If you had to choose one: MNSSHP or Pirates and Pals Cruise?

Oh and the 3 year old DEFINITELY remembered. Asked us to go back to Mickey's Halloween Party darn near daily for a whole year.

My now almost 9 year old still has clear memories from his trip when he was 2...and plenty from 3...and asks all the time to go to this party....

That being said, I also agree with the poster that says to do what YOU want - the kids will have fun everywhere and won't know what they are missing elsewhere...

As an aside - some of our favorite MK are on a Halloween night - particularly the year we went in superhero shirts (I wore a batman logo and carried my then 2 year old wearing a robin shirt for example..) - you can do those types of things anyway but more tend to do it on a party night!!
 
I would like to do one fun "extra" on our October trip (me, DH, and DD3). I was set on the Pirates and Pals fireworks cruise, as DD loves Peter Pan and Captain Hook, but then I saw the price tag: $179 for the three of us for a boat ride and some snacks?!

At that point, I realized that for $38 more, we could get tickets to MNSSHP, which on the surface seems like a better plan. Our favorite thing last trip was MSEP, so I know we would love the Halloween parade, and DD would love trick-or-treating in the Magic Kingdom. The dance parties also sound like a lot of fun. However, there is no way that we would stay until midnight (would leave after fireworks at the absolute latest), so I am not sure that those tickets are "worth it" either. Would all of our time be eaten up staking out good spots for the parade and standing in line for candy?

If you were going to choose one of these with a toddler, which would it be?

Thanks!

We went to the MNSSHP when our oldest was about 2 1/2 and he still talks about it, he's 12! What we did to ensure he would be able to hold out for a majority of the party was let him sleep in that morning, give him a good nap that day and got him to nap on our way to the park (we lived in the Orlando area at the time so it was about a 40 minute drive). He held on until 11:30 or so. We would do it again, best extra we ever did.
 
I guess it's just my kids. My 8 year old has no memories from his trip at 2, maybe one or two from his trip at 3 1/2 and 4 1/2. The trips from 5 and on he's good with . My daughter seems to be the same. She has to be reminded to trigger memories of our trip from last year when she had just turned 4. She has random ones but not the way I would expect.
 


Thanks so much for all of the replies! I think I am leaning towards MNSSHP. Now just have to convince DH!

Last year, I went to both the cruise and MNSSHP with a three year old. Honestly, my three year old did great at both activities. However, we did nothing pretty much the whole day of MNSSHP so that she could be up late and she took a really late nap. So I think you could certainly do either.

That being said - I would recommend spending the money on the cruise if your child is a big fan of Hook and Pan. My daughter absolutely loves Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Captain Hook and Peter Pan. The interaction that you get with those characters is pretty amazing. She was so excited and happy to meet Hook. I have the best photos and memories from that event. It felt more personal and unique than MNSSHP. I would also consider the dates for MNSSHP - we went the last week of October and frankly, it was incredibly packed. We lined up early for the parade and still didn't have a good sight line. I was a little disappointed with the party - my daughter wasn't but for me it wasn't really worth the price tag.
 
Can't think of ANYTHING at Disney that would cause me to pick it over a MNSSHP! :hmghost:
 

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