at one of the monorail hotels and go back an hour later.

 

[Haley R]

Honestly, I have been wondering whether we should cancel too, given the crowds and negative reviews. However, I’m aware that many people have been multiple times, whereas I don’t have any “good old days” memories to compare it to. So I’m setting my expectations low, and going just to enjoy the atmosphere. If we get anything else done, that’s wonderful. But if all we do is see the fireworks and soak up the unique atmosphere, that can be enough. If I have a long itinerary of things I want to do, that just means it’s a list of possible things that can go wrong or ways I can be disappointed.

I realise that it sounds quite bleak and I don’t mean it to. I just think that, by going with no expectations, I won’t be taking on the baggage of other people’s experiences, positive or negative. It’s better than sitting in our hotel room, and if it’s not, then we will go back to our hotel instead, or take a break at one of the monorail hotels and go back an hour later.

We are going for the first time in October and I’m not taking any of the negative reviews to heart. I like reading them just to see what I could POSSIBLY expect but I’m just going in with the mindset that it’ll be busy. Especially since we are going at the end of October. I have an itinerary but we will be just fine if we don’t get to everything. The main things I want to do are shop, do our dessert party, watch the parade, and ride space mountain. Everything else is a bonus.