Teen Talk: Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

by Kacie Brady
AllEars Guest Blogger

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As you probably know, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is a “spook-tacular” event held every year at Disney’s Magic Kingdom from mid-September through the end of October. This hard-ticket event includes trick-or-treating, riding rides, character dance parties, buying special treats, and more! Parents and children alike can dress up, have fun, and indulge their spooky side.

When attending any Halloween party, the first thing to consider is what costumes to wear. Most everyone is dressed in costumes, including adults, at Mickey’s-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. My family has always been into matching costumes, and this year we went as Star Wars characters!

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We saw several cute costumes at the party, but my favorites were Becky and Gerald from Finding Dory. Get creative with your costumes, because in Disney World no one is too old to dress up like their favorite characters. If you are not into costumes, consider getting the family matching Halloween shirts. There are some cool photo ops at the party, and it is always fun to take pictures in costumes.

Another thing you need to decide before you get to the park is what things you would like to do at the party. The park is open to people going to the Halloween party from 4 o’clock to midnight, however the Halloween activities do not start until 7 p.m. It is good to plan ahead on how to spend your hours at the party, as it offers events for families of all ages. Trick-or-treating and meeting characters might be fun for younger kids and the parades and shows are fun for all ages (they were my favorite!).

Once you are in the park, there are several things your family can do. If your family would like to ride rides, the wait times are shorter than usual during the party. We did notice that the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train only had a 20-minute wait! So, if your family is full of ride enthusiasts, this would be a good time to ride them.

My family wanted to do more of the unique experiences than the rides, but we rode a few, which were welcome breaks from the walking.

There are 13 trick-or-treating locations around the park at which cast members pass out candy. Trick-or-treating is a lot of fun, especially for me since I am too old to trick-or-treat in the “real” world. At Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party, kids of all ages are able to join in the trick-or-treating fun! Disney does not skimp on the candy, as all four of us left with two bags of candy each! Also, there are two Allergy-Friendly Centers at the park, where you can get a special trick-or-treat bag that lets cast members know you have an allergy. You can then get allergy-friendly candy at the trick-or treat locations.

The unique character meet and greets at the party are also great. You can meet characters from Nightmare Before Christmas, Aladdin, Tarzan, and many more. You can also get your dance on with the Monsters Inc. characters in Tomorrowland at a fun Halloween dance party, an event that that only happens at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. They hand out candy during the dances, and you can dance with your favorite monsters to tunes like,“I Want Candy.”

Some more unique experiences of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party include Happy Hallowishes, Mickey’s Boo-to-You parade, and the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular. I feel like Happy Hallowishes, Mickey’s Boo-to-You parade, and the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular were the stars of the party! Happy Hallowishes had elaborate firework displays set to spine-tingling villainous songs. Mickey’s Boo-to-You parade was very entertaining, and the Boo-to-You song will stick in your head for hours. The parade floats, the synchronized dancing, and the special characters were all wow factors of the parade. The Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular was a wonderful stage show. It was humorous, had cool effects, and had many favorite villains.

There is also special merchandise and food for sale that is unique to the party. Some of the special foods available include candy corn soft-serve ice cream, pumpkin spice cupcakes, spider cupcakes and worms and dirt, and creepy ice cream cookie sandwiches. Some of the special merchandise includes event t-shirts, Magic Bands, and trading pins.

As I said, the park lets people in for the party at 4 o’clock, but the special Halloween attractions are not open that early, so my family and I went to grab a bite to eat and ride some rides. This ended up being a good decision, because during the party all of the dining was packed, and we were able to enjoy other things. While we were eating, we looked at the party map and planned our method of attacking all the fun. It helps to know what everyone wants to do, that way when it gets crowded you are not trying to decide where to go.

Once the party started at 7, we went to the trick-or-treat lines. Although the lines looked dauntingly long, we never waited long in them, because the cast members kept them moving quickly. I would recommend doing the trick-or-treat lines during a show or parade. We went through the lines during the first parade, and it was not that crowded at all. First stage shows are always more crowded than the later ones, so it may be wise to do trick-or-treating during the first show, and watch the later ones.

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After we hit all of the trick-or-treat locations, we decided to go to Tomorrowland, and dance with the Monsters Inc. characters. The dance party was lots of fun, and we got to see several monsters including Sully, Mike Wazowski, and George. The cast members also passed out candy during the song “I Want Candy”. They taught us different dances, and everyone made a conga line!

We then decided to ride some more rides before the Happy Hallowishes firework show started. The Happy Hallowishes fireworks were incredible! There were fireworks that surrounded the park, and the villains singing the songs made the whole thing feel spooky and magical. After Happy Hallowishes was over, we decided to watch the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular. Since the entertainment was one after the other, we were unable to get to see all three up close, so we decided to sit on the parade route to watch the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, and Happy Hallowishes. However, even without a good view, it was a highly entertaining. The show featured the Sanderson Sisters from the movie Hocus Pocus, and it was a Broadway—caliber performance. The show included special lighting on the castle, fireworks, and some familiar villains including Oogie Boogie, Dr. Facilier, and Maleficent.

After the Villain Spelltacular, we watched Mickey’s Boo-to-You parade. Although we could not see the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular as well, it was good we got our spots for the parade early, because there was not even standing room available later on. The Boo-To-You parade was my favorite event of the whole night. We loved the dancing ghosts, the Pirates of the Caribbean float, and the villains. You could smell candy as the Wreck-It Ralph parade float went by, and the bears from the Country Bear Jamboree pretended I was choking them when I “used the force!” After we watched the parade, we had time to ride one more ride.

Around midnight we decided to call it a night and head back to the resort. We left the party happy and satisfied with our experience and also with several bags of candy! Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is a wonderful event that allows people of all ages to act like kids on Halloween. Every event that Disney puts on is spectacular, and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary did not disappoint — we will definitely be going again!

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Debra Martin Koma wrote about food, travel and lifestyle issues for a number of local and national publications before she fell in love with Walt Disney World on her first visit — when she was 34! She's returned to her Laughing Place more times than she can count in the ensuing years, and enthusiastically shares her passion with readers of AllEars.Net and AllEars®. Deb also co-authored (along with Deb Wills) PassPorter's Open Mouse for Walt Disney World and the Disney Cruise Line, a travel guide designed for all travelers to Walt Disney World who may require special attention, from special diets to mobility issues.

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