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 the second party in August 019 two adults one six year old. I would honestly say I don’t think we will ever go back for a party again. We had a great time but the crowds were Beyond reasonable for a extra cost event. We didn’t have much trouble finding a reasonable spot for the fireworks and parade mostly by luck but wait times and ride overlays were a bit of a joke.
It WAS a great experience, less crowds, different experiences, all for a decent price.
Then they went full out Disney 2K.
Hike the prices, JAM AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE IN THERE, and cut the special things one at a time.
Parties aren’t worth the money anymore, basically Disney isn’t worth the money anymore.
Let them cater to the rich and the upper middle class.
Time for a positive post. We went September 8th and had a great time! If you think you can go to this and see all characters, ride all rides, and see all shows… you’ll be writing a negative post. It is impossible to do in 5 hours!! LOL. The lines for these characters are LONG.
We rode the “modified” rides – Space Mountain, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Tea Cups, and also Mine train (no changes for the party). We went through all candy lines and have 13 pounds of candy to now give away on Halloween (LOL), watched the Boo to You Parade, and the second Hocus Pocus show. Only thing we didn’t see was the fireworks because we chose to ride HM (we’ve seen the fireworks). We could have ridden more, just chose not to.
If you must have the absolute best seat for each show, another opportunity for negativity, and yes, there are rude people – don’t be one. I love seeing the guests dressed up, and love the atmosphere. We only paid $75 in September, probably wouldn’t pay $110 now because we’ve done it multiple times.
Just to add… we were directly in from of the castle, on the castle side of the street for the HP show. Turned around and waited a few minutes for the last parade.
Our family was there on September 22 also… and we had a little different experience… but most of it was in the BACK of the park. We went in and had a fastpass to Haunted Mansion… and enjoyed that, than proceeded over to a fastpass of Dumbo… where I went ahead and got in line to see the 7 Dwarfs around 5:00… 10 people deep at that time… My family enjoyed the fastpass and then, got in line with me. After we got our pictures, we rode a few more rides, and we had reservations at Be Our Guest at 7:30 (I debated this for a long time… but glad I went after a Cast Member told me it would avoid the long food lines… not knowing it was a sold out party… in hindsight, thankful for the advice, I’m glad we did that.) After, dinner we met Pooh and friends, Lotso, and then we preceded and went and got the 3 ghosts popcorn bucket, sipper, snack… at the first bucket purchase… we were told the other stands had closed and sold out… we preceded anyway… and found they were still opened. Yay!… and bought some doughnut holes for breakfast the next morning. Then, over to go see the parade… we got a magic shot with the hitchhiker ghosts. When we got to the parade/ fireworks… that’s when we noticed that it REALLY WAS crowded!!! Disney wouldn’t let us stand by the rail in front of Crystal Palace… probably a fire hazard… but told us to “move along” to the street where there was plenty of room… NOT TRUE at all… packed to the max… so we were told to “move along”… where are small party of 4 got separated …and ended up watching from the side in tomorrowland… (where we got back up with our party as we saw them walking by… thank goodness… that was a miracle. ). Unfortunately, we had a tree in front of us. ☹ However… I was glad Disney projected all around the whole castle and not just the front…. Since it was SO crowded. After the fireworks, we left Main Street and spent the remainder of our time meeting Elvis Stitch… trick or treated at Monsters… riding Buzz and the race tracks… got halloween party merchadise and birthday sipper cup. We did a photo shoot out in the entrance… got our halloween party card in the nick of time at the firehall which thankfully was just closing… and got magic shots of the headless horseman in front of the park.
Our goal was to do a little bit of everything with an emphasis on meeting rare characters… which I think we accomplished, and we had A LOT fun celebrating our teenage sons actual birthday. However, I did do a lot of reading and planning beforehand… and kind of went with the flow. We were going back to Magic Kingdom later in the week… so some rides we put off til then. I WOULD go back again with an emphasis on some of the things we didn’t get to do… maybe a small list of 3-5 things to accomplish and let my sons’ pick what they wanted to do to make it memorable to them.
Such a waste of money! We will NEVER go back to the MNSSHP. You cannot get near the castle to see any of the shows, parades, or the fireworks unless you pick your spot on main street at 530 and sit there until midnight and then the shoulder kids and cell phones ruin your view anyway. Rides aren’t even walk-on anymore so you are not getting that benefit. The characters are cool, but the waits are outrageous. All you are able to do is get a ton of candy, which is bad for the kids and doesn’t come close to being worth the admission price.
My friend just came back from Florida last week and said after MNSSHP, she is “done with Disney” altogether and she will be vacationing from now on at Universal. DISNEY, you can only push loyal fans so far!!
This is not worth it. We were very disappointed. The lines were long for rides and shoulder to shoulder people just like during the day. No special treats or drinks like other after hour events we have attended so I feel like we paid over $100 per person for a few bags of candy and to wait in long lines for rides. Like another reviewer, we did find that wait times went a little quicker but still had to skip a few because of the wait times. Will never repeat this unless Disney puts a significant cap on the number of tickets sold.
It’s not an after hours event and if this is a gripe for not returning, maybe do a little more homework before spending the money. Crowds are what Disney is all about and based on your complaints – you will probably never be satisfied…
I guess you never attended the Halloween parties in the beginning?
They were never anywhere close to being this crowded. Just in recent years Disney has decided that the almighty dollar is worth more than customer satisfaction.
I have to agree with Univers Al. In the beginning the extra cost felt worth it because you weren’t fighting crowds. Now the cost is much higher and so are the crowds….
We went on October 10th (Thursday–also sold out) and had an okay time. I’m lucky in that my kids have zero interest in character meet and greets, but we were disappointed at how long the ride wait times were. We got fast passes for three rides from 4-6 so fortunately we got Splash Mountain, the Jungle Cruise and Space Mountain out of the way. Space Mountain was 30-60 minutes all night. Most other rides were (posted) wait times of at least 30 minutes….Buuuut…we did discover that every wait time with the exception of the mine train was exaggerated. Most rides took about 1/2 the posted time. There was live entertainment in front of the Haunted Mansion that was fun. We weren’t going to trick-or-treat at all but the line tucked away behind thunder Mountain had NO PEOPLE at all in it at 8:00 so we did, and towards the end of the evening they’re practically dumping candy in your bag to get rid of it. Also, we discovered if you actually trick-or-treat at the stores near the candy lines they have ‘better’ candy–we got Mickey suckers from the store by the Symphony exit. The only part that was pretty awful was main street during events. Finding a decent spot for the fireworks was tough, and as others have mentioned the ‘shoulder-sitters’ really frustrated me to see–I’m 6’2″ and make it a point to duck down so people behind me can see, so seeing Disney do nothing about kids on shoulders surprised me. We also waited for the ‘less-crowded’ second parade and still ended up 5 deep. Fortunately the people in front of us all decided to sit or my kids would not have seen it at all. The crowd levels were very dissappointing after having gone to a Christmas party a few years ago and loving it just for the smaller crowds. Guess those have gone the way of the dodo…We did this because we were going to be there for one and had never done it before, but I don’t think any of us feel the need to ever do it again. The overlays on the castle during the fireworks were my favorite part of the night, though. That was pretty neat–glad I’ve seen it, but not worth the money, shortened time or heavy crowds.
I went at the end of August and the crowding was awful. Ride lines were as long as a busy afternoon and I bought the ticket to do rides quickly as I was there on a short turnaround. All the lines were longer than I would stand in on a typical morning. I also had a horrible time finding a bottle of water. Restaurants were closed, carts were closed and the two water fountains I found were not working. No water at the end of August was not good. I left early and disappointed. I will not do it again.
We’re planning on going to our first Christmas Party on Fri, Dec 7, and this has me scared! It will be four adults and a 3 year old. We’ll definitely have a stroller. My plan was to show up at 4:00 and leave after the 10:00 fireworks. We’d definitely be more interested in rides than meet-and-greets. We love everything Christmas (my son still asks for “Santa songs” every day).
1. Will it be worth it?
2. If so, what’s our best plan of attack?
Thanks!!
We attended the party on Sept 13th this is our family’s fourth MNSSHP. We will not be returning to the party after this years. We cant say it we waited in lines passed 60 mins cause that was the minimum wait everywhere. But the Boo to you Parade started a half an hour early. Missed both of the hocus pocus shows this year. Due to the fact that we had people literally crawling over top of our stroller to move forward. And we even had a man land on top of our son in his stroller and nothing was done by the cast members. You can keep the party it has been way better 2 years ago. Too bad Disney starting to be very disappointed
My family also attended the party this October 8th, and with a party of six including five adults and one child. It was agreed by all including the child that it was a waste of money. from 5 to 7 we stood in line to meet Jack and Sally and as the meet and greet was interactive and fun, just for 2 photos with photo pass and a small thing with their signatures, I would not call it worth it. As in the text above the rides that were to be done up for the party were a let down. With the crowds making the lines for most secondary characters being over 30 min the Autograph book that my wife and me made for our two kids went to waste. There is not enough time to walk around the park and attempt to try even half of the party. We got our pin and a few other items on the way out of main street and called it a failure. The distribution, and higher than needed crowd made the event more of a daylight when the park is at a higher crowd limit. Most of this was around the Character meet and greets and the Fireworks. We did very few candy locations and the one we did even had a 10 min wait to get through to get your candy. As my experience with our family we have all stated that we came and will never again attend the Halloween Party. Sad to say cause overall it was nice.
I attended a Friday night end of September party and I am not sure I would do it again. The shows were great but the ride overlays were lacking. There were no spooky haunted Mansion attendants this year very disappointing. The ride lines were worse during the party than they were earlier that day. Super crowded. Very difficult to navigate through Adventureland early in the night. I actually found it hard to navigate all parts of the park. It was very disappointing.
This was our first Halloween Party. Lines for rides long and wait times were longer
Couldn’t get anywhere near enough to the castle to even see the show. At the Christmas party I found a spot to watch shows from them couldn’t see anything due to kids on shoulders. Same issue with Halloween party. Did find a spot on Main Street to see 2nd parade. Brought grandkids who didn’t get to see much at all. Did get lots of candy but thats not what we paid all that money for.
I agree with you about the crowds at the shows and the “shoulder kids”. Maybe Disney could space out the shows in front of the castle, maybe an hour between the last Hocus Pocus show and the castle light show/fireworks, it would give the hub a chance to clear out before the fireworks. Maybe even have another Hocus Pocus show after the fireworks, allowing those leaving after the fireworks to clear out before the next show. I know we like to stay at the party until the end, and if I knew there was going to be a late Hocus Pocus show, I would leave the fireworks for other parts of the park and return later for the show.
“Shoulder kids,” I cannot believe that Disney allows this. This is such a danger to the child on the shoulders as well as the adult and others standing around them. One sudden move and several people would be hurt. I have been to other large amusement parks where this is not allowed. I wish Disney would follow suit.
We went on Sunday, Sept 22 and it was miserable. We didn’t even bother with the shows or fireworks – it was way too crowded. We tried to watch the second parade, but unless you camped out for a spot for an hour or more, you were relegated to being at least three people deep. I’m 5’1″ and that doesn’t work well for me. The trick or treat lines were mob scenes, and the CMs were losing patience well before 9:00. The Photo Pass lines were ridiculous. Forget character meets – who wants to pay a hundred bucks to stand in line for two hours for a 30 second experience? The highlight of the evening was getting walked off of Splash Mountain where we were given a bottle of water, extra candy and a tour of the innards of the ride.
Last year was so much fun. We rode everything with little to no waits, met several characters, got all the Photo Pass magic shots. We sat on the benches in front of HoP for the second parade – not just to wait, but for the whole parade! Candy lines moved quickly and it was actually fun to interact with the CMs.
I seriously doubt we will do any future Halloween parties, and I’m doubting that we will even do the Christmas party this year either. This is probably our last year with an annual pass as well.
Funny, this is the only trip in which I’ve not gotten a dozen or so survey requests from Disney after we returned. I’m really getting the idea that they don’t care what we think anymore.
Thats the one my family was at, and we left early also. We rode very few rides, got hardly any candy, and missed the parades and shows. So disappointed.
Spot on review. Our family was at the Sept 22 MNSSHP as well. We left early. Our family has enjoyed the MNSSHP for 3 years in a row, but not this year (see above). Disney will lose far more consumers and dollars in the long run unless this is corrected.
We were also there on Sunday Sept 22. It was outrageously overcrowded. We were only able to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean right as it opened. Lines for the good rides were all 45+ minutes. Candy lines were 15-20+ minutes. We waited an hour to see the first parade, the route was packed all the way through Frontierland. We then struggled to find a spot in the massive crowd and waited 45 min to watch the fireworks. My wife left right after while I waited again to see the show. Was this fun- NO. Was this worth the money- NO. Will we do this again- NO.
We went to the Halloween party Friday Oct 11. I knew Friday could be bad, but it was the only day that worked for us. Plus, I looked later on a saw that all the Halloween parties that week, Tues, Thurs, and Friday were all sold out so maybe it didn’t matter what day we went?
My husband and I definitely agreed it was more crowded than years past ( this is our 3rd party) and unfortunately I think we are in the end of an era. It used to be easier to trick or treat, ride rides, or get a spot for the parade that didn’t involve a good chunk of the evening. We got in a few minutes before 4 and left after the fireworks show. We’ve never left early before if that tells you anything. Most of the big attractions were 40-45 minute waits which I find unacceptable for a special ticked event. Why even go if it’s just as crowded as a normal day? Sadly, these wait times were “good” compared to the normal park hours. Everything is relative right? I think Disney has crossed the line with the attendance cap and crowd control. I wish we would’ve saved the money and gone to Typhoon Lagoon that day instead
My husband and I are some of the people with the passes. We have watched the parade, fireworks and shows a few times when we felt the park was not crowed (September week nights). Most of the parties we do the trick-or-treat loop, the rides with special overlays, and watch out for creative/fun costumes. Most nights we are only there for a few hours. The other people we know who have the passes are doing similar things. If I was only going to go once, I would go on a Tuesday night. Friday’s and Sunday’s are both very crowed. Not impossible, but you’d really need to plan and prioritize.
We attended MNSSHP Friday, October 11. We should have known that a Friday night would be very crowded, but it was the one day that we could get there. Like others I am guessing that the cap has been increased. We enjoyed the new castle overlays and fireworks…they were excellent and well worth seeing. The special ride overlays do not seem to make a huge difference and for me going to trick or treat at MNSSHP seems a costly way to get Halloween candy. As crowded as it was the number of strollers with sleeping babies did made it more difficult to get from place to place. All of that aside we wish that we could have seen and reviewed the event map prior to getting to the park. Maybe it was available in advance but we couldn’t find it. Needless to say figuring out which rides and restaurants were open were a challenge for us. MNSSHP is no longer an opportunity to enjoy the park without the huge crowds, but the variety of costumes is entertainment on its own. Maybe we need to learn better how to plan in advance to able to enjoy more of what is offered in spite of the crowd size.
This was my family’s second year to attend; last year we went October 5 or so, this year on October 1. The crowds weren’t horrible this year, but we booked FP from 4-6 so were able to get some rides the kids wanted to do out of the way. My husband did camp out at the hub starting at 8:30 (we watched 2 Hocus Pocus shows, had front row parade and then watched the fireworks). My kids and I did some trick or treating and a ride while hubby was waiting. While the seats were great, he ended up waiting in the same spot for 2 hours for maybe 30 minutes total of entertainment?
I’ve just decided we probably won’t do the party the next time we go to WDW; while it’s fun and the entertainment is great, all the prep and stress isn’t worth it to us.
We went to our first party Oct. 8th with a 4 and 2 year old. Trying to navigate the crowds with a double stroller was awful. It was worse than Monday, which had crowd levels at 10. We rested all day before the party so we could do the late parade and show, but decided to leave after the fireworks because we were over the crowds. My kids do not eat a lot of candy so we only did a few trick or treat lines. We did get to meet a few characters, but it is hard for a 2 and 4 year old to wait in any line over 20 min. The ride times were down, but getting to the rides was another story! Took about 15 min to get from splash mountain to the seven dwarfs mine train with the double stroller and we are normally fast walkers. The Disney Jr. Dance party and Descendants Dance party were a great place to take a break from the crowds with the kids. Right after the first parade ended, we were able to move to the front of the castle for firework show and it was awesome. Honestly thought it was a waste of money with small children. I think if you don’t have a stroller with small children crowds would of been more bearable and wait times for characters more doable.
My wife and I were (also?) at the Oct 8th (sold out the sign said) Party. I had 4 Meet & Greets that I wanted to do and we finished those by 9 PM. The wife wanted candy so we hit Carousel, Monsters, Country Bears and Philharmagic (showing Mr Toad!) with no wait. Did all 3 photo-ops behind the Christmas Shoppe then settled down for the 2nd Parade in Frontier Land. After the parade we started trick or treating at Splash Mountain and worked our way to the front of the park – that last 30 minutes filled our Halloween tote bag (we ended up with 12 pounds of candy! – yes I did weigh it on the bathroom scale….)
We made every effort to avoid the Hub – so for us it didn’t seem terribly crowded – we went in planning for crowds and for dealing with them. We shopped, we ate, we had fun talking to the people we were in line with and we had an enjoyable time.
We have been going to these parties for years and we have seen crowds increase every year. Its still always been worth it, however we went to the MNSSHP in August and it wasn’t sold out and we were so unhappy. For the amount of money we paid we barely did anything. We watched the parade from bad seats, we rode maybe 4 rides, one character and the cast member got us right in, two treat trails. The lines were so long for everything we ended up just sitting at cosmic rays and eating dinner which we don’t usually do. Finally a half hour before closing we thought maybe we can get into a character line but they were all shut down already which stinks because they let you in ride lines till closing. Sadly Disney knows they have us and that we will still pay to go. I would love for them to make it a unique event again with less crowds.
Hi Everyone, I’ve been reading all these quite negative comments and find I’m getting confused. We are visiting Disneyland in Anaheim in 2020, we will be a party of 12 from New Zealand. All the comments mention Disney World, is this Anaheim or Orlando, in my mind Orlando is much bigger, more crowded and expensive – is it the same in Anaheim. Are the crowds huge. Our plans at this stage are end of Sept., early October as it’s our school holidays but essentially I want the grandchildren to have a great time. Comments please.
Disneyland is Anaheim
Disneyworld is Orlando.
Per this blog, second half of September is “downtime” at Disneyworld. Hope that helps.
My family went to Disneyland for the first time this past spring. It is much smaller less crowded and easier to navigate than Disney World. We liked the parks and found them to be charming. It is a bit busy but nothing like Florida busy. There is charm at the original Disneyland park that is missing in all the glitz and glamor of Disneyworld. The hotels are not as good at Disneyland and the cast members (employees) at Disneyland are local kids who aren’t as professional. We found we prefer the Anaheim location. While you are there look for the light in the fire station on Main Street. It’s in Walt’s apartment and has remained lit since his passing,it’s a touching tribute. Enjoy interacting with characters who wonder around playing with adults and children alike. We got roped into a game with Peter Pan until Captain Hook came around and conspired with my husband to throw peter off a cliff. It’s a magical place