Is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Too Crowded?
Last year, most Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party nights sold out. We had a chance to visit Magic Kingdom during a few October event evenings. In this post, we’ll recap our most recent experiences with crowds at Walt Disney World’s hard ticket MNSSHP event and try to address whether it’s still worth attending this year.
You might recall that at the beginning of September, we shared “A Delightfully Dead Duo of Halloween Parties” rejoicing at the low crowds. These two Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party nights reminded us of the “good ole days of these events years ago” and we cautioned you against expecting the same, as these low crowds were likely due to Hurricane Dorian, the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, etc.
We’ve attended several partial Halloween Parties since then, most recently a sold out night in early October. We’ve had hit or miss experiences with crowds on those evenings. Some mid-September parties were fine, others were terrible. Now that October has arrived, crowds at Walt Disney World have spiked and several more upcoming Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party dates have sold out. If you have yet to purchase MNSSHP tickets this year and are on the fence, the question of whether Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is too crowded is worth answering…
In this post, we’ll address whether Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is too crowded, and also, what that even means. The second half is important, as ‘high crowds’ at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party mean different things to different people. This depends upon their past experiences, priorities, and even where in Magic Kingdom they spend most of their time.
If a family of first-timers to Walt Disney World attends an October Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party after visiting Magic Kingdom on a Saturday, and spends most of their party time in the back of the park doing attractions, their perception of the event will probably be positive. They’ll likely praise the short waits and wide open walkways.
Contrast that with a group who has attended several past Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties, but hasn’t been for the last two years. They are focused almost exclusively on the unique Halloween entertainment, and want to see it in the ‘best’ locations on Main Street. They also want photos with some characters–not all of them, but about as many as they managed to meet last time.
I cannot imagine this second group having many good things to say about Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party this year. They are likely to encounter significantly more people waiting for the entertainment–and camping out earlier for it. Congestion on Main Street and around the Hub will be much worse than what they experienced three or more years ago. They’ll be lucky to meet more than a handful of characters thanks to lines that are rarely below 30 minutes.
One problem, and reason why different guests can have dramatically different feedback from the exact same event, is that too many Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party guests are congregating in a few limited areas of the park. Main Street can feel like it’s an 11/10 in terms of crowds.
Between the fireworks and second parade, the Hub can feel downright unsafely congested as people are attempting to leave and arrive simultaneously. I cannot imagine trying to navigate a stroller through this area–I’d truly be worried about my kids. (It’s unfathomable to me that this has been a known problem for the last two years, and Disney still has inadequate crowd control in this area.)
Meanwhile, over in New Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Frontierland, there are often wide open walkways at the exact same times, and wait times for most attractions of 5-10 minutes. Guests who use the party as a way to do rides with minimal waits are still likely to be satisfied with the event. Wait times have bumped up a tad, but they’re still minimal.
Guests who attend MNSSHP to see the parade, fireworks, stage show, and character meet & greets are likely to have a very different perception. All of these things have incredibly high “crowd density” throughout the evening. You’ll have to commit more time to each of these things, and are still likely to have a worse experience than in previous years due to increased crowds, and the unfortunate byproducts of that (more shoulder kids and people holding their phones high in the area to capture footage).
One thing I’ve seen Walt Disney World visitors blaming is the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Pass, which is essentially an annual pass for the event. I can assure you that this is not even remotely the case. On a nightly basis, the number of guests using the Party Pass can be measured in the hundreds–or even dozens–not in the thousands.
I’m not sure why there’s a perception that there are tens of thousands of Party Passholders, but that’s simply not true. It’s basically a handful of Halloween diehards and small army (we prefer “brigade”) of bloggers. For the vast majority of guests and even the social media crowd, MNSSHP is a once-annual event, at most. This doesn’t have a passionate and dedicated fanbase like Halloween Horror Nights.
The real issues are a combination of demand and, more problematically, Walt Disney World increasing the attendance cap for both the Halloween and Christmas parties. Demand seems pretty straightforward, but it’s actually a bit more nuanced than it appears at first blush–we’ll circle back to that.
As for the attendance cap, it has been increased upped over the course of the last few years. In and of itself, this isn’t a terrible thing. Magic Kingdom has had surplus capacity during the Halloween and Christmas parties for years, evidenced by the near walk-on status of most attractions and dearth of crowds in some areas of the park.
However, it’s a problem because guests don’t naturally distribute themselves to the uncrowded areas. Instead, people continue to disproportionately flock to areas of the park that are already congested. This might sound like illogical behavior, but it’s not.
As prices also increase, more people want to make sure they get commensurate value for money, which means seeing the entertainment for which they’re paying a premium. Fewer people approach Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party without strategy or even leave early. Everyone wants the most possible bang for their buck.
This isn’t the first time we’ve brought up this issue of disproportionate crowding. Previously, we’ve noted that the goal of the attraction overlays during these hard ticket seasonal parties is to help redistribute crowds, drawing people deeper into Magic Kingdom and spreading guests through the park. In so doing, that should ease theoretically ease some congestion.
Emphasis on theoretically. We have noticed longer waits for the rides with overlays and crowds spread out a bit better this year at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. However, that could just as easily be explained away by guests being frustrated by the chaos on Main Street and at meet & greets, and thus “settling” for those alternatives.
Those ride overlays would be effective at redistributing crowds if they were actually any good. The new Monster World Treat Trail is the best of the bunch, and even it is just okay. All of the other overlays are unambitious and not worth anyone’s limited time during the party.
Now let’s turn to demand. First, consumer confidence remains high yada yada yada more guests are willing to splurge on upcharge offerings like this. We don’t want to yada yada over the best explanation, but we’ve discussed Walt Disney World and the economy so many times that we’re becoming a broken record.
Another problem is that more people are discovering the “greatness” of the Halloween and Christmas parties thanks to social media. This isn’t to say these events were “undiscovered” or hidden gems before; both have been pretty well known for decades. It is to say past coverage of the parties has been handled with more nuance and depth, with guests making more calculated decisions about whether the events are right for them.
Instagram and other short-form social media don’t really allow for that. Photos presented without commentary showing Boo to You or Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular can go a long way in selling Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. I know that if I had never been, all I’d need to see is a photo of the Haunted Mansion unit of Boo to You to convince me to buy a ticket.
Along these lines, there’s a lot of longer-form coverage generated exclusively via free media events, which often bear little resemblance to the actual guest experience. If your only MNSSHP is a low-crowds night in August and you have reserved viewing for both the parade and fireworks, plus your own private meet & greets and free refreshments, of course you’ll love it.
How much do you think that type of VIP evening resembles that of a normal paying guest attending in October? These glowing reviews help sell a ton tickets to regular tourists, who are then surprised that their experience is radically different from what they read or saw online.
Thus far, we’ve identified a lot of the causes and symptoms of the crowding problem at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, but haven’t addressed whether it’s too crowded or still worth the money. In large part, that’s because these are tough questions, the answers to which are personal and will vary depending upon your priorities.
This year, we’ve dropped in numerous times thanks to the Party Pass. (The more we go, the less we’re effectively paying per visit; we’re incentivized to attend more, not less.) Even before the Party Pass, we’ve gone every year for the last decade-plus. Some years, we’ve bought tickets for multiple dates. To some degree, we justify this (mostly to ourselves) as being “for the sake of research.”
We flat-out love both the Halloween and Christmas Parties. The “Should You Attend” section of our Guide to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party covers this in detail, but MNSSHP is still worth it to us.
With that said, it’s a much closer call than it used to be, and we also don’t have the same sense of urgency as a first-timer would have to do everything. Even with the higher crowds and prices, we’re still sufficiently satisfied with the event because all we care about is the parade, fireworks, stage show, and doing a couple meet & greets.
Judging by reader comments this year, others vehemently disagree. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell where frustration ends from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party being significantly more crowded despite costing more, and where “it’s too crowded and we won’t go again because of that” begins.
Some people plainly say as much, so it’s clear that line has been crossed for many Walt Disney World guests. Without question, we’ve received far more negative feedback about Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party in the last two years than ever before.
Ultimately, the crowds are an issue and one that will only going to get worse as Halloween approaches. (If past precedent is any indication, crowds will be a problem throughout most Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party dates, as well.) Whether the “too crowded” line has been crossed for you, personally, depends largely upon your priorities and where you’ll spend your time in Magic Kingdom during the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
The situation on Main Street is bad, and Walt Disney World definitely needs to more proactively address this. The ride overlays are fun, but they are not achieving the intended goal of effectively redistributing crowds throughout Magic Kingdom. Really, the only solutions are capping the attendance at a significantly lower number, or adding something compelling deeper in the park.
Otherwise, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is going to go from “tougher to recommend” to “not recommended.” That’d be really unfortunate, as it’s an event with great entertainment that used to be an unquestionably fun time and something we recommended without equivocation to all Walt Disney World guests.
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Your Thoughts
Have you attended Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party in the last two years? If so, what was your experience with crowds? How did you feel they compared to 3 or more years ago? Will you attend MNSSHP again despite the crowds? Would you recommend it to others? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We attended last year for the first, and perhaps only, time . Our group included my husband, my 10 and 5 year old sons, my adult brother, and my parents (one of whom is in a wheelchair most of the time due to Parkinson’s related balance problems). Admittedly, our travel group has a lot of needs/barriers that other groups wouldn’t have, but the party’s crowds and format made it really difficult for us to enjoy ourselves. We hadn’t even planned to meet characters; our priorities were to take advantage of short attraction lines, trick or treat with the kids, catch the fireworks show and whichever of the parade viewings was most convenient. While the lines for trick or treating and attractions were never long, the walkways were so congested that we had a really hard time navigating with our group (again, made more difficult with the wheelchair and kids). We weren’t able to secure a good viewing spot for the fireworks, and most of our party gave up about half way through Hallowishes. My older son and I ended up being the only two to stay through the end of the party. Once on our own, we had a great time – crowds were starting to thin, it was easier to move about with just the two of us, and we found a great spot to watch the second viewing of the parade.
In the end, everyone in our group felt that we would never again attempt it as a whole family, or probably even while our kids were still young. For the price and the stress, it just isn’t worth it unless you’re a small group with limited needs and lots of flexibility.
Tom what are the upcoming sold out dates that you alluded to? Thank you!
We attended the Sept 29 MNSSHP this year as I figured it would be worth the money to drop a park hopper day and upgrade- a decision based on the notion of low crowds and cooler temperatures. We are not regular WDW goers. In fact, some of my family has never been before. We were very excited to experience a fun night in the park with short lines and fun activities. Unfortunately that was not our experience AT ALL. Park was incredibly congested and lines were as long as when we went earlier in the week, plus you can’t use fast passes so you’re kind of stuck waiting or moving on. My kids were into the rides so that was our priority, but I was set on seeing the second parade which only happened to work out by accident. We missed the fireworks waiting in line for splash mountain so decided to head to sleepy hollow as by then we were starving. We decided to stay put there to get a front of the rope view of the parade. That was really the only thing that worked out how I planned and it was a fluke. Special treats were unimpressive or too crowded to bother waiting for. Candy stations not very accessible unless at the beginning or end of a ride. Basically found ourselves feeling rushed and having to prioritize what we wanted to see and do. And here I thought we were paying EXTRA to upgrade to a more convenient and fuller experience. Having said all that? My advice is this: get yourself up before the crack of dawn and do the extra magic hours 7am open. THAT was worth it. It wasn’t hot, there were NO crowds and my 5 year old had her pick of any walk on ride she wanted including 7 dwarfs. We stayed from
7 til noon bc we were having such a nice time. Best part is- IT WAS TOTALLY FREE. I’m
NOT a morning person but would do that again and again knowing what I know now! Thanks for the advice Tom!
We attended the Halloween Party on Tuesday, September 17th. We have attended parties (both Halloween and Christmas) in the past and never encountered the issues we had this time. First of all, it was insanely overcrowded. We saw one character (Jafar), the parade, and the fireworks. I echo the other responses that the hub is dangerously overcrowded. We went through 3 treat lines, and that’s it! We were in the park early that day, as we used one of our hopper tickets so we could ride the rides. We choose to not do rides during the parties as we prefer to see the shows and characters. The character lines were ridiculous. We were not able to get any of the magic shots or ride any of the rides with the special overlays. My young adult son, who has autism, was very disappointed that he saw ONE character. We did not attempt the Jack and Sally line or 7 Dwarfs as we have seen them in the past. I know you said you do not feel this is due to this years Party pass, but somehow I think it’s related to some degree. I follow logs of groups/blog/etc. and have seen many locals who go to multiple parties. We spent thousands on this trip, plus the nearly $350 for party tickets which was a huge waste. We’re scheduled to come back in December and typically we go to the Christmas party which has always been enjoyable for us. However, if they offer the Party pass for the Christmas parties, we absolutely will NOT be purchasing tickets. Too high of a price to be miserable. Very disappointed! Also–we love your blog. Keep up the great work!!
I also think the pass might be more popular than Tom realizes. I’m not a Florida resident, but, where I live, families with children purchase seasonal passes to everything they can. This is especially true when there is a stay-at-home parent!
There is a farm near us that offers seasonal passes in the fall. You buy a pass, and you can go unlimited times and go on tractor rides, play in a corn pit, pull a tractor, bounce on a jumping pillow, and go through a corn maze. Literally half the families I know have passes to this farm. People love to pop by there after school for an hour or so. Weekends will involve a longer stay. And this is just a farm!
For families with kids, whenever there is a seasonal pass to something, it can really seem like a great deal. You buy it, and then you can go as often as you like while not feeling guilty if your kids are cranky and you need to leave early.
Honestly, all of my family with young kids only ask for things like farm passes, zoo passes, pool passes, carousel passes, etc., for gift-giving events like birthdays and Christmas.
We attended the October 1st party (sold out). This was our first Halloween party and I went it to it with the goal of seeing the parade, fireworks, ride overlays, and grabbing some candy. I was feeling pretty good after all of the September reviews of low crowds and then the news broke that our party sold out and I started to regret my purchase immediately. I made the panicked decision the night before the party to add on the Dessert party to save time staking out a spot and fighting the crowds. We got in the line for Pirate’s at about 6:50 and it moved so quickly that we actually missed some of the overlay, but not all. Then we headed to the treat station next to pirates and the line was backed all the way up to Splash MT! Shockingly, it moved pretty quickly. Next stop was Haunted Mansion, this line was very long and did not move quickly and as a result sucked up some of our valuable party time, but the atmosphere was fun, so still worth it. From there we snagged a couple of photopass pics, hit up up a few more candy lines and rode a couple more rides until dessert party time. Filled up on desserts and then went through Monsters. Inc line again. Rode Astro-orbiter and hit up another candy line before heading to our reserved garden spot for the fireworks. It was amazing and and we had a perfect view of the castle. Immediately after the fireworks we were able to snag a curbside spot for the final parade. We watched Hocus Pocus from a distance while waiting for the parade. Wasn’t the best spot, but good enough for us to catch most of the show and still ensure our parade spot. The parade was amazing and photopass caught a great pic of us as we sat on the curb waiting. After the parade we did pics on Main St. to allow the crowds time to get on the busses. We ended up having an amazing time since we went in with low expectations and did not care to meet characters. I do think the dessert party saved the day as well, since it saved us lots of valuable time staking out a spot. With that said, the cost of the party and the additional cost of a dessert party were incredibly steep, probably steep enough to make this party a one and done for us. I am glad we went and had an opportunity to experience it!
Wise move getting the dessert party. I was at the same party and I had to sit on the sidewalk and get stepped on for over an hour for a prime spot and we decided from now on we will do dessert parties for fireworks.
I’m a diehard Disney fan but I’ve crossed that too expensive/too crowded line. We’ll be there for a week in early December and will not be attending the Christmas Party this year. It sounds like it’s only worth it if you’re okay with catching a few party specific things or going on the rides. If rides were my priority I’d do one of the early morning or after hours events. Last year we found it extremely difficult to see the fireworks, parade, castle show, and do a few character meets. I don’t feel like that’s expecting a lot for an event where you’re paying $100+ per person, but the crowds are crazy and I felt like I was rushing and stressing about getting to see those main events and not truly enjoying myself.
YES!
We attended Sept 24 and was expecting it to be a lot less packed than it was. Many ride wait times were long, it was very congested walking through tomorrowland and main street, and waited over a half hour for Starbucks only to have the donut they were advertising at the door with an employee holding it sold out by the time I got to the front. Didn’t get to see any characters. I had thought for the extra money we spent it would have been more enjoyable than it was. It was alright, glad I did it once, but expected it to be a little easier crowd wise.
Why doesn’t Disney either give us more Meet & Greets, & make a way to significantly alleviate the waits for these? I’ve been attending for years, & I have yet to meet any characters because of it! We pay MORE than enough to get a better value for what we’re being asked to pay. Yes; I do love it, but Disney can greatly improve on customer satisfaction for MNSSHP.
Main Street and the hub have become dangerously crowded during many of these parties. I had my foot run over twice by electric vehicles trying to squeeze through and hung onto my daughter like a blue crab onto a chicken neck to not lose her in the madness. It is downright dangerous for parents with small children.
No doubt that increasing attendance caps has contributed to the madness which is the dollar winning out over the experience and safety. These are supposed to be exclusive events. The ultra high price that is being paid should result in an experience that is on a much different level that what it is currently in October. If anything, attendance caps should be lowered and the parade route modified and expanded to cover more of the park to allow for crowds to spread out a bit more evenly.
I’ve had my foot run over once last year! I screamed bloody murder at the end of the Hocus Pocus show, and the woman in the ECV that ran over my foot didn’t even apologize – instead she blamed me because I wasn’t “watching where I was going”. Up until recently, my mom used an ECV at Disney (she has since bought a manual wheelchair and couldn’t be happier with it) so I always watch where I’m going in order to avoid getting run over. My foot was badly bruised, “sprained” (according to people at Med Express that I went to when I got back home), and hurt a LOT for several weeks. But I agree – it’s very dangerous!
Last year, my mom and I attended the party on 10/2 (a Tuesday) with a friend of mine and her mom who were staying off-site. It was BEYOND crowded, so much so that when we were catching the last showing of the Hocus Pocus show (something that I highly recommend), my foot was run over by a woman in an ECV in the handicapped area in front of the castle. Luckily, it didn’t break, just badly bruised, “sprained” (according to people at Med Express when I got back home), and hurt like heck for several weeks afterwards. I worry for what it’s going to be like when we go this year on 10/29 (but we will have the Cruella’s Haunted Hideaway party to attend as well, so no seeing the fireworks this year for us).
However, I feel that Disney needs to also offer some after-hours ticketed events at Epcot in order to relieve crowds at MNSSHP that has a Halloween/fall theme (i.e. a Dia de los Muertos celebration in Mexico, Samhein in U.K., traditional trick-or-treating in America and Canada, Obon Festival in Japan, la fête d’Halloween in France, Teng Chieh in China, etc.). They could even have some spooky feeling things in Future World! I, for one, would love to have a spooky overlay to Test Track, Imagination, or even the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster. Maybe once they’re done with the overhaul, they’ll consider it.
Tom, thank you for all the research you and Sarah have been doing on the MNSSHP over the last decade. I completely agree with you and feel you are spot on with your conclusion after analyzing all the collected data. I happen to fall into the category of longtime party attendees that have decided it is not worth the crowd, price, and time to even contemplate attending another MNSSHP in the foreseeable future. As difficult as that was to say out loud, it is the disappointing realization for me and my family.
We were annual party attenders for about six or seven year’s straight, dating back about twelve years ago. We enjoyed the party so much, I felt like we would be planning a trip to attend MNSSHP and then visit some of Disney while we were down there. That annual attendance started skipping a year or two until it ultimately came to a halt. The last Halloween party we attended was about three years ago. And it was too crowded for us then. We were pushing a stroller, and I felt this helplessness of being trapped, crushed, stepped on, and generally afraid for my child in the stroller. And of course, it was exactly in the section you mentioned; Main Street near the Starbucks.
I can only imagine what children in strollers, or even young walking children feel in crowds as such. Even though you are holding their hand, and are guiding them through, they only have the view of someone’s waist and only hear the mayhem around them. If they were to look up, all they would see would be shoulders and backs of everyone around them. There is absolutely no magic in that. I believe some PTSD might be involved as I actually cringed at the idea as my wife was just in the “what if” planning stage of trying to fit in a MVMCP over Thanksgiving this year. No, thank you!! Fortunately, I have the memories, pictures, and videos of previous years of attending the Halloween and Christmas parties.
If crowds and congestion, remain unchanged for these hard ticket events, I would go as far as not recommending spending the money on it if you are under 54”, in a wheelchair, ECV, or in groups of four or more people trying to stay/ maneuver together.
Thank you, Tom and Sarah, for continually keeping me abreast of the comings and goings of all things Disney.
My mom used an ECV until recently (now has a manual wheelchair that I push). We went to both the MNSSHP and MVMCP last year. I had my foot run over by another woman in an ECV in the handicapped area after the Hocus Pocus show (you can read about in the comment I made as well), but didn’t have any incidents during the MVMCP. Luckily, this year, we’ll be spending our time at the party-within-a-party at Cruella’s Haunted Hideaway. We’ll also be attending the Christmas party again this year.
We also attended the October 8th event…. We had fun, but found ourselves saying, “Holy cow, this is SO crowded.” many times throughout the night. We skipped last year, but had gone several years in a row before that. Just the two year difference was noticeable. Candy lines were INSANE. While we certainly got plenty of candy, I’d say we got about half the amount as previous years. In previous years, sailing through a candy line on the way to something else wasn’t a problem. It did thin out throughout the night, but that first two and a half hours were rough.
Ride lines seemed fine. Unfortunately, half of our party were only able to see half of the fireworks projections. Not because the other half didn’t have a perfectly scoped out place, but because even with fifteen minutes to go it was impossible to GET to them. Moving through the crowd was a nonstarter and felt extremely unsafe.
I get the demand situation, but Disney REALLY needs to think about the attendance cap.
We attended on Sept. 29. We had attended 2 years prior! We were miserable ,too crowded, long lines for food, trick or treats and rides. We literally paid $
180.00 for a 15 min parade!
We lever after the parade and I plan not to go back to this event .
We are regular WDW customers but I’m certain Disney raised the cap on attendance .
Very sad. I let WDW know my frustration in email.
I am now seriously considering attending the party solely as a way to do all the rides without long lines. But I’ll be travelling with a preschooler, which means we aren’t going to make it past 9. Are the lines for rides low even at the start of the party? Are normal character meet-and-greets (the circus, the princess hall) open during the party? Or are there just a few rides open?
The lines for rides at the start of the party are very long! I went on 9/22 and very few had lines shorter than 30 minutes. I went with an 11 year old and she couldn’t hang after 9pm either, so the idea of waiting until later to ride was out the window!
Do not do this. Big mistake. The ride lines were worse and there are no fast passes. Instead go earlier in the day as crowds are much lighter due to people avoiding the shorter hours on party day. Take Tom’s advice on early hours and do more.
Oh and if you want to spend $180 for short lines, definitely try the early morning magic Fantasyland. You have access to all rides in Fantasyland before the park opens. We did it and rode all of them multiple times with no wait. And there is breakfast included.
We attended on Oct 1st and it was a sold out party. It was definitely way more crowded than we had hoped for but we still had a great time. We waited to do trick or treating for After fireworks when they were giving out candy by the handful. We rode rides and had fun at the dance party after the fireworks when crowds dropped quickly. We snagged a prime spot for the fireworks and parade and those were definitely the highlight but yes I did have to sit for over an hour for that spot. We decided for the next party we will book the dessert party so we have a guaranteed prime spot for the fireworks and then we can just do the second parade when crowds have dropped. I do hope they cut the number of tickets sold in future or otherwise redistribute the crowds but with the fireworks and parade best seen on Main Street and the Sanderson sisters show right there as well I don’t know what they can do to move crowds.
Echo the comment re: crowded hub/Main St. Though it was May, I had a stroller and we decided to make our way to the exit just before one of the fireworks shows (why??). They had the “exit ramp” open (behind Main St.) but getting to that was… a challenge. Even though there were loads of staff trying to direct traffic, and they taped off (really??) avenues to remain clear, it was dark and people were naturally stopping in the aisles, etc. After a few polite attempts at “excuse me” and “sorry for that bump”, I basically used the stroller as a plow — I did hear a few yelps of “ouch” in my wake, apologies.
All of this is to say, crowds in the central portion of the park are not isolated to party events. And, it’s probably a structural problem in that the parades and shows and fireworks happen to overlap with the only way in/out. Perhaps a bit too in the weeds on this, but there is an “off ramp” in front of Crystal Palace, but that doesn’t get you to the secondary exit behind Main St. Possibly need a similar route through Tomorrowland Terrace? Anyway, it was one of the few issues I had with that trip. So, it was notable.
The crowds have gotten too heavy. Full stop. We’re Halloween diehards much like you, perhaps more so, and this year we had a lack luster to miserable experience at Not So Scary. We attended the October 1st (sell out) party and it was some of the least fun we’ve had in Magic Kingdom. Crowds were terrible, ride times were much higher than previous parties, with some exceeding normal operating days. The only time Haunted Mansion wait times dipped under 50 minutes was during the fireworks, which we decided to skip in favor of a single trip to the Mansion. We did manage to have a decent viewing of the second parade without too much advance waiting.
We’re not into the meet and greets, so those long lines didn’t really impact our opinion of the party. But moving around within the park was pure misery; we didn’t even make it into Tomorrowland because of the press of humanity clogging the paths. Getting stuck on It’s A Small World for 45 minutes didn’t help either.
One final note on crowd ambiance that we noticed this year. Maybe it was just hard to see in the crowds, but it felt like a very small proportion of guest attendees were in costumes other than cheesy themed T-stirts. In the previous years, it felt like you were surrounded by folks in creative and enjoyable costumes which really made it feel like a Halloween party. This year it just felt like we were surrounded by sweaty people in tank tops, much like normal days in Magic Kingdom. Maybe there were the same number of folks in costume and you just couldn’t see them because of the crowds, but it felt like “our” numbers were down this year. Not sure what the root cause for this might be, but it really felt like the costume party aspect was lost this year. I’m just glad that this year we went with Indiana Jones and Short Round; last year we did the attic bride (old school) and the Hat Box Ghost and the heat just wiped me out.
We attended for the first time August 27 and we hated it. Now, we do not care for fireworks or parades or character meets, but thought this might be a fun way to experience the park and do the attractions without long waits. Huge mistake as it was very crowded with long lines for everything. We stuck around longer than we should have since we paid a lot to attend. Just an awful mass of humanity. If the August parties were to be lighter attended, then I can only imagine how the sold out nights are. Will never do any holiday party again.
Best thing about it was the park was not crowded during the day
Most schools in don’t start until September in the rest of the country. And Florida in August alone is just flat out hot and horrible. If you can pull your kids from school the end of September during the week are the best Halloween parties to attend!
The lines for rides at the start of the party are very long! I went on 9/22 and very few had lines shorter than 30 minutes. I went with an 11 year old and she couldn’t hang after 9pm either, so the idea of waiting until later to ride was out the window!
Thank you!! I read some other descriptions here too and WOW! Ride lines longer than during a regular day?! Definitely I want to give this a miss now. We might have to go once sometime since it and Xmas are the only way to meet Moana, though….ugh.
We attended the party for the first time on 9/22, and it was sold out (we found out after we got there). The lines for candy were longer than ride lines, making it unenjoyable for my group. Even further back into the park it was crowded. It felt like a regular busy day in the park, not a late night event. Unless they cap attendance this will be our one and only party. As a first timer I was highly disappointed.
We attended Sunday, Sept. 24. It was awful. Too crowded. Ride lines were longer than we have ever experienced during MNSSHP and both early and late parade routes were crowded. Wasted $400.
If you attend on a weekend or around a holiday (like Columbus Day) forget it! Not worth it. The best way to enjoy Halloween/Christmas parties are on a weekend night as far away from the actual holiday they are representing. We found this works best for us … we pull our kids from school and visit Florida relatives (in Fort Myers area) for Thanksgiving then rent a car, drive up one way, food shop (to avoid Disney food prices), check into our resort and unload luggage/food, then return the car immediately to the Hilton by Disney Springs (AVIS) and take a bus back to our resort. Who needs a car with the bus systems and the price gouging Disney now charges just to park one! Then we take the Disney Express to the Orlando airport and fly home on Friday and the kids only miss about a week of school (we get their work from their teachers before we leave and make them do it during the trip).
We usually attend the Xmas party the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving and find the parks are always dead. We had an employee tell us that the week after Thanksgiving is the best time of the year to visit Disney World. He said the weather is always perfect (warm, not super hot during the day and cool at night) and the crowds are almost non-existent. Since the pools are heated swimming during the day at resorts is still worth it unless a rare cold front hits. If you can pull your kids from school I highly recommend this week.
If you do attend an Xmas party I highly recommend using Tom’s resort tour the day of your ticket to see all the cool decorations. Search this site to find it, totally worth it!
NOTE: I meant to say on a week night, not weekend night!