2018 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Report & Photos
Last week, we headed to Magic Kingdom to attend the second Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party of 2018. This post features our impressions of Walt Disney World’s “fall” hard ticket event, photos, and other thoughts on Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP).
The MNSSHP we attended was incredibly busy, which makes complete sense given that August is the heart of spooky season. I know nothing makes me want to don a thick costume, elaborate hat, and face paint like the prospect of August humidity in Florida. On the plus side, Halloween is probably the sole buttress preventing ‘Christmas in July’ from becoming an earnest thing at Walt Disney World, so I retract my tongue-in-cheek criticism.
The crowds at this MNSSHP were quite a change of pace as compared to the September parties we’ve done the last couple of years. As such, we’re going to take a renewed look at whether Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is worth the money when the event is that crowded.
Think of this as a trip report…but exclusively for the Halloween Party. We’re still in Florida and will have similar topical recaps and reports from Walt Disney World in the coming weeks. If you’re looking for step-by-step strategy for the event, consult our Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Tips post instead.
Also, if you’re looking for the more interesting portion of this post, consider skipping directly to page 2 where our analysis comes into play. This first page is mostly photos and a play-by-play of what Sarah and I did during the party. I’ll try to come up with some witty photo captions, but my version of “witty” plays fast and loose with the term, so no promises.
After checking into MNSSHP around 4 p.m. in Tomorrowland, we did a couple loops on the PeopleMover before focusing on the important stuff: food. Sarah and I were also joined around this time by blog-less Disney blogger Mark Willard, who has made past appearances on the blog and is best known for attending ~27 parties per year dressed as Captain America.
If you saw our 2018 Halloween Snacks Guide to Magic Kingdom post, you’ve already read about our top priority for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. No joke. As much as we bellyache about the ‘upcharge within upcharge’ dessert parties at these events, we dropped about a dessert party’s worth of money on special food during the event.
On the plus side, can you really put a price tag on the prestige that comes with being the first person of the night to order the Muenster Smash Burger at Cosmic Ray’s?!
Our next-highest priority for this Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was meeting “Elvis Stitch.” I had looked at wait time reports on Twitter to get an indication of his popularity during the first MNSSHP, and it seemed pretty low.
Accordingly, I figured we could eat first, then line up for him just before 7 p.m. That turned out to be a terrible idea, as his line was already quoted as being 90 minutes long. Unfortunately, by the time we returned just after 11:30 p.m., his line had already been cut.
After that, we spent a lot of time wandering around, checking out wait times for meet & greets, seeing what was busy and what wasn’t, and creeping on dance parties.
Not exactly exciting stuff, but it’s important for us to keep apprised of this sort of stuff for posts about MNSSHP strategy.
At some point during this, I got distracted by the sunset, and instead focused my energies on that.
It was stunning, with epic Florida storm clouds lighting up perfectly. Of course, this also meant that rain was on the way, but a fair tradeoff for some beautiful light.
I have a ton more unedited sunrise, night, parade, and fireworks photos that I’ll sprinkle in other posts between now and Halloween. As mentioned above, we’re still traveling and I didn’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time on this post that’s better spent watching Country Bear Jamboree.
It rained for a bit after sunset, so we bailed on getting spots for the first Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular and instead wandered around more. We were going to do Pirates of the Caribbean, but the line was out the entrance, so we opted to check back later.
Instead, we spent time in Frontierland listening to the Cadaver Dans, watching Brer Bear roam around and mess with guests, and trying more food.
After that, we grabbed spots in Town Square for the first Boo to You parade. The crowd here was not bad, especially as compared to Main Street and the hub, which were both several rows deep at that point. While Sarah held down our spots, I wandered Town Square and took some photos of the pumpkin citizens.
Our itinerary for the later portion of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party went pretty much as normal: Boo to You, HalloWishes fireworks, Hocus Pocus, and Boo to You all back to back. Here are some photos in no particular order:
I like the spot directly in front of Cinderella Castle, but the lighting is poor and this area gets really crowded. It’s also a tough angle if you’re using anything except an ultra wide angle lens to photograph it.
Basically, I don’t recommend this spot.
Some minor tweaks to Boo to You this year, most of which I don’t think are too noticeable.
I do like Clarabelle’s new dress. A good fit for this unit of the parade.
Dramatic lighting for a larger than life rockstar.
I would say the entire Boo to You parade should be replaced with Country Bears floats, but I don’t want to have to camp out 4 hours just for a decent view of that epic parade.
Normally, getting clubbed upside the head with a mop by a man in a puffy shirt and pirate bandana is a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party upcharge offering, but I lucked out and received this magical moment free of charge.
Since this is the internet and even blatant sarcasm often goes undetected–and that Cast Member’s face is clearly identifiable–I want to be clear: no heads were actually clubbed with a mop in the making of this photo.
Bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwwwwwwaaaaaak. Bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwak bwwwwwwaaaaaak.
Now you’ll have that stuck in your head for the rest of your day, too. You’re welcome.
Now I know what Delacroix meant when he said, “the artist who aims at perfection in everything achieves it in nothing.” While my chef-d’Å“uvre is poorly composed and out of focus, let’s just call that artistic expression rather than technical imperfections.
Generations from now, I foresee art students spending an entire semester unpacking the deep metaphors and social commentary of Shaker shaking a wooden spoon in this photo. Is this critique of late capitalism? Does he symbolize the average millennial’s never-ending quest to spoon things to death? Or, perhaps, there is no spoon. You be the judge.
As always, photographing Boo to You is about the most humbling experience a photographer can have. I’ve been shooting this parade annually for a decade, upgrading my camera gear during that time, and my keeper rate is still around 5% at best.
This parade remains the most challenging Disney photography scenario, and is fun but frustrating.
It’s also one of the rare situations where gear really does make a difference in getting the shot. Improvements in autofocus accuracy and speed have made it easier to shoot, but that’s relative.
You’re still going to walk away with mostly out-of-focus garbage. And even when you do nail a shot, there’s a good chance that a performer will be blinking or have their back turned to you. (Meanwhile, all of your out of focus or poorly composed shots will feature performers hamming it up for the camera or with the perfect poses. Happens every time.)
After the second Boo to You, we rushed over to Tomorrowland hoping to catch Elvis Stitch. When that failed, we lined up for Lotso, whose wait was under 10 minutes at that point.
It was over an hour earlier in the night, so this worked out well. It had been ~5 years since our last encounter with him, and Sarah wanted a new photo.
The final Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular starts at midnight, which gives you a “bonus” 20 minutes at the end of the party. This is a nice way to extend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, but even this final showing is crowded.
Even with this extra time, there’s so much we didn’t have a chance to do: PhotoPass exclusive special shots, attraction overlays, dance parties, and the vast majority of character meet & greets.
We could’ve accomplished a few of these things had we skipped one of the parades or Hocus Pocus shows, but not all of it. That would’ve allowed us to meet 3-4 additional characters, but not headliners like Jack & Sally or Seven Dwarfs. Plus, given that those are among our favorite Walt Disney World entertainment offerings of the entire year, skipping one of the Boo to You parades or Hocus Pocus was a non-starter. Your mileage may vary.
After the final Hocus Pocus, we lingered around Liberty Square and Main Street for as long as possible. Magic Kingdom was still pretty busy until about 12:45 a.m. With a slow trickle of guests still exiting meet & greets long after the party ended, security is in no rush to push people towards the exit.
We were the last guests out and I managed to capture the above photo of Main Street with no one in it (well, almost no one). For me, this “bonus” hour-plus is as much a chance to capture photos with unique lighting as it is a chance to embrace the ominous party ambiance.
I love the background music, fog effects, lighting, and Magic Kingdom’s dramatically different of a vibe. As someone who likes the experience of “being there” as much as any of the substantive offerings of the theme parks, this is my favorite part of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Again, your mileage may vary.
WE’LL COVER WHETHER MICKEY’S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY IS STILL WORTH THE MONEY, AND MY OVERALL FEELINGS ABOUT THIS YEAR’S MNSSHP ON PAGE 2…
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I knew that was you that I saw in Tomorrow Land! I should have said hi.
I do agree with your post as well. I was very surprised about the crowd level in August.
Save your money people! The Halloween party isn’t worth it! Over crowded, kids can’t see the shows with the large crowds, lines are way too long and the list goes on. Tom said it best, if he had kids and it was his first visit, he would’ve been disappointed. Thanks for the info Tom
Out of all the years as a Passholder, I got more notifications from the Party this year than other years. I will be there on the 11th of September closer to when I usually go and I am in Florida.
Last time I did the party two years ago I was near to the spot you don’t like and had two family members literally stand in the middle of all my shots.
So I can see how challenging it can be even without the lighting constraints and quick movement of most performers.
What is the best spot for taking photos during the parade?
We’re currently scheduled to attend MVMCP on Friday 11/9, we are primarily interested in rides with low wait times, which we experienced there at the CP we went to in 2015. MK is showing very low predicted attendance on crowd calendars for that day… I am starting to wonder if we would be better off just going to MK during the day that day instead of doing the party?? It’s the second night, but it is a Friday and shows on many blogs as being one of the busier parties, I think bc it is heading into Veteran’s Day weekend and it’s the tail end of Jersey week. Thoughts?
My family and friends were there on the 24th, and it was crowded for early Halloween party! We heard from a cast member that it was sold out, so it was definitely difficult to do everything you wanted to do! Some thoughts:
We waited in line for Stitch pics – got in line at 6:00 and sat… Got our pictures though!
Space mountain was down the entire time we were in Tomorrowland
A cast member recommended we go to Frontierland to view the parade – that worked out well – got a good spot to watch the parade
Of course, when we went to the Haunted Mansion to try to get on – that was down.
Space Mountain was now up and running, but we were on the other side of Magic Kingdom at that point.
Went to view the fireworks from in front of Crystal Palace – had a somewhat obstructed view, but we were not packed in like sardines.
Overall, we enjoyed the party, but the crowds definitely had an impact on our ability to enjoy the evening!
Don’t forget that another possible bump in attendance for some of the early parties could be Cast Member nights… the nights that they can purchase discounted tickets, or, in a few lines of business, attend for free. It’s been a few years now since I was a CM, but I definitely noticed dramatic differences in the “feel” of those nights in my last few years there, and CERTAINLY a difference in how a sold out party “felt” in 2005 vs. 2015.
Very interesting info! Is there any way to find out when these nights are? (Couldn’t hurt to ask) Tom?
Hearing you have trouble with Boo To You is heartening – my photos are definitely improving, but heavens BTY is a nightmare, and yes, every good shot seems to have captured the oddest performer expressions, a few look mid sneeze!
I completely agree! I was so wicked happy to hear you have a 5% keep rate, which I think tops mine. Yet, hitting that “Delete” button on those perfectly-poised bokeh performers or the stunningly and unmodifyingly blue-light Grave Diggers really hurts my soul. LOL
New for 2018 – DVC members and their guests can enter the Magic Kingdom at 2:00 pm for the Halloween party. I saw this announcement on the Disney Vacation Club site.
Attending the Sunday party on 9/9 this year. We dont want to wait forever to see the dwarfs, but we would like to try. You think our best bet would be to get in line around 5:30 (i know we can get in line before this, but that would require us waiting more than an hour….I don’t want to waste more than an hour in line)? Or wait and get in line at the end of the party right after the second parade?
A vlog I watched today said usually parties sell out at around 22,000, but the numbers for the sold out party they attended was over 30,000- so it seems WDW sold more tickets than usual to the party. That’s a bummer because it’s hard to do everything on a lower crowd night. I hope that’s not a trend….
I had a blast last year, but we went right after the hurricane and numbers were down. Still hour waits for characters, but rides empty.
Hi Tom, I know it’s still a few months away, but do you think this trend of the overcrowded feeling (if it’s fair to call it that) will extend to the Christmas party?
I’m in the same boat, though we’re not going until 2019 so we have plenty of time to weigh the pros & cons. I’ll be interested to see what the experiences for this year’s MVMCP nights are like, especially since unlike MNSSHP, there really isn’t any way for them to extend the number of party nights unless they basically shut MK down at 7pm every starting in mid-Nov (which would suck) for the parties. They’ve already extended the parties into early January. I hope this trend doesn’t continue into the Christmas parties, but you never know.
Tom, what were the wait times for Space Mountain and Pirates during the party? Thanks!
Hi!
Doing our first MNSSHP this year. Doing the rides with the overlays is important to us, compared to characters. I figure we can do them during the first couple hours if we get there at 4 pm. I noticed I could book fast passes for late that afternoon without a day ticket in the Disney app. Do you think if we got there at 4 we could actually use those fast passes without buying the day ticket?
Thanks!
We currently have that scheduled! We have 2 fast passes for 4 and 5 in our party day – no full day park ticket. I did take screen shots of all of our fast passes (parade day and 2 park days) just in case something goes haywire with Disney’s system and they cancel a day of FP on us. I’ve heard of it happening but a Cast member will help you get your FP back.
Be careful, you can definitely schedule up to 3 FPs to use between 4 and 6, but the ride overlays don’t start until 7 for the party. So you will not be able to use a FP to do a ride overlay. It will just be the regular ride before 7.
Yes, they will work until the park closes at 6pm. We were able to use ours.
We attended the first party on 8/17. i had hoped it wouldn’t sell out, but it did. Crowds were definitely a con. We saw a bit of the parade, but it was such chaos we avoided the castle/hub for the rest of the night. We still had fun! I LOVE Hallowishes just for the perimeter fireworks. I thought they were generous with the candy- except for in Frontierland where they were giving out APPLESAUCE POUCHES.
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one offended by the applesauce! Haha! It was my first party and we had a blast but I was tickled by the applesauce. I wantes more M&Ms!
I think we need a new park in Texas and make it a huge combo of all the parks especially Japan because in TEXAS everything is bigger and better.
We were at this same party (8/24) — our first MNSSHP ever, and also our first day in WDW since 2014. With only two other days on this trip to enjoy the parks, for us the decision to attend wasn’t as much about the special Halloween offerings as strategically using this time to hit as many MK rides as possible with shorter lines (since we arrived in Orlando in the late morning, it was actually a bonus for us to pay a reduced rate to enter the park at 4pm…sort of like paying the twilight rate for golf).
Most posts and reviews I had researched (on this blog and elsewhere) assured near walk-on waits for every ride, but as you noted above this was not the case at all. I’m actually quite reassured by your post above noting that crowds and lines have really changed — I thought I’d been sold a bill of goods, but it seems that this year’s attendance trend is truly unexpected.
As you also noted, we didn’t find any character meet-and-greet lines less than 30 minutes, although somewhat surprisingly there were many opportunities for short lines at the trick-or-treat stations. We did get to see the first parade, although even after getting a small spot across from the Frontier Trading Post, the crowds jostled us for the duration. Our kids were wiped out so we began making our way out of the park during the fireworks, taking brief pauses to watch. Overall we were there for about 6+ hours.
Ultimately, was it worth it for our family with two grade school kids? Yes – barely – because the parade and trick-or-treating was fun, and we were able to get some rides experiences in MK that we wouldn’t have had time for otherwise during our abbreviated trip. But it was fascinating to return to MK on Sunday late afternoon and experience a park that felt *less* busy than MNSSHP night. That was the biggest surprise of all.
“But it was fascinating to return to MK on Sunday late afternoon and experience a park that felt *less* busy than MNSSHP night. That was the biggest surprise of all.”
This is the truly surprising thing. The parks have been dead the last couple of weeks, and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party has been the exception to this. It makes zero sense to me. Perhaps that’s the result of only having one party per week for the first couple of weeks? Those on vacation don’t have multiple choices and have all been “forced” to that date?
I’m really at a loss as to why parties in late August have been so busy when the parks and hotels are otherwise pretty slow.
Yes, it’s a mystery but I think your theory is probably the best to explain it. The other “crowd paradox” we experienced was that morning EMH in AK and DHS was absolutely bonkers, especially in Toy Story Land and Pandora. But by late morning crowds and lines were halved in those lands. Unless you are rope dropping (which we barely missed) EMH seems like the only time to *avoid* those areas at this time of year.
Tom, I believe your thought about one party a week in August.
I think that your explanation is most likely, using ourselves as anecdotal evidence. We are family of four from Canada, usually go in middle-late August (primarily owing to parental work schedules) , and never yet been able to attend Halloween or Christmas events though it has long been on our wish-list. We only realized that there would be an August 17 party about 2 weeks before (the trip was planned 6 months earlier), and were beyond excited. We even abandoned Avatar Fastpasses to attend.
That said, we had a blast and – with nothing to compare it to – the crowds did nothing to diminish our enjoyment. Cons: lining up for almost 2 hours to meet 7 Dwarves (tough to swallow, but our daughter’s favourite characters and therefore unmissable) and missing Pirates “plussing” as a result (though my Son and I rode plussed Space Mountain twice with no waiting; think we just got lucky there).
Pluses: everything else, including the line-up to 7 Dwarves. We always try to socialize with adjacent people in long line-ups, and most of the time, it is pleasurable and time flies. (Same for missed Avatar FP; next night we lined up for 50 minutes (posted 90) at end of evening, and the fun we had with people in line was ALMOST better than that attraction itself.) To me, socializing in lin it is the most overlooked and easy to implement strategy of theme park touring.
Tom
Love the articles. Will be there in 9 days. Looking forward to it very much. Will be attending Halloween Party. Greatful for the info. Staying at POFQ.
I was wondering if you can answer this question
Can you buy a case of water at Sassagola ( pardon the spelling). Would like to buy it , put it in fridge in room. Read that it’s sold in other resorts , and cheaper than buying solo bottles in the park
Thanks
You can buy a case of water at the resort, but I’m not sure of pricing (sorry).
Price-wise, your best bet is going to be grocery delivery via Amazon Prime or Garden Grocer. Check this out: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/groceries-disney-world-buying-tips/
One thing to remember that most people often miss, you can get free ice water at any of the quick service. If you bring your own sports bottle, and maybe powdered drink additives if you wish, you can save a ton of money on ice water. And also carrying around multiple bottles throughout the park all day… …in the heat. It adds up.
That might work for some folks but I hate wasting precious party time waiting in line for water. I simply refill my bottle at the fountains. The taste doesn’t bother me that much 🙂 Brita also makes bottles with a filter inside, if you really can’t stand the taste of the fountain water.
“SweetCaroline,” for what it’s worth, I never stand in line for water. I sneak around the line, walk straight up to the counter, and ask the first CM I see for a cup of water. They usually have them waiting and it only takes a second for them to hand me one.
Hopefully, I’ve never pissed any of you off by doing that!
So over your history of disney halloween parties, Has WDW been more busy than the DL version. I know this parricular time at WDW was way more busy than expected.
Disneyland’s have always been busier. At Disneyland, every single date has sold out for the last two years, and I’d expect this year to be no different.
With that said, I’m not sure there’s much of a difference in ‘feels like’ crowds on a sold out night at Disneyland versus WDW.
Thanks for the review of the party and parade, Tom. I haven’t been to a MNSSHP for years and it really has changed.
The substance of MNSSHP (except perhaps Hocus Pocus?) is probably pretty much the same as when you did the event, but the crowd patterns and other aspects of the party have definitely changed a lot.
Hey Tom,
I am considering attending this party on Friday, 10/26. I suspect this night will be very crowded because it’s the Friday before Halloween. Do you think the party will likely sellout that night? Trying to figure out whether I need to make a decision sooner rather than later.
Thanks!
It’s difficult to say whether it’ll sell out this far in advance. Last year, I believe only 2-3 parties sold out.
Regardless, that’s typically one of the busiest party dates of the year. Even if it doesn’t sell out, it’ll be incredibly busy. That’s not such a problem if you’re there to watch the parade and fireworks from uncrowded locations–but it’s a huge issue if you want to do character meet & greets or rides with minimal waits.
Thanks for the quick response, Tom. My group isn’t really keen on the character meet & greets, but we are definitely interested in the fireworks/parades and low wait times.
I might just bite the bullet and do it anyways. I love these special events, and this is the only night that works with our schedule.