Well, you know the Autumn holiday season begins when Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is on at the Magic Kingdom. This past Friday evening we were invited to join in the fun by the great folks at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Check-in began at 5:30 and offered us enough time to get our bracelets and sneak into Tony’s Town Square Restaurant for a nice hearty dinner before the party started at 7:00 PM.
If you have never been to an after hours event before at the parks, you are in for a treat. Essentially, the party starts while the rest of the guests are exiting the park; your wristband entitles you to continue to enjoy the park as they transition from regular operating hours to party-time.
One of the great things about Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) is the trick-or-treating in the park. Sure, there are a number of attractions that are open, not all attractions will be open during these after-hour events, but the chance to wander around the park in costume for some Halloween fun is really a wonderful experience.
The Magic Kingdom offers several trick-or-treat locations and two special trails. The trick-or-treat locations are single areas set up with cast members providing candy treats and can be found:
- Adventureland – Next to the Jungle Cruise and the Pirates of the Caribbean queue
- Liberty Square – Liberty Square Riverboat
- Fantasyland – Peter Pan’s Flight queue, Inside the Pinocchio Village Haus and at the Fantasyland Railroad Station
- Tomorrowland – Next to Tomorrowland Speedway, near Space Moutain and Near Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Whereas the trails, are locations where the walkway has been turned into a wandering space filled with Halloween theming and several locations with cast members providing candy treats. These can be found:
- Frontierland – Enter and the exit at the Splash Mountain queue
- Fantasyland – Enter near the Barnstormer and exit in Tomorrowland.
With all the great trick-or-treating you could easily miss some of the other great attractions of the night; like we did. The first is the Boo-To-You Halloween Parade, which we missed because we were out having fun trick-or-treating. We saw it last year and it is a great Halloween themed parade with all of our favorites dressed for Halloween. If you have not seen it before, be sure not to miss it like we did; it is twice during the night at 8:15 and 10:30.
The next event is the Happy HalloWishes fireworks spectacular. And spectacular it is! High above Cinderella Castle, beginning at 9:30 and narrated by our favorite villains from Disney’s classics, is one of the best fireworks displays you will see all year at the park. This is one of the few times during the year when Disney will use the perimeter of the park to shoot fireworks for the finale and it is magical – and bright!
Throughout the evening there is also the chance to dance the night away at some of the character dance parties in Tomorrowland and Frontierland. And if that is not enough for the evening, you can catch some of your favorite villains take center stage at the Cinderella Castle Forecourt or just meet some of you favorite DIsney characters as they dress up for the party as well.
All in all, it was so much fun to be able to experience the party. Halloween is my favorite holiday since it is the first big day in the fall calendar and begins the holiday march to Christmas for our family. We had so much fun and hope you have the chance to experience the Halloween Magic at the Magic Kingdom with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
The dates for this year’s events are:
- Sept. 11, 14, 18 21, 25, 28, 30;
- Oct. 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, 30 and 31;
- Nov. 2.
You can save a few dollars if you buy your ticket in advance and as usual, many nights will sell out as we get closer to Halloween. If you are planning on going, Pricing starts at $56, plus tax for adults and go on up in price as you get closer to the holiday; I would get your tickets today at www.disneyworld.com/halloween or by calling 407.W.DISNEY.
Disclaimer: We were invited guests for a press preview of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. As guests, we were provided tickets to the event and given a commemorative Vinylmation of Minnie in Halloween garb. I am under no obligations to the Walt Disney Co. from this media event and write about the experiences so our guests on etckt.com can learn more about the many destination vacation opportunities available from Disney’s Parks and Resorts.
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