Fall is one of the best seasons to visit Walt Disney World. Magic Kingdom is dressed to the nines in Fall decor, the crowd levels are low, Food & Wine is in full swing & of course Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! This year the main show on the Castle Forecourt Stage was replaced with the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular. Hit the jump for a review of the new show, the meet & greets & all the other tricks and treats from the party!
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is an event which we’ve been covering here for a while. The party seems to be the most anticipated event next to Food & Wine, and for good reason! It is a separately ticketed event and depending on your party size that extra cost can add up quickly. Tickets are about $68-$70 per person. This grants you admission to the party from 4 PM to midnight, free candy at the trick-or-treating locations throughout out the park, access to exclusive meet and greets only available during the party and of course a special stage show & Mickey’s Boo To You parade (which is my favorite parade by far!). Of course the park has a completely different ambiance than normal during the party as well. It’s definitely one of my favorite times to be at Magic Kingdom.
I know that in my Mickey’s Not So Scary Tips video I said that the party really shouldn’t be about attractions, or at least running from attraction to attraction. There are no fastPasses during the event but attraction times are really low during the parties. Crowd levels are lower than a typical day at the park, even during a sold out party. During my time at the party, during early October, most attractions hovered around 10-20 minutes. The highest was the Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train at around 30 minutes. We were able to walk right onto a lot of attractions. It’s definitely worth it to do a few attractions during the party especially if you weren’t able to snag a FastPass for the Mine Train on other days of your trip.
The new Hocus Pocus show was amazing. It definitely will appeal more to those who are familiar with the film however the usual Disney villains make appearances so those who don’t know the Sanderson sisters won’t be excluded. The sisters are singing live and sound remarkably close to the stars in the film. It’s definitely a show that is worth checking out. I caught the midnight show which actually means that you’re in the park past closing. We left the Magic Kingdom around 12:45 AM. We had decent spots for the show and since it’s the last event of the night the crowd level wasn’t too bad. If you weren’t able to catch the show there are plenty of videos on Youtube if you’re interested in seeing it.
As I also mentioned in my video, it’s definitely worth it to stop at a few treat stations and pickup some candy! We didn’t get to hit as many as I’d like this year. We went to maybe four stations and my bag was almost halfway filled up. It’s worth noting that some treat stations are sponsored by a certain candy and will only have those. It might be a good idea to ask other guests leaving a station if that’s the case if you don’t like a particular candy. Another tip would be to stop by the treat trails. These “trails” have several treat stations along them so as you’re walking along you make multiple stops in one go! The lines for the candy may look long but remember, they’ll go really fast. The longest I waited was five minutes at the Carousel of Progress station.
The three other biggest draws of the night are the exclusive meet & greets, Boo To You parade & Happy Hallowishes. The main stars of the meet & greets are definitely Jack & Sally. Their wait time averaged about 2 hours during the event. I made a point to stop by and get a hug from Lotso in Tomorrowland who only had a wait time around 20 minutes. The Boo To You parade didn’t disappoint as expected! It really is a great parade. My main mistake was not making a point to watch both showings of the parade. The second showing will usually have a lower crowd level so if you’re busy doing other activities in the park make sure to plan to stop and watch the second parade. Happy Hallowishes is another great nighttime extravaganza. This is one of the few shows where Disney will use all of the fireworks in the park meaning that you’ll get to see the parameter fireworks which completely immerse you in the show. At certain points during Hallowishes you forget that it’s night since it’s so bright in the park thanks to all the fireworks!
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is an absolute must-do in my book. Even if you’re not a real fan of Halloween it’s worth the expense just to see the Magic Kingdom transform for this party. If you show up at 4 PM and stay until midnight you could have a full eight hours in the park! The low wait times make it worth it even if you’re not interested in the party at all. If you’re on the fence about the party my recommendation is that if you can swing the financials absolutely do it! It’s something every Disney fan should experience at least once.
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